Month: February 2024

University of Alabama – Birmingham (70) vs. Tulsa (63) 02/11/2024

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Game #128 of 362 35% complete

As you can see, I was sitting behind the ESPN announcers. I was surprised at the low turnout of the crowd for a Sunday afternoon game. Perhaps the reason was that it was Super Bowl Sunday.

The American Athletic Conference brought in 6 new teams this year. The turnover at these smaller conferences resembles the transfer portal where the best teams or individual players are always looking for higher ground. The conference did strengthen itself this year with the addition of Florida Atlantic (a final four participant) and North Texas who defeated AAC fellow member UAB in the 2023 NIT final. As a UConn fan, I wish the AAC members nothing but success but I am glad that we are in the Big East.

I had a great seat sitting in the second row right behind the ESPN announcers. The analyst was Pooh Richardson who I remember from his UCLA days. I took a picture of me on the TV monitor at the game and on on the replay when I got back home as you can see below.

The UAB coach was Andy Kennedy who has been a familiar face with his tenure at Cincinnati and Ole Miss. He never looked happy on the sideline regardless of who was winning.

Another first in the Operation 351 mission is a player who has the same first and last name. UAB has a player named Tony Toney. Another unusual name was UAB forward Yaxel Lendeborg who was the best player on the court and a probable all league selection. He and teammate Eric Gaines led the UAB Blazers with 17 points.

If you had to come up with a costume resembling a Hurricane, this will do I guess.

I was impressed by a display honoring the POWs and MIAs in the concourse.

Tulsa made the Elite 8 in the year 2000 eventually succumbing to North Carolina 59-55. The concourse had a team picture for this event which was the highest the Hurricanes have gone in the NCAA tournament.

UAB pulled away in the end and was the best club on the floor. The Blazers now have an overall record of 16-8 placing them on the March madness tournament bubble.

I have 2 more games to go in my Operation 351 season visiting Myrtle Beach for games with Costal Carolina and UNC Wilmington.

Georgia (75) vs. Arkansas (78) 02/10/2024

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Game #127 of 362 35% complete

When I started this quest 9 years ago, I had many goals and wishes. At the top of the list was the desire to see an Operation 351 game with my grandchild who did not exist at the beginning of this journey. Welcome Jack my 3 1/2 year old grandson to this crazy quest!. May there be many games in the future with Grampy. My granddaughter Lily will soon be old enough to join me as well.

Of course, an Arkansas basketball and a stuffed razorback were bought by me as souvenirs for Jack.

Arkansas and Georgia are not exactly lighting up the SEC this year. Overall, the SEC has seen better days led by Kentucky and surprising South Carolina. But as in any SEC league game, the crowd was fired up.

Who can forget the Arkansas team who won the national championship in 1994 taking down Duke? Sophomores Corliss Williamson and Scotty Thurman were the leaders of that team. I remember Arkansas native President Clinton embracing Coach Nolan Richardson on the court when the Hogs won it all.

I always point out the firsts on my journey. There were two in this game. This first was a race of corgis during half time. The black corgi in the middle raced quickly to blow away his opponents. I also counted 5 times when an Arkansas player stepped on the end line. That has to be a Operation 351 record.

During one timeout, a freaking alarm went off with a buzzer and red lights flashing throughout. I was ready to evacuate but it was a precursor to a “cheer” video on the scoreboard. If you are regular to the Arkansas home games, it was no big deal. Not cool!

I lost track of the number of times I saw the word “Walton” traveling to the arena. Sam Walton began Walmart. Walmart is king in this area including the home arena. Bentonville has the Walmart corporate offices and resides next to the city of Fayetteville, the home of the University of Arkansas.

The game itself was nip and tuck from start to to the end. Arkansas’s tough defense held Georgia under their season average on offense. Neither of these teams will be in March Madness unless they win the league tourney.

RIP Toby Keith. A number of his songs were played during the timeouts.

Jack had a great time. Grampy can not wait till his next game.

UNC Asheville (71) vs. Charleston Southern (65) 01/27/2024

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Game #126 of 362 34% complete

I made the one and a half hour drive from Columbia to North Charleston in plenty of time for the 5:30PM start. The Buccaneer Field House with a capacity of 881 seats is the second smallest basketball Division 1 arena. The smallest is the G.B. Hodge Center in Spartanburg, SC with a capacity of 878 seats. This is the home of the University of South Carolina Upstate Spartans. I wonder if there was a competition between the two schools perhaps with the Spartans ripping out 5 seats to attain this honor.

I was sitting in the first row right in the middle of the court. An elderly gentlemen that was escorting an even older man sat next to me and quickly introduced himself. His name was Brooks and was a season ticket holder. He went to to Charleston Southern on a golf scholarship in 1965 so one can guess his age from that. We exchanged pleasantries and continued a running conversation throughout the game. He was well versed on every player of the Charleston Southern team. He was not afraid to yell at the refs and even at the UNC Asheville coach. He made my evening a memorable one. I prefer the small arenas and meeting up with folks like Brooks. I told him about my Operation 351 mission and he offered to put me up if I am ever in the Charlestown area to see other schools. This was Southern hospitality at its best.

The arena had a banner that said “EDIG”. It was on the players warmups as well. Brooks informed that it meant “Every Day is Game 7”.

Brooks said that most of the starters from last year entered the portal and are now with other schools. He said that the mid majors are turning into farm clubs for the power schools. He is sadly correct and makes me concerned about the future of college basketball. Will it turn into something like the major league baseball where the most money buys the best teams? I am in favor of the players be compensated for their name and likeness but the influence of big donors can not be good for the sport.

Buccaneer RJ Johnson led the his team with 23 points. He was a one man team keeping the Bucs in the game. Brooks lamented that he was probably gone after this year in the portal. Despite being double digit underdogs, the Buccaneers put up a valiant fight.

The player of the game was UNC Asheville player Drew Pember. This 6’10” center was lights on with his three point shooting and provided ample cushion when the Buccaneers tried to make a run. Pember was previously with the Tennessee Vols seeing little action in his first two seasons there. He found a home in the Big South earning Player of the Years honors last season.

That’s a wrap! Thanks to Breeze Airlines for providing a cheap direct flight between Hartford and Charleston.