Prayers to Kevin Ware

Like most everyone, I watched last nights elite eight game between Louisville and Duke. From the outset I was actively rooting for Duke. As a UK fan I was forced to root against the Cards and the beginning of the game was extremely intense and it looked like we were in for a hell of a game. Then it all changed. Louisville guard Kevin Ware went up to block a shot and landed awkwardly. That was how the most gruesome injury I've ever seen televised on a sporting event happened. In that moment I was almost sick as he lay there and CBS showed the replay one more time before deciding it was best not to keep showing it. Suddenly everything was different.

As I watched Louisville players openly weep and collapse after seeing Ware's injury and at the same time seeing Rick Pitino wipe tears from his eyes the game didn't even seem to matter. The game that was on  such a big stage suddenly was pushed to the back burner. Duke players teared up and turned away and even coach K looked like he may pass out. The disgust of the injury turned to profound sadness on the face of the Louisville players as they wept over their teammate. He told them not to worry about him and just kept repeating over and over for them to go win the game. The level of awareness for Ware to say that in that moment is immense. For ten minutes the game was put on hold and not one person cared about starting it again.

When the game resumed both teams were visibly shaken, and seemed preoccupied just as anyone would. Soon it became apparent that Louisville simply wasn't going to lose that game. They weren't letting Ware go down in vain and they were going to do just what he told them to do. Win the game. It wasn't an intense elite eight game anymore, it was a game that Louisville was going to win plain and simple and even the Duke players looked to know it. As a fan, I stopped rooting for Duke after the injury. I stopped rooting for any team, and just like everyone who was watching I was rooting solely for Kevin Ware. Schools, and teams, and games aside, everyone was rooting for that kid in that moment. Rivalries be damned, we were all with him.

I'll stop short of saying I'm going to be rooting for Louisville in the final four, but how can anyone root against them after the heart they showed after seeing a teammate and a brother go down in a brutal way like Ware did. I may not be a fan, but those players sure earned my respect last night and anyone who says otherwise doesn't have a heart. I wont speculate about his recovery, or his future as a basketball player but that team showed me and the rest of college basketball something special last night.

As a fan, a writer and a human being, I send prayers to Kevin Ware, his family, and his teammates through his recovery. I wish the best for him and hopefully we will see him back on the court in college basketball so he can get the ovation from fans that he deserve for pushing his teammates to that win, even though he couldn't be out there with them.