Meeks, it’s time to inherit the Earth.

I think it’s time I stop having to introduce blog entries with excuses as to why I haven’t been writing, so instead of doing that, let me make a vow: never again will I allow 15 days to ellapse without me posting on this blog. Never again. This is way too much fun and there’s too much happening for such long stretches of silence.

Now the focus turns to basketball, and on this topic I have just one question: Did anybody else watch Kentucky play Tennessee on Tuesday? Because I did, and in so doing witnessed the greatest individual performance on a college basketball court I’ve ever seen. Jodie Meeks, sophomore guard for the Wildcats (yes, one of the other Wildcat teams, naturally inferior to my Wildcats of Arizona), scored 54 points on 15-22 shooting, including 10-15 from three and 14-14 from the free throw line. Fifty-four points. Unbelievable, and I can’t say that enough. The young man shattered record after record (as well as the idea that Tennessee can, in any real capacity, play man-to-man defense), including the Kentucky single-game scoring mark.

I’ve seen players go on shooting streaks that defy belief, slash into the lane at will, rebound and pass beyond their talent levels, block every shot that enters the paint. All of that is part of the excitement of college basketball — the idea that on any given night, one player can take it upon himself to single-handedly dominate a game. On the best of nights, that player creates a memory that lives forever within the history of his sport. But I have never seen one player come closer to achieving perfection for an entire game, without allowing the manacles of overconfidence to marr the result. And what’s more, Meek’s game was not limited to offense. His rebounding, defense, and passing were superb as well, which only adding to the magnificence of his achievement. Simply put, the next time this phenom plays, I’ll be sitting eagerly in front of my TV.