What can I say? I'm addicted to college basketball. And to the buzzer beaters. To the overtimes, to the the bands, fans and the refs.

And I am only a lowly hoops scribe.

But I will say this. Christian Laettner is my hero. WOOOOW, what a shot. I sure wish I could do that -- take a bomb out of mid-air and flick my wrist. Piece of cake.

And I'll say this, too. The Big Ten is the best basketball conference in the land -- look who's in the Final Four. Bobby Knight is the world's greatest motivator -- His teams win. Maybe if Bruce Parkhill would have cancelled Saturday's annual team banquet like Knight did a few weeks ago, then the Lions would be playing Notre Dame tonight for the NIT Championship. Juuuust kidding.

But you know something, I really enjoyed covering the Penn State's men's basketball team. Yes, it was a lot of hard work and yes, I earned some frequent road tripping miles with my partner, Dave Pencek -- together we trekked to six different states.

I learned about deadline pressure. About being accurate. About writing with style. I learned about people. Mostly, I enjoyed watching a basketball program function from within -- even if I only got to see a small part of it.

There were times this season where the team could have caved in. But no player did. Even after they got robbed at James Madison. Or after a crazy loss to Penn. Or after a grueling double-overtime loss to Temple.

A couple of days after the Pitt loss, I saw Freddie Barnes shooting around at Rec Hall, smiling and pretending that he was Eric Mobley bending rims. I said to myself, "Damn. I wonder how I'd feel after a tough loss like that, knowing that I'd never play for Penn State again?"

I really admired the way Barnes dealt with that painful defeat and I congratulated him on a fine career.

After March 18 there were suddenly no more last-minute interviews to get, no more press conferences to schlepp to and no more stinking pre-stories to write. I was without a job.

So I'll spare you the regurgitation of old stats'n'stuff. I've created something a bit off the wall, at least for The Collegian. The All-Faggen Awards, based solely on what I saw during this independent season at home and on the road.

I'll begin in John Madden's honor. After all, I am sort of borrowing his idea. Sue me.

The All-Penn State Madden award goes to forward Matt Gaudio. He bleeds. He sweats. He has a couple of degenerated discs in his back. And he's only a freshman.

The Chevy Chaser goes to Steve Wydman. He loves Fletch. He impersonates players.

The Homer Simpson "Dooope, you little . . ." Award goes to forward Greg Bartram. Just respell his last name and call him Bartman.

The Ren & Stimpy Award goes to the Monnie & Freddie backcourt, which wreaked havoc on its opposition. The defensive Brown cashed in offensively. Barnes became all-time assist leader. Both scored over 1,000 points.

The True Artiste is Eric Carr, known for his trademark alley-oops.

Kevin McHaler: Dave Degitz -- this warrior plays with bumps, bruises and sprains all on one leg. He even shoots like McHale.

The Walking Dead Award to forward Elton Carter. A knee here, an ankle there, a finger. Throw in a neck for good measure.

All-Energizer Crowd : JMU's amplified Electric Zoo.

All-Apathetic Crowd: The Rec Hall dead, who only reanimated when Pitt arrived.

Dave and Pete's Bogus Journey: A trip to Butler in Indianapolis --Jan. 21. I get the Mario Andretti Award for revving the Collegian Car as if I was on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The "Forgettables": Watching Penn State blow lead after lead in the second half and almost lose to UMBC. Watching players miss big free throws. Seeing Hayes on the foul line all by himself against Penn -- he missed one of two. Watching the Lions struggle with Pitt's inside game, or with Temple's press.

Finally, the "Unforgettables": The comeback at Illinois. Monnie scoring 30 against UMBC. Beating Morgan State by 51. Monnie's trey at ODU. Barnes skying for 15 boards against Temple.

All in all, a different type of season. A season to remember.