Another Purple Eagle to NHL

I got a phone call, a totally unexpected one, from my 21 year old daughter last night.  I was in my room getting ready to settle in and wait for the new episode of “Brothers and Sisters” when she called.

She is currently a junior at Niagara University.  Until she left for college three years ago, she was not a huge hockey fan.  College has changed all that.  She loves Niagara Purple Eagles Hockey.  She loves college hockey.  She love Ottawa and Binghamton Senators hockey.

The reason she called was to let me know that Les Reaney had played his last game as a Purple Eagle.  He had signed a contract to play in the Edmonton Oilers farm system.  He is headed to Springfield, Massachusetts to play in the American Hockey League.

I have seen this year’s Purple Eagles men’s hockey team play three times in a week in January.  I like the way Reaney plays.  He is a big man, hard checking and good on his skates.  I am sure he will do well in the AHL and beyond.  The only shameful part of this is he didn’t finish college first.

Ben’s First Dive of the Season

Mountaineer Football - Big East Champs

 

Okay, so I am a Mountaineer fanatic! This is not something that is taken lightly or liked by many in the area of upstate NY I live in as we are less then 80 miles from Big East team Syracuse. I just could not put a real adjective in front of Syracuse this year.

As much as I love my Mountaineers, I have never professed the same love for the actual state of WV. I would like to go back and visit and will some day but I have never, until yesterday, wanted to live there.

I am safely ensconced in the recliner at my house, in front of what is termed the “big” tv as it is the largest one in the house. I have forewarned the kids that tonight’s dinner is leftovers and they are all more than capable of heating up their own as I am sitting down at 3:30-ish and watching WV and UConn. The game, of more significance than Coach Rod wants to let on, is being televised on ABC. For being in Syracuse territory, I have faired well this year in getting Mountaineer games on TV.

I am settled in with my Saranac winter sampler and a Winter Wassail whatever beer. I have some chips and dip. The game starts and I start acting like I am back in the student section. Only thing I am missing is my yellow - which I will find and wear before that bowl game. The broadcasters are being nice. They are talking National Championship - finally. They are also talking more about last night’s LSU loss and the upcoming Missouri-Kansas fiasco than the Mountaineers. No respect even when you are on the field.

The Mountaineers are up by a bit at half time so, rather than listen to more dripple about LSU and Missouri and Kansas, I turn to the Kentucky-Tennessee game. It goes into quadruple OT and I flip back and forth between it and the Mountaineers - watch the Vols and Wildcats when UConn has the ball. Suddenly, the fourth OT ends with a Vols victory and I go back to my Mountaineers full time.

I am watching and suddenly, as if the WVU-UConn game has no importance at all, ABC decides to go to the Georgia-Georgia Tech game. What is ESPN2 - where this game is suppose to be? The same flipping game! I am getting overridden for Georgia football that, because Tennessee took that game in four OTs, is useless also.

This just wouldn’t happen in WV. In WV, I would not be sitting in front of a TV that has Syracuse getting beat for the upteenth time, a TV that has Georgia-Georgia Tech on two channels. This is the northeast so at least I can understand the Syracuse game - winning or losing season. BUT - two teams from Georgia! Someone in sports programming needs to get a grip!

Finally, Some Respect

Yes! I admit - and probably always will - that I am a diehard Mountaineer fan. College football is one of my favorite sports and this year my Mountaineers are really doing well. Unfortunately, their doing well is not consistent. They have been ignored by almost all the major networks when talking about a national championship game. It gets annoying. Lose one game, early in the season, to a team that is now back to playing average and bam! You are not worthy.

So today, November 23, 2007 I went to rivals.com’s college football page. They were doing their look at who will play in what bowl game come the selection show on December 2. Well, guess what!?!?

WVU finally got some respect! They have the Mountaineers playing LSU for the national championship!

Yippee!

Do I dare tempt fate?

Do I dare tempt fate? I have managed to clear a space in the laundry room - no small feat - and want to bring in from storage the boxes with spring/summer clothing in them and swap out the winter items.

What happens when I do this? Unfortunately, history has proven that I end up with a snow storm the minute I do this. I mean, in the fall/winter, when I go to change out the spring/summer clothing, Indian summer ultimately shows up. So I am sure if I do this now, I will be to blame for the snow that will follow.

Unfortunately for me, the timing of this wardrobe switch is out of my hands. My 12 year old is playing school tennis. When his summer clothing went away, I only left him one pair of shorts to wear and he needs more than one pair. Maybe I should be honest. I need him to have more than one pair as I hate doing laundry!

Fate - here I come!

Live Blog - NCAA Tourney

Okay, so I am not “the man” in the bar watching four games at a time but it is almost time for the 7:10 pm tip offs and our favorite team is set to go…Go Purple Eagles!!

Unfortunately, I don’t have bar patrons to comment on but comment I will on the games. I am particularly looking at what game is going to be played and the fact that I have to watch Niagara on CBS’s Sportsline. At least I am watching.

Off to get a glass of merlot - I know, not a St Paddy’s drink or a sports fan drink but it is what is here and I am going to be back and blog about roundball.

7:05 pm - Got the game on the laptop. Got the glass of merlot. Am very annoyed by the fact that I am watching the lovely game on the small screen.

7:28 pm - Okay so watching the game on my daughter’s laptop didn’t pan out. Of course, my new Vista OS machine isn’t participating properly either. To this end, my older daughter has her laptop on the game. I have the tv on mute and the IL-VA Tech game on there and am listening to Niagara - Kansas. Did I ever tell you that I think they ought to retire Billy Packer? I have never heard such inane dribble in my life.

7:47 pm - Okay, this is not working too well. I have to get up from my warm recliner to get to the computer to type a blog entry. Niagara is doing all right but not good. IL and VA Tech is probably, much to the chagrin of my daughter who is home from Niagara on spring break, the better game. The first thing the Illinois-Virginia Tech game has going for it is that Billy Packer is in Chicago where Niagara is. The other is, at the moment I turned my back on the tv, it was a closer game. I would take my daughter - yes, she of spring break time - to a sports bar where we could watch both games but the roads are so bad here. We are in the middle of a winter storm.

8:05 pm - The local Niagara student is not happy. Somehow a slight lead for Kansas turned, in five minutes time, to a huge lead. Kansas by 25 at the half. Niagara came out good but seemed to lose its game somewhere. Hopefully, Joe will show all those AD’s at big name schools why he has a winning record at Niagara and why he is a top prospect for other head coaching jobs. Motivation!

8:40 pm - Okay, I am heading off the computer. Niagara is not playing their game. They will not pull it out. I am off to check my bracket. It was in good shape at the end of yesterday. Hopefully, it has survived today.

Thank you, U of Dayton

While the Niagara University Purple Eagle men’s basketball team was unhappy to be playing in the play-in game for the NCAA tournament, they did meet up with an unexpected acquaintance. The University of Dayton pep band - who had played for Niagara at NIT events at HSBC Arena several years ago - met up with NU fans in Miamisburg, Ohio and played for the team during the play-in game against Florida A&M on Tuesday.

The pep band from U of Dayton is also traveling with the Purple Eagles to Chicago for first round games. I am not sure how they are getting there but they will meet up with NU students who are being bussed from campus to the game also.

Go Purple Eagles! And, thank you to the pep band from the University of Dayton!!

Mountaineers & Orange Make History

MSNsportsNET.com - the official site for WVU Mountaineer sports - has the following quote in an article about WVU being on the bubble to go dancing.

According to West Virginia SID Bryan Messerly, only twice in the existence of the Big East Conference has a 20-win team not made the tournament: 20-8 UConn in 1980 when the tournament field was only 48 teams and 2002 when 20-11 Syracuse was left out. That means 107 of 109 20-win Big East teams have gotten into the Big Dance. That is 98.2 percent.

Will 22-9 West Virginia make history? Mountaineer fans certainly hope not.

Unfortunately for WVU and Syracuse University, both teams have made history. Neither Syracuse at 22-10 nor WVU at 22-9 were invited to dance in the NCAA tournament. If I were a Syracuse alumni, I would be outraged. As a WVU alum, I am outraged.

I am outraged that all the national news mention the blatant ignoring of SU but not of WVU. I am outraged because WVU should have played Louisville during the regular season which would have helped. I am outraged because WVU should have been in the tournament.

I am also outraged that a conference tournament champion - Niagara University - was told they had to play in the play-in game.

Dancing but is it really?

My daughter was all excited. First, her sister’s women’s soccer team won their conference championship at the end of October last year. The team and university members were gathered in the lower level of the Gallagher Center to watch the selection show. The team - which plays in a small Division 1 conference - was pitted against perennial powerhouse Penn State at Penn State in the first round.

Next, my daughter was all excited. The basketball team at her university won their conference tournament and was second in the conference in regular season play. They were going dancing. But are they really?

Their RPI (a term foreign to most people except those who are truly college basketball fans) is/was 136. Nothing spectacular but better by many points at least five of the tournament champions/guaranteed and the at-large bids to the dance. Their opponent - 64/65 play-in game - is Florida A&M whose RPI is 171. Those teams who had worse RPIs then Niagara University were their opponent in Dayton tomorrow, Florida A&M and Jackson State - a 16 seed, Weber State - a 15 seed, North Texas - a 15 seed, and Central Connecticut State - a 16 seed.

Niagara is in a different class than these other five teams with low RPIs. They have won their last 11 games. They lost a lot of games at the beginning of the season when many of their starters were serving multiple game suspensions for an off-season incident involving another student-athlete at the university.

Unfortunately for Florida A&M, this lack of real consideration for the Niagara University Purple Eagles is going to make them more determined than ever. Watch out Kansas!

March Madness Arrives

Several blog titles of mine deal with March Madness, though not all refer to NCAA basketball. This one does and this year, in particular, it will be special.

This year March Madness has a special slant to it. My daughter’s college team won their conference championship so will be heading to the dance. It happens that this week is “spring break” at Niagara University so will not be missed classes for the athletes right away (see previous entry about March Madness). And tonight, at 6 pm, Lei and I will be ensconced in front of the television set with empty brackets. She and I both will be looking to see where NU’s first round play will take place and who their opponent will be. I will also be looking to see if my Mountaineers make it to the dance.