re-capping the conseco game.

The scoreboard may have read Indiana 86, IUPUI 57. But it should read Indiana and the BIASED refs 86!!! Seriously! The Hoosiers can't beat this Jags team; not by themselves. They had the refs in their back pockets all night long. It was embarrassing. It was a travesty of justices.

Bob Lovell would be spinning in his grave if were dead!

I'm totally kidding.

As Coach Hunter said tonight, the significance of this game was not whether or not IUPUI won or lost as much as it was just getting the opportunity to compete against a Big Ten (11) in-state team.

Truth is, IU came out blazing from the starting gun while IUPUI looked a bit shell-shocked in the early stages. The Hoosiers are bigger, stronger and faster. By the end of the first half, the Jags looked like they were out of gas while Indiana was barely breaking a sweat. Such is the uphill climb for a mid-major playing a top-level program.

But this is how teams get better. They take their lumps against the big teams. Look at Valpo. They used to be fodder for the big programs. Now, they're moving up a notch into the Horizon League.

Baby steps. And tonight's game was another important step in the growth of a program.

On a personal note, here's are some points of interest for me:
* A certain writer for a certain newspaper does not wash his hands after using the lav
* The coffee in the media room at Conseco is hotter than the surface of the sun
* D.J. White is every bit of 6-9, 250 lbs.
* Kelvin Sampson doesn't seem to have a very loud voice.

But most of all...I'm a better PA announcer than Chuck Crabb!

I keeeed! I keeed!

Mr. Crabb has a very respectful style and I can dig it.

Oh yeah, props to the Pep Band and Cheerleaders tonight. Job well done!

sleepy fans and the swear jar.

Last night's game against IPFW? UGLY! Yeah, IUPUI got the 'w', but it was not a pretty game. One thing is evident about this group of players: loads of individual talent, but without George Hill out there, they seem to lack cohesion.

Nevertheless, David Barlow had a career night last night. And he made me laugh pretty good during the latter stages of the game. Out of timeouts and needing to get out of a double-team after he picked up his dribble, Barlow got crafty and bounced the ball off his defender's leg, and then it went out bounds. The play happened directly in front of me and made me laugh out loud. Why? I'm not entirely sure. But I laughed, Barlow looked at me and flashed a proud smile. Props to you, David!

Everything else went fairly well last night. The band was in good form (and snazzy new shirts, I must say). The cheerleaders did their thing and the dancers, as always, performed great. The fans? Well, I hope we didn't disturb their naps. Seriously, do they ever get off their hands?!?!

Anyway, I had an OK game. Nothing spectacular, nothing terribly bad. If anything, I rushed through a few things, but there were so many subs I felt like I had no choice. It was fun to see Dane Fife prowling the sidelines. He had us rolling at the scorers table with the F-bombs. The first one he unleashed on a player (in the first half) resonated through the gym. We all looked right at Fife as he was reading his player the riot act.

"That's a quarter in the Swear Jar," I said to the guys at the table. Matt Davis, the man on the shot clock, held up a cup and shook it for donations.

Had we actually held Fife to the Swear Jar rule, he may have needed to bring his checkbook. Who was his college coach again? :-)

Fun night. But I hope our fans wake up soon.

see you at conseco.

I just got word today that I'm offiicially in for the IUPUI-IU game next Friday night at Conseco Fieldhouse. Being as how it's not our home game I won't be doing PA. But IUPUI SID Ed Holdaway took pity on me and extended an SID pass so I can sit courtside for the game. This ain't no free ride, though. A seat on Mr. Holdaway's Wild Ride comes with a price. I've got to run down postgame quotes in the press conferences.

So let me get this straight: my "job" is to attend the press conferences for Ron Hunter, Kelvin Sampson and any players they bring in? Slave drivers!!!!

This is not unfamiliar work for me. I've attended two conference tournaments and did similar work for IUPUI at both.

A little personal history: I've been an IU basketball fan since I was in high school in Michigan. I've never been to an IU game in my entire life. Until next Friday.

And as big a Hoosiers fan as I am, I'm wanting to see the Jags shock the world. They're the horse I'm riding next Friday.

It's going to be cool to see the band, cheerleaders and dancers at Conseco.

I can't wait to see what kind of crowd is on hand.

back in form.

I think my voice is back in form now, after a week of battling a throat infection. After last Saturday's game—where I was losing my voice in the first half—I admit I was a bit nervous.

Last evening's game went off without a hitch. Although I'm finding myself picking up bad, old habits like "rushing" through substitutions. I need to work on that. I also think it's high time I gain a little "stage presence" when doing the halftime shootout.

Perhaps I should bust out the wireless mic and work the floor. Perhaps I should egg the crowd on a bit more too. I don't feel 100% comfortable with this promotion yet, so I'm going to have to work on it.

I did have a little bit of fun with the Dance Team last night. I did a little fake like I was going to play the Fight Song at the end of half-time; had them glaring at me a bit. I played Crazy Train instead. I like the Dance Team. They're super-cool kids and are very good at getting me their music well in advance of the game. That's important so I don't stomp on their mojo by playing a song in my line-up that they're dancing to that night.

Oh yeah, the women's team won last night. It wasn't the prettiest game I've ever seen, but it was good to see Alicia Booyer have a great first half (12 points).

This was the last women's game until Dec. 30. And Saturday's game will be the last men's home game until Jan. 18.

Man, are we that far into the schedule already?

err on the side of caution.

Tonight's game could've been better on so many fronts. And I'm not even talking about the Jags sneaking away with a win over an NAIA team. Seriously, Indiana Wesleyan nearly handed us a loss tonight! The horror....but anyway.

Yeah, my throat/voice seemed to not want to cooperate with me tonight. I've been fighting off a throat infection of some sort all week, but I thought the worst was behind me. Well, I know the worst is behind me. But the first half of tonight's game? Something just wasn't clicking.

I felt like I was struggling all game to fight the right pitch and tone on the mic. Perhaps the problem was external, but I couldn't help but wonder if my throat is still not 100%. Joe, the official score keeper, even turned to me once and said, "are you all right?"

My conversation voice is fine, but my PA voice? Well, it was not. It wasn't helped by the sauna-like conditions of the first half in the gym. I found myself feeling kinda woozy from the heat or something. Once I took off my jacket and rolled up my sleeves I was fine. But for a second there, I thought I was gonna have to call for a back-up.

Fortunately for me nobody's there to listen to me. And everybody else performed magnificently. I think I'm going to rest the pipe tomorrow and stay home for the Colts game. I'm not sick, per se, but I'm not 100%; best to err on the side of caution.

dance, dance, dance.

The ability to have fun at another's expense is only funny under a few conditions:
1) You know they'll get a laugh out of it
2) You don't abuse the privilege

That's pretty much what I did tonight with the Dance Team at tonight's b-ball game. The team co-captains, during our standard pre-game greeting, talked a bit about not wanting to do the Fight Song at the end of halftime. At the moment, I dind't really recall it being a staple (I honestly didn't recall it at all) and told them I had no plans on playing it.

But then, with about two minutes remaining in the halftime, a devil appeared on my shoulder. That devil reminded me of how the Dance Team and Cheerleaders jump to their feet and perform a choreographed dance to the Fight Song!

I simply couldn't resist.

Everybody was relaxing, gearing up for the second half...and I went and screwed it all up for them.

It was all harmless fun and (I think) the dancers know that. They hassled me afterward, of course. But, as I said, I couldn't resist the temptation. I won't do this again, though. Like I said, it's only funny once.

A little note about this year's Dance Team, if I may: as w/ every other year, they're a great group of people. But this is, by far, the best IUPUI Dance Team I've seen.

They threatened to make me dance during the Fight Song next time I pull a stunt like I did tonight. Yeah, I don't know who gets punished more: me, or the people forced to see the debacle that is me dancing.

basketball "line change" substitions.

The women's game the other day (Saturday) had a strange feel to it. It started at 4:30 p.m., but there was no men's game following it. It was like an island out in the middle of nowhere, or something. From a PA standpoint, these early games can be a little trying because the crowds are decidedly smaller. Saturday's game was no exception. Given the opposing team's penchant for hockey-style substitions—three, four, even five players at a time—it made my job that much more challenging. I actually referred to it, once by saying, "now on the floor on the Evansville line change..." It's a subtle joke that only three or four people will ever get.

I have to admit, it was annoying. But it's not my job to coach the teams. I had to plow ahead and do the best I could. It honestly was tricky.

Fortunately, the Jags won in regulation. The last thing I needed was OT.

The women play at home again tomorrow night, and then the men finally have another home game on Saturday. Hopefully the women's team plays better tomorrow than they did on Saturday.

The dance team and cheerleaders performed well. They've got their act together, and it's great to see. Hopefully I get my timing right with the fight song and pre-game rituals so we all know what's what.