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December 22, 2004
Couch Musings - December 22nd
A full recap of the Iowa-Texas Tech game will be coming shortly. Being there was definitely an experience and it was nice to finally see a game in person even if a real college stadium would have been a better arena to be in.
- The guy sitting next to me at the Iowa game last night sounded so much like Johnny Red Kerr, the Bulls announcer, that I had to keep looking at him to make sure it wasn't him. He and his son kept up a conversation the whole game. That would have been fine with me if it was about basketball the whole time, but it was about his son losing his glasses for the second time this year, and how his son somehow lost his bicycle. When he did talk about basketball, he sounded very on his game. Tip for the guy next time: Leave your son at home and sit behind Bobby Knight. He could have used you last night.
- I was thankful to be at the game last night. From my seat, it appeared that Jimmy Dykes and Fran Fraschilla were doing the game for ESPN2. I don't mind Dykes, but Fraschilla is not high on my list of guys I want to hear help call a game. He isn't bad in the studio, but for 40 minutes of basketball, he is enough to put you to sleep. At least it wasn't Mike Jarvis.
- If losing to Duke in Cameron by 33 and getting blown out in the second half and then being beaten by Depaul wasn't bad enough for Illinois-Chicago, last night they lost to UW-Parkside, 79-73. The loss drops the Flames to 3-6 overall. Why did they lose to this Division 2 team? You can blame it on Parkside Rangers' player Gareth Malkowski. Malkowski was good for 33 points including 8 three pointers, a record for the UIC Pavillion. In total, the Rangers shot 50% behind the arc, adding 3 more from Freshman Kyle Clark who finished with 13 points. Compare that to the Flames' terrible performance from three point land. They shot just 2-11, both made by Cedrick Banks. The Flames better hope to improve. They have already lost their sole conference game to the team they are hoping to edge out for the Horizon league title, Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Still, the conference is pretty even across the board this year. It is still possible anything could happen, especially in the tournament.
- The Youngstown State Penguins, also of the Horizon league, joined the ranks of the winning by beating Loyola-Chicago last night for their first D-1 win of the season. The victory leaves 16 teams without a Division 1 win this season. And while the Ramblers look to be the doormat of the Horizon this season, they are not one of those teams. They won their opener against Northern Illinois.
- The Delaware Blue Hens better be enjoying their trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, by spending some time on the beaches because they are not having fun in the gym. With today's early morning loss to Middle Tennessee State, they were swept on the island in the San Juan Shootout with the other defeats coming against Auburn and Toledo. Yes, that is the Auburn team that lost to MRI favorite, Wofford. And that is the same Toledo team which was blown out by Duke and was 1-5 going into the game yesterday. And they didn't just lose to Toledo, they got blown out to the tune of 23 points. Delaware wasn't expected to do much this year in the Colonial conference, predicted to finish either 6th or 7th in the league. Still, you would have expected this team to come away with at least one win in the tournament.
- In other Colonial news, the Drexel Dragons lost to Seton Hall last night, 58-54. The Dragons didn't get the normal performance they expects from Senior Phil Goss who shot 3-12 from the field, 2-10 from three, in the loss to the Pirates. Drexel is still hurting without Sean Brooks in the lineup, and it was very evident on Saturday when they lost by 20 to Syracuse. Hurry back Mr. Brooks, Drexel's season depends on it.
Posted by bmiraski at December 22, 2004 1:17 PM
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