Recently in 2007-08 Game Recaps Category

Florida was so dominant on Friday night, they not only smashed the Jays by 28, they broke my internet. My cable modem, less than a year old, was completely fried, and Cox was unable to get out to fix it until Monday night. I knew the Gators were good, but this is ridiculous.

Since this post comes so late after the game, I won't waste a lot of time recapping the game. None of us wants to relive the nightmare of a 28-point beatdown to the two-time defending National Champions.

Simply put, the Jays saved one of their worst performances for last. They committed 21 turnovers, had just 5 assists, and saw Booker Woodfox go an outrageous 2-14 from the floor.

Season recap comes tomorrow, followed by lots of goodies later in the week. And just because the season is over, don't stop reading: this thing isn't going into hibernation. There will be fresh content here at LEAST two or three times a week all off-season. Its just seven months until the first game, and even less until summer league starts.

You bet.

Well, I'm sitting here at home, its 1:35 AM, and I have a bag of ice on my knee. But I'm happy, nay, thrilled to have a sore knee. Strange, I know, but this is good pain. Tonight, the Jays rallied back from 17 points down in the second half, and 11 with three minutes to play, and won on a last-second three from Cavel Witter. When the shot went in, I jumped in the air and when gravity did what gravity always does, I slammed into the seat in front of me. This gave me the most enormous charley horse the world has ever known, and also banged up my knee pretty good. But I didn't care, and in fact I jumped a second time. And a third time. To hell with it, the Jays fought back and won!

Also, its a good thing I can type, because I sure can't speak. My vocal chords are shredded to pieces. Basically, my body is a wreak and I didn't even play. This is what happens when I'm allowed room to jump, scream, wave my arms and exert physicality as a fan. Maybe its best for the hoopdy-dooers to be in their seats after all.

Nah, who am I kidding, that was a blast. 8000 die-hard fans yelling, getting on the other team and especially on the refs. Dare I say it was louder than it is with 17,000 there? Sounded that way live, and it sounded that way on ESPNU when I saw the tape.

That was a game for the die-hards, and when I looked around at who was there, it was no surprise who came out in my section. It was the people who yell and scream all year long, minus the people who sit and complain about the rest of us standing too much. Sorry, but it was a lot more fun without you. That was the most fun I've had at a Jays game since the Civic, and do you know why? There wasn't anyone around me who mistakenly believed they were at a funeral. Just real honest-to-goodness hoops fans who cared about cheering loudly.

You bet.

Stuck in Omaha for Arch Madness this year due to some other commitments, I decided to see if there was any mojo left at Buffalo Wild Wings. During the NFL playoffs, a huge group of my friends went to one of their locations in Omaha for the first Sunday of games. My buddy Gilby is from Upstate New York originally, and when his Giants won, we of course had to go back for the second round. And then for the NFC Championship. And then for the Super Bowl.

So there is definitely something going on with that. Hoping to ride on the momentum, the mojo, or maybe just the overpriced beers and expensive wings, we went there to watch the inevitable smackdown to be delivered by the Jays to the Drake Bulldogs, owners of A Proud Basketball Tradition Since November.

Well, a guy has to be optimistic even in the face of a million reasons not to believe, right? Drake is having their once-every-37-years great season, they're led by seniors who look to make shots for each other, and they're easily the best TEAM in the league. Creighton is having a rare rebuilding season, they're led by freshmen and sophomores who look to make shots for themselves, and they're the best collection of young talent in the league, but not the best TEAM. Not yet.

WHEW. Another wild Creighton-Bradley game, featuring yet another huge blown lead and yet another clutch finish. More importantly, it did not feature overtime. Most importantly, it ended in a Creighton win.

After blowing an 18-point lead, the Jays simply made the plays down the stretch, and Bradley didn't -- a shock considering that Bradley's key players are veterans and Creighton's key players are underclassmen. In a tight game in March, you'd figure the veteran team would make the plays and the young team would wilt...but the exact opposite happened. Senior Daniel Rough-in, er, Ruffin was the one missing a key free throw. Sophomore Cavel Witter was the one making two key throws.

I'm prone to occasional fits of hyperbole and plead guilty to throwing around the phrase "best ever" a little too often. But unequivocally, without a doubt, Saturday night's game was the greatest Creighton game I've ever witnessed in the 12 years I have closely followed the team. And from talking to people who have watched the team for decades, I get the impression this game easily ranks in the top five EVER and is in the discussion for the top spot. Someone really ought to compile a list of those games. Maybe that someone should be me...sounds like a project for this summer.

Beyond the obvious things making this a game for the ages -- things like a one-point win in double-overtime, Cavel Witter scoring 42 points off the bench, coming back from a 12 point deficit and blowing a 17-point lead -- when you add in the fact that it was Senior Night and two important streaks were on the line, it takes on added significance. A loss in this game and the Jays' 12-year streak of winning 10+ MVC games would end. A loss would put the Jays' 10-year streak of winning 20+ overall games in serious jeopardy.

To win a game with all that on the line, in thrilling fashion, makes it one of those games we'll all be telling our kids about years from now. Here's just some of the fun facts from the game:

I've not been quiet in my hatred for the Jays participation in Bracket Buster Saturday. I think their matchups over the years have on the whole been a joke, and the day just gives ESPN another chance to rip on the Valley. Anyone see Hubert Davis tell a nationwide audience that 24-3 Drake, the regular season MVC champs, are quote "not a lock for the NCAA Tournament"? Even Digger Phelps isn't THAT dumb, but only slightly...

In defense of ESPN, Jay Bilas called him out on it immediately, and Rece Davis made fun of the comment throughout the evening -- even at halftime of Memphis-Tennessee. After reading the highlights of the Drake game, he turned to Hubert and said, "And Hubert still thinks they're not a lock for the tournament!"

Sign Guy was in rare form at Tuesday night's game. For those of you who aren't familiar with Sign Guy, he sits about 20 rows behind the visiting bench, and frequently brings blank 20"x30" poster board to the games and then scribbles out signs during the game to hold up during timeouts. From time to time, the fuddy duddies who sit around him complain to the Qwest Center Police -- a band of rogue, glorified mall cops derisively nicknamed the Qwestapo -- and his signs are confiscated.

I had only seen the Barry Hinson sign, so I was appalled when, midway through the second half, the Qwestapo made a big production of confiscating his signs. Seriously, they sent their two biggest guys to carry out this task, probably 600 pounds of muscle to take five or six sheets of poster board. You can't tell me this wasn't for show.

The entire arena erupted in boos of such loudness that several of the Jays players looked back to see what the heck was going on. Hinson looked back too, and the game was going on!

After the loss at Evansville on Wednesday, I tried to put a positive spin on things. I wrote that it wasn't that bad in the big picture; after all, the team could still finish 11-7 in the league if they held serve at home and won one of the last two road games.

Well, now they have to go undefeated the rest of the way in the Valley to accomplish that.

***

Well, crap. Losing to Evansville is bad, and there's really no way to spin it. I'm a big believer in staying positive, but come on, EVANSVILLE? 2-11 Evansville? Nice job, guys. And again, the story of the night is free throws and turnovers. The Jays turned it over way too often and missed too many free throws, and despite that, would still have won the game. That's how bad Evansville is.

The Jays were 13-20 from the charity stripe and turned it over 22 times. That's 22 possessions where they weren't able to take a shot! Cripes.

The Jays shot a respectable 42.2% from the field (19-55), but launched way too many threes -- and missed them. 5-20 from downtown.

Meanwhile, the Aces were 30-32 from the charity stripe and turned it over just 13 times. How do you win a game when you only make 13 field goals? Make THIRTY free throws, that's how.

Southern Illinois had this coming to them. The Jays owed them a butt-kicking, and brother, that's what they got. I described the win over Northern Iowa as a "butt-kicking buffet" because they took all they wanted and then came back for more, and this was another trip through the buffet line. After the first minute of the game, there was no point where you thought Southern could win the game. It was a blowout almost from the word "go".

Does a 19-point win on national TV make up for the two one-point losses to the Salukis in Omaha the last four years? Does it make up for the six and seven point losses the two years in between? The five straight losses in Carbondale? Not entirely, but its sweet nonetheless, make no mistake. It would have been nice to win on a buzzer-beater, ripping their heart out and showing it to them while its still beating a la "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", but a 19-point blowout that was over at halftime will suffice. You bet.