There's nothing like a Dana Altman press conference to make it abundantly clear how terrible the team is. Even in years when the team wins 20+ games, he takes every opportunity to tell anyone who will listen that they don't play good enough defense, they don't rebound, and they've got to get a lot better.
"You don't just turn it on and off like a light switch. Our habits are bad, our approach to games and practice are bad, and we've been talking about it for weeks. There's only so much the coaching staff can do. Hopefully, the players will put some pressure on each other and start being accountable...We had no attention to detail on the offensive end. We made no effort to communicate anything defensively and gave up a lot of easy shots. We had no physical play on the boards, and we committed 20 turnovers. Poor free-throw shooting showed a lack of focus. All that shows how much work we have to do." -Dana Altman
When was that quote delivered? Last week? After the Nebraska game on Saturday? Nope. November 13, 2006, right before the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils came to Omaha to play the Jays. Anyone remember the score of that game?
Jays 78, MVSU 42. Now, I'm not foolish enough to believe the problems facing that team are exactly the same as the ones facing this one, nor am I trying to say they can fix what ails them overnight. I'm just saying...
*****
After a road trip where the Jays blew double-digit leads in two consecutive games, Creighton returns home to take on an overmatched opponent in the midst of an eight-game opening season road trip. Further, after two games of disciplinary action against their most explosive player, P'Allen Stinnett returns tonight, although his role has yet to be determined.
Yeah, this is stacking up as a blowout of historic proportions. I mean, it better be. One look at the lunatic fringe that has taken over the Bluejay Cafe in the last week tells even the most outside of observers that a close game tonight might spark a Simpsons-esque "Marching with Torches" scene.
Notice I said "close game" and not "loss". There's no conceivable set of circumstances in which the Jays do not win this game. None. Even with a lineup of Antoine Young, Dustin Sitzmann, Chad Millard and the two lanky walk-on kids whose names I don't even know, the Jays win by 10. And actually, that might be the lineup for the last few minutes of this game, once the Jays are winning by 35+.
And that's not just Max Univers, Super Fan talking, either. Although if you asked me the score between the Delta Devils and the Jays, my answer would be eerily similar to that of the Super Fans.
One Big Paragraph With Lots O'Dots (TM): Mississippi Valley State played in the NCAA Tournament last year after winning the SWAC. The Delta Devils were beaten by top-seeded UCLA 70-29, making only 13 of 66 shots for a percentage of 19.7%, the lowest in the NCAA tournament since North Carolina State made 19.5% in 1950...In the midst of a season opening eight-game road trip, MVSU have lost to Arizona State, Washington State, Arizona, Iowa State, Oklahoma, and will soon lose to Creighton and Kentucky...In their eight losses, they've been outscored 81-53, out-rebounded 40-28, and outshot 54%-34%. Ouch...Their first-year head coach is Sean Woods, who would have been the hero of the 1992 Regional Final after he hit a shot to give Kentucky the lead with 2.1 seconds left. Christian Laettner had other ideas, and the ESPN Classic staple reduced Woods to a footnote.
The Last Time They Played: The Jays won a 76-46 game over the Delta Devils last November, which I called "unexciting" and "uninspired" at the time. A blowout without a signat.ure play.
Gratuitous Linkage: In 1967, the great Van Morrison wanted to get out of an onerous record contract, but he owed the label one more album. So he went into the studio, and recorded 31 tracks of genius. Covering topics from ringworm to wanting a danish, to hating his record label and a guy named George, you have to listen to the whole thing to appreciate it, because once he gets through the first few tracks, he really gets on a roll.
My friends and I have used several lines from this set of tracks as catch phrases for years. On a given night, you might hear me exclaim, "Do you want a danish?" From time to time, my buddy Herculanum will call and leave me a message that says, "I regret to tell you...you've got...ringworm." Always slays me.
I won't provide a link where you download the tracks, because that would ostensibly violate all sorts of laws, but do a search on your favorite BitTorrent site. Trust me.
Official Gametime Snack: Free popcorn from the Jaybacker roped off "room". Hey, the economy is officially in a recession AND I'm currently unemployed after being laid off the Friday before Thanksgiving after nine years, so I gotta take all the free stuff I can get! Don't judge me! Ha.
The totally random song I'd play right now if I were still a radio DJ: Genesis, "Land of Confusion"
True story to segue you into that song: For some reason, this song came to mind when I was in the bathroom searching for answers Saturday night during the Creighton-Nebraska game. No reason, I suppose, other than the fact that a awful late-90s Phil Collins ballad was playing on the PA.
OK, one quick story before its prediction time. A couple of summers ago, me and four buddies piled into my pickup and were driving across Minnesota on a road trip. Genesis' "Abacab" came on the 80s rock channel on XM (the full version, not the radio edit!), and one of the guys said, "Wow, this is the coolest Phil Collins song EVER." I answered, "That's because its not Phil Collins. Its Genesis."
My buddy replied, "Of course, that explains it." If that isn't an indictment of Phil Collins solo career, I don't know what is.
The Totally Random Song I'd Play if I were Still a Radio DJ, Lunatic Fringe of Bluejay Cafe Edition: Red Rider's early 80s rock song "Lunatic Fringe", as made famous in Season 1 of Miami Vice
Prediction: Jays 93, Delta Devils 48
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