8A - Thursday, April 12, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
8A-Turdy Arl12 02 hhihia aiy-mihgndiyo
MEN'S BASKETBALL
The striking finality of Stu
and Zackts farewell
O Tueday night at the
Michigan men's baaket-
ball team banquet, Zack
N'ovak tepped tn the pndium.
He followed teammate, cn-
captain and
three-year
roomnmate
Stu Douglass,
whose 18-min-
ute speech
gave anec-
dote-laden
thank youa to
former team- NEAL
mates, current ROTHSCHILD
teammates,
coaches, train-
ers, family members, super fans
and Crisler Center ushers.
Novak was quick to mock
Douglass and started his speech
by thanking his childhood dog,
Hoser.
It seemed as though Novak
was once again downplayingcthe
gravity of the moment. On his last
night assa Wolverine, it was his
final chance as a player to address
the Michigan public, which saw
him transform from unheralded
recruit to cornerstone of the pro-
gram..
All year, Novak was hardly
fazed by the sentimentality of his
last go-round. He scoffed when
reporters asked him about the
pressure and urgency of being a
senior, or about his last Big Ten
game, or his last home game at
Crisler.
But in his final address, he shed
his "cool' outer layer. He talked
about how he dreamed of becom-
ing aBig Ten basketball player,
and how his mom joined him for
5-on-5Spick-up games when he
was in third grade.
Novak then delivered perhaps
the most poignant line of his last
four years.
"Then that one day you dreamt
about as a kid, it happens. You
have that day, it comes, and that
day you dreamt about was yes-
terday,
Dou
how mt
Arbor, 1
when tI
the nex
Burkeo
May
Dougla
podiun
His I
vernueN
wanted
as he ct
stage, h
now be
Stu Dou
"Ti
dr
wa
And
was un
to thenr
questini
at team
shook t
the cons
He ki
wouldn
life whe
cared w
the inns
base in1
whether
stronga
Doug
ing their
Four
nobodie
basketb
they rer
problenr
MichigE
and you're left wih the will no longer eat up everything
ies." they do., and their status as Michi-
glass and Novak both know gan athletes will lose its luster
sch they are loved in Ann over time.
hut how do they manage Both plan to play in Europe,
sat love is transferred to and they can bet that their Euro-
thbatch of players in Trey pean fans won'tbe fawning over
sr Glenn Robinson III? them the way they did inAnn
be that's why it took Arbor. They will go back to being
issso longcto get off of the the unknown guys with a sweet
i. shootingastroke, deceptive athleti-
sat moments as a Wol- cism, and a knack for stepping in
w'ere dwindling, and he front of a careening ball-handler.
to make them last as long But they will have been stripped
auld. By stepping off of that of their context.
e'd be conceding that his They'll likely never see the
.over, and that he would amount of love and adoration in
former Michigan guard their whole lives as they did when
uglass. they were 21.
Sounds like a pretty grim
outcome for a couple of bright
guys, who will undoubtedly be
'hat day you successful in whatever they do
later in life. But that's a natural
-eani1-t about consequence when you reach ouch
yester ay." peak early in life.
sy str a . It's different for guys like Trey
__________ Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr.,
who are bound to spend time in
the NBA. College ball maybe
maybe that's why he never a highlightcforcthem, but their
gracious or condescending sights are higher.
nedia, despite the leading For Novak and Douglass, this
ns and incessant prodding was it. That's part sad and part
minutiae. And'that he happy.
he hand of each reporter at You rejoice that two of the best
iclusion of the banquet. guys to come through Crisler got
:new that there probably careers far better than what they
'thbe another time in his could have expected coming out
en hundreds of people of high school, and you feel bad
vhat he had to say. Or that that it's over. Seniors graduate all
od of the largest alumni the time and it's certainly not a
the country hung on notable event, but for these two it
}his 3-point try was a tad seemed different.
aod hit the heel of the rim, The finality of endings strikes
heted through the net. differently for everybody, and
glass and Novak were liv- it's a testament to Douglass and
idreams, and they knew Novak's success that their depar-
ture was so tough.
years turned them from Sometimes four years isn't
es to heroes of Michigan enough, and that's when you
all. After Tuesday night, know you had something special
ANNOUMNNMCAADA'S GZPAL
DICCEST SUMMER PARTY
GQUNTRT U
PRODUCED Iy R
4FEATURING*
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ID 1aROOK
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ALABAMA * PAUL DRANDT
DIG & RICH * LAUREN ALAINA
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main heroes, but thev
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