Today’s men’s basketball game at the Events Center was not only the last home game of the season for the men, but also senior day. And I found it fitting that the senior day game opponent was Boston University.
For those of you who haven’t been paying attention to my away messages, profiles or who haven’t spoken with me in the past…oh, year, I am currently in love with Boston University. Sure, I applied to five graduate schools, but since I decided I was going to go to grad school, Boston University has been one of my top choices. They were the first school to accept me (the letter was waiting for me two days after my birthday in my school mailbox). They might not have the best program in Higher Education, but they have tons of opportunities for internships and assistantships (especially in new facilities management–they‘re in the process of building the “Student Village,” a huge building project for athletics, residential life and student affairs, which working with would look soooo good on a resume), and they are just such a cool school in general. I walked around there in August and just couldn’t believe how much I liked it–I didn’t want to come back to Binghamton for another year. I was tempted to finish up my credits at Binghamton in the fall and start at Boston University in January, but I was talked out of it by a lot of people, seeing that I wanted to try for Harvard and Boston College as well. But the more I think about it, the more I want to go to Boston University. But I have to wait and see what happens.
So I attended today’s game and couldn’t decide who to cheer for–my current school, who I’m becoming increasingly disenchanted with knowing that there’s so much else beyond Binghamton, or what very well may be my new school. Well, seeing that I had student tickets and didn’t feel like being beat up (which could happen, as evidenced by what occurred at last week’s Nazareth/Fisher basketball game), I put my Boston University shirt away and wore the green Binghamton hoodie and went along with the “Let‘s Go Bearcats” chants.
The Terriers (Boston University) are currently #1 in the America East conference, and this game showed why. Marsha, Jamie and I were watching the warm-ups when Marsha remarked, “They just don’t miss,“ gesturing to the Terriers’ free throwing. They don’t–they only missed once that I recall during the game. While the first half was close, with Nick Billings being the whole Binghamton team as usual (it’s not that he can play, or that the others can’t, it’s just that he’s seven feet tall), the Terriers dominated in the second half, working with leads between 10-20 points most of the time. The final score was 69-53, but if our two seniors hadn’t been inspired to get in there and make the best of their last minutes on the Events Center floor, it probably would have been more like 75-50. The Bearcats turned over the ball constantly, and their shooting was way off most of the game. They couldn’t make a free throws at all in the second half, and easy points weren’t made because they were over-shooting the net. They announced that the official attendance at the game today was 4,823 at the end of the game. However, the end of the game lacked so much hope that people began to leave in droves after the 8 minute mark. I turned to Marsha. “Official attendance, 4,823. Official attendance after the 5 minute mark: 1,000.”
It had been noted all week that the Bearcat men had never defeated the Terriers since joining the America East three years ago, and I think the pressure of trying to overcome that in the new building on senior day was a bit too much for them. There are so many expectations for this team to do well so early on in their Division 1 career, seeing that we just built them this new venue, and we moved into a conference that caused us to eliminate one of our traditional sports (wrestling). They’re growing well, but to expect them to have beat the number one team in the conference right now wasn’t really feasible.
On another note, the Events Center is a bit…small? I was disappointed somewhat, and I don’t know why. I imagined an arena…which to me congers up mental images of the Blue Cross Arena up in Rochester. This was on a much smaller scale–the BCA holds 12,000 for concerts and the Events Center, when completed, will seat 8,000. Right now a sell out for basketball in the Events Center is 4,823. The Center is pretty sterile right now, more than likely due to the fact that they’re not really done with it. I fear that it’ll become out of date quickly, but I could also see how it could be easily renovated if that did happen. I don’t know. Did I expect more? Yes. Do we need more as a mid-major D1 school with more student apathy than the Yankees have money? No. On a semi-side note, one of my biggest fears as I leave Binghamton is that the backlash from students and faculty about the alleged “overspending on athletics” is going to deter any more growth in that area–we need more athletic opportunities because unlike what most Binghamton students think, athletes do possess brains. Also, with the local community being as stubborn as it is, I think athletics is going to be the school’s only way to make its point that we are now the economic center of the Broome County area, and therefore, should be accommodated as such.
As the crowds left the Events Center this afternoon, I felt like this was the beginning of the end. It was Senior Day for the two graduating players, but it was Senior Day for me as well–watching my last Binghamton basketball game, having what could be my new school defeat my current school. The next time I’ll be in the Events Center will more than likely be 77 days from now for Commencement. Binghamton may have been where I spent the last two years, but I’m ready to move on.
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Random Notes:
–The Barenaked Ladies concert at the Broome County Arena last week was awesome. If you have never seen them live, you need to, regardless of your taste in music. You’ll understand why I have been to nine concerts and on my way to my tenth on Wednesday. They exude enjoyment–they perform because they like each other and they like to perform. You’d have a feeling they’d still do this if they made no money from it. I also realized how incredibly lucky I am to have my favourite band be as accessible as they are–many of my friends have never gotten to see their favourite bands live because they rarely tour, or play only big markets if they do. I can pretty much count on if there is a Barenaked Ladies tour, there will be at least one stop in Upstate New York, usually Rochester. Luckily for me, the band’s other most regular tour stop is Boston. They’ve played there…hmm, I think three times in the past year? Four? I love it.
–I am angry at the 49ers. They cut Garrison Hearst, the only player on the team I really liked anymore. Now, maybe I’m off, but I don’t think Eddie DeBartalo and Carmen Policy would of let him go. Maybe they would–he has suffered devastating injuries that could come back to haunt him at any time. But as a team, if you’ve stood by a guy during rehabilitation periods twice, saving him a spot on your roster because not only is that the nice thing to do, but because you know the guy will come back and be one of your best players, why do you cut him? I mean, I know, salary cap stuff, they’re trying to negotiate with Garcia, whatever, but…there’s a level of courtesy that wasn’t extended. From what end, I don’t know. I think Hearst should be willing to work with the Niners to stay, and vise versa. And I think under different management, the Niners would of found a way to keep Hearst. And Derrick Deese, for that matter. I just don’t understand what the Niners are doing anymore, and I don’t know if I care to. I think they can redeem themselves in my eyes if they waive Garcia tomorrow. The Niners have never accepted behavior such as Garcia’s recent DWI arrest, and they shouldn’t start now. Montana and Young never did such stuff, and if you’re going to hold the guy to those two’s standards on the field, you should off as well.
–Scrunchie Girl, aka Chellsie Memmel, keeps proving my gymnastic prediction skills right. In case you’ve never heard the story, my sister and I attended the 1999 U.S. Classic in Rochester, and were way impressed with this girl. She was 10 at the time, and competing child elite. Her scrunchie was as big as her head, and thus the nickname, but she was fearless and right on the whole night. I turned to Megan and said, “That girl is going to be huge someday. She’s going to be a World Champion or something.” Well, what did the girl win last fall? The World Championships. Yesterday she competed at the American Cup, which I got to watch on tv while doing work, and the girl has amazing security on the beam. Just amazing. She finished third, and she seems to be in a good position to make the Olympic Team. And I SO called it five years ago.
Quote of the Week: Mike Heimerdinger, Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator, on why he hasn’t been a candidate for a head coaching job: “They’re looking for big names, not long names.” -Sports Illustrated.
That guy’s last name is three letters longer than my own. I do not envy him. Not one bit.
