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#TMM9
Having recently completed its 9th season, The Mid-Majority is a community chronicle of the smaller Division I college basketball conferences. Last year, the theme was Team. Six groups of five (plus a fantasy mid-major player) were engaged in friendly Amazing Race-style competition, criss-crossing Hoops Nation to provide awesome college basketball content. Season X (2013-14) will be our final one.

Recent Game Recaps

Epilogue, The Ninth: Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Memories

So We Meet Again

Rte. 139 - End of the Line

Hanging On

A Championship in Pictures

This Time of Year

Dotson Leads Ducks to the Sweet Sixteen

Grizzlies Overwhelmed by Orangemen

Empire

Challenge 11: Final Four Memories

By George, UConn is Dead

Butler and Us

Donning the Black and Gold

Challenge 10: Tourney Memories

The Madness of the Horizon League

The Rare Ivy League Conference Tournament

MAC Madness

Anything Can Happen in the MAAC

Challenge 9: Shock The Neighborhood

A Youthful Surprise

From Worst to First

Peers and Seers

Author Archives Daniel Spewak
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S9 March 29, 2013 PHILADELPHIA - It always ends in a loss. Those words are gospel around here, drummed into our consciousness for most of the last decade. It is our masochistic creed, a prophecy that comes to its proper fruition every March....
S9 March 29, 2013 I knew exactly what I was going to write for this recap. I'd had 39 minutes and 32 seconds of game time to figure it out, and it was going to be a deep, thoughtful piece on Bob McKillop's lifestyle choice to stay at Davidson and why he's the pinnacle of American happiness.His Davidson team had pull...
S9 March 29, 2013 The NCAA Tournament can make you famous. It made Bryce Drew into a folk hero. It probably made Stephen Curry millions of dollars in NBA Draft money. For the first time all season, March Madness combines Our Game with The Game, catapulting mid-major stars onto the national scene in front of viewers ...
S9 March 29, 2013 I hate nostalgia.It is the most powerful human emotion, but I hate it. It is the only emotion capable of connecting you to your past, but I hate it. Nostalgia makes me sad, because it makes me remember that nothing is ever the same and that time cannot stop, reverse or fast-forward. There's no such...
S9 March 29, 2013 I don't necessarily love post-game press conferences. They're tedious, boring and usually filled with questions that have no relevance on the game. But they are a requirement in my line of work as a journalist, so I attend them.The worst press conferences are during tournament settings with the los...
S9 March 29, 2013 "You've already quit," Greg Lansing tells his Indiana State team in the first half. I think the score was 29-11. Or something to that nature. Top-seeded Creighton, which lost to the Sycamores by double digits earlier in the year, was throwing down the hammer in this Missouri Valley semifinal game. ...
S9 March 29, 2013 A few days before Thanksgiving, right in the midst of ESPN's Feast Week, I turned on the television to watch a basketball game. Typical me. Ignoring family members to watch a bunch of college kids dribbling a basketball and aimlessly throwing it toward a net. On this particular afternoon, I was wat...
S9 March 29, 2013 Gregg Marshall appears to keep himself in reasonable physical shape. He is not overweight at all. In fact, he looks like he could play a pick-up game against his managers and not be absolutely terrible at basketball.However, I have a major concern about his health. Marshall has a drinking problem, ...
S9 March 17, 2013 Troy Taylor is six feet tall. "But probably not even that," the Evansville fan behind press row says to me. "He's about 5-11 and a half." He is a foot shorter than his rebounding average. Think about that for a second. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and call him 6'0''. He averages 7.0 rebo...
S9 March 17, 2013 Creighton is so greedy. In a sport that pays its coaches millions and millions of dollars and agrees to enormously expensive television deals with giant conglomerates and networks, it's so greedy for Creighton University to want to make money and move to a better league. It's so greedy for them to ...
S9 March 17, 2013 One of the most rewarding parts about traveling the country for the Mid-Majority is the opportunity to see teams on multiple occasions. I envy my teammate, Ray Curren, for the amount of basketball games he's seen this season. I haven't approached his record, but I've been to several different venue...
S9 March 17, 2013 Exactly one year ago, Drake and Bradley faced each other in the play-in round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. These play-in games always occur on Thursday night. More precisely, they occur on the first Thursday of every March, since that's when the league holds Arch Madness. Last year...
S9 February 19, 2013 Kids these days. The worst, right? No respect for authority. No maturity. Always need something handed to them, don't know the meaning of hard work, never had to fight for anything in their lives. They play too many video games. They don't read enough books. They are too overweight. They don't vote...
S9 January 26, 2013 I recently decided to rank the 25 best college basketball games I've ever attended in person throughout my lifetime. If your first reaction to that statement is, "that's weird," then you're wrong. It's awesome. I've been thinking lately how fortunate I've been over the past several years to attend ...
S9 January 13, 2013 You know those nights when you glance up at the scoreboard, notice somebody's scored an absurd amount of points and then ask the dude next to you, "when the hell did he score all those points?"Friday night was not one of those nights.Doug McDermott had 11 points at halftime, right on pace for his 2...
S9 January 8, 2013 If there's one thing Missourians hate more than the stigma of leading the nation in meth labs per square mile, it's the Kansas Jayhawks. And if there's one thing Missourians love more than arguing among themselves about whether St. Louis or Kansas City is better, it's seeing the Kansas Jayhawks los...
S9 January 4, 2013 Nothing screams "I'm a sophisticated person!" like appreciating an old building. We all love old buildings. When we walk through the doors of old buildings, we romanticize them, perch them on a heavenly pedestal and long nostalgically for the good 'ole days, back when things were pure and right. Ba...
S9 January 1, 2013 As a teenager, I read only one genre. Sports. No Harry Potter. No Lord of the Rings. If I was going to read something, it was going to be real, dammit, not a story about magicians or hobbits.My favorite book of all-time is "Season on the Brink" by John Feinstein, detailing Bobby Knight's 1985-86 In...
S9 January 1, 2013 The only physical reminder of the late Rick Majerus sits high atop the rafters at Chaifetz Arena, a simple, blue-and-white banner commemorating his 517 career victories.There is nothing glamorous about it. It sums up Majerus' contributions to college basketball from a purely utilitarian perspective...
S9 December 18, 2012 Game #9-171: South Carolina State Bulldogs at Missouri TigersDecember 17, 2012 8:00 pmSports ArenaBBState Stats/Recap I am not a little guy. The last time I visited the doctor, I measured at right around six feet tall, or at least close enough that I have no moral problem rounding up to this thresho...
S9 December 16, 2012 Game #9-165: Appalachian State Mountaineers at Missouri-Kansas City KangaroosDecember 16, 2012 2:05 pmMunicipal AuditoriumBBState Stats/Recap His name is Snoop, but you only know that because a strong feminine voice behind you is screaming it on every possession. Stay with him, Snoop! Watch weakside...
S9 December 16, 2012 Game #9-164: Tennessee State Tigers at Missouri TigersDecember 8, 2012 3:00 pmSports ArenaBBState Stats/Recap The afternoon begins well for Robert Covington. His first three-pointer swishes. His second one does, too. Before the first media timeout, Robert Covington looks like the best player on the ...
S9 December 7, 2012 Game #9-133: Appalachian State Mountaineers at Missouri TigersDecember 1, 2012 3:00 pmSports ArenaBBState Stats/Recap How corrupt this game is above the Red Line.Right?Less than two days after the dismissal of star point guard Michael Dixon, Missouri used a guarantee game against Appalachian State t...
S9 November 25, 2012 Game #9-087: Southern Illinois Salukis at SIU Edwardsville CougarsNovember 20, 2012 8:00 pmVadalabene CenterBBState Stats/Recap I have many faults. I eat popcorn at an extraordinarily alarming rate, I easily forget things, and I haven't been inside a library in at least 18 months. I procrastinate. I...
S9 November 18, 2012 Game #9-045: San Diego State Aztecs at Missouri State BearsNovember 17, 2012 2:05 pmJQH ArenaBBState Stats/Recap I don't often feel the urge to punch people in the face. In fact, I actively pride myself in being the kind of mild-mannered person who never lets anything irritate him. Never too happy, ...
S9 November 15, 2012 Game #9-036: Alcorn State Braves at Missouri TigersNovember 13, 2012 8:00 pmSports ArenaBBState Stats/Recap This was not the first basketball game I watched on Tuesday. It was the tenth. After the conclusion of -- prepare yourself -- West Virginia/Gonzaga, Davidson/New Mexico, Houston Baptist/Hawaii...
S9 November 11, 2012 Game #9-005: SIU Edwardsville Cougars at Missouri TigersNovember 10, 2012 5:00 pmSports ArenaBBState Stats/Recap Seven months ago, Missouri got Norfolked.Southern Illinois-Edwardsville only wishes it could one day have that chance. Saturday was a historic day, although not a soul among the 10,000 st...
28. Trust
S9 November 11, 2012 Game #9-001: North Texas Mean Green at Creighton BluejaysNovember 9, 2012 8:05 pmQwest CenterBBState Stats/Recap All I needed was some gas. After aimlessly weaving through one-way streets in downtown Omaha in desperate search of an on-ramp to the freeway, I finally hopped on the interstate— in the w...
S8 March 27, 2012 Game #8-790: Ohio Bobcats vs. North Carolina Tar HeelsMarch 23, 2012 8:47 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/RecapThat moment was happening, and all I wanted to do was stop it and never let it go. I wanted to freeze time and never let it end. I looked across the court at the Ohio fan section, mesmerized b...
S8 March 27, 2012 Game #8-686: Evansville Aces vs. Creighton BluejaysMarch 3, 2012 5:05 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/RecapFor 10 years, I have attended Arch Madness in St. Louis and learned something about new about the Missouri Valley Conference. For example, I learned two years ago that if I was going to criticize ...
S8 March 27, 2012 Game #8-685: Illinois State Redbirds vs. Wichita State ShockersMarch 3, 2012 2:35 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/RecapFrom the outside, every team in the Missouri Valley is an underdog. When Gregg Marshall claims he wants to stay at Wichita State, for example, the national media simply cannot comprehe...
S8 March 27, 2012 Game #8-676: Northern Iowa Panthers vs. Illinois State RedbirdsMarch 2, 2012 3:35 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/Recap"In a game that is that close... All it takes is one really good play."That's what Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson had to say after his season ended in a loss to Illinois State. A phi...
S8 March 24, 2012 Game #8-684: Missouri State Bears vs. Evansville AcesMarch 2, 2012 9:35 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/RecapEven though his Missouri State team trailed the frustratingly meticulous Evansville Aces from the opening tip, you had the sense Kyle Weems would not lose this game.As the second half wore on an...
S8 March 23, 2012 Game #8-669: Bradley Braves vs. Drake BulldogsMarch 1, 2012 9:35 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/RecapIt was March 7, 2003, and my 12th birthday was just five days away. As an early birthday present, my dad and I jumped in the car and drove downtown to watch Drake and Illinois State play in the opening...
S8 March 23, 2012 Game #8-668: Southern Illinois Salukis vs. Indiana State SycamoresMarch 1, 2012 7:05 pmSt. Louis, MOBBState Stats/RecapThe first Thursday of March is my favorite day of the year. It's the day Arch Madness starts, the tournament I've attended for 10 straight seasons. On this particular Thursday, I se...
S8 January 22, 2012 Game #8-430: Creighton Bluejays at Missouri State BearsJanuary 18, 2012 8:05 pmJQH ArenaBBState Stats/RecapAbout two hours before Wednesday night's tip-off between #19 Creighton and Missouri State, I entered JQH Arena and saw a flash of one of my favorite scenes in the movie "Hoosiers."In preparatio...
S8 January 12, 2012 Game #8-377: Temple Owls at Saint Louis BillikensJanuary 11, 2012 9:00 pmChaifetz ArenaBBState Stats/RecapOn the edge of the Saint Louis University campus sits a palace.A basketball team plays in this palace, which cost $80 million to build and has promotional signs for season tickets plastered all ...
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