Behold the Janus-faced Flyers

BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — In Greek mythology, Wikipedia tells us, Janus is “the god of beginnings and transitions.” They go on to explain that “he is usually a two-faced god since he looks to the future and the past.” It was only fitting then that I found myself sitting in the Greek Islands restaurant in Chicago’s Greektown with Mrs. Swampy, the Elder Swampette and her roommate (UD grads all), trying to keep tabs on the Janus-like Flyers in their face-off with Isaiah Thomas U on Saturday evening. If you thought that the FIU game was hard to watch online because of those lousy camera angles or even in person, imagine trying to follow the contest only by the grace of periodic scans of Gametracker on an iPhone while eating dinner. The 1st half updates were followed by confused “WTF?” comments; the 2nd half scoreboard checks were greeted by “WTF?” reactions of a much more agreeable nature.

UD outscored FIU 39-10 in the 2nd stanza?

Go figure.

— Former DDN and Hall of Fame baseball scribe Hal McCoy doesn’t write about Dayton Basketball often, so when he does the Flyer Faithful should listen. He refers to this year’s edition as “Jekyll and Hyde” (a story which was based on the Janus legend) in this piece from his new employer, Fox Sports Ohio:

http://www.foxsportsohio.com/12/09/11/Dayton-Flyers-are-Jekyll-and-Hyde/landing_dayton.html?blockID=623038&feedID=3725

— Adam Zagoria tells us a couple of things about Wednesday’s Flyer opponent, Seton Hall that you may not know: Jerry Palm and Joe Lunardi both currently have the Pirates dancing in March and SHU will have 6’8” frosh Brandon Mobley eligible for the UD game:

http://www.zagsblog.com/2011/12/15/palm-has-seton-hall-in-the-big-dance/

— It’s a shame that Archie couldn’t join big brother Sean in the “Shots from the Heart” free throw contest amongst Division 1Hoops Head Coaches, with the proceeds going to the Skip Prosser Foundation:

http://www.collegeinsider.com/shots/headcoach.html

— UD has been pretty well represented thus far in The Mid-Majority’s 800 Game Project, where normal fans provide their perspective on college games involving at least one so-called “Mid-Major.”

Here is a link for the USC-Upstate game: http://www.midmajority.com/p/2275

One for the Alabama upset: http://www.midmajority.com/p/2258

And two of ‘em for the UNCW opener. Here: http://www.midmajority.com/p/2098

And here: http://www.midmajority.com/p/2099

— Speaking of local sports coverage, here is a blog that follows Dayton HS sports that I had never encountered before, Dayton Sports Beat:

http://www.daytonsportsbeat.com/

— Linky goodness to the new TV spot for the Good Samaritan Flyin’ to Hoop HS Tourney:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9wtp4K-nPw&feature=youtu.be

— The parade of mid-season transfers has begun in college hoops. Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports provides an early list:

http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/33892727

— The biggest name and largest head shaker thus far? Freshman center Khem Birch of Pitt, who was a starter playing major minutes for the Panthers:

http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/33896127

Then again, Birch attended five, count ‘em, five different high schools, finishing up at my alma mater, Notre Dame Prep. Goodman pointed out in a later Tweet that in the Jamie Dixon era at Pitt, only DeJuan Blair, Chris Taft and Birch have been starters as freshman.

— Looks like I’m not the only one out there in cyberspace who is shunning the FaceBook phenomenon:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/technology/shunning-facebook-and-living-to-tell-about-it.html?_r=3&ref=business

— Whereas Rush the Court provides evidence as to why college players should be allowed full access to Twitter:

http://rushthecourt.net/2011/12/14/social-media-or-why-kbutter5-shows-why-coaches-should-let-athletes-use-twitter/

— This dude has obviously wasted a lot of time playing Pop-a-Shot basketball:

http://www.fark.com/vidplayer/6825550

— Sometimes nature is just freakin’ awesome, especially in HD. Let’s watch what happens when a school of fish and a flock of seagulls (Hey, I remember that band!) feast on a bait ball:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quwebVjAEJA&feature=player_embedded

— If you wonder why the great Joe Posnanski hasn’t been posting to his JoeBlog.com website lately, he has been doing it at his Sports Illustrated blog instead:

http://joeposnanski.si.com/

— Gotta love this video of an equipment manager for the Miami Redhawks football team named Chad, a guy who definitely has more bounce to the ounce:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pYup0SRZao

— Heartwarming story of Iona Head Coach Tim Cluess and his effort to keep his brothers’ memory alive:

http://espn.go.com/new-york/story/_/id/7350224/iona-gaels-tim-cluess-keeps-brothers-memories-alive

— John Williams is the greatest movie score composer of all time and it’s not even up for debate:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203893404577098730827733806.html

— Men in Black 3 won’t be in theaters until next May, but here is the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyaFEBI_L24&feature=player_embedded

— The ultimate Christmas light display:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c48_1323992553

Merry Christmas to all Flyers everywhere!