Now that the thinly veiled "holiday," brought to us by co-conspirators Hallmark and FTD Florists, has drawn to a close, the chocolates have been eaten and the flowers are wilting, it astounds me that people still buy into this gig. In addition, audiences across America are lining up to see "Message in a Bottle," the Kevin Costner/Robin Wright-Penn slice of cheese-fluff being served up at the local Cineplex. These are the same people who made "Titanic" the biggest grossing movie at the box office of all time.

So, evidently people are hungry for emotion, and why not at this blasé time of year? But rather than dressing up in red, buying pink champagne and spreading rose petals around, take a trip up to The Bryce Jordan Center on a weekend for a Penn State women's basketball game.

You'll get the full gamut of human emotions and a bag of chips.

Take this past weekend. Friday night, the No. 16 Lady Lions played host to No. 2 Purdue. What ensued after the opening tip was nothing short of a war -- two of the nation's premier women's basketball teams playing their guts out, leaving every bit of drive, determination, drop of sweat and "uumphh" on the Jordan Center hardwood.

A last-second Boilermaker rally sent the game to overtime, and another last-second shot gave Purdue a 76-74 victory in a game you wish both teams could have won. Certainly both deserved to. As the buzzer sounded for last call in the extra session, the Boilermakers were feeling the highest high sports has to offer, the satisfaction and jubilation of a hard-fought victory, while the Lions sat stunned, stinging from the defeat and knowing that all they had give wasn't quite enough.

Fast-forward to the media room 15 minutes later.

Carolyn Peck, coach of the victorious Purdue squad, sits with her two star players, Stephanie White-McCarty and Ukari Figgs. Though Purdue has just won the game, Figgs practically taking victory from Penn State herself, the trio sits somber and stone-faced.

In her Tennessee drawl, Peck explains that the victory means that much more to the team because two days prior, Figgs' grandmother died. Figgs left her Kentucky home early that morning to begin a harrowing trip that got her to Happy Valley, where she was a hero in her team's victory.

A poised Figgs answered questions about her ordeal, fought back tears, offered glory to God, praise to her teammates and dedicated the game to her family and her beloved "Granny." Before being overcome by emotion and succumbing to an ocean of tears, White-McCarty said how much she and her teammates wanted to win the game for Figgs. A solemn silence came over the room, broken only by the soft weeps of the Purdue players. Truly a bittersweet symphony played out for Figgs and her teammates.

Now skip ahead to Sunday. The Lions are taking on Minnesota at the Jordan Center in their last home game of the season. It is also the last home game for seniors Clara Carter and Christine Portland.

After a week of traditional "senior week" pranks from their teammates, both players are sentimental about playing before the home crowd for the last time. The moment gets the best of Portland. Tears stream down her face as she walks to mid-court with coach Mom, Rene, for a pregame ceremony. Christine grew up watching the Lions and her mother, and is winding down a dream that put the screws to their relationship throughout the four years she played. In the end, their love for each other won out and the mother-daughter, coach-player relationship was a success. The Lions won handily, 88-56, and sent their seniors toward postseason play in style.

So there you have it from one weekend of Penn State women's basketball -- joy, pain, disappointment, elation, sadness, victory, defeat, the fire of competition, the love of team, love of alma mater and love of family -- all rolled up in a La Bamba-sized burrito of human feeling, soul and emotion.

All you got in Titanic was overacting and a bad Celine Dion song.