Now that 2002 is rapidly coming to a close, I thought it might be perspirational to dig into the UDPride.com archives to see just how wrong one man can be over the course of 12 months. That’s right, kids: it’s time for the 1st Annual “From the Swamp” Year in Review!

January 12th

My first effort of the New Year dealt with a topic that has taken on a life of its own-the A-10 tournament’s migration from Philly to UD Arena. Entitled “What’s Big Time?” it included my correspondence with the lovely Dick Jerardi of the Philly Daily News, who believes it is a mistake to move from the Spectrum. I summed up the situation this way: “Let’s face it, for the next 14 months nothing you or I can say is gonna convince anybody from Philly otherwise — until they come to the UD Arena or turn on ESPN and see what we are talking about.” Still true, 10 months later.

January 21st

I finally got enough emails to do the inaugural FTS Mailbag, a mixed bouquet of corrections (from Ted Kissell); feedback (from the aforementioned Dick Jerardi); computer advice (from Joe Page on how to save emails on AOL); bewilderment (at all the nonsense going on at the Muskie Madness MB) and a request for help in finding the John Chaney quote about Dayton being “in the sticks.” The FTS Mailbag was such a big hit I waited 11 months to do another one on November 25th.

February 6th

Borrowing a page from my buddy Bill Simmons, the erstwhile “Sports Guy” from ESPN.com, I devoted an entire column to a subject that had absolutely nothing to do with basketball or the Flyers: the movies. That’s one of the advantages of having a space like this to call your own: I can write about whatever I want and nobody will give me any crap about it. I must say, you guys are a tolerant bunch.

February 21st

Whereas the previous column had zippo to do with OP and the boys, this edition of FTS was 100% on topic. That’s because Mrs. Swampy and I joined the elder Swampette at UD Arena to watch the URI tilt. What a novel concept-a guy who writes for a UD hoops site attending an actual game! It allowed me to toss up my .02 on subjects like the crowd, the cheerleaders, the music, the team, the giveaways and the dreaded early exits. The best part of the whole deal-having a chance to chat with Pete Waleskowski.

March 18th

This number was written immediately after the Flyers unexpected exit from the NIT at the hands of Tennessee Tech. In it, I made a few SWAGs and predictions. Among them were:

“If I’m Sammy Smith, I transfer to Cedarville.”

I had the destination wrong, but who knew???

“Assuming James Cripe redshirts and Doug Scott qualifies, I believe that Logan White will have the biggest impact of the 4 signees next year.”

Right; wrong; we’ll see.

“I have a good feeling that Alex Carmona will end up playing for UD, just not next year.”

Dead wrong, but for a while there I was lookin’ really prescient on this one!

“Former “NYPD Blue” star Andrea Thompson resigned from my alma mater, CNN. Gee, who saw that coming?”

Andrea is now my co-worker at Court TV!

“I bet the Flyers give the Dookies a game on national TV next fall at Cameron Indoor and I hope Vitale is there to see it.”

We’ll see very shortly!

April 14th

Another short-attention-span special, chock full of semi-lucid observations like these:

“Stop the presses-the Red Sox are in 1st place.”

Not for long, they weren’t.

“Even though David West is coming back for his senior year, I bet the Flyers beat X at least once in 2002-2003.”

Once again, we shall see shortly.

I also asked for help with a computer problem-which no one could answer. Every time I typed the letter ‘r’ my PC put an ‘n’ after it. The fix was fairly simple-spring for a new keyboard.

May 7th

This one dealt with a trip to the PAC and the chance to play some pickup ball and watch some of the Flyers do the same. It also addressed a letter to the editor in the Flyer News from one Andrew Volpenhein who complained about the crowded conditions at the PAC. Like I told Andrew, count your blessings, dude-when I went to UD, there was no PAC-just the Fieldhouse, Women’s Gym and outdoors at Stuart.

June 4th

My favorite column of the year…and not because of the subject matter. Entitled “The Breaks (and Sprains) of the Game” it dealt with the severe ankle injury suffered by the younger Swampette early in her HS softball season. She rehabbed herself all the way back, only to have her team suffer a decimating, season-ending, 1-0 extra-inning loss in the District Playoffs. At the time of her injury, Caitlin was convinced it was the end of her world as she knew it. As experience teaches us, things sometimes happen for the best. Caitlin wants to be a Physical Therapist and the PT that she worked with on her ankle hired her as a volunteer aide. This summer she’ll get paid for her work, which entails scheduling appointments, giving patients ultrasounds and all sorts of valuable hands-on experience. It just goes to show you, there is a God.

August 19th

Once UDPride.com awoke from its summer siesta, I chimed in with a column about pickup hoops at the Joisey Shore. We had a house that sleeps 8 on the bay and managed to fill it with in-laws, outlaws and la famille Swampy. Everybody agreed it was the best vacation we’ve ever had at Stone Harbor. The morning of pickup ball with Jack, Jimmy and Kyle was one of the most cerebral experiences I have ever had on a basketball court. Playing against a 6’9″ 400 pound guy was kinda special, too!

August 27th

Another collection of ‘quick-hitters’ on a variety of subjects. My favorite:

“Hey, maybe Yao Ming does have game after all.”

Whattya know-the old guy actually got one right!

I also went out on a limb regarding Vladimiras “Vova” Severovas who plays down the street at Birmingham (Groves) HS:

“Don’t get your hopes up – I’ve seen ‘Vova’ play and despite what Vince (Baldwin) says, he’s not really the banger type that OP is looking for – he’s more of a finesse guy and at 6’6″ he’s kinda undersized to play power forward.”

“Vova” subsequently signed with Wright State, so I may end up eating those words and everyone in Dayton will get to watch .

September 18th

My theory is: if it works, beat it to death! Yet another column for the spatially challenged, I offered random thoughts on a variety of subjects, including:

“Will not even qualifying for the medal round of the World Championships convince the powers that be in USA Basketball that we need to “force” our 12 best guys to play? I doubt it.”

I might actually be wrong on this one. Some of the best NBA players have already said that they are ‘in’ for ’04. Then there is Kobe, who is waiting for an engraved invitation and Shaq, who will only play if Phil Jackson is the coach. Since when do the players give the orders?

Then there was this observation on playing with former NBAer Jeff Grayer:

“Playing with a guy like Jeff makes you realize that no matter how good a player you think you are, there is a very large, wide and deep gulf between an NBA-caliber guy and the rest of us.”

Amen to that.

September 24th

More of the same. One entry foretold the ultimate outcome of L’Affaire Carmona:

“According to a poster on the FlyerHoops.net message board, players in the Puerto Rican Summer League are not eligible in the eyes of the NCAA to play D-1 basketball, which would mean young Mr. Carmona isn’t going to suit up for Memphis or UD or any big-time program in 2003-2004.”

Hello, Spain. Here’s a link: http://www.fanfilemagazine.com/general/carmona.html
“Are you ready for the Ryder Cup? Very few things in life get me as geeked, both as a sports fan and an American as the Ryder Cup does.”

Yeah, I’m ready for the Ryder Cup-in 2004, when it’s 2 ½ miles from my house.

October 8th

Are you beginning to spot a trend? Yet another column filled with –. For example:

–Whatever happened to Steve Pittman?

Still waiting to hear.

–Let’s face it: if OP can’t beat the other schools to the well-known, quality HS players, then he has no choice but to uncover and sign the unknown, quality HS recruits. Enter Chris Spears and Jeff Bro-Grebe.

Next year we need some of those well-known types.

October 15th

I’m starting to get in a once-a-week groove thang here, as the season approaches. More thoughts and innuendoes:

“How soon before the whining emanating from the general direction of Philly starts up all over again about the A-10 tournament coming to the newly-refurbished UD Arena?”

Can you say ‘millisecond.’

The Fly’s favorite Flyer nickname: “Ramod “Spelled Backwards is Domar” Marshall.”

October 24th

Hey, whattya know? A column where the paragraphs are longer than one sentence! I knew I had it in me! The subject matter was Parents Weekend, the open scrimmage and the joys of spending time with your kids. Where else can you get a Flyer preview and valuable parenting insights like this, all in the same column?

“Like most siblings, the Swampettes are convinced that mom and dad love the other daughter more. Which tells my wife and me that we are doing an okay job raising them if each feels the other is our ‘favorite’.”

October 29th

Back to the tried & true machine gun format:

“Speaking of ESPN, if they let Stuart Scott anywhere near an NBA telecast I’m gonna blow up my TV.”

They’re allowing you do the pre-game show, Stuart-don’t you dare come any closer!

“I watched Michael Jordan play the other night vs. the Celtics on ESPN and how can I put this delicately: he looked…errrr…ahhhh…normal.”

I heard a telling factoid the other day: MJ has had something like 3 single-digit games so far in this young NBA season. Prior to this year, he had 4 such games in his entire career! MJ has wisely announced this year is it.

November 5th

More of the grocery list approach, including:

“What’s the over/under on how many slams Frank Iguadola has in the opening exhibition vs. Wittenberg? I say it’s three.”

Did I say 3 slams? I meant 3 minutes of PT!

“Whatever happened to Mike Lee?”

I think he’s chillin’ with Steve Pittman somewhere.

November 15th

I took the Alan Parsons approach and actually crafted a ‘concept’ column-a visit to Borders and the b-ball yearbooks. My favorite lines come from the link to the Blue Ribbon Flyer preview on CNNSI.com:

“There’s no better basketball town in this country than Dayton, Ohio,” ESPN’s Mike Tirico said earlier this year. But truth be told, the fans aren’t the only standouts in Dayton. The team is pretty darn good, too.”

My least favorite line is courtesy of Greg “My Parents Couldn’t Spell” Doyel of ESPN.com:

“The A-10 once was thought to be approaching equal footing with the Big East, a younger sibling who is all grown up, but this season the A-10 will be more like that league’s third cousin — related, but once (again) removed from the national scene.”

November 24th

The triumphant return of the FTS Mailbag! My favorite passage was the repartee with Mike Kern of the Philly Daily News about the A-10 tourney. Here’s my shot:

“As we all suspected, what the Philly guys are really talking about is the impact on Philly coverage. They jabber on about how “the media” isn’t going to cover the A-10 Tourney in Dayton, when in reality what they are saying is “The Philly Media” might not write about it.”

The folks in The City That Will Boo Santa Claus will not let this go! There were posts recently on the Atlantic 10 Message Board from Philly fans asking why can’t it come back to the Palestra. You want to know why? Because it is going to be a hands-down, unmitigated success at UD Arena, that’s why! Is it too much to ask that Dayton be allowed to show the conference how a tournament is really supposed to be run, before you start suggesting that it be moved elsewhere?

December 5th

I love how Dan Wetzel took a nice shot at X fans in his CBS Spotsline.com column:

“You know it is time for the season to begin when a Xavier fan writes in to complain that the Muskies are being “disrespected” by garnering “only” a No. 7 ranking. I must have missed all those Final Four banners last time I was at the Cintas Center.”

That’s it…12 months worth of ramblings “From the Swamp.” It’s been my privilege to bring ’em to you. My thanks to Chris Rieman for putting up with this nonsense and allowing me my own personal soapbox from which to babble.

That’s it “From the Swamp.”