The Reality of the "Bad Loss"

BEVERLY HILLS (MI) -- It is still early in the 2013-14 college hoops campaign, but the Dayton Flyers have managed to follow up an inspiring 3-1 road trip to BG Land and Maui with an all-too-normal loss in Normal to Illinois State. About the only good thing you can say about the L vs. Doug Collins U is that it was on the road, as the Redbirds RPI of 137 (and that is after beating the Flyers) isn’t gonna light a fire under the NCAA Selection Committee when they pow wow in March to determine the Flyers fate.

We have seen this movie before. Longtime Flyer Faithful will harken back to the el foldo that the Flyers did back in 2003, when they returned from Maui with the Championship trophy and promptly lost to Marshall. Or they will recall the 30 point nightmare loss to Buffalo that BG’s Boys slept thru in 2009, the last time the Red and Blue were ranked.

But here’s the thing: Those losses don’t mean squat to the current Flyers squad.

Archie and his staff were not here then; all of the current players were in grade school or middle school when those disappointments happened.

The problem is that we were here and we remember!

As the comic strip character Pogo so eloquently put it:

“We have met the enemy and he is us.”

So yeah, the Flyers lost and promptly fell out of the Top 25 almost as fast as they got into it. That ain’t the end of the world. Hell, they toppled precipitously all the way down…to #32! Knock off red hot Iona, USC and Ole Miss and say hello to the Top 25 again.

But fellas, a word of advice: before you accomplish all of the above, don’t forget to run those Chippewas right out of UD Arena and back up I-75 on Saturday night.

Because that really would be a “bad loss.”

Elsewhere in Flyerland:

-- As the French would say, we have “beaucoup de links” from our friends at RushtheCourt.com.

First, RtC checks in on the Atlantic 10:

http://rushthecourt.net/2013/12/12/c...tlantic-10-46/

Next, RtC takes a look at the NCAA Tournament resumes of “The Other 26” and UD is amongst those highlighted:

http://rushthecourt.net/2013/12/12/q...er-26-resumes/

Then, RtC takes stock of the A-10 vs. the rest of Division 1and uses UD as a shining example of the conference’s strength:

http://rushthecourt.net/other-26/

Finally they proclaim that Dayton is “Flying to Unexpected Early Heights” in a piece written right before the ISU debacle:

http://rushthecourt.net/2013/12/04/d...early-heights/

BTW, “Swampy” in French is “Marecageux.”

-- As well as UD has started off this year, fellow A-10 member UMass has opened the season even better:

http://rushthecourt.net/2013/12/12/u...-early-resume/

-- Sports on Earth had a great article on Fordham’s frosh sensation Jon Severe and now it seems to have disappeared. Here’s the link just in case they get around to fixing it:

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/64502360/

-- There are dark times ahead for Brian Roberts and the NOLA Pelicans:

http://www.nola.com/pelicans/index.s...facing_so.html

I forgot that the Pistons were playing the Pelicans on TV here in Motown last night, but I didn’t miss much as B-Rob got the dreaded DNP-Coach’s Decision.

-- Former New York Daily News sportswriter Dick “Hoops” Weiss got laid off from the newspaper and has promptly reinvented himself:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/col...ews/index.html

-- The Pine Club made The New York Times “Top 10 list of the World’s Greatest Old Dining Institutions”:

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2...itutions/?_r=1

One of the greatest undergraduate olfactory pleasures was driving down Brown Street and smelling the onion rings and steaks grilling behind the green awning.

-- Say hello to “Trick Shot Titus”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX0Iy93nqKs#t=24

-- Ever wonder what happened to the cast of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Wonder no more:

http://www.shortlist.com/entertainme...e-are-they-now

-- “The Not-So-Sweet Tweet of the Week” comes to us courtesy of “The Voice of the Flyers” Larry Hansgen:

“Central Michigan FT% 6th in the nation. UD, 180”

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: swampy@udpride.com

	Flyer Faithful FLYER FAITHFUL Best college basketball fans in the country. Knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and loyal. Help to create one of the toughest home courts in the nation at UD Arena. Over 12,000 fans a game put the Flyers in the Top-30 nationally in attendance. Fan spirit and support growing to other UD sports and athletic programs as well.

	Massachusetts MASSACHUSETTS UMass Amherst, the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system, sits on nearly 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, 90 miles from Boston and 175 miles from New York City. The campus provides a rich cultural environment in a rural setting close to major urban centers. UMass enrolls over 20,000 undergraduates and 5,000 post-grad students. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Minutemen. Women's teams known as the Minutewomen. Sports achievements include NCAA Final Four appearances in men's basketball and women's soccer.

	Fordham FORDHAM Fordham University is an independent Jesuit university established in 1841 as St. John's College on old Rose Hill Manor in the village of Fordham, then part of Westchester County in the Bronx, NY. The name Fordham is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words "ford" and "ham," meaning a wading place or ford by a settlement. Rose Hill is the name given to the site in 1787 by Robert Watts, a wealthy New York merchant, in honor of his family's ancestral home of the same name in Scotland. The College was originally staffed by diocesan clergy. The name was officially changed to Fordham University in 1907. Fordham's 10 schools enroll 14,448 students. There are 7,652 undergraduates, of whom 3,842 live in University-managed housing either on-campus or in the local community. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Rams. Athletic claim to fame is consistent mediocrity in nearly all sports and few A10 title winning programs.

	Larry Hansgen LARRY HANSGEN The long-time voice of the Flyers on NewsTalk Radio WHIO, Larry Hansgen provides play-by-play for all University of Dayton men's basketball and football games. Hansgen also serves as News Director for WHIO 1290 AM and 95.7 FM.