Being a sports fan is such a weird and wonderful thing. A person who truly loves a sport or a team, or is an all around sports junkie can be brought to unimaginable joy or utter despair by a win or loss. Athletes become idols. Coaches become never-met mentors. Hometown columnists become the people you look to for an in depth opinion, or the people you hate for their outlandish views. Even the broadcast teams become family.
I consider myself lucky to have had the pleasure of meeting Craig Sager a handful of times. But even before I met him, he was a staple in my life, and a part of the basketball family.