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Turpin Time

In Anticipation of Legends Night at the Assembly Hall

Posted by: Jim Turpin

Thursday, September 11, 2008 5:51 PM

I feel inadequate just thinking about it.

Saturday night Dave Loane, Loren Tate and I will try to describe Legends Night on both WDWS (1400 AM) and Lite Rock 97.5 FM. Brian Barnhart will work the game for the Big 10 Network on a tape-delayed basis.

It will be great to be behind the mike again at the Assembly Hall. There will be no problem describing the action, the introduction of the players, the hanging of the 30 jersies, the reaction of the crowd to certain plays and certain players.

That will be the easy part. Nobody will really care who scores the most points or even who wins the "game" between Lou Henson's team and Jimmy Collins' team. Having Henson and Collins together again is enough to make the heart pound and the flashbacks begin.

The difficulty will be to describe the "feeling" inside the building. Each person in attendance Saturday night will have his or her own memories. What will they be thinking? What will the players be remembering as they walk out of that north tunnel once again?

Some guys will not be in very good shape. Others - such as the Olympian and the ones who are still playing competively in the NBA or Europe or wherever - will obviously be better equipped. But, no matter. This is a night when every participant will have one thing in common: they wore the orange and the blue.

This will be a fun night. Heck, there really isn't any reason to keep score. Dave, Loren and I will do our best to let our radio listeners know what is going on. We'll try to do as many player interviews as possible. We'll make sure those of you at home don't miss anything.

But, let me tell you in advance: the emotion, the feeling in the gut, and the joy of seeing all these guys back on the Assembly Hall court will be impossible to describe.