Texas

Rice (56) vs. University of Texas at San Antonio (84) 03/02/2025

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Game #144 of 364 39% complete

This day was super relaxing compared to the fiasco yesterday. After a morning at the San Antonio zoo (pictures at the end), I headed over to the Convocation Center to watch the final game on my Texas trip. I was greeted by the UTSA band practicing outside. As parents watched them, I was reminded of the days my youngest daughter would participate in high school band competitions practicing for hours under the perfecting eyes of the band director.

The name Primo Spears on the UTSA roster caught my eye. He was a local Connecticut boy who has played for four different schools in his college career (Duquesne, Georgetown, Florida State and UTSA). He has a world of talent and clearly surpassed any other player today in terms of pure basketball skills. I remember him in the Big East on Georgetown playing against UConn. I tried to research the reasons why he transferred so much but came up empty.

Yes, you’re are looking at the UTSA Roadrunner mascot. I think the roadrunner has eaten one too many coyotes.

I saw a uniform on the wall arena honoring a player named “Gervin”. I immediately thought of George Gervin “The Iceman” although I would think a man of his honor would deserve more than a shirt hanging on the wall. Upon researching “Gervins’ who played for UTSA, the honoree is actually Derrick Gervin who was selected in the fourth round by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1985. He is however more famously known as the brother of George.

Promo Spears and Marcus Millender lead UTSA to the victory with 25 points each. Although UTSA only led by 8 points at the end of the first half, they blew Rice out of the gym with a 53 point second half. It was senior night for UTSA with Spears being one of the recipients. I will be curious to see if he gets a shot in the NBA.

I am always eager to point out “firsts” in my Operation 351 travels. This is the first time I have seen a baton twirler at a Division 1 basketball game. She was very talented.

Not much to say about this game other than it was between two teams with sub .500 records who need a win in the league tournament to make the big dance. Yet the crowd was enthusiastic and the players played hard.

Would an Operation 351 trip be complete without a trip to the local zoo?

I finished the night with a walk on the famous Riverwalk saluting the Texas trip with a margarita.

That’s a wrap for season 10 of Operation 351. Cheers to all my Operation 351 followers!

Oklahoma State University (61) vs. Baylor University (71) 03/01/2025

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Game #143 of 364 39% complete

I commented in the last blog (University of Texas at Arlington) how this unplanned game at Baylor ended up on my schedule. That being said, the pain of accidently scheduling the University of Texas at Arlington instead of the University of Texas at Austin was lessened by adding a fourth game here on my Texas trip.

So I ended up at the arena below, ignoring my Google Maps instructions, and pulled into a parking lot full of cars. It just looked like a basketball arena to me!

I parked the car and walked the entire circle of the arena looking for a place to get in. I saw some folks inside but thought it strange that there was no more activity before a major conference game. I saw a guard who let me in. I showed her my ticket but she said that was okay. I heard some cheering inside but strangely every concession stand was closed about 45 minutes before game time. I sensed something was wrong here. So I asked the guard reluctantly if there was a men’s game here tonight? She laughed and said that arena was a mile down the road. But what about the cars in the parking lot? Oh they are here to catch the shuttle down to that arena. I did not even ask what game was going on in this arena. It was minor snafu #2 on this trip. Since I had purchased a parking pass to the garage, I walked back to my car and proceeded to the right arena, pictured below.

I really hate parking in garages next to an arena in a downtown area. Google Maps does not take into account roads closed by police on game day. I eventually weaved my way toward to the garage with 15 minutes to spare before the game. I try to avoid garages because of the nightmare getting out but I did almost sprint after the game and got out very quickly considering I had a 2 1/2 hour ride back to San Antonio.

Baylor is now considered one of the last four into March Madness according to Joe Lunardi. They currently have a 17-13 record so their strength of schedule and the number of quality wins must be very good to warrant a bid with that record. I am sure the Baylor fans are hoping for a very small number of upsets in the league tournaments to avoid being shut out with automatic qualifiers who are less qualified teams than Baylor.

Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe is projected to be drafted number 4 by the Charlotte Hornets. I saw Baylor play UConn earlier this year but V.J. missed the game due to an injury. I don’t judge a player by one game but he was awful in this game. He scored just 8 points and seemed to be forcing many shots. He did score 18 points in his next game against TCU. His 6’5″ frame and playing style reminded me of ex-UConn player Jordan Hawkins.

Two transfers led the way for the Baylor Bears. Jeremy Roach (Duke) led scorers with 21 points. Norchard Ormier (Florida) had 10 points and 13 rebounds for his 17th double-double this year. Baylor (17-12, 9-9 Big 12) shot just 37% (22 of 59) but had 11 steals and scored 16 points from 18 Oklahoma State turnovers.

Now back to San Antonio arriving approximately at 1AM. I am glad tomorrow will be a slower day than today.

FYI -I keep a map of my Operation 351 trips with a pin representing an visited arena. The colors of the pins are meaningless. The close arenas in the New England area make the accuracy of the locations there in a “Close enough” category.

Here is the updated map after the four Texas games:

There is much work to do west of the Mississippi River!

Abilene Christian (70) vs. University of Texas at Arlington (59) 03/01/2025

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Game #142 of 364 39% complete

On this particular day, I committed the worst gaffe ever in my 10 year travels on the Operation 351 mission. My intention was to base my games around the San Antonio area. The game Friday was at Texas State in San Marcos no more than an hour a way. No problems there! Saturday’s plans included a trip to the San Antonio Zoo in the morning and an afternoon game at the University of Texas at Austin. Before I left for the zoo in the morning, I checked the distance from the zoo to the arena listed on the ticket. I looked in puzzlement when a 4 hour ride was displayed in Google Maps. Oh! I must have clicked on walking by mistake. I did it again with same 4 hour result. I went back to take a closer look at the ticket. I let out an expletive when I saw that I accidently bought a 2PM ticket for a game the University of Texas at Arlington. My first reaction was to bag the game but I knew that I would regret this decision afterwards. So I did a quick calculation and saw that if I left immediately, I would be in Arlington with room to spare. So off I went north through the cities of San Marcos and Waco listening to Sirius, contemplating what an idiot I was.

As I sat there during the first game, I thought that possibly there might be a night game in this area which I obviously did not look at before. My mind thought of the cities I drove through then Waco came to mind. BAYLOR plays in Waco. A quick check saw that they were to play a 7PM game against Oklahoma State at 7PM. Since the game ended around 4:30PM, the one and half hour trip to Waco would get me there in time. A trip to Stub Hub bought me a cheap game ticket and a parking pass. I felt a little better now that this trip would be a four game set instead of a three game set although the 2 1/2 hour trip back to San Antonio after the Baylor game dampened my mood.

I always look for familiar names from the past on the rosters. The name Lance Ware of UTA was a name I heard before. He played for Villanova and against my beloved UConn Huskies. He played for a total of 18 minutes in the 2024 season against UConn scoring 0 points. Not clear on why I would remember that performance but I do remember he was a big recruit coming out of high school. Ware had a great game today scoring 24 points and 11 rebounds but his first half performance was awful. I guess he was pressing because he was part of the senior day ceremony with family looking on.

Both teams are part of the Western Athletic Conference with Utah Canyon and Utah Valley representing the cream of the crop. Teams from this conference over the years have left for more lucrative leagues. The WAC used to have San Diego State, New Mexico State, Boise State and Nevada. Much like players chasing NIL money at more prestigious schools, small leagues like the WAC suffer losing teams to better conferences.

The Wildcats of Abilene Christian held off a furious second half comeback by the UTA Mavericks to hold on for the victory. Clutch shooting by Maverick Bradyn Hubbard in the closing minutes help seal the win.

On to Waco!

James Madison (93) vs. Texas State University (102) 2OT 02/28/2025

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Game #141 of 364 38% complete

This is the first game of a planned three game but eventual four game trip to Texas. More about that change in the next blog!

I was staying near the San Antonio airport enjoying the 75 degree weather after leaving the cold winds of Connecticut. As I drove the interstates overlooking golf courses, the sight of golfers on the still brown fairway grasses stirred up my longing for the golf courses back home.

The amount of roadway constructions in this area was impressive. Pictured below are these newly constructed pylons going for miles after miles in anticipation of an upper highway straddling the present interstate.

The visitor James Madison Dukes occupied first place in the Sun Belt League with Texas State stuck somewhere in the middle of the standings. The Dukes ran out to a 41-33 halftime lead but could not hold Texas State back in the second half. This game has the distinction of being the first double overtime game in Operation 351 history with the Bobcats of Texas State pulling away with the upset win. The Bobcats had been in four overtime games prior to this one, so they were used to the pressure.

Tylan Pope led the Bobcats with a game-high 23 points, eclipsing the 1,000-career point and 500-season point threshold in the contest. Pope went 7-of-10 shooting, and 9-of-12 from the line, with 11 points coming in overtime.

Texas State actually have won a national championship. Known then as Southwest Texas State, the Bobcats won the 1964 NAIA Division 1 championship defeating Westminster 66-64.

A family of James Madison fans were sitting a couple of rows behind me. A boisterous young man in the family was cheering for his beloved Dukes the whole game. He made hilarious sounds anytime a Texas State player was shooting a foul shot. At the end of the first OT, the family left the game. Perhaps they had a plane to catch. The boy was so angry that he tossed a t-shirt he had caught earlier in the game down a few rows in front of me. No one made a move for the cheap shirt but I held my ground not looking like a jerk for quickly seizing this invaluable item. Eventually, I got the courage up to sneak down a couple of rows to snatch my prize. I always stand up with my arms outstretched anytime the cheerleaders toss a shirt into the stands. I never have caught one so this was secondary satisfaction to say the least.

A trip to San Antonio must include a trip to the Alamo. If you have never been there before, it is smaller than you think and stuck in a busy section of downtown. I have to remember to watch the Alamo movie with John Wayne when I get home. Interesting to note that Phil Collins famous of the musical group Genesis was a big collector of Alamo memorabilia and has donated his collection to the museum here.

One game down, three more to go!