March 2008 Archives

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.

I was going to write a pregame analysis of this game, and then I decided to go drink a bunch of green beer instead for St. Patrick's Day. Something has to give, and when the competition is writing versus green beer, the latter wins every time.

In lieu of an original post, I want to share an email from a reader who happens to be an Arizona fan. Sure, it has nothing to do with Creighton or Rhode Island, and he does take some veiled shots at some teams near and dear to us, but it made me laugh, and that's good enough for me.

There's two schools of thought to the NIT. One is championed by my friend Art, who says an NIT berth is an embarrassment, is not something to be proud of, and a real fan would ignore it because its ultimately meaningless. Even if you win the tournament, you're "only" the 66th best team -- the best of the non-NCAA participants.

The other school of thought is championed by me. I say the NIT is still postseason basketball, and while its not something to brag about if you make it a yearly habit, its better than staying home. Since national media types are so dead-set in using football names to classify basketball teams, I'm going to use a football metaphor and you can't stop me! Ya ha! You bet.

After the loss on Saturday to Drake, I took no fewer than four phone calls from people wondering if I knew whether the Qwest Center would be available for a NIT game. (It is). These same people prefaced their calls by asking whether I think the Jays have any shot at an at-large bid (I didn't, and I still don't).

In an ideal world, the fourth place team in the seventh or eighth best conference would be squarely on the bubble, and with a couple of breaks, could find themselves in. Of course, we don't live in such a world. The world we live in is one where a game between two pedestrian Big East teams is billed as an "elimination game". That's how the Worldwide Leader in Horse Poop billed the Villanova-Syracuse game on Wednesday. 19-11 Villanova and 19-12 Syracuse. After Nova won, they're 20-11, and according to the WWL, they're in, and Syracuse is out.

Nothing puts a smile on my face faster than hearing Jim Boeheim's team won't make the tournament. There's not a coach in America with a bigger sense of entitlement, in my opinion, and seeing his team shipped off to the NIT makes me very happy.

While its not a sure-thing that the Jays are out of consideration for the NCAA tourney (although if I were a betting man its damn close), its important to note that the NIT is not the only alternative. The College Basketball Invitational is in its inaugural season, and will compete with the NIT for the leftovers after the NCAA has its pick of the Top 65.

Of course, the NCAA being the NCAA, they are attempting to strong-arm schools into accepting NIT bids instead of CBI bids. The NCAA owns the NIT now, in case you'd forgotten, and in a genius but ethically-questionable move, they asked schools to sign a contract promising to accept an NIT bid should they receive one. This, of course, ensures that the NIT will get the 32 best teams that aren't in the NCAA tourney, thus leaving the CBI with a bunch of crappy teams with losing records.

Its disappointing to me, because I was kinda looking forward to seeing someone duke it out with the NCAA, and maybe get into a bidding war for schools. It would be like a college version of Donald Trump outbidding NFL teams for players for the New York Generals of the USFL, and who wouldn't love to see that?

Alas, the NCAA doesn't like competition, and they've done what they could to squash the CBI before it even begins. Too bad. One of my readers sent me the following editorial about the CBI, and I think its a worthy read, so I'm publishing it below.

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: