BEVERLY HILLS (MI) –- Lots of hoop related goodness…and some not so goodness… to talk about these days:
— I think we all saw the similarities between MSU and UD during the Spartan run to the NCAA Finals. Obviously, so did BG:
And more importantly, so did the players.
— Toolbox supreme Clark Francis on the “Final Four” in Motown:
“The two hottest topics of conversation earlier today at the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) Convention are what a logistical disaster the cities of Detroit and Windsor, ON are for this year’s NCAA Final Four in Detroit, MI and what a surprise it was when Nevada head coach Mark Fox got the Georgia job last night and Washington State head coach Tony Bennett got the Virginia job earlier this week. As for this year’s NCAA Final Four, half of the people at this year’s coaches convention are staying in Canada and it takes half-and-hour to an hour go cross the bridge and go throw customs. The other half are located about 15 minutes West of downtown in Dearborn, MI and nobody seems to be able to figure out the lay of land, especially when it comes to getting around in downtown Detroit, MI, which is where the Convention headquarters are located and tomorrow’s games will be played. The fact that the weather does not come close to equaling what it was last year in San Antonio, TX and two years ago in Atlanta, GA.”
— ESPN.com’s Andy Katz on Motown:
“Ford Field’s operation was magnificent, even if the weather was brutal with wind, blowing snow and some bitter temperatures.”
— The only party that really has a say in the matter – the NCAA — gave “The D” high marks:
http://www.freep.com/article/20090407/SPORTS07/90407056/1048
— For starters, none of those cities had 72,000 people attending the game and all of those folks needed hotel rooms. So yeah, Detroit being an international city, some people stayed across the river, in what the rock group Journey referred to as “South Detroit.”
Bottom line: It’s about the game Clark, not whether you or one of your buddies got stuck in traffic in the Windsor Tunnel. Do Detroiters a favor and don’t come back the next time Motown hosts the “Final Four” okay? And Detroit will host it again. Besides, don’t you have some 10 year old hoopsters you have to go scout someplace?
As for the weather, there is no city in the country that can guarantee sunshine and balloons.
— UD is #19 in the Sports Illustrated 2009-2010 pre-season poll:
http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/tourney/posts/60921
What’s not to like about that?
— I briefly visited the Eggsavior message boards once Seanie-boy stopped waffling and made up his freakin’ mind to split town. I didn’t hang around very long because instead of Blue and White it was Green and Red all over… it seems that somebody’s avatar of Kermit the Frog drinking tequila asploded, leaving quite a mess. Yuck.
— Maybe it’s just me, but why on earth would X have Sean Miller do a press conference after he has announced he’s leaving? Horse, barn, door, butt, etc.
— If X does indeed promote Chris Mack to replace Miller, I think it is only fitting that UD should invite Wes Coffee to return the favor and “throw out the first ball” at the Mouskies/Flyers matchup at UD Arena next year.
— Stephen Thomas transfers. No surprise here. Projected to be the 13th man in a 13 man rotation can you really blame him? Best of luck to you wherever you end up, Stephen.
— Now the real question is: who does BG bring in to replace ST? Another PG? A JUCO? The proverbial ‘best athlete available?’ Bill Edwards, Jr. from Middletown? Stay tuned.
— Prior to the official announcement that Stephen was leaving, there was rampant speculation that Devin Searcy and perhaps even Luke Fab were gonna walk, as well. Let the record show that Pride Plus member THirt was the first to post back on April 3rd that Thomas was leaving. He also had heard that Devin was going, but it may be that Devin’s pronouncement was a “soft verbal” that he was later convinced to rescind vs. Little Stevie’s “firm verbal” to bolt. That’s how it goes with rumors sometimes.
— As for Luke, that gossip started over in the UD Blogosphere inhabited by the trio of “Peanut Butter and a Blanket,” “Flyer Fieldhouse” and “The Blackburn Review.” “FF” in particular seems to have always had a chubby about Luke — and not in a good way. I remember reading something in the comment section on of one of the blogs that talked about Luke leaving and the writer claimed to have gotten an email from Luke’s dad confirming it. That comment soon mysteriously disappeared from the blog, however.
— What compounded the whole situation was that DDN reporter Tom Archdeacon picked up on the Luke rumor and quoted “TBR” as a source, which is kinda like using the comment section on the DDN website to gauge how Flyer fans really feel about…anything.
Granted it was only a DDN blog item, but c’mon Arch, you can dig a little deeper than that, can’t ya?
That’s it “From the Swamp.
”You can email me at: [email protected]
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