Mid-Majority Mailbag 2: Electric Hoopaloo

Letters. Who doesn't love 'em? I read each one, answer a few directly, and on a good day am able to post a "Mid-Majority Mailbag" entry. Here, then, are the results from my second good day.

Wanted to say that I appreciate your site. I graduated from Albany 20 years ago. Went to almost every game as a student but didn't follow any more until they went D1 a few years ago. I'm still learning about the teams in their conference, so reading about your visits to Boston University, Northeastern and Binghamton certainly help with that.

- James

Thanks, James! I'll be the first to admit that I'm learning as I go along. The America East certainly looks different than it did when I was getting free student tickets to watch the league parade through Drexel's gym, what with the State University Of New York schools making the jump and the more southerly ones leaving for the Colonial a few years ago. Can't end this paragraph without sneaking in a mention that the Albany Great Danes sport one of the biggest improvements in the nation this year (5-23 last year, 11-10 with a month to go), and they also have a great fan community.

I'm a Northwestern University alum and fan, so it's kind of like being a fan of a mid-major.Ã‚ OK, maybe not.Ã‚ Anyway, keep up the great work! I may have to adopt a team - probably from the Patriot league, since I read Feinstein's The Last Amateurs.Ã‚ I don't know - could you recommend me a team?Ã‚ I'm looking for a scrappy program on the rise, with a great non-traditional mascot.

- MacArthur Antigua

Not a problem, person whose name sounds like that of an intrepid high-seas explorer! The most lovable, huggable PL-ers that will need to be adopted as much as possible these next few years are the Lafayette Leopards (6-16, 2-7 PL), the sole remaining non-scholarship team in the conference. I profiled them about a month ago. Because of their status as a team of 12 walk-ons in a scholarship league, however, their rise may have to be measured in dog years. Or cat decades.

But if you want scrappy, on-the-rise and a weird mascot in one package, I would recommend the Jacksonville Dolphins (13-9, 9-6 A-Sun), the closest the college game has to the old ABA these days. They're in their league's upper division, and have a good chance to leapfrog Gardner-Webb and go into what should be a wild Atlantic Sun tournament as a one-seed. Four of their starters average in double figures, and they have a guy named Cool (junior SF Antonio) and a dreadlocked dude who has just the letter "Q" stitched to the back of his 25 uniform (sophomore PF Haminn Quaintance). Both will be back next year, so the Fins should stick around. And if you have a DirecTV pizza dish, they're on the Sunshine Network a lot. What's more, ancient fro-master Artis Gilmore went to JU! Soul in the hole, baby.

Anyone else have an adoption recommendation? Click on the word balloon, and make your case in 10,000 words or less.

I send you this email to say that I found today your website and it's really amazing. Congrats!!! I come from Italy, I love basketball and America and my project is a little less ambitious than yours: I want to see ONE American college basketball game in my life... the ONE GAME PROJECT! I went two times in the States, but during summer and no games scheduled!!!

- Luca

See, I keep saying that the NCAA should extend the college basketball season into June or July like the NBA does. But for some weird reason they won't follow my suggestion. Something or other about "spring sports" and "graduation." Oh, well.

Best of luck on your Project, Luka. You know, there are lots of lovely and warm places here in the States over Christmas break, and more grocery store-sponsored holiday tournaments that even we can handle...

I am Cons and I am e-mailing from the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. I followÃ‚ Murray State University who play in the OVC. Unfortunately over here we do not get ESPN, Fox or any other station that transmits NCAA basketball games.
Ã‚
I would appreciate if you could help me locate somewhere or someone from whom I can get games on tapes or DVD's showing MSU.

- Constantino

This is truly awesome. You might expect a college-hoop-starved overseas fan to desire a tape of the Illinois-Wisconsin game from two weeks ago, or maybe one of North Carolina's recent blowouts. But no! Cons wants to see the Racers.

I know for a fact that we have a bunch of Murray State officials and fans on this site, because I saw their brave yet ultimately futile ballot-stuffing campaign unfold for the Red State Basketball Goodwill Tour's "Light Red" route - that's the one that would have put me through Murray. So if any of you in Racer Nation can help this gentleman out, please contact me and I'll hook you two up. (I'd post his address, but the spambots would be all over it - I'm sure he gets enough mortgage applications and advertisements for "soft tabs" as it is.)

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