Pour One Out for Auburn Beer Guy, Who Stole the Show

MINNEAPOLIS — Kyle Guy’s potential game-winning three-point attempt missed the mark. Auburn had completed an epic 10-point comeback in the national semifinal and secured a spot in the title game. Twenty feet or so in front of me, the Tigers student section, euphoric from the improbable ride, erupted. People jumped on chairs like a smitten Tom Cruise. Pandemonium ruled the day. Objects went flying as if they thought they could roll Toomer’s Corner from thousands of miles away in Minneapolis.

And one guy, well, he did this.

It was the highest of highs. Five seconds ticked by. Then 10. Everyone who saw it processed it, then came to terms with it, then let the laughter ruminate. It was a joyous, pure act. Stupid, yes, but born out of pure bliss.

The roar and fury began to dissipate, though, and turn into something else. Anger or confusion. Maybe both. A few hundred feet away, the Virginia bench was celebrating. Bruce Pearl was apoplectic. A foul had been called.

The biggest moment of the biggest game of the season came down to a judgement call. A call that felt late because of the wildness. And because of the dude who stole the moment with his own personal beer bath.

Guy, cool as ever, stepped to the line. A once-giddy Auburn student section took on a different chaos. Middle fingers were ubiquitous. Aggrieved cries and protestations rang out with no resolution. They were helpless. Helpless when Guy sank the first. Then the second. Helpless as the attempt to ice him with a timeout dragged on. Finally, helpless as the third successful try went in.

A Hail Mary attempt fell short. Auburn’s season was over in the cruelest way imaginable. Fans, out of answers, heaved objects at the officials as they sprinted for safety.

The air was heavy and combustible. It didn’t take long for a spark to ignite. It came from a likely and poetic protagonist. Beer Guy had his hands behind his back and was being escorted away by security. It’s unclear what happened but one figures it was for flying too close to the sun.

Watching life change like that is something. Arresting. We are all hanging on to this perilous existence, trying to do the best we can. It’s downright humbling how fast things can change in an instant.

It’s not often one has a front-row seat to the birth of a meme. It’s special. Perhaps beautiful.

For as confusing as the suds-shower made the already confusing final seconds — and as challenging the emotional journey it took us on — there is perhaps no better encapsulation of the March Madness experience. Hopes and dreams are legislated 40 minutes at a time. Each of the 2,400 seconds count. Each can lead to celebratory toasts or the drowning of sorrows.

What starts as one can end as the other.

Bottoms up to Auburn Beer Guy, wherever he may be. Not all heroes wear capes and this one quite literally wears defeat.