The College Basketball season is officially kaput and we are headed into the Twilight Zone known as the “off-season” when there ain’t a lot to talk about that relates directly to college hoops. It is at times such as these that I resort to two things: writing about whatever comes to mind and emptying my email inbox, so here we go:

— I found myself cheering for Georgia Tech in the NCAA Final Four because of the Mo Cassara connection with the GT PG.

— For this Red Sox fan, nothing beats getting up in the morning and watching the New York Yankees lose to Tampa Bay live from Japan before I’ve even finished breakfast.

— Speaking of the Yanks (or the MFYs, as they are referred to on the Sons of Sam Horn MB) how can one person have such exquisite taste in basketball teams, but at the same time stoop to rooting for the Evil Empire like Matt Schwade does?

— My favorite Sons of Sam Horn term of endearment is the one they have reserved for George Steinbrenner: “SiaS.” It stands for “S**t in a Suit.”

— It is hard to believe that the two year tenure of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at UD Arena has come and gone so quickly. It seems like only yesterday that we were begging Linda Bruno to move the tourney out here to “the sticks” as Farmer John Chaney called Dayton and now it’s gone already. I sent the following email to our old buddy Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News about this very subject:

Dick:

Okay, it’s been two years. You wanna tell me again why the A-10 Tournament shouldn’t have come to the UD Arena?

This year the A-10 set its all-time attendance average (breaking a record set in Pittsburgh, not Philly) and produced arguably the biggest upset in the college basketball season — Xavier’s pounding of SJU.

I have serious doubts that the city of Cincinnati will produce the same results for the A-10 that Dayton did. I’m also certain that the tourney won’t be coming back to UD Arena any time soon and that’s too bad.

Jim Meadows

In yet another case of my emails disappearing into cyberspace, Dick’s response vanished from my AOL inbox, even after I had clicked on “Save as New” when I first read it at work. Basically, Dick said he still thinks the A-10 Tournament should be in Philly (big surprise) because it is physically closer to most of the conference’s schools. He said the crowds on Wednesday afternoon seemed small, conveniently ignoring the fact that last year the opening games were held at the higher seeded teams’ home court (not at UD Arena) and the crowds were much smaller. Personally, I think 8,000 fans showing up to watch two of the A-10 lesser lights play in the early afternoon on a workday is phenomenal.

— Jerardi’s response was totally predictable, but not so the following note I received from an X fan just before the A-10 Finals:

Swampy,

I routinely read your stories on UDPride.com and enjoy your enthusiasm and love for the game of basketball. As a season ticket holder for the Xavier Musketeers that is saying a bunch. Unlike what you probably read on ‘Musketeer Madness’ not all Xavier fans despise Dayton. UD is a great school and well thought of by most everybody I know. I do feel it is a bigger game for your program (obviously Cincinnati is our biggest rival) but it is obvious to this Musketeer that UD is great for the A10 and I watch and cheer for your team other than when they play X. Brian Gregory is a fantastic coach who should keep the Flyers at a high level for a long time. Continue the great articles and please keep in mind not all ‘X’ fans are flaming a**holes like the ones who post on MM.

BTW many UD fans sit in my section (207) and are rarely bad mouthed other than the good nature ribbing you can expect from a rivalry. When I went to UD Arena (which is a first class facility except for the parking situation) to watch the NCAA play in game and wore my Xavier pullover I was treated like I shot the pope but life goes on. Here’s to a great game tomorrow and may the streak continue.

Stacy Decker

Thanks, Stacy. I think both the Dayton Hatfields and Xavier McCoys would agree that each of our schools have a lot going for them, including some great fans. The fact that X and UD are so similar helps generate much of the heat. I’m happy that X and SJU both made the Elite 8…and I’m also jealous.

— Speaking of X, I hear that former Cincinnati Winton Woods star Robert Hite may bail out of Miami (FL) and would like to come home to play for X. Hite is looking to move now that Perry Clark, the coach who recruited him to the Hurricanes is gone. Joining X would reunite him with HS teammate DeForrest Riley, who originally signed with Penn State and his AAU teammate Keith Jackson. According to BearCatNews, Hite said this back in 2001 when he was still in HS: “I would like to go to school with Keith (Jackson of Purcell) or Deforrest Riley, ’cause I like playing with them. I make them better and they do the same for me.”

— Both KW and SF are playing in the NBA Porstmouth Invitational, which starts on April 7th. You can follow the results on the Portsmouth website at: http://www.portsmouthinvitational.com/rosters.html

— Had a chance to meet UD President Dan Curran for the first time last week. The Elder Swampette was inducted into Alpa Kappa Delta, the National Sociology Honor Society. The featured speaker was Dr. Claire Renzetti, who just happens to be Dr. Dan’s wife.

— I’m no spring chicken, but Dan Curran is a young guy. Then again, so was his predecessor Brother Ray Fitz when he took over as President of UD.

— Mrs. Swampy and I stayed overnight at the B&B in the Oregon District run by Mr. and Mrs. FlyerFanatic (AKA Jeff and Leslie Gonya). What a neat place! In case you are wondering, no we didn’t partake of the Jacuzzi in the Maui Suite, as it was on the fritz when we were there. Here’s what it looks like: http://www.innport.com/

— So when does the Deveroes League start playing?

That’s it “From the Swamp”