RAMSEY: Losing puts things in perspective for Henke
Andrew Henke talked quietly about "the team we used to be."
You know that team, those Air Force Falcons who battled out of the Mountain West basement.
In Henke's first three seasons, Air Force won 66 games, including 30 in the MWC, traveled to the NCAA Tournament and briefly were among the nation's top dozen.
Ah, the team that used to be.
The 2008-2009 Falcons have lost 17 straight, failed to win in conference, watched thousands of fans flee and fall into the MWC Tournament as No. 9 seed.
The Falcons play Colorado State tonight in the MWC Tournament's play-in game.
Anwar Johnson, Henke's fellow senior, shook his head as he considered his team's long fall back to the basement.
"It's been a difficult road," Johnson said. "I never imagined it being as it is now."
Henke agrees.
"To lose 17 in a row," he said before pausing.
"It's inconceivable."
Seniors Henke, Johnson and Matt Holland enjoyed the latter days of AFA's basketball revival. They remember loud, packed houses at Clune. They remember a 2006 NCAA Tournament battle with Illinois.
They walk away from a disastrous season with only a few worthy lessons.
"Definitely, I've learned things," Henke said. "I've learned there are a lot more important things in this world than winning basketball games."
This lost season has helped Henke grow more thankful for his health and his family's health. And he's earned a deeper appreciation for loyalty.
"It's made me a little deeper, I guess," Henke said. "A little more in tune. Everyone wants to be your friend when you're winning 25 games a year and a lot of those people go away when, you know, there's no winning.
"You learn and find out which people really care, which don't. You learn about people in general. There are definitely people who retreat when times are bad but also people who stick around to make sure you get through tough times."
Henke mentioned football players Hunter Altman, Keith Madsen and Spencer Armstrong as friends in these bad days.
In a season when hundreds of AFA cadets decided they had better things to do than watch their classmates play basketball, Altman, Madsen and Armstrong remained faithful.
Henke saw and heard the trio each home game. Finding and hearing his football friends wasn't difficult. This season, Clune became a strangely peaceful destination.
At times, Henke, Holland and Johnson couldn't help but travel to the recent past.
They looked at empty seats and remembered when they were jammed with shouting, stomping fans. They remembered nights brightened by victories.
Defeat emptied Clune. Defeat drained much of the joy from the game.
"It's not easy losing, you know," Henke said in a near-whisper.
We know, Andrew.
