Pennsylvania

Iowa (86) vs. Penn State (90) 2OT 01/30/2022

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Game #104 of 358 29% complete

After waiting years so that I could get Bucknell and neighbor Penn State playing back-to-back, I am finally here. I spent a little time walking the impressive campus and looking like an old professor among the bustle of college kids heading to classes on this Monday afternoon.

I had a difficult time finding a sports bar and restaurant open along the College Ave. The recommendations from my cousin Brian who is a Penn State alumnus were for closed businesses unbeknownst to him. I ended up downing a burger and fries at Mr. Bistro. I was not sure if the dearth of restaurants open was due to COVID or because it was Monday night.

What write up about Penn state would not be complete unless it had a picture of the famous Nittany Lions football stadium which was right next to the basketball arena.

So on to what has been the most exciting game so far in my journey. A double OT win by the underdog Penn State team was a major B10 battle to say the least. Iowa’s Keegan Murray’s miracle tip in sent the game into the first overtime. Penn State’s Myles Dread hit a 3 pointer with nine seconds left to send it into the second over time.

The many empty seats shows that Penn State basketball is a stepchild to the football team. However, the student section was very active and vocal throughout the game.

I was especially looking forward to seeing Keegan Murray play for Iowa. As one of the leading scorers in college basketball season this year, he is a future NBA player. Penn State held him in check tonight with Murray showing outward signs of frustrations at times. He has a smooth jump shot but I don’t see the aggressiveness and leadership displayed tonight that would make my Knicks want to draft him. His passivity out there tonight would raise a red flag in my opinion.

So here is a first for me. Iowa has two brothers Patrick and Connor McCaffery playing for their father Fran McCaffery who is a coach. The team also has two other brothers Keegan and Kris Murray. I can’t imagine as a father coaching your own kids in a high pressure Big 10 league barnburner. When they make a mistake, does the coach feels bad for his son or does he want to wring his neck?

Connor McCaffery had 4 three pointers in the first half but had to leave late in the game because of a separated shoulder incurred from a scramble of a loose ball. He came back to watch the overtimes with an ice pack and harness around his shoulder.

The Bryce Jordan arena also serves as home for musical acts. They have a wall set up where each performer leaves a personal message along with their picture. The above is just a small section of the hundreds displayed in the arena hallway.

In all my excitement about the amazing ending to the game, I neglected to take my traditional picture of the final score on the scoreboard.

I must comment on a couple of side trips before the game.

I visited the Little League World Series stadium in Williamsport. Having watched the series since I was a youngster, curiosity got the best of me. Unfortunately, the museum was closed but I took a picture of the snow-covered iconic field. I can picture the kids sliding down the hill behind the outfield during the game.

I also visited Reptile World in Lewisburg to look at snakes, alligators, frogs and birds. I captured this reaction from these owls when I told them about my Journey to 351 mission.

On to Missouri State!

Loyola MD (80) vs. Bucknell (82) 01/30/2022

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Game #103 of 358 29% complete

This was my first game back after a long layoff from my last game on December 12th. I had trips to Michigan and Wisconsin planned for the month of January. The news of canceled games was happening so frequently, it caused me to put a temporary hiatus to my journey. As it turned out, the majority of the planned games in January did get canceled. I cannot imagine flying somewhere, getting a hotel room and waking up to find the game is canceled. Because the two PA schools were within driving distance, I was able to do a 4-hour drive to Pennsylvania from Connecticut after waiting ’til the last minute to ensure that the games would be held.

The Loyola players (men and woman) stayed at my hotel, but they were checking out just as I was checking in. The trip was extra special because my cousin Brian who lives near Philadelphia joined me for this game after a 2-hour ride from his home. It was great to catch up with him after two years when we went to a game together at Delaware State. Brian is my official backup to Operation 351 should I meet the great basketball god in the sky before the mission is accomplished.

The arena was mostly empty which is a shame because it turned out to be a thriller right to the end. A girl’s dance school performed at half time. Once that was over, half the arena emptied out because the parents who only cared about the dance went home.

I have seen many contests during time outs over the years. Here was a first for me. The woman is sling shotting a rubber chicken across the court to her partner who is trying to catch the chicken in a bucket. They did get 3 out of four so kudos to them. The other stupid contest was a trivia contest between two teen age girls. They were asked very difficult trivia questions about Bucknell basketball that only a sports information director may know. They looked at each other after every question with ” How the hell would I know that” look. Fortunately, it was a multiple choice (A, B, or C) answer so they did get some correct with a little luck.

My only recollection of Bucknell basketball is their stunning upset of Kansas on March 18th, 2005. The 14th seeded Bisons won with Chris Mc Naughton’s jump-hook in the lane with 10.5 seconds over Kansas’s Wayne Simien winning 64-63. The arena was filled with many memorabilia and hopefully this attractive place gets more fans in the future.

Kudos to Bucknell player Andrew Funk who was unstoppable most of the evening as he scored 34 points from all areas of the floor. For a final note of trivia, my cousin Brian noted that a successful foul shot by a Bison player elicited a note resembling Mario popping a coin out of a box. I will have to take his word on this one.

If you are looking for a good burger, visit Matty’s Sporthouse in Lewisburg.

On to Penn State tomorrow!

Central Michigan (79) vs. Robert Morris (83) 12/17/2019

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Game #83 of 353   23% complete

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Robert Morris opened up the UPMC Events Center this year with Pitt on November 12th.  The arena was entirely funded with corporate naming rights. The brand new 4000 seat arena has great lighting, LED displays and attractive sight lines. Off the court, the arena includes new coaches and athletics relations offices. The basketball and volleyball players have brand new locker rooms complete with separate video rooms. There is also a full-size practice court and the UPMC Wellness Center, which houses the teams’ doctors and trainers and includes a hydrotherapy room. RMU did a great job on this considering all the struggles that a smaller school has with this kind of project.

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I have to make a mental note in the future to check on a school’s arena before planning a trip. I was all set to do Duquesne this year but a follower of this blog let me know that Duquesne is at a temporary home this year. Next year, their new arena will open up. My rule (that I make up for myself) is to not count temporary sites in my journey. That being said, if I do visit an arena that is considered permanent and a new one gets built later on, I do not feel a return trip is in order. Again—my rules!

I also need to a better job of picking hotels. My hotel was fine but about an 1/2 hour north of Pittsburgh. The airport which I figured would be next to Pittsburgh is actually very close to Robert Morris. Had I planned it out properly, I could have stayed near the airport and enjoy a short ride from the RMU game and a short ride to the airport the following day.

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I like to offer a big shout out to the RMU Assistant AD Marty Galosi whose hospitably made this a fun trip. I was seated next to his neighbors who were college basketball fans. They asked many questions about my journey and I was happy to answer them. The best parts of my trips are interacting with the fans.

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Central Michigan came into this game ranked second in the nation averaging 88.7 points per game, making it the No. 2 scoring team in the nation behind only Eastern Washington, which averages 90. The Chippewas were very hot from the 3-point line in the first half but RMU came back for a hard-fought win. Once again, the students were on break plus with the sleeting weather the atmosphere was a little subdued. However, the RMU fans were loud and happy pulling off the upset. I was very impressed with RMU guard Josh Williams who finished with 24 points. His game combines quickness with an accurate 3 point shot. He kept the Central Michigan defenders on their toes all evening.

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The national championship trophy for NCAA men’s basketball was on display tonight at RMU. Quite a few selfies were taken with the trophy.

As always, I do like it when the free bling is given out.

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Happy Holidays everyone! See you next year!

Next game: Liberty at Florida Gulf Coast 01/02/20

 

Northern Illinois (50) vs. Pittsburgh (59) 12/16/2019

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Game #82 of 353   23% complete

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Welcome back my friends to my sixth season of Operation 351 with the usual disclaimer that there are now 353 Division 1 teams. I begin this season in Pittsburgh with a doubleheader at Pittsburgh and Robert Morris. I have always started the season in November but the scheduling and family times did not allow that to happen. As more and more of my trips start outside the confines of drivability, it is incumbent on me to find back to back games in the same geographical area to save on travel costs. There once was that rare occasion in Philadelphia where I scored the perfect trifecta – 2 games on Saturday and one on Sunday.

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As I walked into the Peterson Sports Center, I was in awe of its size and architecture. This is definitely a high class arena from a P5 conference, I was looking forward to a raucous celebration from the “Oakland Zoo”. The Zoo takes its name from the zoo in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh. Its 2000 student member club provides entertainment at the Pitt games providing unmerciful chants and catcalls to the opposing teams. UConn fans will remember Khalid El-Amin jumping on the scorer’s table after a victory declaring his love for the Zoo. (I kid!). As the start of the game drew near, the student section was almost empty. Ah the dreaded student break which happens often during my December travels. A fan next to me said to be sure to state in my blog that this place rocks when the Zoo is in full force. I was disappointed but scheduling these games are hard enough without factoring in school breaks at each school.

The Panthers looked like they missed the energy of the Zoo. They trailed for most of the game until finally turning on the defensive pressure, they willed out a victory. Northern Illinois shot the lights out in the first half. Their point guard Eugene German had 18 points at the half. With an unimpressive record of 6-4 to that point, I was thinking that an upset here would make a splash on ESPN. The Panthers are a very athletic team but lack that steady and consistent scorer which will make them vulnerable in ACC conference play. I do believe that Coach Jeff Capel has them on the right track with impressive wins over Rutgers and Florida State. However like with a loss to Nicholls State, the young Panthers will show signs of their youth throughout the year.

2019-12-16 20.55.13As I drove around Pittsburgh, I see that most of the houses are on hillsides looking like a picture of the Italian Amalfi coast missing the villas and olive gardens. I was very impressed with the Station Square development on the river. This 52 acre riverfront area has indoor and outdoor shopping with residential housing.  My dinner on the first night was at Bucco di Beppo. The name itself convinced me to give it a try. When I walked in the place, the place looked very very familiar. I know that I have never been here before. Then it hit me. I visited this place in Washington D.C. a few years ago. I found out that they have 17 locations throughout the country. I was surprised because the ambiance of the place with pictures of Italians on the wall with checkered table cloths led me to believe that was a family run place in D.C. in business for a 100 years with Grandma in the kitchen kneading the pasta dough.

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As I do in new cities, I seek out the local zoo. On this dark dreary day, I showed up at the admission booth at 3PM for a zoo that closes at 5PM. Between the long walks and the aquarium on the grounds, I needed exactly 2 hours. Here are some picture for my fellow animal lovers.

 

Next Game : Central Michigan at Robert Morris 12/20/2019

 

 

 

 

 

Elon (65) vs. Drexel (79) 01/03/19

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Game #73 of 353  20% complete

My cousin Brian and I started off the night at Abner’s for an old fashioned Philly cheese steak. Located near the Drexel campus, it came highly recommended by a coworker of Brian who is a Drexel graduate. Although the more famous Pat’s and Geno’s may be the hot tourists spots, Brian has had them all and said that Abner’s was equal to the task.

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The wall at Abner’s was adorned with Drexel memorabilia. As you can see from the sign above and much to my surprise, Drexel is not part of the Big Five (otherwise it would be known as the Big Six).  I had to research this and came upon the following article giving a good history of the Big Five – http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~dsodacp/about/bigfive.html.

Basically, Drexel does not share the history of the other schools. Also, it has become increasingly difficult to schedule non league opponents given the plethora of tournaments and increasing demands from leagues to increase their inter league play. Drexel is on friendly terms with the other schools and does play them on a regular basis.

The Palestra is a couple of blocks away from Drexel so it makes for a great weekend of basketball should they both be playing at home.

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So this has to win the “coolest” entrance so far in my journey. The dragon eyes for the Drexel Dragons greet you as you make your way into the arena. As the Drexel team was introduced, two steam spouts blew behind the bench simulating a dragon’s breath. These were very cool special effects!

During the pre-game warm ups, the band, dance team and  some random fans gathered around the Drexel team. They all did a group cheer and wished the team well. That was the first time I have seen that done.

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The arena was sparse this evening of fans. Perhaps because the students were on break but I did not sense an excitement from the fans about the program.  I will give kudos to the pep band for providing some encouraging sounds throughout the night.

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I try to include the opening tip in all my blog posts. It is rare when I can time it with my crappy Apple 5S to capture both hands tipping the ball at the same time.

I spring for courtside seats when the price is reasonable which happens with small schools like Drexel. Although the view was great, there were times when I wanted to tell the referee to move out of the way.

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Brian came up with a great observation during the game. He found out that Elon player Steven Santa Anna made national headlines last year for being tripped by Grayson Allen. The incident led a national shaming for Allen who followed up with a tearful apology. Santa Anna was clearly the best player for Elon tonight and is leading his team in scoring this year.

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This game marks another milestone in the journey as all the Philly schools are now checked off.

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Next game: Savannah State at Coppin State 01/05/18

 

 

 

 

Depaul (68) vs. Villanova (73) 01/02/19

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Game #72 of 353  20% complete

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It was good to be back on the road after a holiday break. I am near Philadelphia  completing the last two schools in this area –  Villanova and Drexel.  The new on-campus Finneran Pavilion was under construction for the past two years so I purposely held off to see Nova till its completion.

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So  I think it is appropriate at this time to restate two rules I have about my journey. The first is that my goal is to visit every campus once to see a game in whatever arena is available at the time. Should a school build or rehab an arena after my visit, I do not go back to see a game there again. The second is that I always will go to a campus arena unless there is none like in the case of Georgetown. Nova also plays at the Wells Fargo arena but I will not go to a game there. My journey – my rules.

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I was very impressed when I walked into the Finneran Arena. You enter a circle of Nova memorabilia with mutli-media displays, plaques and trophies well bathed in bright lights. It is definitely a WOW moment. I reminisced over a display of Kerry Kittles who torched UCONN back in the Big East days. It was an impressive to see the multiple national basketball trophies with the basketball net placed over the glass trophy ball. More teams should do this with their dead space surrounding the arena.

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Did you ever think that a school was in one location but found out it somewhere else? I always thought that Nova was closer to Philly because it was always lumped with the downtown schools there. It is actually in Radnor which is about 1/2 hour away from Philly. I admittedly did not do much research on this because I was traveling with my host cousin Brian who was driving. BTW Brian is my backup for Operation 351 should I meet my ultimate demise.

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I was surprised that the Pavillion only holds 6500 seats. I am guessing that because it replaced the old Field House that perhaps they were limited in space. Interesting to note that the student section holds 2500 seats. Because the game was at 8:30PM, we did not have a chance to walk the campus. There was good and bad for parking. There was a free parking garage (good) but it does take a while to exit after the game (bad). We got home about midnight. One perk about being retired is that I did not have to get up for work the next day.

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Depaul led most of the way till Nova pulled away in the end. Eric Paschall for Nova was the star of the game leading everyone with 24 points. He is a unique player who is big and strong with a nice touch from the outside. When he drove the lane, he was unstoppable. He will be an interesting pick for the NBA GMs. I wonder whether his game will translate to the NBA but I believe he will do well.

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As we exited the arena, the ushers were handing out chocolate cookies and English muffins. I was too late for the cookies but did grab one of the last packages of muffins. I am enjoying some now as I type. Definitely a first for me in Operation 351!

Next game: Elon at Drexel 01/03/19

Sacred Heart (64) vs Lafayette (62) 12/02/18

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Game #71 of 353   20% complete

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The rain continued to fall in the Lehigh Valley as we headed over Sunday to Easton to see the Lafayette Leopards. As we drove up to the Kirby Sports Center, the building looked historically old as we drove around looking for parking. Going around to the other side, we encountered a morphed building with a modern look. A little WIKI research found the following explaining the dual look : “Dedicated on June 2, 2000, the $35 million Allan P. Kirby Sports Center includes a new, 110,000-square-foot  intramural and recreational sports facility attached to the previously existing Kirby Field House. The field house itself received a $2.5 million face lift and interior renovations.”

The campus reminded me so much of the Holy Cross campus. The school buildings are situated on a hill side mixed in with older style residential houses.

Here are a couple of pictures of the cool looking football arena adjacent to the field house.

I had to call the ticket office last week to inquire about courtside seats. I always tell my Operation 351 story to anyone who might be interested. As I was picking up the tickets, I met the women manning the ticket office who immediately started asking questions about the mission. They thought it was pretty cool which always gives me that added dose of adrenaline to keep this this quest going.

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The halls were filled with displays of Lafayette sports history. The red uniform above was an 1890 football uniform. Another case had a basketball from the early 1900’s.  I  believe that every campus arena should have these displays with the Palestra being the model.

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Being from Connecticut, it is always a treat to see a local club (Sacred Heart) come in as a visitor far away from Connecticut. However, my rule is to always root for the home school with the sole exception when I see UCONN as the visitor.

So I have been asked, “If you are such a die hard UCONN fan, how can you miss games like the Arizona/UCONN game Sunday to see a game in Pennsylvania?” My answer is that it getting increasingly difficult to schedule back to back games that minimize the cost and time traveling from Connecticut. I also have to insure that the games fit into my personal schedule given that I do have a life outside of Operation 351 and also with other Operation 351 games previously scheduled. When the opportunity presents itself, I grab it knowing that I can always watch UCONN delayed afterwards. I did die a slow death watching the end of the Airzona/ UCONN game live on the TV in the arena hall at halftime.

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This was a very entertaining back and forth game to watch. I am always concerned about an overtime game when it is the last game to see before heading home. With the score tied at 62, a missed three pointer by Sacred Heart was tipped in with three seconds to go by Jare’l Spelman to give the Pioneers the win. The 6’10” Spelman had a long reach and frequently out rebounded the smaller Lafayette team. Hard to imaging that Spelman was a transfer from Division 2 school Florida Southern. He must have truly dominated down there.

                                                  Happy Holidays to everyone!

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Next game : Depaul at Villanova 1/2/19

 

 

Arkansas State (70) vs. Lehigh (82) 12/01/18

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Game #70 of 353  19% complete

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The 3 1/2 hour ride from Connecticut was made easier with the company of my friend Andy who has completed 12 Operation 351 games with me over the years. I am anticipating one more car ride to Philly this year and a couple more to Pennsylvania and New York next year before turning to plains and trains.  It is a sign of progress for me that I have run out of driveable games to go to. Although technically any game can be driven to but I cut it off at the 4 hour mark.

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The Stabler Athletic and Convention Center was opened up in 1979 and showing her age. The old lady could use a fresh coat of paint on the walls and floors. It is rare that I can take my half time walk around the perimeter halls and encounter nothing but a couple of concession stands. I always look for school memorabilia and achievements but there was absolutely nothing. The stands were void of students except for the cheerleaders and pep band. I assumed it was class break but the last day of classes are December 8th unless I am misunderstanding the academic schedule. Given that Lehigh is one of the stronger teams in the Patriot League, I expected more excitement.

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One of the joys of visiting small arenas is the opportunity to sit in court side seats for a reasonable price. This was the case for this game and the Lafayette game. One does not appreciate the speed and quickness of the games till you are sitting eye level and up close. You also get a better sense of the offensive scheme and patterns a team runs from this perspective.

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This game was a classic case of size (Lehigh) vs. quickness (Arkansas State). The height advantage underneath was too much for the Redwolves (love this name) to overcome. I was very impressed with Arkansas State guard Ty Cockfeld who scored 30 points with an all around solid game. Lehigh answered with Kyle Leufroy who scored 20 points with clutch shooting down the stretch.

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I used some well honed begging techniques to acquire this t shirt from a cheer leader. Although I am like many of  who have too many t shirts, this is one more piece of memory from my Operation 351 journey.

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Perhaps this is the game I should have gone to!

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Next game: Sacred Heart vs. Lafayette 12/02/2018

 

 

 

Houston (80) vs. Temple (59) 02/18/18

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#63 of 351  17% complete

Today was Hooter’s birthday. The Temple mascot brought in his mascot friends for a birthday party.  As I entered the Liacouras Center, I was startled by the number of strange creatures milling in the hallway.

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However I did have the pleasure of meeting the real live mascot of the Temple Owls – Stella. I have always been partial to owls especially the one in “My Cousin Vinny” that woke up Joe Pesci.

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Here is the gathering of mascots on the court for the birthday party.

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The game was over as soon as it started. Houston was tremendously hot and Temple was not. It is a rare time when I hear booing from the crowd at a college basketball game.

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I can not believe that Rob Gray is still playing for Houston. It seems like he has been there forever. They are big and quick with no apparent weaknesses. I like them to go far in March.

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I vote the Liacouras Center as my favorite so far in terms of food concessions. There were dozen of places to eat offering different styles. It was quite a contrast to the Lasalle and St. Joe’s offerings.

I was trying to get a cheese steak at the famous Geno’s before the game. I was practicing my order “steak with prov and onions” as coached by my cousin Brian. Any deviation from these words would result in immediate ejection by the cranky order takers. After driving around for 15 minutes trying to find a parking spot, I gave up and took in some sightseeing near Independence Hall. It is amazing how all the cars were packed on these one way streets near Geno’s. I plan to UBER their next year to get my cheese steak.

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Houston dominated the boards led by Breaon Brady a 6’8″ 245 pound forward who was very imposing from my front row seat. Devin Davis was hot all night for Houston. The game was over by the half. The Temple fans were geared for an upset but left upset by the results.

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I felt sorry for the Temple fans who stand until the first Temple basket. Houston ran off to 15-0 lead. I saw some of the old timers wave their arms in disgust and sat down.

That’s it for my triple header in Philly.

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Next game: Dartmouth at Princeton 2/24/18

 

 

 

 

Duquesne (75) vs. St. Joseph’s (82) 02/17/18

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#62 of 351  17% complete

“The Hawk never dies” is the slogan of the St. Joseph’s Hawks. To symbolize this motto, the Hawk mascot flaps his wings continuously the entire game till he leaves the court. Actually, it is a girl in the costume who waves one wing then the other wing then both wings. During a timeout, she does a circle eight on the court flapping her wings. The girl gets a full scholarship for this job. Yes I watched and she did not stop flapping till she left the court at the end of the game. Here is a story about the mascot:

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2014/story/_/id/10703226/saint-joseph-hawk-mascot-never-stopped-flapping-wings-espn-magazine

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Before the game, Brian and I went looking for wings and a beer. Google brought up this place (which I will keep unnamed) with a fine looking bar. We called UBER and went off for some pre-game refreshments. As we were driving towards the place, the neighborhood kept looking dicier with each passing block.  As we pulled up to the place, I said that there is no way I am leaving the car. The lesson here is don’t be fooled by pretty pictures on Google. Check out the reviews too. We headed off to a place named Cavanaughs a few miles away. We feasted on some excellent wings and cold beer followed by a UBER ride back to the Hagan Arena.

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I was very impressed with St. Joseph’s game. They move the ball well with quickness and height. They were lead by senior guard Shavar Newkirk who was awarded before the game with a 1000 point ball.  I am very surprised that they are only 12-14 at this point in the season. I don’t think anybody is getting by Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 tournament.

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The Hagan arena is a great place to see a game.  Not too big and not too small,  I can imagine how loud it gets during a game with a rival Philly team.

My freshman to watch was 6’9″ Hawks forward Taylor Funk (love that name). He has a nice jumper and was very mobile. He will be an A-10 star in the next few years.

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Check out the great nachos bar in the arena and the huge fan shop located next to the arena.

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Next game: Houston at Temple 02/18/18