Mission Accomplished?

BEVERLY HILLS (MI) -- One thing on which Xavier fans and yours truly can totally agree is that my record as a prognosticator is somewhat spotty at best…especially when it comes to those Flyer road games down at Norwood U. Call me stubborn, but I’m gonna keep pickin’ UD to win down there until I finally get it right.

I do a lot better when UD is at home facing the X men in the Arena hard by I-75: last week I had said the Flyboys would win by 14 and they ended up beating Eggs by 25. After the X victory, I came up with this item:

“When properly motivated, this Flyer team can play with anyone. Now what BG and the Boys can and must do is this:

Come out with even more intensity vs. Charlotte on Wednesday and blow them out by an even bigger margin than they did the Mouskies.

Xavier was a must win game for the Flyboys; Charlotte will be a statement game, i.e., make no mistake: the Xavier blowout was no mistake.”

And dang if the Flyers didn’t go out and smoke the ‘49ers by 28 which, last time I looked, is indeed a number that is larger than 25. How did that happen?

The very next thought in that column was this:

“While UD has established that they can play with anyone, it remains to be seen whether they can play with anyone, anywhere.”

Which brings us to the St. Louis game.

Whattya think? Should I go ahead and predict that UD will trounce SLU by 40, just to see if they can keep this up?

The weather gods are doing everything they can to help the Flyers:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs...cxtype=feedbot

While Thick Rick and his boys are holed up at the Philly airport, an anxious Flyer Nation wonders which Dayton team is gonna show up on ESPNU at 4:00PM this Saturday? The one that fell in Philly to a lightweight SJU squad and then (thanks in part to some bad cheesesteaks) lost a heartbreaker at home to URI? Or the one that most recently embarrassed the-then-top rated A-10 team for 2 games in succession?

Good question.

The old saying is that “life imitates art.” I much prefer the more sublime “basketball imitates politics.” Stay with me, here.

I can’t remember a more glaring case of political miscalculation than the speech delivered by Dubya on the decks of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. You remember that one, don’t you?

http://www.yougotstyle.org/archives/...complished.jpg

“Mission Accomplished?” Not so much. Just ask the men and women who are currently serving in Afghanistan seven years after Bush’s premature annunciation.

In hoops parlance, Bush went for the Sports Illustrated cover when, in reality, he probably should have limited himself to posting in a game thread on some message board somewhere.

My point? The Flyers haven’t accomplished jack as of yet. Okay, they crushed X on national TV, which is always fun. And yeah, they dismantled UNCC while most of us were hitting “refresh” on the DaytonFlyers.com website. So what?

Here’s how BG phrased it on DaytonFlyers.com:

“You don’t want the guys sitting around feeling satisfied because they got the win on Saturday. We have to keep getting better and improving. The win was great, but how we did it and how we are progressing is more satisfying.”

And RL provides some insight on the team’s thought process:

“Coach tells us to think about controlling one game at a time. We can’t think about the NCAA Tournament, that’s last year. We need to focus on one game at a time. I think it’s helped us in the second half of the season, not thinking about the NCAA Tournament and the future.”

Bottom line:

Don’t peek at LaSalle.

Don’t prepare for Duquesne.

Don’t look ahead to Temple.

Don’t concern yourself with UMass.

Don’t think about Richmond.

Don’t worry about facing SLU at home on Senior Night.

Don’t even start to make travel plans for Atlantic City.

And whatever you do, don’t assume you are a “lock” for the NCAA.

Until you accomplish the mission at hand. Focus all your effort and energy on one thing: beating St. Louis in the Gateway City on Saturday afternoon.

And then say “next?”

One of my favorite pieces of video from the Red Sox 2004 season is Kevin Millar talking to his teammates around the batting cage at Fenway before game 4 of the ALCS vs. the Yankees. His quote:

“Whatever you do, don’t let us win tonight.”

He went on to explain that if the Sawx won game 4, then they would have Pedro, then Schilling and in Game 7, anything could transpire.

Which is exactly what happened.

8 in a row.

World Champions.

Mission accomplished.

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

	Xavier XAVIER MUSKETEERS Dayton's biggest rival dating back to the early 1900s. Founded in 1831, Xavier University is a Jesuit, Catholic university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its three colleges offer 78 undergraduate majors, 43 minors and 11 graduate programs to 6,646 total students, including 3,961 undergraduates. The University is the sixth-oldest Catholic university in the nation and one of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities nationwide. Xavier's nickname is the Musketeers and are fellow A10 Conference members.

	Temple TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple College became Temple University in 1907. Located in Philadelphia, Temple is a comprehensive public research university with 34,000 students, 8 campuses, and 300 academic degree programs. Notable alumni include Bill Cosby and Daryl Hall. Temple's nickname is the Owls and are fellow A10 Conference members.

	Richmond UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND Founded in 1830, the private liberal arts university in the Commonwealth boasts 2,800 students in 57 majors within its picturesque 350-acre campus. The Robins School of Business is one of the Top-20 business schools in the country. Nickname is the Spiders and are fellow A10 Conference members.

	Rhode Island RHODE ISLAND The University of Rhode Island was chartered as the state's agricultural school in 1888. The school became the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in 1892. Located in southern Rhode Island, URI is a quintessential New England campus - rural in feeling yet close to the city of Providence, the state's capital. Linked to the city, the beaches, and nearly every corner of the state by both rail and public transit, the campus is easily accessible from Boston and New York URI currently offers 100 majors in seven degree-granting colleges. There are more than 12,000 students on the Kingston campus, about 3,000 in Providence, and a complement of about 700 faculty. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Rams.

	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.

	St Joseph's ST. JOSEPH'S Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851, Saint Joseph's University advances the professional and personal ambitions of men and women by providing a demanding, yet supportive educational experience. One of only 139 schools nationwide with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter and AACSB business school accreditation, Saint Joseph's is home to 4,200 full-time undergraduates and 3,100 graduate, part-time and doctoral candidates. Located in urban Philadelphia, SJU is a fellow member of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Hawks. Athletic claim to fame is is the Hawk mascot, a university student on full scholarship who wears a Hawk uniform and flaps his wings continuously for an entire athletic event. School spirit slogan is "The Hawk Will Never Die."

	Duquesne DUQUESNE Duquesne University is a private, coeducational university, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania located on 48 secluded acres, on a bluff above downtown. Founded in 1878 as a Catholic college by the Order of the Holy Spirit. It is the only Spiritan institution of higher education in the world. Duquesne offers 10 schools of study and 100 degree programs to 6,000 undergraduates and 3,800 graduate students. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Dukes.

	LaSalle LA SALLE In 1863, La Salle University was established through the legacy of St. John Baptist de La Salle and the Christian Brothers teaching order, which De La Salle founded 300 years ago. Located in Philadelphia, La Salle is an educational community shaped by traditional Catholic and Lasallian values. La Salle's main campus is an ideal place for students to pursue an education. The 130-acre park-like setting includes 54 buildings and is located approximately six miles from Center City Philadelphia. The University can accommodate 2,114 resident students in its 12 residence halls, two apartment complexes, and 75 townhouses. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Explorers. Notable athletes include Tom Gola and Lionel Simmons.

	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.

	Charlotte CHARLOTTE UNC Charlotte is one of a generation of universities founded in metropolitan areas of the United States immediately after World War II in response to rising education demands generated by the war and its technology. Now a research intensive university, UNC Charlotte is the fourth largest of the 16 institutions within the University of North Carolina system and the largest institution in the Charlotte region. The university comprises seven professional colleges and currently offers 18 doctoral programs, 62 master’s degree programs and 90 bachelor’s degrees. More than 900 full-time faculty comprise the university’s academic departments and the 2007 fall enrollment exceeded 22,300 students. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the 49ers.