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12/29/11

Jim Left Early, Again

Jim, if you recall, is my seat mate at the Rutgers Men's basketball games, who has a tendency to leave with three minutes left in the game.  Most of the time, the outcome has been decided;  we're either losing badly, or winning easily.

However, tonight against the number ten team in the country, against a future Hall of Fame coach, Jim and his wife get up to leave with 2:50 left in the game, with Rutgers only down by three points!!  The ten or so of us around him screamed,

"Jim, where are you going?  This is very winnable, and a great game none the less."

I reminded him of the Villanova game last year ( see the first "Jim Left Early"), which was no help. He and his wife kept charging toward the exit.

We, his stranded seatmates, saw Rutgers forge ahead, then fall behind, then tie the game at the end of regulation. 

They did the same thing in the first overtime.

In the second overtime, they prevailed, and we who stayed witnessed the best game in over twenty years. (Not the Villanova game, there was too much luck involved in that one.)

It suddenly dawned on us that perhaps it's a good thing for Jim to leave a close game early.  In abstencia, we decided in the future to make sure Jim leaves early.  His sacrifice to the Rutgers basketball Gods might bring good fortune, and make the difference for making a post season tournament.  Jim could be the coach's secret weapon.  If he should decide to start staying for close games, we have to find a polite way to urge him to leave, for the good of the team.

Jim, we all do things for love.  Just keep doing what your doing.

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