FIVE MO' THINGS, 1/31/13
1) Guy takes a dodgeball to the face.
2) UC wins ugly. Again. No, these games aren't the most watchable. Yes, they still count. Cashmere Wright was as bad as I've ever seen him, save for a clutch three late in the game, and yet the Bearcats still won. This is a positive development. There were others, though time will tell if we saw anything sustainable last night. Cheikh Mbodj was very good. Titus Rubles did things besides jack threes. Kilpatrick took some shots from inside the arc. Jackson was a defensive force.
There was some bad too. They turned it over too much, continued to look stagnant offensively for long stretches, and missed a lot of opportunities to get some separation.
But they won. The deeper into the season we go, the more the result becomes all that matters. This three-game stretch that began last night, with the next two on the road, against teams the Bearcats should beat, is critical. So too is it that they find more known quantities before late February and March. Last night might have been a step in that direction. Ask me in a week.
3) The streak continues. Last night's Xavier/Dayton game at the Cintas Center was exactly what a Xavier/Dayton game at the Cintas Center usually is: great atmosphere, flashes of hope from the Flyers, XU making big plays the Dayton absolutely needed a stop, and UD almost literally letting the game slip away.
This game mattered a lot more if the winning team could use it as a springboard for a run these last five weeks. Neither team is very good, neither looks NCAA-bound, and both have been inconsistent on the road. If the Muskies end up making something of their season, last night will be looked back as the point during the season where young guys grew up a little and where their momentum started to build. If not, it will be nothing more than another blown chance for the Flyers to stop hearing about Jimmy Carter.
4) Super Bowl Party. Me and you at Willie's in Western Hills. The Bud Light Girls will be there with prizes. I'll be there with prizes, including a big-screen TV from Cincinnati Home Theaters. It will beat any of the lame Super Bowl parties your other friends insist on you attending.
5) Jerry Crasnick on Aroldis Chapman. He writes about the risk in moving him from the rotation to the bullpen. It's a decent read.
But Wait There's More...
-The return of Bill Walton to college basketball broadcasting has been the best off-court development of the season. Too bad he's often buried, as he was last night, on the late-night west coast games.
-Little kid runs on the floor during the Baylor/Oklahoma game.
-Scott Rolen might want to come back. Or maybe not. Money could be an issue. Of course it could be. It always is. If LA wants to pay him, let them.
-Your obligatory Manti Te'o video...
-Yeah, it's been short and sweet recently. Time management is not a strong suit. Actually, I don't know what my strong suits are. I'll take a crack at doing a radio show this afternoon on ESPN1530. This girl deserves an Emmy....
