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<p>I had a little trouble finding a way to get this column started, which considering the subject matter is quite appropriate.</p><p>Our old coworker Van Rose, who passed away a few years ago, was known for having trouble coming up with ways to start his stories.</p><p>Whenever that would happen, he would inevitably find his way to my office.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s so simple a monkey could write it,&#8221; Van would tell me in his unique Southern drawl, &#8220;once you give me the lead.&#8221;</p><p>So thanks, buddy, wherever you are. I&#8217;m sure you are the one that saddled me with the little case of writer&#8217;s block.</p><p>There was probably no one more dedicated to the paper in the history of the Times Leader than Van.</p><p>But there was one thing Van was more dedicated to than the good old TL &#8212; college basketball and the Kentucky Wildcats, in particular.</p><p>To say Van, an actual University of Kentucky graduate, was a diehard Wildcat fan would have been a gross understatement.</p><p>Ask Van who invented basketball and it wasn&#8217;t John Naismith. It was Adolph Rupp.</p><p>According to Van, Rick Pitino was a genius. Greatest coach ever. The man could walk on water. Right up to the time he took that Louisville job. Then &#8230; Well, I don&#8217;t think I can print what Van had to say about him after that.</p><p>Eddie Sutton? Not a name you mentioned that often around Van.</p><p>John Calipari? &#8220;As pure as Ivory soap,&#8221; Van would often boast of the current Wildcat coach.</p><p>Heck, Van even had a ceramic basketball figure that someone had painted for him in Kentucky colors that sat on his desk. &#8220;The Little Kentucky Man&#8221; the rest of us would call him, which could be confusing because we also referred to Van by the same name. Whenever the Wildcats would lose, someone would kidnap the figure for a few days.</p><p>And if Kentucky was playing, you could count on the first thing Van doing when he walked in the door was asking someone to make sure we had the game on one of the office TVs.</p><p>&#8220;Now, you know what the most important thing is tonight,&#8221; Van, who was a little behind the times when it came to technology, would say. &#8220;We have to get the Wildcats on the TV.&#8221;</p><p>Didn&#8217;t matter if the game was televised or not. Van just expected us to find it.</p><p><strong>A dark day for Mr. Rose</strong></p><p>So now you should know what kind of day March 28, 1992, was for our old friend.</p><p>If the date doesn&#8217;t ring a bell, it was the day of &#8220;The Shot,&#8221; the Christian Laettner game or whatever you want to call it.</p><p>Many call it the greatest game in NCAA Tournament history. Van never, ever referred to it that way.</p><p>If you&#8217;re still not familiar with the game, you are either in your teens or just not a college basketball fan. Of course, I&#8217;m talking about the Wildcats heartbreaking 104-103 loss to Duke in the East Regional Final.</p><p>The day didn&#8217;t start out well for Van. Another coworker called off sick that day. Van, always being one to lend a hand, offered to work on one condition, he would come in after the Kentucky game.</p><p>The Wildcats had finally returned to national prominence after coming off NCAA sanctions and had a date with the defending national champion and top-seeded Blue Devils. Our old friend wasn&#8217;t about to pass up a chance to see his beloved Wildcats pull off a major upset and earn a trip to the Final Four.</p><p>And, of course, by now we know how the game ended.</p><p><strong>Wildcats came so close</strong></p><p>Kentucky appeared to have it won. With just 2.1 seconds to play, the Wildcats were up one. The Blue Devils would have to go the length of the court just to get a chance at a game-winning shot.</p><p>And then the madness happened.</p><p>Duke forward Grant Hill unleashed a baseball pass from underneath the Kentucky basket to Laettner near the opposite free-throw line. Laettner grabbed the ball as two Kentucky defenders backed away from the Duke star.</p><p>One dribble later Laettner unleashed a shot that ended the Wildcats&#8217; season and broke Van&#8217;s heart.</p><p>True to his word, Van did come to work that night and did his typical job on the sports copy desk.</p><p>I don&#8217;t believe he spoke word, though. And I don&#8217;t think anyone else in the newsroom had the courage to speak to him.</p><p>But had the Kentucky coach, Pitino, just had a man guard Hill to contest the pass, the play never happens.</p><p>We would have had a much different copy editor on desk that night, but Van and I would have lost one great running joke. (Well, at least for me.)</p><p><strong>Good times and last laughs</strong></p><p>I never let Van forget Pitino failed to have a player on Hill.</p><p>Didn&#8217;t matter what game was on or where we were. If there was an inbounds play on the TV, Van knew what he was going to hear from me.</p><p>&#8220;I bet Tom Izzo covers the inbounds man.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I bet Roy Williams covers the inbounds man.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I bet Pat Summitt covers the inbounds woman.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I bet John Quinn covers the inbounds man.&#8221;</p><p>But don&#8217;t be too hard on me. It was all in good fun with Van, and I think he enjoyed being needled as much as I enjoyed kidding him. It got to the point that if I missed a chance to hit him with my usual refrain, he would remind me.</p><p>And he did have the last laugh. He lived long enough to see Kentucky win two more national titles and he did leave me with this darn case of writer&#8217;s block.</p><p>So rest in peace, my good friend. And wherever you are, I hope the inbounds man is covered.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">AP photo Duke&#8217;s Christian Laettner runs down the court after making the last second, game-winning shot to defeat Kentucky 104-103 in overtime in the 1992 East Regional Final in Philadelphia. Laettner&#8217;s big shot is one of the most memorable plays in college basketball. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_AP_9203281382-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>AP photo Duke&#8217;s Christian Laettner runs down the court after making the last second, game-winning shot to defeat Kentucky 104-103 in overtime in the 1992 East Regional Final in Philadelphia. Laettner&#8217;s big shot is one of the most memorable plays in college basketball. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Joseph-Soprano-1.jpg">
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<div class="neCaption">Bob Esposito 3/21/00- VAN ROSE</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_new_van_rose-1-.jpeg</photo2><caption2>Bob Esposito 3/21/00- VAN ROSE</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Joe Soprano</p><p>Contributing Columnist</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Assistant News Editor Joe Soprano at 570-991-6393 or on Twitter @TLnews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Joe Soprano, Opinion: A classic game, but rough night for an old friend