Near the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, there are train tracks. After LSU beat Texas in the Elite Eight and the Tigers' celebration was over, it was quiet in the dome.
From a distance came the faint sound of a train's steam whistle. In a happier world, it might have been the sound of The Train, revving up for the trip to the final stop-Indy.
But it wasn't, because the Blue Devils had already lost.
So ends The Train's journey-it's time to say good-bye.
I'm not going to give you an image to explain away what happened in Atlanta. I won't call it a train wreck or a penny on the tracks or a derailment. The Train just stopped before it got to its destination. Hey, it happens.
But it was a great ride while it lasted and The Train has some thank yous. After the LSU game, Coach K said a season should end with his team cutting down the nets or crying in the locker room, and The Train (U.S. Patent No. B3946006 Pending) is no exception. So if it gets a little dusty in here and anyone starts tearing up, we'll have a good explanation.
(Cue Green Day singing the "Time of your life" song. Here comes the montage.)
Thank you Lee "The Human Emotional Highlight Reel" Melchionni for your towel-waving, fist-pumping and court-kissing. The journey would not have been the same without you.
Thank you Shelden Williams for returning for your senior year and for your frequent lessons on the principle of verticality. Thank you for four years of the most blocked shots and rebounds in Duke history.
Thank you Sean Dockery for The Shot II, for playing consistent hard-nosed defense and for never complaining about playing time.
Finally, thank you J.J. Redick for post-game record-breaking ceremonies, for countless ridiculous shots and for your tears when the season ended. It was nice to know it meant so much.
Before The Train stops, I would be remiss if I didn't thank LSU's fans for making sure I sampled the crow after Duke lost. My compliments to the chef, the cajun-flavored crow was stupendous.
I also appreciated your e-mails wondering if I would be able get a ride back to Durham and letting me know that Glen Davis and John Brady were willing to vacate their seats on The Train. It was nice of you to be concerned about my transportation.
As for the e-mails calling my sexuality and/or intelligence into question, I can only say that the internet is such a wonderful thing. It allows for the exchange of intellectual discourse on important subjects without spending money on stamps.
Anyway, most of what was written in The Train was tongue-in-cheek. No rational person could have meant everything I wrote. (Except for predicting the Dockery shot, that was totally true.)
In the end, maybe The Train wasn't Tony Kornheiser's Bandwagon and maybe this Duke team wasn't as good as I thought, but at least we had fun, right?
To paraphrase the late, great sportswriter Jim Murray, writing The Train was like riding a tiger. I didn't want to keep riding the tiger, but I also didn't want to get off.
I'm off the tiger now, and its okay. The Train may be done, but we'll always have the t-shirts.
Choo, choo (forever).
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