BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — It may not be Alanis Morisette-level irony, but you gotta ask yourself “isn’t it ironic?” On the same day that UD’s Chris Wright (pretty much the poster child for how to conduct oneself on a basketball court) became a pro with the Golden State Warriors, the Xavier Musketeers and Cincinnati Bearcats embarrassed themselves; God; their universities; their mothers; their conferences; their city; Chick “The Chickster” Ludwig; Nick, Rosemary and George Clooney and Skyline Chili lovers everywhere on national TV.

— Just about everything you ever wanted to know about “The Crosstown Brawl” is contained in this “After the Buzzer” summary courtesy of Rush the Court:

http://rushthecourt.net/2011/12/12/atb-crosstown-brawl-edition/

— About the only thing the guys at RtC missed was this video done by someone in the X student section that clearly shows Tu Holloway started the whole fracas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4MtsKshlUM

What about Kenny Frease going after a female UC fan? I guess if you are only gonna suspend Tu for one game for what he did, then it stands to reason that Kenny should get off scot free, right?

— Talk about fortuitous timing, The Chronicle of Higher Education chose Sunday of all days to publish a series of articles entitled “What the Hell Has Happened to College Sports?”

http://chronicle.com/article/What-Happened-to-College-Sports/130071

— College Chalk Talk’s Ian Nolan tries to put a positive spin on his weekly Atlantic 10 Notebook:

http://collegechalktalk.com/conferencenotebooks/atlantic10/12.12.11nolan

— On a more uplifting note, Assistant Coach Kevin Kuwik has posted his latest blog for College Chalk Talk:

http://collegechalktalk.com/coachesDiary/dayton2/2011-12/12.13.11kuwik

— Phewww, that was too close for comfort! My all-time favorite NBA team the Boston Celtics were perilously close to signing former X player David West:

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=7337518&wjb

Thankfully, West went to the Indiana Pacers instead.

— UD’s loss to Murray State is looking more and more like what should be the proverbial “good loss” if there is such a thing. The Racers beat #21 Memphis over the weekend and were rewarded with their own ranking in this week’s polls, checking in at #24.

Gary Parrish at CBS Sports thinks there is a good chance that MSU could run the table:

http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/33833225

And so does stat dork Ken Pomeroy:

http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/murray_state_and_the_quest_for_the_holy_grail/

— Speaking of Memphis, what the heck was their PA guy drinking when he announced “and the Head Coach of the Memphis Tigers — John Calipari!” before the Murray State game?

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

— JJ Huddle provides a history of Ohio Mr. Basketball winners and this year’s candidates, which includes both of UD’s resident signees Devon Scott and Jalen Robinson:

http://www.jjhuddle.com/news/articles/2011/12/7/ohios-mr-basketball-the-history-and-a-list-of-2012-favorites

— “The 50 coolest sports pictures of 2011” according to The Bleacher Report:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/974141-the-50-coolest-sports-pictures-of-2011

— The neatest Christmas light illusion you will see all week:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=11a_1323551517

— I don’t get it. Why is it that just we Flyers are being singled out and required to turn off all electronic devices before takeoff if there is no proof that they actually interfere with the plane’s radio signals?

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/disruptions-fliers-must-turn-off-devices-but-its-not-clear-why/?ref=business

What’s that? Fliers? It’s all “fliers” and not all “Flyers?”

Never mind.

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: [email protected]