DENVER - Friday's blog focused on the challenge of Denver's nonconference home schedule, so we wanted to break down the road games, too.
BTI Invitational (Nov. 12-14)
The Pioneers kick off the 2010-11 season in Eugene, Ore., at the BTI Invitational against Oregon, UC Santa Barbara and North Dakota State (the exact schedule has not been announced).
Oregon
has a long tradition of excellence, which spans from the Ducks winning
the very first NCAA Championship in 1939 to five NCAA Tournament
appearances in the past decade. New head coach Dana Altman takes over
Oregon after leading Creighton to a 327-176 (.650) record over the past
16 seasons and 13-consecutive postseason appearances. The Ducks lead the
all-time series with the Pioneers 5-1, but the teams have not met since
Oregon beat Denver 99-90 in the highest-scoring game in Magness Arena
history on Nov. 21, 2000. Former Oregon players Aaron Brooks, Malik
Hairston and Luke Ridnour all are currently playing in the NBA, while
Luke Jackson, Fred Jones and Alex Scales also appeared in the NBA in the
past five years.
UC
Santa Barbara earned a berth in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, their fourth
appearance overall and second this decade, after winning 20 games for
the second time in the past three seasons. This will be the first ever
matchup between the Pioneers and Gauchos. The most notable alumnus of UC
Santa Barbara is Brian Shaw, who went on to win three NBA championships
with the Los Angeles Lakers.
North
Dakota State made history in 2009, when they made the NCAA Tournament
in their first year of eligibility after turning Division I. The
Pioneers are 1-2 against NDSU with the Bison winning the last meeting in
2005. Current Colorado State head coach Tim Miles made waves while he
was the head coach at North Dakota State in 2006, when he led the Bison
to upset road victories over 12th ranked
Wisconsin, which had a 27-game home winning streak against
nonconference opponents at the time, and eight ranked Marquette.
Oregon
is in the midst of building the brand new Matthew Knight Arena, but it
is not expected to be completed until the Pac 10 conference schedule
begins in December. That means the first half of the season, including
the BTI Invitational, will be held at legendary McArthur Court, where
the pitch of the seats is so steep that the 9,087 fans seem to be
hanging over the court. The Sporting News named Mac Court the "best gym in America" in 2001, and Sports Illustrated ranked it as one of the 12 toughest places to play for an opponent in college basketball.
Boise State (Nov. 27)
The
Broncos won 25 games en route to the 2008 Western Athletic Conference
(WAC) championship and played in the NCAA Tournament. Basketball fans in
Denver may remember Boise State as the alma mater of Koby Karl, the son
of Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl. Although Boise State may be
best known for the blue turf in its football stadium, the Taco Bell
Arena has hosted the NCAA Tournament First and Second rounds eight times
since opening in 1982. Hoops fans may remember UCLA's Tyus Edney going
coast-to-coast at Taco Bell Arena to beat Missouri 75-74, sparking the
Bruins' run to the 1995 national title. The arena also hosted four First
Round games in 2001 that were decided by a total of seven points,
including the 58-57 upset by No. 15 seed Hampton over No. 2 seed Iowa
State, which was coached by Larry Eustachy.
Southern Mississippi (Dec. 7)
Speaking
of Eustachy, he enters his seventh season at Southern Miss, where he
guided the Golden Eagles to 20 wins and a spot in the CIT last season.
The Golden Eagles play in Hattiesburg, Miss., at Reed Green Coliseum,
where the team has gone 412-180 (.696) since opening in 1965, including
an 11-3 mark last season. Denver is 2-0 all-time against Southern Miss,
including a victory on DU's run to the 2005 Top of the World Classic
championship in Fairbanks, Alaska. The most notable alumni from Southern
Miss are probably Jimmy Buffett and Brett Favre, but from a hoops
perspective it's hard to overlook Clarence Weatherspoon, who played 13
seasons in the NBA after being picked ninth by the Philadelphia 76ers in
the first round of the 1992 NBA draft. And, of course, a favorite
Southern Miss alum around Denver is former Pioneers assistant coach Greg
Lackey, who has contributed insight during select DU games on
television and radio during recent years.
Wyoming (Dec. 14)
The
Cowboys are no strangers to the Pioneers. The two teams have met in
each of the last 17 seasons, the longest consecutive streak against any
DU opponent, and Denver has faced Wyoming a total of 142 times, the
second most of any DU opponent. The Pioneers beat Wyoming 80-77 last
season at Magness Arena, but the Cowboys have taken the last five
meetings in Laramie, dating back to 1998.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Nonconference Home Schedule - 8/6/10
DENVER - Head coach Joe Scott released Denver's 2010-11 schedule last week, and it's clearly the most challenging since Scott's arrival.
For this blog, we'll break down the nonconference home games, and then we'll do the same for the road games in the next blog.
Colorado State (Nov. 18) has really improved under head coach Tim Miles, who was hired within a few weeks of Joe Scott arriving at Denver. The Pioneers won the last meeting between the teams at Magness Arena 66-55 in 2008-09. The Rams have been to the NCAA Tournament eight times, including 2003.
Alcorn State (Nov. 24) struggled last season but has made the NCAA Tournament six times, including 2002. This will be the first ever matchup with the Pioneers and Braves.
Utah State (Dec. 1) has been among the best, most consistent teams in college basketball for more than a decade. The Aggies won 27 games last season en route to their third-straight Western Athletic Conference (WAC) championship, sending them to their 19th NCAA Tournament. Utah State has not had a losing record in 17 years and has played in the postseason in each of the past 11 seasons. Although the Pioneers hold a 35-31 advantage in the all-time series, the teams have not met since 1978.
Cal State Northridge (Dec. 4) nearly upset No. 2 seed Memphis in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, the team's second this decade. The Pioneers beat the Matadors 89-82 at Magness Arena last season, marking the highest point total for a Joe Scott-coached team during his nine years as a head coach.
Portland (Dec. 11) rattled off 21 victories last season and played in the postseason in the CIT. The Pilots finished just behind powerhouses Gonzaga and St. Mary's in the West Coast Conference last year. The Pioneers battled the Pilots last year in Portland, but UP pulled away late for a 72-62 win.
Northern Colorado (Dec. 18) enters this season under first-year head coach B.J. Hill, who was promoted after previous head coach Tad Boyle left for Colorado. The Bears went an impressive 25-8 last season, went to the postseason in the CIT and finished the season ranked No. 12 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The Pioneers will look to avenge losses to UNC in each of the past two seasons, including one of just four losses at Magness Arena in the past two years.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Dec. 21) won the play-in game of last year's NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual NCAA champion Duke in the first round. The Golden Lions rebounded last year after opening the season with 14-straight road games, including a 75-56 loss to the Pioneers at Magness Arena, to capture the SWAC Tournament title and UAPB's first NCAA Tournament bid.
Overall, six of Denver's nine nonconference home games are against teams that were at least .500 last year, and four won at least 20 games. The teams went a combined 150-144 (.510) in 2009-10, and five played in the postseason.
The Princeton Connection Continues: Since both men's basketball head coach Joe Scott and men's lacrosse head coach Bill Tierney came from Princeton, it's not uncommon to see a Tiger stopping in for a visit.
Last week, Matt Eastwick stopped in while traveling through Denver and even joined in a few games of lunchtime hoops, immediately improving the quality of play at noonball.
Eastwick is the only player in Princeton's storied history to start an NCAA Tournament game in four different years, when he led the Tigers to the Ivy League title each year from 1989-92 (between when Scott played for the Tigers and served as an assistant coach).
Along with some of the noonball regulars, former Pioneers David Kummer and Tom Chott have made multiple visits this summer. Kummer remained on campus after receiving his Master's degree in higher education, working at the Daniels College of Business.
For this blog, we'll break down the nonconference home games, and then we'll do the same for the road games in the next blog.
Colorado State (Nov. 18) has really improved under head coach Tim Miles, who was hired within a few weeks of Joe Scott arriving at Denver. The Pioneers won the last meeting between the teams at Magness Arena 66-55 in 2008-09. The Rams have been to the NCAA Tournament eight times, including 2003.
Alcorn State (Nov. 24) struggled last season but has made the NCAA Tournament six times, including 2002. This will be the first ever matchup with the Pioneers and Braves.
Utah State (Dec. 1) has been among the best, most consistent teams in college basketball for more than a decade. The Aggies won 27 games last season en route to their third-straight Western Athletic Conference (WAC) championship, sending them to their 19th NCAA Tournament. Utah State has not had a losing record in 17 years and has played in the postseason in each of the past 11 seasons. Although the Pioneers hold a 35-31 advantage in the all-time series, the teams have not met since 1978.
Cal State Northridge (Dec. 4) nearly upset No. 2 seed Memphis in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, the team's second this decade. The Pioneers beat the Matadors 89-82 at Magness Arena last season, marking the highest point total for a Joe Scott-coached team during his nine years as a head coach.
Portland (Dec. 11) rattled off 21 victories last season and played in the postseason in the CIT. The Pilots finished just behind powerhouses Gonzaga and St. Mary's in the West Coast Conference last year. The Pioneers battled the Pilots last year in Portland, but UP pulled away late for a 72-62 win.
Northern Colorado (Dec. 18) enters this season under first-year head coach B.J. Hill, who was promoted after previous head coach Tad Boyle left for Colorado. The Bears went an impressive 25-8 last season, went to the postseason in the CIT and finished the season ranked No. 12 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The Pioneers will look to avenge losses to UNC in each of the past two seasons, including one of just four losses at Magness Arena in the past two years.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Dec. 21) won the play-in game of last year's NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual NCAA champion Duke in the first round. The Golden Lions rebounded last year after opening the season with 14-straight road games, including a 75-56 loss to the Pioneers at Magness Arena, to capture the SWAC Tournament title and UAPB's first NCAA Tournament bid.
Overall, six of Denver's nine nonconference home games are against teams that were at least .500 last year, and four won at least 20 games. The teams went a combined 150-144 (.510) in 2009-10, and five played in the postseason.
The Princeton Connection Continues: Since both men's basketball head coach Joe Scott and men's lacrosse head coach Bill Tierney came from Princeton, it's not uncommon to see a Tiger stopping in for a visit.
Last week, Matt Eastwick stopped in while traveling through Denver and even joined in a few games of lunchtime hoops, immediately improving the quality of play at noonball.
Eastwick is the only player in Princeton's storied history to start an NCAA Tournament game in four different years, when he led the Tigers to the Ivy League title each year from 1989-92 (between when Scott played for the Tigers and served as an assistant coach).
Along with some of the noonball regulars, former Pioneers David Kummer and Tom Chott have made multiple visits this summer. Kummer remained on campus after receiving his Master's degree in higher education, working at the Daniels College of Business.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Sun Belt Academic Honors - 8/4/10
DENVER - The
Sun Belt Conference announced their annual Academic Honor Roll and
Commissioner's List last week, honoring student-athletes for their hard
work in the classroom, and Denver men's basketball was among the DU
teams strongly represented.
The SBC releases their lists during the summer after each school's grades have been finalized for the academic year.
The Commissioner's List honors those student-athletes who achieved a 3.5 grade point average, and there were 10 men's basketball players who did so. Six of them were Pioneers, including returners Travis Hallam, Chase Hallam, Brian Stafford and Tyler Thalken. No other team had more than one.
The Academic Honor Roll was a similar success story for Denver. Tom Chott, Justin Coughlin, Andrew Hooper, Kyle Lewis, Rob Lewis, Trevor Noonan and Nate Rohnert all earned at least a 3.0 GPA in 2009-10 to earn a spot. The seven players were the most among men's basketball teams. As a team, the Pioneers combined for a 3.32 GPA during the 2009-10 academic year.
In 2008-09, all 11 eligible DU men's basketball players made either the Academic Honor Roll or the Commissioner's List.
Pro Updates: The only two Pioneers to claim All-Sun Belt Conference First Team honors twice crossed paths yesterday at the Ritchie Center, when Nate Rohnert and Yemi Nicholson were wandering the halls.
Rohnert, who of course was an All-SBC First Selection the past two years, has remained a frequent visitor at the Ritchie Center, working out and hitting the hardwood as often as he can. That comes as no surprise to most of us around here, since Rohnert has been a gym rat since showing up on campus as a fresh-faced 18-year-old freshman.
Nicholson often stops by campus to say hello to old friends, when he returns from Europe each summer. Nicholson was an All-SBC First Team selection for Denver in 2005 and 2006. He was named SBC Player of the Year in 2005, when he led the Pioneers to their only Sun Belt Conference regular season title.
This is an exciting time of year for players like Rohnert and Nicholson, as professional teams around the world begin to fill their rosters. In fact, Nicholson just signed with Prostějov in the Czech Republic after playing last season with Pezinok in Slovakia and the previous year in Germany with Eisbaeren Bremerhaven.
Rohnert is talking to a few teams and hopes to have a deal finalized in the next couple of weeks. Likewise, Terrence Gordon, who has played in Tranas, Sweden, since graduating with both a Bachelor's degree and Master's degree from DU in 2006, is currently planning his next move.
The SBC releases their lists during the summer after each school's grades have been finalized for the academic year.
The Commissioner's List honors those student-athletes who achieved a 3.5 grade point average, and there were 10 men's basketball players who did so. Six of them were Pioneers, including returners Travis Hallam, Chase Hallam, Brian Stafford and Tyler Thalken. No other team had more than one.
The Academic Honor Roll was a similar success story for Denver. Tom Chott, Justin Coughlin, Andrew Hooper, Kyle Lewis, Rob Lewis, Trevor Noonan and Nate Rohnert all earned at least a 3.0 GPA in 2009-10 to earn a spot. The seven players were the most among men's basketball teams. As a team, the Pioneers combined for a 3.32 GPA during the 2009-10 academic year.
In 2008-09, all 11 eligible DU men's basketball players made either the Academic Honor Roll or the Commissioner's List.
Pro Updates: The only two Pioneers to claim All-Sun Belt Conference First Team honors twice crossed paths yesterday at the Ritchie Center, when Nate Rohnert and Yemi Nicholson were wandering the halls.
Rohnert, who of course was an All-SBC First Selection the past two years, has remained a frequent visitor at the Ritchie Center, working out and hitting the hardwood as often as he can. That comes as no surprise to most of us around here, since Rohnert has been a gym rat since showing up on campus as a fresh-faced 18-year-old freshman.
Nicholson often stops by campus to say hello to old friends, when he returns from Europe each summer. Nicholson was an All-SBC First Team selection for Denver in 2005 and 2006. He was named SBC Player of the Year in 2005, when he led the Pioneers to their only Sun Belt Conference regular season title.
This is an exciting time of year for players like Rohnert and Nicholson, as professional teams around the world begin to fill their rosters. In fact, Nicholson just signed with Prostějov in the Czech Republic after playing last season with Pezinok in Slovakia and the previous year in Germany with Eisbaeren Bremerhaven.
Rohnert is talking to a few teams and hopes to have a deal finalized in the next couple of weeks. Likewise, Terrence Gordon, who has played in Tranas, Sweden, since graduating with both a Bachelor's degree and Master's degree from DU in 2006, is currently planning his next move.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Spring Softball Game - 5/27/10
DENVER - Classes are
winding down at the University of Denver. That, of course, means
different
things to different people.
For some, it's a waiting
game until summer vacation. For
others, it's a time to cram for finals. For those of us around the
Denver
basketball program, it means we need to gather at a local diamond to
play our
semi-annual Players vs. Staff softball game.
The numbers were a little skewed this year because there were more players, and a few of the regular staff members were unable to attend (see note at the end of this blog). So, Andrew Hooper, Trevor Noonan, Rob Lewis and Alex Pickert joined Joe Scott, Mike McKee, Jon Jordan, A.J. Kuhle, John Fitzgerald and a blogger (who provided little defense and no offense) on the Staff team.
Nate Rohnert, Tyler Thalken, Chase Hallam, Travis Hallam, Kyle Lewis, Tom Chott, Kyle Chynoweth, Justin Coughlin, Blake Foeman, Brian Stafford and manager Tyler Martin played on the Player team.
The young team jumped to an early lead with two runs in the first inning and another in the second, while Martin pitched a masterpiece shutting down the Staff hitters.
With a strong wind blowing in from left field, both defenses buckled down in the middle innings. Chase Hallam unloaded in two at-bats, but McKee and Hooper both leaped up and robbed Hallam of would-be home runs - the kind of plays that may have been ESPN-worthy. On the other side, Coughlin made some plays in which he stretched his 6-9 frame to prevent a few sure extra-base hits.
The Staff found its groove with two out in the bottom of the seventh, stringing together three runs to tie it.
In the eighth, the Staff broke it open with another two-out rally, scoring four runs off six hits, and held on for a 7-3 victory.
The Players will be seeking revenge when the teams reconvene in the fall.
From Softball to Baseball: Mitch Hyder, the Voice of the Pioneers, was disappointed to miss out on the softball game.
However, his absence was highly excused.
Hyder was in Murfreesboro, Tenn., at the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship, where he was named the SBC Broadcaster of the Year.
As part of the honor, Hyder fired out an honorary first pitch at the tournament. When reached for comment, Hyder swore that he threw a fastball right down the middle.
Regardless of whether his pitch was indeed as good as he claimed, all of us would like to send our sincerest congratulations to Hyder for a very deserving award. He is a true professional, and we appreciate working with him and listening to him call so many games for basketball and all the other sports at Denver.
The numbers were a little skewed this year because there were more players, and a few of the regular staff members were unable to attend (see note at the end of this blog). So, Andrew Hooper, Trevor Noonan, Rob Lewis and Alex Pickert joined Joe Scott, Mike McKee, Jon Jordan, A.J. Kuhle, John Fitzgerald and a blogger (who provided little defense and no offense) on the Staff team.
Nate Rohnert, Tyler Thalken, Chase Hallam, Travis Hallam, Kyle Lewis, Tom Chott, Kyle Chynoweth, Justin Coughlin, Blake Foeman, Brian Stafford and manager Tyler Martin played on the Player team.
The young team jumped to an early lead with two runs in the first inning and another in the second, while Martin pitched a masterpiece shutting down the Staff hitters.
With a strong wind blowing in from left field, both defenses buckled down in the middle innings. Chase Hallam unloaded in two at-bats, but McKee and Hooper both leaped up and robbed Hallam of would-be home runs - the kind of plays that may have been ESPN-worthy. On the other side, Coughlin made some plays in which he stretched his 6-9 frame to prevent a few sure extra-base hits.
The Staff found its groove with two out in the bottom of the seventh, stringing together three runs to tie it.
In the eighth, the Staff broke it open with another two-out rally, scoring four runs off six hits, and held on for a 7-3 victory.
The Players will be seeking revenge when the teams reconvene in the fall.
From Softball to Baseball: Mitch Hyder, the Voice of the Pioneers, was disappointed to miss out on the softball game.
However, his absence was highly excused.
Hyder was in Murfreesboro, Tenn., at the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship, where he was named the SBC Broadcaster of the Year.
As part of the honor, Hyder fired out an honorary first pitch at the tournament. When reached for comment, Hyder swore that he threw a fastball right down the middle.
Regardless of whether his pitch was indeed as good as he claimed, all of us would like to send our sincerest congratulations to Hyder for a very deserving award. He is a true professional, and we appreciate working with him and listening to him call so many games for basketball and all the other sports at Denver.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Storytime - 4/12/10
DENVER – After Gordon Hayward’s short fell just short of giving Butler the 2010 NCAA Championship a week ago today, most fans probably put college basketball on the back burner.
For the Denver players, though, it was time to start thinking about next season.
The DU players began team workouts again last week. The NCAA allows two hours of workouts during most weeks that classes are in session, and the Pioneers spent an hour last Thursday working on a variety of drills. The team always works to improve, and this time of year is no exception. Many of the drills focus on the key fundamentals and how some of them can be done more effectively and efficiently.
This week, the Denver coaches will work out with two or three players at a time.
Reading Into It: Last Thursday evening after workouts and a few pickup games, a few of the players left the hardwood and headed to Slavens Elementary School, where they read books to the young students. These reading sessions have become somewhat of a tradition with the men’s basketball team, and it can be difficult to tell whether the kids or the players enjoy it more.
At Slavens, Rob Lewis, Brian Stafford, Travis Hallam and Blake Foeman took turns reading. Lewis started with a book called, “Jessica,” about a girl and her imaginary friend. Lewis and his teammates laughed as much as the kids during the story.
The event was part of a special DU group ticket program that rewarded schools for attending DU basketball games.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Day Three at the SBC Tournament - 3/8/10
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Spirits around the team are high following last night's 15-point win
over Middle Tennessee.
This team is running through shoot around at Lakeside High School, just outside of town. None of the teams can use Summit Arena, because of all the other games going on.
The players seem to be comfortable with the late starts this week, even if it means chicken sandwiches at an 11 p.m. dinner.
The team will get together around 4 p.m. for its usual pregame meal of chicken, pasta, veggies, salad and rolls. Other than that, everyone needs to rest up for tonight's game.
Speaking of tonight's game, it will be available on the Sun Belt Network, which means anyone with the Full Court package can view it, including most sports bars around Denver (and the rest of the country). It will also be available on ESPN360.com.
More About Hot Springs: Bridge Street in downtown Hot Springs is allegedly the shortest street in the world. At least, that's what Ripley's Believe It or Not declared it in the 1940s. It's a strange connector between two other diagonal streets that form a small triangle.
It takes roughly 45 steps to get from one end of Bridge Street to the other, and every year they host a parade on March 17. This year's edition is called "The First Ever Seventh Annual World's Smallest St. Patrick's Day Parade," and the grand marshal will be Bo Derek. Previous grand marshals have included John Ratzenberger (Cliff C. Clavin on Cheers), Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs), Mario Lopez (A.C Slater on Saved By the Bell) and George Wendt (Norm Peterson from Cheers).
The Irish Order of Elvi is also slated to march.
Food Inc.: Breakfast this morning was interesting, and actually pretty funny. Generally on the road, the team eats breakfast at a buffet, so everyone loads his plate with whatever he wants. This morning, however, there was no buffet opened, so everyone ordered off the menu.
The problem was that when they brought the food out, the table numbers apparently were mixed up, so each of the 12 or so tables ended up with food that one of the other tables ordered.
Because almost everyone in the travel party is easy-going, everyone seemed to just shrug and eat whatever the server put in front of him. It didn't take long before everyone realized what was happening, but by that point everyone was digging into their plate. And nobody seemed to mind.
Is that a Sign?: When you travel through enough town and along enough highways, you start noticing some strange street signs, messages on stores and other such attention getters. Here are the two best so far on this trip:
"T-Shirts and Concealed Weapons Permits"
"Dodge's Chicken and Check Cashing"
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 21
Total Mileage Flown - 16,609
Total Bus Miles - 1,752
Total Number of Hotels - 15
Total Number of Different Airports - 14
Total Number of Airline Delays - 2
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost This Year - 1
Total Number of Times the Team Bus Has Broken Down - 1
Total Number of People in the 24-Man Travel Party to Get What They Actually Ordered at Breakfast This Morning - 0
This team is running through shoot around at Lakeside High School, just outside of town. None of the teams can use Summit Arena, because of all the other games going on.
The players seem to be comfortable with the late starts this week, even if it means chicken sandwiches at an 11 p.m. dinner.
The team will get together around 4 p.m. for its usual pregame meal of chicken, pasta, veggies, salad and rolls. Other than that, everyone needs to rest up for tonight's game.
Speaking of tonight's game, it will be available on the Sun Belt Network, which means anyone with the Full Court package can view it, including most sports bars around Denver (and the rest of the country). It will also be available on ESPN360.com.
More About Hot Springs: Bridge Street in downtown Hot Springs is allegedly the shortest street in the world. At least, that's what Ripley's Believe It or Not declared it in the 1940s. It's a strange connector between two other diagonal streets that form a small triangle.
It takes roughly 45 steps to get from one end of Bridge Street to the other, and every year they host a parade on March 17. This year's edition is called "The First Ever Seventh Annual World's Smallest St. Patrick's Day Parade," and the grand marshal will be Bo Derek. Previous grand marshals have included John Ratzenberger (Cliff C. Clavin on Cheers), Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs), Mario Lopez (A.C Slater on Saved By the Bell) and George Wendt (Norm Peterson from Cheers).
The Irish Order of Elvi is also slated to march.
Food Inc.: Breakfast this morning was interesting, and actually pretty funny. Generally on the road, the team eats breakfast at a buffet, so everyone loads his plate with whatever he wants. This morning, however, there was no buffet opened, so everyone ordered off the menu.
The problem was that when they brought the food out, the table numbers apparently were mixed up, so each of the 12 or so tables ended up with food that one of the other tables ordered.
Because almost everyone in the travel party is easy-going, everyone seemed to just shrug and eat whatever the server put in front of him. It didn't take long before everyone realized what was happening, but by that point everyone was digging into their plate. And nobody seemed to mind.
Is that a Sign?: When you travel through enough town and along enough highways, you start noticing some strange street signs, messages on stores and other such attention getters. Here are the two best so far on this trip:
"T-Shirts and Concealed Weapons Permits"
"Dodge's Chicken and Check Cashing"
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 21
Total Mileage Flown - 16,609
Total Bus Miles - 1,752
Total Number of Hotels - 15
Total Number of Different Airports - 14
Total Number of Airline Delays - 2
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost This Year - 1
Total Number of Times the Team Bus Has Broken Down - 1
Total Number of People in the 24-Man Travel Party to Get What They Actually Ordered at Breakfast This Morning - 0
Saturday, March 6, 2010
First Day at the SBC Tournament - 3/6/10
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The
Pioneers are ready to start the Sun Belt Conference Tournament tonight.
It's a late start with an 8:45 p.m. local tip (7:45 p.m. MT).
The team left Denver on Friday morning and headed straight to Philander Smith College, where the team practiced for a couple hours.
Hot Springs is about an hour west of Little Rock, and the bus ran into some rush hour traffic on the way out of town.
However, the interesting part of the trip involved the bus going up a hill, when everything electric shut down and the bus rolled to a slow stop on the side of the highway. It turned out to be a minor issue, as the driver apologized, got out and went to reboot some sort of computer system. After that, the bus cruised without incident (although the company did switch buses after dropping the team off).
Everyone walked down the street and had a nice meal before the players went back to the hotel to rest up for tonight's game.
With 10 games taking place between Summit Arena and the Convention Center Court, the team did its shoot around at a local high school.
More on Philander Smith College: Hanging from the rafters of Philander Smith is the number of a highly recognizable player, even though he never played in the NBA.
Hubert "Geese" Ausbie graduated from Philander Smith in 1960 and immediately joined the Harlem Globetrotters and played with the team for the next 21 years, eventually becoming the "Clown Prince of Basketball" after Meadowlark Lemon.
Those of a certain age will also remember Geese from his role in The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island. He was also portrayed a few times on The New Scooby-Doo Movies, although he did not perform his own voice.
About Hot Springs: The boyhood home of Bill Clinton is surrounded on three sides by the Hot Springs National Park. The hotels are all within walking distance of the arena, and the downtown section is lined with restaurants and other establishments.
And, of course, there are taps in the middle of town, where people bring bottles to fill up with natural spring water. We were told last night that people come from miles to fill up on the water. Some even use it for bathing, and some have said it has healing powers, whatever that means.
Even though it's only an hour from Arkansas-Little Rock, Hot Springs really has the feel of a neutral site - a place where fans from every team can gather and cheer for their teams. Based on the number of team shirts, there are plenty of fans for every team.
In fact, there appear to be a lot more fans than last year, which could be because all 13 men's teams and 13 women's teams made the trip, meaning that fans knew their team would be here.
Thanks to trainer Pat Hoxsey, we have also learned more history about the area. For example, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Nationals, Chicago White Stockings and Boston Red Sox held spring training here, according to the Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce.
Among those people who vacationed in Hot Springs were Babe Ruth, Joe Louis and, of course, notorious gangster Al Capone.
According to the Garland County Historical Society:
Our most famous visitor down through the ages.... must have been Al Capone. During the prohibition era, Capone came from Chicago to strike deals with bootleggers in Hot Springs to stock his clubs in Chicago with alcohol. Not only is Hot Springs a remote town located in the middle of the Ouachita mountains, but the pine trees provide "cover" for the moonshine stills year round. Capone would ship his bootleg liquor in tanker railroad cars, and for protection, he had the words "Mountain Valley Water" painted on the side of the railcars!
In Chicago, Detroit, New York - when the heat was on because of a robbery or murder, the overlords knew where to come to relax in safety. Hot Springs was a sanctuary from prosecution and enemies. Gangsters could enjoy the entertainment of gambling, and be pampered with the hot mineral baths and massages.
At one time, Capone and his entourage occupied the 4th floor of the Arlington Hotel. (Legend has it that Capone always stayed in room 442, and that the Arlington Hotel has locked that room up and will not rent it to anyone to this day) Capone's arch enemy Bugs Moran and his gang were checked in at the Majestic Hotel, just one block away. There was no conflict, and no violence - both gangsters were on vacation!
Without giving away the location of the Pioneers this week, let's just say sightings of Capone's ghost are not out of the question.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 21
Total Mileage Flown - 16,609
Total Bus Miles - 1,752
Total Number of Hotels - 15
Total Number of Different Airports - 14
Total Number of Airline Delays - 2
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost This Year - 1
Total Number of Times the Team Bus Has Broken Down - 1
The team left Denver on Friday morning and headed straight to Philander Smith College, where the team practiced for a couple hours.
Hot Springs is about an hour west of Little Rock, and the bus ran into some rush hour traffic on the way out of town.
However, the interesting part of the trip involved the bus going up a hill, when everything electric shut down and the bus rolled to a slow stop on the side of the highway. It turned out to be a minor issue, as the driver apologized, got out and went to reboot some sort of computer system. After that, the bus cruised without incident (although the company did switch buses after dropping the team off).
Everyone walked down the street and had a nice meal before the players went back to the hotel to rest up for tonight's game.
With 10 games taking place between Summit Arena and the Convention Center Court, the team did its shoot around at a local high school.
More on Philander Smith College: Hanging from the rafters of Philander Smith is the number of a highly recognizable player, even though he never played in the NBA.
Hubert "Geese" Ausbie graduated from Philander Smith in 1960 and immediately joined the Harlem Globetrotters and played with the team for the next 21 years, eventually becoming the "Clown Prince of Basketball" after Meadowlark Lemon.
Those of a certain age will also remember Geese from his role in The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island. He was also portrayed a few times on The New Scooby-Doo Movies, although he did not perform his own voice.
About Hot Springs: The boyhood home of Bill Clinton is surrounded on three sides by the Hot Springs National Park. The hotels are all within walking distance of the arena, and the downtown section is lined with restaurants and other establishments.
And, of course, there are taps in the middle of town, where people bring bottles to fill up with natural spring water. We were told last night that people come from miles to fill up on the water. Some even use it for bathing, and some have said it has healing powers, whatever that means.
Even though it's only an hour from Arkansas-Little Rock, Hot Springs really has the feel of a neutral site - a place where fans from every team can gather and cheer for their teams. Based on the number of team shirts, there are plenty of fans for every team.
In fact, there appear to be a lot more fans than last year, which could be because all 13 men's teams and 13 women's teams made the trip, meaning that fans knew their team would be here.
Thanks to trainer Pat Hoxsey, we have also learned more history about the area. For example, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Nationals, Chicago White Stockings and Boston Red Sox held spring training here, according to the Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce.
Among those people who vacationed in Hot Springs were Babe Ruth, Joe Louis and, of course, notorious gangster Al Capone.
According to the Garland County Historical Society:
Our most famous visitor down through the ages.... must have been Al Capone. During the prohibition era, Capone came from Chicago to strike deals with bootleggers in Hot Springs to stock his clubs in Chicago with alcohol. Not only is Hot Springs a remote town located in the middle of the Ouachita mountains, but the pine trees provide "cover" for the moonshine stills year round. Capone would ship his bootleg liquor in tanker railroad cars, and for protection, he had the words "Mountain Valley Water" painted on the side of the railcars!
In Chicago, Detroit, New York - when the heat was on because of a robbery or murder, the overlords knew where to come to relax in safety. Hot Springs was a sanctuary from prosecution and enemies. Gangsters could enjoy the entertainment of gambling, and be pampered with the hot mineral baths and massages.
At one time, Capone and his entourage occupied the 4th floor of the Arlington Hotel. (Legend has it that Capone always stayed in room 442, and that the Arlington Hotel has locked that room up and will not rent it to anyone to this day) Capone's arch enemy Bugs Moran and his gang were checked in at the Majestic Hotel, just one block away. There was no conflict, and no violence - both gangsters were on vacation!
Without giving away the location of the Pioneers this week, let's just say sightings of Capone's ghost are not out of the question.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights - 21
Total Mileage Flown - 16,609
Total Bus Miles - 1,752
Total Number of Hotels - 15
Total Number of Different Airports - 14
Total Number of Airline Delays - 2
Total Number of Cancelled Flights - 0
Total Number of Bags Lost This Year - 1
Total Number of Times the Team Bus Has Broken Down - 1
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