Brooklyn Winter Hoops Festival at Barclays

The Barclays Center opened in September 2012.    It has quickly become a sports and entertainment force in thwe New York City Metro Area.  The Barclays Center is the home of the Brooklyn Nets and the soon to be home of the New York Islanders.   It has also become a major stop for big name music tours, as evidence by Elton John playing at Barclays on New Year's Eve.

The Barclays Center has also quickly become a major venue for college basketball, having hosted many games and tournaments in the past two plus years.   Yesterday, for the third college basketball season in a row, Barclays was hosting its Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival, a triple header of college basketball, featuring local and national teams.   It also happened to be the third season in a row that my good friend Tony Terentieff, aka Tieff, and I attended a event.    In the past, teams such as West Virginia, Michigan, Boston College, VCU and Kansas State among others, have played in the Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival.

This season's event had more of a local flavor to it, with nationally ranked St John's heading the billing, along with Hofstra, in its second appearance at the Barclays Center and LIU Brooklyn.  The Red Storm, which is the only team to have played in now all three Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festivals, took on the Green Wave of Tulane, which was playing in its second Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival in a row and has also now played in the Barclays Center three years in a row (they took on Hofstra in another Barclays Center tripleheader back in 2012).  The Green Wave have a solid alumni base in New York and again, a contingent of their fans showed up to see their team.   But their fan base paled in comparison to the hometown Johnnies, with their legions of fans in attendance.

I had got my tickets through the Hofstra ticket office, so naturally we were sitting in the Pride section of the arena.   When we got there, you could quickly see that they "evil black curtained" off the upper level seats, so only the lower bowl seats were accessible for the tournament.   It was only fitting that Fairfield would be playing in the third game of the festival.  I am sure the Bridgeport Arena native Stags felt at home at Barclays.

As a sea of red watched on, Tulane, which had won nine of its first eleven games, albeit their best win was over a struggling Mississippi State team, came out strong.  Louis Dabney scored the first five Green Wave points and Tulane took a 9-6 lead.  

But the Red Storm are ranked #17 nationally for a reason and that reason is their defense, which clamped down on the Green Wave.  In the span of less than three minutes, St John's forced four turnovers.  Meanwhile Sir'Dominic Porter was starting to go to town, as he had two baskets and assisted on another on an 8-0 spurt to put St John's up 14-9.  

Tulane called timeout to try to stop the bleeding.  Briefly, it seemed to work, as Payton Henson hit a jumper to bring the Green Wave to within three, 14-11.  However, that's as close as Tulane would get the rest of the way.   That was due in large part to the aforementioned Red Storm defense.

During a 17-5 St John's run that put the Johnies up 31-16 and basically the game out of reach for Tulane, the Red Storm held the Green Wave to 2 of 12 from the field.  St John's swarms to the ball, plays great help defense and they have the ultimate intimidator inside, Chris Obekpa.    If Obekpa is not blocking a shot, he is altering one.  In one instance, his mere presence resulted in Tulane Center Ryan Smith, figuring Obekpa would challenge the shot, chucking a shot high off the backboard so that Obekpa couldn't block it.  Obekpa, who never attempted to block the shot, just watched as the shot banged off the glass and then clanked hard off the rim. Obekpa had four blocks on the game in twenty two minutes of action.

After Tulane had come within eleven, 33-22,  the Red Storm would score the final fourteen points of the first half to put the game away.  A Phil Greene IV alley oop pass to Rysheed Jordan for the dunk capped the run, putting St John's up 47-22 at the half.  Pointer was especially dominant in the first half, scoring fifteen points and adding three assists.  

The last twenty minutes of the game basically came down to whether Tulane could keep the losing margin under thirty points.  Tulane managed to hold serve, scoring as many points as St John's did in the second half.   The Green Wave may have found solace in that, but they still lost by twenty five, 82-57.

Pointer and Dominic Harrison were responsible for most of the offense St John's needed on the day.   They would combine for forty five points on a very efficient 16 of 26 shooting from the field and 12 of 13 from the line.  Pointer was a stat sheet stuffer, as he had four assists, four rebounds, seven steals and two blocks to go with his twenty four points.  Jordan added twelve points for the Red Storm, who had fourteen steals on the day.

Dabney and Jonathan Stark were the only double figure scorers for Tulane, scoring twelve and fifteen points respectively on 11 of 26 shooting from the field.  The rest of the Green Wave shot 11 of 32 from the field.

The second game of the tripleheader featured a local battle between Hofstra, my long time home as a student and as an administrator, and LIU Brooklyn.  The Pride came into the game with their first losing streak of the season after winning seven of their first nine games.  They lost at Columbia and followed that up with a loss at home to LaSalle.  Meanwhile, the Blackbirds had won four games in a row after losing their first seven games.  One streak was guaranteed to continue at the end of this game.

The start of this game somewhat mirrored the start of the first game.  LIU Brooklyn came out the aggressor and took a 7-5 lead.  After Dion Nesmith tied the game at seven, both teams went scoreless for the next three minutes.  Finally, Moussa Kone would hit on a layup to put Hofstra in front to stay, 9-7.   Gerrell Martin hit a three pointer to cut the Pride lead to one, 11-10, with a little under twelve minutes left in the half.

From there it was all Hofstra, as the Pride outscored the Blackbirds 34-15 the rest of the half.   Ameen Tanksley did most of the damage, scoring fifteen first half points, thirteen of which came over the final eight minutes and seven seconds of the first half.   His jumper with forty seconds in the half gave Hofstra a 45-25 halftime lead.  For the second game in a row, a team took a twenty point or more lead into the half.

LIU Brooklyn showed more life than Tulane did after halftime, as the Blackbirds outscored the Pride 12-4 over the first three plus minutes of the second half.  Martin Hermannsson, part of LIU Brooklyn's dynamic Iceland freshman duo, along with Elvar Fridriksson, assisted on two straight baskets.  The second of which, a layup by Iverson Fleming, cut the Hofstra lead to twelve, 49-37.

But Hofstra had their dynamic duo of their own in Tanksley and point guard Juan'ya Green.  Green assisted on Tanksley's three pointer to start a 10-0 spurt over the span of about three minutes.  Moussa Kone's layup capped the spurt, which put the Pride up 59-37.  

From there, LIU Brooklyn would only get as close as fifteen, 70-55 with a little over six minutes left.  From there, the dynamic duo of Tanksley and Green would seal the deal, as they led Hofstra on a 14-0 run, capped again by another assist by Green, this time on a three pointer by Bernardi to make the score 84-55.

This resulted in a huge roar from the Hofstra crowd.  But the roar was not a result of Bernardi's three.  The Pride faithful had been keeping track of Green's stats on the scoreboard.  Green easily had over double digits in points by scoring the first two baskets of the second half for Hofstra.   Then he grabbed his tenth rebound with a little over three minutes left.

But what Green is really known for is being an assist machine, as he averages nearly seven assists per game.  When he fed Bernardi for the three, he had a triple double, 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.  It was the first time in Hofstra program history that a player had a triple double in a game.  When you think of all the Hofstra greats including Rich Laurel, Speedy Claxton, Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio and Charles Jenkins, none of them ever had a triple double.  Green is the first.

Hofstra would go for the 88-62 win over LIU Brooklyn.   The Pride shot over fifty percent from the field, including a smoldering 14 of 27 from beyond the arc.  Tanskley led the long range assault as he scored a career high 32 points on 12 of 20 shooting from the field.  He also added eight rebounds, as the Pride outrebounded the Blackbirds 45-33.  Nesmith added thirteen points off the bench, while Bernardi added twelve points, all from beyond the arc.

For LIU Brooklyn, Nura Zanna led the way with fourteen points and nine rebounds.  Fleming added thirteen points off the bench and Joel Hernandez added another ten off the pine for the Blackbirds.  LIU Brooklyn was held to thirty five percent shooting, including 7 of 24 from three point land.

After the Hofstra game ended, Tieff and I headed out of Barclays.  There was still the third game between Loyola-Maryland and Fairfield.  But the Stags would be left to deal with the Evil Black Curtain on their own.  It was time to head back to Long Island for our traditional Dairy Queen Victory Blizzard at the newest DQ franchise in Levittown.    Nothing like a DQ Blizzard, especially after a win for the alma mater.

My Top Ten College Basketball Games of 2012 As Seen In Person

Sometimes, you need to get out of the house and just take a drive.  Such was the case Saturday night.  After staying indoors much of the day, I got stir crazy and went out for a bit.  I was supposed to have plans with a friend as well, but they fell through.  The bright side was that it forced me out of the house for a little while.  I got coffee to keep me going so I could write most of this article, money for Sunday's activities and gas for the car.  There's a bright side to everything, even failed plans.

What transpired Saturday night was that it also got me thinking on my year in review.  I had seen about sixty Division I and Division III men's and women's games in the calendar year of 2012.   I got to see several good NCAA Tournament men's teams in VCU, Iona and LIU.  I got to see the #1 women's team in the country, Stanford, play recently against a very gutty #19 South Carolina.  I saw many talented players, two of which ended up in the NBA; Kent Bazemore and Scott Machado.  Finally, I saw many exciting games and ten of them have made my Top Ten Games of 2012, one of which was a late year addition.  I also note some unique things I remember about each game.

Number 10 - St. Peter's vs. Iona -  The Gaels' Leave an Indelible Mark - I know what you're saying, what is a thirty seven point win doing in my Top Ten? Well, it's for the very simple fact that Iona went on a 31-0 run in the second half to turn a close seven point game into a blowout.  It was one of the most awesome displays by one team I had ever seen in a game.  Perhaps the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee was impressed too, as the Gaels eventually got an at large bid to the Big Dance.

What I always will love and now will miss about Iona games since I am now in South Carolina for the most part, is the Iona pep band.  They are an old school band.  They are the only pep band I know that plays Steely Dan's "Peg", a bouncy version of the theme song from "I Dream of Jeannie" and several Earth Wind and Fire songs, which are excellent songs for pep bands.

Number  9 - Iona vs. Manhattan - The Gaels Gain Revenge on the Jaspers - It was the final game of a Hofstra themed tripleheader, culminating at a raucous Draddy Gymnasium.  The Gaels were trying to extract revenge for the Jaspers' amazing come from behind rally at the Hynes Center earlier in the season. Iona would pull away for a convincing 81-71 win that wasn't even that close as the final score indicated.  But the atmosphere and a close first twenty minutes made the evening fun.

That night leaves several indelible memories.  First, you always have to be at Draddy early for a game, otherwise you will end parking in another state.  Thus was the case that night.  Second, the truly bizarre configuration of Draddy resulted in the only game I had ever had a partial, obstructed view of a basketball game.  Third, my little trouper of a color analyst, my now seven year old son Matthew making it through three games on the day.  He was still very much into watching basketball at Draddy that night and was bothered that he didn't have a full view of the game.  That folks is a basketball fan.

Number 8 - Stanford vs. South Carolina Women's Basketball Game - The Cardinal Withstand the Gamecocks in a NCAA Women's Tournament Quality Game - This is the only game from the 2012-13 season that has made my 2012 Top Ten and it was a dandy.  Imagine the 2010 Butler vs. Duke national championship men's game played as a women's game. It was a physical defensive struggle and the South Carolina fans made it a great atmosphere.

Here's the kicker.  It was the second game of a twin bill with the men's game vs. Appalachian State as the first game.  There was a late arriving crowd for the women's game.  How cool is that?  Dawn Staley has slowly but surely built a strong program in Columbia.  And once Frank Martin builds his program at South Carolina, the fans will be there for the men's game too.

Number 7 - Maine vs. Stony Brook - Seawolves win the Regular Season America East Championship - Perhaps the Black Bears-Seawolves game didn't have as large of a crowd of either number 9 or number 8 on my list, but it was still a sold out Pritchard Gym on Senior Day and the game had more meaning than those two games because a conference championship was on the line.  Plus it had a national TV audience thanks to CBS Sports Network.  Seeing the Seawolves win in front of their home crowd and hoist the regular season championship trophy in front of their fans made it extra special.

One of the things I most remember about this game is that legendary broadcaster Don Criqui broadcasted this game.  If you know your basketball from the seventies and eighties, Criqui broadcasted many college basketball games for NBC on Saturdays.  Heck, I remember fondly Syracuse's Roosevelt Bowie, Louis Orr and Don Criqui.  CBS gave the Stony Brook game a very cool retro feel with Criqui there.

Number 6 - Loyola Md vs. Fairfield - In the MAAC, It's Never Over Til It's Over Part Deux -  This game is memorable for me for several reasons- One, I got to go to Frank Pepe's before the game. Two, you had the Evil Black Curtain.  Three, you had a great rally by the Greyhounds late to knock off the Stags on their home court twenty four hours after Manhattan rallied to take down Iona in New Rochelle.  And finally,you had one Jimmy Patsos, quite possibly the craziest cat to coach Division I men's college basketball.  It made for a truly entertaining night in a contest that was televised to a national audience, even if only 2,000 people showed up for the game live.

I will always remember the end of the game.  After Loyola wins, Patsos is so fired up, he's yelling at the Loyola fans. He yanks his tie off and tries to throw into the Greyhounds fan section behind the Loyola bench.  The problem is the tie doesn't go very far.  Doesn't stop Patsos.  He goes behind the bench, picks up the tie, puts it around a Loyola fan and then gives him a hug.  It was a huge win for Loyola, which eventually made the NCAA Tournament by winning the MAAC Tournament.

Number 5 - LIU Brooklyn vs. Wagner - This Isn't Your Father's NEC -  A nationally televised NEC game.  First place in the Northeast Conference on the line.  The defending NEC champs, LIU vs. Team Hurley.  A sold out Spiro Center. Yes, sign me up for that please.  Dandy of a game too as the Blackbirds held off the Seahawks to win.  I truly believe it was the springboard for the eventual second straight NCAA Tournament appearance for LIU Brookyn.

There were several things that stood out at Spiro. First they have a basketball club called the College Hardwood.  How awesome is that!  Second, the Wagner student section did a terrific job that night.  Third, the PA system didn't do such a good job.  It was waaaaaay too loud and the game so needed a pep band there.  Pep band music > Canned music every time.  More schools should take after LaSalle.  The pep band plays the entire night.  No canned music (at least that's what it was at Gola Arena back in December 2005 when I was there for a Hofstra-LaSalle game).

Number 4 - UMass vs. Drexel NIT Quarterfinals - Minutemen Rally to Take Down the Dragons at the DAC - There is nothing like a sold out DAC for a basketball game.  Drexel looked like they were going to again show the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee that they truly messed up by not taking the Dragons, as they went out to a seventeen point second half lead.  But the Minutemen rallied to give the Dragons their first home loss of the season.  It was one hell of a game.

It was memorable for several reasons.  First, obviously a huge UMass comeback down seventeen in the second half that stunned the home Drexel crowd.  Second, it was the night I found out that I didn't get a job in Colorado, which actually worked out better for me.  Third, how often do you get a parking spot literally right in front of the arena?  Yup that was the night.

Number 3 - Manhattan vs. Iona - It's Never Over Till It's Over in the MAAC -  One of the wildest games of the regular season.  The Gaels leading at home in the Hynes Center by seventeen points with seven minutes left.  Manhattan rallies late and hits a three pointer at the buzzer to win.  It was surreal.

This Jaspers-Gaels classic was unfortunately a foreshadow of a problem that Iona would have throughout the season, blowing huge leads.  The Gaels would do this again at Siena later in the regular season.  Finally, Iona blew a huge lead in their first round play in game against BYU.   The sense of "I have seen this before" dread watching the Cougars rally in the second half against the Gaels started from this game against the Jaspers.

Number 2 -  Georgia State vs. George Mason - Byron Allen's Game Winning Shot in CAA Quarterfinals -  You had your classic CAA knockdown rockfight with the Panthers and the Patriots. Georgia State rallies late to tie the game, only to lose in heartbreak fashion with Allen's basket with 3.4 seconds left, which I captured on video from my seat on press row.

What I will always, always remember is Panthers' Head Coach Ron Hunter's emotional post game press conference.  It was truly honest, raw and heartbreaking.  It's a shame that Ron Hunter was only in the CAA a couple of years (Georgia State leaves for the Sun Belt after this season).  I got to meet with him after the press conference and he is genuine, funny and was really kind to Jerry Beach and me. He even joked with us about the IUPUI - Hofstra CBI game seen by only 952 people.  Class act.

Number 1 -  George Mason vs. VCU - The Patriots Stage a Near Impossible Comeback But Fall Short  -  In the second game of the CAA Semifinals, VCU rolls out to a 22-0 lead, then actually extends it to 32-4.  The sold out "neutral" Richmond Coliseum crowd was DEAFENING.  It looks like George Mason is going to be blown out of the building.

But the Patriots didn't fold up their tent.  They actually whittle that twenty eight point lead down to six with three minutes left before eventually losing by ten 74-64.  Yes, there were closer games than this in the countdown.  But considering the raucous "neutral" crowd (yes there were a good number of Mason fans, but it was mostly a pro VCU crowd) and the huge deficit, what George Mason did was nothing less than heroic

What I will always remember is the perspective you get sitting on the court.  I had been going to the CAA Tournament for years starting in the 2002-03 season.  Until this past March, I always sat in the stands.  This time, I was on press row.  You truly don't have an appreciation of how loud a sold out crowd in Richmond Coliseum is until you are on the court.  It was truly an incredible atmosphere.  It was also the last time I would see in person VCU in the CAA.

2012 was a great season college hoops wise.  May 2013 be just as good for all college hoops fans everywhere.  Happy New Year!

This Isn't Your Father's NEC (Recap of LIU vs Wagner)

The Northeast Conference, otherwise known as the NEC, started as the ECAC - Metro conference in 1981.  As the NEC website notes, originally the conference's goal was "to create a competitive NCAA Division I men’s basketball conference for unaffiliated schools on the Eastern seaboard."  It started as just a men's basketball conference, but it grew to twelve schools and twenty three sports.   There are still six original members;  Wagner, LIU Brooklyn, Fairleigh Dickinson, Robert Morris, St. Francis (NY) and St. Francis (PA).  Joining them later were Monmouth, Mount St Mary's, Central Connecticut State (CCSU), Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart and this season, Bryant.

Still, the main focus of the NEC is founded on its original goal, men's basketball.  There is great history in some of the conference's teams. Legendary coach Clair Bee, inventor of the 1-3-1 zone and the three second rule, coached his LIU team to two NIT championships in 1939 and 1941.  Jim Phelan, the legendary former coach of Mount St Mary's, won 830 games as coach of the Mountaineers and currently is seventh on the all time wins list.  Both Bee and Phelan are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.  And in a recent article, I talked about my second hand knowledge of one the NEC's greatest all time players, Desi Wilson of Fairleigh Dickinson.

However, for years the NEC has been considered one of the doormat conferences of the NCAA Tournament. In its thirty year existence, the Northeast conference has won only two games in the NCAA Tournament, both play in games. In 1983, Robert Morris defeated Georgia Southern 68-54 before losing to Purdue by two points, 55-53, in the first round.  In 2008, Mount St Mary's defeated Coppin State 69-60 before losing to North Carolina in the round of 64, 113-74.  I was at the Mountaineers game vs. the Tar Heels in the Raleigh Regional.  Mount St Mary's played hard the entire forty minutes, unlike a certain team from Bloomington vs. Arkansas in the evening session.

But in the last few years, the NEC has proven itself worthy on the court, especially in the NCAA Tournament.  In the 2010 NCAA Tournament in front of a national audience, #15 Robert Morris had #2 Villanova on the ropes, up by eight points with a little more than four minutes left before the Wildcats rallied and won in overtime 73-70. In the 2011 NCAA Tournament, #15 LIU was actually tied with #2 North Carolina with five minutes left in the first half before losing by a respectable fifteen points, 102-87.

This season, NEC teams have several big wins.  Wagner won at then nationally ranked Pittsburgh, then also won the Cable Car Classic Tournament, defeating Air Force and Santa Clara.   Robert Morris defeated LaSalle at a neutral site (currently the Explorers are 14-6 and 3-2 in the A-10) and won at Ohio (currently the Bobcats are 15-4 and 3-2 in the MAC).  LIU has a neutral site win at Vermont.  The combined record of those three NEC teams going into Saturday night's Wagner-LIU game was 43-15.

That brings us to Saturday night, where Wagner hosted LIU at Spiro Athletic Center for first place in the NEC.  The game was a hot ticket because it was being shown nationally on ESPNU.  It is the first time that I can ever remember a a regular season Northeast Conference game being televised on ESPN.  The NEC truly decided to hype the ESPNU broadcast with this video.

Part of the reason I believe ESPNU was televising the game was that Wagner not only had their big wins, but they also have Team Hurley - head coach Danny Hurley, formerly a point guard at Seton Hall and assistant coach Bobby Hurley, former star point guard at Duke.  Of course, their dad is Bob Hurley Sr., the legendary coach of St. Anthony's in Jersey City.   At 15-3 overall, Team Hurley has done a terrific job of turning around a team that two seasons ago was 5-26.

But going into Saturday night's game, defending champion LIU Brooklyn had been the best team in the NEC so far this season.  Jim Ferry's Blackbirds had won eight games in a row, including a 78-73 win at home over the Seahawks.   LIU was looking to sweep the season series and have a two game lead in conference.

Due to the icy conditions by yesterday's snow/ice storm, my good friend Tieff picked me up at my house two and half hours before game time.  That's due to the fact that you never know what the Belt Parkway will be like in bad weather, even on a Saturday.  As we drove towards the Verrazano bridge, I was listening to the Hofstra-James Madison game on WRHU's IPhone App, which works quite well by the way.   The lack of traffic and the basketball game over the IPhone made for an unusually quick trip to Staten Island.

When we got to the Spiro Sports Center, it was ninety minutes before game time.  So we each grabbed a pretzel with cheese and sat on a green bench listening to the end of the Hofstra game.  Thanks to Steve Mejia's three point play, the Pride finally had their first win in conference.  As a result, two happy Hofstra fans entered the gym.

The Spiro Sports Center Arena is your classic small conference gym.  It seats about 2,400 and is strictly bleacher seating.  Just about all the seating is general admission, so it was first come first serve.  There is an administrative office above with a great view of the court.  That's where the main ESPNU cameras were filming and there seemed to be an alumni reception there as well watching the game.

In our case, amazingly we were sitting three rows up, near center court, right between the LIU bench and the scorers table.  I called my wife and told her that she should see us on the telecast.  Sure enough, when I got home later, she told me that her and my older son Matthew saw us several times.

Spiro is a very cozy environment.  Also when it's packed, it's a LOUD environment.  The Wagner student section behind the LIU basket was already filled with students wearing white.  It was "whiteout night" as everyone in attendance got free white Wagner T-shirts.  Several Wagner dance team members went through the crowd before the game encouraging those who hadn't put their T-shirts on to do so in support of the team..

LIU had their fans, apparently made up of many members of their dance team behind the Wagner basket. In a funny moment, they grabbed one of the T-shirts, tore it up, then threw it up in the air.  It ended up with the Wagner fans next to them, who threw it back at them.

The only bad thing about Spiro was the PA system. The volume was turned up way too high, as the music, even the PA announcer sounded distorted.  Also, unfortunately it kept Tieff and I from hearing some of the student chants before the game.   Wagner is not the only one that does this as far as unbearably loud PA systems; Hofstra and Iona are guilty of this too.  But in a smaller Spiro Sports Center gym, it's much more noticeable.

Memo to the Wagner Athletic Department - Please turn down the volume on your system.  Also, please get a pep band.  With a packed student section that's already quite loud, the pep band works much better than canned music. Trust me, it works well for the Hynes Center with the Iona Pep band.  Thanks.


Once the game got started and the PA music was turned off, it was the perfect college basketball atmosphere; a sold out gym, a large, loud student section complete with a giant Danny Hurley head and two very good teams squaring off in a meaningful conference game.  This was as close to hoops heaven as a fan could get.

LIU seemed unfazed by the television cameras and the mostly partisan Seahawks crowd.  The Blackbirds jumped out to a 13-4 lead after just two and a half minutes, in large part due to their big three; Julian Boyd, Jamal Olasewere and Jason Brickman.  Boyd hit two baskets and assisted on another, a three pointer by Brickman. Olasewere also had two baskets in that span.  That would be a common theme for the Blackbirds on the evening.

But Wagner came back and outscored LIU 19-9 over the next several minutes due in large part to Latif Rivers who scored nine of those points during the span.  A Josh Thompson layup gave the Seahawks their first lead, 23-22.  The crowd roared in approval.  The game would see five ties in the first half alone.

When there is such an intensive atmosphere and first place in conference riding on the game, it's normal to have players' tempers flare up. During that Wagner run, a  foul was called on C.J Garner which led to an altercation between Boyd and Jonathon Williams.  The referees went over to the scorers table to review the play, which eventually led to double technical fouls for Boyd and Williams.

While the referees reviewed the play, I took this picture of them at the scorers table.  A woman behind me stated "Look, he's taking a picture of them."

I turned around and said "I write for two college basketball sites and I am going to talk about this in my article.  It's the only reason I would take a picture of this."

She replied "I guess you heard me".  I responded "Yes, I did."  Even with a raucous atmosphere, my ears can still pick up a smarmy comment.

With Wagner up 31-29,  LIU scored seven straight points, including a three pointer by Brickman that put the Blackbirds up 36-31 before Mario Moody's dunk cut the lead to three, 36-33 at the half.  Brickman, who looks like Joey Rodriguez' younger brother, also shoots like him.  He was three of three from beyond the arc in the first half.

There were also warning signs for the Seahawks. Several of their front court players would get in foul trouble in the first half.  Thompson, Williams, Naofall Folohan and Tyler Murray each picked up two fouls.  Danny Hurley was not happy with the officiating and actually stayed on the court a few seconds after the first half ended to voice his displeasure.

The second half started with Wagner coming out strong.  Williams, Murray and Kenny Ortiz hit layups which put the Seahawks up one, 39-38 with a little less than seventeen minutes left in the game. The Seahawks' student section was now in full force.

But the Blackbirds responded with a 13-2 run due to their big three.  Olasewere started it with a three point play. He would add two more baskets.   Brickman, Boyd and Olasewere would all add foul shots to put LIU up 51-41 with 11:43 left.

By that time, Wagner was in serious foul trouble. Both Williams and Thompson  picked up their third and fourth fouls. Ortiz picked up two quick fouls to give him three total.  With most of his big in serious foul trouble, Hurley was down to the last forward in his rotation, the aforementioned Moody.

One intrepid Wagner student held a sign during the game "I'm feeling MOODY".  And Mario was feeling it too as he kept the Seahawks in the game with his inside play.  Over the span of five minutes, Moody had eight points, the last of which cut the Blackbirds lead to 56-52 with six and half minutes remaining.

The noise from the Wagner student section was now at its crescendo.  Facing an incredibly loud chant of "DE-FENSE", LIU was now at a critical moment of the game.  This is where they either rose to the occasion or wilted in the face of adversity.

Once again, the Blackbirds' big three responded.  Over the remaining six and a half minutes of the game, Brickman, Boyd and Olasewere combined would score the last seventeen points LIU scored.  Boyd's emphatic dunk with a little less than two minutes remaining put the Blackbirds up seven on their way to a convincing 73-66 win over the Seahawks.

Wagner had no answer for Boyd, who scored nineteen points and added fifteen rebounds.  Olasewere had eighteen points and Brickman had seventeen points and eight assists.   Moody had a double double for the Seahawks with twelve points and ten rebounds. Rivers led Wagner with seventeen points.  Williams added fourteen and Murray had eleven points for the Seahawks. Murray was honored before the game for scoring his 1000th career point in a previous game.

With the win, LIU is now firmly in first place in the NEC at 8-0, with a two game lead over three teams.  One of those teams is Wagner, who now has to battle out for second place with Robert Morris and CCSU. The Seahawks dreams of finishing first are likely dashed as the Blackbirds have the tiebreaker, since they swept the season series.

The NEC is one of the very few conferences that have their championship game on the highest remaining seed's home court.  Last season, Tieff and I were at LIU's Wellness Center for the NEC championship game.  After the Blackbirds' win Saturday night, there's a good chance we'll be back there in March.

Six Years, Seven Seasons, A Man's Life - It's All Relative

Saturday evening after Hofstra had defeated Cleveland State, I was presented with a choice.  Originally, I had planned to stay and cover the Boston University vs. Rhode Island game for the 800 Games Played Project on the Mid Majority Site.  But I was very tired, under the weather, lonely for my family and I had my nephew's baptism the next morning.  So instead of watching and recapping a game on my wish list, I took the three hour drive back to New York.  

For someone who has driven ten hours to Wright State for a basketball game, staying two extra hours in Kingston seemed like child's play.  And normally, it would have been.  But there wasn't just the cold I that I had and my nephew's baptism involved in my decision to head back.  Driving home, I knew I had to be back in Mineola for sure for Monday morning.  

For the past two plus weeks starting on November 14 until this past Tuesday morning, I have been on jury duty in Mineola.  Specifically, I have been a member of a twelve person jury deciding the fate of a man charged with murder in the second degree, three counts of robbery and two other counts of criminal possession of a firearm.  We had a break over Thanksgiving weekend, so I was able to go up to Rhode Island to watch the tournament.  But I was mentally beat from the week's proceedings and still trying to recover from a cold that I had for the better part of a week.

That's why I when I wrote my recap of LIU vs. Iona, I couldn't go into details of why I was exasperated on Monday.  I was exasperated by the slowness of the proceedings, the wheels of justice.  It wasn't our jury deliberations whatsoever.  Our jury actually did an excellent job deciding the counts and there was no acrimony whatsoever. It was all the other processes, the long delays to find an open courtroom and jury room every morning.  The delays to hear testimony replayed.  When a man's life is at stake, justice should be a lot more streamlined and not have the person have to wait out their fate due to overlengthy procedures.

On December 4, 2011, it will be exactly six years that I have written this blog.  What began on a dare has become a wonderful journey to various gyms and arenas in the United States.  I have seen parts of the country that I might never have gone to had it not been for college basketball.  In the past six years, I have been to places such as Worcester, Massachusetts; Lawrence, Kansas; Charleston, South Carolina; Dayton, Ohio and Charlotte, North Carolina to name just a few to watch basketball games. It's been a lot of fun, but at times, like the trip to Dayton, it's been a long and winding road.  I still don't know how Kyle Whelliston did it all these years

For eight of the past nine years, I have taken a pilgrimage to Richmond every first weekend in March to watch the CAA Tournament.  I got to see an unforgettable NCAA regional in Raleigh in March 2008.  And this past March, I got to see live my first conference championship game since 2001.   

More importantly, I have made so many friends along the way.  I consider Defiantly Dutch, aka Jerry Beach one of my good friends, even if he still won't get back to me with his answers for my blog post (yeah, Jer, I am calling you out!).  And he's a damn good writer too.  I consider Kyle Whelliston a mentor, friend and the best college basketball writer there is, outside of John Feinstein.  His work has inspired me beyond measure.

And there are others.  There's Joe Suhoski, Mr. ODU.  It turns out also he is a very good college football writer as well. Brian Mull and Mike Litos are two very good college basketball writers and I have been following their work for years.  John Templon is as good a writer as Kyle told me he was and his Big Apple Buckets site is awesome. I even have two Mid Majority mentees in Julia Prior and Michael Hadley, Mr Red Zone IUPUI, both terrific, hilarious people.

And there's good people I have got to know somewhat like Travis Mason Bushman (you are a legend and a leader, so to speak), Garrett Wheeler, Mike Greiner, Dominic Pody, Kraig Williams, Matt Cerilli, Brendan Loy (the man behind #PANIC), Guy Falotico of IonaHoops.com, the folks at CAAZone and last but not least, Gheorghe The Blog. If you are one of my followers on Twitter, I truly appreciate the support.

Writing about college basketball has opened up an entire new world for me. Though I am not accredited media, I no longer just watch games.  I cover them.  And when the official Iona Gaels twitter account acknowledges your game tweets along  with Jon Rothstein's. Matt Norlander's and Adam Zagoria's tweets, all terrific college basketball analysts and writers,  I consider it a great honor.

Six years ago, I had no idea that I would be doing any of this today.  I still don't know how long this will continue, as I noted in November of last year.   But this is now my seventh college basketball season. And this season is special.  I am now writing for two sites.   And when that 800th game recap is written, I will celebrate with everyone else who is contributing to the Mid Majority Site.

And so far, I have written nine game recaps for the 800 Games Played Project, which have been posted here as well due to Creative Commons license.   I figure I have another thirty five to forty to write this season, if all goes well. 

But last Saturday,  my better judgment overruled staying to recap another live game.  There were bigger obligations.  Deadlines and commitments as I noted last year.  

On Tuesday, we found the defendant not guilty of murder, guilty of three counts of robbery and not guilty of two counts of criminal possession of a firearm.  I truly believe our jury was thoughtful, measured and certainly unanimous in our judgment.   We epitomized the term "civic duty".

As much as I love it, college basketball is just a game.  In the grand scheme of life, six years and seven seasons pale in comparison to the past two weeks.  It was an experience that everyone should have once in their life.  And one I won't ever forget.

The Paul Westhead Invitational

Yesterday was an exasperating day.  I can't get into details, but I was agitated when I got home.  Thankfully, salvation was only ninety minutes away, for I had this game between LIU and Iona circled on my calendar.  I knew I was going to see a game that "The Guru of Go" would truly love.

Westhead is the creator of "The System".  It's based on simple math - More Possessions + More Shot Attempts = More Points.  And there are no two better examples of  "The System" than LIU and Iona, led by their proponents, Blackbirds' coach Jim Ferry and Gaels' coach Tim Cluess.. Last season, LIU was fourth in the nation in scoring at 82.7 points per game and fifth in the country in possessions per game at 70.6.  Meanwhile, Iona is currently first in the country averaging 94 points per game and second in assists at 21.3.  

"The System" has worked for both teams.  LIU made the NCAA Tournament after winning the NEC championship.  Meanwhile Iona made the MAAC Conference Tournament finals, then the CIT finals and are the heavy favorites to win the MAAC this season.  This was going to be the basketball version of the Penn Relays (Google it).  I had the over/under for points scored for last night's game at 180.

I was hoping to bring my basketball buddy, my older son Matthew to the game last night, knowing he would love this fast pace, high scoring game.  But he had homework to do, so daddy went off by himself to New Rochelle.  As I got there, there was another good crowd on hand at the Hynes Center.  Not as good as the game vs. St Joseph's last Wednesday, but the one side of bleachers was basically full.

As expected, the game got off to a rip roaring, albeit sloppy start.  The Gaels went out to an 11-2 lead.  But the Blackbirds came back and cut the deficit to four, 23-19.  By this time, both teams had a combined nine turnovers, but of course forty two points.  After Jermel Jenkins hit a three pointer to make it 26-19, the Gaels had eight possessions where they used 10 seconds or less of the shot clock.

The game was still close, 33-29 with a little less than six minutes left when Iona when on a 21-9 run to end the half.  It was led by their two best players, Michael Glover and Scott Machado, who combined for twelve of the twenty one half ending points.  The Gaels were up 54-38 at the half.

The halftime entertainment consisted of two of my favorite things.  One, a local catholic school boys team played at the half.  And they emulated the two college teams by playing end to end action.  The other was hearing the always terrific Iona Pep Band playing songs like "Peg", "Brickhouse" and some Stevie Wonder and KC and the Sunshine Band tunes.   While all this was going on, I honestly thought I might see more points scored in the second twenty minutes than the first twenty minutes.

And at the start of the second half, Iona came out with the intention of doing exactly that. Within barely the first eight minutes, the Gaels outscored the Blackbirds 33-17.  During this time, Iona forced eight LIU turnovers.  Meanwhile, Glover was terrorizing the Blackbirds, scoring at will inside while Jermel Jenkins scored at will from the outside with three point bombs.  With twelve minutes left, Iona was up 87-55.  The  game for all intensive purposes was over and the question was, when would the Gaels score one hundred points?

Someone though forgot to tell the Blackbirds the game was over.  LIU outscored Iona 19-3 over the next nearly eight minutes.  The Gaels actually went scoreless for about four and a half minutes during that stretch. The score was 90-74.  But a layup by who else, Glover, made sure the score didn't get any closer.

Iona finally scored one hundred points on a layup by Machado 2:19 left. At that point, the crowd started to file out.  The Gaels would not score again, but they already had done enough damage.  LIU managed to score their season average from last season, eighty two, but lose by eighteen, 100-82.   Had Iona not had that scoring drought in the second half, the teams would have easily eclipsed the point total for the first half.  But ninety points in the second half certainly wasn't bad.

Glover had another double double with twenty eight points and fourteen rebounds. Machado had another double double as well with fourteen points and ten assists.  Jamal Olasewere led LIU with twenty points.  The two teams combined for forty two assists and forty turnovers.  Iona now heads out on the road for the entire month of December. Meanwhile, LIU already has to start defending its NEC conference championship on Thursday against an improved Wagner team.  No rest for the weary.

As I left the Hynes Center and headed to my car, I thought of one thing.  Someone should send Paul Westhead a plane ticket to New York.  He should catch a couple of Iona and LIU games.  He would be so proud.

LIU Perspective Recap on Mid Majority Site

I posted a LIU perspective recap of last night's game for the 800 Games Project on the Mid Majority Site.  For the Hofstra perspective recap, look at the previous article listed below.

Hofstra's New Dynamic Duo Downs LIU

This was supposed to be a year of transition for the Hofstra Pride.  The first season of the post Charles Jenkins era is supposed to be a stop gap between last season's team and next season's team.  In 2012-13 much ballyhooed transfers Taran Buie and Jamal Coombs- McDaniel will be eligible and talented recruits Jimmy Hall from St. Anthony's and Dallas Anglin from Seton Hall Prep, both of whom just signed on Wednesday, will be part of a freshmen class that still has two scholarships available.

The 2011-12 version of the Pride is supposed to hold the fort until that new class takes over.  The Pride were picked anywhere from sixth to tenth in the CAA this season.  The biggest question with this season's team was how were they going to make up for the loss of Jenkins in the scoring department.  Jenkins just happened to be in attendance for last night's game vs. LIU.  What Jenkins and 3,586 other people saw might have been the answer to that question as Nathaniel Lester and Mike Moore combined for fifty six points as Hofstra rolled over LIU 89-71.

My son Matthew and I got to the Mack Center early last evening.  Hofstra was holding a FanFest at the Physical Education Center next store.  The Fanfest had free food, inflatables for the kids to play in and for Matthew, the ability to shoot hoops, one of his favorite things on the planet.   There was a pretty good crowd there, a mixture of Hofstra students, families and their children and long time season ticket holders.

My little partner in crime and I left the Fanfest early and got to our seats an hour before game time.  Before long, a good crowd started filling up the Mack Center.  The students did their part, filling up the Lions Den for the first game of the season.  Long before tipoff, the Lions Den started a "LETS GO HOF - STRA" chant.  It was an electric feeling to start the season.

This was going to be a tough test for the Pride.  The Blackbirds were coming off a 27-6 season where they won the NEC championship on their home court, then gave #2 seed North Carolina fits for the first fifteen minutes of their first round NCAA Tournament game before losing only by fifteen, 102-87.   Six of their eight top players, including their top two leading scorers, Julian Boyd and Jamal Olasewere, returned for this season.

The game started out in LIU's favor as Boyd scored four quick points for a 7-2 Blackbirds' lead.  But then David Imes and Nathaniel Lester combined to score twenty five of Hofstra's first twenty nine points.  A Lester layup put the Pride up 29-20.  However, the Blackbirds would close the gap and a Michael Culpo three pointer would make the score 32-30 at the half.

It was a sloppy first half in many regards.  The two teams combined for twenty one turnovers in twenty minutes.  LIU struggled at the line shooting 6 of 13.  Hofstra only had two free throw attempts in the first half and Imes missed both of them.  Both teams shot well when they held onto the ball.  LIU shot nearly 44 percent while Hofstra shot 50 percent.

Another sign that it was a sloppy first half was that Moore struggled with only two points. Last season, Moore was the wingman to Jenkins that he so sorely lacked in his two previous seasons.  Moore averaged about 15 points per game.  But now, Moore is the top gun, not the wingman.  And two points in a half just wasn't going to cut it.

The second half started out like the first, relatively close.  It was 37-35 Pride with sixteen minutes left in the game when Moore caught fire.  He scored eight straight points to put Hofstra up nine 45-36.  The Blackbirds would only get as close as five the rest of the way, 47-42 on a three point field goal by Joey Rodriguez clone Jason Brickman.

Then Lester and Moore took over.   The Pride went on a 38-17 run with Moore and Lester accounting for twenty five of those points.   I can honestly say the crowd was stunned as Hofstra was up 85-59 with three minutes left.  No one and I mean no one expected to see the Blackbirds dominated like that.  Moore scored twenty one of his twenty three points in the second half.  But that was to be expected.  What Lester did was a revelation.

When Lester first came to Hofstra for the 2007-08 season, he was a much ballyhooed recruit from Canarsie.  It was going to be Charles Jenkins and Lester that were going to take the Pride to new heights.  While Jenkins more than live up to the hype, his good friend Lester struggled in his role under Tom Pecora.  He was sometimes a starter, sometimes a sixth man.  Often, to be honest, he seemed to be in Pecora's doghouse.

When Pecora took his ball and his recruits to Fordham, Lester had a new chance under new Coach Mo Cassara. Unfortunately, he tore his quad during off season workouts and was redshirted for the 2010-11 season.  He sat on the sidelines as his team and his dear friend, Jenkins, finished third in the CAA with a 14-4 record, their best since the 2006-07 season.  Lester graduated from Hofstra with his undergraduate degree and now has one last chance to fulfill the promise he came with back in 2007.

And last night he showed that promise.  Lester was aggressive and confident.  He consistently drained his three pointers (3 of 4 from beyond the arc) and drove with authority to the basket.  He used his strong frame to gain position and put in shots or get fouled.  Lester was 12 of 14 from the line last night and had five rebounds, three on the offensive end.  With Jenkins in the stands, Lester put on a performance worthy of Sir Charles himself, scoring a career high thirty three points on the night.

Lester wasn't the only revelation last night.  Dwan McMillan, who was injured for most of last season, came off the bench and had ten assists in twenty five minutes.  McMillan, who looks definitely quicker than last season, ran the offense extremely well.  The Pride shot a stunning 71 percent in the second half and 59 percent for the game.  Defensively, the Pride forced twenty turnovers and held LIU eleven points under their average from last season.  David Imes had ten points and seven rebounds while Steve Mejia had seven points and four assists.for the Pride.

LIU was led by Olasewere with thirteen points, while Brickman had eleven points, while Boyd finished with only nine points. The Blackbirds had a very off night from the line, shooting only 17 of 32 from the charity stripe and were only 8 of 21 from beyond the arc as well.

There were areas for improvement for Hofstra as the Pride committed eighteen turnovers.  Hofstra also shot an uncharacteristic 23 of 34 from the line.  But overall, it was a very successful, albeit surprising night for the Pride and their fans.

And thanks to the new dynamic duo of Lester and Moore, Hofstra's "year of transition" may be a lot more than that.

LIU vs Hofstra Preview - Things to Watch For Tonight

There is no better way to spend your early Friday morning (and when I mean early Friday morning, I mean 2:15 AM) then dividing up your Hofstra season tickets into three neat piles.  One for my friend Tony, one for my friend Mal, and two for my older son Matthew and me.  As much as I talked about the Queens - Hofstra exhibition game starting the season, tonight is the first home game of the season that actually counts.

This promises to be a very good game. LIU won the NEC championship on its home court in Brooklyn in March.  Then the Blackbirds proceeded to give North Carolina fits for a good fifteen minutes in their first round NCAA Tournament game (game was tied at 33 with five minutes left in the first half) before losing by only fifteen 102-87.  

Meanwhile, Hofstra is playing it's first regular season game in the post Charles Jenkins era.  It's the return of Nat Lester after missing a year due to a quad injury.  The Pride are coming off a fine 2010-11 season themselves, going 14-4 in the CAA, 21-12 overall and finishing third in a conference that had three teams make the NCAA Tournament (George Mason, ODU and of course VCU).  Second leading scorer Mike Moore returns with Lester as well to give Hofstra a good one-two scoring punch.

LIU is picked to finish first again in the NEC.  Meanwhile, Hofstra has been picked to finish somewhere in the middle of the CAA.   Then again, the Pride were picked around the same spot a season ago, and we all know what happened.

So now that I hopefully have drawn you all in for tonight's action, here are some things to look for in the game.

• Contrast of Styles? - LIU was fourth in the nation last season in points per game at 82.  They were also fifth in the country last season in possessions per game, 70.6.  The Blackbirds averaged 1.07 points per possession.  It's high octane basketball at its finest.  The Pride need to slow the pace down somewhat and keep the game in the 60s - low 70s.  If they try to run with LIU, it could be a long night for Hofstra.
• Old Dominion, Drexel, LIU.  What do they have in common?  Rebounding.  Amazingly, the Blackbirds were third in the nation in rebounds, 41.8.  Julian Boyd averaged 8.9 rebounds per game last season, while Jamal Olasewere averaged 6.8.   Rebounding was a weakness of Hofstra's last season. With the additions of Moussa Kone and Bryant Crowder, along with the returning David Imes, the Pride will need to keep the Blackbirds off the glass.
• Ball Possession - Very few teams were better at it than the Pride last season.  Hofstra was first in the CAA in assists to turnover ratio and third in the CAA in turnover margin.  It will be critical for the Pride to maintain ball possession against one of the best teams in the country in points per possession in the Blackbirds.
• Free Throw Shooting - It could come down to the little things.  Hofstra was first in the CAA in free throw shooting last season while LIU was 10th in the NEC.  Advantage Pride.
• Experience - LIU returns six of its eight top players from last season.  Hofstra only returns two starters, Moore and Imes.  However Lester was a starter/sixth man for the Pride over his first three seasons, while point guard Steve Mejia has two years experience playing for Rhode Island.   As Nick Bakay would say, "Push".
• Are you a Joey Rodriguez fan?  Do you miss him?  Well, Hofstra fans don't do a double take when you see Jason Brickman tonight.  He looks a lot like Rodriguez and he plays like Rodriguez.  Brickman averaged 5.5 assists per game last season.  Brickman vs. Mejia, who had one of the best assists to turnover ratio in the A-10 in the 2009-10 season,  should be an entertaining matchup

This promises to be an entertaining game tonight.  It's also Fanfest, so bring the kiddies early and let them romp around.  Pack the Mack and celebrate 11-11-11!

Higher Ground - Season 8 of the Mid Majority

If you are a dedicated reader of this site, you know that I am long time admirer of Kyle Whelliston's Mid Majority site.  For seven years, Kyle has written about mid major conference teams, otherwise known as "The Other 24".  Kyle has made it his goal to attend 100 live games every year and write about them.  Along the way every year, he writes essays, or as I like to think, short novels about life, basketball and the world around us.

I have often been amazed at how Kyle has been able to accomplish this for seven years.  Yes, it's through donors like you and me that allow Kyle to be able to write about college basketball.  But we are just his enablers.  The rest is all Kyle in his literary brilliance.  An example of his literary brilliance is the following two paragraphs describing loneliness from his prologue to begin Season Eight of the Mid Majority.

"It doesn't get much lonelier than sitting alone in an enclosed, locked, metal container in the middle of American Nowhere. It's a feeling that encourages a perspective of the universe as viewed through the spectral prism of one's navel. It helps reinforce the ridiculous illusion of the Self as a singular, special, unique entity on a planet of billions, a "me" adrift amongst an invisible "them." 

None of the colleges I visited offered classes in Loneliness Studies, and none ever advertised a Bachelor's or Master's degree in that or any related discipline. But there's no understating the power of loneliness as an unstoppable primal force. Our efforts to escape it explain just about everything we do. To stop running from loneliness is to face skull-crushing existential self-absorption, to confront the little-g god inside."

Kyle's wonderfully written stories are truly honest and once in a while tinged with sadness.  These stories have convinced me that I can never be a full time college basketball beat writer until at least my children are fully grown up (and out of college).  I would miss them and my wife too much being on the road all the time. Plus I dealt with a great amount of loneliness growing up from childhood all the way up through my early college years.  I like to think I am past those years of loneliness, and I don't ever want to go back to them.

And about a year ago, I wrote an article on my site called "Deadlines and Committments vs the 24 Hours of College Basketball".   I consider that one of my favorite articles I have ever written.  In it, I talked about the choices I made in life, none that I will ever regret.  I also talked about the future of my site by saying "if the time comes due to greater priorities where I don't have the time or commitment to write this blog, it will end."

And this is true, I do see a time where it will be very difficult to maintain this site due to spending time following my children's activities.  Also, I have tried and failed miserably to maintain a baseball site called "Ninety Feet from Home", which is sad because there are some very good pieces on that site about baseball and road trips (I never said I was modest).  Plus, as much as I love major league baseball, it's not as fun as writing about live college basketball.

And that's the core foundation of this site; seeing live college basketball games and writing about them.  I learned that from Kyle. So for as long as I can, I will continue to run "Against the Wind" and keep writing about live college basketball games for as long as my life's commitments let me.

And that's what brings us to Season Eight of the Mid Majority and also a new chapter for my site.  Kyle has made season eight "The 800 Games Project".  With the help of his friend, who will be the editor for the site, the Mid Majority's loyal readers will be writing all the articles for the site this season.  The goal is to write at least 800 live game summaries.  Meaning, if you are attending a game, you will be writing a summary of at least 400 words (child's play for my site).

Kyle did several "practice runs" of the 800 Games Played Project last season and I wrote a live game summary for the one of the weekly practice runs.  It was a honor that Kyle chose my live game summary on the James Madison - Hofstra contest, another thrilling overtime game in the history of that series, for that week.

And these summaries have guidelines.  Here are two of the guidelines from the Mid Majority site that best describe how the summaries should be written;

5. A lot of us grew up believing that there were "right ways" to do sports journalism: dry Associated Press game recaps, super-inspiring athlete feature stories, cliché-ridden "expert" sportz analysis.Zzzzzzzz.  Screw all of those. Your perspective, from your seat, means everything.  Tell us how you got to the game, what it's like at the gym, introduce us to the person next to you and the people in your section, talk about how the experience felt. Weave in season context, team history, whatever seems appropriate. It's up to you to make that interesting, but play-by-play and ESPN catchphrases are inherently boring. So you have a head start on that crap. 

6.This is college, dammit.Tap into something bigger.Literary references, history and philosophy citations, and general academic posturing are encouraged and welcomed. It's okay to be smart. When people tell you that you're "pretentious," what they're really saying is "I didn't pay attention in class." The occasional music and film quotes are okay too -- however, remember the economies of scale inherent in referential humor. Popular selections play to the teeming many, but obscure ones impact a quality few more meaningfully. 

A lot of the site's supporters have signed up for the project. Over six hundred games have been wish-listed by the members, many of which are current college students. This means that they have pledged to write live game summaries for over six hundred games. That's a good start, but we have to follow through on that.

And that brings this to my site.  It's undergoing a slight change.  I will be writing mostly for the Mid Majority's 800 Games Played Project this year.  However, thanks to Kyle granting a Creative Commons License, I can and will post the recaps on my site as well.

However, this means my style of writing about live games (mostly Hofstra's home games) will be somewhat different from past years.   It's even more about talking about the surroundings of the live game itself, whether it's the Lions' Den with creative chants, or talking about Bruiser Flint at his foot stomping finest or trying to bring life the Bob Carpenter Arena barbecue concessions. This is what  I usually write about on this site, but it will be more focused towards that.  I have a goal to see and write about over fifty mid major games this season. I think if all works out well, I can accomplish this goal, probably for one of the last times that I can with my children getting older.  Last season I attended over 40 games, so this isn't that far of a stretch.

My first game is tentatively the LIU-Hofstra game for Friday, November 11.  This will also be a first for me. I am going to write two stories on the game.  One for will be the 800 Games Played Project from a LIU perspective.  The other will be a Hofstra based perspective for this site. Both will be posted on this site by sometime Saturday, November 12.  It's a challenge, but I am looking forward to it.

Now I have a challenge for you.  Are you a mid major college basketball fan?  Do you have a mid major college team you root for and would like to write about them?  Why not join the 800 Games Played Project (which you can follow on Twitter @800GP.  If you are not a Bally Club member of the Mid Majority site already, but want to join to write about the site, contact Kyle via the form here to get a free code.  But make sure to give a good reason why you want to write about live mid major college basketball games.

Kyle has offered all of us a challenge.  That all of us is greater than each of us and the Mid Majority faithful can join together and write eight hundred plus live summary games. If the project succeeds, it will then likely be how the Mid Majority site works from now on.   And think about that, a forum for college students to become budding young writers or college basketball loving alums to write about their mid major teams.  I don't think there is any other site like that.  

It's this idea of a great college basketball collective writing stories about mid major teams that don't get the press the power conference teams have in their corner.   Eight hundred games.  It's a goal that the Mid Majority readers, and now writers, can attain.  That time starts tonight as college basketball season begins.

It's time to reach for higher ground.