UConn (77) vs. Marquette (69) 02/01/2025

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Game #139 of 364 38% complete

I have been a UConn fans since the late 1960’s when my Dad would take me to the New Haven Coliseum to to see the Huskies play another Yankee Conference league opponent. I have lived and died with this team for some 50 odd years. I have attended all their Final Four victories except for the last one when I made a promise to my daughter to watch the grandkids that weekend,

So to say that I was pumped for this game was an understatement. However, I was very pessimistic of our chances. We were 7.5 point underdogs playing the 11th ranked team in the country on their home court. To make matter worse, it was Marquette Day which occurs on annually on February 1st.

From a Marquette web site:

National Marquette Day is a tradition dating back to the 1960s that brings the Marquette nation united together in pride and spirit to honor the values of the University.

This was evident as I toured the campus during the day before the game on the day before. Families, alumni and students were all abuzz throughout the campus.

I paid $146 thorough TickPick for a seat in the second row of the arena. I arrived early as Marquette fans with their yellow attire filled in around me. My introverted self was evident in that I was not going to be that one loud mouth opposing fan who stood out from everyone else in that section.

My how things changed!

Shortly before the game began, I look over and a see a row of fellow UConn fans marching in behind me. I was shocked to say the least. Since I was not wearing any UConn attire, I introduced my self and we then became the UConn horde of Section 217. I yelled and celebrated with high fives with my new friends as UConn started the game on an unbelievable roll. The pessimist in me knew that the Golden Eagles would make a run but it was fun to watch the stunned crowd sit there in disbelief. We did incur a lot of disgusted and angry looks for the Marquette fans in our section.

Solo Ball for UConn has established himself as one of the premier shooters in the country. He torched and silenced the Marquette crowd with a 25 point performance including seven three pointers and 11 rebounds. My boys had a great night shooting: UConn shot 59.5 percent (25-42) from the floor and 62.3 percent (12-19) from 3-point range – both season bests. Conversely, Marquette finished at 39.7 percent (25-63) from the floor and 31.8 percent (7-22) from 3-point range.

Alex Karaban, the UConn All -American, has suffered some barbs from the Husky faithful this year especially from the two missed free throws against Villanova to win the game. However, he is a steady presence and the leader of this club. His contribution to the team does not always show in the stats sheet but he is still their MVP in my opinion.

The Marquette fan next to me admitted that they are lacking a big time center which I agree with. The Marquette fans were civil and left us alone. After the game, one fan suggested place to visit in Milwaukee next time we were in town. I hope that we respect the opposing fans when they visit Gampel.

I am a sucker for animals in half time shows.

Here are some pictures of the Marquette campus:

When I walking into the arena, I was behind a bunch of Marquette fans. One guy mentioned that he wanted to beat UConn because he hated Hurley. I guess Dan with his antics does bring some of this on but I would not want my coach to be any less passionate.

To the UConn fans in Section 217, you made my day special. I shared my Operation 351 mission story with some of them. They seem genuinely interested and promised to follow me. I even saw some mentions on the UConn Boneyard. This day was an absolute blast. Creighton is the one Big East arena left to visit but not this year. Perhaps I will brave enough to wear the UConn colors there.

Wisconsin (75) vs. Northwestern (69) 02/01/2025

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Game #138 of 364 37% complete

First a shoutout to David Nunes. David is the Senior Associate Athletic Director who was my host for the game. We started at his favorite restaurant the BlueStone where I was introduced to a local dish called cheese curds which I loved shown below. I highly recommend this restaraunt.

David and I had an interesting conversation about his career, his family and the current and future atmosphere of college basketball. He gave me a behind the scenes tour of the practice facilities. He also provided me with a excellent ticket and a parking pass. David, I thank you for making this a special day for me. I will follow your career. One can tell that he is passionate about his work and will be climbing the rungs of college administration.

The practice facilities here provide a clear example of the differences between a major and a mid major program. The major power schools have resources far beyond the smaller schools resulting in more athletic and skilled players.

Northwestern is in the midst of building a football stadium next to the basketball arena. Northwestern is considered one of the “Ivy” league schools in the Big Ten sometimes losing better athletes due to academics. Northwestern and USC are the only league members who are considered private schools.

As I was driving down from Milwaukee, I was a little shocked to see the “Welcome to Illinois” sign. I rarely cross state lines on a trip visiting multiple schools. I concentrate more on the distances between schools when planning a trip not so much on what state they are in.

The schools are about an hour apart plus it is a league game. The rivalry was apparent as both clubs battled throughout the game.

I was very impressed with Wisconsin guard John Tonje who transferred over from Missouri. He basically controlled the game down the stretch, hitting all types of shots. He had 27 points on 8-18 shooting (5-11 from three). When I got back to Connecticut, I saw that one analyst on TV picked him to the be the top transfer in the country. Northwestern was missing a key starter Brooks Barhnizer. Wisconsin fell behind 8-0 to start the game with the Northwestern crowd going crazy but the Badgers stingy defense brought them back.

Jalen Leach had 23 point for the Badgers. I knew that I heard that name before. A google search reminded me that he was a transfer from Fairfield in my home state. Northwestern is firmly on the bubble after this loss and will have some work to do to make March Madness.

Back to Milwaukee for an hour drive to see Marquette tonight!

Northeastern (85) vs. College of Charleston (87) 01/18/2025

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Game #137 of 364 37% complete

The TD Arena is located right in the heart of downtown Charleston surrounded by quaint shops and cool looking restaurants. It was disheartening to pass through this area and not have time to stop for some tourist time. But as is often when a big arena is in a crowded area, parking spots are not close. I was given a list of parking spots by the school before the game. Choosing the first one off of the list, I found myself with a 15 minute walk to the arena. Normally I enjoy a good walk but this was done in a driving rain storm.

The College of Charleston Cougars are one of the better mid major schools in the country currently occupying first place in Colonial Athletic league. First place and a preferred spot in the post league tournament is important because these leagues rarely get an at-large bid. The Cougars lost in the past two NCAA tournaments against eventual final four participants Alabama and San Diego State.

Chris Mack is the first year coach for the Cougars. He was previously at Xavier and Louisville. He was the 2018 Big East Coach of the Year at Xavier. He was fired from Louisville after reports that the fan base and players were unhappy with him. I wish him well with this energetic fan base and a team looking to make some noise this year in the tournament.

I was very impressed with Deywilk Taveras the sophomore guard for the Cougars who scored 32 points. He went 8 for 9 (yes, you’re reading that right) from the 3 point line and killed any comeback for Northeastern. He was the 2024 MEAC Rookie of the Year for Delaware State and is quite a pickup for the Cougars.

This scene above was in sight of where I was sitting. It has no significance other than showing a man in extreme pain for a cramp.

I get a kick when I hear the young kids singing songs that came out when I was a young kid. Songs like “Sweet Caroline” and “Friends in Low Places” are sung by the college kids as if they were their own anthems. Soon it will be their turn to feel nostalgic as the college kids 20 years from now will sing Taylor’s “You Belong To Me”.

This was an exciting game with College of Charleston pulling it at the end with a potential three pointer winner by Northeastern’s Rashad King clanging off the rim with time expired.

Some scenes from downtown Charleston as I walked in the rain.

VMI ( 75) vs. Citadel (70) 01/18/2025

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Game #136 of 364 37% complete

Occasionally, I will put together a quickie trip involving a morning arrival, an early afternoon game and a late afternoon or night game. One night in a hotel followed by a return trip the following morning adds a quick two game addition to Operation 351. The problem with this scenario is that it involves no time for fun or tourist stuff. It was much to my dismay that a Topgolf facility existed next to my hotel. A quick check in to the hotel between basketball games prevented any time to hit golf balls. Additionally, downtown Charleston is a great visit to place but had to be skipped on this trip, as well as a walk around the beautiful Citadel campus due to time constraints.

This series of games between the two main military schools of the south is billed as the “The Military Classic of the South”. I expected a huge crowd with much give and take between the cadets from both schools. Instead the crowd was small and not particularly involved in the game. The Citadel basketball team is ranked #352 out of 364 Division 1 schools so I guess that basketball is not a high priority in the Charleston area.

The gentlemen above are graduates of the 1974 class of Citadel. They raised 10.5 million dollars for the school and were honored during the game. My first thought is that they should use some of that money for NIL compensation to bring in better players.

I was very impressed with VMI junior Rickey Bradley Jr. The Georgia State transfer scored 29 points and seemed to score at will. He is currently second in the SoCon league by scoring at 19.2 ppg. The VMI team seemed to have much more talent than Citadel despite the five point margin. Augustinas Kiudulas added 13 points but I remember seeing him somewhere. An after the game check revealed that he was on the Indiana State team that reached the NIT championship last year.

When I see folks sitting in a section by themselves despite the presence of many good seats below, I would love to ask them why are they sitting there.

The traditional t-shirt toss was performed during the game. One shirt landed off the hand of an old Citadel graduate in front of me and landed between me and another old graduate. We both grabbed for the t-shirt at the same time. My thinking was that he was probably a season ticket holder who has been here many times and probably has caught a t-shirt or two in his day. When we grabbed the shirt simultaneously, he tightened his grip. Not wanting a confrontation, I let go. He said he was sorry and laughed. Still he kept the shirt. I don’t need another t-shirt but it would made a nice memento of my trip.

Next is the College of Charleston game in downtown Charleston. It is pouring rain but much better than the snowstorm in Connecticut.

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!

University of California at Berkeley (65) vs. Vanderbilt (85) 11/13/2024

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Game #132 of 364 36% complete

This was my first visit to a suspended court. In other words, the court was raised about three feet. The two teams sat under the baskets as opposed on the sides. The coach stood on the sidelines during play but did not have the opportunity to talk to (or yell) at his players during the game unless he walked back to the bench under the basket.

This game was never close even though California pulled within 9 points at one point. The Commodores forced 20 turnovers against the Bears who lacked a true point guard. Despite shooting 7 for 30 from the three point line, Vanderbilt’s defense was overwhelming. I still can’t over the fact that California is now a member of the ACC. Those travel costs will sure pile up for the Bears.

California player Lee Dort was booed every time he touched the ball. I finally figured out and confirmed that he was an ex-Vanderbilt player. In Nashville on November 2023, he was arrested for strangling an ex-girlfriend in a dorm room. He obviously transferred to get a fresh start 2000 miles away.

California guard Andrej Stojakovic is the son of Peta who played 14 seasons in the NBA. Andrej played his first year at Stanford and transferred to the California Bears choosing over Kentucky and North Carolina. A former McDonald’s all- American, he clearly was the best player on the Bear’s squad leading his team with 17 points.

Vanderbilt freshmen Tyler Tanner drew oohs and applause from the crowd with some fast break dunks and three pointers. The two time Tennessee Gatorade player of the year finished with 14 points and three steals.

The student section below was grouped in one corner on the side. In my opinion, it was a small contingent for a P5 school plus there were many empty seats around the arena.

I was very impressed by the huge TVs at each corner of the arena. You could easily see the game better watching the screen than the live play from my seat.

The concourse had a big exhibit of Vanderbilt sports including the uniform of NBA star Jan Van Breda Kolff .

What trip to Nashville would not be complete without a trip to Martin’s BBQ and Hattie’s Hot Chicken.

If you a follower of my blog, you can always expect pictures from the local zoo. Here are some from the famous Nashville Zoo.

On to Virginia in December for a three game set.

Belmont (79) vs. Lipscomb (80) 11/12/2024

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Game #131 of 364 36% complete

I started my tenth year of traveling for Operation 351 with a 2 game trip to the Music City – Nashville. So where does a parrot head stay when visiting Nashville? Why the Margaritaville Hotel, of course! To hear the sounds of Jimmy Buffet as I check in is a perfect way to start the trip.

I did not rent a car this time since the hotel was charging $57 a day to park. UBER worked just fine for this trip. I find that when I am the airport, it is easier to get a taxi as there usually no lines, instead of dealing with the crowds around the UBER wait areas. However, using UBER is easier when traversing the city from the hotel and other tourist spots.

This game features two schools from Nashville (Belmont & Liscomb) and is appropriately title the “Battle of the Boulevard”. The schools have met for the 151st time with Belmont winning 19 of the last 22 games. The schools are literally 5 minutes apart from each other. Fans from both teams were numerous and loud. I was fortunate to grab a courtside seat which can happen occasionally for a mid-major game but impossible for a high major game. I was sitting right in front of the Lipscomb student section. Unfortunately, there was one guy who annoyingly kept pounding a flagpole in the stand which reverberated in my head thorough out the game.

Belmont and Lipscomb teams were evenly matched. Lipscomb held the lead for most of the game until the final two minutes. Belmont came back and won the game on a three point play with 3 seconds left. Isiah Walker of Belmont grabbed a missed three point attempt and was fouled as he put in the tying basket. To add to the drama, Walker’s foul shot rolled around the rim a couple of times before falling in.

An alley-oop dunk attempt from Lipscomb’s Will Pruitt to Dylan Faulkner sailed over the rim and out of bounds at the buzzer.

Belmont scored on each of its final seven possessions, made eight consecutive shots before the final miss with eight seconds to go, and erased a 12-point deficit with 3:19 minutes left, all with Lipscomb not committing a turnover nor missing a free throw.

Kudos to Belmont forward Jacob Ognacevic who scored 28 points and missed the entire last season with an injury.

The Liscomb cheerleader (picture below) had to perform 50 pushups at some point during the game. Not quite sure what the trigger was for this!

On to Vanderbilt tomorrow night after a couple of margaritas in Margarativille.

Towson (64) vs. UNC Wilmington (75) 03/02/2024

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Game #130 of 362 35% complete

It was very difficult getting a good picture of the arena with this old but gorgeous tree blocking my view.

This is my last game of the year. After 9 years on the road and 130 games later, I would not have guessed that I would have made it this far. I have seen so much of small town America with its museums, zoos and parks. I have met many friendly fans who have taken an interest in my journey. At the age of 66, I am going to keep on going till I can not do it anymore. With NIL money now in the forefront of college basketball and players jumping from one team to another all over the map, my pessimistic nature wonders about the future of college basketball. But I digress.

UNC Wilmington is one of those schools I call “outliers’. There are no close schools by making it difficult to execute my “three school visit” to keep costs down. The drive from Myrtle Beach was one and half hours so I am fortunate to get the UNC Wilmington in with Coastal Carolina. If you look at a map, you can see that the University of East Carolina is the farthest east school in North Carolina and poses the same problem given that I have seen North Carolina and North Carolina State (the two closest schools).

UNC

The Trask Coliseum has to rank as one of the most drab arenas seen by me having mostly empty concourses with the exception of the concessions. Here is one example below. I circled the entire arena but could not find much to look at. I think Mr. Trask needs to hang up some pictures.

I will give a compliment to the parking. It was free and across the street from the arena. One cool happening during the game was having staff throw out boxes of popcorn to the crowd. But once again, I could not grab a tee shirt thrown into the crowd. It has only happened once in my 130 games.

This was a critical game for both teams. UNC Wilmington Seahawks is tied for third in the Colonial Athletic Conference. Towson is in fourth place. I could tell by the crowd reactions that these two teams were rivals. I was sitting in front of a guy who literally complained about each call against his Seahawks. He was probably correct about 10% of the time.

With the win, the Seahawks (21-9, 12-6 CAA) clinched the fourth seed in the Coastal Athletic Association tournament and the double-bye that comes with it. The Tigers head into the tournament as the fifth seed with a record of 18-13 and 11-7.

Shykeim Phillips from the Seahawks led all scorers with 17 points followed by teammate Trazerian White with 16 points. Try saying these names three times fast!

It was odd that there no band or dance team for the home club. A news article said that this was a sold out game but there were many empty seats.

I had to laugh at the rules below. Is it a fact that men get more inebriated than women thus causing an earlier cutoff of alcohol for men?

Once again, the score does not appear. I will figure this out. Perhaps I have a red filter turned on with my iPhone?

I close with picture of the ocean at Myrtle Beach and the mechanical Margarita at Jimmy Buffet’s restaurant.

Fins up till I see you again in November!