BEVERLY HILLS (MI) –- It is at times like these in the course of another neuroses-inducing Flyers’ season that we should turn to that noted philosopher Don Henley for some sage words of advice. These lines are taken from his tune “Shangri-La”:

This ain’t no Shangri-La
To you, no Shangri-La
This ain’t no Shangri-La
Nobody knows no Shangri-La

No one can decide
What we all must outrun
Who’s gonna carry the weight of the world
Until we learn to stop
and do what must be done?

No, Don, this really “ain’t no Shangri-La” is it? If it was, Chris Wright would be 100% healthy; Charles wouldn’t have screwed up his foot; the flu bug wouldn’t have made the rounds with the team and UD would still be ranked, with their admittance to the Big Dance a foregone conclusion and not totally dependent on their performance in AC.

“Do what must be done?” Hmmm, now that about sums it up in a nutshell, doesn’t it? The first order of business for the boys in Red and Blue: beat the Billikens like a rented mule on Wednesday at noon. The Flyers have handled SLU twice before during the regular season, the 2nd meeting a 63-36 trouncing that was accomplished without the services of Charles Little. I like UD’s chances this time around with a healthy Charles.

A win on Wednesday sets up another lunchtime matinee, this one with our friends to the south. I don’t know about you, but I kinda like the possibility of having games at 12 noon on both Wednesday and Thursday. As someone on FlyerHoops.net said, just block out 12-2PM on your Outlook calendars at work for those two days. Done and done.

Like many of you, I watched the St. Joe’s victory over X on ESPN last Thursday and I liked what I saw out of both teams. The Mouskies looked listless and, with Drew Lavender running at about 75%, beatable; the Hawks were fired up and earned the upset. I wanted St. Joe’s to win, because that would make a UD victory 36 hours later that much more meaningful on the Flyers’ NCAA resume. Yeah, Dayton has lost to X twice so far this season, but we’ve bested the only two squads that have beaten them –Temple and St. Joe’s — and that’s gotta be worth something, right?

Unfortunately, we fans don’t get to select in advance how our team is gonna execute in a big game. Having said that, if X plays like they did on Thursday and UD looks like the team in the first half of the Hawks’ tilt on Saturday, I really like our chances.

I got out my tape of the Dayton/Pitt game the other day and I suggest that you do the same by clicking here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=670X57RYWJg

Look at the confidence that BRob exudes, launching threes from way beyond the arc. The whole Flyer squad had some serious swagger goin’ on in this game and if “this” team shows up for lunch on Thursday, look out X-men, because you are gonna be in a world of hurt.

I also like the fact that the third meeting of the season will be held on a neutral court. The Flyers haven’t won in Cincy since before I became a father and while the home court atmosphere at UD Arena can be a definite advantage, it can also induce a tendency in players to try and do too much, instead of letting the game come to them. The relative quiet of a 12:00 noon game on Thursday can work to UD’s benefit –- just play ball and take care of business.

After Thursday, who the hell knows? The one thing the Flyers don’t want to do is to let up. While beating X will virtually assure UD of a place in the Field of 65, why not go for the jugular and win the whole **** thing?

When the US Olympic Hockey team upset the Russians in 1980, master motivator Herb Brooks reminded his squad that if they lost to Finland in the Gold Medal game that they would “Take it to their f*ckin’ graves.” He walked out of the locker room, then turned around and came back in and repeated: “To your f*ckin’ graves.”

No, Flyer fans, this season certainly “ain’t no Shangri-La.” But if the BG and the Boys can go 4 for 4 in AC, it’ll be close.

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
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