D3 Hoops Bucket List

Smitty Oom · February 02, 2019, 10:59:58 AM

So I was listening to the Hoopsville marathon show this morning in podcast form, and Dave interviewed both Calvin AD and Hope MBB HC in light of the 200th rivalry game between the two MIAA schools today. Dave mentioned that he and Pat are making their way to Holland this weekend to take in the game. This had me thinking that I would love to see a Hope-Calvin game in person. And then sparked a thought... a Bucket List for D3 hoops. Some of the best things in and around D3 hoops that everyone who loves this game should take their time to watch in person.

D3 Men's Hoops Bucket List:

Hope - Calvin Rivalry game
Little 3 NESCAC game - Williams vs. Amherst is my personal thought
D3hoops.com Las Vegas Classic
Tommie - Johnnie Rivalry game
Whitman - Whitworth Rivalry game
Wooster-Wittenberg Rivalry game (would like to watch this one at Wooster)
Augustana CCIW game at Carver center... only qualifies for a witnessing a flying jacket
NCAA tourney first or second weekend of games
NCAA D3 Final Four Weekend - Final Four games, All Star Game, Championship
Witnessing The Belt^TM in all of its glory, non-NCAA Tourney game

Any thoughts on my list? Everyone will have a different list, but I would love to hear what others would put in their list!

augie77 · February 02, 2019, 11:11:09 AM

Today's "The Rivalry" (Version 200) game will be televised on WHT Network at 3:00 pm EST. That's Channel 367 for those with DirectTV.
The all time D3 attendance record occurred a few years back when Hope visited Calvin. Game was played at a major local arena in Grand Rapids. 11,000 in attendance.

Greek Tragedy · February 02, 2019, 11:41:46 AM

I once saw Oshkosh play at 1 pm. Drove to Waukesha to see Carroll College in action at 4, and then headed to Kenosha to witness Carthage at 7:30. 3 games in 3 different cities involving 3 different conferences. Carroll was in the MWC at the time. That's my claim to fame...

FCGrizzliesGrad · February 02, 2019, 01:10:02 PM

I think a proper D3 Bucket List would have to include a Grinnell game or in a pinch maybe Greenville. Also you have to keep track of the stats manually

hopefan · February 02, 2019, 01:51:23 PM

Fellow SLIAC fan Yjack and I talked very lightly of taking a trip.. in what direction?... and seeing as many D3 gyms as we could...my wife in particular responded, "yeh, right"... and if just Yjack and I went, well, I'd admit, I'd drive him nuts before he'd drive me nuts....

CMSfan · February 02, 2019, 02:24:09 PM

I'd add a CMS vs Pomona-Pitzer rivalry game to the list. Both typically at the top of SCIAC, but more interesting is the proximity of the five colleges involved. All right across the street from each other, with gyms just a few hundred yards apart on 6th Street.

Gregory Sager · February 02, 2019, 04:07:54 PM

Quote from: Smitty Oom on February 02, 2019, 10:59:58 AM
So I was listening to the Hoopsville marathon show this morning in podcast form, and Dave interviewed both Calvin AD and Hope MBB HC in light of the 200th rivalry game between the two MIAA schools today. Dave mentioned that he and Pat are making their way to Holland this weekend to take in the game. This had me thinking that I would love to see a Hope-Calvin game in person. And then sparked a thought... a Bucket List for D3 hoops. Some of the best things in and around D3 hoops that everyone who loves this game should take their time to watch in person.

D3 Men's Hoops Bucket List:

Hope - Calvin Rivalry game
Little 3 NESCAC game - Williams vs. Amherst is my personal thought
D3hoops.com Las Vegas Classic
Tommie - Johnnie Rivalry game
Whitman - Whitworth Rivalry game
Wooster-Wittenberg Rivalry game (would like to watch this one at Wooster)
Augustana CCIW game at Carver center... only qualifies for a witnessing a flying jacket
NCAA tourney first or second weekend of games
NCAA D3 Final Four Weekend - Final Four games, All Star Game, Championship
Witnessing The Belt^TM in all of its glory, non-NCAA Tourney game

Any thoughts on my list? Everyone will have a different list, but I would love to hear what others would put in their list!

I can check off the first item on the list plus the last four (minus the All-Star Game, which wasn't held at any of the Final Fours I've attended), and I still have a bit of retina burn from the last one.

As far as the flying sportscoat demonstration is concerned, Augie's Carver P.E. Center isn't really the best place to go for said spectacle; at NPU or Elmhurst, you actually have a much better chance of getting hit by a random airborne sleeve hurled in anger than you do at Carver. It's not just that the crackerbox and Faganel Hall are small and intimate; Grey Giovanine's also more cautious with his sportscoat in Carver now, because the Augie student section wears sportscoats, too, and doffs them when he doffs his -- and he likes to toy with them.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on February 02, 2019, 11:41:46 AM
I once saw Oshkosh play at 1 pm. Drove to Waukesha to see Carroll College in action at 4, and then headed to Kenosha to witness Carthage at 7:30. 3 games in 3 different cities involving 3 different conferences. Carroll was in the MWC at the time. That's my claim to fame...

Nobody's ever going to top that, although I've had my fair share of three-D3-games-in-one-day Saturdays. I've never logged more than two venues in two towns while doing so, however.

Quote from: FCGrizzliesGrad on February 02, 2019, 01:10:02 PM
I think a proper D3 Bucket List would have to include a Grinnell game or in a pinch maybe Greenville. Also you have to keep track of the stats manually

Been there, done that. As I said on the CCIW board in November, when Greenville came to NPU for the opening tournament and played the Vikings on the second day, I was asked to give up my broadcasting perch and my mic in order to come down to the scorer's table and be the official scorer. That was because the North Park SID wanted both his most experienced scoreboard operator on the scoreboard controller (and that person is usually our official scorer) and an experienced scorer to keep the book for what was undoubtedly going to be a wild affair, scorebook wise (and I qualify for that description).

As I later posted on the board, I traded the opportunity to lose my voice for an opportunity to get writer's cramp.

Quote from: hopefan on February 02, 2019, 01:51:23 PM
Fellow SLIAC fan Yjack and I talked very lightly of taking a trip.. in what direction?... and seeing as many D3 gyms as we could...my wife in particular responded, "yeh, right"... and if just Yjack and I went, well, I'd admit, I'd drive him nuts before he'd drive me nuts....

LOL! This sounds like a great vacation for our collective brand of weirdo sports fan ... but it's definitely suited only for bachelors, or for a married man who has a wife who is either extraordinarily indulgent of her husband or pretty eccentric in her own right.

WUPHF · February 02, 2019, 05:02:23 PM

I imagine that a lot of fans have a bucket list that is specific to their team.

As part of my list, I would like to watch Washington University in road games at the more prominent regional rivals (of sorts) including Augustana, Fontbonne, Illlinois Wesleyan, Webster, and Wheaton. The only one left on that list is Wheaton.

I also would like to visit each conference opponent at least once for a game, but so far I only have Chicago in my bucket.

I do think that Washington University-Chicago is a great bucket list game. Maybe way down the list for most fans. It has been a throw out the record books type game for quite a while.

Gregory Sager · February 02, 2019, 05:32:35 PM

Quote from: WUPHF on February 02, 2019, 05:02:23 PM
I do think that Washington University-Chicago is a great bucket list game. Maybe way down the list for most fans. It has been a throw out the record books type game for quite a while.

Yep. I've seen a couple of those at Ratner.

Greek Tragedy · February 03, 2019, 09:06:18 AM

In the baseball world, some people's bucket list would be to attend a game in every ballpark. Obviously that would probably be impossible in our D3 basketball world, but how many gyms have some our well-traveled posters been to?

hopefan · February 03, 2019, 09:22:52 AM

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on February 03, 2019, 09:06:18 AM
In the baseball world, some people's bucket list would be to attend a game in every ballpark. Obviously that would probably be impossible in our D3 basketball world, but how many gyms have some our well-traveled posters been to?

I can't think that I'm at the top of the list, but because I played and coached out east in the 60s and 70s, then followed Hope in the 80's, Wash U in the 90's, and SLIAC in the 2000's, I can present a pretty diverse itinerary. I'll work it up the next several days.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 03, 2019, 12:31:24 PM

Quote from: FCGrizzliesGrad on February 02, 2019, 01:10:02 PM
I think a proper D3 Bucket List would have to include a Grinnell game or in a pinch maybe Greenville. Also you have to keep track of the stats manually

I got to see Grinnell play at Grinnell when John Grotberg and (current coach) David Arseneault Jr were on the court - In my opinion, the best Grinnell team they've had. It was a lot of fun.

hopefan · February 03, 2019, 12:44:04 PM

I saw THE Greenville at Grinnell game, played when Greenville was in the learning stages of the system... it was an ugly game, and one that got me into a problematic situation given what I wrote about it...

I honestly think I was the only Greenville/SLIAC fan there, but there was a nice following for Grinnell...Would be very... VERY... interesting to see a home and away rematch now, though Greenville does lose a large number of seniors going into next season....

Greek Tragedy · February 03, 2019, 02:16:39 PM

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on February 03, 2019, 12:31:24 PM
Quote from: FCGrizzliesGrad on February 02, 2019, 01:10:02 PM
I think a proper D3 Bucket List would have to include a Grinnell game or in a pinch maybe Greenville. Also you have to keep track of the stats manually

I got to see Grinnell play at Grinnell when John Grotberg and (current coach) David Arseneault Jr were on the court - In my opinion, the best Grinnell team they've had. It was a lot of fun.

I agree. And don't forget about Bobby Long. Those three really made that team very talented. It wasn't just a hackfest, helter skeltor-type system. It was a joy to watch them. I saw that version several times.

Smitty Oom · February 04, 2019, 01:11:01 AM

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on February 03, 2019, 09:06:18 AM
In the baseball world, some people's bucket list would be to attend a game in every ballpark. Obviously that would probably be impossible in our D3 basketball world, but how many gyms have some our well-traveled posters been to?

I have been to quite a few gyms threw playing and then recently when I go somewhere new I like to stop at close D3 schools and check out their campus and gym specifically. Unfortunately, I have seen a limited amount of live games at these gyms, but I did see Springfield take on Salisbury this year at the Naismith Classic, with Nichols vs Eastern CT afterwards. Very fun to take that game in and see some great teams/talent from a region I follow more with a birds eye view. Located in Minneapolis it is too hard to reasonably travel to non-MIAC/UMAC games. That is where I am envious of the densely populated east coast!

Back to the point though, I have been meaning to make a blog of all these schools I visited and rank their gyms (I have an obsession with gyms, I find them all so fascinating and learning this history behind all of them. |One of my first threads I made on the boards was ranking teams by gym). My tour isn't complete without getting a small pennant of the school that hangs up in my room... so yeah I nerd out about this stuff. Luckily the GF also played hoops at Concordia and is at least somewhat interested in the D3 schools... for the time being at least.