Friday, March 17, 2006
Refusin' To Sport Green On THIS St. Patty's Day
I'm sitting courtside at Fifth Third Arena and the traditional color associated with this holiday is conspicuously absent from my wardrobe. The reason: the hated Charlotte 49ers are in town in all their green glory. The former Conference USA rival is top on my hate list. On top of that, add the frustration and dissappointment I'm feeling towards UC getting jobbed out of the Big Dance. As nice as it is to be back at the Shoemaker Center for a bball game, it's equally aggrevating considering I feel this team should be playing on CBS right now. Is this game even on TV?
It's gonna be interesting to see which UC team comes out tonight. Is it the one who won half their games in the toughest conference in the country? Or is it a crestfallen squad who just want an end to this emotional roller coaster of a season? Early indication pointed to the former as Eric Hicks gave an impassioned pre-game speach, came out jumping during his introduction, won the opening tip, and scored the first points of the game. He forced UNC-Charlotte to take an early TO after he took it to the hole strong to take a 8-1 lead.
There's definitely a world of difference between tonight and the last time I was here. Pretty much half of the upper deck is empty. There was no one to sing the national anthem, the band just played it. I think even the dance team is missing a decent amount of their members. And I had a courtside seat just a few feet down from the Big O. Normally, I'm closer to the statue out front than the real McCoy. Gotta take the good with the bad, I guess. Those that are here are certainly showing their support for Andy Kennedy and his players. Also some cheap shots at Craig Littlepage, Air Force, and a few other deserving targets. And the fans still remember Bobby Lutz. There's a couple signs saying a win over that "leprechaun" would be appropriate for March 17th. And the place really erupted when he got his technical foul.
The Bearcats built up a comfortable double digit lead for most of the game. But then the rim seems to close up a little bit and the 49ers started to creep back to a two-possession game at the half, 40-35.
Yikes, the 49ers even tied the game at 40! Fortunately, Eric Hicks seemed to regain some of that form wwe saw at the beginning of the last game and buried a three pointer. He got a little greedy and tried again the next trip fown the floor. You may want to just stick to your game, E.H. Unfortunately, UNC-C took the lead but there was one good thing that came out of it. The crowd really woke up. But it didn't last that long. Cinci remained cold offensively and Charlotte their hot hand building up an eight-point lead.
Oy. But all is not lost. Jihad sunk a three-pointer and Hicks had a monster block on the other end. He followed that up with a rebound wher ehe outletted to Devan Downey who was able to lay it up through a couple of defenders. Shots started to fall and there appeared to be some rhythm again. But it still wasn't enough. James White ended up getting his 4th foul with 9:28 to go and the 49ers still held a four point lead. As many little runs UC went on, they just couldn't crack the lead. Until 4:30 to go, they finally went up 70-69. Some missed free throws on McGowan's part and a strong move on the other side of the floor negated that, though. Back in the deficit. McG did make up for it with a nice lay-in to tie it up at 72. But those damned 49ers kept pouring it on.
Hicks cut it to two with a nice bucket and even gave a nice "shout-out" point to the Big O after the foul was called. He hit the back-end of the three point play.
Best sign of the night was a very professional-looking one saying: National Comittee Against Andy and the Bearcats. Chairman: Littleford. Members: Nancy Zimpher anbd Mike Thomas. Security had a little talking to him and that was the last we saw of that. That prompted a couple others along the line of Nancy Invitational Tournament and Hire Andy Fire Nancy. I like the enthusiasm but the timing was awful. The fellas on the court are in the middle of a battle: back-and-forth, back-and-forth. UC pushed it to a two-possession game with 41 ticks to go on McGowan's free throws, making up for his earlier shutout at the line. White's two free throws made it a 7 point lead for a brief time before UNC-Charlotte again hit a big 3. With 27 seconds to go, the chants of HIRE ANDY went up. Then switched to FIRE NANCY. Clutch free throws took a vacation as Hicks missed one and Downey missed two. Fortunately, the 49ers missed one of theirs, too. But McGowan came through again and the Bearcats moved on in the NIT, 86-80.
Round Two. Tuesday night. 9:00 p.m. Right back here again at Fifth Third Arena. Seeya there.
It's gonna be interesting to see which UC team comes out tonight. Is it the one who won half their games in the toughest conference in the country? Or is it a crestfallen squad who just want an end to this emotional roller coaster of a season? Early indication pointed to the former as Eric Hicks gave an impassioned pre-game speach, came out jumping during his introduction, won the opening tip, and scored the first points of the game. He forced UNC-Charlotte to take an early TO after he took it to the hole strong to take a 8-1 lead.
There's definitely a world of difference between tonight and the last time I was here. Pretty much half of the upper deck is empty. There was no one to sing the national anthem, the band just played it. I think even the dance team is missing a decent amount of their members. And I had a courtside seat just a few feet down from the Big O. Normally, I'm closer to the statue out front than the real McCoy. Gotta take the good with the bad, I guess. Those that are here are certainly showing their support for Andy Kennedy and his players. Also some cheap shots at Craig Littlepage, Air Force, and a few other deserving targets. And the fans still remember Bobby Lutz. There's a couple signs saying a win over that "leprechaun" would be appropriate for March 17th. And the place really erupted when he got his technical foul.
The Bearcats built up a comfortable double digit lead for most of the game. But then the rim seems to close up a little bit and the 49ers started to creep back to a two-possession game at the half, 40-35.
Yikes, the 49ers even tied the game at 40! Fortunately, Eric Hicks seemed to regain some of that form wwe saw at the beginning of the last game and buried a three pointer. He got a little greedy and tried again the next trip fown the floor. You may want to just stick to your game, E.H. Unfortunately, UNC-C took the lead but there was one good thing that came out of it. The crowd really woke up. But it didn't last that long. Cinci remained cold offensively and Charlotte their hot hand building up an eight-point lead.
Oy. But all is not lost. Jihad sunk a three-pointer and Hicks had a monster block on the other end. He followed that up with a rebound wher ehe outletted to Devan Downey who was able to lay it up through a couple of defenders. Shots started to fall and there appeared to be some rhythm again. But it still wasn't enough. James White ended up getting his 4th foul with 9:28 to go and the 49ers still held a four point lead. As many little runs UC went on, they just couldn't crack the lead. Until 4:30 to go, they finally went up 70-69. Some missed free throws on McGowan's part and a strong move on the other side of the floor negated that, though. Back in the deficit. McG did make up for it with a nice lay-in to tie it up at 72. But those damned 49ers kept pouring it on.
Hicks cut it to two with a nice bucket and even gave a nice "shout-out" point to the Big O after the foul was called. He hit the back-end of the three point play.
Best sign of the night was a very professional-looking one saying: National Comittee Against Andy and the Bearcats. Chairman: Littleford. Members: Nancy Zimpher anbd Mike Thomas. Security had a little talking to him and that was the last we saw of that. That prompted a couple others along the line of Nancy Invitational Tournament and Hire Andy Fire Nancy. I like the enthusiasm but the timing was awful. The fellas on the court are in the middle of a battle: back-and-forth, back-and-forth. UC pushed it to a two-possession game with 41 ticks to go on McGowan's free throws, making up for his earlier shutout at the line. White's two free throws made it a 7 point lead for a brief time before UNC-Charlotte again hit a big 3. With 27 seconds to go, the chants of HIRE ANDY went up. Then switched to FIRE NANCY. Clutch free throws took a vacation as Hicks missed one and Downey missed two. Fortunately, the 49ers missed one of theirs, too. But McGowan came through again and the Bearcats moved on in the NIT, 86-80.
Round Two. Tuesday night. 9:00 p.m. Right back here again at Fifth Third Arena. Seeya there.
