"winter break."

Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been all out of sorts since the holidays. It's a pretty quiet home schedule right now; our next game isn't until the 18th, so I'm taking the break to relax a bit and catch up on other blogs I write.

The last home game on the 30th, a women's game against Miami of Ohio, was a relatively well-played contest despite the home team coming up short in the end. Miami is highly athletic and its coach is in love with "line change" substitutions. Yeah, that was a hoot.

The Dance Team gave me a gift before the game: a picture frame they made for me with the title "#1 announcer" on it. Aw, shucks. They're good kids. I took a photo with them in the pre-game and put it in the frame and have it at home in my den. The photo we took is below. Yeah, I look like I'm off in the distance and don't know why.

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.

so far, so good.

The first full weekend of Jags basketball is well underway and things, for the most part, seem to be moving along well. We haven't had any setbacks, technical or otherwise, at the scorers table. With the exception of George Hill's injury, the teams seem to be hitting their strides.

We've worked in a few new promotions and a few less pre-game announcements and I couldn't be happier about both. Nobody comes to the game to hear me, so the less yammering I do, the better.

Of course, I need to work on giving all affected parties advance notice when I'm going to flip the script. I switched things up on the cheerleaders last night and sort of left them hanging.

I think I'll start checking with each group in the pre-game to make sure we're all on the same page. Tonight's game will be easy, though. With the Pep Band there, it makes my job exponentially easier. Outside of starting line-ups and Dance Team music, I have little to do.

I still need to get my "Shout" thing put together, though. We want to incorporate that in the under-four media timeout.

Maybe tonight.

gear up.

It seems like I just got back from Tulsa. In just about a month, it's time to wind it up for another season. The IUPUI Jaguars men's and women's soccer schedules are posted here. I think I'll only miss one or two matches. Of course, they both are Senior Nights, but I have pretty good excuses. Nevertheless, I hate to bail on the teams in their moment of glory. Oh well. I'm sure they won't miss me too much.

The men's first home match is an exhibition vs. Cincinnati on Aug. 14 at 6 p.m. at Kuntz Stadium on 16th St. in Indy.

The women's play their first home match on Aug. 25 at 7 p.m., also at Kuntz. They'll be facing Murray State.

So there it is. My hiatus is almost over. Time to gear up.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

my date with the pep band.

Saturday was a bit of an IUPUI day for me. I PA'd for women's softball -- first time for me -- as well as going to dinner with the Pep Band; also a first for me.

In both cases, I hope to do that again.

The softball games weren't bad; pretty loose atmosphere and all. But I could've been better. As I commented to Ed Holdaway, the SID, and Denise O'Grady, the Assistant AD, "I stopped doing PA in February and clearly haven't started back up again."

Soccer's really not that far off, so I better start getting my head on straight.

As for the evening dinner, it was really a fun night for me. The Pep Band is a fun crowd and I've enjoyed getting to know them. They even had a plaque made for Dave, the band director, complete with many of the nicknames I've called him. It only reminds me how much I already look forward to next season.

Rather than sit across a basketball court and wave at them, I got to actually talk to them and get to know them better. I can only hope to have more opportunities like this.

I even got an invite to go to Landshark's(!) last night. Here's the funny part: when I got home from dinner and got done walking Brinkley, I went back inside and realized, "I'm too tired to even think about going out for a beer!" So I went to sleep around 11:30 p.m. On a Saturday night. Wow....what a geezer!

I plan on going back to Tulsa for the tournament. With a little luck, I'll try to hang out with the Pep Band out there.

It's only -- what? -- seven months to Midnight Madness? Who's ready?

I'm ready.

a sea of dancers.

The IUPUI Dancers...a nice group of kids.

so long, farewell, and hopefully we'll win it next year.

Well, the tournament's over. Oral Roberts won on the men's side; Oakland won in the women's tourney. I was courtside for the men's finale. I suppose you could say I am a glutton for punishment. Given my allegience to the Jags, I'm no fan of Oral Roberts or Chicago State. But I fully recognize the talent on ORU's team. Chicago State has some pretty good guard play, but they were no match for Oral Roberts. Hell, I'm still trying to figure out how Chicago State made IUPUI look so bad!

I don't think the league could've handled being represented by another sub-.500 team. Granted, I think we would've been a better team, but didn't earn it.

The talk around JagNation is NIT. Are we NIT bound? I hope to be pleasantly surprised, but I am not expecting it.

So, sadly, this is the end of the line for me with IUPUI this year. It's always a bit sad for me. I love working for them and already miss the season. This blog will shut down this week. We won't be tearing off the tarps and re-opening it until September. I already can't wait.

Thanks for stopping by and going along on this March Madness ride with me. See you in a few months.

no dance ticket.

Oh yeah, here's what I wrote for the Web site:

No Dance Ticket...

start the clock.

There is one unmistakable truth about sport: it is a profession of suffering. Oh sure, they all say "it's only a game." Tell that to the players and coaches who are going home without the trophies. I watched Ron Hunter in the postgame conference last night and it's clear how much the wins -- and losses -- matter.

On some small level, this is not unlike the Colts collapse, I suppose. But that's cold comfort, really. We came here poised and ready to face Oral Roberts of Valpo in the final. Well, perhaps I'm only speaking for myself here. We all breathed a sigh of relief over not having to face Valpo in the second round. I wonder how much difference that would've made.

Chicago State is a vexing team. They have this way of turning its opponent inside out and forcing a team out of its game. IUPUI is a premier perimeter and free throw shooting team. Tonight's line: 3-for-21 from long range, 10-for-17 from the line.

Ouch.

There were lots of plans. Viewing parties, victory rallies, Sunday Selection gatherings. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans.

IUPUI's plans went astray with a hollow thud tonight that was its performance against the Cougars.

I guess we just have to wait until November.

Again.

done.

Well, that sucked.

jags fans!

Jags fans!

"mulligan" first half...jags are down by a deuce.

Well, at least that half is in the books. Ugh. Ugly!! It was like they were sleep-walking out there or something. The fact that they're only down by a basket is truly stunning, considering they had a 5-1/2 minute scoring drought and are shooting well below where they need to be!

This is precisely what Chicago State wanted to do; mess with IUPUI's game. So far, mission accomplished.

We'll see what the second half holds in store.

jags lead...so far.

It's early, but the Jags look loose. That's a good thing. CSU looks loose too, honestly. The Jags are up 9-4 right now. Cole and Hill are doing their thing; as is Barlow. It's a balanced start. That's how I like to see it. The thing with Chicago State is they're always holding an ace in the hole.



Let's see when Kevin Jones decides to drop that bad boy.