I recently had one of those ‘changing of the guard’ moments…driving the elder Swampette down to UD for her sophomore year. She’s the same age now, as Mrs. Swampy was when we first met at UD. It doesn’t seem like it’s been 34 years since my older brother dropped me off at University Hall on the West Side, leaving me to swelter in an un-air conditioned dorm full of guys I didn’t know. I guess it’s only fair that the air conditioning at the ‘Hilton on the Hill’ was broken when she moved in then, eh?

— Other ‘changing of the guard’ events in my future: watching the Swampettes graduate from college, walking them down the aisle, holding my grandkids and their all-time favorite, when one of them has to change my diaper.

— That last one really will be a ‘changing of the guard’ won’t it?

— The renovations on the Arena (at least what we could see on the outside) looked good as we cruised by on our way to campus. BTW, nice timing to have the Edwin Moses Blvd. ramp completely ripped up when UD students are coming back to school…I’m sure the first-timers really appreciated the detour!

— I fully intended to play some hoops – either outside or at the PAC-after offloading the elder Swampette, but the 92 degree heat convinced me that a trip to the Sub House with her and then heading home were the way to go.

— You want to know the definition of “blind faith?” That would be Chris Spears’ verbally committing to play basketball at UD for the next four years, without ever having set foot on campus.

— Hey, Moville, where you been? I haven’t seen you post on the UDPride.com Message Board for a while now.

— The elder Swampette and I saw Ryan Perryman at the Royal Oak YMCA last week. We were there to play racquetball and he was there lifting. She was dutifully impressed when I told her that RP led the nation in rebounding his senior year at UD.

— ESPN Classic had the 1988 NBA Playoff game between the Celtics and the Hawks on the other night. It was the 7th game, the one where Bird and Dominique had a mano a mano duel in the 4th quarter. Wearing #4 for the Green and logging some serious minutes at guard was Jimmy Paxson. Tommy Heinsohn insightfully pointed out that “nobody in the NBA knows how to work off of a pick better than Jim Paxson.”

— Having Pax suit up for the Cs was the absolute best – a player from my alma mater on the roster of my all-time favorite NBA team. I always hoped that Johnny Davis would end up in Boston at some point in his career, but it never happened.

— “High Henry” Finkel (as Celtic announcer Johnny Most used to call him) also toiled for the Green, as Bill Russell’s backup. Then a bad thing happened – Russ retired and Hank became the starter, until Dave Cowens came along a few years later. Finkel was and still is a tremendous fan favorite in Boston Garden.

— Speaking of the Garden, I have never set foot in the Fleet Center and at this point in my life, I probably never will. It just ain’t the same.

— What made the C’s/Hawks game weird was that Brent Musberger was the announcer 14 years ago for CBS and, simultaneously, over on ESPN he was doing the Little League World Series game between Worcester, MA and Harlem, NY live.

— Hey, maybe Yao Ming does have game after all.

— The younger Swampette’s HS – Birmingham Groves – has a real sleeper of a hoop player: his name is Vladimiras Severovas and he’s a 6’6″ up-and-comer. Here’s what Vince Baldwin of Prep Spotlight has to say about him:

“My phone is blowing up with new colleges wanting information on 6’6 Combo Forward Vladimiras Severovas from Birmingham Groves. Severovas is a super scorer who can bang inside and post up, or can hurt you with a nice 15-foot jumper. “V” was outstanding this summer while playing with the Family AAU team, and got a lot of attention at the Nike Peach Jam. Now, Western Michigan, Detroit, Wright State, Bowling Green, Toledo, Drake, Eastern Michigan, Oakland University, Central Florida, Robert Morris, and Miami-Ohio have been hot on his trail. “V” will be ranked the #3 WF in the State of Michigan in the next issue of Prep Spotlight Magazine.”

— Don’t get your hopes up – I’ve seen ‘Volva’ play and despite what Vince 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.

— Speaking of Prep Spotlight, Vince also reports that Vandalia Butler big man Seth Gorney attended the OSU/Texas Tech game, along with 9 other prime hoop recruits. Sounds like we can scratch Mike’s son off OP’s list of prospective pivots. Whatever happened to the tradition of the sons of former UD players playing for UD that was so prevalent under Don Donoher?

— UD is done with the NCAA penalties for the Clay Mathile loan to Brooks’ dad, right?

— I think Mark Adams got it right on the FlyerHoops.net Message Board: departing Strength Coach Todd Forcier is a good man who simply didn’t choose his words carefully when he was leaving. Everybody take a deep breath and cut the guy some slack.

— I sure hope the UD/Duquesne game in Pittsburgh is during the week this year, so I can combine a business trip with seeing the Flyers play…haven’t been able to do that the last 2 years, as the games were on the weekend.

That’s it “From the Swamp.”