View Full Version : Sometimes, i truly wonder wtf !
wkrq59
02-07-2015, 11:34 PM
Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, I joined my son at the Providence v. Xavier game at the beautiful Cintas Center, courtesy of MOR, following the annual meeting of the Lew Hirt Society, of which I am by grace of a dream sequence, an honorary member. My son and I saw one helluva basketball game, a contest between two very talented teams in the No. 2-ranked conference in the nation--THE BIG EAST.
I watched and despite my advanced years occasionally joined him in screaming my fool head off, yelling for my Musketeers as I used to some 50 or more years ago in old Schmidt Fieldhouse and later in the Gardens. I saw some remarkable basketball today.
I saw Dee Davis make one of the best defensive, YES, DEFENSIVE, plays I have seen this year in all of the TV games, not just Xavier's.
Faced with a sudden change of possession, Davis was the last line of defense between Providence player Kris Dunn and the basket and he barely had time to step in front of him. But in one motion he snatched the ball from the unsuspecting Friar and headed up court toward where we sat. He passed the ball to Myles Davis who was fouled and made both throws.
Providence missed the next shot, Jalen Reynolds rebounded the ball fed Dee breaking down court, Dee slammed the ball off the backboard to a screaming, trailing Reynolds, who like a Condor swooping in on its prey, grabbed the carom and slammed with both hands through the net leaving a near-trail of smoke in the cords. Cintas exploded in a sustained roar, J.P. Macura stole the inbounds pass. Game over. Xavier wins. Wow! Wow!
Later, in the quiet comfort of my northwestern Cincinnati lair, I wandered onto the internet. After a sizeable dose of Keopectate, I was able to write this. Why?
Weeeellll!
Here are some of the topics I saw in both Xavier's oldest chat rooms: "Poll: What should be done about Chris Mack?" Matt Stainbrook",and on MM "Are We Making The Tournament?" "Captain Stain." Most of those headlines were filled with comments ranging from negative to disgusting.
After reading through many of the posts on both sites, I wondered if I saw the same game. Maybe they were still hung over from the Creighton game.
So I checked the box score. Xavier won 78-69. Points in the paint-XU 36-22, OK; Points off turnovers, XU 19-13, OK; Fast break points: XU 25-8, OK; Bench points: XU, 53-14. Another wow. 30-30 in rebounds, OK, not so good. 24 assists on 29 made baskets--Teamwork personified, and Dee with 15 assists. But can he defend? (That's sarcasm there.)
Scoring: Myles had 14, Trevon Bluiett and Jalen had 19 apiece and Macura 10.
I could wail on here with recollections of highlights past. But why bother? I could extol the laurels of the late Dave Piontek, Tony Olberding, Frank Tartaron and Don Ruberg. I could cite the wonders of the rebuilding years and the growth of the program from that of an independent, to the MCC, the A10 and now the Big East. But again, why?
Well, I'll give you one example. Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, I had the pleasure of enjoying with my adult son, a Xavier victory in a wonderful arena on a campus I'm proud to call my alma mater. And damnit, no baby-like bitching is going to take that away. It may dull the thrill for a moment, but like a baby's wailing once its been fed, changed and "kitchy kooed" it's a memory and the whole day shines brighter.
Strange Brew
02-07-2015, 11:56 PM
I hear you Q and I'll admit I'm a blowhard, especially in Chat. Further, let me be clear (sorry Obama for stealing your line) I hate perspective threads but I am very proud of this team who beat GU twice this year (unfathomable to me as a kid who was 10 when X's twin towers bested the monsters of the Potomac) and despite their stumbles still has a chance to make the field of relevance in March.
So, let's go to brat-town with a hearse full of body bags.
LET'S GO X!
JAPER
02-08-2015, 07:16 AM
Q, great start to a new thread. Thanks. Two great basketball teams were on display yesterday at Xavier University.
LadyMuskie
02-08-2015, 08:16 AM
Most of the threads referenced on here were started long before yesterday's game. But, additionally, it's a message board. Its design is to allow fans to come together to enjoy success and wallow in defeat. As someone mentioned in the Providence thread, all fan bases do some "baby-like bitching" after loss. Is a loss in a basketball game the end of the world? No. Clearly one must have perspective. That said, as I've said before - if you're looking for rational perspective, message boards aren't the place to look.
Some of it is way over the top, but the majority of posts in those threads have been well thought out, contemplative, reasonable posts about a sometimes struggling team. Blind allegiance and unwillingness to accept that everything is not 100% is just as annoying as those over the top complaint posts.
Masterofreality
02-08-2015, 08:31 AM
It was my distinct pleasure to host the Great Q and his son yesterday. I'm glad that they enjoyed their perch from atop Section 103 yesterday.
Not only that, but I cannot say how happy we were that Brother Q was able to attend our annual LHS meeting in the Dana's Penthouse yesterday. It was not "by some grace of a dream sequence" that he is an honorary member, but by his tireless and diligent work, that he put in for many years...and many that I'm sure felt thankless...on the Cincy Post and Enquirer Sportswriting desk pumping Xavier whenever he could in a red and black dominated media. It was great to have Andy Mac and Joe Sunderman there yesterday as well. Two great guys and two other reasons why Xavier has made it to one of the best leagues in college basketball.
Q, just keep on keepin' on Brother. Won't be the last game we'll go to.
XfansinKy
02-08-2015, 08:40 AM
Most of the threads referenced on here were started long before yesterday's game. But, additionally, it's a message board. Its design is to allow fans to come together to enjoy success and wallow in defeat. As someone mentioned in the Providence thread, all fan bases do some "baby-like bitching" after loss. Is a loss in a basketball game the end of the world? No. Clearly one must have perspective. That said, as I've said before - if you're looking for rational perspective, message boards aren't the place to look.
Some of it is way over the top, but the majority of posts in those threads have been well thought out, contemplative, reasonable posts about a sometimes struggling team. Blind allegiance and unwillingness to accept that everything is not 100% is just as annoying as those over the top complaint posts.
Well put Ladymuskie. Also a nice post by Q. The last few years ups and downs have seemed to bring out "I told you so" after a win or a loss. I'm definitely guilty of sometimes posting off of emotion. Unlike some though, I do respect both sides when valid points are brought up. I said before on this board I believe we have some of, if not the most knowledgeable fans of how college basketball is supposed to be played. Yesterday was a really nice home win against an unranked opponent. After the Creighton loss, it was a great bounce back win and I give coach Mack credit for keeping things together rather than losing momentum.
X-band '01
02-08-2015, 10:33 AM
Unranked, but a team that ought to be ranked if you look at their overall profile. They can't get on a hot enough streak to get consistent Top 25 votes. Providence is a team that could be in the 5/6 seed range come NCAA Tournament time.
Yes,Q. All of it.
Different strokes, no accounting for taste and disposition aside........, being able to accept mistakes and failure and move on to the next possession, the next media timeout,Che next game, seems to be impossible for way too many posters. Ripping On our coach, our players, our team seems compulsory for some personalities, and it's disheartening. Always looking at the negatives, digging away at less than perfection like an infected sore, it's driving me crazy, diminishes the comraderie onn the board, and drives away fresh voices and new fans.
Part of watching highly competitive college basketball is that young men in the arena, in the heat of the moment and the game, make mistakes.....but can redeem themselves in the following possessions, games,seasons. If we lose a game we should have won, it's not as fun as winning, but it's not because of some moral absolute failure, inherent character flaws, or weakness of will... which is the constant, unrelenting message of regular voices on this board.
It's a beautiful game, played by talented, competitive young men. We are fortunate to have discretionary time and resources to witness them play together in the comfort of a very nice arena. The quality of opposing teams, players and coaches is as remarkable. There's no need to get all twisted and hating to enjoy the sport.
Great to see you Saturday Q, and you too MOR (although I thought you were supposed to buy me a beer...)
xudash
02-09-2015, 01:04 AM
You know, we expect a lot from these kids and the coaching staff.
Win or lose, we expect them to stick together. WE expect THEM to stick together, in order to improve and see the season through, all along while representing this great university in a classy way.
Please, if one or a few of you are thinking at this point that, "well, they're the players and that's their gig, and we're the fans and this is a fan message board so anything goes" you're missing the point.
No, it's not about what we expect of them. Besides, they're already learning competitive, communication, team and leadership skills that few around here can imagine.
And it's not, or it shouldn't be about 180-degree response tolerance here just because this is a message board.
You sacrifice your credibility if you choose to be over the top here. You may not get banned for doing it, and you can always take solace in the fact that this medium allows you to hide behind this bits and bites cloud, but you still represent yourself here in some fashion. I'm speaking past the stupid trolls who've decided to burn part of their lives by spending time here.
FANatic. Even that comes with certain expectations as soon as there are more than two fans.
BTW, according to the Holyland site, Seton Hall is melting down. We'll see if that's true, but the discussion is that there is dissension within that team and everyone wants Willard's head served up on a platter. All this following their home loss to Marquette.
I don't see us having that problem. Notwithstanding what happened against Creighton the other night, and given where we sit in the national pecking order, I still like our chances for having a solid season with what is a youthful team.
X-man
02-09-2015, 05:58 AM
What I expect to see from the team in every game is effort. Frankly when they play as if they don't care, I begin to wonder if I should care. And when that happens, it makes me wonder why I am shelling out $1K per seat each season to cheer them on. Effort and concentration is coaching. This is where I think Mack needs to focus.
bleedXblue
02-09-2015, 06:40 AM
I believe in keeping it real. Q always has great perspective. I think most of us love Xavier basketball and only want the best. It's hard at times to realize that we can't have it the way that we want it all of the time. It's been a pretty tough couple of years. I became a fan in late 80's and early 90's and have had the pleasure of over the last 20+ years to see a lot of great basketball with only a few bumps in the road. For me, it's about seeing progress and the program moving in the right direction. I was hoping for more this year, but it's still not over. On Saturday, our top 3 scorers were a frosh and two sophomores. Mack's been at the helm for 5+ years. We've moved up in league affiliation and lets not forget we aren't playing Fordham and Duquesne anymore. I stay a little bit edgy b/c I don't want to become complacent and accepting of anything less than deep tourney runs and winning the Big East regular season title consistently. I think X can realistically do that.
American X
02-09-2015, 09:05 AM
Thanks for the lecture and thanks for complaining here about content on another website. Glad you enjoyed the game.
markchal
02-09-2015, 10:34 AM
Without blowhards, without over-the-top passion, there is no program. 10,000 people aren't going to watch kids run cross country just because they run cross country for the school you went to. It's entertainment. Interest in the team, discussion about the team, people who are passionate enough to have strong opinions (even if they disagree with your strong opinions) about the team, are all good things. The idea that every fan should be a Pollyanna is either naive or, frankly, condescending.
gladdenguy
02-09-2015, 07:07 PM
Without blowhards, without over-the-top passion, there is no program. 10,000 people aren't going to watch kids run cross country just because they run cross country for the school you went to. It's entertainment. Interest in the team, discussion about the team, people who are passionate enough to have strong opinions (even if they disagree with your strong opinions) about the team, are all good things. The idea that every fan should be a Pollyanna is either naive or, frankly, condescending.
Public Reps
xudash
02-09-2015, 08:13 PM
Without blowhards, without over-the-top passion, there is no program. 10,000 people aren't going to watch kids run cross country just because they run cross country for the school you went to. It's entertainment. Interest in the team, discussion about the team, people who are passionate enough to have strong opinions (even if they disagree with your strong opinions) about the team, are all good things. The idea that every fan should be a Pollyanna is either naive or, frankly, condescending.
It is true that people who are passionate enough to have strong opinions (even if they disagree with your strong opinions) about the team, are all good things.
It's also true that a Pleasant Town, Pollyanna environment doesn't cut it here.
Perhaps some amount of blowharding spices things up.
Yes, strong opinions are fine, it's how they're delivered that differentiates some from others around here. Is that being condescending?
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