MBB: Centennial Conference

[crambam]

The announcers were pathetic.  Even as F&M advances into the Elite 8, they keep talking about St. Marys' future and how great they are.  St. Marys gets a TECHNICAL, and they talk about how that could be a good thing and a wise strategy.

I'm sure tonight they are going to be singing Randolph Macon's praises while completely ignoring F&M again.  

Is there anything that can be done about the feed?  It's 2010, not 1999.  I feel like I'm watching on dialup.  The overload of the system thing can't be a legit excuse.  350 or so people were tuning in.  

Oh, and just another point about where the game should have been.  St. Mary's gym is barely above the 1000 minimum capacity to host.  Had they played at F&M each visiting team would have received more than 2x the number of tickets than the visitors got at St. Mary's because F&M's seating capacity is far larger and more suited to hosting an event of this type.

Hopefully tonight's coverage will be better and the live feed won't conk out with 16 seconds left.

[donho]

 Macon has Crenshaw, a great place to play. No need to go to PA. to play!

[Reserved Seat]

The facilities were much better than Merchant Marine's.  If F&M can win in this hostile environment; they should be able to win anywhere.  The players kept their composure even though the crowd rode them the entire game.  Even when McNally had to sit the team didn't fall apart.  Brooks played with a vengeance in the second half, after having to sit out 17 minutes of the first half.  F&M played great defense except on the big man(33).
If McNally is a garbage player, he's has some fine garbage.

[godips04]

Nice win for F&M last night.  I was only able to tolerate the video feed for one half before I just did the live stats.  One thing that concerned me was the amount of turnovers, they beat a good team, in a hostile environment, but they cannot continue to turn the ball over like they did.  However, imagine how good they would be if they did not have all of those turnovers!?!  Hopefully F&M can put it together for 3 more wins!!!

[docmarc]

I have an idea- stop complaing about the online feed and get your butt to St. Marys city.  lets make this a DIP home game. 

how do i rate karma?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Gentlemen... all due respect... I called the game even... and I have seen each team about the same amount (certainly SMC more since this is my third straight weekend here calling games in this region). I am not a "CAC" guy as I cover the entire country and while my alma-mater was in the CAC at one time and now in the Landmark, I have called games and seen teams in person as far west as central Kentucky, north into Upstate New York and New England and as far south as Salem and Virginia Wesleyan.

As for the feed being bad... it's called technical problems. For whatever reason we were struggling with upload capabilities and computer that decided not be uncooperative. I am sorry it wasn't up to your liking, but I assure you it wasn't for a lack of effort. We are a bare-bones operation some times and WE AREN'T GETTING PAID TO DO THIS SERVICE FOR YOU... so some understanding and appreciation for the simple fact you could even get a chance to see and hear the game would be nice instead of the recent criticism for anything and everything you think is against F&M.

As for the comment about SMC's future... it is something I bring up all the time for the team that is going to lose in the game. We did it for DeSales, I did it for Virginia Wesleyan, I did it for SUNY-Purchase and Richard-Stockton. The reason? This is the LAST chance to talk about these teams in a game for this season and the future is ahead of them. Tonight I will be calling another F&M game with plenty of opportunities to talk about them and their future. And if they are the team that will be on the losing end, then the future (i.e. next season) will be discussed. Why talk about a winning's team future (i.e. next season) if their season isn't even over?!

As for SMC's backcourt... as an offensive unit and defensive front, they are better then F&M's. BUT that isn't to say Milligan and Brooks aren't good... they are. Milligan is a solid offensive leader who certainly can do plenty with the ball in his hands. Brooks didn't have a great came last night as he sat much of the first half with two fouls - so it's not like Milligan and Brooks got a chance to really work together in last night's game. However, I feel that Griffin and Franz cause more chaos on defense, are more dangerous as a one-two punch up top, and when one of them isn't on the floor it makes a difference.

Think about it, F&M has some great inside presence in McNally and Brooks... so their back-court doesn't have to do as much as SMC's. However, SMC had just as good a season as F&M with two guards leading the way. In my mind I need to credit that back-court. No one said anything negative about F&M's back-court, so don't assume it means or has been stated as being bad.

As for how you think the game will be "called" tonight... give me a break. I will call it as I see it and do my best to describe the action on the floor. Last night's technical foul was something of note as F&M was on a run and I know coaches like Harney who will strategically use that moment and get a T to try and shake up the momentum. We made a very similar comment about an intential foul in the RMC-DeSales game and explained why in that situation it worked in the exact opposite manner.

As for room in the gym... it does seat 1200 (not 1000 as previously guessed) and there should be plenty of tickets for people to come down and see the game. If not... our broadcast will start around 6:45 (baring more technical problems) and we hope you enjoy the FREE service.

[dipfanatic]

I thought the play-by-play was called even, D-Mac--job well done. My beef was with the color commentary. The fact that F&M shot upwards of 60% in the first half is simply mentioned in passing during the break; McNally's stellar first-half shooting is attributed to "garbage baskets"...come on, he was shooting the lights out; fawning over Franz and calling him "Alex" the entire game; saying that whomever Milligan stole it from and dunked on late in the 2nd half "had a point" in giving up on the play and arguing with the official instead. I am incredibly grateful for what you guys do and the quality of the service you consistently provide at d3hoops, but I do think some valid criticisms have been made. Looking forward to tonight...

[harnesshoops]

I want to second dipfanatic.  I thought the play-by-play was not only even but pretty good.  Technical difficulties are an annoying part of the territory when you are doing one-off, low-budget work.  You can hold your head high.  I have no complaints with your work, d-mac. 

The color commentator was AWFUL; and not just because his bias was so bad.  He butchered the english langauge, often struggling to find the correct term because  he was searching for "big words".  He was clearly pulling for SMC, which is OK if you don't let it impact the quality of your work.  I thing Troy Aikman does a fine job of calling a Dallas-NY game, and I am a Giants fan.  Someone called "coach" should be capable of adding some value to the broadcast.  This guy fell more than short.  I hope he is not on the airwaves tonight.

I can't go to the games so I really appreciate the broadcasts.  Thanks for making them possible.

[Pat Coleman]

Even as F&M advances into the Elite 8, they keep talking about St. Marys' future and how great they are.

This is hilarious to me. This is exactly what you do as a team gets eliminated from the postseason, talk about what they have coming back. It's textbook stuff. Watch some TV with a careful eye and ear this March and learn.

BTW, it's also what we did for F&M last March in Salem. Except the Richard Stockton fans weren't bitching and moaning about it.

[Pat Coleman]

I would expect a color analyst who has spent all year coaching his team rather than broadcasting to be a little off-balance with the whole concept, but also to provide his insight into the X's and O's and know the coaches' tendencies better than someone else we might have on the game. I thought Brett Adams did a decent job.

[godips04]

1. Docmarc, It is hard to get to St. Mary's when you have family obligations, so think before you speak.


2. As for complaining about the online feed, I am not blaming anyone, I actually thought that is was my wireless network b/c I had been having troubles with it all night.

The play by play was fine from what I heard, the color commentator was not as fine, but tolerable.  I will not be able to watch it tonight b/c of a family obligation, but I will def be checking the score regularly via blackberry.

3. Pat, This line, "BTW, it's also what we did for F&M last March in Salem. Except the Richard Stockton fans weren't bitching and moaning about it." ---Not classy at all, I lost some respect for you, I thought you were above this nonsense.
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GO DIPS!!

[Pat Coleman]

It is true. Sorry if it upsets you.

[harnesshoops]

I think the mis-interpretation that anyone was directing negative comments at your boy D-Mac has your emotions shading your wisdom.  Don't tie yourself to a sinking ship, Pat.  You made a mistake; best to let it go. 

Brett Adams did a poor job.  Having watched a few thousand games and using last weekend's commentators as a comparison, he failed.  The talk-up of the SMC team as they left the court was appropriate, but it was lost in the build-up of a poor game.  I realize that one fan chose to call that particular point out, but really the whole game was a failure.  That was simply the last chapter (which usually is the most memorable).  It's not the end of the world... he's a coach, not a commentator.  He'll still put dinner on the table.

[Pat Coleman]

I think the mis-interpretation that anyone was directing negative comments at your boy D-Mac has your emotions shading your wisdom.

It isn't a misinterpretation, though -- some of the same people on this message board were rude and brutal in the Ustream chat room last night. Just because you don't see it here doesn't mean it didn't happen.

[pizzashop]

Anyone else having difficulty with watching tonight's game? I am back at the ranch with lax (F&M downed No. 8 W&L 7-5) and the live stats appear to be stuck at 18:42, and the video off of the link says off air. If I am missing something on the SMCM web site, please post a link.

I keep getting to a 4-2 game and it resets.