The Boubacar 11/13/2007 (Dance Team Edition)

But, how do we SAY "Boubacar"... is it "BOW buh car", "Boo buh car", or something else?? If we're going to properly use this in the future, we need to know....

Rod, Asheville NC

COLUMBUS, Oh. -- "Boubacar," as I've heard it on TV, is "BOO-buh-car." It's a highly exalted name of West African origin, meaning "chief" or "leader." There have been two Boubacar Traores, both with fascinating tales. People who e-mail me are generally very helpful with this sort of thing.
Speaking of which, thanks to those who pointed me in the direction of Boubacar Aw, former Georgetown player. The SI page here would seem to confirm the lack of "BOW," but places the emphasis on the "CAR."

Teams named "Phoenix." Last night on ESPN, Wisconsin-Green Bay put up a good fight against Ohio State for about half an hour -- they didn't expect 40 minutes of zone, and frankly, neither did you. The 91-68 final hides a 22-17 early UWGB lead, as well as the solid play of 6-9 junior Mike Schachtner. Hard nose, can catch and shoot in the lane, decent outside shot. And once Ball State transfer Pat Nelson (a 6-9 soph) gets worked into the system, that's going to be a squad to be reckoned with in the paint.

But about that team name... is it singular or plural? Are they all one Phoenix, or 15 individuals? Questions like this make my head hurt, especially during 9-2 runs for the bad guys. According to Green Bay sports information, the legend says that only one Phoenix exists at any given time, so the collective is confirmed. I dunno, it sounds a little too, you know, WNBA to me. "Phoenix" was chosen by students, replacing the highly superior "Bay Badgers" nickname. The poll that led to the switch occurred in 1970, a year when a lot of mistakes were made.

Josh Mayo, Illinois-Chicago. We talked about trendy yolk-based products yesterday, namely the faux-Tex-Mex and the USC varieties. Neglected to mention the guy who, for the moment, is Hoops Nation's scoring leader. The 5-10 junior put up 34 on Bradley over the weekend in an 84-75 Flames win, and at this early stage we can give him a PPG average simply by putting a ".0" at the end of this number. Mayo's been a solid double-figure contributor for the past two seasons, and Horizon League fans will remember his flurry of free throws that helped upset Butler this past January. He's good at that, knocking down at least 83 percent of his attempts over his career and hitting all six on Saturday.

Dance teams. Someone's got to say it, and it might as well be me. Pretty girls with flying hair, spangly outfits and "seductive" body-rubbing are great, but the entire "dance team" thing has been in stagnation for a long time. Lock-step moves set to high-energy dance music was a fresh idea around the time of Rhythm Nation 1814, but it's 2007 now. Nearly every dance team looks exactly the same these days, with cookie-cutter moves and performances that are long-forgotten by the time the buzzer sounds to end the media timeout.

No squad that I've seen in the past two years has matched the skill, ingenuity and creativity of Ohio, the one dance team I love enough to want to sponsor. They alone make me believe that this is a concept that can last well into the next decade, but the vast majority of the schools out there have to step it up. It all starts with the choreographers.

Do you have a nomination for tomorrow's Boubacar?

Resources

Bally Club Signup/Activate
Bally Club Message Board
Basketball State
Women's Basketball State
TMM9 Summer Camp
Mid-Merchandise Shoppe
Mid-Major Radio
Contact TMM via The Form™

The Game

				Pts
			Hickory Picket Fences	27629

			The Hopping Cats	21526

			Ballyfest Destiny	18919

			Under a Blood Red Line	10379

			Jen Folds Five	6895

			Prestige Worldwide	1614