TicketsDo you remember what was going on in your life December 10? I remember wondering if the Bengals would fade down the stretch and if Dalton to Green was enough to will them to victories against quality teams and into the playoffs.
I remember dreading the worst of the winter being in front of us and buying a brand new snow shovel to make sure I wasn't re-enacting "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" in my driveway this year.
I remember thinking there was no way Zach Collaros would play another game as a Bearcat with his ankle injury.
I remember being frustrated the Reds weren't making any moves in the offseason.
I remember Rick Perry having a legitimate shot at the Republican nomination.
I remember thinking LMFAO had a likeable quality to them might not get old for a while.
Four months later, nearly all of those statements are frivolous, unwarranted and owning no connection to the current state of reality. Yet, for the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team, every play, every win, every milestone reached has been forced to reconnect back to that day. All of the growing, evolving and learning which occurred over the last four months automatically connects back to that day in the eyes of us media types.
Was it a watershed day for this season? Absolutely. Mick Cronin admitted as much in the weeks following. Was it the reason they are in Boston today preparing to play Ohio State in the Sweet 16? Partially. Many other reasons exist as to why, which are all politely swept under the rug so the sexy, violent headline can attract the clicks.
The return and emergence of JaQuon Parker, the team's attitude toward defense, the offensive philosophy, the success of the 2-3 zone, the mentality of a basketball team that night after night willed itself to victories, the confidence of advancing to the Big East tournament championship.
We're all guilty of it. I'm guilty of it. But to keep pigeonholing the Cincinnati Bearcats team as the product of a fight needs to disappear quicker than school bands playing "Party Rock Anthem."
How often do the Bearcats hear about it these days?
"Every time we do media," Yancy Gates said.
The repetitive questioning can be frustrating. The latest symptom of that ugly day, I suppose. Frustrating nonetheless.
"Because we've moved on from it," Sean Kilpatrick said.
For months, the fight hasn't been a part of this team's charge, nor their development. That's why Cronin wasn't talking about it in Nashville. He viewed the narrative as a misguided storyline.
"It's because we don't even think about it," Gates said. "We just are out playing. After a win (the media) try to make it out as if we didn't have that fight we wouldn't be where we were now and it's the reason we are playing so good is because of that. Really, the reason we are playing good is just because we are playing good. We figured it out. That's what makes it so annoying."
Though many will -- and we can choose not to read, watch or listen -- I'd challenge all of us, published or otherwise, to stop insisting the fight was the primary reason this team turned its season around. It served as the axis, but wasn't solely responsible for the rotation.
Let's eat...
--- I just wrote the above diatribe then read Mike DeCourcy's much more eloquent assessment of the same concept. But he doesn't reference LMFAO, so I've got him on that. Read this.
--- More from Mike talking about the East Region.
--- Speaking of media creations, let's talk about the history of UC-OSU and how it will affect Thursday. I loved Mick Cronin's response when asked why the two teams don't play:
"You're asking the wrong guy," he said. "That's a fairly well-documented story that I really don't have any interest in. As you can see I'm losing my voice. Buzz (Williams) told me to be careful and he lost his. So, I'm trying to save it for stuff that matters."
And this clearly doesn't matter. As Thad Matta said yesterday in the Columbus Dispatch, the two teams playing again appears "highly unlikely."
Even a local kid like Gates doesn't feel extra zest with the Buckeyes as the opponent. Not because he doesn't enjoy the backstory or feel a rivalry with the school viewing themselves as a national brand a few miles up the road, rather, the stage overwhelms that motivation.
"Maybe if it had been a regular season game," he said of the rivalry putting extra emphasis on the win. "Because it is the tournament, it's just another game in front of us trying to get down to New Orleans."
--- Rob Oller of the Dispatch comments on the "rivalry."
--- If you haven't listened to yesterday's Roundtable Podcast with Mo Egger, Tommy G, and myself you are really missing out. Plenty of storylines, including where the win against Florida State ranked among the most important historically. I think it's the biggest since 1992 when you talk about placing a rebuilding program on an elite level.
Mo makes a valid argument for some of the games at the end of last season and even the win against Syracuse in the BET. Without those, this might not have happened. The beauty of this argument is there aren't any wrong answers. Well, unless you said you were truly inspired by the win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
--- Cronin raved about OSU's Deshaun Thomas at yesterday's presser. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer delved into the concept.
Cronin thinks he's been the key to the Buckeyes season. Over the last 10 games he's averaging 20.2 points and 7.7 rebounds.
Yes, he's a 6-foot-7, sophomore forward who can pop out, drive, post and do most anything on a basketball floor, what most impressed Mick was his aggression on the boards.
"He's a great offensive rebounder," he said. "Obviously, Jared (Sullinger) is. I knew Deshaun Thomas was a great talent, but I didn't know how hard he rebounded the offensive end."
I remember dreading the worst of the winter being in front of us and buying a brand new snow shovel to make sure I wasn't re-enacting "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" in my driveway this year.
I remember thinking there was no way Zach Collaros would play another game as a Bearcat with his ankle injury.
I remember being frustrated the Reds weren't making any moves in the offseason.
I remember Rick Perry having a legitimate shot at the Republican nomination.
I remember thinking LMFAO had a likeable quality to them might not get old for a while.
Four months later, nearly all of those statements are frivolous, unwarranted and owning no connection to the current state of reality. Yet, for the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team, every play, every win, every milestone reached has been forced to reconnect back to that day. All of the growing, evolving and learning which occurred over the last four months automatically connects back to that day in the eyes of us media types.
Was it a watershed day for this season? Absolutely. Mick Cronin admitted as much in the weeks following. Was it the reason they are in Boston today preparing to play Ohio State in the Sweet 16? Partially. Many other reasons exist as to why, which are all politely swept under the rug so the sexy, violent headline can attract the clicks.
The return and emergence of JaQuon Parker, the team's attitude toward defense, the offensive philosophy, the success of the 2-3 zone, the mentality of a basketball team that night after night willed itself to victories, the confidence of advancing to the Big East tournament championship.
We're all guilty of it. I'm guilty of it. But to keep pigeonholing the Cincinnati Bearcats team as the product of a fight needs to disappear quicker than school bands playing "Party Rock Anthem."
How often do the Bearcats hear about it these days?
"Every time we do media," Yancy Gates said.
The repetitive questioning can be frustrating. The latest symptom of that ugly day, I suppose. Frustrating nonetheless.
"Because we've moved on from it," Sean Kilpatrick said.
For months, the fight hasn't been a part of this team's charge, nor their development. That's why Cronin wasn't talking about it in Nashville. He viewed the narrative as a misguided storyline.
"It's because we don't even think about it," Gates said. "We just are out playing. After a win (the media) try to make it out as if we didn't have that fight we wouldn't be where we were now and it's the reason we are playing so good is because of that. Really, the reason we are playing good is just because we are playing good. We figured it out. That's what makes it so annoying."
Though many will -- and we can choose not to read, watch or listen -- I'd challenge all of us, published or otherwise, to stop insisting the fight was the primary reason this team turned its season around. It served as the axis, but wasn't solely responsible for the rotation.
Let's eat...
--- I just wrote the above diatribe then read Mike DeCourcy's much more eloquent assessment of the same concept. But he doesn't reference LMFAO, so I've got him on that. Read this.
--- More from Mike talking about the East Region.
--- Speaking of media creations, let's talk about the history of UC-OSU and how it will affect Thursday. I loved Mick Cronin's response when asked why the two teams don't play:
"You're asking the wrong guy," he said. "That's a fairly well-documented story that I really don't have any interest in. As you can see I'm losing my voice. Buzz (Williams) told me to be careful and he lost his. So, I'm trying to save it for stuff that matters."
And this clearly doesn't matter. As Thad Matta said yesterday in the Columbus Dispatch, the two teams playing again appears "highly unlikely."
Even a local kid like Gates doesn't feel extra zest with the Buckeyes as the opponent. Not because he doesn't enjoy the backstory or feel a rivalry with the school viewing themselves as a national brand a few miles up the road, rather, the stage overwhelms that motivation.
"Maybe if it had been a regular season game," he said of the rivalry putting extra emphasis on the win. "Because it is the tournament, it's just another game in front of us trying to get down to New Orleans."
--- Rob Oller of the Dispatch comments on the "rivalry."
--- If you haven't listened to yesterday's Roundtable Podcast with Mo Egger, Tommy G, and myself you are really missing out. Plenty of storylines, including where the win against Florida State ranked among the most important historically. I think it's the biggest since 1992 when you talk about placing a rebuilding program on an elite level.
Mo makes a valid argument for some of the games at the end of last season and even the win against Syracuse in the BET. Without those, this might not have happened. The beauty of this argument is there aren't any wrong answers. Well, unless you said you were truly inspired by the win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
--- Cronin raved about OSU's Deshaun Thomas at yesterday's presser. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer delved into the concept.
Cronin thinks he's been the key to the Buckeyes season. Over the last 10 games he's averaging 20.2 points and 7.7 rebounds.
Yes, he's a 6-foot-7, sophomore forward who can pop out, drive, post and do most anything on a basketball floor, what most impressed Mick was his aggression on the boards.
"He's a great offensive rebounder," he said. "Obviously, Jared (Sullinger) is. I knew Deshaun Thomas was a great talent, but I didn't know how hard he rebounded the offensive end."
He's averaging 3.4 offensive boards over the last 10 games.
--- Sweet 16 Haiku previews!
--- Yahoo! on the strong finish to Gates' career.
--- Wanted to share this commentary from Mick on being a college coach in an area with so many storied programs. The way it ends should make Bearcats fans everywhere feel great about the state of program:
"It's a tough area to be a college basketball coach because of who you are surrounded by for all of us," he said. "When you are in a big city and you have different universities there are a lot of allegiances. I also know that they are not going to change the name of the city. So, we are the University of Cincinnati and there are a lot of people that have a lot of pride in our program whether they went here or not. We are trying to gain our fans as much as we can possibly gain our fans. It's a different dynamic than a college town having been at a college town, having been at Louisville and at Murray State. But I wouldn't trade it. I'm where I want to be."
--- Cashmere Wright with a classic response when asked if he would be able to handle the disruptive defensive nature of Ohio State's Aaron Craft.
He gave a confident look and smile, then succinctly stated, "We'll see."
Good stuff. That will be one of the best matchups of the tournament, IMO.
--- One more day to Thursday. Man is this going to be fun. Probably the equivalent of listening to this song, only lasting for two hours.