TicketsHappy Friday to everyone. Hopefully your weekend will be better than Whitey Bulger's. For the record, this will be my final post prior to taking the next week off for vacation.
It will be post No. 408 as my first year with the Bearcats Blog comes full circle. I started following the July 4th holiday last season. Can't say I expected to be writing 1.12 posts a day during my first year here (considering the stat-heavy nature of this blog, I considered charting out other bloggers posts per day from around the country for comparison then thought that might be a little unnecessary even by my standards), but the excitement of the football and basketball seasons left plenty to talk about.
Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, but probably not because covering UC this past year was among one of my favorite seasons in this business.
However, I've been inspired by Ron Artest changing his name to Metta World Peace and when I return will own a different image fronted by a name change. Instead of Paul Dehner Jr., I from this point forward want to be known as Eat More Bananas. Somebody must spread the word about the need for more potassium in everyone's diet, why not me?
Let's eat...
--- The Pirates sent Josh Harrison back down to Triple-A. Fear not, though. The move appeared only as a scheme to call up prospect 3B Chase d'Arnaud as well as fill an empty pitcher spot for a doubleheader on July 2. Since MLB teams have to wait 10 days to recall a player sent down, it would make Harrison eligible to return July 3, hence, come up as the pitcher filling in goes back down. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains the situation with quotes from the GM here.
Harrison hit .283 in his 16-game stint and provided a nice lift to a Pirates team in dire need of infield depth. Granted, the sample size of 60 at-bats was small, but only Andrew McCutcheon and Steve Pearce owned better batting averages of Pirates with at least 50 at-bats this season. A memorable first impression for the UC and Princeton product.
Clint Hurdle made sure to mention he expects Harrison back.
--- Andy Katz wrote a nice piece on Mick Cronin's newfound stability. Cronin discussed the legitimacy that can only come from playing in the NCAA tournament and winning a game there.
More importantly, and as discussed at length here and elsewhere around UC blogs, Cronin wants to be here for the long haul. He confirmed to Katz two schools offered him more money, but talked about how the rebuilding project had a draining effect. He was sapped, not only professionally but personally.
Standard open and honest musings from Mick. He's never been afraid to say exactly what he feels and his stability certainly won't reverse that trend.
For all the discontent and hatred spewed across message boards and booster golf outings, UC has exactly what it wanted: A great hometown coach who cares about the university, its history, its academic image and wants to be here. Mick's proven that with both actions and words.
--- The draft came and went with nobody knowing much more than they did previously. The lack of true impact players made it a less than spectacular event. Some diamonds in the rough may develop over the next few years to prove some distinct winners and losers, but for now, that's just a lot of rough.
--- Two Big East players go in the first round: Kemba to Charlotte at No. 9 and Marshon Brooks went to the Nets at No. 25. Charlotte is a nice fit for Walker, he will show up and play every day with some budding talent around him. I think he'll end up being a steal in this draft.
--- Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough wasn't selected in one of the bigger surprises of draft night. All hope is not lost for the Big East Player of the Year. Other undrafted players went on to successful NBA careers: Bruce Bowen, Avery Johnson, Udonis Haslem, Raja Bell, Brad Miller, John Starks and Ben Wallace.
Though, the future doesn't look great. If you look at a common thread between most of those players (sans Starks), they all made their name as great defenders. It would be hard to imagine Hansbrough as a shutdown defender in the NBA. Or the D-League for that matter (which we may get an opportunity to find out firsthand).
--- Andrea Adelson talks about 23 of 25 UC football freshmen reporting with speculation on the two absentees.
--- Adelson also placed two Bearcats among the highest impact true freshmen this year. I talked about these guys in the spring, but Butch Jones is very high on LBs Dwight Jackson and Nick Temple. More specifically, he has to be with a desperate need for depth at the position and Walter Stewart's move to hybrid DE/LB.
You can throw redshirt freshman Solomon Tentman into that mix as well. He would have played some at LB last year if not for a season-ending injury at Camp Higher Ground.
--- Some randomness...
--- What would you do if you woke up at your own funeral. Apparently die of a heart attack. I'll nominate this for weirdest story of the week.
--- ESPN bias at its finest in a story about the Rays needing to leave Tampa Bay.
--- Mona from Who's the Boss is going to guest star on True Blood. Wait, Mona from Who's the Boss is still alive? Good to know.
--- When UC plays at USF this year, I will do my best to shake the hand of Bulls DL Danous Estenor. The guy lifted a car off of someone to save their life.
--- With the weekend upon us and a vacation for myself, I figured a song that always makes me feel like celebrating would be in order. If you can't have a good day listening to James Brown, well, I just feel sorry for you.
It will be post No. 408 as my first year with the Bearcats Blog comes full circle. I started following the July 4th holiday last season. Can't say I expected to be writing 1.12 posts a day during my first year here (considering the stat-heavy nature of this blog, I considered charting out other bloggers posts per day from around the country for comparison then thought that might be a little unnecessary even by my standards), but the excitement of the football and basketball seasons left plenty to talk about.
Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, but probably not because covering UC this past year was among one of my favorite seasons in this business.
However, I've been inspired by Ron Artest changing his name to Metta World Peace and when I return will own a different image fronted by a name change. Instead of Paul Dehner Jr., I from this point forward want to be known as Eat More Bananas. Somebody must spread the word about the need for more potassium in everyone's diet, why not me?
Let's eat...
--- The Pirates sent Josh Harrison back down to Triple-A. Fear not, though. The move appeared only as a scheme to call up prospect 3B Chase d'Arnaud as well as fill an empty pitcher spot for a doubleheader on July 2. Since MLB teams have to wait 10 days to recall a player sent down, it would make Harrison eligible to return July 3, hence, come up as the pitcher filling in goes back down. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains the situation with quotes from the GM here.
Harrison hit .283 in his 16-game stint and provided a nice lift to a Pirates team in dire need of infield depth. Granted, the sample size of 60 at-bats was small, but only Andrew McCutcheon and Steve Pearce owned better batting averages of Pirates with at least 50 at-bats this season. A memorable first impression for the UC and Princeton product.
Clint Hurdle made sure to mention he expects Harrison back.
--- Andy Katz wrote a nice piece on Mick Cronin's newfound stability. Cronin discussed the legitimacy that can only come from playing in the NCAA tournament and winning a game there.
More importantly, and as discussed at length here and elsewhere around UC blogs, Cronin wants to be here for the long haul. He confirmed to Katz two schools offered him more money, but talked about how the rebuilding project had a draining effect. He was sapped, not only professionally but personally.
"How much can you go through?'' Cronin told Katz. "I took on a massive project. I'd be lying if I didn't say it didn't have an effect on me. I went through a divorce. I was working 15- and 18-hour days, which affected my marriage. We're great friends now but the marriage suffered.
"If you're married with kids, or even single with no kids, it's hard to rebuild like what Mark Turgeon or Lon Kruger [going from UNLV to Oklahoma] have to do."
Standard open and honest musings from Mick. He's never been afraid to say exactly what he feels and his stability certainly won't reverse that trend.
For all the discontent and hatred spewed across message boards and booster golf outings, UC has exactly what it wanted: A great hometown coach who cares about the university, its history, its academic image and wants to be here. Mick's proven that with both actions and words.
--- The draft came and went with nobody knowing much more than they did previously. The lack of true impact players made it a less than spectacular event. Some diamonds in the rough may develop over the next few years to prove some distinct winners and losers, but for now, that's just a lot of rough.
--- Two Big East players go in the first round: Kemba to Charlotte at No. 9 and Marshon Brooks went to the Nets at No. 25. Charlotte is a nice fit for Walker, he will show up and play every day with some budding talent around him. I think he'll end up being a steal in this draft.
--- Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough wasn't selected in one of the bigger surprises of draft night. All hope is not lost for the Big East Player of the Year. Other undrafted players went on to successful NBA careers: Bruce Bowen, Avery Johnson, Udonis Haslem, Raja Bell, Brad Miller, John Starks and Ben Wallace.
Though, the future doesn't look great. If you look at a common thread between most of those players (sans Starks), they all made their name as great defenders. It would be hard to imagine Hansbrough as a shutdown defender in the NBA. Or the D-League for that matter (which we may get an opportunity to find out firsthand).
--- Andrea Adelson talks about 23 of 25 UC football freshmen reporting with speculation on the two absentees.
--- Adelson also placed two Bearcats among the highest impact true freshmen this year. I talked about these guys in the spring, but Butch Jones is very high on LBs Dwight Jackson and Nick Temple. More specifically, he has to be with a desperate need for depth at the position and Walter Stewart's move to hybrid DE/LB.
You can throw redshirt freshman Solomon Tentman into that mix as well. He would have played some at LB last year if not for a season-ending injury at Camp Higher Ground.
--- Some randomness...
--- What would you do if you woke up at your own funeral. Apparently die of a heart attack. I'll nominate this for weirdest story of the week.
--- ESPN bias at its finest in a story about the Rays needing to leave Tampa Bay.
--- Mona from Who's the Boss is going to guest star on True Blood. Wait, Mona from Who's the Boss is still alive? Good to know.
--- When UC plays at USF this year, I will do my best to shake the hand of Bulls DL Danous Estenor. The guy lifted a car off of someone to save their life.
--- With the weekend upon us and a vacation for myself, I figured a song that always makes me feel like celebrating would be in order. If you can't have a good day listening to James Brown, well, I just feel sorry for you.