NEW ARTICLE: The Last Waltz

BEVERLY HILLS (MI) -- When the ‘70s AOR band simply named “The Band” decided to stop doing live concerts (“The Band” had been Bob Dylan’s backup musicians forever) they called their farewell tour “The Last Waltz.” Even better, they decided to film it and the documentary movie “The Last Waltz” directed by Martin Scorcese and featuring the likes of Muddy Waters (no, not the one from the A-10 MB), Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Van Morrison and Dylan is one of the finer concert movies ever made.

Thursday night in New York marked “The Last Waltz” for the Dayton Flyers in more ways than one. For seniors Marcus Johnson, Kurt Huelsman, Mickey Perry, London Warren, Rob Lowery, Dan Fox and Luke Hendrick it obviously marked the end of their careers for the Red and Blue -- or more appropriately in this case, the All Black with Red and Blue trim. Not many college basketball players get to say that they ended their playing careers with a victory, but these 7 guys did much more than that. They had a better road trip than Sherman marching thru Georgia, laying waste to teams from the MVC, Big East, Big Ten, SEC and finally the ACC on their way to the NIT crown. What was once a disappointing Flyer season ended in smiles all around.

Well, almost all around. If you look at some of the post-victory team shots, Mickey Perry looks like he’d rather be undergoing root canal. MP only got 5 minutes in the NIT Championship game and it obviously bothered him. Look at it this way, Mick: it takes different pieces of various sizes in order to put together a puzzle. The smaller ones are just as important as the large, because without them you can’t complete the puzzle. You were a big part of this team all season long, dude. I hope you know that.

How fitting is it that UD won what will most likely be the last post-season NIT, given our deep history with the Madison Square Garden Party. The way I look at this impending situation is that the NCAA is simply rebranding the NIT from an also-ran tournament to including those teams who would fall into the NIT into a bigger, better Big Dance. How can that be a bad thing?

What expanding to 96 teams will do is create a different dynamic. Schools will now fight to be one of the 32 squads that get an automatic bye into the 2nd round. There will still be Cinderella stories, upsets galore and plenty of March Madness to go around. What there will no longer be is a list of deserving schools that get pimped out of the NCAA tournament every year.

And obviously, it will mean the end to the annual Play-In Game at UD Arena, but so what? Other than demonstrating that Dayton has the best college basketball fans in the country and making the U a few bucks, what point did the PIG really serve?

The 7 seniors were not the only ones who ended their careers with a win. Class of 2010 recruits Brandon Spearman and Devin Oliver led their respective high school teams to an impressive string of victories and State Championships.

Will the NIT Championship mark the last game in the Flyer career of Chris Wright? I don’t know, but I previously covered this topic in an earlier “From the Swamp” entitled “Should He Stay or Should He Go?"

http://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12740

Finally, will UD Head Coach Brian Gregory succumb to the financial enticements of the DePaul Blue Demons in his hometown of Chicago, to Boston College or some other as-yet-unnamed school looking for a quality guy to run their program?

I think you got a measure of the man when BG flatly refused to even address the Iowa coaching vacancy while the Flyers still had work to do. Says a bit about the Hawkeyes that they couldn’t wait a few days for BG to finish said work, too, doesn’t it?

BG was stung by the cascade of boos that rained down on him and his players at UD Arena at halftime of the SLU game. He was near tears in the press room afterwards. Hopefully, the NIT run has washed away that pain. I wouldn’t want that momentary expression of frustration on the part of some of the Flyer Faithful to influence Coach Gregory’s decision making processes.

In the end, I think that BG has too much invested in this school, this team and this town to walk away now. Not when it’s just starting to get interesting.

Should he listen to what DePaul and other schools have to say?

Sure.

It doesn’t cost anything to listen.

Should he jump?

We can only hope that he doesn’t.

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

	Chris Wright CHRIS WRIGHT 6-8 225lb | Trotwood Madison, HS (OH) A10 All Rookie Team. Preseason 2008 2nd Team All A10. Member of the UD Flight Club with a 40+ inch vertical leap. Consensus Top-75 national recruit. Uncle is former Flyer J.D. Grigsby. Nickname is Top Flyght. CAREER STATS 2007-08 10.4ppg 5.7rpg

	London Warren LONDON WARREN 6-0 185lb Junior Raines, HS | Jacksonville FL Nicknamed the "Jacksonville Jet", London Warren is perhaps UD's quickest player baseline to baseline. Leader in steals defensively, he likes to push tempo on offense. Working on his shot and confidence at the charity stripe. 2007-08 | 4.3ppg 2.9rpg 2006-07 | 2.4ppg 1.7rpg

	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.

	Saint Louis SAINT LOUIS Saint Louis University is a Jesuit, Catholic university ranked among the top research institutions in the nation. The University fosters the intellectual and character development of more than 12,700 students. Founded in 1818, it is the oldest university west of the Mississippi and the second oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Located in St. Louis, MO, and just five minutes from the Gateway Arch, SLU offers 85 undergraduate programs and over 50 graduate study tracks. Over 99% of the SLU faculty hold the highest degree in their respective fields. Fellow member of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Billikens, but also commonly known as "Sloo", the phonetic pronunciation of the school's initials. Athletic claims to fame include multiple national titles in men's soccer and men's basketball star Larry Hughes.

	Brian Gregory BRIAN GREGORY UD Men's Basketball Head Coach since 2004. Groomed by the likes of Judd Heathcoate and Tom Izzo at Michigan State, as well as Kevin O'Neill and others, Gregory's defensive-minded leadership has led Dayton to NCAA and multiple NIT appearances. A good recruiter, BG has elevated the athleticism of the squad in recent years and kept top area talent at home. Still looking for that breakthrough season with his own players that catapult him to the NCAA tourney. Graduated from Oakland University.