By far the saddest part about everything that happened yesterday is that a fine performance by the Hoosiers — a well-executed gameplan against a good team — went totally by the wayside. It was overshadowed. Overshadowed not only because Brian Butch hit a lucky (yes, it was lucky) banked three-pointer from about 24 feet to win the game, but overshadowed by the giant inky-black specter of the NCAA’s announcement about major violations yesterday.

Sunday, the Hoosiers (to my mind, at least), took a significant step forward to alleviating a lot of the obvious concerns about them as a whole. Last night, they continued that pattern, albeit in a flawed loss. That progress — think how bad they looked the first game against Wisconsin — should be the story. But as I sit and write this, attempting to write about what’s happening on the floor reeks of blind fandom. It feels like ignoring the giant elephant in the room. Be positive! Think good thoughts! Talk about basketball! Easier said than done.

And that’s the problem. It’s not the sanctions themselves — we’re all adults here, and we can get over it. Kelvin Sampson getting fired? C’est la vie. Life goes on. Another lost scholarship? Sucks, but it’s not devastating. Kent Benson getting all worked into a froth again? Not exactly newsworthy.

No, the problem is that because of Kelvin Sampson’s utter stupidity, enjoying the game for what it is in its rawest, purest form — a group of almost-student-athletes competing with their school’s name on their shirts — is now impossible. Watching this team develop into a tournament contender is ruined. Our expression of basketball fandom is tainted. To paraphrase Christopher Hitchens, sanctions poison everything. That’s not fair to D.J. White and Eric Gordon and Armon Bassett and the rest, and it’s not fair to us.

So thanks, Kelvin. Thanks a lot. Idiot.

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