A day in the life of Michigan fans getting their hopes up again

For some reason, it felt like a good idea to do a blow-by-blow recap of the day leading up to the National Championship game between Michigan and Villanova.

This could really go either way. Let’s get right to it.

7:43 a.m. - Well, that was earlier than I had planned on waking up. Almost a full 14 hours to kill until this basketball game

8:16 a.m. - A bowl of cereal and a strawberry banana yogurt will do the trick for breakfast. A nice foundation for a long day of waiting around.

9 a.m. - Start work at day job. Continue planning for NFL Draft coverage. See that Mike McGlinchey from Notre Dame is 6-foot-8. That’s a good power forward size. Oh God. Thinking about basketball again. Get nauseous. Go for short walk.

10:40 a.m. - Interview hit with SB Nation Radio. Try my hardest to sound confident while also dealing with a bit of internal screaming when asked about how to stop Villanova.

11:17 a.m. - Start typing out this blog for content purposes and to document my descent into madness with 10 hours still to go until tipoff.

11:21 a.m. - See this tweet from Drew. Feelings of euphoria mixed with knowledge of good guys finishing last washes over my body.

12:45 p.m. - Days like this have a tendency to be prone to stress eating. I’m no different. Thanks to UMBC’s upset over Virginia, Little Caesars was giving away free lunch combos. Although, the drive-by saw people attending in numbers that resembled a Harry Potter midnight showing. No dice. A half flatbread pizza and side caesar at a local brewhouse while working will have to do.

The server ended up being a Michigan fan and talked about having a labrador at home. Bonus points. Today isn’t so bad after all.

2:51 p.m. - Upset stomach setting in after back-to-back radio hits in Phoenix and San Diego, respectively. Not sure if because of game or indigestion from pepperoni on flatbread. Tums time.

4:02 p.m. - Nothing sets me more at ease than a picture of a dog, prompting this tweet from the main account. This is called using your powers for good.

4:30 p.m. - It worked. My heart is full.

5:57 p.m. - The day’s work is complete until later. Laptop closed. Dinner to be consumed. Elliptical to be used. Time to clear the head.

8:56 p.m. - Back in the saddle. Watching from home. Exact quote: “Sorry, but it’s about to get annoying in here tonight.”

10:24 p.m. - It has been annoying. However, I forgot to fill this thing out. It’s been a lot of cursing, a lot of fist pumping, and a few times of screaming into pillows. And the crappy part is I left out some awesome reactions. Hopefully that isn’t the last of it.

The stress eating begins. A small chocolate brownie and Goldfish. All that’s missing is a kid to trade me his snackpack.

10:33 p.m. - Holy hell this halftime is insanely long. Probably for the best. Michigan can settle down and make adjustments and the wishful thinking here is that Villanova cools off.

10:41 p.m. - Down 14 just like that. When will this hell end in big games for this university? This is so damn painful.

10:43 p.m. - Just choked on water and survived. This night is the worst.

10:51 p.m. -

11 p.m. - It really sucks waiting all day and talking yourself into a win only to get kicked square in the groin.

11:06 p.m. - My negatively has moved to the main site handle.

11:09 p.m. - And now to my account.

11:14 p.m. - Numbness sets in. No anger. No sadness. Just want this to be over. I’d imagine most folks felt this far earlier than I.

11:17 p.m. - As I sit here, Michigan down 69-50 (not nice), it doesn’t feel like a magical run that got extinguished. Most of this group will be back next year. They’re going to be a factor again. Maybe they can be next year’s Villanova.

11:28 p.m. - I turned the game off. I don’t want to hear Jim Nantz’s stupid end of game phrase. I don’t want to see the confetti. I don’t want to see Michigan walk off the floor with its heads hung low and tears rolling. That would hurt more than the game did.

11:41 p.m. - There’s nothing else to say. Nothing else to type. This was a fun group and a fun year and there are memories I’ll never forget both covering games live and some of the places I saw the games during this tournament.

So now we turn our attention to hockey and spring football. A lack of a title does not make this year any less great, but that it was so close and couldn’t happen again just stinks for the fans.

Who knows if it will ever change? We will still be here, though. It’s the moral victories around here that count.

Perspective will come from this site on the season and what’s next. Let yourself hurt for a bit so we can give this team the respect it deserves moving forward.