An Evening Devoid of Basketball

For some reason last night, there was no basketball on television (other than an 11pm tape delay of the Wisconsin game) and no good games (at least that I could find) being played in the area. Thus, I was sort of left out in the cold for games that I could watch. With no recap today, then, here are a few basketball-related thoughts that have been bouncing around my head for a bit:

1) For awhile I thought that God was trying to keep me from watching more than one UWM game in person this season. Now, thankfully, some of my plans have changed this upcoming weekend, and while I don’t want to jinx anything, there’s a decent chance that I’ll actually get to go to the UWM-UW Green Bay game. I miss the Mecca...

2) It might just be that the Kohl Center has a great sound system, but Wisconsin’s public address announcer is simply phenomenal. I wish I could hire that guy to announce my presence when I entered a room.

3) If I had the chance to see a game played in any arena in the country, I think I’d like to head down to Oklahoma State’s Gallagher-Iba Arena for a game. That place has scared the crap out of me ever since Byron Houston was there, and I’ve always wondered what it would be like to actually go there.

4) I see that the NCAA, along with CBS SportsLine.com and CSTV, is putting all of the NCAA tournament games on the internet this year, with the exception that games that are already being televised in a person’s home market won’t be accessible to them. Great idea, but excluding home markets is the huge flaw in this plan. While I recognize that CBS doesn’t want to jump start something that would cut into their own ratings, would the internet streams of games really do this? I know I’d rather watch an HD broadcast of the game on my living room television than a pixilated picture on my tiny computer monitor.

But there is one place that I would watch a computer-streamed game, and that’s my office. And that’s not cutting into CBS’s TV action, since there’s probably no better than a 5% chance that I’d think of bringing a TV into my office to see a game. Of course, if I’m going to take time out and ruin my work day, I’d just assume that I get to watch one of my home teams, which under this plan, I’ll never get the chance to see on my office computer. So basically, I get to see a bunch of games that I only sort of want to watch, and CBS makes nothing off the deal. If you offered games on an ala carte basis, though, and included local market game, I guarantee I’d end up buying a game or two in my home market. I’d see what I wanted, CBS wouldn’t lose my viewership (they never really had it, since I was stuck in the office without TV) and they’d still be making money off me. How can no one see this?

5) Another quick question that’s bugging me about these planned free internet streams of games: Last year CSTV offered the same set up, only there was a subscription fee to see the tourney games (I believe $14.95, if my memory is correct). The first day, the system overloaded with users and was nearly impossible to get on. If CSTV couldn’t handle the type of traffic coming from a group of subscribers last year, who’s upgraded the system to handle the massive amounts of people that will be checking in to see if they’ve got any shot in their pool?

6) While listening to last night’s Wisconsin-UNC Wilmington game on the radio, I wasn’t sure if the fact that it was tied 16-16 at the half was motivation to go to sleep at a reasonable hour and skip the Wisconsin Public Television tape replay, or if it was motivation to stay up and watch the debacle. In the end, I tried to stay up, but just couldn’t keep my eyes open.

7) I’ve said it before, but if you order ESPN Fullcourt and you aren’t doing it because you live out of range of the local broadcasts of your favorite team, you officially have a problem.

8) There’s been plenty of talk lately about how Steve Novak just became Marquette’s all-time leader in foul shooting percentage. That’s an awesome feat. Of course, the fact that it happened this week isn’t due to some hot foul-shooting streak that he’s on (although, he is on one of those), but rather is attributable to his finally breaking the 200 mark (the minimum for an official, historical percentage at Marquette) for shots attempted. How can a guy like Novak, who’s 6'10", has played meaningful minutes since his freshman year, and largely been injury free, take so long to get to 200 foul shots? Maybe he should drift inside the three-point arc once in awhile. Again, the record is awesome, but I find it kind of weird how it reveals Novak’s biggest strength and biggest weakness at the same time.

9) If anyone knows when North Dakota’s Goodwill Ambassadors will be appearing at halftime of a Wisconsin game this season, let me know, because I’d like to be there. Yeah, there are probably only about 5 people out there who understand what I’m talking about, but I guarantee that those 5 people want to see the performance as well.

10) I read a great article last night about Adam Morrison in the most recent ESPN Magazine. How do you not love a guy who got into an impromptu televised boxing match only months into arriving on campus, wears that great mustache, and readily admits that he doesn’t play much defense? With the hype he’s receiving this year, I’m not counting on it, but if there’s a guy who just might be insane enough to turn down NBA dollars and stick around another year to torment St. Mary’s, it’s probably Morrison.

Sorry about the day of random thoughts. I promise I’ll be at a game tonight. The only question is where...