Yesterday was National Pixelvision Day. We didn't make #pixelvision a Trending Topic -- we topped out at 0.03% of all Twitter traffic, which is about a tenth of what #UKnowUBrokeWhen got over the course of the evening. That's still pretty impressive, but what really matters is that there were people from all over Hoops Nation doing something at the exact same time, working in teams, sharing an experience with each other. That something, that moment, happened to involve watching crappy 360p streams of mid-major college basketball games (and Tom Petty videos) for seven hours. But everybody involved had a goofy fun time, and it's arguably the most awesome thing we've ever done on this site.

There's nothing inherently special about The Mid-Majority. Any self-importance or transparent internal dramatics come from my insistence that what I create has a certain level of elevated quality. I want to be proud of the things I make, and I try to protect them as much as I can. To most (Group A in the survey), this is a product under constant judgment; it's either doing its job or it's not, and the determination of what that job is resides in the beholder's eye, not mine. Those people get to decide empirically when I've "hopped on the dolphin," or whatever the kids say now. For others (Group B), this is a light midwinter diversion, quickly forgotten when the snow thaws.

But to some, the C-group, this thing I put together five-and-a-half years ago is something that's gotten under the skin. This may have slightly altered the way you look at Our Game, and perhaps it's even inspired you to get out of the computer chair and build something ambitious too. It's become an influence.

I guess this is all just a long way of telling you that I'm going to the Olympics. I need Group C's help to keep this site up. Now, this is not some shock twist that I've been planning for months. Last November, I put up a $4,000 check that I had earmarked as matching funds to cover our Season 6 travel budget, and you came through. But the other day, a gentleman (who wishes to remain anonymous) came forward and donated a large percentage of the difference. He wanted me to go to Vancouver. Remember when I said that if you keep going and don't stop, wonderful things will happen? It's true.

This isn't a vacation. As I said Tuesday, my goal is to write about what I see. Most writers will focus ont the results of the Games themselves, or offer snarky commentary based on confirmation bias about how the Olympics don't mean as much as they used to. I'm going to Vancouver because it's Ground Zero for the Sports Bubble.

Nearly 10 years ago, I was in Sydney, Australia. I saw up close how the Olympics positively impacted everyone involved -- the city, its citizens and and its culture, the TV rightsholders, the sponsors, and those of us who made the trip. Vancouver 2010 will be a massive sporting event at which nothing will go right. Everyone will lose money, a dream dome that will collapse because the value of the product is artificially inflated. This model will repeat itself all through the decade, as pro leagues and big events (including the NCAA Tournament) will be propped up with TV revenue, which will depend on advertisers that increasingly won't or can't subsidize the costs -- that's what's happening here. That, in turn, will result in stricter policing of exclusive-sponsor rights (to the point of insanity) and the increased use of the actual competitors as nothing more than energy that powers a giant Matrix-style battery. To examine this dynamic in the first person will require "outsider" journalism, the kind you've seen here for nearly six years.

I know that there's a Heavy Hitters club out there, and if you want to help with this project, you know where to go. Keep in mind that I don't expect anyone to. The most important thing here is to keep The Mid-Majority going content-wise, and that's where Group C comes in. Since TMM has become a part of you, it's time for you to become a part of it.

While I'm gone (I'll be back, and I'll still make it to 100 games), we have a special guest -- one that old-timers will recognize from our infamous blogging Class of 2004 -- who will be posting thoughtful essays. And we will also be posting first-person entries from you. Tell the people of Hoops Nation why your favorite college basketball program is special. Write about its history, and its place in the community. Illuminate to the folks who've never been there what it's like where you go (or went) to school. Walk us through, put yourself in the narrative, and take 1,500-2,000 words or so. There are only two rules: make it good, and don't write about how important TMM is (or kiss my ass). This is not about TMM, this is you. This is your National Pixelvision moment all over again.

Use The Form™. I will edit these (lightly -- for grammar, spelling and content). By submitting an entry, you are yielding first publication rights on the web, but you're keeping seconds as well as all print rights. We will publish all of these entries, somehow. You have a deadline of Friday, February 12.

We will cover the day-to-day duties as well; I am proud to announce that we'll be replacing Damon with a Robot. Over the weekend, before I leave for the West Coast, I'm going to program a computer with 1,000 eyes, which will pore through all the previous night's results from our Basketball State database, shake out the important stuff, and post it automatically in order to keep Group A happy. Or not. If you have a problem, you can take it up with the Robot.

This is all so that I don't have to do things like this anymore.

Game! Of! The! Night!

Portland at Gonzaga (West Coast)
McCarthy Athletic Center - Spokane, WA
11:00 EST

Portland, as expected, has recovered quite well from its national-poll culture shock. As far as conventional wisdom goes, though, the damage was done in December, with a stretch of five losses in seven games. But this is 2010, and this is the WCC. The Pilots are 5-2 in parentheses, and the only two drops were to frontrunners Saint Mary's and Gonzaga by a combined total of eight points. They've won the others by an average of 20.9 points, though, so it's safe to say they belong squarely in the WCC's upper tier. They'll take their road shot at the Zags tonight, bringing in their signature 3-point shooting (41.9 percent in league games) and the best field goal defense in the conference (39.4 percent in those seven contests).

There are still some folks who think we still use The Acronym for Gonzaga (17-4, 6-1 WCC). It's been three years, come on! The Fightin' Fews have earned their advantages fair and square, all the apparel and TV stuff, and they've taken their role in shining a spotlight on the rest of the WCC seriously. (There's some kind of causal relationship between the recent ESPN exposure for league games and its emergence as a perennial multi-bid threat, I just can't figure out what it is though). But it's a vulnerable team, as evidenced by last weekend's overtime shock loss at San Francisco. The key in that game was the Dons' 3-point shooting -- 11-of-24 from distance. And whuddyaknow, the Pilots are pretty good at that too! Should be fun, kidz!

Basketball State Preview/Box

Oh, and the game is available in Pixelvision.

I'll never forget Christmas 1987. The anticipation made my little underdeveloped heart jackrabbit in its bony cage. I recall bounding down the old toasty staircase, pushing my little sister aside, my eyes wide as canned hams. And there, 'neath the tinsel-topped tree, was the box I'd longed for so long! Its shape told its true inner tale. I clawed and shredded the wrapping paper (using techniques I'd perfect years later on a redheaded hooker in Pittsburgh), and marveled at the blue box in front of me. It was a Fisher-Price, bipod-stand, 6 AA-battery PXL-2000 camcorder.

Oh, how I loved my trusty Pixelvision camcorder! It recorded video on cassette tapes -- 11 minutes per C-90 tape -- in glorious grainy black and white. For months and months, I shot everything I could see. I shot my sister. I shot my cat Moosey. I shot the house, the car, my friends, and I even shot my own fake Jean Shepherd monologues. I shot my eye out.

Are the new readers gone yet? ©

It's National Pixelvision Day!

Tonight, starting at 7 pm ET, we will be having a giant Pixelvision party on midmajority.com and on the Tweeter-2000. Starting with the 6:30 ET Pixelvision pregame show, you can come here to the site and take part in a live six-hour chat, where I'll be answering your basketball questions and typing stupid things on a keyboard. All the while, we have an army of 20 or so Pixelvision Pals (gunning for big prizes) who will be live-tweeting games around the country, which they'll be watching in stunning 360px on their own computers. Their observations will be streamed live in the chat, and also on Twitter using hashtag #pixelvision.

National Pixelvision Day is important, one of the most important things that have ever been done on this site or the rest of the web. There are even logos. (Thanks, @thrashsoundly, @nickwynne and @mwmiller20!)

And there's also an anthem. Rock! (Lyrics by Jerry Beach)

Eat your heart out, Lou Gramm! (No, really, eat it... it tastes like candy!) Come on by tonight, and get pixelated!

Serious Basketball Talk!

Probably the most exciting thing that happened last night in Hoops Nation was that there was a leak in the roof at Tennessee State's Gentry Center, forcing the postponement of the Tigers' OVC matchup with Jacksonville State. But a few games made their way to completion.

Atlantic 14: Rhode Island 90, at La Salle 83 -- About a month ago, Rhode Island was easily the best team in the A-14. Fantastically efficient offense. The Rams had a 12-1 record coming into conference play, and there wasn't anything cheap about it: three RLU's against Oklahoma State, Boston College and Providence. A quick look at their NCAA selection sheet shows that this is still a team that the committee will look at seriously; their average RPI loss is 32 (Xavier, Temple and VCU), and that's 19th in the whole country. The ARPIW is 143, which is also good, and they have three more shots at top 50 opponents. So URI pretty much has its destiny in its own hands.

Colonial: Northeastern 67, at Delaware 51 -- This Northeastern team (15-8, 10-2 CAA) has the same personnel as the squad from last year that slow-jammed their way to a 12-6 regular-season record and got ripped by No. 10-seed Towson. I said all along that it was a mirage. But the Huskies came back mentally and physically tougher, are hitting more short-range shots, and aren't just slowing the pace to cover up rebounding weaknesses anymore. But if you really want to beat Northeastern, drag them into a physical, punishing, bare-knuckle streetfight; this is why Drexel swept the season series and represents the only two losses on NU's record. But there are no other teams in this league capable of doing that. So the Huskies' NCAA chances basically come down to the tourney draw in Richmond, which we won't know for another month.

Big South: Radford 111, at Virginia Military Institute 84 -- The league champion Highlanders (12-10, 8-4) have had a really tough stretch, losing three of four to sink back in the BSC race behind the Giant Teal Chickens of Coastal Carolina. You can blame poor shooting (they topped out at 40 percent during that stretch) and a performance dropoff from former MMBOW Artsiom Parakhouski (3-of-15 from the floor in Sunday's loss at UNC Asheville). But these days, a game against systematic VMI (7-14, 2-9) is a good way to get well. In sweeping the season series, Radford scored 220 total points.

Games! Of! The! Night!

Happy National Pixelvision Day, everyone.

Elon at Wofford (Southern) - 07:00
Northern Illinois at Akron (Mid-American) - 07:00
Xavier at Massachusetts (Atlantic 14) - 07:00
Duquesne at Temple (Atlantic 14) - 07:00
George Mason at Georgia State (Colonial) - 07:00
Hofstra at James Madison (Colonial) - 07:00
Virginia Commonwealth at North Carolina-Wilmington (Colonial) - 07:00
William & Mary at Old Dominion (Colonial) - 07:00
Richmond at Saint Joseph`s (Atlantic 14) - 07:00
Maine at Vermont (America East) - 07:00
Albany at Binghamton (America East) - 07:00
Stony Brook at Hartford (America East) - 07:00
Illinois State at Indiana State (Missouri Valley) - 07:05
George Washington at Charlotte (Atlantic 14) - 07:30
McNeese State at Northwestern State (Southland) - 08:00
Nicholls State at Stephen F. Austin (Southland) - 08:00
Saint Bonaventure at Saint Louis (Atlantic 14) - 08:00
Texas-San Antonio at Sam Houston State (Southland) - 08:00
Texas State at Southeastern Louisiana (Southland) - 08:00
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Texas-Arlington (Southland) - 08:00
Central Arkansas at Lamar (Southland) - 08:05
Evansville at Creighton (Missouri Valley) - 08:05
Missouri State at Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley) - 08:05
Wichita State at Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley) - 08:05
California-Irvine at Cal State Bakersfield (Big West) - 10:00
Idaho at Utah State (Western Athletic) - 11:05

While his ex-MMBOY brother is off pounding the boards in Sacramento (and yes, this is the first bro-tandem to earn MMBOW honors), Ryan is putting together a decent little senior season at the school they once played at together. There was that three-game stretch in December when he went 3-for-22 from the floor, so you can't call it an unqualified success, but we're concerned with the short and recent-term in this kind of post. During a three-game win streak to bring Rider back to the .500 mark in league play, Mr. Thompson put in two very solid performances. First, there was the 40-minute, 10-for-17, 25-point effort in a 77-74 home victory against Manhattan last Thursday. Two days later, he led his team to a meaningful road victory up at Fairfield, scoring 31 points including 15-of-16 from the stripe. He added 11 rebounds to that line, and he would have had a dubl-dubl-dubl if not for just nine boards in that Manhattan game.

Make no mistake; Siena still runs this league, with a 19-4 overall record, a perfect 12-0 mark in MAAC play, and a premier BracketButler coming up later this month. Rider has a lot of work left to do to climb the ladder and nab one of the top four slots. But if this team continues to surge, along with streaking Iona (9-3, W8) and surprising Saint Peter's (8-4), the league tournament could provide a little more magic than the Saints want.

And Siena is used to having a perfect season ruined by Rider, as evidenced by the Thompson layup with 3.9 seconds left that stopped the Saints' regular-season run at 12 last season. (Rider has to wait until Feb. 26 for its home shot tis time around.) And if you go back two seasons, Mr. Thompson was concussed for the 2008 title game against the green and gold, a fact that led to a Siena blowout. So there's a map of his future motivations, sports fans. For now, let's welcome him as our MMBOW.