Continue reading »]]> A year ago, the five member Tourney Trip selection committee chose Buffalo, NY as the site which would play host to our yearly trek to the NCAA tournament. Yesterday, the brackets were released, and our patience was rewarded with actual basketball teams to watch play at this site. Here is who we will see this weekend, battle for the honor to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

1. Syracuse vs 16. Vermont – Personally, this is a cool game. I have never seen Syracuse, and really enjoy their hoops team. On the other hand, Vermont lives in the hearts of the underdogs, after the Catamounts knocked off the Orangemen in 2005, a very classic upset. Does this mean it will happen this year as well? Hell no. The fabled 16 seed over a 1 seed will probably never happen. However, there are a few things to take note of this year:

1. Syracuse is on a two game losing streak
2. The rock of their front court, Arinze Onuaku, is hurt, and may not play.
3. Sibling rivalry’s never die. Kris Joseph of the ‘Cuse will face off against Maurice Joseph of Vermont. This is the same Marucie Joseph who transfered from Michigan State a few years ago. He’s a senior now. This could be his last game. I will root for him as a former Spartan.

So, yeah. I’ll say right now that I won’t get my hopes up. I’m sure that won’t be the case when this thing tips off on Friday.

8. Gonzaga vs 9. Florida State – I’ve seen both teams play, but fellow trip members have not. Gonzaga is classic little guy who’s now a big guy. Florida State seems kind of gangster. I don’t really know much about their team. I’m sure the dog pound from Washington state will roll through pretty hard and make me root for Florida State.

2. West Virginia vs 15. Morgan State – Thuggins. Groan. I hope he decides to put on a goddam suit at least once. I am thinking we should find the team hotel and yell things at him, or something. Da’Sean Butler is my namesake, and has a pretty sweet basketball skillset. Morgan State only lost a single conference game, and beat Arkansas, at Arkansas. Gotta love when you collect a paycheck to make the trip, then slay the home team. I’m calling for Reggie Holmes to drop 30.

7. Clemson vs 10. Missouri – Somehow, someway, I’ve ended up with a Clemson basketball t-shirt in my travels. Can’t tell you how, or why. Missouri is super gangster, and will be rooted against heavily by this trip committee. I will watch the game because it’s a game, and whoever wins will automatically gain my following, should Thuggins knock off Reggie Holmes and company.

The trip starts on Wednesday at 3PM Eastern. I board a plan to Toronto 11:30 PM Pacific. Bring your drinking hats.

More to come.

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 »]]> Championship Week is coming, Selection Sunday is coming, and The 8th Annual Tourney Trip is just a few weeks away. Tickets have been secured, hotel rooms reserved, vacation time scheduled, airplane tickets bought, and a car decided on. Philadelphia is not only the destination for 8 deserving college basketball programs, but for a knowledgeablegroup of 5 basketball fans making a trip to a great city to watch what are hopefully some good games. The possabilities are wide open for what teams might make the trip with us, and there is still hope for a few of our favorites to play in front of us next month.

Here is who I would like to see:

UConn. Given the location we have chosen it seem inevitable that we get these Big East monsters, so I chose to embrace it. I have never seen them play and look forward to seeing one of the great powers of my era live and in person for the first time.Since you can’t have a #1 seed without the #16 Seed I’ll take whoever they give us there and like it. Due to our location I would bet we get the MEAC champs.  I am one of the few people in our group that likes to see a 1/16 matchup. Probably because I am one of the few who remembers the excitement of Holy Cross/Kansas. At some point a 16 will beat a 1 and I want to be there for that.

The other benefit of having the 1 seed at your site is that you get the 8/9 game which opens up a world of possabilities. My preference for this would be Dayton and either LSU, Kentucky, Tennessee, or some other SEC squad that can play its way in but not up the field. My feeling is that the A10 is really a hidden gem in college hoops and is consistently under appreciated and under rated. I would like to see what kind of damage a well coached team like Dayton could do against an SEC team with an inflated record, and possibly against a power like UConn.

For the other pod I would hope to get a 3/14 and a 6/11. The 2/15, 7/10 is to similar to the 1/16, 8/9, and 4/13, 5/12 seems like under achievers against upset specials that never quite happen when we are there. So I’ll take the 3/14, 6/11 for not only its upset potenital but because that 11 seed is usually reserved for some of the last at larges in the field. That is where I would like to see either Maryland or UNLV. UNLV is an obvious choice because it would be great for Rhett to have a chance to follow his team all the way into the NCAA tournament, and if we get UNLV it would also prevent us from getting BYU and their roster of 28 year old goof balls. UNLV is also a tradition rich program who has been resurgent in recent years under a great coach. Maryland would also be great since Gary Williams is a classic character, their fans are cool people that hate Duke, and I can make lots of inappropriate Len Bias cocaine jokes. The 6 seed counterpart has to Syracuse. I have been an admirer of the Cuse for a long time but have never had the privilege to see them in person. Magoo is a great coach, I love that big orange mascot, the 2-3 zone, and would like to buy Gerry McNamara a beer if he is in town.

In our 3/14 game I want to see Memphis and Cornell.The cerebral Ivy League approach against the running and gunning style that Calapari has established at Memphis would be fun and I love that Memphis is a powerhouse in a non BCS league, and that the Ivy League doesn’t’ play a conference tournament. And once again I’ve never seen either team.

For the record I always want to see Western Michigan, Michigan State, Eastern Michigan, Oakland, and Georgetown. I’d be happy with all of them at our site every year. However we are 0-7 trying to see Michigan State and it looks like this year they will be a #2 either in Dayton or Minneapolis, and the other 4 have almost no chance at making the field so I am trying to be realistic.