Month: December 2023

Florida Gulf Coast (62) vs. Cincinnati (99) 12/03/2023

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Game #124 of 362 34% complete

This is the last of a three game set in the Cincinnati area. Of course, I would be greeted by a statue of the great Oscar Robertson. Once again, I had an unplanned 20 minute walk to the arena from my parking area reserved for visitors who are too dumb to figure out the parking rules. Because I spent too much time at the Underground Museum (comments later on), I did not have enough time to make the opening tip.

My seat was in the very last row of the arena. It was a bench reserved for families who let their kids run around during the game with an open area behind the bench. As I watched the first half, I searched for locations in the lower levels. Note to self: do a better job picking out seats on Ticketmaster.

When the first half ended, I quickly learned that the security is very tight for seating in the lower sections. The arena posts security around the areas of the lower seats so you can not even get close without a badge. I headed over to the side where there was no security area. I began taking pictures behind the section when the usher reminded me to stay behind the green line. I began a conversation with the usher who was doing a diligent job checking folks going to their lower level seats. The chatting began with why I was there for my Operation 351 mission. He was very interested and wanted to learn more. After awhile, I won him over and he snuck me into the last empty row of the section. Forever grateful to this unnamed but appreciated usher. (I don’t want to to get this gentlemen in trouble!) You can see the differences in the game pictures of the location.

Like the Dayton game, this was a blowout for the Bearcats from the opening tips. I have come to expect these results with games before league play. P5 teams need to fill their schedule early on with a patsy to boost up their record and provide game time readiness for the upcoming bruising league play. You hope for an upset to make things exciting but that rarely happens.

Victor Lakhin and CJ Fredrick, a transfer from Iowa, lead all scorers with 19 points. The undefeated Bearcats are not ranked so it will be interesting how they fare in Big 12 league play. Lahkin is the Bearcats’ leading returning scorer and led the AAC in field goal shooting last season. I was interested in seeing Simas Lukosius  who played in the Big East for Butler. I was always impressed with his play and wished that UConn had a shot with him. Unfortunately, he was recently struck by a car. He had a bruise on his leg and smashed the windshield of the car that hit him. He is doing okay and recovering nicely.

I always get a good laugh on games at half time featuring mascots. Some can not move their arms or see very well. Basketballs are bouncing off of their head. They fall down and need help getting back up.

As I was exiting the arena, I followed a crowd downstairs thinking that this would lead to an exit. Much to my surprise, fans were lining up to give high fives to the Bearcat players. I did as well even though I felt like an imposter.

The National Underground Museum is a must see on a visit to Cincinnati. The idea that slavery still exists today though forced child labor and sex trades was an eye opener. The museum had many interesting exhibits and gave the visitor a complete picture of the underground railroads in America.

Happy Holidays to all!

Grambling State (46) vs. Dayton (77) 12/02/2023

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Game #123 of 362 33% complete

The University of Dayton Arena is the site of the annual “First Four” part of March Madness.  The four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams playoff with the winners advancing to the next round. The most notable team coming out of the first four was VCU in 2011 who made it to the Final Four succumbing to Butler in the semi final.

The team has an phone application that most major college teams have. During the player introductions, fans were instructed to go to the app and activate a flashing light. This was pretty cool to see and a first in my travels.

Grambling State was overmatched right from the start. Nate Santos, a transfer from Pittsburgh, was on fire tonight. He was the high scorer with 26 points. He went 6-7 from three point range. Santos was hardly used at Pitt last year so I wonder what the story was there. He certainly looked like an ACC caliber-level player to me.

I thought it odd that the scores of the the individual players was nowhere to be found on the scoreboards.

The 20 minute walk from the overflow parking was invigorating in the cold breeze. I like to walk but admittedly the confusing and usually outdated parking instructions on the college web sites led me to keep on driving ’til I saw the last available parking lot. This lot is mostly reserved for the frugal fans who do not want to pay $20 for parking.

Obi Toppin was voted the top national college player of the year in 2020. He was drafted in the first round by the Knicks (my favorite NBA team) and floundered for two seasons before being traded to the Indiana Pacers. As happens with most Knicks prospects when they are traded, he is experiencing a rejuvenated career averaging 13 points a game.

I am trying to make it a habit to continue exercising on my Operation 351 trips. I am in the hotel exercise room looking out the back window. I see a few horses running around a track. I had no clue that the hotel was next to a race track. On Saturday night after the afternoon game, I visited and lost a few bucks at the the racetrack. It was however very cool to be positioned at the start and finish lines watching the horses run.

The mama and bay hippos swimming underwater and the huddled African dogs were my two favorite pictures from my visit to the Cincinnati Zoo.

On to the University of Cincinnati!

Houston (66) vs. Xavier (60) 12/01/2023

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Game #122 of 362 33% complete

The arena is better known as the Centras Arena but that sign was displayed on another entrance.

My first game of a three game set in Ohio begins with fourth ranked Houston playing at Xavier in the Big 12/ Big East Challenge. I was actually staying in Florence, Kentucky which is right over the Ohio border and close to the airport. I heard “Welcome to Ohio” or “Welcome to Kentucky” numerous times over WAZE as I crossed back and forth between states.

The students were in full force tonight as the Musketeers wanted desperately to knock off a ranked team. UConn, Marquette and Creighton are mentioned this year as the cream of the crop in the Big East. I am sure this has rankled Xavier’s fans thinking if only they had a healthy Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter. Both are out with possibly season ending injuries.

I usually root for the home team in my travels but I had mixed emotions tonight. Xavier is a rival to UConn however looking at it logically, a Big East win here would help all teams in the league come March Madness time.

I was most impressed with Houston guard LJ Cryer who transferred over from Baylor. He led all scorers with 23 points. Cryer is a very shifty guard who finds his way in the lane dropping tear drop buckets. He is very quick off the ball and difficult to stop on the penetration. To be honest, I was not excited about the other Houston players. Perhaps Houston had an off night but they did not play as a team ranked fourth nationally.

I am always on the lookout for players from Connecticut in my travels. Xavier guard Des Claude is from New Haven who played for Putnam Academy. Des was a consensus four star recruit and ranked 83rd in the country. This school is a machine for turning out college basketball D1 players, He was selected to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team by the league coaches last year. Xavier fans are looking for a breakout season from Claude. He was easily the best player on the floor tonight for the Musketeers. Although Quincy Olivari, the transfer from Rice, led Xavier with 17 points, Claude was the engine for Xavier’s offense.

I have a pet peeve for the scoreboard operators. I make it a habit to post a picture of the final score in my blog. Xavier keeps the final score on the board for a few seconds after the game ends and then flashes a “THANK YOU FANS’ in its place. They are not the only school to do this. I had not time to get a picture so what you get is the final score from the side scoreboard – small and distant. I can hear my mother saying “May all you problems be small ones”.

Any trip to Cincy must include a visit to William Henry Taft’s house in Cincinnati. I am sure most of us don’t know about the life of Taft but he held many positions in government including being the 27th president of the United States. Many of the lesser known presidents made for interesting lives. Taft was also the solicitor general of the United States, Secretary of War and a Supreme Court judge. I was given a tour of his home by a very knowledgeable tour guide who gave me a deeper appreciation of Taft.

On to Dayton!