Feeling A Little Better

Phew. Now beat Xavier again.

Let's Not Get All Chicken Little..Yet

If you're like any Mets, Jets or Dayton Flyers fan you have that sense of impending doom anytime your team starts to slip up. It's the "other shoe is dropping" theory or better broken down, "The Charlie Brown Theory." Let me explain:

Charlie Brown and Lucy have this recurring gag that Charlie is going to kick the football while Lucy holds. Lucy knowingly sets Chuck up by saying she promises not to yank the ball away at the last second, making our dear Charlie fall. Charlie believes her, lines up the kick and as he's ready to wind up on the ball, Lucy pulls it away causing him to fall. This has occured god knows how many times and yet he still continues to try and kick that ball. This is how Dayton Flyer fans feel, we come so close and someone yanks the ball away from us.'

This is probably how you feel now after losing to St. Louis. In this case I'll be the reasonable one..

The Sky Is Not Falling!

Here's why:

1) St. Louis was not a bad loss - This is a much better team than anyone (including the Billikens) thinks. They are by far the hottest team in the A-14. Their RPI is close to and will likely dip under 100.

2) The Flyers might lose at Rhode Island..and that's ok. Once again, the A-14 is much better than is given credit for. Just look at the RPI rankings, the folowing teams are in the top 100:

Xavier, Dayton, Temple, St. Joe's, Rhode Island..even Duquesne!

Even the mainstream media realizes this. If you have checked Bracketology (and are like me and check 8 different ones, 3 times a day), you'll notice the Flyers have not sniffed the last four out column and have been pretty steady in the seeds between 7-10. Realize this, Dayton's body of work is much better and more solid than it was last year. They have already won 9 games in the conference, last year they won 8 during the regular season. They have also been more consistent (not shooting or scoring, but winning).

3) These are the new Dayton Flyers - They're a resilient bunch. They haven't had a losing streak, let alone back to back losses this year. They're hungry and confident. They're undefeated at home.

4) They're playing with house money - Raise your hand if you thought at the beginning of the season this team, with this schedule, would even be a consideration for an NCAA bid..ok hand down Bucky. This was an NIT team that was a year away. Maybe they've overachieved this year, or maybe we were wrong for selling them short.

Will I be a nervous wreck on Wed. night, absolutely, but if the Flyers go 1-1 in the next 2 games, things will be fine. If they don't..well than the hand goes in the blender

St. Louis 57, Dayton 49

Damn this man and his uncanny ability to control the tempo of a game.

The Flyers shot 30 percent from the field, 26 percent after halftime. A game like that against the insanely annoying Billikens is not all that unexpected. It just would have been nice to pull out a win.

What do we think this means in terms of bracketology? 

Some Good FN Photos

A lot of us at PB&B are former Flyer Newers, and I thought I'd give the current crew a well-deserved shoutout for their awesome photo gallery from the Xavier game last week.

http://flyernews.com/gallery/4774

Ryan Kozelka and Will Hanlon did a great job capturing the atmosphere of the game and making me wish I had been there.

Bah! ... Wait, not bah ... No, Bah!

In general, I don't worry about whether the Flyers are ranked in the Top 25 or not. It's a completely arbitrary list that has little to no effect on who makes it to the NCAA Tournament (read: the only thing I care about).

But this is bullshit. What more does this team have to do to get any recognition? First the Xavier game gets bumped off ESPN2 for a soccer game, now this shit.

So far, only the ESPN/USA Today poll is out, and UD is 26th. That's behind great teams like Utah "We just lost to Boise State and haven't played anyone of worth all year" State and LS "We lost at home to Xavier and play in the vastly overrated SEC" U. Bah!

The AP poll will be out later, but don't hold your breath. The Flyers were actually ranked higher in the ESPN/USA Today poll last week.

So it actually looks like UD will be ranked in the AP poll, according to the DDN's Tom Archdeacon. That's good, but it should still be higher than just No. 25. So, still, bah!

71-58

I'm in.

Xavier Live Blog

Since Uncreative doesn't want to blog angry, and since Broadcasting Fool probably considers himself a jinx after the Charlotte debacle, I'll go ahead and give this a shot. I promise precious few insights and many announcer criticisms. See you for tipoff.

6:55 - My TV says ESPN Classic has American Gladiators at 7. I assume that was before they bumped the game from ESPN 2. Though if the pessimists are right, I might prefer American Gladiators at some point this evening. 

6:58 - I'll take this opportunity to say I have no feel for this game, much like I have no feel for any Brian Gregory team, ever. I wouldn't be shocked to see a win. The Flyers seem to get up for big games and if they shoot the ball well, they'll be in it. I also wouldn't be shocked to see a 20-point loss. 

7:00 - The game has, in fact, pre-empted American Gladiators. The Arena appears to be rocking. We could use a good start to keep it that way. 

7:01 - Bob Wichusen and Adrian Branch are your announcers. I was hoping for the Hometown Coach. 

7:03 - My feed is jumpy. This is on TV. This is not supposed to happen. Is WHIO involved somehow? 

7:04 - Well that's a start. London to the basket for the bucket and the foul. Eight seconds into the game. Free throw good. 

7:06 - Nice little defense possession and a follow by Marcus Johnson. The first 56 seconds of this game have been awesome. 

7:07 - Xavier's second trip ends in a shot clock violation. I don't know if the defense is that stifling or if the Muskies are sluggish, but I like it. 

7:08 - This is the first game I've watched on TV, rather than the tiny, blurry internet broadcast. As a result, I can finally tell London Warren and Rob Lowery apart in regular game action. 

7:10 - Two fouls on C.J. Anderson. Could be big. On the ensuing trip, Lowery drills a three. It's 8-1. This is the start we needed. 

7:12 - Short jumper by Raymond fo Xavier's first field goal. It took four minutes. 

7:16 - "They call Kurt Huelsman 'The Professional.'" I would like to know who calls him that, and how on earth they came up with it. 

7:20 - Interesting stat: With 12:43 left, Xavier has had just six field-goal attempts. 

7:21 - Nice steal by Paul Williams, and an awesome finish plus the foul from Marcus Johnson. He misses the free throw but the Flyers still lead by seven. 

7:27 - Three-point play by Raymond and we've suddenly got a two-point game. This could be a crucial stretch. Xavier has taken a punch. Can the Flyers respond? Follow slam by Wright is a pretty good start. 

7:28 - Lowery down with an injury. Holding his knee, and clearly in pain. Not good. 

7:31 - Lowery is being helped off. Hopefully he's alright. For now, paging Stephen Thomas. 

7:32 - Hey Stephen Thomas! A little floater on his first possession. Nicely done. Thank you for not transferring yet. 

7:33 - Mickey Perry with a step back three? Why not? That's a 6-0 run since Xavier cut it to two. 

7:41 - Palming called on Thomas. There are few things I hate more in college basketball than the random palming call. It's like refs carry a pager, and when it goes off, they have to call palming, just so everybody remembers that they can call it. Anyway, Raymond just hit a three, and it's down to a one-point lead. If the Flyers aren't forcing turnovers and are trying to go basket-for-basket, they're not going to win this game. 

7:43 - Well maybe I spoke too soon. Perry matches Raymond's three with one of his own. 

7:45 - As Brad Redford hits a three and starts on the path toward hateability, the surprisingly insightful Adrian Branch discusses Dayton's small margin of error. Xavier shoots well, the Flyers don't. They have to make that up somewhere. 

7:47 - I have not officially expressed my love for Chris Johnson like some others, but I would like to go ahead and do that. 

7:50 - Sean Miller was screaming at his team during the media timeout. When he screamed, it looked like he spit out a tooth. 

7:56 - Mental lapse by Xavier leads to a Stephen Thomas steal and free throw. He's got five points, Perry has five and Searcy has six. Big contributions from those guys. 

7:57 - Well, that was about as good a half as you could expect. Branch is right in saying that the Flyers' defensive rebounding has had a big impact. Limiting Xavier to one shot is pretty crucial. Also, the Flyers have done good job of not letting the Musketeers take control. I don't know how they've done it, because they never do it, but this is actually Dayton's kind of game. See you after halftime. 

8:14 - Thirteen seconds into the half, Warren picks up a cheap third foul. Paging Stephen Thomas again. 

8:16 - Shaky start to the half. I didn't think the Flyers needed much in the way of adjustments. Just needed to play the way they'd been playing. So far, not so good, but UD still in the lead. 

8:19 - Chris Wright with a three, and all of a sudden the lead is seven and the crowd is in it. 

8:21 - Xavier is all about quick answers tonight. Two dunks from the Muskies, the second after a bad miscommunication by the Flyers. Gregory takes a timeout. 

8:28 - Chris Wright drills another three. WOW. Eight point lead and a timeout from Xavier. I like that Chris Wright wants to take over this game. 

8:32 - So that depth that sometimes masquerades as a wealth of mediocrity? Not so much tonight. Paul Willias with a three for the 11-point lead, largest of the night. 

8:39 - Xavier isn't going to go away, but the Flyers have had a lot of answers tonight. They've got a 10-point cushion. they just need a few more answers.

8:42 - Incredible dunk follow by Chris Johnson, but they waive off the basket because he went "over the back." Awful call. he didn't go over the back. Dante Jackson just got in the way. 

8:44 - And now the refs are going to the monitor to check for a shot clock reset when the ball clearly, clearly hit the rim. Bang-up job, fellas. 

8:45 - Or we're going back to the foul by Chris Johnson and giving Jackson a 1-and-1. Yeah, let's just pretend that last possession by Xavier didn't happen. 

8:48 - So that ended up being a four-point swing. I really hope that doesn't have a huge impact on the game. This has been a good one, and pretty well-officiated. 

8:51 - Big drive and finish by Marcus Johnson gets the lead back to nine. With that and an ealier bucket by Warren, that's a good response to the rough stretch. Then Anderson misses two free throws. Big. 

8:52 - MJ with a huge three. He's the natural choice for go-to guy and he's delivering tonight. 

8:53 - Two more missed free throws by Xavier, a runner by Wright and suddenly the Flyers have their largest lead. Timeout X. Still five minutes left. Thhis game isn't over, but Dayton is firmly in control. 

8:54 - I'm excited. 

8:55 - It seems like there should be less than 4:45 on the clock, and I kind of wish there was. Still feeling good, but still a lot of time. Two free throws by Wright and the lead is 14. 

8:59 - Redford hits a three, then MJ jacks one up early in the shot clock and misses it. Heading to the final media timeout, the Flyers lead by 11. If they play solid defense, and don't jack up any more threes they'll be in good shape. 

9:03 - Pull it out and run down the shot clock? Nah, Wright will just drive, hit a shot and get fouled. Fine. Either way. No on the free throw, but the lead is 13. 

9:07 - Steal by Warren and he saves possession by calling a timeout. Flyers by 13 with 58 seconds left. This one is almost in the bag. Again, I'm excited. 

9:10 - That's it. Gigantic win, maybe the biggest of the last several years. Well done, Flyers. Feel free to start believing again. More later. 

Why You Should Hate Xavier

• Daytonians who went to Xavier - I would never actually wish ill on a person. I may be full or rage, but even I have my limits. Having said that, however, I wouldn't feel that bad if perhaps something not that serious (yet still painful) happened to players like Derrick Brown and Romain Sato. If you lived in Dayton and chose to go to Xavier, fuck you. Don't even come back up I-75.

• They're on Fox Sports Ohio like all the time. To watch UD games here in Columbus, I have to pull out my laptop and hope it's on ChannelSurfing.net

• The Blue Blob. It could be the worst mascot in all of college sports (right up there with the Stanford tree) (UC note: This was a submission and I have to admit that I kinda disagree about the Tree. He even gets wasted!).

• D'Artigan. Is he French? I have no idea, but I do know he's lame. He's probably a sex offender, too.

• Stanley "Hammer Time" Burrell. With that name, you should shut the fuck up and play basketball. But no, he also had to be the whiniest bitch ever. Here's how much I hate Stanley Burrell. I DVR'd Xavier's NCAA loss to UCLA - just so I can watch Burrell cry at the end of it. Yes, I still have it saved.

• They were the losers at the end of We Are Marshall.

• UD hasn't beaten Xavier since 2006. The last UD recipient of the Blackburn-McCafferty MVP Trophy? Norman Plummer! Let that one just soak in for a little bit. Before Plummer it was Marques Bennett.

• Those three losses against Xavier last year may not have kept UD out of the tournament on their own, but they sure didn't help.

• David Fucking West. Enough said.

• Still haven't won at Xavier in my lifetime. And I'm 27.

• Justin Gage Cage. He's a graduate of Pike High School in Indianapolis. Do you know who else is? Me.

• They've been to the Elite Eight twice since the turn of the century. UD still hasn't won a tournament game since the first Stanley Burrell was relevant. Does that seem like jealous? Damn right it is. There's no difference between UD and Xavier on the surface. The schools are basically identical.

• This crap always breaks their way:


• Last year at Xavier. Remember how great it was when UD was ranked in the top 20? Yeah, that didn't last long. I remember being really excited for the game and going to the Columbus alumni game watch. The Future Mrs. and I left after halftime. We won't be attending the game watch tomorrow.


• Because of the feeling of dread I have. I'm not going into tomorrow all that confident. I want the Flyers to win and I'm going to cheer from home (thanks, alumni chapter for not having the bus trip this year, that's just great), but I can't shake the feeling of impending doom I have every time UD plays Xavier now. I'm hoping for the best, but I'm expecting a 30-point loss. If that's not a good enough reason to hate Xavier, I don't know what is.

Last Call For Rage-ohol!

Since there's nothing positive to talk about stemming from Sunday's debacle, how about we turn our attention to hating Xavier.

This is the last reminder to e-mail the reasons why you hate Xavier to xavierhate@hotmail.com. If your reasons don't suck, they'll make the post (which should go up before tomorrow night since I have tomorrow off).

Charlotte Live Blog - Second Half

Just a quick thought before the second half resumes: Xavier losing to Duquesne last night is the worst thing that could have happened for UD. I would have liked them to come into the Arena on a long winning streak. Now they know they can be beat, and will be playing with passion so as to not lose two in a row. I'm not saying the Flyers can't beat them, and I am certainly holding out hope, but I just don't like playing a Xavier team coming off an embarrassing loss. Now onto the second half...

2:06 PM -- Color commentator is Derrick Dukes. I have no idea who he is either.

2:08 PM -- While looking at the halftime stats, Mike Hartsock tells us "That turnover number is wrong. The turnovers are six each, not nine-to-two as the graphic says." Again, I love WHIO.

2:09 PM -- Dayton by four as we start the second half. Charlotte gets possession.

2:10 PM -- Hartsock totally butchers Chris Wright's name on a beautiful dunk, followed by Derrick Dukes calling him "The Wright Stuff." There are times that I'm ashamed to be a broadcaster. This is one of them. (As an aside, I should mention that I am not perfect as a broadcaster, and if someone did a live blog of my broadcast, they would probably have times when they would rip me apart too. So if any media members are reading this, don't take it personally. There, that should suffice as a half-hearted apology and keep me from being blacklisted in the Dayton media market. Just no one use my real name on this blog, and we'll be okay. LOL)

2:13 PM -- At the 17 minute mark, UD leads by one until Mickey Perry drills a three from the top of the key. Hey Mickey you're so fine...see, I can be lame too.

2:15 PM -- Nice hook by Searcy to put UD back up by six. I think that ties the largest lead of the game.

2:17 PM -- "Anderson likes to blow a kiss to his wife after every 3-pointer." GAY! And yes, I'm a bitter single guy.

2:21 PM -- Despite a shot clock beating jumper a few minutes ago, Lowery is having a horrible game. Dayton by two, Charlotte's ball with 13:45 to go.

2:23 PM -- A three by Charlotte puts them back in front by one. Timeout UD. Uncreative Commuter weighs in with a note on Derrick Dukes being a Flyer from the early 90s. My apologies. In my defense, I didn't become a Flyers fan until I was 18 when I decided to go to school there. Don't hate me.

2:26 PM -- A three by Marcus Johnson gives Dayton the lead at 49-47. And it will stay at the score at the under-12 timeout.

2:29 PM -- Apparently Frank Iguodala Lives is having trouble with the feed too. He just wrote to me on AIM "Fuck this inactive bullshit."

2:31 PM -- Charles Little picks up his fourth foul with 10:24 to go in the game, sending Mack to the line. Lamont Mack is good, but doesn't have nearly as cool a name as Leemire Goldwire. Mack hits both free throws to tie the game at 49. On the other end, Chris Wright picks up an offensive foul.

2:33 PM -- Wright picks up a foul away from the ball on a missed three. Seventh team foul on UD. Bonus the rest of the way for the 49ers with 9:52 to go. Mack hits them both to go up by two. 51-49 Charlotte.

2:34 PM -- Wright gets it stolen from behind, Charlotte gets a layup, then Wright gets blocked. Horrible stretch by "the Wright stuff". Timeout with UD down by four with 9:03 to go.

2:37 PM -- Offensive foul on Wright, his fourth. This might be the worst 6 minute stretch of real time action in Wright's life.

2:38 PM -- Alley Oop for Charlotte puts them up by 6. Marcus Johnson fouled on the other side. He'll shoot after the TV timeout.

2:41 PM -- Frank Iguodala Lives trying to steal the show with this quote: "wow those cheerleader uniforms are very conservative..and that's probably a good thing."

2:42 PM -- Marcus goes 1-of-2 from the line, Charlotte by five with 7:30 to go. Make it seven on a putback dunk. Dayton is falling apart at the seams.

2:43 PM -- Another foul, two more free throws, Charlotte by nine. I feel ill.

2:44 PM -- UD has forgotten how to box out. I remember my first basketball coach teaching me how to do that. I've lost count on the number of dunks Charlotte has. They lead by 9 with 6:06 to go. Another timeout by Dayton.

2:46 PM -- Another UD turnover (16th of the game), Charlotte scores, they lead by 11. Little misses on the other end as we hit the five minute mark, Dayton down 63-52. Warren picks up a stupid foul.

2:48 PM -- Alley oop to Charles Little. Flyers down 11 with 4:15 to go. Timeout Charlotte. If this is how my live blogs are going to go, I will never do one again.

2:51 PM -- Dayton down by 9, Charlotte going to the line. 3:26 to go. I've lost all faith in a comeback.

2:53 PM -- This seems like a good time to point out that Charlotte is 1-6 in the A-10, and that Xavier beat them by 22, and Temple beat them by 27.

2:54 PM -- Not to be an ass, but isn't it a "backboard", not a "bankboard". It's a bank shot, but it's not a bankboard, is it?

2:55 PM -- Fabrizius airballs a three, just for good measure. I'm giving up as the Flyers are down 12 with under three to go. I'll come back and post the final score.

3:05 PM -- Final Score, Charlotte 79, Dayton 66. Let the pessimists run wild.

Charlotte Live Blog -- First Half

Alright, I'm bored. I'll try my hand at a live blog for the UD/Charlotte game. I have the video feed online from whiotv.com, so I'll be listening to the sweet sounds of Mike Hartsock on the play-by-play call. And away we go.....

1:05 PM -- Mickey Perry is starting because the Flyers are still having problems with the flu. This can't be a good sign.

1:07 PM -- The Flyers control the tip, and after good ball movement, Chris Wright was fouled going up for the shot. He makes one of two, but Flyers get the rebound. Huelsman with a lay-up for an early 3-0 lead.

1:09 PM -- Charlotte with two quick buckets to go up 4-3, but Huelsman puts on a nice spin move to draw a shooting foul on Charlotte. Kurt hits one to tie it at 4.

1:10 PM -- Now would be a good time to mention that the streaming video feed doesn't seem to enlarge at all, so I'm watching the video in a 2 by 3 inch window.

1:12 PM -- I have no idea who the color commentator is yet. I'll try to figure it out. In the meantime, Dayton is not playing defense and Mickey Perry has missed two threes and committed a charging foul. Charlotte up 10-7.

1:14 PM -- Warren misses a layup, Searcy gets blocked, but Little comes up with a basket and a foul. Good work on the offensive glass. Dayton down 1 at the first media timeout with a free throw to come after the commercials.

1:17 PM -- Little misses the free throw. That's 3 misses from the charity stripe already by my count.

1:21 PM -- Perhaps the ugliest four minute stretch in basketball history as we hit the under 12 timeout with the game tied at 15. That's right, the two teams combined for five points in the last four minutes.

1:22 PM -- Apparently the live stream from WHIOTV.com closes if you are "inactive" for a certain period of time. This is stupid! I'm watching a freaking game! What do they want me to do, click on the screen every 2 minutes? Lame.

1:24 PM -- Three NBA scouts are in the house today apparently. The broadcasters joke that they are here to listen to them, not scout any of the players. Sadly, that might be accurate. In the meantime, UD has committed two more fouls to get up to 6 in the half.

1:26 PM -- London goes coast to coast for an easy layup and the 17-15 lead.

1:26 PM -- And Charlotte answers with a three, followed by a UD turnover. 18-17 Charlotte.

1:28 PM -- Chris Johnson with a bucket and the foul. He hits the free throw to give him nine points and tie the game at 20.

1:30 PM -- Apparently UD can't shoot free throws today. Lowery just misses a pair, and they are now 3-of-8 from the line. Horrible.

1:31 PM -- A three by Lamont Mack triggered this exchange:
color guy: "Mr. Lamont Mack with his third three-pointer of the game"
Hartsock: "That's Mack's second three-pointer giving him eight points."
You gotta love WHIO.

1:36 PM -- Big dunk for Chris Wright to put UD back out in front 26-25 approaching the under four timeout.

1:37 PM -- Hartsock: "Interesting that Dayton has been on six fouls for a while, and there's a whistle away from the ball." Yep, that's a foul on the Flyers. Nice jinx there Mike.

1:38 PM -- Good steal by Searcy, and Marcus gets fouled on the other end to put the Flyers on the line after the commercial break.

1:40 PM -- Marcus makes the first, misses the second, but Chris Johnson cleans up the miss with a dunk. Charlotte answers with a 3. Flyers by 1.

1:42 PM -- Chris Wright airballs a free throw. Always good for a chuckle.

1:45 PM -- Charles Little with a "runner" according to Hartsock. To everyone else watching, it was a "turn-around jump shot". Flyers by 4.

1:47 PM -- After a three point play by Charlotte, Chris Wright takes a shot to the head and is still down. The commentators think it was Huelsman that may have got him. There's nothing worse than seeing one of your players laying on the court with trainers around him. Thankfully he gets up and walks off under his own power. Flyers by 1 with 1:14 to go in the half and possession.

1:50 PM -- Huelsman misses a free throw (go figure). Lane violation on Charlotte. Huelsman misses again followed by Chris Johnson committing a stupid foul on the rebound. This game is getting ugly fast.

1:50 PM -- Bobby Lutz picks up a technical foul. He was upset about the foul called on Huelsman, but waits to get his T until after UD commits a foul. Now UD leads by 3 after the two free throw makes, with Charlotte going back to the line on the other end with a one-and-one opportunity.

1:52 PM -- Luke Fab-Three-Zius just drains a long ass three. I'm stunned. UD wastes the last shot of the half but takes a four point lead into the half. It probably should be a one or two point game, but Lutz with the technical foul was really stupid. Be back in 20 minutes for the 2nd half.

Why You Should Hate Charlotte

(Not pictured: Gold)

49ers?!: Here’s the problem. There’s no gold in Charlotte. There never was. No one even really knows for sure why the school uses that nickname. According to that bastion of knowledge and truth, Wikipedia, it is either because the school was saved from being shut down by the state in 1949 or because of the “49er spirit” (whatever the fuck that means) that embodied the university. No matter which reason is true, it’s still stupid.

They Haven’t Helped The A-10: When Charlotte and Saint Louis joined the A-10 I thought it was a great idea. Saint Louis has had success in the past and the 49ers had been to the NCAA Tournament five of the previous seven seasons. Since then? No appearances.

What Should We Call Them?: The athletics department has gone simply by Charlotte since 2000. But it’s still a part of the University of North Carolina system. It’s still technically UNC Charlotte or the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The school was often called the wrong name (N.C.-Charlotte, UNCC, etc.), but it’s still kind of silly to switch the name just for the athletic department.

Their Coach Is Cheap: Not only is Bobby Lutz on the hot seat in Charlotte, but he can’t afford his own Web site.

Typical Road Struggles: UD is 4-3 against the 49ers all time. The Flyers have only played at Charlotte twice before - and lost both times.

Notes: First, no live blog tomorrow. I have work. Second, remember to e-mail the reasons you hate Xavier for the next dose of hate early next week. If your reasons are good, they'll make the post. E-mail xavierhate@hotmail.com.

Seriously? What's Wrong With Us?

And by us, I mean the fans who post on this blog. Why are we becoming the sky-is-falling type of fans that never believe in a good thing?

At the beginning of the season, I think we all pretty much had 3 main requests for the Flyers this year:

1) Win 20+ games.
2) Quit losing to second-rate teams like Duquesne and Fordham.
3) Get an NCAA tournament bid.

Okay, so let's see where we stand:

1) Already have over 20 wins
2) With the exception of a loss to UMass, the Flyers have beaten everyone they are supposed to beat. So one bad loss.
3) Still in question, but let's face it, at 21-2, the Flyers are well on their way to a bid barring something crazy happening.

So I would say that 2/3rds of our requests have come true, and Dayton is on its way to an NCAA bid. We should be happy, right?

So why is everyone complaining about the nature of the wins? Do you really think on Selection Sunday that the committee is going to look at the Flyers resume and say "Oh, they only beat LaSalle by 2, they should have won that one by 8"? Of course not. No one cares how badly you beat LaSalle, or Fordham, or St. Bonaventure. In those games, all they look at is whether you won or not. And the bottom line is that the Flyers continue to win.

Listen, I'm not completely innocent here either. I've been cracking jokes about the Flyers "huge" wins the last few weeks, when they are beating teams by one or two. I even agreed when a friend of mine joked that the Flyers were the worst 18-2 team ever a few weeks ago. But I'm coming around on this team quite a bit. Let's just forget about the fact that they are "close wins", and look at them strictly as "wins".

Let's enjoy the fact that the Flyers are 21-2. Even if they are the worst 21-2 team ever, isn't that still better than being the best 2-21 team ever? I'll take the wins, ugly or not, any way that I can get them.

So ... About Wednesday Night

Another road win, but also one that does not leave you feeling very well.

So is this team a fraud? A "team of destiny?" Who the hell knows anymore...

I just know I'm really dreading next Wednesday. Actually, I don't feel very good about Sunday either.

Let me know what you think in the comments...

St. Joe's Road Trip!

The Future Mrs. and I decided that since I had a rare Sunday where I did not have deadline we would make the trip from suburban Columbus to Dayton to watch the Flyers face Saint Joesph's. As lowly non-season ticket holders we don't have parking passes, so the university in its infinite wisdom has us park in a lot past the ramp to I-75. I dubbed it the Saint Bonaventure Lot - kind of a part of UD Arena's parking but not really. Kind of like how Saint Bonaventure is a part of the A-10 but not really.

The first thing I did when I got into the Arena was check out the Korporate Kasuals store. There was some good stuff, including the beautiful throwback jersey the Flyers wore against St. Bonaventure. Too rich for my blood, though. Also, check out the red zip-up in the upper left-hand corner with the old UD logo. Good times.

Our seats were in Sect. 410, Row Q. That's one row from the top.

The view from our seats. Could be worse.

That damn Hawk made the trip of course. Here he is flapping (naturally) before the game.

It was a six-point UD lead at halftime. Here you can see that the scoreboard above the court was obstructed.

UD cruises to victory and everybody was happy. Especially me. I had concerns that the Flyers would be exposed against a Phil Martelli team. Turns out St. Joe's was exposed.
Brian Gregory does his postgame radio show from the court. I had forgotten what Larry and Bucky look like.

The final score.

Observations:

- It has been a nerve wracking season for watching UD basketball, but I was never concerned after halftime. The Hawks looked like they had very little other than Ahmad Nivins offensively.

- A solid performance by Kurt Huelsman, who was named the player of the game. He had some nice moments offensively, as long as you totally ignore his 12-foot free throw. Both Huelsman and Devin Searcy did a good job of containing Nivins.

- The UD offense looked like a normal offense for at least one afternoon. Chris Wright had 14 points, and Charles Little and Marcus Johnson both had 13. Freshman Chris Johnson also had another solid (yet quiet) performance and led the Flyers with eight rebounds.

- Marcus Johnson played without his headband in the second half, which is probably something that only I care about. It got eerily silent when Johnson went down late in the game. Hopefully he'll be fine long-term. I know he says he's fine, but I'll believe it when I see him on the court again.

- We went to the game thinking it will be the last we can make it to. Now I'm thinking about getting Xavier tickets on StubHub...

BONUS CRAPPY VIEDOS:

Pregame.

After the St. Joe's timeout when UD took an 11-point lead.

We're ... 26!

UD is as close to being ranked as possible in the latest USAToday coaches poll - the first team listed as receiving votes. Not that being ranked really means anything right now, but I need something to print out and put on my wall at work to replace the rankings from last year.

Oh well. The AP poll comes out later. At least the Flyers are solidly in the latest Bracketology.

I was actually at the St. Joe's game yesterday with the Future Mrs. because I actually had a rare Sunday off. I will have photos and video I took from my spot in the 400 level tomorrow. Today, deadline looms...