Chris and Steve venture to New York City

Because I'm completely nuts, and because my friend Chris is nuts, we decided to make the trip to New York City yesterday to watch the Rams play. Now, if you're in New England, or watch the national news at all, you may have heard that Rhode Island was dealing with the worst flooding of the past 100 years.

This was absolutely true, which made leaving... interesting. I left my house at 12:45, figuring it would be the usual 15 minute trip to Route 95. Unfortunately though, the most direct outlet - Kings Factory Road to Route 91 - was blocked, as was the other outlets, Burdickville Road and Buckeye Brook Road. As a result, I had to make a big loop to catch Route 95 in Connecticut, where Chris met up with me at about 2. Meaning, 75 minutes for a trip that usually takes 15. Along the way, I almost stalled out in a couple huge puddles, and my engine is now probably wet, because my car continues to stall from time to time. ick.

Once we got on 95 though, it was smooth sailing. Chris drove, and we made incredibly time even though we stopped once - We were on the outskirts of Manhattan by 4:15, and parked around 5. We were at a garage only a block away from Madison Square Garden, which was wicked sweet.

Before the game started, we went to a place near the Garden called Brother Jimmy's for a drink. While there were a couple Rhody fans there, it wasn't anything special, and the drinks were $6 a draft. So, instead of eating there, we ventured off to White Castle! It was my first time, and the onion-grilled burgers really hit the spot. I was less impressed with the chicken rings though; I was expecting something a bit more onion-y with those too. Before the game, we also went to a pizza place at Penn Station, and I had a slice of delicious tomato and cheese pizza, and we each some Coors Light tall boys. (We're classy like that.)

Finally, the games! The opener was Dayton vs. Ole Miss, which was pretty boring, actually. Dayton led comfortably pretty much the entire game. We sat in our assigned 300-level seating to start, but then moved to 115 a little before halftime. At the half, I went outside to meet my friend Allie and to give her her ticket. Then we watched Dayton maintain their lead against Ole Miss for the win.

For the start of the Rhody game, we moved up again, because Chris is the master at this. He found a spot on the baseline, two rows up, in the folding chairs! I think I was on television during a couple inbound plays. While Rhode Island lost in overtime, primarily because they couldn't hit their free throws, it definitely looked like Ulmer got tripped from our angle. The crowd went pretty ballistic at the final horn, as the boos and swearing at the refs far outweighed the cheering for UNC.

My overall impression of Madison Square Garden was kind of... meh. It just feels like a really big version of the Providence Civic Center, or any other generic, multi-purpose arena. I think they try to spice things up with the display boards and scoreboards, but it definitely feels like a 1960s or 1970s-era Grey Blob stadium.

Anyway. The Rams' loss put a damper on my mood, so I didn't really want to stick around in New York to eat. We ate on the road instead, and again, we made great time. Considering that we left New York around 1, I thought it was great that I made it back to my car by 3:30ish. Of course, it then took me 45 minutes from there to get home because of all the road closings, but hey, at least I didn't have to rent a hotel!

Steve ventures to the Not Invited Tournament

Although I have been mocking it in all of my NCAA tournament posts, at this very moment that you are reading this entry, I am in New York City watching the University of Rhode Island Rams play in the NIT – the Not Invited Tournament, also known by its official and generic name, the National Invitational Tournament. (To be precise though, URI plays at 9; the early game is at 7, and features Dayton vs. Missouri or Mississippi, I forget which one exactly.)

Obviously, I'm not a huge fan of the NIT. However, there are several reasons why I took the plunge and decided to check it out this year.

1) North Carolina. As in, URI's opponent is the University of North Carolina. The Tarheels uncharacteristically didn't make the NCAA tournament, since they lost pretty much their entire team following their national championship in the 2008-09 season. Given the reluctance of power / BCS conference teams to play the Atlantic 10 under any circumstance, this could be the last time in a while that the Rams meet up with the Tarheels.

2)Madison Square Garden. I've never been, and unlike an overpriced regular season New York Knicks game, prices for the NIT are very reasonable. I paid $10 for my ticket, which admits me to both games. In the past, I tried to go to Yankee Stadium the year before it was demolished, only to have the game be rained out; I took this as a sign that I wasn't meant to go. Hopefully, nothing will impede me from checking out MSG.

3)Timing and location. New York City is only about two-and-a-half to three hours from where I live in southern Rhode Island. I do have to work early Wednesday morning, but the 9 p.m. tip for the Rhody game leaves me plenty of time to watch the game and drive home after. I'm going with three other people, with the plan of leaving Rhode Island around 2 p.m. This will hopefully give us some time to check out the local... color... around MSG. If the Rams win tonight, I'm also free to go to their Thursday night game, which would be a fun if not-as-entertaining match-up.

4)The Rams. Yeah, seeing them collapse down the stretch for the third year in a row wasn't so entertaining. If they managed to turn a single of their bad losses – UMass, St. Bonaventure's, VCU – into a win, or managed to beat Temple once in three tries, or eek out the win against Richmond, then they are probably in the NCAA tournament. However, advancing to the Final Four of the NITs is a decent consolation to the season, and better than being at home for the players, I imagine. Hopefully, the performance of the A-10 bubble teams in the postseason – Dayton also made the NIT Final Four – will force the NCAA tournament selection committee's hand in future bubble situations, especially given the Big East bubble teams' performance in comparison.

Anyway, if you are by a television Tuesday night, and you're not watching LOST (my only regret about making this trip), then flip over to see the Rams on ESPN or ESPN2. I'm the balcony 300-level, and probably won't be acting like too much of an ass, so I doubt I will personally be on television. But, you never know – Maybe I'll get chosen to shoot a half-court shot, sink it, and make a million bucks. That would be pretty sweet.

Note: I'll update everyone on the progress of my NCAA tournament bracket later this week. The real fun is always in the opening weekend, although I'm sure my buddy Jared (not the Subway guy), who is a Butler alum, is pretty psyched about Saturday's results.

Plugging along with the NCAA tournament...

After the opening weekend of the tournament, my bracket is still in reasonable shape, with three of my Final Four teams still intact. Like everyone else on the planet, I did have Kansas advancing to the Final Four, but “luckily” for me, I did have them losing to Syracuse. The entire Midwest region is now done for me, since I was prophesying a Kansas vs. Georgetown match-up in the Elite Eight. Whoops!

I finish that region with a 7-8 record, with six of the wins coming on the tournament's opening day. That 1-7 mark to finish up on the third and fourth days of play? Positively URI-like down the stretch. (Sorry, still bitter, even if they have won a pair of Not Invited Tournament games.)

Luckily though, my overall record remains decent at 32-16. I finished the opening round at 23-9, and the second round at 9-7. The Midwest is my sole “bad” bracket, as my six other Elite Eight teams remain alive. For the record, they are Syracuse, Xavier, Baylor, Duke, West Virginia and Kentucky. Mostly chalk, I know – Sue me.

In other news, I'd note that the two teams that beat Atlantic 10 teams – St. Mary's and Cornell – are both still alive in the tournament. Meanwhile, Villanova was thankfully karma-bounced from the tournament, and Pittsburgh lost to Xavier. In the NIT, UConn once again ducked URI, as they managed to lose a lead in the final minute, and thus, will not travel to the Ryan Center. Cincinnati also lost to Dayton. I love Syracuse, which is why I picked them to win the national championship, but otherwise, I still think the rest of the league works as a cartel that mostly exists to protect its own members' interests.

Hey, Tuesday night TV doesn't suck (for once)!

Tonight, there is a slew of interesting content on television. And of course, I can't watch or follow any of it, because I'm covering a town council meeting. Bollocks. I'll be S out of luck for most of it, unless I get REALLY lucky and get the shortest town council meeting in recorded history. (I doubt this, because I had a 27 minute meeting earlier this year, so if anything, I'm due for an impossibly long one soon. And yeah that's what she said.)

Ranking what's on, from most to least interesting...

- LOST returns for its final season! Ahhhh! I know several of my blogging friends are obsessed with the show, and I am too now, after resisting it for a couple years. The first episode is tonight, and stretches from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

I've kind of offered specific predictions in the past on this season; new readers of my blog can find them here. I will generally predict right now that it wouldn't surprise me if one of the more popular characters like Jack, Kate, Sawyer or Hurley were killed off early in the season. Of course, of those the biggest surprise would be Jack, and I don't see them pulling off quite THAT big of a swerve. And besides, I love Jack. So my money is on Sawyer, Kate, Hurley or Sun dieing in the first half of the season.

I am hoping that I manage to make it home before 9, because otherwise, I will have to wait until after I can catch the episode by whatever means possible to check Facebook, Blogger and any other site actually used by human beings. Already, a lot of my friends are commenting and hypothesizing, so I must be diligent and disciplined to avoid spoilers. I've resisted looking at any of the trailers, although I'm of the opinion that they wouldn't help anyway; I think they just create more doubt in people's minds. You know, it's like trying to determine whether your best friend is getting a cold after listening to a single one of their sneezes.

Actual quote from seven-foot Rhode Island center Will Martell: "Kevin McHale is one of my favorite old players ... I love his moves, and we're both similar in that we have no athleticism." By the way, while he was saying this, he pulled a big bag of cookies out from the pocket of his sweatshirt and started eating them. By far the best athlete press conference I have seen in person.

- The Rhode Island Rams will attempt to avoid another late season swoon with a game at La Salle University in Philadelphia. On paper, this game that the Rams should dominate. After all, they are 17-3 with some decent non-conference wins, and a good conference win at Dayton University.

However, the last few years have seen collapsed by Rhody teams down the stretch, as Atlantic 10 coaches that know their tendencies have contained them in conference play. There is a bit of a different "feel" to the team this year, as they're winning close games they would have lost in the past, but I don't think Rhode Island fans will rest easy until they get to 24 wins. I mean, in 2007-08, the team sprinted out to a 19-3 record and then lost 9 of their last 11.

Regarding tonight's game against La Salle specifically, I've actually watched a game from La Salle's gym. I took a road trip there a couple years ago with some friends, during the Rams' big slide, and the Rams got the victory by a couple points. I'm worried about tonight because La Salle is a sort of tough place to play; it feels like a high school gym. It reminds me a bit of the old Keaney Gymnasium on URI's campus, which is now used mostly for medium-sized events and volleyball matches. I feel like La Salle's gym deflates offense a bit, which would hurt a good team like the Rams more than an iffy team like La Salle.

It's not really a good game, but I still have fond memories of NCAA Basketball for the Super Nintendo, which featured Providence College. Note their star player, Metos (a.k.a. Eric Murdock).

- In the second most interesting basketball game affecting the state of Rhode Island, the Providence Friars play at nationally-ranked Syracuse tonight. I'm actually surprised at how well Syracuse has played this year, after their preseason loss to Division II "power" Le Moyne.

This game is interesting because, despite their record, the Friars have a puncher's chance against the Orange tonight. When the Friars are "on", they can play with any team in the Big East. "Greedy" Peterson is a horrible defender, but as the name implies he can score, and there are some solid players for the Friars in freshman point guard Vincent Council, freshman center Bilal Dixon and junior forward Marshon Brooks.

However, the team is streaky as heck, which is evidenced by just looking at their results. Their longest win streak is three, even in the non-conference portion. The Friars lost to Alabama, who are a pedestrian 13-8, and the aforementioned Rhody Rams, who came back from a double-digit deficit in the second half. Providence has also lost to Iona, and weren't competitive for 40 minutes in Big East games against Notre Dame, Louisville and Marquette, losing all three by double-digits.

A two-game stretch last week illustrates the yin and yang of the Friars. On Jan. 23, they had a 9-point lead with a minute left against South Florida, and led by six with 30 seconds... and lost in overtime after missing some free throws and a late turnover in regulation. Four days later, against a Connecticut team coming off its biggest win of the season, the Friars posted an impressive 15-point win. Providence can play mind-bogglingly great or bad, and as a result, Syracuse should be on guard.

Will Martell's photo is from this Providence Journal story from before his sophomore year. The Lost photo at the top is from E! Online, here.