From the Latin word, meaning “all things about or pertaining to the Flyers”, I bring you Flyeriana:

— One of the benefits of being an old fart, is that I have a very long memory. I can remember back to when UC (and X, as well) had some really bad teams and got their butts kicked on a semi-regular basis by UD. I don’t remember the Flyers ever running up scores — like Huggs did in his 1st game vs. OP — or a UD player dunking with 2 seconds left in the game, as happened in the most recent tilt. I would like to think that when (not if) BG and the Flyers beat UC again that they will do so with class.

— If I had to venture a guess, I would say that Nick Stafford is red-shirting this year.

— Hey, whatever happened to the pride of Covington Catholic, George Schloemer?

— Over on the WSU MB, they recently ran a poll as to whether UD should once again play the Raiders in hoops. Repeat after me: “It ain’t gonna happen.”

— One of the RaiderRoundballites also questioned the motives of the DDN’s splendid Tom Archdeacon, after he wrote 2 favorable pieces about WSU. He’s waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Arch to do a hatchet job on the Raiders. Like the Buffalo Springfield said “Paranoia strikes deep.” Not everything is a commie plot, dude. Right, Cigar Boy?

— Don’t know where he gets his wardrobe, but Brian Gregory certainly cuts a very authoritative figure on the sidelines, doesn’t he?

— Can’t remember who first mentioned it or on which Flyer MB, but BG does sound exactly like Michael J. Fox!

— Talk about tough decisions: the DDN’s recent 100th Anniversary Flyer All-Star Team made for some true dilemmas. Such as how do you squeeze Johnny Davis, Donald Smith and Jimmy Paxson into a 2 man backcourt? I went with Johnny D and Smitty, because I saw just about every game each of them played. The frontcourt was easy: Don May and Velvet. At center, you had to go with “High Henry” Finkel, or at least, I did. How about you?

— Hang in there, Jim Jabir…better times are coming.

— Sammy Smith is averaging 9.5 PPG so far this year for Damon Goodwin’s Capital University hoops team.

— Nice to see the Orlando Magic slowly starting to turn things around under new Head Coach Johnny Davis. A few weeks back, his old Blazer teammate Bill Walton had some great things to say about ‘Little’ Johnny Davis:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=walton_bill&id=1678129

— How many sets of rosary beads do you suppose #1 Flyer Fan Rita has gone thru in her years of following the Red and Blue?

— Jason Osborne is averaging 11.4 PPG and 7.6 RPG for the 3-5 St. Francis (PA) Red Flash.

— I have never been to Las Vegas — Mrs. Swampy and I aren’t big gamblers and we have never had a reason to go there. The 2005 Las Vegas Classic, featuring 8 teams, with 2 Flyer home games at UD Arena and then 2 games in Sin City might, however, change my mind.

— Is SpokaneBearcat gone from the UDPride.com MB yet? Oy vey. My favorite was when he posted (on both UDPride.com and FlyerHoops.net, mind you) that the refs for the UC game were from the A-10. Nice try, ace…they were C-USA zebras and, from all reports, they were awful.

— It won’t be long until our friends from the Jesuit school to the south will make their semi-annual appearance on both Flyer MBs. I have a feeling they won’t be quite as cocky as in years past and with good reason. As I have previously stated, I refuse to post on an opponent’s MB and talk trash. I’ll lurk and see what they have to say, but if I have anything to add to the discussion, I’ll do it here.

— 6 worthy additions to the UD Hoops Hall of Fame: Alphonse Schumacher (1912-14), Jim Palmer (1954-57), Gene Klaus (1964-67), Dave Colbert (1984-86), Anthony Corbitt (1986-90) and Ryan Perryman (1994-98). And no, I didn’t get to see Schumacher play (or Palmer for that matter). Saw Klaus on TV in the NCAA title game vs. UCLA in ’67 and the other 3 live and in person. That last trio are 3 of the best bangers that Flyer Fans have ever seen.

— The reviews are starting to come in on BG’s Class of 2008:

…Brian Roberts made the All-Tournament Team at the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL and Toledo St. John’s finished 4th in a very tough field.

…Trent Meachem is “an outstanding basketball talent. He does everything that you want a point guard to do. He can shoot with range and accuracy, he can drive and dish, and he has a strong handle and leadership skills” according to a poster on the ChicagoHoops MB who has seen him play. He’s averaging roughly 19 PPG, 5 RPG and 5 APG for Peoria (IL) Centennial.

…Jimmy Binnie is just lighting it up in his senior year at Johnston, IA. He had 35 in his last game before the Christmas break and #5 ranked JHS is undefeated thus far.

…Norm Plummer is averaging almost a double/double for Hargrave (VA) Military Academy — 15.6 PPG and 9 RBG — on a loaded 8-1 squad that was ranked #1 at one time and probably will be again.

…Info on Chris Alvarez is a little harder to unearth — I think the Blair Academy (NJ) website is shut down for the holidays — but I did find this recent item on Yahoo Sports: “A big-time sleeper recruit is Dayton big man Chris Alvarez, who is playing his final season at Blair Academy in New Jersey, the same school that produced Duke’s Luol Deng and Connecticut’s Charlie Villanueva. Alvarez attacks the glass ferociously, is an outstanding shot blocker and is the kind of player who should fit nicely in Dayton’s recent history of having solid post players.”

Sounds like a nice group of guys, doesn’t it?