Division 1 Basketball Game

To all I am sorry I have been non-existent. I never thought I would be the next LH. I have missed AP, The Gophers, Royce White...I could go on and on. Exciting times compared to recent years.

This past fall I began my MBA at Kennesaw St. At the time, I relayed to Jan that Kaplan should make a poster of me, posing with my hands on my hips while looking ever some handsomely at the camera with the caption "I got a XXX on the GMAT 10 years ago and I got into Kennesaw St." A deal has not been struck as of yet. 

Anyway, Kennesaw St plays D-1 hoops. As part of the Atlantic Sun conference, the winner of the conference tournament receives an automatic bid for the big dance, so we are talking big time hoops.  The last couple of years the bid has gone to Belmont, who has moved onto another conference.  Admittance is free to all students. I took my daughter up there today to see the 2-16 KSU Owls host the 5-14 East Tennessee State Buccaneers. The arena was nice and seemed new. Capacity at the Convocation Center is 4000 and change. I guessed the attendance was 1000 and was only two people off as the actual was 1002. We were in the front row (general admission) behind the basket. The stands are elevated with the first row being about 5 feet off the ground. Being behind the basket we were frequently on the Jumbotron (obvious over exaggeration). I am not sure if this amused her or me more. Scrappy the Owl said hello and reached up for a high five. The game had all the promotions you might find at a Flint Tropics game: the shot from half court for a shopping spree at the bookstore, the promise of a free taco from Del Taco if the Owls scored 70 and a free throw contest between the mayor of Kennesaw and the athletic director.

ETSU controlled the game start to finish. They had more size inside as well as sharpshooting from beyond the arc. I was surprised to see they only had 5 wins on the year. I thought they would be better as they are one of the few teams, along with Mercer, from the Atlantic Sun conference that I recognized. Ever heard of South Carolina St Upstate or Lipscomb? I hadn't. We had a good time and we will definitely go back. Good clean family fun at the right price ($6 for her plus concessions).  Go Owls! Someday when KSU makes the tournament, I will be able to sit back and talk about how I was there when they only won a few games in those early years after having made the jump from D-2 (2004 Men's basketball champs, the only banner in the arena).

This brings my basketball arena total up to 5:  Northwestern 4 games, Iowa 2 games (maybe 1 or 2 more), Minnesota 1, Georgia Tech 1 and now KSU 1.

How awesome is the ETSU logo? The buccaneer totally looks like a Scooby Doo villain.