This is a rough draft for my Spring Break column about my trip and experience to Omaha for the Creighton-Kentucky NIT game.
After driving two and a half hours through high winds and tornadic thunderstorms, arriving at the much hyped Creighton Bluejays-Kentucky Wildcats basketball game seemed like a fitting end to a perfect storm of events to cap off a rather boring Spring break.
While most students enjoy exotic trips to South Padre or anywhere outside of Nebraska for that matter, I was stuck in Kearney for the majority of Spring Break working for the Tri-City Storm hockey team. After learning that my favorite basketball team, the Creighton Bluejays, would be hosting the all-time winningest program in NCAA history, the Kentucky Wildcats, I knew that I had to make a pilgrimage to the Qwest Center in Omaha to view a match-up that would almost never happen again.
Now, using my credentials as a sports photographer for The Antelope, I was able to take advantage of a couple of connections I had at Creighton and obtained a press pass to grace the court with my camera. I’m used to taking snap-shots at Division II games, but this would be by far the toughest assignment I had to date. The pure athleticism at the Division I level was going to be very difficult for a newbie.
I made the trip with a close friend and a friend of his, both of whom had tickets in the upper bowl, with myself having a seat within feet of the players. The journey there was perhaps the most difficult trip I have ever made from Kearney to Omaha, traveling through two thunderstorms and fighting winds of up to 60 miles per hour on the interstate.
The second storm we passed through followed us along the interstate and actually ended up dropping two tornadoes, one in Lincoln and one just past Omaha in Iowa. While waiting in a traffic jam in downtown Omaha, the storm had caught up with us, prompting a tornado warning, which sent people that were walking to the game into a full out sprint. We got inside before anything happened and everyone was ushered into the center of the Qwest Center.
After a short while, everyone was allowed into the arena and the spectacle began.
I entered the arena through the southeast corner and upon walking in, I took a look around in pure amazement. For as far as the eye could see, all you could see was blue and the word “Creighton” or “Bluejays”. Everyone knew the importance of this playoff match-up and the magnitude of this team visiting Omaha.
Even the god’s wrath of hell and fury from the skies couldn’t keep the Bluejay faithful from creating one of the most exciting atmospheres I have ever been a part of as a sports fan. There were students with paint all over, covering their faces as a type of war symbol, prepared to go into battle and fight for their team.
The first basket of the game was a three-point bucket from Creighton guard P’Allen Stinnett and the entire gym erupted in a thunderous explosion that put the small rumbling from the skies to shame.
Combining the energy of the student section and the electricity of the rest of the crowd, I found myself down on the court getting just as pumped up as the rest of them. It didn’t matter that this was just a college basketball game, people of all ages came and showed the rest of the country on national television that Omaha can create an atmosphere worthy of recognition.
Despite losing the game, the experience for me was one I will never forget, ranging from giving a high five to a player after he made a shot to a 70-year-old woman “raising the roof” during a timeout, the entire journey was worth risking my life on the road.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Creighton-Kentucky Photoblog
I know in class we just discussed EB's photoblog she posted of Nebraska (sorry I don't have a link) and Dr. Hanson said this is something we shouldn't do on an everyday basis. But before we even mentioned this, I had the idea to take a bunch of pictures from the Creighton Bluejays - Kentucky Wildcats NIT game and post them in a special photoblog, for those who a) didn't see the game or b) didn't get to see the game from my perspective on the court.
This game was my first time photographing a Division I basketball game and I must say, the game moves at such a faster pace with players who havemore athleticism than DII players. The pace at which the players moved in their half-court offensive sets almost made it impossible to known where the ball was going. The game featured star SEC player Jodie Meeks, who is likely going to be drafted in the 1st round of the NBA draft this year. Meeks scored 54 points in a game earlier this year against Tennessee (a NCAA Tournament team) and that broke the school's all-time single game scoring record. At a program like Kentucky, that's a pretty big deal. So without further adu, I bring to you some pictures of my view from on the court.
The game began with the "Blue Crew" running out the flags before the game. This guy stood in the middle of the arena waving so much this giant flag as the crowd went wild. Shortly after, the Creighton Bluejays ran onto the court to begin their pre-game warm-ups.
After the conclusion of introducting the starting lineups, the Bluejays huddled together in a circle to get pumped for the battle they were preparing to fight with Kentucky. In the middle is guard P'Allen Stinnet, showing the pure emotion that had built up the week leading up to the game. In the background is center Kenny Lawson (25).
Center Patrick Patterson, one of the top centers in the SEC, threw down some monster dunks against a slighlty overpowered Creighton team. This was his first dunk of the game before sitting out the rest of the first half after collecting two fouls in the first five minutes of the game.
Junior forward Justin Carter (1) of the Creighton Bluejays drives the ball around No. 5 for Kentucky, Ramon Harris. Carter played huge for the Bluejays scoring only 8 points, but collecting a career-high 14 rebounds against a very tall Kentucky team. For most of the night Carter was flying all over the place grabbing rebounds from between the trees that the Wildcats have for players. However, it was Carter that missed two free throws with 36 seconds left that would have made the game 65-62, instead of keeping it 63-62 and having Kentucky win the game with a three-point play with 10 seconds left.
Another shot of Justin Carter (1) putting up a fairly uncontested shot, one of my better and clearer pictures of a Bluejay taking a shot. The lighting in this building was so much better than the Health and Sports Center here in Kearney.
Center Kenton Walker (41) of Creighton puts up a smooth low post hook shot that found nothing but the bottom of the net late in the second half against Kentucky. He fired the shot over Kentucky's Patrick Patterson (54), who Walker had the task of covering throughout the night, along with Bluejay Kenny Lawson.
We once again find the rowdy "Blue Crew" who pumped up the Qwest Center all night long. This was taken after a turnover and a media timeout late in the game with Creighton winning. You can sense the rush of pure energy going through these students as they cheer their team on. Take note UNK students...
This is one of my favorite pictures of the night. After Creighton guard Booker Woodfox missed a game-winning three point attempt and Kentucky star Jodie Meeks came up with rebound, the horn sounded and game over, 65-63 Kentucky. He ran down the court and was pointing to somebody, almost looks as though he is pointing to the next round of the NIT. Perfect picture for a future NBA player to autograph.
Freshman guard Antoine Young (30) shows the disappointment after losing the game to Kentucky 65-63, in a game that Creighton controlled most of the night. Young is just a freshman and played some big minutes for the Bluejays, but went 0-5 from the field after scoring 12 points in the Bluejays first round NIT victory.
Well there ya have it, some pictures I selected to show you all from my camera at the game. Below are some more images in smaller size, I believe you can click them and make them larger, but I hope you enjoyed the view from my eyes that I had on the court last night.
This game was my first time photographing a Division I basketball game and I must say, the game moves at such a faster pace with players who havemore athleticism than DII players. The pace at which the players moved in their half-court offensive sets almost made it impossible to known where the ball was going. The game featured star SEC player Jodie Meeks, who is likely going to be drafted in the 1st round of the NBA draft this year. Meeks scored 54 points in a game earlier this year against Tennessee (a NCAA Tournament team) and that broke the school's all-time single game scoring record. At a program like Kentucky, that's a pretty big deal. So without further adu, I bring to you some pictures of my view from on the court.
The game began with the "Blue Crew" running out the flags before the game. This guy stood in the middle of the arena waving so much this giant flag as the crowd went wild. Shortly after, the Creighton Bluejays ran onto the court to begin their pre-game warm-ups.
After the conclusion of introducting the starting lineups, the Bluejays huddled together in a circle to get pumped for the battle they were preparing to fight with Kentucky. In the middle is guard P'Allen Stinnet, showing the pure emotion that had built up the week leading up to the game. In the background is center Kenny Lawson (25).
Center Patrick Patterson, one of the top centers in the SEC, threw down some monster dunks against a slighlty overpowered Creighton team. This was his first dunk of the game before sitting out the rest of the first half after collecting two fouls in the first five minutes of the game.
Junior forward Justin Carter (1) of the Creighton Bluejays drives the ball around No. 5 for Kentucky, Ramon Harris. Carter played huge for the Bluejays scoring only 8 points, but collecting a career-high 14 rebounds against a very tall Kentucky team. For most of the night Carter was flying all over the place grabbing rebounds from between the trees that the Wildcats have for players. However, it was Carter that missed two free throws with 36 seconds left that would have made the game 65-62, instead of keeping it 63-62 and having Kentucky win the game with a three-point play with 10 seconds left.
Another shot of Justin Carter (1) putting up a fairly uncontested shot, one of my better and clearer pictures of a Bluejay taking a shot. The lighting in this building was so much better than the Health and Sports Center here in Kearney.
Center Kenton Walker (41) of Creighton puts up a smooth low post hook shot that found nothing but the bottom of the net late in the second half against Kentucky. He fired the shot over Kentucky's Patrick Patterson (54), who Walker had the task of covering throughout the night, along with Bluejay Kenny Lawson.
We once again find the rowdy "Blue Crew" who pumped up the Qwest Center all night long. This was taken after a turnover and a media timeout late in the game with Creighton winning. You can sense the rush of pure energy going through these students as they cheer their team on. Take note UNK students...
This is one of my favorite pictures of the night. After Creighton guard Booker Woodfox missed a game-winning three point attempt and Kentucky star Jodie Meeks came up with rebound, the horn sounded and game over, 65-63 Kentucky. He ran down the court and was pointing to somebody, almost looks as though he is pointing to the next round of the NIT. Perfect picture for a future NBA player to autograph.
Freshman guard Antoine Young (30) shows the disappointment after losing the game to Kentucky 65-63, in a game that Creighton controlled most of the night. Young is just a freshman and played some big minutes for the Bluejays, but went 0-5 from the field after scoring 12 points in the Bluejays first round NIT victory.Well there ya have it, some pictures I selected to show you all from my camera at the game. Below are some more images in smaller size, I believe you can click them and make them larger, but I hope you enjoyed the view from my eyes that I had on the court last night.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
March Madness
So how is your bracket doing?
To anyone else outside of America, this would seem like a crazy question and would be followed with the response, "what the hell are you talking about?" But that question can only mean one thing here, it's that time of the year. It's that time of the year when hoards of people join office pools, slow down internet servers across the country and cuss more than they ever have at the television, all for college basketball. It's that time when the pencil (or pen) meets the paper and average people's lives are being put on the line in hopes that a 12-seed will take down that 5-seed.
There are so many combinations and possibilities in each bracket that it can cause someone's head to explode with statistics. What is it about "March Madness" that brings out the inner fan in every American, not just sports fans. College basketball during this month can cause rifts between families and believe it or not, it is the number one cause for divorce in America. Okay, I made that part up, but harmless pride competitions between family members involving brackets can cause the most heated disputes that are sometimes worth of being televised on Jerry Springer.
As the games are being played over the next couple of weeks, bracketologists (members of society who partake in the bracket filling festivities) will take off work and lock themselves in their basements, surrounded by 8 television screens, each one playing a different game. As the games play out, they have all 42 brackets they filled out lined up in front of them, using bunson burners and schematics to score each one, prediciting what will happen in each game, down to the number of sweat drops that will fall off of the center's nose in the 4th quarter.
Now...this has all been exaggerated to the fullest extent, but for those who take this March Madness seriously, they know I'm not that far-fetched with this example. The NCAA Tournament, as Kelly put in her blog, create maniacs out of the most docile people and can even "make grown men cry". I am guilty of this, sitting on a futon the past three days following NCAA action, not sure which team to root for since I have 20 brackets currently filled out. I get asked which team I want to win and i can't legitmately answer because I filled out half my brackets with one team and half with the other.
With games getting down the wire, I find myself rooting for the underdog, even though them winning would destroy every one of my brackets. But March Madness has a certain control on our lives that persuades us to fill out these brackets, even if we have never watched college basketball before. We are three days into the tournament and people are already hanging up their Syraucse basketball shorts from 1984 and calling it quits.
So how is your bracket doing?
Oh and by the way, since they keep adding teams to the tournament, recently expanding the field to 65 instead of 64 to include one extra "play-in" game, this video gave me a good laugh at what the NCAA Tournament could become.
To anyone else outside of America, this would seem like a crazy question and would be followed with the response, "what the hell are you talking about?" But that question can only mean one thing here, it's that time of the year. It's that time of the year when hoards of people join office pools, slow down internet servers across the country and cuss more than they ever have at the television, all for college basketball. It's that time when the pencil (or pen) meets the paper and average people's lives are being put on the line in hopes that a 12-seed will take down that 5-seed.
There are so many combinations and possibilities in each bracket that it can cause someone's head to explode with statistics. What is it about "March Madness" that brings out the inner fan in every American, not just sports fans. College basketball during this month can cause rifts between families and believe it or not, it is the number one cause for divorce in America. Okay, I made that part up, but harmless pride competitions between family members involving brackets can cause the most heated disputes that are sometimes worth of being televised on Jerry Springer.
As the games are being played over the next couple of weeks, bracketologists (members of society who partake in the bracket filling festivities) will take off work and lock themselves in their basements, surrounded by 8 television screens, each one playing a different game. As the games play out, they have all 42 brackets they filled out lined up in front of them, using bunson burners and schematics to score each one, prediciting what will happen in each game, down to the number of sweat drops that will fall off of the center's nose in the 4th quarter.
Now...this has all been exaggerated to the fullest extent, but for those who take this March Madness seriously, they know I'm not that far-fetched with this example. The NCAA Tournament, as Kelly put in her blog, create maniacs out of the most docile people and can even "make grown men cry". I am guilty of this, sitting on a futon the past three days following NCAA action, not sure which team to root for since I have 20 brackets currently filled out. I get asked which team I want to win and i can't legitmately answer because I filled out half my brackets with one team and half with the other.
With games getting down the wire, I find myself rooting for the underdog, even though them winning would destroy every one of my brackets. But March Madness has a certain control on our lives that persuades us to fill out these brackets, even if we have never watched college basketball before. We are three days into the tournament and people are already hanging up their Syraucse basketball shorts from 1984 and calling it quits.
So how is your bracket doing?
Oh and by the way, since they keep adding teams to the tournament, recently expanding the field to 65 instead of 64 to include one extra "play-in" game, this video gave me a good laugh at what the NCAA Tournament could become.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Selection Committee = Garbage
Tomorrow will begin the week where office cubicles will become ground zero for what is known as March Madness. Today, the NCAA Major Conference Committee, I mean, Selection Committee, met and debated for hours as they figured out what teams would make it into the 65-team field for the Division 1 NCAA Basketball Championship. Louisville, Connecticut, North Carolina and Pittsburgh were determined as the four No. 1 seeds for the tournament, which was no big surprise. But I have a huge problem with one of the selections made by the Major Conference Committee and it deals with a school close to where I'm from, which may seem like a bit of bias, but I guarantee you that it is not.
The selection I had the biggest beef with is the committee's selection of Arizona over Creighton. Now let me defend it with a bit of research so it doesn't seem like this rant is coming from a diehard Bluejay fan, which I am. Let's take a look at the records of the two schools:
Arizona: Overall 19-13 (9-9 Pac 10), 6-10 against RPI Top 50, lost 5 of last 6 games, RPI 62
Creighton: Overall 26-7 (14-4 Missouri Valley), 3-2 against RPI Top 50, won 11 of 12, RPI 46
Now for those of you reading who don't know what RPI is, it stands for Ratings Percentage Index and it is a way to determine how teams should stack up against one another. The formula for calculating RPI is 1/4*(Winning Percentage) + 1/2*(Opponents' Average Winning Percentage) + 1/4*(Opponents' Opponents' Winning Percentage).
The NCAA Selection Committee selected Arizona as an at-large team to play in the NCAA Tournament, while Creighton was left out and became a No. 1 seed in the NIT, college basketball's "other" tournament.
It's like a tournament for the Island of Misfit Toys...teams that just didn't belong with the other schools in the bracket.
While watching College Gameday earlier this morning on ESPN, I had the opportunity to listen to analysts Jay Bilas and Digger Phelps attack Creighton as they compared them to Arizona. All that Digger could muster up was that Arizona had a better lineup, so that clearly made them the better team. Which Joe Lunardi, ESPN's Bracketologist, responded, "then why have they only won once in the past 3 weeks?" I got a good chuckle out of that one. On the other hand, Bilas was attacking Creighton, not so much against the Bluejays, but stating that due to the Pac-10 Conference being that much better than the Missouri Valley, that Arizona deserved the bid.
Well let's take a look at the conference's overall records:
Missouri Valley: overall record of 176-143
Pac-10: Overall record of 192-128
So with each conference having 10 teams, that leaves the average record in the Missouri Valley to be 17.6 wins and 14.3 losses, while in the Pac-10, the average season was 19.2 wins and 12.8 losses. A difference of only 2 wins and losses per team does not give enough credibility to say that that conference deserves a bid plainly on the status of their conference. The Pac-10 did have three ranked teams, but none of them ever really reached the top-10, nor did they have a consistant stay within the top-25.
And perhaps an even more telling sign of which team did better AWAY from their home court, Creighton was 9-4 on the road and Arizona was 2-9.
Arizona lost 5 of their last 6 games, including their first game in their conference tournament. Creighton was winners of 11 of their last 12, with their loss coming in the semifinals of their conference tournament. The facts are plain and simple, the selection committee gave only 2 of their at-large bids to "mid-major" conferences (Dayton and Butler), which Creighton defeated one of the two. Yes, Arizona played 16 games against the RPI Top-50, and that is the ultimate reason they were selected for the tournament. It's hard to compete against conferences that feature a couple of ranked teams, because when you play them twice in a season, that's automatically two games against the RPI Top-50.
Is the selection committee rewarding subpar performances over solid play over an entire season? Yes, finishing 9-9 in a "power" conference is somewhat solid, you have to look at the entire conference. So are you telling me that if Creighton had scheduled games against Duke and Kansas and Oklahoma, but lose, that they would have been selected with a worse record but a higher RPI for losing to teams ranked very high?
In the end, it all boils down to the money. The Pac-10 can generate more revenue than the Missouri Valley conference. When it comes to travel and merchandise, teams from a "major" conference will almost always win out over a school from a "mid-major". That is something that bracketologists forget to figure in when determining their projected bracket, and that is the almighty dollar, which team can generate the NCAA the most amount of money.
This is just my general opinion, but I feel it is pretty close to the truth. While both teams are worthy of being selected, when you can look at the overall body of work compiled by the teams, Arizona should have played their way out of the tournament, while Creighton couldn't have done much more other than winning their conference tournament.
I'm sure fans from Penn State, St. Mary's and San Diego State have the same arguments that I do for their respective teams and probably have a valid point, but I do feel Creighton was the biggest snub, based on the strength that they finished the season with and overall resume. Oh well, at least they can take down the NIT.
Friday, March 13, 2009
A Game for the Ages
Fantastic. Amazing. Breathtaking. Spectacular. Spellbinding.
And those are just a few of the words that described the Syracuse-Connecticut college basketball game I witnessed on Thursday night. In a 6-overtime thriller, the No. 20 Syracuse Orange took down the mighty No. 4 Connecticut Huskies, 127-117 , to advance to the seminfinals of the Big East tournament, where they will take on Dr. Hanson's cinderella team, the West Virginia Mountaineers. Please, watch the highlights, either below or on the ESPN article to get a full feeling of what this game had to offer as you watched it live.
I started watching this game while finishing my dinner at Applebee's, catching it with just over 2 minutes left and the score tied at 64. The next two minutes of the game transpired and left me on the edge of my bar stool, teetering at the play that could happen next. What the game came down to was a three point shot by forward Kevin Devendorf off of an inbounds pass with 1.8 seconds remaining. The ball caromed off the hands of a Huskie and into the hands of Devendorf who released a 28-foot prayer. Swish. Nothing but net. He tickled the twine. But not so fast, replay revealed that as the clock hit double zero and the red light lit up, the ball was still on the outstretched fingers of Devendorf's miracle shot.
Only if he had trimmed his fingernails that morning..
So the teams began their marathon game exchanging punches and countering everything the other had to throw at them. Syracuse would never take a lead in the first 5 overtimes, before outscoring the Huskies 17-7 in the final frame to end the second longest game in Division 1 college basketball history (the longest game went 7 overtimes). Each extra period featured it's own final barrage of shots in the final minutes, resulting in fans displaying their excitement via Facebook, text messages and word of mouth. Before you knew it, everyone was watching one of the great games in college basketball history take place.
Now, one would take this for one of the March Madness NCAA Tournament games, but on the contrary. This game was merely a quarterfinal match-up in the Big East tournament, a quarterfinal match-up. The game became the only Big East contest to ever go past four overtimes in the 30-year history of the league. It featured the most combined points in Big East history and became a battle cry for what kind of March college basketball had in store for the fans.
The game between Syracuse and Connecticut wasn't about winning and losing - it was about surviving. And Syracuse was able to dig just that little extra from their fuel tanks to grind out a victory over one of the possible number one seeds in the nation.
For those that didn't watch it, please, watch the highlights to appreciate what these players gave for themselves and for the game of basketball. What you will have missed though, is watching players dive for loose balls in the 6th overtime, showing they were there to win, despite being down ten. This game got me pumped for what is to come in a couple of days when the bracket is announced for the 2009 NCAA College Basketball Tournament and the excitement that each tournament game will bring.
But until then, this will go down as one of the greatest games I have ever watched between college kids playing for integrity and pride, rather than a paycheck. What do you have to counter to that NBA?
And in other news, the West Virginia Mountaineers upset the No. 2 Pittsburgh Panthers, 74-60, to move onto the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. I report this score because after class this morning, Dr. Hanson and myself had a discussion about this very game and what it would take for the Mountaineers to win. Dr. Hanson said it would take Da'Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff staying out of foul trouble to get the job done and with 4 fouls for Butler and 2 for Ruoff, I would say they kept their foul trouble fairly controlled. Although I don't think West Virginia expected a season-high 20 points from forward Devin Ebanks.
Perhaps the Mountaineers have an easier task against the Orange..considering they just played a 4 hour game that got over just a little over three hours ago. Congratulations Syracuse, your prize for winning the second longest game in college basketball history? A game at 9 p.m. the following night against a streaking West Virginia team.
Good luck.
And those are just a few of the words that described the Syracuse-Connecticut college basketball game I witnessed on Thursday night. In a 6-overtime thriller, the No. 20 Syracuse Orange took down the mighty No. 4 Connecticut Huskies, 127-117 , to advance to the seminfinals of the Big East tournament, where they will take on Dr. Hanson's cinderella team, the West Virginia Mountaineers. Please, watch the highlights, either below or on the ESPN article to get a full feeling of what this game had to offer as you watched it live.
I started watching this game while finishing my dinner at Applebee's, catching it with just over 2 minutes left and the score tied at 64. The next two minutes of the game transpired and left me on the edge of my bar stool, teetering at the play that could happen next. What the game came down to was a three point shot by forward Kevin Devendorf off of an inbounds pass with 1.8 seconds remaining. The ball caromed off the hands of a Huskie and into the hands of Devendorf who released a 28-foot prayer. Swish. Nothing but net. He tickled the twine. But not so fast, replay revealed that as the clock hit double zero and the red light lit up, the ball was still on the outstretched fingers of Devendorf's miracle shot.
Only if he had trimmed his fingernails that morning..
So the teams began their marathon game exchanging punches and countering everything the other had to throw at them. Syracuse would never take a lead in the first 5 overtimes, before outscoring the Huskies 17-7 in the final frame to end the second longest game in Division 1 college basketball history (the longest game went 7 overtimes). Each extra period featured it's own final barrage of shots in the final minutes, resulting in fans displaying their excitement via Facebook, text messages and word of mouth. Before you knew it, everyone was watching one of the great games in college basketball history take place.
Now, one would take this for one of the March Madness NCAA Tournament games, but on the contrary. This game was merely a quarterfinal match-up in the Big East tournament, a quarterfinal match-up. The game became the only Big East contest to ever go past four overtimes in the 30-year history of the league. It featured the most combined points in Big East history and became a battle cry for what kind of March college basketball had in store for the fans.
The game between Syracuse and Connecticut wasn't about winning and losing - it was about surviving. And Syracuse was able to dig just that little extra from their fuel tanks to grind out a victory over one of the possible number one seeds in the nation.
For those that didn't watch it, please, watch the highlights to appreciate what these players gave for themselves and for the game of basketball. What you will have missed though, is watching players dive for loose balls in the 6th overtime, showing they were there to win, despite being down ten. This game got me pumped for what is to come in a couple of days when the bracket is announced for the 2009 NCAA College Basketball Tournament and the excitement that each tournament game will bring.
But until then, this will go down as one of the greatest games I have ever watched between college kids playing for integrity and pride, rather than a paycheck. What do you have to counter to that NBA?
And in other news, the West Virginia Mountaineers upset the No. 2 Pittsburgh Panthers, 74-60, to move onto the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. I report this score because after class this morning, Dr. Hanson and myself had a discussion about this very game and what it would take for the Mountaineers to win. Dr. Hanson said it would take Da'Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff staying out of foul trouble to get the job done and with 4 fouls for Butler and 2 for Ruoff, I would say they kept their foul trouble fairly controlled. Although I don't think West Virginia expected a season-high 20 points from forward Devin Ebanks.
Perhaps the Mountaineers have an easier task against the Orange..considering they just played a 4 hour game that got over just a little over three hours ago. Congratulations Syracuse, your prize for winning the second longest game in college basketball history? A game at 9 p.m. the following night against a streaking West Virginia team.
Good luck.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Bracke-TAU-logy..Together We Can Save A Life
This week and next, my fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega, is hosting it's third annual BrackeTAUlogy tournament to raise money for the American Red Cross. What it is is a March Madness contest that feeds off the energy created by the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament every year. You can purchase a bracket for $5, with no limit on how many you can buy and just like any other bracket tournament, the best one wins. But, we have spiced it up a little bit, offering a best bracket prize and a prize for the worst bracket. Each bracket you buy will gain you one entry into a raffle for more prizes, so you have many chances to win.
We are attempting to make this our signature event and we feel it can be done with the support of all of you out there. I am asking you to please buy a bracket, even if you don't know much about basketball, it's still going to the American Red Cross, where we are working with them to save a couple lives. For more information on rules visit this page on our fraternity's site and if you are interested, please e-mail me at ritonyagm@unk.edu, I will meet you anywhere or inform you on how you can participate.
Please make a donation to the American Red Cross on behalf of Alpha Tau Omega. Together we can erase the Greek stereotype and show that we can really do some good for a great cause, if we just gain support from you, the students, the public, everyone. Good luck to those that have already entered and please enter if you have not. And with that I want to give big thank you from the bottom of my heart and everyone at Alpha Tau Omega, together we can save a life.
Wait..What the $%#@ ?
Chalk this up to just a typical case of the Tuesdays, I guess. Show up to work at your car
dealership in Scottsbluff, Neb., and get out of your car, ready for a fun filled day of selling automobiles...just to notice that nearly every car on the lot has disappeared and the desks of three executive employees have been cleaned out. Well, that was the case for a couple of works at Legacy Auto in Scottsbluff as per the Yahoo article that came out today. According to the report, 81 cars in all, all Fords and Toyota's were swiped from the lot and the desks of the general manager, a controller and the owner.
To update the report, some of the cars have been tracked down via their vehicle identification number and six were at the Scottsbluff airport, two dozen in Salt Lake City (where one dozen were sold at one auto auction) and the search and is still continuing. The total estimated value of the missing 81 vehicles in $2.5 million.
Perhaps the kicker to this story is that all three previously lived in Utah..making me believe that all people from Utah are car thieves. Well maybe not, but it sounds good enough for me. So word for the wise, don't trust your car to anyone who previously lived or currently lives in Utah. Of course I'm just kidding, but seriously...how does one pull this off with 81 cars? Even if you got 12 cars per semi, that would be 7 semis full of cars, where do you have that kind of manpower in Scottsbluff?
Well, despite the disappearance of the cars, Legacy stayed open...what a bunch of troopers.
dealership in Scottsbluff, Neb., and get out of your car, ready for a fun filled day of selling automobiles...just to notice that nearly every car on the lot has disappeared and the desks of three executive employees have been cleaned out. Well, that was the case for a couple of works at Legacy Auto in Scottsbluff as per the Yahoo article that came out today. According to the report, 81 cars in all, all Fords and Toyota's were swiped from the lot and the desks of the general manager, a controller and the owner. To update the report, some of the cars have been tracked down via their vehicle identification number and six were at the Scottsbluff airport, two dozen in Salt Lake City (where one dozen were sold at one auto auction) and the search and is still continuing. The total estimated value of the missing 81 vehicles in $2.5 million.
Perhaps the kicker to this story is that all three previously lived in Utah..making me believe that all people from Utah are car thieves. Well maybe not, but it sounds good enough for me. So word for the wise, don't trust your car to anyone who previously lived or currently lives in Utah. Of course I'm just kidding, but seriously...how does one pull this off with 81 cars? Even if you got 12 cars per semi, that would be 7 semis full of cars, where do you have that kind of manpower in Scottsbluff?
Well, despite the disappearance of the cars, Legacy stayed open...what a bunch of troopers.
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