Decompressing

That photo kind of captures Saturday night perfectly. I took it from my press seat during Illini player introductions to show how the glow of the ribbon boards and the Jumbotron (plus all of the orange-clad fans in the seats) made the entire place glow orange, even the UConn sections. But it also captured the UConn student section turned away from the court (not a big deal - something every student section does), flipping the bird to Illini fans (something every UConn student section does). I'm sure you saw the video of the UConn fans taunting Illini fans coming down the escalators after the game with those same birds. They are... everything everyone says they are.

But that's not the point of my post. I just thought it was an interesting picture. My point is that I'm sitting down five days later here to decompress. I had three weeks of non-stop "compression" – either thinking about, or traveling to, or watching and writing about Illini basketball – and this week I've slowly let the air out of the air mattress. I'm not depressed and I'm not upset. I've simply been lowering my personal PSI.

I've found that The Week After in 2026 doesn't feel like The Week After in 1989 nor 2005. And, honestly, it doesn't feel like The Week After in 2001 or 2024. And it certainly doesn't feel like The Week After in 1987 or 2021. It might be one of the more pleasant Week Afters I've experienced?