| S9 February 25, 2013 "People don't always get what they deserve in this world." - Lemony SnicketFAIRFIELD, Conn. - When last we left our heroes from Sacred Heart, Fate was shining upon them as the Pioneers were tied atop the Northeast Conference. I wondered if Fate could hold out for a few more weeks and maybe kee... [more] |
| S9 February 18, 2013 I've made the drive on Route 15 in Northern Maryland many times, mostly when driving to different points in Pennsylvania. On each trip, I've driven past Mount St. Mary's University. I've always been in awe of the campus when I've driven past, and knew that the Mountaineers had been successful in the... [more] |
| S9 January 27, 2013 FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The plan was simple enough Saturday, in fact it gave me a couple of hours to wander around Boston. The Harvard-Dartmouth game was at 2 p.m., Northeastern was playing George Mason at 7. I knew Harvard well enough to find a decent parking spot, knew the T (subway) well enough to ge... [more] |
| S9 January 24, 2013 "I've seen you guys can shoot, but there's more to the game than shooting." - Norman DaleFAIRFIELD, Conn. - Michael Carter-Williams, D.J. Cooper, Jason Brickman, Larry Drew II, Phil Gaetano.As of the writing of this, those are the top five in the nation in assists. If you watch a lot of college ... [more] |
| S9 January 11, 2013 "Life is a journey, not a destination." - Ralph Waldo Emerson NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - I really have no idea where Sacred Heart and Central Connecticut are going to finish this season. Chances are, neither will make it onto the national radar in the next couple of months. I could go into their ... [more] |
| S9 December 7, 2012 Game #9-134: Holy Cross Crusaders at Sacred Heart PioneersDecember 5, 2012 7:00 pmWilliam Pitt CenterBBState Stats/Recap FAIRFIELD, Conn. - We all love it when a plan comes together. Everything just falls into place, and it's just magic from the beginning to the end. You all know that feeling, righ... [more] |
| S9 November 25, 2012 Game #9-091: Lehigh Mountain Hawks at Sacred Heart PioneersNovember 25, 2012 2:00 pmWilliam Pitt CenterBBState Stats/Recap FAIRFIELD, Conn. - You had me at "unfinished business", C.J. McCollum.Actually, you probably had me at Lehigh beating Duke in the NCAA Tournament, but close enough.Conventional ... [more] |
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8. The Big Year by Raymond Curren
S9 November 12, 2012 Game #9-013: Yale Bulldogs vs. Sacred Heart PioneersNovember 10, 2012 5:30 pmHartford, CTBBState Stats/Recap “In some alternate universe, a much better version of The Big Year exists, one that embraces the essential, insular weirdness and romantic fanaticism of the birding community it chronicles.”-... [more]
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| S9 November 11, 2012 Game #9-007: Yale Bulldogs vs. Sacred Heart PioneersNovember 10, 2012 5:30 pmHartford, CTBBState Stats/Recap Based on a poll of the coaches, the second game of the Connecticut 6, the Yale Bulldogs versus the Sacred Heart Pioneers, was supposed to be the best matchup of the day. In the first half, th... [more] |
| S8 March 28, 2012 Game #8-794: Sacred Heart Pioneers at Saint Francis (NY) TerriersFebruary 18, 2012 7:00 pmPhysical Ed. CenterBBState Stats/RecapIn college basketball, the difference between winning and losing can be painstakingly thin sometimes. Many times, when the teams are evenly matched, all it takes ... [more] |
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11. Dead Team Walking by Raymond Curren
S8 February 27, 2012 Game #8-629: Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash at Sacred Heart PioneersFebruary 25, 2012 12:00 pmWilliam Pitt CenterBBState Stats/Recap “I am but a shape that stands here, A pulseless mould, A pale past picture, screening Ashes gone cold.” - Thomas Hardy, the Dead Man Walking The St. Francis of Pen... [more]
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| S8 February 12, 2012 Game #8-557: Mount Saint Mary`s Mountaineers at Sacred Heart PioneersJanuary 28, 2012 3:30 pmWilliam Pitt CenterBBState Stats/RecapMarch 12, 2008 will always be a day I will never forget. It was a day where four friends and I excitedly marched into the Pitt Center, ready to witness the&nbs... [more] |
| S8 January 8, 2012 Game #8-365: Saint Francis (NY) Terriers at Sacred Heart PioneersJanuary 7, 2012 3:30 pmWilliam Pitt CenterBBState Stats/Recap"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” – Robert BurnsI call it the Connecticut Triangle (feel free to give me a better moniker, that’s not terribly creative). I... [more] |
| S8 December 6, 2011 Game #8-193: Yale Bulldogs at Sacred Heart PioneersDecember 5, 2011 7:00 pmWilliam Pitt CenterBBState Stats/Recap“You gotta play hurt,” as Den Jenkins semi-famously titled his book two decades ago. Of course, Jenkins wrote it as fiction and largely lampooned sports journalism, but I digress. At abou... [more] |
| S8 December 5, 2011 Game #8-185: Sacred Heart Pioneers at Quinnipiac BobcatsDecember 1, 2011 7:00 pmTD Banknorth Sports CenterBBState Stats/RecapThursday night -- Sunday, on my wacky work schedule -- and I was off to my second game of the season, part of my quest to visit all seven schools in my new home state of... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| 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 ... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| S7 February 1, 2011 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- So much has changed in a single calendar year. On February 1, 2010, the iPad had just been announced, and no mere civilian had touched one yet. Now, they're on press row at college basketball games. The Robot has grown a soul, exhibited feelings, taken a name. (It's "Doctor Thun... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| S5 March 5, 2009 Bullet Points Three of four top seeds moved on in the Patriot League, including No. 1 American. Atlantic Sun No. 2 East Tennessee State advanced. Two small upsets occurred in last night's action. Patriot No. 6 Colgate upended No. 3 Navy on its own floor, and No. 9 Florida International squeake... [more] |
| 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 ... [more] |
| S5 February 14, 2009 Quinnipiac at Robert Morris (Northeast) Charles L. Sewall Center - Moon Township, PA Saturday, 7:00 PM EST The Northeast Conference has always been a favorite, and it's one of the key collectives that deepened my love for mid-major college basketball. Big metropolitan areas, tiny schools, and high... [more] |
| S5 December 10, 2008 BALTIMORE -- Last Thursday, I saw my first conference tilt of the year. It was at the Truman-era art deco palace known as Memorial Auditorium, one of my favorite places to see a game, and the Badlands Conference clash featured the homestanding UMKC Kangaroos hosting the Oakland Super Golden Crisp Gr... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| S4 March 13, 2008 Bullet Points Make way on the big bracket for two more mid-major champions: Mount Saint Mary's, surprise winners of the NEC out of a No. 4 seed, and Portland State, double-champions of the Big Sky. There were three exciting finishes in the Atlantic 14, with La Salle, Dayton and Charlotte pulling ou... [more] |
| S4 March 12, 2008 Bullet Points Three more automatic bids were awarded last night. Full 100 percent congratulations to Butler, double-champions of the Horizon League, as well as Oral Roberts, three-time titlists of the Mid-Con cum Summit cum Badlands Conference. Western Kentucky is back in the Dance from the Sun B... [more] |
| S4 March 10, 2008 Bullet Points All hail Drake, double-champions of the Missouri Valley Conference. Not only did the Bulldogs capture their first MVC tourney ever, it was the first time in 10 years the regular season champs survived Arch Madness. Four finals tonight: we'll have autobids delivered in the Colonial, Me... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| S4 March 6, 2008 Bullet Points All four Patriot League quarters were decided by three points or less, and the round featured two upsets as No. 7 Bucknell and No. 5 Army advanced. Bucknell beat No. 2 Navy 87-86 on a John Griffin 40-foot buzzer-beater in triple overtime. In the Sun Belt, the campus-site first roun... [more] |
| S4 February 29, 2008 LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. -- Last night was a great evening for regular-season champions, all of which have now clinched at least a spot in the National Invitation Tournament. In addition to five crownings last night, Belmont took a share of the Atlantic Sun title with an 11-point win over Campbell. We ha... [more] |
| S4 February 25, 2008 FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Sometimes I just have to pinch myself (even though dreams can be complicated enough that I wouldn't wake up if I did). Three years ago, I was just another computer programmer with a college basketball blog, and the next thing I know I'm talking over BracketBusters highlights wit... [more] |
| S4 February 23, 2008 CHARLOTTE -- That was fun. Yesterday, we proved conclusively that you can talk about mid-major basketball for six hours and that the topic will attract a couple thousand questions, not the six or seven most people would expect. There were a lot of awesome questions about everything from hoops to the... [more] |
| S4 February 18, 2008 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Plenty of folks have the day off for the holiday today, but we have a patriotic duty to provide you with a Supersized Boubacar that takes into account all the action from the weekend that was. We'll get to that in a second, but I wanted to share with you my most recent fantastic... [more] |
| S4 February 15, 2008 PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Admittedly a little nervous this morning, we were thinking of just shutting the site down and ending with this, because there's never going to be a better post here than that one. So how do we follow up the most sublime moment in Mid-Majority history? Photoshop-manipulated pictur... [more] |
| S4 February 14, 2008 Sacred Heart at Wagner (Northeast) Spiro Sports Center - Staten Island, NY 7:00 PM EST We love us some NEC, and we have a fantastic game tonight between first place Sacred Heart (11-2) and second-place Wagner (10-2), two squads in a virtual loss-column heat. Both teams have already locked ... [more] |
| S4 February 11, 2008 HAMDEN, Conn. -- We have been, and we stand, accused. Accused! Of having too much fun around here, of shifting the focus off basketball and running too many contests, pictures of pretty girls, cartoons and snapshots of pet basketballs. So we're going to put on our super-serious faces, talk in our su... [more] |
| S4 February 8, 2008 CHICAGO -- We're holding off on announcing the winner of our Hunan: Return of the Phoenix movie contest, because there are two sterling entries that we're having trouble choosing between. Right now, we're in the process of sending them to friends and asking them to tell us which one makes them laugh... [more] |
| S4 February 4, 2008 MEADVILLE, Pa. -- It's a lot of effort trying to live a life free of American-style football, the lengths you have to go to in order to pretend it doesn't exist. It's come to this, it really has, and I can't believe it myself. But I made it through the night, Hoops Nation. I'm shacked out in a litt... [more] |
| S4 January 28, 2008 HOUSTON -- I was thinking over the weekend, while I wasn't at any games, about all the games I go to. A total of 57 games so far this year, headed for yet another 100-game season. Having done 100 twice now, it's tough to find triple-digit motivation anymore. Need to turn it into some kind of contest... [more] |
| S4 January 25, 2008 Quinnipiac at Sacred Heart (NEC) William Pitt Center - Fairfield, CT 4:05 PM EST There are a lot of great games this weekend, but precious few mindbendingly awesome ones that will set tones for weeks to come. We're going to be tracking the Cleveland State at Wisconsin-Milwaukee clash in th... [more] |
| S4 December 6, 2007 Valparaiso at Wright State (Horizon) Ervin J. Nutter Center - Dayton, OH 7:00 PM EST An embarrassment of small-conference league-game riches tonight. Among other contests, we've got Sacred Heart at CCSU in the NEC, ambitious Morehead State will take on league champs Austin Peay in the OVC... [more] |
| S3 March 28, 2007 PAWTUCKET, R.I., Mar. 28 -- All animate organisms, from the globbiest amoeba to the most intricate human machine, share one thing in common: life. Life is what keeps you going, it's the light before the beginning of the tunnel. The meaning of life is simply this: it means so much that nobody can sur... [more] |
| S3 March 8, 2007 Bullet Points Central Connecticut State from the NEC is going dancing, and so is Weber State of the Big Sky. Both are double champions of their respective leagues, and both just plain rock. No autobids tonight. Deep breath... No surprises in the MAC quarters, or the SWAC and MEAC early rounds, but ... [more] |
| S3 March 7, 2007 Bullet Points Wright State are double-champions of the Horizon League, having beaten a Butler team that's been all up in the national grill this season. Do you take the Raiders seriously yet? Oral Roberts, repeat double champions of the mighty mighty Mid-Con, and North Texas has claimed the champion... [more] |
| S3 March 5, 2007 Bullet Points In Sunday's only championship game, Creighton beat Southern Illinois to win the Missouri Valley autobid. Cinderella 2: Electric Boogaloo... George Mason upset Old Dominion in the CAA semis out of the No. 6 seed. Siena upset Marist in a No.5-over-1 job in the Metro Atlantic semis, and S... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| S3 March 2, 2007 Bullet Points No. 6 seed Virginia Military Institute has advanced to the Big South final after defeating the tourney's Nos. 2 and 3 seeds. Furman, the No. 5 seed in the SoCon, advanced to the semifinals by defeating No. 4#North Carolina-Greensboro. The Atlantic Sun quarterfinals played according to ... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
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55. The Daily Paragraph 2/14/2007 (You're As Cold As Ice, You're Willing To Sacrifice Our Team FG% Edition) by Kyle Whelliston
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... [more]
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| 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 (... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| S3 January 22, 2007 CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Lots to get to today, just like every Monday. And if you haven't signed up to play Bally's BracketBusters Racket yet, you have a lot more to get to than I do. Roll the HTML! The Big Games! at Virginia Commonwealth 80, Old Dominion 75 (Colonial) (box) -- The VCU Rams are the only... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| S3 January 5, 2007 I REALLY HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THIS IS, Ala. -- Travelling the highways and byways (mostly byways) of SWAC country is always a strange adventure. One of the most odd things about Alabama is that everywhere you look, there are references to the three American Idol stars the state has produced. This morn... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| S3 November 14, 2006 ROANOKE, Va. (en route to Charlotte) -- Hello again, friends, and welcome to your mid-major Pre-Hump Day. Before we get to yesterday's action, though, something's been bugging me. I was driving through Maryland this morning, and out of nowhere a beer ad jingle from the Eighties jumped from the dee... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| S2 November 30, 2005 This is 8 in a series of 10 early-season essays.Yeah, you, buster. You're as guilty as the next one. There's nobody around, it's okay to admit it - it's happened to you too. Here's the scene: you're sitting at the sports bar, watching the sports ticker out of the corner. There it is - a score that... [more] |
| S2 November 26, 2005 Is this a great time to be the Northeast Conference, or what? First, Sacred Heart toppled the Seabiscuity Albany Great Danes up at their place. Then, while you were sleeping off your L-tryptophan on Thursday, Monmouth took down Southern Illinois - a perennial Tournament team - in the blubbery wilde... [more] |
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71. America East Wonk by Kyle Whelliston
S2 November 24, 2005 Game 103: Michigan 51, at Boston University 46
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Agganis Arena - Boston, MA
(with full and absolute apologies to John Gasaway)
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Is There A Triaminic For Coughing Up the Ball?
Michigan beat Boston University 51-46 last night at the gleaming... [more]
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| S2 November 22, 2005 How bad is Sacred Heart? Since joining the RPI-challenged and very triangular NEC back in 1999, they haven't even made the eight-team conference tourney. But last night at Albany, New England's favorite guarantee-game punchline snuck by a program tabbed by some national (cough) pundits to make a big... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
| S1 February 14, 2005 Game 059: Wagner 62, at St. Francis (NY) 61 Saturday, February 12, 2005 Pope Center - Brooklyn, NY The Northeast Conference doesn't try to be something that it's not, and that's refreshing. Their mission statement strives for "athletic achievement, academic integrity and development, community out... [more] |
| 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... [more] |
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