I got an email Tuesday night from Jeff Orleans, executive director of the Ivy League, wanting to talk about my column from Tuesday about the Ivy League baseball schedule.
At first I thought that I was getting called into the proverbial principal's office to hear a lecture about Ivy League rules, the principles of education and why the Ancient Eight is not a big-time athletic conference. But that's not what happened at all. Really, I should have given Orleans more credit -- he is very fair-minded and explains himself well. So here's what he told me:
The reason the Ivy League baseball schedule ends as early as it does is the fact that there is a rule against playing any sport during finals. I may not agree with this rule, which Orleans says has existed "since the beginning of time," but I understand why it is in place and it's pretty clear that this is never changing.
The current league schedule goes right up until exams for Penn and Yale, and the reason Penn is travel partners with Columbia rather than Princeton for baseball is the fact that Penn's and Columbia's finals (and spring breaks) are earlier than Princeton's and Cornell's.
In fact, Princeton and Cornell were still on break last weekend. So while Orleans admitted that "Everyone would say we'd rather play baseball in May rather than March," his hands are pretty much tied. Thirty years ago, when the academic calendars stretched later into May, the baseball season was also longer, Orleans said.
Orleans also said that there has been talk of expanding the roster limit for road trips from its current 20 or 22 (depending on the length of the trip). This way, teams will not be forced to use position players to pitch during the middle of the week, like Penn has had to do recently.
As for changing the schedule to Friday-Sunday format, Orleans said that the League is relunctant to add another day of travel for teams, and that the schedule for all sports are based around the least amount of travel possible to avoid missing classes and other disruptions.
So, it looks like the schedule can't be fixed unless all the schools move their finals back, which will probably never happen (and certainly won't happen just for baseball). However, I have one idea that could work.
First, I think if the schedule worked, the schools would play three-game sets Friday through Sunday like most other schools, because it's less taxing on the coaches and the extra travel wouldn't really be any more than for a basketball or football weekend -- maybe just one extra day on the weekend (and this would only be three or four weekends during the year).
Then, the schedule would have to be built around the schools' academic calendar, like the Ivy championship series is.
Using this year's schedules as an example, here's what I would come up with. (The NCAA Tournament starts June 2, so the season would have to be over before then)
March 24-26
Penn vs. Columbia
March 31-April 2
Penn vs. Harvard
Brown vs. Dartmouth
Columbia vs. Cornell
Princeton vs. Yale
April 7-9
Penn vs. Dartmouth
Brown vs. Princeton
Columbia vs. Harvard
Cornell vs. Yale
April 14-16
Brown vs. Harvard
Columbia vs. Princeton
Cornell vs. Penn
Dartmouth vs. Yale
April 21-23
Brown vs. Yale
Cornell vs. Dartmouth
Penn vs. Princeton
April 28-30
Brown vs. Columbia
Princeton vs. Cornell
Harvard vs. Yale
May 5-7
Dartmouth vs. Harvard
Cornell vs. Brown
May 12-14
Penn vs. Yale
Dartmouth vs. Columbia
Harvard vs. Princeton
May 19-21
Penn vs. Brown
Columbia vs. Yale
Dartmouth vs. Princeton
May 26-28
Cornell vs. Harvard
And the Ivy championship series can be May 30-31 (or the weekend of Cornell-Harvard if their series doesn't matter)
So, Mr. Orleans, if you read this, it can be done. I don't think playing past school matters -- it certainly hasn't affected other schools in the baseball tournament, although maybe commencements would be an issue, but that is for another day.
Just about everything Zachary outlined Penn needed to do in today's baseball game against St. Joseph's happened.
Yep, the Quakers were cruising along, playing sharp defense, making great pitches and allowing just a single baserunner through the first three innings on a spectacular day at Murphy Field.
If you left after three frames you'd think Penn and reversed course from three straight losses. You would have also missed 26 more runs which would score, 20 of them to the visitors, 12 coming in the fourth inning.
Yet again, errors were a big part of the game, but the Quakers made six of their seven for the game after it was already out of reach at 12-3. It might be easy to blame right fielder Michael Gatti for dropping a very catchable fly ball with the bases loaded in the fourth, but that play only led to one run scoring. In fact, it was really the only defensive miscue of the inning, which saw 16 batters face three different Penn pitchers.
From behind the screen, it looked like the surrender flag had been waved after the last out of that excruciating inning, and Penn essentially packed it in on just about all fronts. The team did score six more runs but gave up another eight, and that could have been more given the regularity with which relief pitchers danced with danger -- or rather men on base.
All in all, it'd be worth repeating Levine's strategy going into this weekend's doubleheader against Brown. Let's hope it actually works this time.
After yesterday's loss to Villanova, baseball coach John Cole told me that every game is an important one to win.
That being said, today's matchup against St. Joe's certainly wasn't one that anybody circled on the calendar. It's not an Ivy game, not a Liberty Bell Classic game, and the pitching staff is using the game to warm up for this weekend's Ivy contests.
But today's game is a vital one in one respect.
The Quakers infield, which followed an error-filled weekend against Columbia with six errors yesterday, badly needs a good showing today for state of mind.
Confidence around the horn is appeared to be at a low yesterday after a high throw, a low throw, a wide throw, a high throw, a booted ball, a flat-out drop and a botched throw back to the pitcher.
Throws looked tentative, heads were hanging, and Cole said that the errors "snowballed" into more errors.
So win or lose against St. Joe's, a clean game from the Quakers infield could go a long way to prepare them for Brown and Yale this weekend.
Congrats to George Mason, the No. 11 seed that defeated No. 1 UConn to earn a spot in the Final Four. It's a great accomplishment for the Colonial Athletic Association team and speaks volumes on on the new parity in college basketball.
However, with the win, George Mason has buried yet another piece of Penn basketball history.
Before today, a mid-major team hadn't been to the Final Four since 1979. And who played in that Final Four? None other than the Penn Quakers. Larry Bird's Indiana State team also represented mid-majors in the Final Four that year.
Now we'll see if George Mason can do what the two 1979 teams couldn't -- win a national championship.
There aren't too many good things about losing in the NCAA Tournament, but there is some consolation in seeing the team that beat you advance deep. Texas held its own in this year's tournament by advancing to the round of eight, something only one other team had done since 1987.
The Longhorns' loss to LSU tonight in the Elite Eight means yet again that the team to knock the Quakers out fo the NCAA Tournament will not win the national championship. Only one team to beat Penn in the Dance has gone on to win it all: Michigan State which defeated the Quakers in the 1979 national semifinal. Three teams, though, have played for the title while six of 11 have lost their next game since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Here's a look at how Penn opponents have fared later in the tournament:
2006: 2. Texas (def. Penn in first round) -- lost regional final to 4. LSU
2005: 4. Boston College (def. Penn in first round) --lost second round to 12. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
2003: 6. Oklahoma State (def. Penn in first round) -- lost second round to 3. Syracuse
2002: 6. California (def. Penn in first round) -- lost second round to 3. Pitt
2000: 4. Illinois (def. Penn in first round) -- lost second round to 5. Florida
1999: 6. Florida (def. Penn in first round) -- lost regional semifinal to 10. Gonzaga
1995: 5. Alabama (def. Penn in first round) -- lost second round to 4. Oklahoma State
1994: 3. Florida (def. Penn in second round) -- lost national semifinal to 2. Duke
1993: 3. Massachusetts (def. Penn in first round) -- lost second round to 6. Virginia
1987: 1. North Carolina (def. Penn in first round) -- lost regional final to 2. Syracuse
1985: 2. Memphis* (def. Penn in first round) -- lost natoinal semifinal to 8. Villanova
*Memphis' 1985 tournament participation vacated
1982: 5. St. John's (def. Penn in first round) -- lost second round to 4. Alabama
1980: 4. Duke (def. Penn in second round) -- lost regional final to 6. Purdue
1979: 2. Michigan State (def. Penn in national semifinal) -- won national championship (def. 1. Indiana State)
1978: Duke (def. Penn in in regional semifinal) -- lost national championship to Kentucky
1975: Kansas State (def. Penn in first round) -- lost regional final to Syracuse
1974: Providence (def. Penn in first round) -- lost regional semifinal to North Carolina State
1973: Providence (def. Penn in regional semifinal) -- lost national semifinal to Memphis
1972: North Carolina (def. Penn in regional final) -- lost national semifinal to Florida State
1971: Villanova* (def. Penn in regional final) -- lost national championship to UCLA
*Villanova's 1971 tournament participation vacated
1970: Niagra (def. Penn in first round) -- lost regional semifinal to Villanova
1953: Notre Dame (def. Penn in regional semifinal) -- lost regional final to Indiana
Penn coach Fran Dunphy set an NCAA record on Friday, just not the kind you want to set.
Dunphy became the first coach in Division I basketball history to lose eight straight games in the NCAA Tournament, breaking the mark set by Don Corbett of North Carolina A&T, who amazingly lost seven straight opening or first round games -- in seven straight seasons -- between 1982-1988.
Next on the list is another active coach -- Winthrop's Gregg Marshall -- who is 0-6 with the Eagles.
Although Dunphy's teams have been no higher than an 11 seed and thus have always been underdogs, the number of upsets in the Tournament dictate that a coach that goes as often as Dunphy does should win eventually. He does have the worst winning percentage of any coach to coach at least eight games in the Tournament.
Using the records of the seeds that Dunphy has been since the second round of the 1994 Tournament, there is only a 9 percent chance that Dunphy would have lost all eight games in a row. Looking ahead, if Penn is a 12 or a 13 seed in its next Tournament appearance, which is about its average in the Dunphy era, the odds of losing again drop to only six percent for a 12 seed and seven for a 13.
However, the odds for winning the game still are relatively low (33 and 20.5 percent, respectively) so don't be fooled like the guy who plays the slots a million times and thinks that he has to win the next one.
Although over time, Dunphy is probably due.
As a side note, Corbett's odds of losing all seven games was 16.8 percent (he played in two play-in games, was a 12 when that was the lowest seed, was a 16 twice, and a 15 and 14 once each), while Marshall's is 32.8 percent (a play-in, two 16s, a 15 and two 14s).
What did I do tonight after spending a week in Dallas for the NCAA Tournament? I headed to the Wachovia Center. But it wasn't to catch a sporting event. Instead, I saw a Billy Joel concert.
And can you guess what the Piano Man was wearing at the end of his set? A backwards Penn cap. He wore the hat, which featured Penn's new split-P logo and an adjustable back, for two songs: "Big Shot" and "Still Rock and Roll to Me."
I haven't been able to locate a picture of the hat online, but it seems Joel got it after someone threw it to him from the front row. When he emerged for his encore, the cap was gone.
Still, nice product placement for Penn in front of 20,000 screaming fans.
DALLAS -- Wow. It's our last full day in Dallas and we couldn't leave without having a little bit of an adventure.
If you've been following along with us this weekend, you know that it's been raining the last couple of days. That has continued all day today. And since Dallas is flat and not near any real big sources of water, there are some floods.
We didn't do too much today except for watch the games at the American Airlines Center. Towards the end of the Texas-North Carolina State game, the P.A. announcer -- who was a little confused at times throughout the weekend -- told everyone to look up at the massive jumbotron to watch some important news information.
Apparently, some area roads were flooded, and they were going to keep the arena open so people could hang around. We decided to go for dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse instead, and then tried to get back to the hotel. We had to abandon our cab about half a mile from the hotel and walk back the rest of the way through the flood because there was just nowhere else to go.
When we got back to the hotel, we found the basement flooded, as you can see here.
Then, when we walked up to our room (the elevators weren't on or working), we heard the following P.A. announcement -- There was no hot water, they had just restored cold water, and there is no room service, laundry or high-speed internet. We're really struggling here. OK, maybe not, but if we had to file stories from here, there might have been some trouble.
Now, it's off to the airport for a 6:20 a.m. flight. Thanks for keeping up with us.
Quote of the day:"I don't think we're going to be able to get up that far. You're going to have to walk some." -- The cab driver who took us back to our hotel tonight.
Number of basketball games watched:54 (eight mens games today and the Dartmouth/Rutgers women's game)
Stat of the day:
Number of DP writers who didn't go to dinner and were able to get back to the hotel before the road closed: 1
Number of DP writers who walked on an interstate highway to get around the flood: 1
Number of DP writers who got took his shoes off but got his pants wet walking through the flood: 1
Number of DP writers who took both their shoes and pants off to get through the flood and drew a number of looks coming through the hotel lobby: 3
Not a bad year to be in Pennsylvania. The commonwealth is doing fairly well so far in the in the tournament with a 4-3 record even though Villanova is the only team from the Keystone State still dancing.
Washington is the only state left with more than one team still in and boasts a perfect 4-0 mark thanks to Gonzaga and Washington. North Carolina, which got the most bids (five) has just one team left carrying its banner: Duke.
New York's representatives, Iona, Syracuse and Albany, all disappointed and the Empire State is an embarrassing 0-3.
Here's how each state in the tournament fared in the first weekend, including the play-in game:
Team (Teams still in/teams with bids) - record
Washington (2/2) - 4-0
Pennsylvania (1/4) - 4-3
North Carolina (1/5) - 4-4
Texas (1/2) - 3-1
Washington D.C. (1/2) - 3-1
Illinois (1/3) - 3-2
Louisiana (1/3) - 3-2
Tennessee (1/3) - 3-2
Connecticut (1/1) - 2-0
Florida (1/1) - 2-0
Massachusetts (1/1) - 2-0
West Virginia (1/1) - 2-0
Kansas (1/2) - 2-1
Virginia (1/2) - 2-1
California (1/4) - 2-3
Arizona (0/1) - 1-1
Montana (0/1) - 1-1
Kentucky (0/2) - 1-2
New Jersey (0/2) 1-2
Alabama (0/3) - 1-3
Ohio (0/3) - 1-3
Wisconsin (0/3) - 1-3
Arkansas (0/1) - 0-1
Colorado (0/1) - 0-1
Indiana (0/1) - 0-1
Michigan (0/1) - 0-1
Nevada (0/1) - 0-1
South Carolina (0/1) - 0-1
Utah (0/1) - 0-1
Iowa (0/2) - 0-2
Oklahoma (0/2) - 0-2
New York (0/3) - 0-3
DALLAS -- We've just posted a big photo gallery of Friday's Penn-Texas game on dailypennsylvanian.com, which you can view by clicking here. Enjoy.
Don't think we're enjoying picturesque days down here on the plains. Today was rainy and dark, not unlike a March day in Philadelphia.
This being Texas and all, we set out to find some good bar-b-que for lunch. We found a comfortable and fairly famous place called Sonny Bryan's in Dallas' West End. Each of us sampled the various meats and the reports are the brisket and pulled chicken were fantastic, along with several baskets of hot buttered rolls. We also ran into a handful of Penn fans who were sticking around for the weekend.
Across the street, we went up to the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository to explore the museum of the assassination of President Kennedy. There was plenty to see outside of the exhibits. An elderly man collapsed with a seizure and received medical attention. Fortunately he was OK. We also saw the NC State and Bucknell basketball teams who will be playing here Sunday. As for the museum, it really is creepy to look out the window and see the exact spot where the president was shot. It was also interesting to learn most of the people at the Parkland Hospital, where Kennedy was taken, had no idea the other man rushed to the emergency room with Kennedy was the governor of Texas.
We later ventured up to a district called McKinney Street North of the city. To get there we experimented with Dallas' light rail train called DART. How do you know you're not in Philly? The stations didn't smell like urine and the whole system works on the "honor system," meaning we probably didn't need to pay. We had our choice of restaurant after restaurant, finally settling for a Tex-Mex place where we had plenty of time to catch the west coast games since the service took forever. If you're scoring at home, the state of Washington improved to 4-0 in the dance after Washington and Gonzaga won today. North Carolina is 4-2, Pennsylvania and Louisiana are 3-1, while New York is a disappointing 0-3.
Basketball games watched: 45
Today's scoreboard:
Number of Patriot League wins in the NCAA Tournament in the past two years: 2
Number of Ivy League wins in the NCAA Tournament in the past 10 years: 0
DALLAS - Follow today's NCAA Tournament action live on The Buzz.
FINAL: Texas 60-52. The season comes to an end with a last hurrah as senior Eric Osmundson says goodbye with one last three-pointer with 14 seconds to play. Zoller and Danley say goodbye as seniors Greg Kuchinski and Ebede take the court. The buzzer sounds and we'll see you in November.
0:49 (second half): Texas 52-45. Jaaber banks a three-pointer, but Osmundson misses a driving layup with a minute to play, and Penn is in foul mode now.
1:29 (second half): Texas 51-42. Trading free throws won't be enough, as both teams are knocking them down. Jaaber misses badly on a three, and Danley has the ball stripped from him twice in one possession, then Tucker converts after an offensive board. Time is running out.
3:49 (second half): Texas 45-40. A priceless face from Dunphy as Osmundson's big three rims out. That would have been huge, instead, Daniel Gibson takes the ball to the hole for two straight easy layups and Aldridge will go to the line after the media timeout. Slipping away.
5:53 (second half): Texas 41-40. Brian Grandieri is really keeping Penn in this game. After Jaaber misses a layup on a fast break, Mr. Everything is there to clean up the mess for the easy two. A smart timeout by Dunphy, and Penn can take the lead on this possession. Surfing the Web, we found that Penn is the main photo on ESPN.com. "Upsets brewing," reads the headline. Still a way to go, but if Penn could somehow win this game, tonight jumps right into the discussion for biggest first-round upset in NCAA Tournament history.
7:48 (second half): Texas 41-36. Some nifty passing by Zoller and Danley underneath led to an easy layup, and Osmundson knocked down a big three, but Texas is playing superbly on the offensive end. They don't want to let the Quakers get any closer.
9:33 (second half): Texas 38-31. Aldridge is taking over and not even breaking a sweat. Two drives and dumps have left Aldridge with two easy layups and Texas with a seven-point lead.
11:38 (second half): Texas 34-30. This half in a nutshell: Jaaber turns around four feet from the hoop, finds no one guarding him and proceeds to fire up an airball. Eric Osmundson answers P.J. Tucker's layup for his first points of the game, and Brad Buckman's offensive foul gives Penn the ball after we return from a media timeout.
13:02 (second half): Texas 31-28. New signs of life delivered by Brian Grandieri on a three. But if there's one thing Penn hasn't been able to do all season, it's make foul shots, and David Whitehurst just missed two more.
14:46 (second half): Texas 31-25. Penn's condition is quickly moving away from serious and bordering on critical. Thirty-five seconds of offense is generating no looks at the basket and the four straight Texas free-throws are waking up this crowd.
15:56 (second half): Texas 27-25. After a subdued first half, Longhorns fans are coming to life as LaMarcus Aldridge converts Texas' first transition layup off a long rebound. A Zoller fould puts Aldridge on the line for two free throws. Danger time for the Quakers in a hostile environment.
17:28 (second half): Tie 25-all. Eric Osmundson calls the "Bucknell" out-of-bounds play. Maybe a little good karma in this building after the Bison's win earlier today over Arkansas.
19:30 (second half): Texas 25-23. What a halftime speech by Rick Barnes. Penn comes out and Zoller misfires badly on a three. Then Gibson comes down and calmly knocks down a triple.
Halftime: If you had told me Penn would be winning at the half despite shooting 28 percent, I'd say you have to cool it on the St. Patrick's Day celebration. But the stat of the night is Penn shot 6-for-14 on threes and 1-for-11 on twos. Zoller leads with nine points and Jaaber has eight.
Halftime: 23-22 Penn. David Burrick's contribution to tonight's buzz: "This is brilliant coaching. If this is Dunphy's last game, he's going out on top." Long possessions. Playing under control. A huge athletic mismatch is the only thing keeping Texas in the game. Note that this is the same gameplan that the DP crew devised at Hooters last night. Stats to come. Go crack open a cold one, and enjoy your endless halftime, presented by CBS' $6 billion contract.
0:37 (first half): 22-all tie. Doing his best shooting guard impersonation, Zoller knocks down another three to give Penn a 19-18 lead. And then another to make it 22-20. With a little fist pump. Our biggest key for Penn coming in was that the shooters had to be hot. And Zoller is heating up. But against Texas runs are never easy, and tonight is no exception as the Horns are keeping up.
3:41 (first half): 16-all tie. Bad news for the Quakers as Longhorns big man Brad Buckman knocks down a three off an inbounds pass. But Jaaber comes right back with a runner, a deflection on defense and an incredible save. Ebede whacks P.J. Tucker in the mouth for a foul as we head to media timeout.
6:30 (first half): 14-13 Penn. Penn takes the lead again as sixth man Brian Grandieri hits his first bucket: a three-pointer.
7:30 (first half): 13-11 Texas. Hangin' around. Zoller's three narrowed Texas' lead to two. We see our first of Friedrich Ebede since his groin pull in the Harvard game.
10:01 (first half): Possible NCAA violation sighting. The NCAA has banned all cheerleaders from performing pyramids more than two levels high in the wake of a scary fall by a Southern Illinois cheerleader in the Missouri Valley Conference championship. Penn's pyramid certainly looked to everyone on press row to have three levels.
10:51 (first half): 9-8 Texas. Jaaber, who has gained more confidence as this first half has gone on, hits two free throws and then Penn goes with the press, forcing a turnover, and a David Whitehurst three gives the Quakers their first lead. But then it's Aldridge again with a mid-range jumper. Is the gameplan to let him score 40 and stop everyone else? We'll see.
12:58 (first half): 7-3 Texas. Finally, Penn gets on the board as Eric Osmundson passes up a contested layup, kicking it out to Ibrahim Jaaber for a three. But then, Penn does the one thing it absolutely cannot afford to do, as Mark Zoller blows an easy layup. Aldridge has six of Texas' seven points and is having his way on the baseline.
15:00 (first half): 3-0 Texas. Penn appears to be playing this game the right way and shortening the game by lengthening the possessions. Of course a 30-second possession goes for naught if it ends in a turnover.
15:42 (first half): 2-0 Texas. For the second game in a row, Penn reaches the first media timeout still scoreless. Both teams look timid offensively on their first few possessions with the Quakers turning it over three times on their first five trips. LaMarcus Aldridge has a clear advantage over Mark Zoller and Steve Danley in the post, and he opened the scoring on an early turnaround bucket.
Pregame: Welcome to Texas. I don't care what Rick Barnes says about home-court advantage, but this is Longhorns country. More than half the crowd is decked out in burnt orange with pinky and pointer fingers in the air making the ubiquitous Hook 'em gesture.
Starting lineups:
Texas
G Kenton Paulino (6-1, Sr)
G Daniel Gibson (6-6, So)
F LaMarcus Aldridge (6-10, So)
F Brad Buckman (6-8, Sr)
F P.J. Tucker (6-5, Jr)
Penn
G Ibrahim Jaaber (6-2, Jr)
G David Whitehurst (6-3, So)
G Eric Osmundson (6-5, Sr)
F Steve Danley (6-8, Jr)
F Mark Zoller (6-7, Jr)
Here's a look at the goings-on durning yesterday's open practices and media day at the American Airlines Center.
Click here for our Media day photo gallery.
DALLAS -- It's been a long time since Penn played a new opponent this season because of the return trips in the Ivy League. But today, the 15th-seeded Quakers get the 2nd-seeded Texas Longhorns.
Because Texas is the higher seed, it will be wearing its white uniforms, which look like this. Penn has already seen this Nike template of uniform with Yale earlier this year. And because of the bizarre Ivy League rule about uniforms on the weekend, Penn has seen the white version twice already, once at home and once on the road -- which incidentally was the game in which Penn clinched its NCAA Tournament berth.
I think the template is fine, and I also have to compliment Texas on wearing different shooting shirts than the Nike template, which is worn by lots of other teams. You'll notice that Texas has a shooting shirt of this style here but they weren't wearing it yesterday.
Now, for the Quakers, the word is that they will probably be wearing blue, which has been their main road color this year. Penn went is 7-2 in blue this year.
In its three previous trips to the NCAA Tournament before this one, Penn has gone with the blue, losing to Boston College last year, Oklahoma State in 2003 and Cal in 2002.
Before that, Penn was in red for three straight trips, losing to Illinois and Florida in 1999 and 2000 (photos before 2002 are hard to come by online).
After a little research, I went back to the 1979 season, when Penn went to the Final Four, to see what colors it has been wearing. One interesting note is that in the three years that Penn won a game, it wore the same color throughout the Tournament. Two of those years were red, 1979 and most recently, 1994, when Penn beat Nebraska.
In 1980 Penn wore blue and reached the second round. So including 1979, Penn is 5-5 in red and 1-9 in blue. I think it's obvious what they should wear today, but it doesn't look like it will happen.
Enjoy the game.
DALLAS -- It was a glorious media day today at the American Airlines Center. I've got to give Mark Cuban and the rest of the guys behind this arena all the credit in the world. It is by far the nicest stadium I have ever been in.
But the day started with a quick visit to the Grassy Knoll (after all, we are in Dallas) where we bumped into the Penn team. A CBS cameraman was there following around the team, probably for footage during tomorrow's tournament game. Steve Danley was wearing a mic.
The best open practice of the day belonged to Memphis. Picture this: on one end of the court, every player on the team engages in a slam dunk contest; on the other end, coach John Calipari plays baksetball with bunch of little boys. Looks like their game plan for tomorrow against Oral Roberts involves lots of jams and five-year-olds. Should be interesting.
And the day ended with a bang, as we dined at the only West End establishment that was a) open at 11 p.m., b) not too expensive and c) wasn't Friday's. Of course, we're talking about Hooters.
Without further ado, here's the quick daily recap of how we're doing and a quick scoreboard that will change topic every night. So long, and remember, coyotes wail along the trail (clap, clap, clap, clap) deep in the heart of Texas.
Quote of the day: "In the paper the other day [Texas coach] Rick Barnes had a quote about how well we dribble and that's when I knew they hadn't started watching our film." -- Steve Danley
Basketball games watched so far on this trip: 21 (All the NCAA Tournament games, and a couple NIT and ESPN Classic matchups to boot)
Nightly scoreboard
Number of Dallas Maverick players that we saw and actually recognized -- 2 (Keith Van Horn and Devin Harris)
Number of Dallas Mavericks we saw but had no idea who they were -- 1
DALLAS -- Greetings from the bowels of the American Airlines Center, where the Dallas Mavericks' practice court has been transformed into the media center for this weekend's NCAA Tournament games. All eight teams are having open practices and press conferences today, and with that many players and coaches around you can be sure there will be plenty of interesting things said. So I'll try to post the best of them here.
You can also listen to the Penn and Texas press conferences in their entirety by visiting our friends at Basketball U. The Texas players on the podium were P.J. Tucker, Daniel Gibson and LaMarcus Aldridge; Penn sent up an entire starting five of Ibrahim Jaaber, Eric Osmundson, Mark Zoller, Friedrich Ebede and Steve Danley. I suspect that will be the starting lineup tomorrow, especially because Ebede said he is in pretty good health at this point. Remarks from Quakers coach Fran Dunphy and Longhorns coach Rick Barnes are separate files and are included in their entirety as well at the above link.
The Bucknell press conferences are also available in their entirety at Basketball U. Bucknell's players on the dais were Chris McNaughton, Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt. For Penn fans, Bison coach Pat Flannery had some interesting things to say about scholarships in the Patriot League and how his team has improved so much over the last two years.
If you're a Bison fan, thanks for dropping by. You should be warned, though, that the Arkansas folks are talking a lot about how many of their fans are going to make the short trip from Fayetteville to Dallas, and about the large Razorbacks alumni base in this city. Between that and the Texas fans who will jam this place to watch the Longhorns take on Penn, the atmosphere should be quite fun here all day tomorrow.
Personally, I think it would have been great for Penn and Bucknell to play each other this season. The Quakers and Bison played each in each of the last two seasons (Penn won last year's meeting at the Palestra, 65-52, and holds a 4-1 advantage overall), and with both teams' talent this year there would have been some good basketball on display.
So without further ado, the best quotes of today -- from schools other than Penn and Texas, that is, because for those you're going to have to read tomororw's paper:
"Certainly, a part of our fabric is Princeton-based, and we have borrowed or stolen a lot of the concepts that we employ from that family of coaches that comes under the umbrella of 'Princeton.' But we've also tried to adapt to fit our team and certainly run the offense very much different than Princeton does. And they would probably be the first to tell you that."
-- N.C. State coach Herb Sendek on the nature of his offensive system, which has been called a Princeton offense by many observers.
"I didn't like playing against Herb then and I don't like playing against him now."
-- Cal coach Ben Braun on facing Sendek again after doing so in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Cal won that game, 76-74 in overtime.
"I'm like a kid in a candy store, just looking around at all these new things."
-- Cal sophomore forward Leon Powe,, who is playing in his first NCAA Tournament. The Golden Bears last made the Tournament in 2003 (and in 2002 they beat Penn in Pittsburgh, 82-75 in the first round).
"I try to compare it to the soccer FA Cup ... They really have no idea."
-- Cal forward Richard Midgely, a native of Burgess Hill, England, on how he tries to explain the importance and atmosphere of the NCAA Tournament to his friends back home.
"English soccer fans, easily."
-- Midgely, answering a reporter's question on whether American college basketball fans or English soccer fans are more passionate.
"They want it as bad as I want it for them."
-- Memphis coach John Calipari, who said that this year's Memphis team and his 1996 Massachusetts team that reached the Final Four are the only teams he has ever coached for which that has been the case.
"They have to say something on these shows. So you look at it and say how can I be a genius, how can I pick an upset?"
-- Calipari on television analysts.
"We're going to go out [and] play like we're a 5 seed, a 12 seed."
-- Memphis guard Darius Washington, Jr., after being asked his opinion who think his team is overrated.
"I would describe our fans as pit bulls -- very loving and loyal people but they can also be very nasty sometimes."
-- Arkansas forward Jonathan Modica on the nature of Razorbacks fans.
And since you've read this far, one good Penn quote:
"The older I get, the better I was."
-- Quakers coach Fran Dunphy responding to a compliment from CBS color analyst Bob Wenzel about Dunphy's playing days at La Salle. Wenzel also knows Penn athletic Director Steve Bilsky well, having played for Rutgers against Bilsky's Quakers in 1970 and 1971.
DALLAS -- Life is good when you're a basketball player.
While the team flew directly from Philadelphia to Dallas this morning, last minute tickets like that weren't quite affordable on a sportswriter's budget. So we did it the cheap way.
Train to BWI last night. Sleep at the airport so we could get an early flight on the cheapest airline possible. Flight to Denver this morning (apparently our editors aren't geography majors). Then a flight from Denver to Dallas. Then a ride from DFW to our hotel with a friendly cabbie who has quite the future as a tour guide.
But 20 hours after leaving the friendly confines of 4015 Walnut Street, we're here.
And on the bright side, I can now claim that I've been to Colorado, even if my entire existence in our most rectangular of states was eating a bad airport burrito and riding the futuristic train through the terminal.
So here's the quick daily recap of how we're doing and a quick scoreboard that will change topic every night. So long, and remember, the eyes of Texas are upon you.
Quote of the day: "It's Texas. If you don't like the weather, wait a minute." -- Our taxi driver
Basketball games watched: 5 (Two NIT games and three games on ESPN Classic provided by Frontier Airlines, which offers DirecTV in the seats)
Nightly scoreboard
Friendly Texans met -- 2
Unfriendly Texans met -- 1 (cutting off a friendly cabbie on I-35 will not win over my heart)
This is the most exciting week of the year. The NCAA Tournament is just hours (yes, I'm counting in hours) away, and there's no denying college hoops fans can't wait to get the show on the road. Here are a few odds and ends from the sea of tourney hype:
Word on the street:Sould we be surprised all the attention in Philly is focused on Villanova? Absolutely not. But don't think people aren't paying attention to the Quakers. The three big local TV stations and Comcast SportsNet had camera crews at Penn's last practice before the trip to Dallas yesterday. First question for Penn coach Fran Dunphy: so have you heard from Temple? His answer: No, and all I'm interested in now is Penn, Texas and the NCAAs.
Southern Quakers: Gary Susswein of the Austin American Statesman listed several reasons Texas fans should pay attention to the Red and Blue. Among them, the Palestra and that 13-point loss to Duke, compared to the Longhorns 33-point blowout. Whether or not burnt-orange fans will listen to this Penn grad is up in the air.
Who's got Tucker: In Penn's full practice yesterday, Dunphy and assistant coach Dave Duke went through plenty of sets they expect to see from Texas Friday night. Adam Franklin played the part of Big-12 Player of the Year P.J. Tucker, while Brennan Votel was Brad Buckman. Freshman Cam Lewis filled the shoes of LaMarcus Aldridge.
Can I get a pair: Dallas-bound fans looking for tickets to Friday's game are in luck. Ticketmaster will be selling a limited number of seats at 3 p.m. tomorrow. Tickets for Friday's second session which includes Bucknell-Arkansas and Penn-Texas cost $50 plus service charges.
With yesterday's retirement of long-time Temple coach John Chaney, Penn coach Fran Dunphy's name has been mentioned in several sources as a possible successor.
There was even a story in the Albany Times-Union about the possible departure of Penn alum and current Siena coach Fran McAffery to Penn if Dunphy leaves for Temple.
After the scene two summers ago where Dunphy was heavily rumored to take over at his alma mater La Salle, and eventually declined, I personally doubt that Dunphy will leave Penn for Temple. However, anything's possible.
But most importantly, I hope that everyone can realize that Dunphy is going to Dallas this weekend to play a game against a top-10 team, and not turn Thursday's pre-game press conference and Friday's post-game talk into the rumor mill.
Let him prepare for Texas and then digest what happened before the bombardment of questions begins.
This week should be about Penn's season and their chances against Texas, not about Dunphy. And besides, we all know how much Dunphy loves talking about himself, so there probably wouldn't be too much information there either.
Here's the scene from tonight's selection show party at World Cafe:
Greg Gumbel: ...And on Friday in Dallas, the number two seeded Longhorns will play...
[Complete silence]
Gumbel: the champions of the Ivy League, the Penn Quakers...
[Complete silence]
[Obligatory applause]
OK, so 180-degree turn from last season's "Wow, we could actually play with those guys." This was more of a shock and awe.
Now you're not going to hear one disparaging comment about the pairing or anything else about the tournment from Fran Dunphy or his players -- they have too much class for that. But that's what talking heads are for. This pundit thinks the Quakers got the short end of the stick.
It's one thing to be a 15-seed, and that was probably deserved given the two losses to abysmal Ivy teams. But being one of the bottom two 15s is incredible. Belmont (20-10, 115 RPI) gets a gift of a game against UCLA in San Diego. Winthrop, whose only claim to fame is a win over Marquette in mid November gets another prize pairing with spiraling Tennessee (which ended up two seeds higher than it deserved). It's a strange, strange bracket.
All in all, it's disappointing a Penn team with as much talent as this one will not get the stage on which to show it. The strengths of Dunphy's team this season -- ball handling, guard defense and forcing turnovers -- won't go very far against the size and physicality of Texas. Oh yeah, and it's a home game for the Horns.
Looks like the selection committee saw the team that scored 12 points in the first half at Princeton rather than the team that played 40 good minutes with Duke and took Villanova to the wire.
We'll certainly have more time to break down this matchup for you both here and in the DP starting tomorrow.
Also, you might be interested to know that Temple and Saint Joseph's will be representing the Big 5 in the NIT. La Salle was a late snub, which means all five city league teams will not have a postseason. While the Big 5 has gotten four teams in several times, all five have never made the NCAA or NIT in the same year.
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