• Season 9 SuperTicker presented by BLAPP
#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

Tag: Hofstra Pride
Sorted by date
S9 March 16, 2013 The middle game of the Saturday CAA quarterfinals began as the quietest. George Mason fans had traveled well for the opening game of the tournament, and a solid number remained for this one. James Madison was also well represented, as a number of Dukes fans trickled into the Richmond Coliseum pri...
S9 January 24, 2013 "You may never know what becomes of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results." - GandhiHEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - One of the things that made the Mid-majority is the fact that at its core, it was always about going to the games. In 2013, that may seem like a superfluous concept, and in ...
S9 January 9, 2013 "For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them." - SenecaHEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Ron Hunter is a basketball coach. Most of the time. That's why we like him so much. Hunter stayed at IUPUI for 17 seasons, guiding the Jaguars through the transition from NAIA scho...
S9 December 23, 2012 "I was unavoidably detained." - Carl SpacklerBROOKLYN, N.Y. - I was in the bathroom.My first game of the day at Madison Square Garden had gone a little late, and I had to say goodbye to my triumphant Temple alum friend.That didn't leave me much time to catch the 3 train downtown, across to Broo...
S9 December 5, 2012 Game #9-126: Wagner Seahawks at Hofstra PrideDecember 4, 2012 7:00 pmMack Sports ComplexBBState Stats/Recap "We have to distrust each other. It's our only defense against betrayal." - Tennesee WilliamsHEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - With his team struggling against Wagner's pressure and trailing for the first tim...
S9 November 22, 2012 Game #9-074: Hofstra Pride at Manhattan JaspersNovember 21, 2012 7:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/Recap BRONX, N.Y. – I was left with a travel dilemma again Wednesday. I wanted to write up the recap of the game I attended Tuesday, but didn’t want to get caught in New York traffic on the busiest ...
S9 November 17, 2012 Game #9-042: South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Hofstra PrideNovember 16, 2012 7:00 pmMack Sports ComplexBBState Stats/Recap "I don't believe in fate."- John WoodenHEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - For one of the very few times in my life, I had to disagree with Mr. Wooden Friday night.But I can understand why those...
S8 March 3, 2012 Game #8-672: Hofstra Pride vs. Georgia State PanthersMarch 2, 2012 8:30 pmRichmond, VABBState Stats/RecapI always love this time of year. March Madness has been embedded in my soul for easily over 25 years. My favorite part of March Madness is going to a conference tournament. In my younger college ...
S8 February 26, 2012 Game #8-627: North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks at Hofstra PrideFebruary 25, 2012 4:00 pmMack Sports ComplexBBState Stats/RecapSenior starters Mike Moore, Nathaniel Lester and Dwan McMillan were all given a special ceremony by Hofstra University before their last home game as members of the Pride. A...
S8 February 20, 2012 Game #8-590: Siena Saints at Hofstra PrideFebruary 18, 2012 4:00 pmMack Sports ComplexBBState Stats/RecapOver the past several years, I have been a supporter of the BracketBuster series. Yes, it's been mostly a marketing tool for the World Wide Leader to say that they give the mid-major teams a need...
S8 February 15, 2012 Game #8-570: Delaware Blue Hens at Hofstra PrideFebruary 14, 2012 7:00 pmMack Sports ComplexBBState Stats/RecapWhen you think of Valentine's Day, you don't think about spending it at a basketball game. But when your six year old son would be despondent if he couldn't go to a Hofstra game, you adjust...
S8 February 12, 2012 Game #8-549: Hofstra Pride at Drexel DragonsFebruary 11, 2012 4:00 pmDaskalakis Athletic CenterBBState Stats/RecapLife is like a group of weather forecasters. You never know what you're going to get and apparently neither do they. Based on the forecasts that I heard on Friday, travel to Philadelphia...
S8 February 5, 2012 Game #8-514: Georgia State Panthers at Hofstra PrideFebruary 4, 2012 4:00 pmMack Sports ComplexBBState Stats/RecapWhen the CAA Tournament is over and I look back on this Hofstra season, I will remember all the incredibly close games that ended in losses; the last second losses to Florida Atlantic, J...
S8 February 2, 2012 Game #8-495: Towson Tigers at Hofstra PrideFebruary 1, 2012 7:00 pmMack Sports ComplexBBState Stats/RecapWhen Towson defeated UNCW last Saturday, the Tigers ended their NCAA record 41-game losing streak. With the win, Towson entered a tie for eleventh place in the CAA with Hofstra. The Pride had jus...
S8 January 29, 2012 Game #8-476: Hofstra Pride at Northeastern HuskiesJanuary 28, 2012 12:00 pmMatthews ArenaBBState Stats/RecapIt had been several years since I had last traveled to Boston to visit my friend Jim. We had known each other since second grade and had always shared many of the same sports interests growing...
S8 January 26, 2012 Game #8-457: George Mason Patriots at Hofstra PrideJanuary 25, 2012 7:00 pmMack Sports ComplexBBState Stats/RecapComing into last night's game, in six of their eight conference losses, Hofstra has lost by a total of twenty five points. It's never been a question of heart. The Pride have played hard ...
S8 January 19, 2012 Game #8-412: Drexel Dragons at Hofstra PrideJanuary 18, 2012 7:00 pmMack Sports ComplexBBState Stats/RecapThere are few certainties in life: death, taxes and a Drexel-Hofstra rockfight. I really don't know how to describe this rivalry otherwise. The games are tough, physical and almost always closel...
S8 January 12, 2012 Game #8-379: Northeastern Huskies at Hofstra PrideJanuary 11, 2012 7:00 pmHofstra ArenaBBState Stats/RecapOver the years, I can tell you there is luck involved in college basketball. I have seen several miracle half court shots go in. Many times have I seen a buzzer beater to win a game. There are s...
S8 January 4, 2012 Game #8-335: Virginia Commonwealth Rams at Hofstra PrideJanuary 2, 2012 7:00 pmHofstra ArenaBBState Stats/Recap With apologies to former winners Shaka Khan, Shaka Hislop, and Shaka Zulu, the runaway Shaka of the Year award for 2011 went to VCU coach Shaka Smart. This isn’t the forum or time for a f...
S8 January 3, 2012 Game #8-335: Virginia Commonwealth Rams at Hofstra PrideJanuary 2, 2012 7:00 pmHofstra ArenaBBState Stats/Recap"You talk about the eye test. This one doesn't pass the laugh test."By now, everyone should know the story of the 2010-11 VCU Rams. Finished fourth in the CAA, lost in the CAA Championship ...
S8 December 30, 2011 Game #8-312: Iona Gaels at Hofstra PrideDecember 29, 2011 7:00 pmHofstra ArenaBBState Stats/RecapExactly a year ago, Mo Cassara's Hofstra Pride traveled to New Rochelle, NY to take on Tim Cluess' Iona Gaels. It was the first season for both as head coaches in Division I Basketball. On that night, it...
S8 December 23, 2011 Game #8-291: Colgate Red Raiders at Hofstra PrideDecember 22, 2011 7:00 pmHofstra ArenaBBState Stats/RecapSeveral days after their twenty point win over Binghamton, Hofstra was looking to make it two wins in a row against Colgate. The Pride needed to get on a roll going into next week's important ga...
S8 December 18, 2011 Game #8-245: Binghamton Bearcats at Hofstra PrideDecember 17, 2011 4:00 pmHofstra ArenaBBState Stats/RecapWith the eyes of a childYou must come out and seeThat your world's spinning 'roundAnd through life you will beA small partOf a hopeOf a loveThat existsIn the eyes of a child you will see "Eyes o...
S8 December 11, 2011 Game #8-216: Manhattan Jaspers at Hofstra PrideDecember 10, 2011 4:00 pmHofstra ArenaBBState Stats/RecapTwo weeks ago, I was heading home from Kingston, R.I. I had just watched Hofstra beat Cleveland State 63-53 in what basically amounted to a rock fight at the Legends Classic subregional at URI. It...
S8 December 4, 2011 Game #8-178: James Madison Dukes at Hofstra PrideDecember 3, 2011 4:00 pmHofstra ArenaBBState Stats/RecapSometimes, there are long stretches where one team has another team's number. When Hofstra first joined the CAA in 2001, they lost their first three games in conference with James Madison and had...
S8 November 27, 2011 Game #8-128: Cleveland State Vikings vs. Hofstra PrideNovember 26, 2011 2:30 pmKingston, RIBBState Stats/Recap Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day in Rhode Island. The temperature was around sixty degrees as I left my hotel and took the short drive down to Newport. I spent part of the morning ...
S8 November 26, 2011 Game #8-121: Hofstra Pride at Rhode Island RamsNovember 25, 2011 5:00 pmRyan CenterBBState Stats/Recap The last time I was in Rhode Island for a Hofstra basketball game was eight years ago when the Pride traveled to Providence to take on the Friars. How long ago was that? NBA player Ryan Gomes was ...
S8 November 23, 2011 Game #8-093: Florida Atlantic Owls at Hofstra PrideNovember 22, 2011 7:00 pmHofstra ArenaBBState Stats/Recap It was a rainy Tuesday night in Hempstead, New York. I guess that was partly the reason for the sparse crowd at the Hofstra Mack Center. The other reason might have been that there were no c...
S8 November 19, 2011 Game #8-064: Saint Francis (NY) Terriers at Hofstra PrideNovember 19, 2011 4:00 pmHofstra ArenaBBState Stats/Recap Hofstra started their season with a convincing win at home over LIU, the defending NEC champions. Then on Wednesday, they traveled to Corvalis, Oregon to play Oregon State. The game wa...
S8 November 12, 2011 Game #8-004: Long Island Blackbirds at Hofstra PrideNovember 11, 2011 7:00 pmHofstra ArenaBBState Stats/RecapWhen I last saw a Long Island University game live, it was the NEC championship game at the Wellness Center in Brooklyn on March 9.  The Blackbirds were hosting the Colonials of Robert M...
S7 March 19, 2011 [9] Villanova Wildcats vs. [8] George Mason PatriotsMarch 18, 2011 2:10 pmCleveland, OHBBState Stats/Recap Getty Images > TMM360 Mason never wore white during the 2006 run. They also didn't awesome have glowing Kryptonite Nikes. They certainly weren't mercurial like this, didn't trade offense for d...
S7 March 13, 2011 If college basketball has taught us anything, it's that there's nothing that becomes irrelevant more suddenly than Championship Fortnight. Once the NCAA Tournament bracket is released, the previous two weeks slip into history... very quickly. But one thing that has to be remembered: the teams that w...
S7 March 7, 2011 h2 {margin-bottom:10px;font-size:13px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:17px;} #droid {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;margin-bottom:8px;} #droid a:link, #droid a:visited {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;}Bullet PointsCongratulation...
S7 March 7, 2011 [4] Saint Peter's Peacocks at [1] Fairfield StagsMarch 6, 2011 2:00 pmBBState Stats/Recap [3] Rider Broncs vs. [2] Iona GaelsMarch 6, 2011 4:00 pmBBState Stats/Recap It's the MAAC semifinals. Anthony Kiedis howls in a cavernous arena. It's a day of Tri-State recollection: we remember the Iona 'ha...
S7 March 6, 2011 h2 {margin-bottom:10px;font-size:13px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:17px;} #droid {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;margin-bottom:8px;} #droid a:link, #droid a:visited {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;}Bullet PointsCongratulation...
S7 March 5, 2011 h2 {margin-bottom:10px;font-size:13px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:17px;} #droid {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;margin-bottom:8px;} #droid a:link, #droid a:visited {font-size:11px;font-family:Droid Sans, arial;line-height:13px;}Bullet PointsNow it's mad, ...
S7 February 26, 2011 Saint Bonaventure Bonnies at Saint Joseph's HawksFebruary 26, 2011 4:00 pmHagan ArenaBBState Stats/Recap Phil Martelli: don't call him Coach? Hard times on City Line, Hawk funerals, welding Saint Bonaventure back together after a decade of adversity, buff mascots, and THE BELLYFILLERS. @midmajori...
S7 February 23, 2011 CHICAGO -- Every single one of the conference games going on tonight, and tomorrow, and Friday and Saturday too, were scheduled months in advance by a league office (or, in some cases, years ago). Some were circled rivalry games worth driving a day for, others were just-anothers. In early March, t...
S7 February 16, 2011 HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- March really is here before we know it, because there's half a week missing out of February. This month wasn't designed that way -- and nothing was adjusted for our benefit or anything -- but it's still disorienting and disruptive to look at a calendar and realize that in two ...
S7 February 3, 2011 Today is National Pixelvision Day, and the festivities will last from 7 pm ET to after midnight. If you'd like to get involved, shuttle down. PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- An old hippie once proclaimed that information wants to be free. He was a publisher whose bound publication eventually folded. Me, I thi...
S7 February 2, 2011 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Despite the efforts of "Operation In Our Sites," the government's poorly-planned and badly-named offensive to try and shut down the #pixelvision feed aggregation sites (a topic broached on Stardate 15), National Pixelvision Day II is saved. Remember, that's tomorrow evening, so ...
S7 January 31, 2011 As is annual tradition here at TMM, we've put together a full rundown of all the announced BracketBusters matchups, and this will likely be the most clicked-on page of the season once again. It's incredibly difficult to find a complete list of all the non-TV games, which are quietly announced by the...
S7 January 31, 2011 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- What is madness? Back up, let's start this way: the reason and order necessary for understanding and mastery of one's surroundings has no room or space for such anarchic disruption. Madness is the danger where once things were safe, displacing sense and destroying sensibilities....
S7 January 29, 2011 Wagner Seahawks at Bryant BulldogsJanuary 27, 2011 7:00 pmChace Athletic CenterBBState Stats/Recap Those of us old-time sports fans left who remember television's rabbit-ears era (and know the difference between UHF and VHF), probably appreciate the 21st Century Full Court/#pixelvision reality mor...
S7 January 28, 2011 It's Friday morning, and it's time for more game reports. First, though, let's take a look back at Thursday's action via 360, including the strange story of Towson getting caught in the snow on the way to George Mason. Colonial: Virginia Commonwealth beats Hofstra 82-67 (G!O!T!N!)West Coast: McConne...
S7 January 27, 2011 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- The real state of the Union is that it's changing faster than ever. When you're away from the place you live for an entire month, don't expect it to be the same when you return. Here in Providence's baseball suburb, there are more "for sale" signs on frozen front lawns than ever...
S7 January 25, 2011 BOSTON -- This day contains failure. Every day does. Some failures are life-changing losses, some are spectacular flameouts, but most fall within the category of regular everyday minuses. You might now perform up to somebody's expectations today, or you might forget an important something somewher...
S7 January 24, 2011 CHICAGO -- American higher learning dates back to before the whole "United States" thing. But until the Civil War was over, no college had a fight song. That idea coincided with the idea of college athletics, and school-specific tunes were written for the purposes of intimidation and inspiration. Ma...
S7 January 20, 2011 CHICAGO -- It can't be said enough: most of what we do as college basketball fans is try to figure out exactly what it is we're looking at. Keeping proper perspective during the season is difficult, impossible sometimes. Up there, north of the Red Line, it's easier because ranked and regarded team...
S7 January 19, 2011 CHICAGO -- Patterns develop as the season goes on; one seems to be that Wednesday is a perfect day to open up The Form™ and publicly respond to a few letters, many of which have been quite heartfelt lately. There have also been some seriously great game reports, and I think Fridays (before c...
S7 January 10, 2011 VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Now that January has reached double-digits, the slow transition is, in full essence, complete. It's conference season, and even the teams in the Ivy League are starting to play each other. This is definitely the second part of the beautiful season, the third best of the four. N...
S7 January 8, 2011 Detroit Titans at Illinois-Chicago FlamesJanuary 8, 2011 2:00 pmUIC PavillionBBState Stats/Recap The five-game, four-day, three-city Horizon League tour continued with a Chicagoland doubleheader. First up, it was a trip to the Near West to see Detroit go up against UIC. At UIC Pavilion, you ca...
S7 January 6, 2011 CHICAGO -- Many of the conferences in college athletics were born in hotel ballrooms somewhere, converted from ideas into working cooperatives by men in suits who took turns talking and occasionally sipped glasses of water. The league names and statements of purpose and guiding principles and slog...
S7 January 4, 2011 Kyle, I just returned home from my first college basketball double header not involving a conference tournament. I drove for about six hours today to watch UNCG play in front of a couple hundred fans at Greensboro Coliseum against Richmond at noon. Followed a few hours later by a UNCW game against...
S7 December 13, 2010 CHICAGO -- Necessity is the mother of invention, but another thing that Mom does is feeds and cares for you. On Saturday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse, as "Underdawgs" author-slash-Indianapolis Star superwriter David Woods and I competed to see who could close the press room (he won), I experienced a...
S7 December 6, 2010 Valparaiso Crusaders at Loyola (Ill.) RamblersDecember 4, 2010 4:00 pmJoseph Gentile CenterBBState Stats/Recap Think of Chicago. Cold city. Dark. Dark in the winter. But not cold and dark enough for a dude in the LU Wolf suit not to walk around slapping high fives with fans arriving for an early ...
S7 December 1, 2010 VESTAL, N.Y. -- The first time I visited Binghamton University for a basketball game was in early 2005. Season One. It was number 34 of the original 100 Games Project. My goodness, how simpler times were back then. The Bearcats, in their fourth year of Division I membership, drew 2,700 people to t...
S6 March 30, 2010 Downtown Vancouver, February 2010 MINNEAPOLIS -- I've been thinking a lot about the Kent State team from 2002, the one that went to the Elite Eight, during these last couple of days. No specific reason, really, because I've been too busy straining to remember the particulars. This all happened eig...
S6 March 8, 2010 Bullet Points All hail Northern Iowa, repeat winners of the Missouri Valley Conference's Arch Madness. The top-seeded Panthers put on a strong second-half burst to defeat No. 2 Wichita State, 67-52. Four of Sunday's semifinals set up Monday championship games. The Colonial title comes down to a m...
S6 February 24, 2010 Big Games Missouri Valley: at Evansville 55, Northern Iowa 54 EVAN - 8-20 (2-15) [RPI: 275, State: 289] UNI - 24-4 (14-3) [RPI: 16, State: 15] Star of the Game: James Haarsma 12 Pts (4-4 FG, 4-5 FT), 8 Reb Total Team Effort Gives UE Win Over #22 UNI - A "total team effort" in the words of Head ...
S6 February 10, 2010 Colonial: at George Mason 82, Virginia Commonwealth 77 (OT) GMU - 16-9 (11-3) [RPI: 132, State: 104] VCU - 17-6 (9-5) [RPI: 49, State: 41] Star of the Game: Michael Morrison 18 Pts (8-10 FG, 2-3 FT), 10 Reb Men's Basketball Rallies Late, Downs VCU in Overtime - Cam Long hit a pair of free throws ...
S6 February 3, 2010 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 ...
S6 January 13, 2010 NEW YORK CITY -- Who is the poet laureate of Long Island? I pondered this question as I walked along the Hempstead-Bethpage Turnpike from the train station towards Hofstra University, past Mexican laundromats and dimly lit gyro joints. In a flourescent storefront, ladies with tall hair were gettin...
S6 January 7, 2010 PHILADELPHIA -- Malik Rose asked me to go to Drexel. Not in person, but through a TV set. It was a somewhat elegant request, though -- it came in the form of two-point dunk shots and sweet jumpers, as he led the Dragons to a stunning 12-over-5 upset over Memphis in the first found of the 1996 NCAA...
S5 March 16, 2009 Bullet Points Stephen F. Austin punched Hoops Nation's final NCAA Tournament ticket Sunday afternoon, its first appearance ever. Championship Fortnight is over, and the national postseason is just ahead. Completed brackets and scores for all 23 TMM leagues are included below. Southland Texas...
S5 March 9, 2009 Bullet Points Northern Iowa has qualified for the NCAA Tournament by winning the Missouri Valley championship. Davidson was eliminated in the Southern Conference semifinals by the College of Charleston. After semifinal rounds yesterday, finals are set in seven leagues: the CAA (George Mason...
S5 March 8, 2009 Bullet Points Radford (Big South), East Tennessee State (Atlantic Sun) and Morehead State (Ohio Valley) have qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Cleveland State, the Horizon No. 3, eliminated No. 2 Green Bay in that conference's semis, and Illinois State upended Creighton in the Missouri Valley...
S5 March 7, 2009 Bullet Points Cornell became the first school to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. For the second straight year, the Big Red claimed the Ivy League title, beating Penn 83-59. The upsets began in earnest on Friday. Ohio Valley No. 4 Morehead State took out No. 1 Tennessee-Martin. CAA No....
S5 March 6, 2009 Bullet Points Four-time Atlantic Sun champion Belmont barely escaped Mercer, and Big South top seed Radford fought off a strong challenge from No. 4 UNC Asheville in that league's semifinals. The Big South final on Saturday is set: VMI at Radford. The three top seeds in the Northeast Confer...
S5 March 2, 2009 INDIANAPOLIS -- Every day we get just a little more physically vulnerable, every day another step closer to the inevitable finish line of life. The positive trade-off is that whether we've cheated the reaper by strengthening our bodies or not, our minds are always increasing in power. Every day, we ...
S5 February 21, 2009 So here we are again, it's late February and it's time for Mid-Major Christmas... BracketBusters VII, brought to you locally by Flying J Travel Plazas and Ballito's Powdered Horchata. Here's a handy clip-n'-save list of all Saturday's televised games, with links to handy print-n'-collect Basketball ...
S5 February 19, 2009 MORAGA, Cal. -- I've come to avidly dislike "bracketology" in all its forms, I don't make any bones or excuses about that. I can't stand bubble watching or seed projecting. I respect Joe Lunardi for combining computer power and over-the-top braggadocio to single-handedly ignite a cottage industry, a...
S5 February 10, 2009 NATCHITOCHES, La. -- Tomorrow I'll drive the four hours back up to Little Rock, jump on a jetliner and return to the hub-and-spoke center of Hoops Nation, the city of Indianapolis. On Thursday at 1:30 p.m., I'll walk into the Hyatt Regency with 19 other journalists and engage in the third annual NC...
S5 February 5, 2009 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Let's get this out of the way first: when the first place team loses to the last place team, it's definitely not good for the league profile. And when the overwhelming preseason favorite takes one in the collective stomach from a team that long ago unanimously passed a team rule b...
S5 February 3, 2009 As is annual tradition here at TMM, we've put together a full rundown of all 51 announced BracketBusters matchups, and this will likely be the most clicked-on page of the season once again. It's incredibly difficult to find a complete list of all the non-TV games, which are quietly announced by the ...
S5 January 27, 2009 Northeastern at Virginia Commonwealth (Colonial) Siegel Center - Richmond, VA 9:00 PM EST How many eyes do you need to finish this fight? You're gonna eat lightning, and you're gonna crap thunder! See that look in their eyes, Rock? You got to get that look back, Rock. Eye of the tiger. Get him a b...
S5 January 21, 2009 David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens PHILADELPHIA -- It was written nearly 30 years ago, but "Once In a Lifetime" remains the most concise four-minute statement on modern humanity that rock musicians have ever come up with. There are two mantras and a zen koan within it but at its l...
S5 January 12, 2009 BOONE, N.C. -- I'm going to get into my grandpa rocking chair and tell you what's wrong with pop music. I'm sorry that you had to get this from a basketball writer, but that's just the way it worked out. Most music specifically released for public consumption is far too dependent on context and repu...
S5 January 6, 2009 NASHVILLE -- A lot's happened in the past 48 hours. I've driven 1,450 miles through high Colorado mountain passes, endless Kansas, Oklahoma hailstorms. I've watched Southwest Airlines' careful domino-stack of hourly gate departures collapse under the weight of a weather delay, into a maelstrom of sc...
S5 January 5, 2009 Hofstra at Northeastern (Colonial) Matthews Arena - Boston, MA 7:00 PM EST During George Mason's Final Four run, when head coach Jim Larranaga said that the initials "CAA" stood for "Connecticut Assassins Association," he wasn't kidding. The Colonial earned two double-bid years, as well as nationa...
S5 December 9, 2008 LEXINGTON, Va. -- I think we can chalk up the weekend voting on the Ultimate Project contest an unqualified, unmitigated disaster. There were more complaints about the voting mechanism (clicking through either brought up a "please log in" screen or a full-screen ad to start your own poll) than actua...
S5 November 21, 2008 NEW YORK CITY -- Madison Square Garden IV, indeed the fourth venue to have had this name, is a layer cake built on the corner of 7th Avenue and 33rd Street. It opened in 1968, four years before I was born. By the time I started going to games there, in the mid-1980's, its internal workings were as ...
S4 March 17, 2008 Bullet Points In the final final in mid-majordom, Texas-Arlington emerged as surprise Southland champs. All hail! We had 78 entries into our "guess-the-play-in-matchup" contest on Saturday, and not a single correct answer. The correct pairing, as we all know now, is Coppin State (MEAC) against Moun...
S4 March 8, 2008 Bullet Points Today, three autobids to the NCAA Tournament will be awarded! The Big South, Ohio Valley and Atlantic Sun will crown champions. The No. 6 was a lucky number yesterday -- surprising Tennessee State moved to the finals of the OVC, Northern Iowa upset No. 3 Southern Illinois in the MVC, ...
S4 March 7, 2008 Bullet Points There was an upset in the Atlantic Sun quarters, as No. 6 Gardner-Webb routed No. 3 Stetson. The Big South final is set: UNC Asheville and Winthrop, the league's top two seeds. The game will be played Saturday. In the MVC first round, No. 8 Indiana State and No. 7 Missouri State adva...
S4 February 13, 2008   William & Mary at North Carolina-Wilmington (Colonial) Trask Coliseum - Wilmington, NC 7:00 PM EST We'll be closely tracking the Rhode Island-Temple battle on the A-14's second tier, as well as the tough test for Drake at Southern Illinois, but tonight's G!O!T!N! spotlight falls on two...
S4 February 7, 2008 CLEVELAND -- There are a lot of subtle differences between higher-strata conferences and the leagues at our level. For instance, when a team in the ACC or Pac 10 is having a bad year, the media is still going to write about it, no matter what. The stories usually come with the angle of, "what's goin...
S4 February 6, 2008 As is tradition here at TMM, we've put together a full rundown of all 50 announced BracketBusters matchups. Mostly because we know that it's incredibly difficult to find a complete list of all the non-TV games, which are quietly announced by the schools after ESPN unleashes the televised matchups. T...
S4 January 21, 2008   North Carolina A&T at Delaware State (MEAC) Memorial Hall - Dover, DE 7:30 PM EST The news channels say that this is a day for "remembering" and "celebrating" the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. which has always struck me as a superficial invitation that may or may not include par...
S4 December 28, 2007 CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The end of the holiday season means the end of holiday music, and thank gosh for that. The world doesn't need another imaginative reinterpretation of Irving Berlin (much less a hip-hop one), and I've long held that the sound of recorded sleigh bells sounds just like fingernails a...
S4 December 7, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- It's taken a week, but I believe we have all the entries in our Pop Loser contest, most of which took as much time as media mail to arrive because of e-mail clog on this end. And of our 22 entries, I had to eliminate 15 of them. The point was not to point out an instance of refere...
S4 December 5, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- First of all this morning, a big hello-and-thank-you to the 213 members of the Upset Club. We got you one (a result, surely, of all the Northern Illinois love from yesterday) or two last night, but those e-mail boxes should be lighting up soon with lots more Upset Alerts. Maybe ev...
S3 March 12, 2007 Bullet Points http://schools.basketballstate.com/TAMCC class=optn>Texas A&M-Corpus Christi won the Southland final, and Championship Fortnight has come to a close. It's Tournament Time! The Last Bracket All brackets on the Bracket City page have been replaced with the completed versions. ...
S3 March 4, 2007 Bullet Points We have four champions on the busiest day of Championship Fortnight: all hail Winthrop of the Big South and Davidson of the SoCon, double champions both. Second seeds who rose up to claim tourney championships and dance tickets: Eastern Kentucky of the Ohio Valley and Belmont of the At...
S3 March 3, 2007 Bullet Points In the first real shocker of Championship Fortnight, Appalachian State was upset by College of Charleston in the SoCon semifinals. Four leagues crown champions today on the ESPN family of networks. The Big South, Ohio Valley, SoCon and Atlantic Sun seasons will conclude with autobids b...
S3 February 26, 2007 BOZEMAN, Mont. -- That's right, waah-waah. This is the final Daily Paragraph, the last K-Dub's Krazy Fact of the Day of the season. That's because (not-so-Top Five) Tuesday, February 27 is the honorary first day of March. It's tourney time! The Horizon League, Ohio Valley and Big South kick off thei...
S3 February 22, 2007 CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Before we get too wrapped up in Championship Week this and NCAA Tournament that, in seeding whichever and Billy Packer whatever, I'd like to take time out to offer a small tribute to some special people. This is a tribute to the 508 fans who attended last night's Division I ga...
S3 February 16, 2007 INDIANAPOLIS -- It's the eve of mid-majordom's national holiday, and for this fifth edition of the event we're getting the whole family involved. Yo dad, those repairs on the car can wait. There are 14 great televised mid-major matchups to watch! It's the perfect time to bring Junior onto the couc...
S3 February 14, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- I've been talking to folks around the country these past few days, and have had a really hard time convincing them that the Northeast is where it's at. It's not all Friends and the Hamptons and day trips to Times Square... you pay for all that glamour with high gas prices, frost h...
S3 February 12, 2007 BALTIMORE -- OK, OK, OK, OK. I've read your e-mails, I've received your calls and media inquiries. The big question of the weekend is not what happened in the huge mid-major games these past few days, but what are we to do about this? And this? Let's get the easy punchline out of the way first: Ther...
S3 February 9, 2007 DALLAS -- Big, big weekend in Hoops Nation. Huge. Make sure to check out these six big showdown/throwdown/hoedowns at the top of league tables this weekend. As a bonus, we're offering some sample pregame warmup music for your iPod, so you can truly get pumped up for these hot matchups. Holy Cross (...
S3 February 6, 2007 LOS ANGELES -- I'm not going to get all weird on you and tell you that covering basketball is tantamount to some kind of athletic event, but boy-oh-boy can it take a physical toll. Last night, I ventured out to Gersten Pavilion (a/k/a "Hank's House") to take some notes on theUnnamed Program From t...
S3 February 5, 2007 LOS ANGELES -- There are three important national holidays on the official calendar of Hoops Nation™. First and foremost in importance, of course, is Selection Sunday in March -- the day that the entire college basketball year leads up to. A second is coming up in a couple weeks: that glorious...
S3 February 2, 2007 PHOENIX - O, layover... Haven of annoying cell-phone talk, home of heavily made-up airline employees yet unhelpful gate agents (that'll be seventy-five bucks to fly standby, please), opportunity to gorge oneself on 3,000-calorie Cinnabons, chance to catch up with increasingly irrelevant color period...
S3 January 31, 2007 Here, then, are all the pairings for BracketBusters 2007. You can click on a matchup to learn more about the two teams and how they, well, match up. Albany at Boise State (TV) Appalachian State at Wichita State (TV) http://bbstate.com/games/66467>Austin Peay at Akron http://bbstate.com/games/664...
S3 January 30, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Before we begin our supersized DP, I just want to share with you something I wrote yesterday. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (fourth edition, 2004, published by Houghton Mifflin) defines the word "champion" as "One that wins first place or first prize in...
S3 January 25, 2007 BOONE, N.C. -- As of press time, 63 of the available 100 entries in Bally's BracketBusters Racket, the only contest in the world that lets you choose all 51 BB matchups, have been snapped up (the limit is in place 'cause I'll be hand-validating the entries, but call it a "soft cap"). Remember: the d...
S3 January 19, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- No mailbag this week, because quite frankly most of the letters this week were way too personal. Look, I'm a basketball writer, when did my mortgage, my stock portfolio and my "size" suddenly become fair game? Oops, wrong mail folder. Anyway... Every year around this time, we sta...
S3 January 15, 2007 LORMAN, Miss. -- BracketBusters season starts in just under two weeks, and that's why we here at the Mid-Majority have put together this little map, so you can start scouting out the home teams (orange) and away teams (grey) and dream about matchups leading into the pairing announcement on Jan. 28. ...
S3 January 12, 2007 NATCHITOCHES, La. -- Mid-majors are often the Scrappy-Doos of college basketball (Let me at'im! Let me at'im!), which is probably part of the reason they're so annoying to major schools. But I disavow any such implied connection -- I hated that character as much as you did. Generally, I had a lot o...
S3 January 9, 2007 NASHVILLE -- I guess it's basic human nature that we try to build fences and walls, to divide the included from the excluded, to protect what's inside from what's outside. There's nothing worse than the idea that the world doesn't make sense -- that's the fundamental building block of organized reli...
S3 January 8, 2007 JACKSON, Miss. -- Mondays from here on out will be busy times as we continue to track all the hot hot conference action, so let's all take a deep breath and let's get to it. Conference Shootaround! Missouri Valley: Yesterday in lovely Springfield, Missouri State broke both an eight-game losing str...
S3 January 4, 2007 HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Just a reminder: make sure you get in on the action as The Mid-Majority expands its feature list in 2007 in return for warm, soft cash. We're halfway to unlocking mobile boxscores, a quarter of the way towards the team mileage maps, and we've also a chunk into the Tournament Geni...
S3 December 20, 2006 MARTIN, Tenn. -- First of all today, I want to welcome the newest member of the Mid-Majority family, the "vs. Others" page. Every team now has one -- even yours! -- and it's got all sort of cool stuff on it like records and results against current conference opponents, as well as records against oth...
S3 December 8, 2006 WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. -- Let's go straight to the mailbag, no delay, no bullpoop. Kyle, all these heroic recaps of "mid-over-major" results are great and everything, but what about the December games that really matter, the early conference stuff? Stan K. You're right, Stan. It's easy to get caug...
S2 April 9, 2006 INDIANAPOLIS, Apr. 2 -- There are huge signs all over town -- on airport walls, strung over streetlights, over the main gate to the RCA Dome. They all read, "The Road Ends Here." There's also a giant logo on the side of the 45,000-seat venue, a green and gold star with zag-zigging trailers that has...
S2 February 24, 2006 At some point, a team will simply refuse to accept a national ranking; George Mason was the most recent mid-20's mid-major to fall, losing at Hofstra last night and setting up the most incredibly thrilling Colonial tourney in league history. With GMU, Hofstra and UNCW (even Astyle=font-weight:bold H...
S2 February 15, 2006 When I called Hofstra head coach last summer to get his take on this season's CAA race, he said, "It's all about Old Dominion, baby." Well, in a strange twist of fate, it's been partially about Hofstra. They're just a game out in the loss column as the Colonial's stretch run begins.Tonight's tilt fe...
S2 January 20, 2006 The future of the Colonial Athletic Association may not only be "next," he might even be "now." Hofstra's star junior guard scored seven of a gamebreaking 11-0 run, and the Pride notched a tremendously large road win at league favorites Old Dominion. The Pride shot just 42% as a club, but Stokes too...
S2 January 19, 2006 The CAA went into the New York area to raise the league's visibility, so it's odd that of all the good-but-not-great teams that make up the league's core this year, Hofstra has received the least love. They won nine of ten against the middle of the RPI table in late December and early January, and a...
S2 December 16, 2005 Time to put a dent in the ol' mailbag. What chance do you think there is for the NCAA to allow a 5th year of eligibility in basketball? There are a number of reasons it would be a good idea. First, it will enable kids to remain on scholarship another year and enhance their graduation rates. Second,...
S2 November 29, 2005 If you need the Big Ten-ACC Challenge to get excited about November hoops, you're at the wrong site. If you like to see upper-class mid-majors getting shots at taking down nearby power conference schools, then you have the kind of attention span we like around here.Near-consensus preseason MVC pick ...
S1 March 17, 2005 Game 094: at St. Joseph's 53, Hofstra 44 Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse - Philadelphia, PA An invitation to the National Invitation Tournament is like... it's like kissing your sister. Naw, that's no good. Already been used. How's this: having to play in the NIT is like eatin...
S1 March 16, 2005 Delaware State Seed: 16 1st Round Opponent: Duke Record: 19-13 (17-4 Mid-Eastern) Big Nonconference Wins: A 71-56 win in November versus Jackson State (14-17, 10-9 SWAC) in Las Vegas will have to do. 100 Games Project Appearances: #29, #52 Key Players: You won't find a more unselfish crew in the ...
S1 March 14, 2005 MAC, Knifed: A lot of watercooler talk this morning is and will be centered around the Mid-American Conference, more specifically the lack of at-large teams from such. Even Dickie V, who was born on Exit 16W but made his coaching hay in the MAC's geographical sphere of influence, was all over the c...
S1 March 7, 2005 Bullet Points No finals yesterday, four tonight. The Missouri Valley, as expected since the beginning of the season, was no cookie-cutter cakewalk for top seeds. Both 1 Southern Illinois and 2 Wichita State went down, but the Salukis remain bulletproof on Selection Sunday. Two defending conference ...
S1 March 6, 2005 Bullet Points Four Dance tickets were punched: Winthrop, Eastern Kentucky, Central Florida and Chattanooga. Despite the two-digit numbers that the Selection Committee will hand them one week from today, all are champions. One-seeds fell like mighty trees. Arkansas-Little Rock, the E1 in the Sun Bel...
S1 March 5, 2005 Bullet Points Two one-seeds went down: Tennessee Tech lost in the OVC semifinals, and Davidson was eliminated in the Southern Conference semis. Four automatic bids will be handed out today, as the ESPN networks begin a schedule of court-stormings every two hours or so. We have the Big South's matc...
S1 March 1, 2005 Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa 67, Wichita State 66 (story) - It's painful watching them keep losing, because it heightens the twin possibilities that the Valley will only get a single bid and the Big East will get (shudder) eight. Six-three Panther guard Ben Jacobsen lit up the scoreboard with 24 p...
S1 February 27, 2005 Ivy: Pennsylvania 80, Columbia 72 (story) - Congratulations to the Quakers! The first ticket to the NCAA Tournament was punched last night as Penn (17-8, 10-1) clinched the Ivy League regular-season title. They stormed to a win on the Lions' home court, bolstered by 68% second-half shooting and a ...
S1 February 25, 2005 Atlantic Sun: Central Florida 58, Gardner-Webb 55 (story) - G-Webb (15-11, 12-7 ASun), who finished ninth and out of the conference tournament last year, could have clinched the regular-season title and the tourney one-seed right there on their home floor. The Runnin' Bulldogs From Boiling Springs c...
S1 February 24, 2005 Mid-American: Akron 55, Miami (Oh.) 49 (OT) (story) - Six-four RedHawk guard Chet Mason had the game of his life, with 23 points and 15 rebounds... but as the sportswriters like to say, it was not enough. Despite sending the game to overtime on a last-second three by William Hatcher, Miami (17-1, 11...
S1 February 10, 2005 Firstly, a big "yo" to all Philadelphia Inquirer readers who scoped Janet Paskin's piece instead of the sports-section leader about Donovan McNabb's vomit. Welcome to TMM, here's the first page. Despite both what The Official Wife Of The Mid-Majority™ says and Herculean efforts by the gentlema...
S1 February 2, 2005 Missouri Valley: Creighton 73, Wichita State 69 (story) - If ever there was a year when Wichita fans believed they could end their decade-long curse and win a game at Creighton, this was it. But in the land of big steaks, the Bluejays ran off a big 19-3 streak after finding themselves in a halftime ...
S1 January 20, 2005 Colonial: Old Dominion 67, Hofstra 66 (story) - As was the case in their recent squeaker against Drexel, Old Dominion raced out to a big lead and then hit the cruise control button too early. The second half was filled with streaky back-and-forth runs, and the homestanding Pride grabbed a 66-64 lead...
S1 January 19, 2005 Mid-American: Ball State 86, Bowling Green 62 (story) - BSU went into the break with 49 points and a 12-point lead, and magically doubled the margin despite shooting 30% in the second half. The Ball State Basketball Cardinals (8-5, 3-2 MAC) executed their first-half battle plan perfectly, driving an...
S1 January 14, 2005 Big West: Pacific 73, Utah State 66 (2OT) (story|box) - If only this game was televised, so I could pass out burned DVD copies to all the people who blather on at me about how boring mid-major basketball is. This battle between last year's co-regular season champions had it all: lead changes, scorin...
S1 January 6, 2005 Colonial: Old Dominion 60, Drexel 59 (story) - You can't tell much about this game from the boxscore - both teams shot around 40%, were even on rebounds, and neither club turned the ball over that much. But ask one of the 2,000 or so who showed up at Drexel's DAC, and they'll tell you how truly ugly...
S1 December 31, 2004 Game 022: Columbia 64, Canisius 58 Thursday, December 30, 2004 Madison Square Garden - New York, New York When the Columbia Lions men's basketball team got stuck in traffic earlier this month on the way to Hofstra, prompting the postponement of their game against the Pride, I made mock. I poked fun...
S1 December 2, 2004 UC Davis 72, Sacramento State 63 (OT) (box) - Davis has to wait until 2007 to achieve full Division I status and join the Big West, but they're wasting no time. The 1998 D2 national champions beat the Big Sky's Hornets in the "Hornets' Nest" by a sizeable margin in overtime, despite never having had...
S1 November 9, 2004 My earliest basketball memory: it's a cold winter morning in New England, November 1983. I'm eleven years old, and I'm pulling a Greg Ballard Washington Bullets home jersey over my spindly torso (the only one at the sporting goods store that fit me). I'm taller than the other boys in the neighborhoo...
Sunday Funnies: Media Day!|Sunday Funnies: In Training!|Sunday Funnies: ...Strikes Back!|Sunday Funnies: Conspiracy?|Sunday Funnies: Balltamont|