• 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

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

Tag: Manhattan Jaspers
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S9 March 13, 2013 "Talent is the divider."- Gary PalladinoSPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Gary Palladino began his coaching career like so many others we know in Our Game, only it was the 1970s, and there was no Mid-majority and college basketball was in its pre-Magic and Bird era.That doesn't mean there still weren't young co...
S9 March 12, 2013 "Of all the causes which conspire to blind Man's erring judgment, and misguide the mind; What the weak head with strongest bias rules, Is pride, never-failing vice of fools."- Alexander PopeSPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Bias is everywhere in our world whether we are aware of it or not. Sometimes, it's nice ...
S9 March 11, 2013 "I have always a sacred veneration I observe to be a little out of repair in his person, as supposing him either a poet or a philosopher." - Jonathan Swift SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - There are certain situations in life that we just know intuitively are dangerous for us. Wise people do what they can to...
S9 February 13, 2013 "We can't run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us." - Professor Petrovsky, RoundersFAIRFIELD, Conn. - We live for the amazing, the unexpected, the moments that defy explanation. When we finally see them, we just look on in wonder and amazement.But that wonder and amazement isn't necessarily in ...
S9 January 4, 2013 My eleven year-old Ian and I wake early enough on New Year's Day to walk the hundreds of steps at Manhattan College, up past the banners of priests in front of O'Malley library, up through the tight quadrangle, to reach Draddy Gymnasium. We find general admission seats under the basket in the secon...
S9 January 2, 2013 BRONX, N.Y. - Sometimes when you're in a rut, you just need something small to make you smile.After driving 12 hours back to New York between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, I barely had time to stop to grab a bagel before heading up to Draddy Gym for a fairly interesting contest between struggl...
S9 December 23, 2012 BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Between the first and second games of the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational, I committed two egregious violations that went undetected by the Barclays Center staff. Or maybe, they were just being sympathetic.First, being very hungry on my Saturday odyssey in the City, I ate some ...
S9 December 17, 2012 Game #9-169: Manhattan Jaspers at Long Island BlackbirdsDecember 16, 2012 4:00 pmAthletic CenterBBState Stats/Recap BROOKLYN, N.Y. - What are theories if we don't attempt to put them into practice? I somewhat haphazardly wrote about a hypothetical Green Apple conference that would include all the Ne...
S9 December 10, 2012 Game #9-145: Siena Saints at Manhattan JaspersDecember 9, 2012 2:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/Recap "In short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only...
S9 November 27, 2012 Game #9-099: Manhattan Jaspers at Dayton FlyersNovember 24, 2012 2:00 pmU. of Dayton ArenaBBState Stats/Recap From time to time, I've tried my hand at coaching soccer. I even coached a girls varsity high school team for one season when the school was desperate for a coach. My career high school reco...
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 19, 2012 Game #9-050: Manhattan Jaspers at Harvard CrimsonNovember 16, 2012 7:30 pmLavietes PavilionBBState Stats/Recap In the middle of the second half on Friday night, Harvard's freshman point guard Siyani Chambers did something he had not done for the last 76 minutes of the Crimson's game time: he sat dow...
S8 March 20, 2012 Game #8-777: Manhattan Jaspers at Fairfield StagsMarch 18, 2012 5:00 pmArena at Harbor YardBBState Stats/RecapIt seems in my travels that The Simpsons are either loved or hated, there’s not much in between. But at the risk of offending our loyal readers, the best analogy I could make to how I felt S...
S8 March 11, 2012 Game #8-742: Siena Saints vs. Manhattan JaspersMarch 3, 2012 9:30 pmSpringfield, MABBState Stats/Recap“Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o’clock is a scoundrel.” - Samuel Johnson Back in my college days, and probably for a while thereafter, my friends and I would go out on a random...
S8 February 25, 2012 Game #8-616: Canisius Golden Griffins at Manhattan JaspersFebruary 24, 2012 7:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/Recap“What the hell’s a Jasper?” Actually, to do that justice you have to say it in chant form: “What - the - hell’s – a – Jas – perrrr?” When I was eight years old, that was the funnie...
S8 February 25, 2012 Game #8-616: Canisius Golden Griffins at Manhattan JaspersFebruary 24, 2012 7:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/RecapWhen even the one-handed Kevin Laue scores on you, you know things aren't going your way. That's the position Canisius was in on Friday night when Laue's layup late in the second hal...
S8 February 7, 2012 Game #8-511: Iona Gaels at Manhattan JaspersFebruary 4, 2012 7:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/RecapI'll admit it. I got there late. Iona vs. Manhattan was probably going to be one of (if not the) biggest regular season games of the year in New York City and I got there late.It was my fault. I tr...
S8 February 6, 2012 Game #8-511: Iona Gaels at Manhattan JaspersFebruary 4, 2012 7:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/RecapAfter watching Hofstra suffer another tough loss at the hands of Georgia State, Matthew and I bid adieu to Tieff, who couldn't make our last part of the Hofstra influenced tripleheader. My six year...
S8 February 5, 2012 Game #8-511: Iona Gaels at Manhattan JaspersFebruary 4, 2012 7:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/RecapWalking up West 242nd Street toward Manhattan College in the Bronx on Saturday night made our little group, two dads and three sons, feel like we’d caught up to the leading edge of New York City’s ...
S8 February 3, 2012 Game #8-498: Marist Red Foxes at Manhattan JaspersFebruary 2, 2012 8:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/RecapThe Manhattan student section was plentiful and rowdy on Thursday night in its first home game of the second semester, with the wisecrack of the night going to an obnoxious student, who yelle...
S8 January 22, 2012 Game #8-426: Manhattan Jaspers at Marist Red FoxesJanuary 20, 2012 9:00 pmMcCann Recreation CenterBBState Stats/RecapWe become fans of the teams we choose for a variety of reasons. Geography often dictates our choice, as it’s much easier to follow a team you’ll get to see game after game, night afte...
S8 January 15, 2012 Game #8-393: Siena Saints at Manhattan JaspersJanuary 14, 2012 7:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/RecapAnyone who told me I was an idiot for skipping the Saints' game on Saturday is the real idiot. Because I saw the Saints.However, they weren't the Saints who lost to the 49ers in the NFL playoffs....
S8 January 13, 2012 Game #8-380: Manhattan Jaspers at Iona GaelsJanuary 12, 2012 7:00 pmHynes CenterBBState Stats/RecapEntering last night's game with Manhattan, Iona had been on a serious roll since their loss at Hofstra at the end of December. The Gaels won three straight conference games by a combined total of 72 po...
S8 January 13, 2012 Game #8-380: Manhattan Jaspers at Iona GaelsJanuary 12, 2012 7:00 pmHynes CenterBBState Stats/RecapIona is the MAAC's cream of the crop; the best team the conference has seen since the 2008-09 Siena squad that nearly reached the Sweet 16.The Gaels are aware of their talent, and their swagger was abu...
S8 January 3, 2012 Game #8-332: Rider Broncs at Manhattan JaspersJanuary 2, 2012 7:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/RecapRick Pitino, full-court pressure, 11 steals and 22 forced turnovers.Sounds a lot like a typical Louisville game.However, Pitino was the only Cardinal at Draddy Gymnasium on Monday night.With his n...
S8 December 11, 2011 Game #8-220: Fordham Rams at Manhattan JaspersDecember 7, 2011 7:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/RecapJust walking into Draddy Gymnasium, you knew that this game was different. For one, there were students in the stands. A lot of students. And they were all wearing white. Usually the Jasper Jungl...
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 November 27, 2011 Game #8-136: Columbia Lions at Manhattan JaspersNovember 26, 2011 2:00 pmDraddy GymnasiumBBState Stats/RecapAs I rode the 1 train up to the Bronx to watch Manhattan play Columbia, the feature I wanted to write on Steve Masiello and the culture change that was happening formed in my head. After start...
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 10, 2011 Robert Morris Colonials at Long Island BlackbirdsMarch 9, 2011 7:00 pmAthletic CenterBBState Stats/Recap A classic championship game in the Northeast Conference, as Long Island defeated two-time defending champions Robert Morris in overtime. LIU would be one of the greatest programs in the history...
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 March 5, 2011 Marist Red Foxes vs. Niagara Purple EaglesMarch 4, 2011 7:30 pmBridgeport, CTBBState Stats/RecapManhattan Jaspers vs. Siena SaintsMarch 4, 2011 9:30 pmBridgeport, CTBBState Stats/Recap The time-honored tradition of the MAAC's #PFF, the two games that bring a 10-team league into a more manageable, ...
S7 March 4, 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 PointsOn the third d...
S7 March 1, 2011 To celebrate the beginning of March and Championship Fortnight, here is an excerpt from Chapter 13 of One Beautiful Season. This section covers the birth and evolution of the "conference tournament," in parallel to the fits and starts of the national overall title procedure -- from regional challeng...
S7 February 28, 2011 Saint Peter`s Peacocks at Rider BroncsFebruary 27, 2011 1:30 pmAlumni GymnasiumBBState Stats/Recap Bronc Bobbleheads, tiebreakers with coin flips, dirty rafters, scoreboard porn, Coach Bingo, I Hate New York, and an 80-foot shot at the final buzzer that nearly went in. Just another final regular s...
S7 February 25, 2011 PHILADELPHIA -- Earlier this week, Caltech ended a 26-year, 310-game conference losing streak by beating Occidental 46-45. Last night in Shreveport, previously winless Centenary ended a 33-game skid (one away from the Division I record) by beating Western Illinois at home. It sure is tempting to f...
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 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 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 December 8, 2010 FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The Athletics-Recreation Center at Valparaiso is a brick multipurpose sports facility, and at its heart is a fieldhouse-style gymnasium where the hooping Crusaders play. Most of the time, when Horizon League teams like Youngstown State and Green Bay visit, the place might fill ...
S7 December 3, 2010 SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Julien Sorel is an uncompromising cynic, a hyper-intellectual, an iconoclast, a young man too smart for his own good. He doesn't fit in. He is poor but brilliant, caught between the peasant path of basic survival and the high existence of the powerful. Julien tries to bridge this...
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 February 2, 2010 Rider figured to be one of the teams that would step up challenge Siena's two-year stranglehold on the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference -- heck, a single first-place vote for the Broncs was what kept the Saints from being a full-consensus top pick on media day back in October. And Rider, not Siena...
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...
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 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 4, 2009 NASHVILLE -- They're the greatest two weeks in Hoops Nation, these. Conference teams are racked up in brackets according to regular-season performance, we determine a championship for each league on the court, and the ultimate winner gets to go all the way to March Madness, the kind on CBS. League t...
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 28, 2009 When somebody pretending to be Tom Petty asked a question 49 minutes into our eight-hour marathon BracketBusters chat, it seemed at the time like any other funny non-sequitur we've encountered in four-plus years of doing those things. But then the Heartbreakers references kept flying for the next s...
S5 February 27, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a relatively new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of ...
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 12, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a kinda-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
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 15, 2009 The State of College Basketball is a new-esque ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 344 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
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 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 ...
S5 November 10, 2008 (Originally posted November 13, 2004) It is designed to do a lot of things, but it certainly is not designed to break your heart. The game begins in the late autumn, when everything else has shriveled and fallen and died. Its blossoms come slowly in winter's course like crocus starts popping throug...
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 9, 2008 Bullet Points Three autobids were given out yesterday. All hail mighty Winthrop of the Big South, Austin Peay of the Ohio Valley Conference, and the Atlantic Sun's Belmont. All are off to the Big Dance! One final today -- the championship of the Missouri Valley Conference. Drake and Illinois State...
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 19, 2008 DELAND, Fla. -- Last night on press row at Florida A&M in Tallahassee, my inbox full of nasty notes from Penn fans (more about that later on), I was reminded once again about the key differences between Ivy League and MEAC basketball. And there are differences, even though both conferences would...
S4 February 14, 2008 In 1969, Drake achieved the Final Four with a 26-5 record. Adolphus (Dolph) Pulliam was the emotional leader of that team, and his Bulldogs lost in the national semifinals to UCLA and Lew Alcindor by a single point. After his senior season, he was drafted by multiple professional basketball and foot...
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 31, 2008 DENTON, Tex. -- While making the long drive up I-45, which is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about, I was pondering the names we give things. A lot of them don't quite fit, and bleed into general use because once people have agreed on a title for something, it's tough to get everybod...
S4 January 29, 2008 HOUSTON -- It's only of those slow post-Monday Tuesdays here in Hoops Nation, a perfect opportunity to get some site housekeeping done. We have one contest in search of a winner, for those of you with long memories... the Badlands Conference logo contest from earlier this month. We'll anoint the cha...
S4 January 22, 2008 SAN JOSE -- We were too busy putting the weekend's results into a semi-digestible package, as is Monday tradition, so we're hopelessly late on the latest big coaching news from the WCC. If you haven't heard already, Vance Walberg "resigned" suddenly on Jan. 18. Since then, more of the story's come o...
S4 January 16, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 January 8, 2008 The State of College Basketball is a brand-new ratings system that uses a lot of good basketball sense, per-game team performance ratings and degradation of older results to rank the teams from No. 1 to 341 (here's the long-winded version). In its overall form, it retroactively picked three of the F...
S4 January 7, 2008   Manhattan at Marist (Metro Atlantic) McCann Recreation Center - Poughkeepsie, NY 7:30 PM EST It could be argued that these schools are the two from the MAAC that have received the most national attention in recent years -- Manhattan for its NCAA first-round victory over Florida in 2004 (wh...
S4 December 31, 2007 Comfort, Enemy of Progress When folks find out I sleep in truck stops and live out of my suitcase during college basketball season, I can't blame them if they're not impressed. If my life was a Richard Dawson survey-says, the number one reaction would be horror, followed closely on points by the ki...
S4 December 10, 2007   New Jersey Tech (Independents) at Stony Brook (America East) USB Sports Complex - Stony Brook, NY 7:00 PM EST Tonight's eight game slate gives us this standout contest, between two schools that have combined for 18 losses so far, with only one win between them. Lest you think that finals w...
S4 December 5, 2007   Creighton (MVC) at Xavier (Atlantic 10) Cintas Center - Cincinnati, OH 8:00 PM EST Another day, another great mid-matchup. Here are two teams that made the 2007 NCAA Tournament, both with issues of production replacement, but both are putting up solid numbers in the early going. Creighton...
S4 November 30, 2007   Hampton vs. Howard (MEAC) Madison Square Garden -- New York, NY (Big Apple Classic) 9:00 PM EST We figure you already know about the big mid-major vs. major games on Saturday's docket (Duke-Davidson in Charlotte, Indiana @ SIU, Michigan @ Harvard, Seton Hall @ Saint Mary's, Texas Tech @ Ce...
S4 November 28, 2007 NORFOLK, Va. -- Sorry about the late post today. Full story later on, but in most of Southern Virginia, the internet is something to catch bass with. Not a slight against those good people, mind you, I'd trade it all in for a life in a place like Skippers. Life down there brought to mind a modern to...
S4 November 2, 2007 There's an annual event -- if that's a phrase suitable and grey enough to describe something that doesn't cut it as a tradition -- here in our household. Every year around this time, the satellite television company beams in a solid week of unlimited American professional basketball in a free previe...
S4 November 1, 2007 First, this. In mid-August, I was inside a cube-shaped Pilot Travel Center alongside an otherwise barren and remote stretch of northern Pennsylvania. That's where I met someone who might be the tallest truck stop employee in America. He must have been about 6-foot-8, at the very least. The mop he p...
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 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 8, 2007 ARLINGTON, Tex. -- It's true what they say, everything's bigger in Texas. The hats, the Cadillacs, the stars at night, people's butts, the food. I went into a convenience store this morning and saw an 84-ounce fountain soda for sale, I couldn't even get my hand around it much less fit it in a cuphol...
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 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 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 16, 2007 NEW ORLEANS -- We discussed this a little yesterday, but there's a growing drumbeat sounding across Hoops Nation; thunder in the distance, if you will. I'm talking, of course, about the potential fall from grace by the sore thumb in our midst, the eternal oddball, the one voted Most Likely To Succee...
S3 November 13, 2006 BLOOMSBURY, N.J. (en route to Charlotte) -- Hello again, friends, and welcome back to TMM's regular schedule. This here is The Daily Paragraph, which is specifically designed to be triply too clever for it's own good: it's a play on existing basketball literature, is a sarcastic/ironic attempt at on...
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 27, 2006 In early January, Manhattan looked like the class of the MAAC; academic and injury losses brought adversity. But last night, Manhattan fought back from a 10-point deficit against their closest rivals in front of an overflow SRO crowd at their green gym, led by Pawtucket's own Jeff Xavier. The Jasper...
S2 February 26, 2006 When these two MAAC titans met in January, the result was a Manhattan blowout at Iona's house. As expected, both teams are 13-4 heading into their return match -- tonight's game will end up settling the regular season title, the tourney No. 1 seed and a double-bye into the semis. The Jaspers had the...
S2 February 9, 2006 Bobby Gonzalez played just seven guys in this one, and five of them played 30+ minutes. Exhausted? No way! One of those Jaspers who played a full 40 (pictured, left) was a high-hopping 6'0" guard who shot 64% from the floor including four big threes, and Wingate helped lead Manhattan to a big win ac...
S2 January 18, 2006 When Iona lost three of four in the wraparound week between 2005 and 2006, there was no mystery why they were tanking. Sure, the Gaels have a great backcourt, but they were being murdered inside. After spending a couple weeks on the back of an egg nog carton, their quint-captain and sturdy post pre...
S2 January 6, 2006 This is it - the New York mid-major explosion we've (and, hopefully, you've) been waiting for. The two class teams of the MAAC go at it tonight on ESPNU (never graduate, m-f's!), and won't meet again until the regular-season finale on Feb. 26, so this one will set the tone for the next two months.Th...
S2 December 27, 2005 Game 114: at Manhattan 81, Fordham 68 Friday, December 23, 2005 Draddy Gymnasium - Bronx, NY The 21st Century is amazing. Thanks to scientific advances and mass-production, all you need is a phone line, a computer and a microphone and you're on the radio. Or live on the internet, with RealAudio o...
S2 December 23, 2005 No, not that "Rumble in the Bronx," it's just the Rams and Jaspers renewing their ancient rivalry. The Manhattans are coming off a Dakota roadie to NDSU, SDSU and Wall Drug, and offer one of the most exciting underclassmen in the MEAC - team points/rebounds/assists leader C.J. Anderson. Fordham (3-6...
S2 November 7, 2005 This is 4 in a series of 10 early-season essays.With five seconds remaining in overtime, the home team was down by a single point. A packed and sweltering arena roared. The wise old coach, a veteran of these tense situations, quickly drew up a play during the final timeout and sent his charges back ...
S1 March 16, 2005 Fairleigh Dickinson Seed: 16 1st Round Opponent: Illinois Record: 20-12 (16-5 Northeast Conference) Big Nonconference Wins: December 9 at eventual MAAC two-seed Rider (76-74) 100 Games Project Appearances: #65 Key Players: Big Gordon Klaiber and little Tamien Trent are the inside-outside mechanism ...
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 Game 073: (6) Manhattan 76, (9) Loyola (Md.) 67 MAAC First Round Friday, March 4, 2005 HSBC Arena - Buffalo, NY The Old Loyola Greyhounds - the 2003-04 ones - were the worst team in the entire nation, so getting a nine-seed in the MAAC tournament this year was an entire world of improvement. Afte...
S1 March 3, 2005 Game 070: at New Hampshire 76, Stony Brook 66 Sunday, February 28, 2005 Lundholm Gymnasium - Durham, NH On a cold and clear Senior Day just off the New Hampshire seacoast, the 100 Games Project entered the seventies. The 100GP tied Mark McGwire's single-season home run record, an aesthetically plea...
S1 February 28, 2005 Mid-American: Bowling Green 57, Miami (Oh.) 56 (story) - Despite the fact that the game's telecast was cancelled after an hour's delay because BGSU's Mawel Soler shattered a backboard during pregame warmups, Falcon senior forward Josh Almanson's jumper with six seconds remaining was a shot heard 'ro...
S1 February 13, 2005 Game 058: at Long Island-Brooklyn 76, Quinnipiac 72 Saturday, February 12, 2005 Schwartz Athletic Center - Brooklyn, NY Veterans Stadium was imploded on Second Round Sunday of last year's Tournament. I was in Kansas City at the time. So right before I touched down at Philadelphia International Airp...
S1 February 3, 2005 Game 049: at Manhattan 69, Fairfield 61 Sunday, January 30, 2005 Draddy Gymnasium - Bronx, NY Draddy Gymnasium is a proud old barn on top of a hill in the Bronx, nestled alongside the other gold-hued brick buildings of Manhattan College's campus. Inside, just about everything has the same medium gr...
S1 February 3, 2005 Game 048: at Columbia 57, Harvard 55 Sunday, January 30, 2005 Levien Gymnasium - New York, NY Sunday afternoon was a cold and clear one, but after the bitingly frigid week that was it felt like spring had truly sprung. Folks streamed out onto the streets of upper Manhattan to enjoy the 30 degree te...
S1 February 1, 2005 Southern: Davidson 67, Chattanooga 53 (story) - Davidson built a fourteen-point lead going into halftime, and both teams treaded water for the second half. Despite outrebounding their hosts, the Mocs shot themselves in the foot by shooting just 30% from the floor. Davidson (14-7, 10-0 SoCon) tighten...
S1 January 28, 2005 Big West: Pacific 66, Cal State Northridge 62 (story) - The Tigers (15-2, 10-0 BWC) proved last night that they are not only Mad, but Beyond Matadome as well. They marched into Northridge and held off a late run by the perennial upstart Matadors (9-9, 7-3 BWC), who sunk further into second place. Li...
S1 January 28, 2005 Game 043: at Rider 75, Manhattan 46 Thursday, January 27, 2005 Alumni Gym - Lawrenceville, NJ Nobody ever mistook Alumni Gym for a Hoops Cathedral. Thick clumps of dust and mold cling to its crusty stucco walls and ceiling, and the low-hanging fluorescent cage-lamps assure that a migraine headache ...
S1 January 23, 2005 Missouri Valley: Wichita State 58, Southern Illinois 56 (story) - The Shockers had the boards (42-32) and the defense (held SIU to 32% shooting in the second half), but the Salukis had enough streaks and runs to keep it close. WSU's Illinois transfer forward (and possible "evil twin" of your humble ...
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 18, 2005 Game 036: Canisius 84, at Siena 80 (OT) Monday, January 17, 2005 Pepsi Arena - Albany, NY This is the second part of The Mid-Majority's GameLogg™ coverage of the annual Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference M.L.K. Day doubleheader. The first installment can be found here. Our second game featu...
S1 January 16, 2005 Metro Atlantic: Marist 88, Niagara 87 (story) - The half-asleep Purple Eagles (9-6, 4-3 MAAC) were spent emotionally and physically after their tough loss at Manhattan the other night, and almost had enough to sleepwalk through this one. But the upstart Red Foxes (who are now a surprising 5-1 in con...
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 13, 2005 Western Athletic: Texas-El Paso 83, Nevada 80 (OT) (story) - UTEP (11-2, 4-0 WAC) has passed its early tests against Rice and Nevada, and have established themselves as the true team to beat in the conference. But it wasn't easy on this night, against the team with whom they shared last year's regul...
S1 January 9, 2005 West Coast: St. Mary's 66, UMPFN 61 (story) - Well, that didn't take long - now the folks who compile those goofy "mid-major polls" have to pick someone else. Homestanding St. Mary's used Mr. Three to take down the Unnamed Major Program From the Northwest, knocking down 16 of them. Senior guard Paul...
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 29, 2004 Game 021: at Drexel 76, Monmouth 47 Tuesday, December 28, 2004 Daskalakis Athletic Center - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Like so many great things, it all started at the University of Oregon. Hall Of Fame coach Howard "Hobby" Hobson led the Ducks back in the Forties, and he also served on the NCAA ru...
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 30, 2004 Georgia State 85, Louisiana-Lafayette 78 (story) - A good Atlantic Sun club beat a bigger and stronger Ragin' Cajun team - one picked by many to storm through the Sun Belt Conference this year - by making their free throws down the stretch. It was the front end of a rare non-conference home-and-home...
S1 November 13, 2004 It is designed to do a lot of things, but it certainly is not designed to break your heart. The game begins in the late autumn, when everything else has shriveled and fallen and died. Its blossoms come slowly in winter's course like crocus starts popping through icefields. And when it does stop, it ...
S1 November 9, 2004 One Sunday afternoon in early February, I found myself sitting in a cold, half-empty gymnasium in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. I was watching Rider and Loyola - two of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's perennial doormats - fall all over each other. It was halftime, and the two squads had barely...
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...
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