I have a bad temper. It runs in the family. My dad has a habit of just blowing up and I certainly do too. It’s not just randomly out of left field. It’s when a couple things happen.
- Our sports teams lose a game that they should’ve won.
- Being wrong
- Being lied to/Betrayed
Usually we lean on each other when those things happen and yell about how much we hate certain players or team management. Well… I didn’t get a chance to hangout with my dad on the gray, windy Friday morning. So imagine how gritted my teeth are as I write after I see that Tyler Herro is going to “Test NBA Draft Waters” according to the ESPN homepage and article.
Where it began
Lets take this back to September of 2016. Freshly into his senior year of high school, there was a kid who was excited that there was another kid in another part of his state that he knew and was committed to play at his favorite university as a junior. The senior was me and the junior was Tyler Herro.
Fast forward a little. A year later in 2017, that same young basketball stud decommits from the university he pledged himself to. That’s number 3. Now at this point, I had graduated high school and moved to Austin, Texas. I had only been there for 5 months at this time and didn’t have too many friends, let alone any other Wisconsin fans to bounce this anger off of. So I got on Skype and talked to my best friend. We ranted and vented saying things like “Herro will never make it there.” and “He’ll be that guy that ends up playing there for 4 years”. How wrong we were.
Number 1
Not only did Tyler Herro win during the season, but he went to an Elite 8. My Wisconsin Badgers? A loss to a hot Oregon team in the round of 64. The 3 he buried to ice the Sweet 16 game, his ridiculous free throw percentage, and the fact that he keeps winning. Steam coming out of my ears. The only thing I can do is watch.
The Final Straw
As the anger festers and implants its self under my skin like a bad rash, I can’t help but have my chest feel like it’s getting tighter and tighter as my anger works its way up to my vocal chords and I yell out “You’ve go to be fucking kidding me”. It’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The headline that I eluded to earlier “Herro to Test NBA Draft Waters” slaps me in the face. That’s number 2. Arguably, the worst of all of them.
This kid has taken my nice midwestern charm and turned it into an anger that would make me seem like a bull. If you’re the wrong person or say the wrong thing… You could be the china shop to my bull. The worst part about this whole thing? He continues to play this “so many haters” crap. Yes, you have an entire state that absolutely hates you because in the Midwest we are blue-collar, hard-working, and put family first. We don’t just leave our family out to dry, ESPECIALLY after agreeing to a long-term commitment. Tyler Herro, I hope you test those waters. I hope those waters drown you. Why? You could’ve been the player that every kid looks up to like Sam Dekker and been a hometown hero.
I promise you that your actions will only make you more hated here at home. I know you won’t be a Herro to anyone else, but your selfish self.