MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[kcrest]

FDF:  Let me be the first to say job well done on reaching that epic milestone.

Oh, man...there'll be no livin' with him now!  

Congrats, FDF -- I'll try to put my jealousy aside!

By the way I think all Hope fans need a sports psychologist this time of year.

Maybe Dr. Meyers is willing to expand his field?


I can't even believe people are discussing Salem, we don't even know who's playing Saturday yet.

Definitely some sort of psychologist -- just to help with the withdrawl symptoms of the week!

Now, everyone take a deep breath, and repeat after me -- "one game at a time.....one game at a time...."   ; 

As a Calvin fan I'm not making long-range Salem plans.  :-)  Being MIAA champs and getting into the NCAA tourney is enough voodoo for me at this point.  A Salem trip might get me wondering who KVS made a deal with in the off season.  :-)  Hope on the other hand has exactly what it takes to get to the Final Four.  If I were a Hope fan I'd be thinking Salem.  This weekend should just be a tune-up for what is by this point in the season a well-oiled basketball machine.

[sac]

Hey SAC -  Did Hope play Baldwin Wallce???  (Sorry about the bad humor, but after a VERY long morning at work I couldn't resist)  

My next question would be similiar to a scene in the movie "Field of Dreams."  Its near the end when Mark (Timothy Burfield) asks his sister Annie (Amy Madigan) and his brother-n-law Ray (Kevin Kostner), where did all these players come from?(When he finally "gets it!")  SAC - When did Hope get transfers?

Bald-Wally? ? ?   Never heard of em'

Well if the unthinkable happens and Hope comes home with the big trophy.  I have the season in review video title ready to go.

"If you build it, you can hang your banner"  

.......needs a little work doesn't it?

[AndersDY]

Suuuuuuurrrrreeee......just for the "heck of it".   I bet no one in orange and blue or maroon and gold cared at all.

That was slighty sarcastic on the "just for the heck of it" but that is as meaningless as any Hope Calvin game has ever been. I suppose if you're a Senior and you know your last shot at organized basketball in your life is one more chance to beat Calvin, that's a pretty big playing-for-pride opportunity, but in the scheme of the rivalry nothing was gained overall. I'm pretty sure that if we were given the chance to look at every time Calvin beat Hope in the history of the rivalry and take a time machine to go back and reverse just one of those outcomes, the consolation game after both were bounced from the tourney would be prioritized dead last.

[ziggy]

The York (PA) team was at Fudruckers following their second blowout loss of the weekend

York PA only costs like 8 thousand bucks to attend... I'm guessing their budget is a little smaller! 

This sorta reminds me of the fact that you could totally tell which teams' alumni and families had money last year based on where they were staying. The Hotel Roanoke, definitely the nicest place in town, was FULL of people wearing Calvin sweatshirts!  The Holiday Inn Express, on the other hand, was full of York fans. And Comfort inn (or something like it) was the Point place to be.

I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express last year (come on, I'm not an alum yet!) and the fans I saw at the complimentary continental breakfast were Steven's Point fans.  That was good biscuits and gravy...

[kcrest]

Hey SAC -  Did Hope play Baldwin Wallce???  (Sorry about the bad humor, but after a VERY long morning at work I couldn't resist)  

My next question would be similiar to a scene in the movie "Field of Dreams."  Its near the end when Mark (Timothy Burfield) asks his sister Annie (Amy Madigan) and his brother-n-law Ray (Kevin Kostner), where did all these players come from?(When he finally "gets it!")  SAC - When did Hope get transfers?

Bald-Wally? ? ?   Never heard of em'

Well if the unthinkable happens and Hope comes home with the big trophy.  I have the season in review video title ready to go.

"If you build it, you can hang your banner"  

.......needs a little work doesn't it?

Not too bad.  Maybe, "Building A Banner Season" And I guess the unthinkable has been thought about a little bit, eh?  Already giving the video a title!  :-)

[kcrest]

I might have missed this post in the slurry of posts on the weekend but I gotta give Pat kudos for the hit in the recent Sports Illustrated.  A Faces In the Crowd bio on a girl from Thiel noted that she was "d3hoops.com's player of the week."  Nice!

[ChicagoHopeNut]

As a Calvin fan I'm not making long-range Salem plans.  :-)  Being MIAA champs and getting into the NCAA tourney is enough voodoo for me at this point.  A Salem trip might get me wondering who KVS made a deal with in the off season.  :-)  Hope on the other hand has exactly what it takes to get to the Final Four.  If I were a Hope fan I'd be thinking Salem.  This weekend should just be a tune-up for what is by this point in the season a well-oiled basketball machine.

This is not the sort of thing I want a Calvin fan saying about Hope. It just feels like a jinx waiting to happen.
ONE GAME AT A TIME!

[MIdoubleA]

From what I've seen of Hope this year, I don't know that they have the components to really be a Final Four team.  Sure I'd like to see it, but compared to what's out there, they just don't have all of the pieces.

They don't have the room for error that other teams might have.

Alright, I'll take the bait this time and feed the forum troll...

Explain what you mean by this, John, because I'm really interested as to what you think Hope is missing. Also, what game(s) did you see?

[Shareef23]

I think Hope can certainly make the Final Four even win it all. I takes a couple breaks here or there that any team no matter how talented could lose on any given night. That's the beauty of tournament play. The question is how will Hope respond when the breaks don't go their way? I can't answer that, but they have not been in many close games this year and that could end up hurting. Last year, Calvin was so tough come tournament time by playing all those close and road games that you could just sort of tell that they were going to make some noise. They caught breaks like against Wheaton and that's what it takes. I could agrue that Hope doesn't have that yet, but winning last week against two tough teams on the road showed me alot. They appear tough and focused for the first time I have seen. I will admit that it is hard to prove that against the Alma of the world, but you saw something different from Hope last weekend. I think that Hope's only real weakness on the court is inside. Voison is their only true five and Phillips is honestly better at the three than the four. If Voison gets in foul trouble, Hope is force to go pretty small.

[KnightSlappy]

Hope has the talent to make a trip to Salem but they will have some tough matchups in front of them.  After they beat Wi-Lutheran (come on, if Voisin, Immink and Cramer didn't play they would win by double digits) they will have some tough matchups.  Getting out of the GL bracket is no small feat.  The good news, if you are a Hope-fan, is that the teams they would see in Salem are no better than some teams they would face in the GL bracket.

[Flea]

Does anyone agree that the logo on Hope's floor (and FDF's graphic) is the best center court you've seen? 

Simple, clean and interesting (with the perspective).

... and I only sign psalms.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Does anyone agree that the logo on Hope's floor (and FDF's graphic) is the best center court you've seen? 

Simple, clean and interesting (with the perspective).

I completely agree (big shocker there)

[flash96]

I think the parque floor really adds a nice touch to the look from above.  Maybe because it harkens back to the Boston Celtics of the '80's and their parque floor in the Gardens.  I also believe the anchor looks awesome.

[voice]

Hope fans are reminding me of the Linfield (OR) fans during the 2005 D3 football playoffs.  Linfield was unbeaten, the defending national champions and playing a UW-system school at home from a conference that hadn't had much luck in the playoffs in past years.
As I remember, that UW-System school stunned Linfield that afternoon out in Oregon.  Linfield fans talked big and thought they were going to a coronation, but the crown didn't fit. 

[Civic Minded]

Hope fans are reminding me of the Linfield (OR) fans during the 2005 D3 football playoffs.  Linfield was unbeaten, the defending national champions and playing a UW-system school at home from a conference that hadn't had much luck in the playoffs in past years.
As I remember, that UW-System school stunned Linfield that afternoon out in Oregon.  Linfield fans talked big and thought they were going to a coronation, but the crown didn't fit. 

I think that's a little extreme, for someone who doesn't regularly post here.  Hope fans are a little excited to be going to the big dance, and they are excited about this particular team.  Sure, there have been some making some slight references to Salem, but most are urging caution.  Heck, there are several Calvin fans who are sounding more optimistic about Hope than some Hope fans are willing to state out loud.  I don't hear any "talking big" -- and we can be a pretty boastful bunch!