Virginia

Bucknell (70) vs. Radford (74) OT 12/08/2024

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Game #135 of 364 37% complete

The Dedmon Center at Radford University has a free parking lot in front with a short walk to the arena. This is always a plus to me having spent many hours looking for a free parking lot on campuses on my trips. I was greeted by this huge inflatable mascot representing a highlander.

Fortunately, I was sitting in a bucket seat not on the bleachers on the other side. One good thing about small arenas and small schools is that you can usually get a good seat at a great price. I was at dead center court about 4 rows up.

I was impressed with Bucknell coach John Griffin. This man was into the game yelling out instructions out to his players throughout the game and wearing his emotions on his sleeve. I won’t name other coaches but the majority stand there with their arms crossed and make an obligatory argument to the referee occasionally. Griffin helped lead Bucknell to four NCAA Tournament appearances, two as a player (2005, 2006) and two as an assistant coach (2017, 2018). You can tell that he loves coaching at Bucknell.

A teddy bear toss was performed at halftime. The stuffed animals were to be donated to a children’s hospital. I did not bring one with me obviously but fortunately there was a table of stuffed animals in the concourse. I grabbed the last one and threw my bunny (not a bear) onto the court almost hitting the photographer seen in the photo.

I was very impressed with Bucknell guard Achile Spadone scoring 24 points in a losing effort. He captained the U16 and U18 Switzerland national teams. He attended the private school St. Thomas More in my home state of Connecticut. His stellar ball handling, defensive guarding and shooting ability made him standout from all the other players on the floor.

This was an exciting game with Radford pulling it out into overtime. Given that I had a plane to catch after the game, I was glad that there was not a second overtime.

But what made this visit special was a showing in the concourse of the school therapy dogs. They provide comfort and stress relief to Radford students. Anyone who knows me is that I am an animal lover and could not pass up a chance to have my picture taken with one of the dogs.

If you ever in the Roanoke area, a visit to the Virginia Museum of Transportation is a must. Cars from every decade were displayed there along with a cool assortment of trains and passenger cars.

Happy Holidays to my fellow college basketball fans!

Mississippi Valley State (52) vs. Liberty (89) 12/7/2024

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Game #134 of 364 37% complete

Liberty University was founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell. Liberty is one of the world’s largest Christian universities as evidenced by the huge campus buildings I saw on the way to the arena. It is also one of the largest private non-profit universities in the United States by total student enrollment. Jerry Falwell Jr. took over after his father died in 2007 but disagreements over compensation and accusations of wrong doing forced Falwell out. The university has had its fair share of lawsuits with its adherence to a fundamentalist Christian approach to education that invoked challenges from the far left. No judgements here but the university is thriving along with its basketball team.

Liberty University is currently in first place in Conference USA with a 9-1 record. When the team’s starting lineup was introduced, I was shocked at how short the starting guards were. Colin Parker is 5’10” tall. Kaden Metheny is 5’11”. I was not surprised that both these individuals made up for their lack of height with quickness and outstanding shooting. They were very pesty on defense making the MSU guards work for every shot.

Mississippi Valley State is currently last in the Kenpom ratings meaning they are the worst D1 team out of 364 teams. I am sure they fund their athletic program by becoming fodder for P5 teams to fill their non- conference schedule. I guarantee that you will never see a P5 school play a game on MSU’s home court. I do remember visiting their school to see a game a few years ago. Their campus is buried deep in the Mississippi’s bayou and not in an an affluent area.

I vote Liberty University as the most friendly campus I have visited. I was greeted with hellos and Happy Holidays from every employee in the arena. Everyone had a smile on their face, even the concession crew. As you can see, I had first row seats behind the courtside seats. One of the benefits of going to a small arena with an unimportant game is the availability of good seats.

Check out the flames show during the pre-game introductions. This was very cool to see in the darkened arena.

Every game I have been to on this trip has been televised by ESPN+. Here is their reporter interviewing Liberty coach Ritchie McKay at half time. I actually saw myself on TV once viewing the game on my phone.

Liberty never was behind the whole game and was led by Metheny with 22 points. He will be a handful for teams to guard down the road. Liberty was upset by UTEP last year in the Conference USA tournament. I can see them being a Cinderella team this year in the March Madness tournament.

Finally, let me introduce you to the Appomattox Court House. This is a national park where General Lee surrendered to General Grant to end the civil war. Below is the house and the room where the surrender took place.

General Lee sat on the left and General Grant sat on the right.

On to Radford University tomorrow!

Pittsburgh (64) vs. Virginia Tech (59) 12/07/2024

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Game #133 of 364 37% complete

I missed my usual picture of the opening tip because I was looking for an open seat at a lower level. More on that later. I was surprised to see so many open seats for an intra league battle between two P5 teams.

I was sitting in the upper level next to a Pitt fan. He asked me who was I rooting for. I gave him my usual spiel about my Operation 351 mission and that although I love seeing college basketball, I don’t go crazy cheering like I would at a UConn game. He probably noticed that I was not cheering for either team prompting his question. He was in an interesting dilemma being a die hard Pitt fan and having a daughter who was attending Virginia Tech. Who do you root for? In my opinion, I would always root for UConn regardless if my child was attending the opposing school.

I asked the Pitt fan what did he think of Pitt coach Jeff Capel. Pittsburgh seemed to be improving over the years but still not quite achieving heights during the Jamie Dixon years. He said that there was a call to fire Capel last year early in the season but then they changed their tune when he led Pitt on a late season surge.

When I am in a large venue sitting up high and there are plenty of open seats below, I begin scouting for a move down to a better seat. There are certain rules to follow when performing this rebellious act without pissing off a season ticket holder:

  1. Look for an area where there are multiple open seats. You don’t want to attract attention climbing over folks while getting to your new seat. Always try for a seat on the end of the aisle.
  2. Look for a young girl as an usher. Most times, they will not question an old guy like me. Move down at half time and they will never notice you.
  3. Don’t get greedy. Don’t take a seat in the first row on center court. You will be sure to attract attention from those around you.

As you can see from the photos below, I moved down to a lower level behind the basket.

The Pittsburgh Panthers came into the game ranked 18th in the AP poll. The Hokies kept it tight the entire game. Down by eight at the half, Pitt came back in the second half, led by Jaland Rose who scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the final 8:02 of action. Pitt was aided from the foul line going 12 for 12 from the stripe. Pitt has a player with one of the great names in college basketball – Guillermo Diaz Graham. He was an abysmal shooter during the game but had a key block and a three pointer under the two minute mark to help the Panthers to victory.

You must be asking – What is a Hokie? Here is an explanation from AI:

“The term “Hokie” originated in 1896 when Virginia Tech adopted a new cheer that used the word “hokey” to grab attention. The word “hokey poky” was common in the late 1800s, which may have inspired the choice.”

I was late coming back to my seat at half time to catch a Corgi dog race on the court. I did notice that one contestant left his “mark” on the court.

On to Liberty University for the night game!

Howard (60) vs. Virginia Commonwealth (70) 12/11/2022

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Game #109 of 363 30% complete

This was my third and last stop for this trip. I did not get to the arena till 10 minutes left in the first half despite a hurried ride from the Hampton campus. It was poor planning on my start which I will try hard to avoid in the future. I missed my usual tip off picture to start the game. But once again, I was afforded a free parking garage next to the arena.

So I was immediately impressed with the energy of the VCU crowd. Many were dressed in yellow and were very much into this non-conference game. The cheerleaders, dance team and pep band were loud and enthusiastic.

Who could forget VCU’s cinderella run in 2011? The Rams defeated USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and Kansas on their way to the final four. I was there in 2011 rooting for the UConn Huskies and watched Butler take down VCU in the semifinal. There is a video homage paid in tribute to this team in the arena hallway.

Although Junior guard Ace Baldwin Jr., the Rams’ leading scorer this season, did not play due to a sprained left wrist, the VCU jumped out to a 10-point lead at half time and never looked back. Graduate forward Brandon Johns led the way with 16 points for the Rams.

I try to buy at least one team shirt on each of my trips. I was fortunate to get a yellow VCU T shirt which my wife thinks is ugly for 10 bucks. It will make an appearance in my bowling league this week.

If you are ever in the Norfolk VA area, be sure to check out the USS Wisconsin. This ship was there for the first gulf war firing tomahawk missiles. The lights you may see in the picture were for a nighttime XMAS event. The admission was $15 and well worth it. Next door is the free Naval Museum which was also interesting to tour. I do these museums trip on Operation 351 trips because the rest of my family hates museums and historical stuff.

I also toured the Yorktown Battlefield preserved as a National Park. I was miffed that I forgot my newly acquired senior pass for National Parks and had to pay admission. It was self-guided tour driving through the battlefields. Not quite on the scale of Gettysburg but it is still hallowed ground and served as a turning point of the revolutionary war. Be sure to visit the American Revolutionary Museum in Yorktown. There was an incredible amount of history learned on this trip.

Bowling Green (86) vs. Hampton (72) 12/11/2022

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Game #108 of 363 30% complete

This is the first game of a doubleheader today followed later at Virgina Commonwealth. I am greeted by a free non-garage parking lot next to the arena – my number one choice of parking scenarios.

As I stepped into the arena, there were plenty of open seats for choosing. I sat next to the pep band accompanied by dancing cheerleaders. I was in awe of the music and dancing by the Hampton students. It would be worth the price of admission just watching and listening to them.

Being from Connecticut, I remember Ricky Mahorn who played in the Hartford school system and later became a star for Hampton and the Detroit Pistons.

There could have been no more than 500 fans in the arena although the paid attendance figure was 2103. I am always on the lookout for unique situations in my travels. When a Hampton player is ready to shoot a foul shot, the PA announcer would say “Free throws win ball games”. The crowd would clap and wait the result. It had to be a recording because it sounded the same each about 100 times.

Bowling Green went on a 18-4 run at the beginning of the game. Although Hampton brought it down to single digits in the second half, it was never close.

In front of me, there sat a family with a man in the wheelchair. Incredibly, there was a stand in front of them surely blocking the view of the man and the kids. I wanted to say something, but I said that there has to be a reason for this. No one in the family seemed to complain.

I was impressed by Wilie Lightfoot a freshman guard for Bowling Green. He did make one stupid mistake by silencing the crowd with his hands after hitting a three pointer. The Hampton crowd full of spirit never let up on this poor guy the rest of the way.

I had miscalculated the distance between games. It was an hour and 20 minutes to VCU but the Hampton game ended at 6PM. The VCU game started at 7PM. Not finding my car in the parking lot at the end of the game added another 10 minutes. I sped toward the VCU arena but missed the beginning of the game as you shall see in the next blog post.

Here are pictures on my walk along the Virginia Beach boardwalk adorned with XMAS lights.

Gardner Webb (43) vs. Old Dominion (44) 12/10/2022

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Game #107 of 363 29% complete

This is the first of a three-game set in the Norfolk area of Virginia. I flew for the first time on the discount airline Breeze from Hartford. Because of the limited schedule of Breeze, I flew in a day early Friday morning and basically had almost 2 days of touristy stuff till this Saturday night game. I did not fly home till Monday night leaving another whole day to find things to do. More about my travels later!

A multi-level free parking garage is next to the arena which always score points for me. The outside of the arena is very impressive. This a modern arena built for basketball. Although the concessions could provide a little more variety and the gift shop was lean (no large size tee shirt available), I was very happy with the fan experience.

Although the students were away for break, the fans around me were very into their Monarchs. This was defensive struggle to say the least.

The ODU sportswriter Harry Minium had contacted previously before the game. We met at my seat with a much-appreciated media pass. We proceeded to a food room for the media where I was interviewed for the ODU web site. I am looking forward to seeing the end result. To make things even better, I was given a courtside seat to watch the second half. Thanks Harry!

My view from the court side seat.

So how many times have you seen a chill area for the fans in an arena?

The coach for ODU is Jeff Jones. I remember seeing him play for the Virginia Cavaliers many moons ago. Jones took the helm of Old Dominion basketball in 2013. He previously served as head coach of the American Eagles and Virginia.

The hall of fame areas inside the arena were impressive. The women’s basketball program in earlier years were considered one of the top programs in the country and held a prominent place in the exhibits. Do the names Nancy Lieberman and Anne Donovan ring a bell?

The best-known men’s basketball player is David Twardzik. He was a second-round pick by the Portland Blazers in 1977 but elected to joining the ABA Virginia Squires. He now does color commentary for the ODU basketball network.

The unlikely hero in this game was guard Imo Essien who missed his first nine shots but sunk a three pointer with 41 seconds left for the eventual game winner.

I was able to sit in the presser after the game. Harry said there was mix up and he was the only one asking questions. Still it was cool to be there. Coach Jones did mention that he was not happy with the change of game time from 7PM to 8PM due to high school football games. He made the point that this would not happen again.

I usually post a picture of the scoreboard with the final score here, but I forgot to take a picture because I was wondering when it would be time to go to the presser.

I did many tourist visits on this trip but I will include pictures of just one visit in each of my three game blogs.

As always, zoos are a favorite mine to visit. Here are some pictures from the Virginia Zoo.

Fairfield (70) vs. William & Mary (47) 12/12/2021

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Game #102 of 358 29% complete

This was the third game on this trip interrupted by a peaceful sleep Saturday night following 2 Saturday afternoon and night games 2 hours apart. I was hoping to visit the Civil War Museum in Richmond Sunday morning. Despite the web site stating that it would be open 9AM, I was greeted by an empty parking lot and a closed visitor center. COVID has struck again. I decided to head over to Colonial Williamsburg and stroll the tourist area. There were a few folks walking the grounds many with dogs on a leash. I was glad that I did not buy a ticket for the privilege of entering some important buildings with tour guides dressed up as a colonist because many of the buildings were closed. Anyway, it was a nice day to walk on this uncharacteristicly sunny December day.

I was lazy and did not do a Google map of the arena ahead of time. I simply looked at the address on the digital ticket which pointed to an address on Prince George Street. I saw this street on the tourist map and proceeded to walk over to it just to see where Kaplan Arena is. Much to my surprise, the address was for a bookstore which may be the source of tickets to the basketball game. In a sense of panic, I googled the arena to find it about 15 minutes away. I scurried back to the visitor’s parking lot and headed over to the arena stopping for lunch on the way.

Kaplan Arena checks off one of the boxes for the perfect arena to visit. The parking lot is free and next to the arena.

WIlliam & Mary has never made the NCAA tournament and has a very unattractive win/loss record over the years. These small schools who have not much success have always drawn two types of folks to the game:

  1. Senior citizen couples who can barely make it to their seats adorned in school colors.
  2. Mom and Dad with the kids looking for a cheap afternoon out.

Both of these group’s cheered for the Tribe no matter what the score which is great to see.

Speaking of the Tribe team name, I present to you the mascot for William & Mary. Is this what a “Tribe” looks like? The Tribe mascot is actually representing a Griffin – a mythical creature with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion. You guessed it.  In 2010, the National Collegiate Athletic Association determined that William & Mary could keep its Tribe nickname but had to do away with its logo because it could be offensive to native Americans.

This game was quickly over with Fairfield dominating throughout. One can see the difference in physicality between the Fairfield men and the Willaim & Mary boys. I give the Tribe much credit for fighting all the way and never giving up. The crowd cheered for them right to the end.

I enjoy getting my steps in at half time walking around the perimeter of the arena. One bad check mark for this arena is that you cannot walk all the way around. One end is populated by a members only club with cushy seats, food and refreshments blocking the way.

My walk did include a look at the Hall of Fame wall. My eye caught one individual named Melville Bryant a football player from 1937. He had that look about him that probably made women swoon and men wanting to be him. His sly smile held many secrets.

I could find no history of him, but I was wondering if he died in WWII, became a successful businessman and raised a family or perhaps became a drunk living on the street. Here is a toast to you Melville!

Toledo (69) vs. Richmond (72) 12/11/2021

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Game #101 of 358 29% complete

This was the second game today preceded by a 2-hour trip from the west at VMI back to Richmond. This 2-game approach saves money but does not allow for getting a bite to eat between games in most cases. You are at the mercy of the concessions at the arena. Having arrived about a half hour before game time, I got quickly in line and saw that the Papa John pizzas were ready to go. I ordered a cheese pizza and headed to my seat. I kid you not that if I had eaten the cardboard box the pizza came in, I would not be able to tell the difference between that and the pizza. Holy dry mouth!

Jacob Gilyard was honored before the game as the all-time NCAA Division I career steals leader. A banner was unfurled in his honor. As I watched him during the game, I can see how his quickness and fast hands contributed to that title. His key steal at the end of the game from a Toledo player driving the lane was icing on the cake. He also sunk the game winning shot with 34 seconds left to win the game.

Toledo was down 19 points in the second half but came back to win spurned on by a loud crowd. I was told that there was an impressive pre-game show involving a spider which I missed waiting in line for cardboard pizza.

I always have difficulty always with parking on campus. Most lots are not clearly marked if they are free for peons like me or for donors who have parking privileges. It is not always easy with cars behind you to stop and ask where I can park. Give me the small schools with free lots next to the arena (see next post for William Mary).

The gun above was shooting out t shirts to the crowd in rapid fire and shooting flames. This was the most awesome way to deliver t shirts to the crowd vs. cheerleaders who length of throws usually leaves much to be desired.

I have decided to replenish my t shirts back home with one new t shirt per trip. I was not a fan of the bright red Richmond colors, so I passed till next game.

Richmond is the only school with a spider as a mascot. The mascot walking around with dangling legs was fun to watch.

I neglected in my fatigue to take a camera shot of the final score. Mea Culpa!

Gardner Webb (61) vs. Virginia Military Institute (64) 12/11/2021

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Game #100 of 358 29% complete

Six years ago, I began this journey not quite sure if it was the best way to spend my retirement time. The goal seemed so far away yet after the first few games, it became my passion. The joy of traveling and seeing this great country of ours combined with my love of ANY college basketball game has never receded despite pitfalls and curves along the way. This mission has taught me patience and the ability to pivot when plans go awry especially in this COVID era. Today is my 100th game! Many others on this same journey have far exceeded that number, so I am in good company.

I have been trying to get three schools on one trip to minimize travel and hotel costs as I venture further and further away from Connecticut. On this Virgina trip, I saw VMI, Richmond and William & Mary. Since I flew into Richmond and stayed there, the first game at VMI was a 2-hour trip by car in the opposite direction, in the western part of the state. Putting on my podcasts and enjoying the rolling hillsides, I pulled in about 11AM, a couple of hours before game time.

Finding a parking spot in a public area after driving around for a few minutes, I ended up near my tourist visit to Stonewall Jackson’s house. The house was small, and the self-guided tour was done in about 45 minutes, but it was cool to see many of Jackson’s personal artifacts. The poor guy was accidently (or maybe not) shot and killed by one of his own soldiers during the civil war.

Walking around the downtown area, the small town of Lexington VA (about 7,000 folks) reminded me of an historic neighborhood in Boston with cobblestone streets and old buildings dating back to the 1700’s.

After grabbing a brew and steak sandwich at The Palms, I took the 10-minute walk over to Cameron Hall. Outside was a line of impeccably dressed cadets waiting to get in.

Known as the “West Point of the South” by honest Abe, half of the graduates last year received a commission in the armed forces.

From Wiki: Prospective cadets must be between 16 and 22 years of age. They must be unmarried, and have no legal dependents, be physically fit for enrollment in the ROTC, and be graduates of an accredited secondary school or have completed an approved homeschool curriculum. The Class of 2022 at VMI had an average high school GPA of 3.70 and a mean SAT score of 1210.[73]

That being said, I have never seen such a rowdy and loud output from a student section yet (I have not done Duke yet). I was out of earshot of their verbal onslaughts but reading lips occasionally brought to mind a dichotomy of the upright and proud image of a cadet vs. the unruly loud student fan.

Many schools are using virtual programs these days. One scans the OCR code to bring up the program in a browser. I get it with idea of saving paper and eliminating the pitfalls of COVID transmission, but I miss holding a paper in my hand giving the relatively small size of my IPHONE.

Gardner Webb put up a valiant battle this game only succumbing in the end. A game-tying 3-pointer from D’Maurian WIlliams rimmed out at the final buzzer. Jake Stephens, the Cadets huge 6’10” center was too overpowering underneath for the smaller Bulldogs. His foot work in the paint was impressive. The senior is a pre-season second team SoConn league pick.

VMI had won its previous two games on a west coast trip. The cadets earned John Rothstein’s “epitome of brutality” label by beating Portland. Like similar armed forces teams, you can tell that the VMI boys put in a lot of work at the gym.

The cadets are headed back to their dorms after the game.

That’s a wrap. Back to Richmond for a two-hour ride hoping to get there for a 6PM start!

Rhode Island (79) vs. George Mason (64) 01/28/2020

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Game #90 of 353    25% complete

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The star of this game was the George Mason band. I saw violins, a lighted drum set and a ton of instruments accompanied by singers belting out tunes. The band director was entertaining to watch directing the band with hilarious gyrations. This was the best band that I had ever seen at a college game. I even hung around at the end of the game to hear their final tunes.  They had one kid stomping on the bleachers with both legs when the Rhode Island player was shooting a foul shot. Unique at first, annoying in the end!

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I had a pre-game burger at Brion’s across the street from the Eagle Bank Arena. I sat near four guys at the bar who complained endlessly about their George Mason team. As a member of the UConn Boneyard message board, I realize that bitching about your team is a universal language that always occurs regardless how well your team is playing. I was tempted to interject with an introduction about my mission but they were very worked up so I left it alone. I was also not up to ribbing about the 2006 UConn heartbreaking loss to the Patriots who eventually went on to the Final Four.

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The pennants in the arena brought back the bad taste in my mouth of UConn’s upset by George Mason in 2006. Some knowledgeable fans consider the 2006 UCONN team the most talented ever in Husky history.

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At the end of the first half, a George Mason staff women came up to our section offering a free seat upgrade. I am thinking like what is the catch here. There was none so I moved down to four rows from the court behind the Rhode Island bench. Kudos to George Mason for offering this. More schools at the risk of pissing off the season tickets holders in the good seats should be doing this. That being said, the huge Eagle Bank Arena was very empty with certain sections covered up. It appears that the Patriots fans following has not kept up with the capacity of the arena.

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I was very impressed with this Rhode Island team. At 15 wins and 5 losses, they are off to a fine season with a well-balanced team that can shoot the ball and play tough defense. The team also drew a large fan contingent on the road. They have not lost a beat since Dan Hurley left the club two years ago. George Mason had no chance in this game falling behind early and never catching up.

Two Rhode Island players caught my eye. There was Fatts Russell who at 5’10” 165 pounds belies his name but was too quick for the George Mason guards. There was Atwan Walker who name sounds like Antoine Walker the Kentucky collegian who had a successful career in the NBA. Was Antwan possibly the son of Antoine?  Nope.

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Next Game: Long Island at Merrimack 02/01/20