BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — With apologies to the sweaty classic rocker Meat Loaf, if “Two out of three ain’t bad” then three out of three can’t be too shabby either, right? Archie and the Boys as well as the Flyer Faithful stormed the HP Center at Dizzy World and left their opponents feelin’ more than a little Goofy. All of a sudden, a UD hoops season that was loaded with question marks is starting to provide some answers and more than a few grins. Where last year’s team and their fan base had such lofty hopes for a campaign that ultimately melted in a puddle of discord, this edition of Hilltoppers is the polar opposite — low expectations and (at least so far) high rewards.

Me likey!

Here are some other things to like and some not so much:

— Fresh video of post-game reaction and comments by Archie and KD after the Flyers secured the Old Spice Classic Championship:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBmMJGHDqlM&feature=youtu.be

— Ken Pomeroy gave the Flyboys only a 19.5% chance to hit pay dirt in Orlando. Here is a link to his blog where you can almost hear Kenny Boy scratching his head and asking himself “Whahappened?” when it comes to UD and the other surprise (excepting the Dukies) tourney victors:

http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/feast_week_log5_review/

— Brian Snow had this to Tweet about the Flyers in the middle of the Minnesota tilt:

“UD up 8, key stat is Kavanaugh has more rebounds than Mbakwe. Not sure anyone would have seen that coming from the Flyers big man.”

— Speaking of Trevor, your heart has to go out to young Mr. Mbakwe, who was on the cusp of having a killer senior season and now is facing knee surgery. Unfortunately for him, he already used a medical redshirt year for a knee injury when he was at Marquette, so it appears that Mr. M is out of college eligibility, barring an NCAA waiver.

— Chris DiSano of College Chalk Talk had this to say about the Flyers PG situation via Twitter:

“Staten made the right choice leaving. Would’ve been backing up Dillard for two years. Kid’s doing everything but selling popcorn right now.”

— UD gets lots of attention in Ian Nolan’s Conference Notebook from the aforementioned College Chalk Talk, including this blurb about our favorite website:

“UD Pride is simply a must for all Dayton fans, especially the message boards which provide other A10 fans a chance to discuss their upcoming game with the Flyers. A good place to go to find out what UD fans think of your team.”

http://collegechalktalk.com/conferencenotebooks/atlantic10/11.28.11nolan

— The posters on the ‘conversation’ MB on the ESPN.com Game HQ make the comments section of The DDN read like Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking debating Quantum Physics. You can actually feel your IQ sinking lower as you read along with this thread from the UD/Fairfield clash:

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/conversation?gameId=313292217

— While we’re on the subject of toolboxes, the SIU fanbase doesn’t have too many good things to say in regards to former Saluki Kevin Dillard and especially about Chris Lowery, KD’s former coach in this (currently) 12 page “Kevin Dillard Watch” thread:

http://salukitalk.net/st/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=36660

— Former Flyer Marcus Johnson has established a chapter of “The Flight Club” north of the border edition, with this “Dunk you very much” jam for the Ottawa Power:

http://twitpic.com/7ktycm

— The Indy Star profiles the Greensburg HS hoops program that features super soph Sean Sellers, who has already been to UD on an unofficial visit:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20111125/SPORTS0615/111250329/Greensburg-wins-despite-growing-pains

— “The Hometown Coach” Mark Adams has added a “Mid-Majorology” blog on his EnthusiAdams website and yeah UD is included in his rankings but so what? Mark defines a “Mid-Major” as a team from a “Non-Power Six Conference” and that is exactly what Dayton is:

http://www.enthusiadams.com/mid-majorology-4/

— Ben Weixlmann has been hired by Scout.com to cover the Atlantic 10 Conference. Here is a link to Ben’s Twitter page:

http://twitter.com/#!/bweixlmann

— Who better to put the Occupy Wall Street crowd in their place than Triumph the Insult Comic (warning: contains salty language):

http://teamcoco.com/video/19701/triumph-visits-occupy-wall-street

— Can you stack 3,118 coins on top of a single dime? This guy (who obviously has no life and a lot of time on his hands) can, with video linky goodness:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=23d_1320367059

— There are character actors, there are “that guys” and then there is the incomparable Dwight Frye, the only actor who can say that he appeared in the original “Frankenstein”, “Dracula” and “The Invisible Man” as well as the classic “Bride of Frankenstein”, amongst many others:

http://www.classichorror.free-online.co.uk/dwight.htm

— “The Sweet Tweet of the Week” is a suggestion worth noting from UD Pride’s own Chris Rieman:

“Should be permanent banners @ UD Arena for Maui and Old Spice titles complete with field and tourney logo. And not hidden along Arena walls.”

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
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