BEVERLY HILLS (MI) – The Flyer Faithful are facing a weekend without their favorite hoop team taking to the hardwood. That’s what happens when the Atlantic 10 Conference is in actuality the Atlantic 15 – one team is always going to be without a dance partner. Call it a ‘bye week’ or whatever, but it sure seems weird not having a game to watch tonight or tomorrow or Sunday for that matter.

The good news is that the ‘bye week’ finds the Flyers at the top of the A-15 standings at 3-0 and playing outstanding basketball, particularly on the defensive end. As UDPride MB poster Glen Clark pointed out, UD is currently ranked #11 in FG % defense and #6 in PF committed. That is an absolutely insane combination, particularly when you take into account that only 7 scholarship Flyers are currently suiting up.

All is not totally lost this weekend, however. Obi Toppin will be dressed and available tonight when New York takes on the Raptors in Toronto. I haven’t watched a Knicks game since #1 went down a few weeks back and it will be good to see the big fella out there again.

Elsewhere in Flyerland:

– Even injured, Dayton Basketball makes claim to be best in Atlantic 10

https://bustingbrackets.com/2022/12/29/even-injured-dayton-basketball-makes-claim-best-atlantic-10/

– Mus with the steal; a behind the back pass to Tou; a flush for Deuce. The best sequence from the SJU blowout:

https://twitter.com/DaytonMBB/status/1610808886063431680?cxt=HHwWgIDU7beJ39osAAAA

– Hal McCoy’s summary of the St. Joe’s game:

https://pressprosmagazine.com/2023/01/05/mccoy-unselfish-flyers-romp-past-st-joes/

– A nice video summation of the Davidson business trip (stay to the end for AG’s comments):

https://twitter.com/DaytonMBB/status/1610083877015494656

– Love this picture from DaytonFlyers.com simply entitled “Them”:

– The “Field of 68” podcast takes a look at the big reason behind Dayton’s 6 game win streak — DaRon Holmes:

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1PlKQpzqwEaxE

– At this early juncture, resident UD stat head Bob Arciero’s (AKA UDPride MB poster LIBob) 2023 A-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament Seeding Probabilities have the Flyers with a 79% chance of finishing first:

https://twitter.com/liminutemen/status/1611030952695812096/photo/1

– Joey Brackets currently has UD in the Big Dance:

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/bracketology/ncaa-bracketology-2023-march-madness-men-field-predictions

In his “Behind the Brackets” column Lunardi makes the observation that the Flyers are among those schools that have feasted on Quad 4 competition while struggling with Quad 1 -3 opponents:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/35371552/behind-bracket-2022-23-implications-nonconference-schedules-bracketology

– Cameron Holmes the younger brother of DaRon has received an offer from the Flyers:

https://twitter.com/WilloughbyLane/status/1607546757721751553

– Top 50 sophomore EJ Walker will take an unofficial visit to UD on February 10th for the SLU game:

https://twitter.com/jakeweingarten/status/1607426187961171968

– From the wayback machine: Paying to Play in Memphis? The Strange Case of Tennessee’s Jock Tax and how it directly impacted UD’s Chris Johnson

https://grantland.com/the-triangle/paying-to-play-in-memphis-the-strange-case-of-tennessees-jock-tax/

– Randy Nonnenberg, founder of Bring a Trailer and the “Internet’s Coolest Car Guy”:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-12-14/randy-nonnenberg-the-internet-s-coolest-car-guy-bloomberg-50-2022

– Franco Harris, Phil Villapiano and their intertwined history in the Immaculate Reception of 1972

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35306819/harris-villapiano-immaculate-reception-1972

– I’m proud to say that I worked in the industry back when “radio was cool.” Consultant Fred Jacobs reminisces about those days:

https://jacobsmedia.com/when-radio-was-cool-2/

– Now that Christmas is over, we won’t have to listen to “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” until next September. I often wondered who the very distinctive voice was behind that tune and it was a gentleman named Thurl Ravenscroft. Turns out he was also the voice behind Kellogg’s “Tony the Tiger” as well as for attractions at Disneyland and Disney World:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurl_Ravenscroft

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
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