Oh No You Di'int

I’m assuming most have checked or heard about through the grapevine at the very least that the Atlantic 10 Regular Season Awards were announced Sunday. The one award the Xavier Musketeers could control was the conference regular season title and they took care of that (for the fourth time in a row to be exact) by going 14-2 and becoming Co-Champs with the Temple Owls. Congrats to Chris Mack (www.twitter.com/coachchrismack) and the squad on their great achievement. Cutting down the nets on Senior day at Cintas is kind of becoming an annual ritual (followed by massive boozing/celebrating at the Gardens).

Now to the flaming sack of dog shit (“don’t put it out with your boots Ted” style) that is the Atlantic 10 awards-voting. I don’t know if the rest of the Atlantic 10 conference (coaches, athletic directors, media) have against the poster-child team of the conference. Face it, Xavier fan or not, without the Muskies, the A10 is NOTHING! They have damn near dominated this conference from their inaugural year back in 1995 (or 1996…not 100% sure). Regardless though, year in and year out they rep the A10 proudly throughout the regular season knocking off BCS school after BCS school and then by going to the NCAA on an annual basis (many times being 1 of only 2 or 3 teams that gets in). Don’t get me wrong, I am not bashing the A10 conference THIS year…this is arguably the best year for the A10 ever (Note: 2004 they had 2 teams mere points away from the Final 4 in St. Joes and none other than Xavier). What I am so very fumed about though is seriously, how the hell did # 55 Mr. Jordan Crawford not come away with the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year. I mean I’m just gonna let out a MNF Countdown “C’MONNNNNNNNNN MANN!”

I was at the Richmond game a week or so back at Cintas. I was surprisingly impressed by the grit and toughness as well as the ability to execute in crucial times by the Spiders, but in no way shape or form did they possess the BEST player in the conference. Kevin Anderson wasn’t even the best player on his team! (in my opinion) I’m not going to bore you with a plethora of stats and compare and contrast. All you need to know is this: @JCraw55 (www.twitter.com/@jcraw55) posted far better stats (more points, rebounds, assists, and steals per game….all while averaging 5 less minutes a game!) Nuff Said. A10 coaches are just bitter and to be quite blunt about it, are not going to be pleased by the bomb that is going to be dropped on Atlantic City this weekend by the Xavier Musketeers.

I haven’t even mentioned my further displeasure with the voting that included Jason Love (www.twitter.com/lovej31) making the third team! (name 2 centers who were more dominant and were more valuable to their teams success this year than J Boogie), Holloway not even getting some kind of mention, Lyons (www.twitter.com/Str8_Mula) not making the all rookie team (that MF’er is going to be sick by the time he’s out of XU, and sooner rather than later if Crawford jumps to league this summer), and last but not least, first year head coach of the Co-Champion team in the league @coachchrismack. I can see why Temple’s dude Duffy got votes but I think people are not giving Mack and his staff the credit they deserve. I don’t want to repeat my post from last week (and as a Bomber and Muskie guy I am biased) but I think Mack, like Miller, is one of the best young, fresh coaches in all of college basketball and he should be receiving some serious accolades this year for what he has done. As for now, he’ll keep hanging banners and putting in orders for that bling-bling. Maybe he’ll actually stick around Cincy unlike the last four guys who have “done work” at Xavier (RIP SKIP). We can only hope!

Enjoy Championship Week blogowers. It really is the best time of the year. Hopefully the men in stripes (ironic certainly) can get a playmaker at the wideout position’s Herbie Hancock this week. Most crucial to keep up with the Ravens signing of Boldin. Marshall in my opinion is top 3 in the league currently (behind Andre the Giant and Larry Fitz) but give him a year or two and he could be THE premier guy in the No Fun League at his position.

This post also would not be complete if I didn’t give the Xavier women’s bball squad a shoutout. These girls can play! Amber Harris has the handles of a guard, the silky, smooth touch of a swingman, and the size of a center (and she rebounds like a dude). T’Shia Phillips is an absolute animal as well. She grabbed like 18 boards yesterday against Temple in A10 finals…and swatted the absolute snot out of some Temple chicks shot in the first half. Possible Streak Stoppers (of UConn) in the Final Four?! Best of luck to Coach Kevin McGuff and the Lady (although not so lady-like) Musketeers in the NCAA tourney and make sure to follow them. They play their first two tourney games at home at Cintas. I’ll be there….

I will leave on this note (and the following link) Chapman was throwing 102 mph’ers in a live game. In his first outing. Of spring training. IN MARCH! HOLY SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEET…this dudes gonna be sick as long as Dusty’s don’t do “his thing” with him. Also this article has forced me to tuck north:

http://deadspin.com/5486157/cincinnati-reds-the-looming-towerGood