Men's Basketball
Rob Greenfield
I don't know about putting makeup on and putting my hair up, but Bruce Springsteen pretty much had the rest of it right. I made it down to AC about an hour and 15 minutes ago, despite the overwhelming traffic at the George Washington bridge and a near-accident thanks to a driver with some serious road rage. I left at 11:15 from Amherst after a Dunkin Donuts run and here's my one significant observation from the ride down that isn't at all original: Nickelback's music all sounds the same, except for "Far Away," which is a decent tune if you are comfortable with your masculinity.
I entered an empty Boardwalk Hall at about 4:45. This place is huge. And not meant for basketball. There is about 30 yards of space between the end of the stands and a gigantic painting of a ship that stretches the length of the wall vertically. It's more of a place for the Rolling Stones than for a basketball tournament, but it's a festive and artistic venue nonetheless. Boardwalk Hall is essentially inside Trump Plaza, which has a not-so-subtle, illuminated sign on the side of it so drivers can see it from about 10 miles away on the expressway into the city.
The Minutemen were on the court shooting around about an hour before the game and they came out of the tunnel to warm up 30 minutes before game time. The illness that temporarily swept the team doesn't look like it has a hold on it anymore. Luke Bonner, who missed practice on Monday because of sickness, was bouncing around the court before the teams came out to warm up. Matt Pennie still looks a little under the weather, but Rashaun Freeman and Stephane Lasme look close to 100 percent. I asked Bonner how he was feeling before the game because he was coughing profusely in warmups, and I got a "good enough" before he went back to practicing some 3's before game time.
The UMass band is here and is playing loud and proud with a small contingent of UMass fans sitting in the seats behind them to help out with the cheers. Sam the Minuteman made the trip as well, and made his first appearance about 20 minutes before game time. More on the game after things calm down here.
My predictions for the first round of the tournament were somewhat off. I still can't figure out the huge Dayton victory over Charlotte, because all signs pointed to the 49ers taking that one.
Saint Louis edged Duquesne by one point, Fordham beat Richmond by a slim two points and St. Joe's came back in the second half against Temple to take its first round game. Dionte Christmas, the A-10's leading scorer, tallied just seven points in the game. I picked Temple over St. Joe's, and said something along the lines of, "Christmas will be too much for the Hawks to handle." Oops.
Check back for more stuff after the UMass game.
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