Continue reading »]]> There is a certain code to live by that makes being a sports fan a meaningful experience. It can be a difficult code to follow in hard times because it involves making an emotional attachment to a program, and linking your fortunes with theirs. It is because of that attachment and because there is the potential to suffer with your team that makes the enjoyment of winning so much more intense when you are lucky enough to experience it. You have to suffer with something to truly be a fan of it. You have to be tested, and you have to remain loyal when the temptation of being one of the throngs who regardless of geography or alma mater flock to the most successful blue blood program  or worse to Kobe or Lebron. If you are ever to earn the right to celebrate a teams accomplishments with pride then you must experience more than just a championship run. You have to be there on cold February days when conference road games take their toll. You might have to sit through an NIT or even CBI game, you have to watch players leave the court in March in tears knowing that they gave you 4 great seasons and you will never get to watch them again. You have to experience all of the highs and the lows to earn a meaningful affiliation.

It occurred to me yesterday when I was sitting in the Convocation Center watching my two mid major alma maters battle it out in a game that would determine 3rd place in the MAC West that this game had more meaning to me than the previous weeks Duke/North Carolina game could have had to most of the chattering, blue clad masses in the Dean Smith Center or watching on ESPN, because I am vested. I spent three years of my life in Kalamazoo and watched the Broncos 10+ times a season since the day I set foot on that campus, I’ve spent the last 4 years in Ypsilanti going to every EMU home game I can. The highlights of rooting for middle of the road to bad mid major teams are not plentiful, but they are far more memorable than any Final Four could be for the team I might have arbitrarily chosen to root for.

This might strike some as a bitter rant. I certainly don’t mean for it to. I root for Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Georgetown and Michigan State. I have degrees from Eastern and Western, and followed Michigan State since an early age. I do not mean to imply that you must attend a school to root for the basketball team. I think it should be your first loyalty and I absolutely resent the notion that you should cast aside your personal affiliation just because the athletic program isn’t as high a profile as the larger state school. I do recognize that some people make an attachment early in life and it stays with them regardless of where they went to school. I absolutely get that and for the most part can respect it. The so called fans that I can’t abide by are the guys that root for the top team, top player, or top tradition and want to revel in that success. These are the parasites that latch on to the biggest thing they can find to try and share in their success.

Classic example is this clown who sat near us at last years championship game:

This guy was the most vocal person in our section. He was more animated in his support of the North Carolina Tarheel’s than Tyler Hansborough’s parents (I know this because as the game got more and more out of hand I kept an eye on both just to have something to take my mind off things). He didn’t even care enough about the team to ever buy a t-shirt. He did care enough to put on his best Carolina Blue Rocawear jacket and matching Carolina Blue Old English D hat, and try to taunt Spartan fans in our section. He liked to declare things over and jump out of his seat for dunks. I liked to yell “Go Rocawear” every time he did, because I have zero respect for guys like this. If he had an equally unaffiliated friend who was wearing green and white Fubu and had a green and white yankee hat it would be different. But this tool was trying to banter with real fans who were watching their team play for the highest stakes out there. It was completely inappropriate, and no matter how much he tried to pretend to celebrate afterwords it was clearly unauthentic and meaningless. He was out there watching a TV show, I was watching a team/program that I had been following since I was in 3rd grade, other people were watching a team/program that represented the school where they spent years of their lives, a place where they had chosen a career path, met a spouse, etc… it just wasn’t balanced.

My philosophy is simple and fair. There is nothing wrong with liking a team. You can like a team without being a true fan. I like Georgetown. I root for Georgetown, watch them when I can, know who their players and coaches are, and read about them. I like their tradition, I like that they win at an elite level without taking dirty BCS football money, and I just plain enjoy watching them play. I am a true fan of Western Michigan. This is because I can’t walk away when the program is down, or when we have a tough loss. If Georgetown starts a long slide it won’t bother me that much, I’ll just root for Seton Hall or something. If Western Michigan starts/continues to slide I’ll get pissed, want the coach fired, call Ball State cheaters, want to build a new arena, drink more, etc… I can’t walk away from “my team”. If you don’t have a team you can’t just pick one up overnight . You have to earn the right to call a team yours through time and energy expelled watching, hoping, and sometimes being disappointed. Until such time as you become a true fan of a team you should be respectful of true fans and never try to equate your loss affiliations with their real passions. If some tool at BW3s who grew up in the same town as I did, went to community college, grew up rooting for the Fab-5 and then Michigan State when Izzo became dominate, and has never lived outside of Metro Detroit, sits next to me to watch Kentucky play WMU in the tournament this March (I can dream), he better not pump his fist and try to talk shit to me if Kentucky is beating up on Western Michigan just because he really likes Wall, and Bledsoe. He doesn’t matter, his thoughts don’t matter, and his happiness is just a meaningless front, because to him, sports don’t matter. I’d rather watch a game with some crusty old Kentucky fan from the hill country who has a picture of Adolph Rupp in his rec room if he is a true fan of his team. Because at least that guy gets it.

Continue reading »]]> College sports seasons are a difficult thing to grasp sometimes. In both football and basketball, teams usually start the season playing games against teams that are not in their conference. Depending on who you are, these games serve different purposes.

• BCS / High Major Teams – If you’re North Carolina, Kentucky, or UConn, games at the start of the season are meant to do a lot of things. You’re probably paying for a few cupcakes to come to your place and watch you do dunking drills. You’re probably playing in a pre-season tournament, meant to face you against different teams that do things you are not used to (ala, the NCAA Tourney). You’re also playing a few good teams in order to (hopefully) get a few marquee wins on your resume before you begin conference play. These are not necessary wins because you still have your conference schedule, with chances to play other good teams, and your conference tournament.
• Mid Major Teams / Low Major Teams – Most of these guys are collecting a few checks to be a punching bag in a rabid home environment for one of the above teams. A few exceptions (Butler, Xavier, Davidson in recent years), will also be trying to add a few marquee wins vs the teams above, hoping for that mythical at large bid when tourney time comes around. The rest of the punching bags are just hoping to survive to conference schedules (usually starting after the new year), and a chance to position themselves for the conference tournament, and a ticket to the shindig.

Spring will be here before we know it. March will be here, and some of these wins will be important, but others will not. Most teams as we see them now will have a completely different make up. Tom Izzo and is MSU Spartans are notorious for this. You never see his March teams play the way his December teams do. Yes, Michigan State lost at UNC, losing to the Tar Heels for the 3rd straight time in the last two years. Yes, two of those victories were against last years NCAA champion shucks howdy hip gyro nation squad. MSU figured to have the superior squad this last week at UNC, now that most of the title team has moved onto the NBA. Sparty was outplayed for most of the game. I have always seen Tom Izzo’s season as a progression towards a goal. Yes, a win at North Carolina would be great. However, it’s the test that probably (I’m going off the cuff here) means more. Hostile environment, check. Blue Blood squad, check. Broken arm coach who lives his apple pie and the funnies in the sunday section, check. Even though MSU lost, they still gained something from playing the game, and it will go a long way to getting these guys where they need to be come tourney time.

The same could be said for WMU. They travel to Hawaii at the end of December to get beat up on by a few teams before their conference schedule starts. Flying all those time zones away, playing supposedly superior competition (you do have to play the games), and all just before you enter the grind it out portion of your schedule. WMU is not going to get an at large bid this year, unless they don’t lose another game by some miracle. This means they’re playing for a conference tournament seed, and keeping their fingers crossed for some hot David Kool shooting in Cleveland. That is the life on the other side.

So, things may seem sort of brutal at this point. I’m pumped for UNLV hoops, undefeated with two close road victories over Arizona and Santa Clara (appears Santa Clara should have won that game). I’m also hopeful for WMU, as they’ve shown flashes over their non-con schedule (win vs VCU, playing Temple tough). I also see that Tom Izzo and his Spartans are a work in progress, and if things happen the way they have previously, we’ll be watching a different team in a few months.

I’ve got no games this week, until Saturday for UNLV and Kansas State, which, as it turns out, will be a pretty big time game.

Have a good week everybody.

Continue reading »]]> What a great time of the year. Here in Vegas, we’ve broken the heat wave for a few weeks now. We’re headed to Thanksgiving. I’ll have lots of family in town, my special lady will fix up a mean turkey, and I will find a nice spot to catch as much of Feast Week on ESPN as possible. I’ll also be taking in the Las Vegas Invitational at the Orleans Arena the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Really looking forward to this, shout out to Scott, get those days off work so you can come watch some hoops.

Unfortunately, I will miss UNLV’s exhibition game tomorrow vs Washburn. I am excited to see how this team shapes up with these high profile transfers trying to gel and become a team. I’ll get my 1st live action look on Saturday when the Rebels take on Pittsburgh State, which is in Kansas (that’s for Sam).

Tonight, though, you can quench your thirst for basketball with two games on ESPNU, as Isiah Thomas and FIU take on North Carolina. Then you get Syracuse / Albany. Both games are brutal, but they are games, and that makes them watchable for the 1st half at the very least. I’ll watch both while doing some reading for class, as I really could use some hoops, and the ‘Cuse being on the loose is never a bad thing.

Bust out your throw backs, and get ready to go. My goal of 50 games begins on Saturday. Who’s going to hold the ribbon at the finish line for me?

Continue reading »]]> This has been a great year of College Basketball. I can’t remember a time when there has been as much parity in the game. No clear cut two or three teams threatening to run away with everything. Last year we saw all four #1 seeds advance to the Final Four. It is certainly possible this year, however, I feel there are a pool of 8 potential serious contenders to cut down the nets in front of me in Detroit next month. (In no particular order you homers)

1. Connecticut:  Why they will –  All world big man Hasheem Thabeet will always give them a chance. A coach and program who’s been there before and knows how to get it done in March. Balanced scoring with four players averaging 13ppg. Why they won’t – One of those players is Jerome Dyson, who isn’t about to sniff a pair of sneakers for the rest of the year. Oh,  they can’t beat Pittsburgh either.

2. Pittsburgh:  Why they will - Best big man in the country hands down. DeJuan Blair is an animal who plays with fire, wants to be the best and has shown he can be against anybody in the nation. Why they won’t – Lost three road games this year, two that should have been won easily IMO, (@ Villanova, @ Providence). This shows me they are prone to overlook teams. Haven’t been there before.

3. Oklahoma: Why they will – Blake Griffin is a monster. Enough said. Why they won’t – The Sooners have stumbled as of late, with and without Blake.

4. Michigan State: Why they will – Battle tested coach who’s gotten it done before. Younger talented players have learned a lot with bad losses this season (I hope). Peaking at the right time. Why they won’t – The Spartans have been horribly inconsistent all year. No killer instinct. Young players tend to show their true colors in pressure situations.

5. Louisville: Why they will – Terrence Williams. Guy does it all, and Rick Pitino should write this guy into his will. Deep team with shooters off the bench (Jerry Smith, Andre McGee) provide a lift when often maligned Edgar Sosa wants to dribble the ball off his foot 50 times a game. Why they won’t – Any team that gets blown out by Notre Dame by 30+ points has to have something wrong with its head. That, and Pitino won’t be wearing his white suit until the Kentucky Derby.

6. North Carolina: Why they will – They play an amazing brand of basketball based solely on being faster than everybody else, and less on true talent. Roy Williams has asked God and the following day he found a quarter in his shoe. Why they won’t – Ty Lawson’s toes are falling off. The walking pelvic gyration that is Tyler Hansbrough is a hot head.

7. Memphis: Why they will – Freakishly athletic. Abnormal. They could seriously be aliens. Tyreke Evans is a beast. How do you guard this guy? He’s closer to being a power forward than a center. Calapari is a good coach, you just wonder how long he’ll be able to stay in CUSA with these bottom feeders. He’s made a mockery of the conference. Why they won’t - Haven’t played with the big boys since the start of the season. That Gonzaga win in Spokane was nice, but hardly like running through a Big East or Big Ten schedule.

8. Kansas: Why they will – Sherron Collins. Guy is lightning in a bottle. Plays fast and hard for 40 mins. Clutch (as shown several times this year). Watching him play you can tell he enjoys his roll on this team. Why they won’t – Inexperienced and young. You have to put in your dues before you gain the success. Two of these players even played last year for Kansas. Oh, Bill Self hasn’t tithed enough this year. For Shame!

See you next year: Duke, Villanova, Wake forest, and anybody from the Pac-10. You’re all garbage. Especially Duke. No true big man front court player. Everybody takes charges too often. I don’t see it happening. I love Villanova, but they just don’t have the horses to run with the guys on the list.