Making amends for the UMBC game

As part of our effort to add 32 pieces of flair to our humble weblog, I had big plans for the big BU vs. UMBC matchup back on February 17th. Loyal readers might remember that we never actually wrote anything about that game, despite the fact that it was actually a game that I could go and see in person, AND it was on TV, AND it was a huge game for BU.

So I went to the game, and was able to get B-Wags to come with me, and I even Tivo'd it to try and put video highlights up. But then I dropped the ball. I kept trying to figure out how to transfer Tivo to the computer, cut the video into clips, successfully put them on to YouTube... and nothing ever got written about the game.

This is a familiar pattern for those who have looked forward to reading about our experiences at the America East tournament the last two years. There is so much to write about and we always have big plans for it, but there is almost TOO much to write about and anything less than a full report seems lame. Also, we are always too drunk for the whole time. So we end up not writing anything while we're there, despite the pure gold that we're witnessing, and by the time we get around to it, nobody really cares anymore since the season is over.

Well that's going to change right now. The following four videos are some of the highlights of this amazing game, a game that I called one of the best AE games I have witnessed in person. Everyone was making shots for both teams, tons of ties and lead changes, and the lead never went above 4 points for almost the entire game... UMBC just came out a little ahead at the end of 40 minutes. (And by the way, we hope to put up more videos, so you can subscribe to our YouTube channel if you wish)

Now, B-Wags was at last year's AE tourney, but he had never seen John HOLLA in person (and I'm permanently borrowing that phrase from the Hot Dog). I promised B-Wags a mammoth dunk from Johnny (much like I had promised Burger Man against Maine), and late in the second half, Johnny delivered:


The next highlight came near the very end of the game, just over a minute to go, BU down by 3. Corey decided to take matters into his own hands:


Finally, these are the "un-highlights" of the game. These are the last two possessions for BU, both under a minute left and trailing by a possession. Poor Scott Brittain - undeniably having a great season, but this was not his game...sigh:

Burger Man, Meet Mr. Holland

Let me tell you about Burger Man. Burger Man is a big-time BU fan, but you might say his fan-dom of the men's hoop team has lapsed a bit. He still follows the team from afar and is always up for watching a game, but maybe not as up to date on the intracacies of the team as if, say, he read this blog every day.

But I won't hold that against Burger Man.

Burger Man earned his stripes as a BU basketball fan, showing such spirit during college that he sometimes showed up to games looking like this:

I was delighted when Burger Man elected to join me at Porter's for the BU vs. Maine game on Wednesday (the bartender doesn't even hesitate anymore - he sees my BU shirt and immediately tunes the DirecTV to NESN). The last game Burger Man watched with me was really depressing, so he had been a little gunshy about bringing more bad luck to the Terriers.

"But they're a whole different team now than when you saw them shit the bed against Albany!" I told Burger Man. "And wait till you see this John Holland kid."

"Who?"

Clearly, something needed to be done about this. I told Burger Man that Johnny Holland was going to put on a show for him against Maine.
Annnnnnnnnnnnd, he did.

Within minutes, John-boy was dropping effortlessly 3-pointers and frustrating the Maine ball-handlers at the top of the zone defense. BY FAR, the most ridiculous stretch came near the middle of the 1st half. BU stole the ball on 4 straight Maine possessions, each time leading to a fast break - first for a Marques Johnson lay-up, then a missed 3-pointer, then a Carlos Strong dunk... and THEN what we were all waiting for: Johnny gets a steal and takes it the length of the floor for a jaw-dropping, thunderous dunk. I loved that 2 minutes of my life.

BU annihilated Maine - it wasn't even as close as the final score of 73-54. The outcome was never, ever in doubt. Burger Man and I were hoping to either double Maine's score OR stay ahead by 30... we did neither, but it didn't matter. John Holland and Co. put on a show for us, and we were thankful.