Increasingly, college basketball is a future-tense business. What’s going to happen? Who’s going to sign? No time to enjoy current success or savor past success when you must fret about what’s to come. Bracketology before Thanksgiving (November Madness?).
Even a rivalry as great as Kentucky-Louisville, which returns on Saturday, dare not dwell on the past. So Patrick Sparks, the hero in the UK-U of L game 10 years ago, can seem a figure from the distant past. His game-winning free throws literally in the final split-second are a misty memory.
When asked Monday to recall beating Louisville for Kentucky in 2004, and also help update fans on what he’s been doing, Sparks offered a charming bit of self-deprecation.
“Somebody might read something about me again,” he said in a deadpan tone. “Who knows?”