4-day-holiday

Syracuse Orange – Gets the best of No. 1 Louisville

January 21, 2013 By R.George

The Syracuse Orangemen barely got by the number one ranked Louisville Cardinal team at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. With 15 turnovers, this was hardly a game in which the Orange overly dominated as the affair was close and easily could have been anyone’s game especially down the stretch. In the end however it was a Syracuse victory over Louisville 70 to 68.

Smith of Louisville led all scorers with 25 while Behanan and Blackshear both had nine apiece. Brandon Triche let the Orange with 23, Carter-Williams had 16 and Grant and Fair both had 10. The guard play was up-tempo but created many mistakes as Michael Carter-Williams had 8 of the 15 team turnovers alone. Triche on the other side got off his shot when he wanted shooting 9 for 13 but a bit more ball movement at times could have worked in the Orangemen’s favor in making the Cardinal work more on defense before throwing up the rock.

Towards the end, Siva for the Cardinals turned the ball over and Carter-Williams had another break-away slam (was fouled but no call) and Louisville still had a chance to come back. With 13 seconds, the Orange allowed the Cardinals to conveniently roll the ball all the way to mid-court giving them a comfortable chance to comeback. I’m not saying they needed to pull out the Press 51 or anything but at least have one guy pressure the ball with only 13 seconds, and force them into maybe a hurry up shot?

As it was for both teams, turnovers just simply killed them. An unfortunate turnover by Louisville down low secured the Orangemen victory and granted Syracuse atop the Big East standing at 16-1 though it really was an ugly win. They will get a bump from no 6 up to a top 3 spot but don’t let that fool you, this team is vulnerable. As for the Louisville Cardinals, they didn’t stay at number one very long but they’ll have plenty of chances to redeem themselves on March 2nd when they meet again.

PLAYER ROSTER/STATS AREA

#	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	Class	PPG	RPG	APG	TO	BLK
1	Michael Carter-Williams	G	6’5′	184	So.	16	4	7	8	2
25	Rakeem Christmas	F	6’9′	228	So.	2	6	0	1	0
23	Russ DeRemer	G	6’5′	208	Jr.	0	0	0	0	0
5	CJ Fair	F	6’8′	212	Jr.	10	8	1	3	0
4	Nolan Hart	G	5’10’	155	Jr.	0	0	0	0	0
13	Griffin Hoffmann	G	6’0′	178	Sr.	0	0	0	0	0
12	Baye Keita	C	6’10’	215	Jr.	4	5	0	1	0
14	Matt Lyde-Cajuste	F	6’4′	205	Sr.	0	0	0	0	0
33	Albert Nassar	F	6’6′	195	So.	0	0	0	0	0
43	James Southerland	F	6’8′	215	Sr.	0	0	0	0	0
20	Brandon Triche	G	6’4′	205	Sr.	23	6	2	1	0
10	Trevor Cooney	G	6’4′	188	Fr.	2	0	0	0	0
32	DaJuan Coleman	C	6’10’	285	Fr.	3	1	0	0	0
0	Michael Gbinije	F	6’7′	205	So.	0	0	0	0	0
3	Jerami Grant	F	6’7′	190	Fr.	10	5	1	1	1

TEAM SCHEDULE AREA

Date	Opponent
Jan. 26	at Villanova
Feb. 02	at Pittsburgh
Feb. 04	Notre Dame
Feb. 10	St. John’s
Feb. 13	at Connecticut
Feb. 16	at Seton Hall
Feb. 20	Providence
Feb. 23	Georgetown
Feb. 25	at Marquette
Mar. 02	Louisville
Mar. 06	DePaul
Mar. 09	at Georgetown

MARCHVEGAS 2013
To catch the Badgers for March Madness, why not take a break, “March to Vegas” and see all the excitement at once for the first round of the tournament? Watch hoops and gamble by day, play and party by night for 4 blissful days; it’ll feel just like a 4-day™ holiday.

MARCHVEGAS 2013 is from Thursday March 21st till Sunday March 24th. Though visiting Las Vegas is the greatest during this time, it is only optional. You must think real hard young Jedi and decide if you want to “work” or take the MARCHVEGAS 4-day Holiday. If you choose the later, then Sign the Petition, “Make MARCHVEGAS a 4-day holiday and check out our travel options to Las Vegas.

By Roy George

[MARCHVEGAS] – noun 1. “March to Vegas” symbolizes the humanistic tendency to march, migrate, or advance as a deliberate or organized body in a habitual manner back to Las Vegas. 2. Marriage of March Madness and Las Vegas, especially during tournament time. 3. The “MARCHVEGAS 4-day™ Holiday” (March 21 – 24, 2013) – Sign the Petition.

The half-s7lvin™ Cocktail Minute – Cabernet Sauvignon

January 18, 2013 By R.George

Friday’s Cocktail:

Cabernet Sauvignon
Ingredients – Your favorite bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and wine glasses. Let it breathe for at least 23 minutes then pour. The smoothness will taste just like the perfect blend of March Madness & Las Vegas; in a glass.

Happy Hour Drinking Topics:
1. March Madness: North Carolina State beats a No. 1 Duke team & Wisconsin Badgers beat the No. 2 Indiana all in the same week. Musical chairs at the top, who’s your No. 1?

2. March Madness: Michigan beats Minnesota 83 – 75 but the 360 dunk by Glenn Robinson III was just sick. Why you may ask? Look closely when he finishes the full rotation, its like he’s almost coming to a complete stop in mid-air before he slams it. bit.ly/XiCZny

3. Las Vegas: Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s “Soul2Soul” at the Venetian Resort Hotel Friday, Jan. 18, 2013 8pm – 9:30pm.

3.5 Las Vegas: “Babyface” Edmonds Jan. 19 – 20, 2013 at the Orleans Showroom in Vegas.

4. MARCHVEGAS: Believe in a 4-day™ Holiday. – March 21-24, 2013

5. Scandals: Lance Armstrong will claim the biggest scandal of the year and its only January but at least his women were real. As for Manti Te’o, check that rat bastard for steroids because I’m speechless.

6. Playoffs: Niners over Atlanta, Pats get their revenge on the Ravens. How do you see it?

7. Dear Abbey: Your column was one of the best and oldest blogs I’ve ever known. The world will miss you. RIP.

By Dolores Guiterrez

[half-s7lvin] – noun 1. The amount of drinks it takes to reach your full potential during MARCHVEGAS (March 21 – 24, 2013); affects judgment, memory, relationships, commitment, vision, speech and grammer. 2. The numerical equivalence equal to or between 3.5 – 7.5 cocktails consumed.

Wisconsin Badgers – Takes Down No. 2 Indiana

January 16, 2013 By R.George

Wisconsin Badgers spanks the Hoosiers for the fifth time in a row at home. Tuesday night in Assembly Hall, temperature 33, partly cloudy, wind factor blowing around 9 SSW, the pesky Wisconsin Badgers came away with a win and beat the number two ranked team in the nation – the Indiana Hoosiers. Come tomorrow, Hoosiers will have more than likely dropped out of the Top 10 and may fall outside of the best fifteen.

The Badgers meanwhile are not currently ranked and don’t posses any real star power but in traditional Wisconsin fashion relied on a team-ball concept based on ball movement, getting guys open shots and solid defensive play. Again nothing spectacular, nothing overly impressive, just the basics. Ryan Evans and Traevon Jackson scored 13 and 11 points respectively while Mike Bruesewitz added 10.

However what was impressive was the ability to go out on the road and beat a highly ranked team in an arena that is supposed to be difficult to win. By the end of the evening, it was Badgers 64, Hoosiers 59 as well as Wisconsin grabbing the top spot of the Big 10 with an overall record of 13-4 but 4-0 in the conference.

Meanwhile Cody Zoeller finished with 23 points, 18 of which came in the first half while Christian Watford had 11 and Victor Oladipo with 10. It’s hard to say that Indiana came out flat or wasn’t up for the game, the Badgers have just owned them at home. One must wonder who is Indiana really and when will they start becoming a more aggressive team? Only time will tell if things can ever heat up in Assembly Hall.

PLAYER ROSTER/STATS AREA

#	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	Class	PPG	RPG	APG	TO	BLK
5	Ryan Evans	F	6’6′	210	Sr.	13	8	2	1	1
31	Mike Bruesewitz	F	6’6′	222	Sr.	10	3	4	1	0
40	Jared Berggren	C	6’10’	235	Sr.	5	4	1	0	1
12	Traevon Jackson	G	6’2′	208	So.	11	3	2	2	0
1	Ben Brust	G	6’1′	190	Jr.	9	3	2	3	0
3	George Marshall	G	5’11’	180	Fr.	0	0	1	0	0
44	Franklin Kaminsky	F	6’11’	230	So.	6	1	0	0	0
15	Sam Dekker	F	6’8′	215	Fr.	10	4	0	1	1
32	Evan Anderson	C	6’10’	260	So.	0	0	0	0	0
13	Duje Dukan	F	6’8′	205	Jr.	0	0	0	0	0
10	Dan Fahey	G	6’3′	195	Sr.	0	0	0	0	0
21	Josh Gasser	G	6’3′	190	Jr.	0	0	0	0	0
2	Jordan Smith	G	6’1′	175	So.	0	0	0	0	0
22	JD Wise	G	6’0′	185	Sr.	0	0	0	0	0
34	Zach Bohannon	F	6’6′	210	Jr.	0	0	0	0	0
33	Zak Showalter	G	6’2′	180	Fr.	0	0	0	0	0

TEAM SCHEDULE AREA

Date	Opponent
Jan. 19	at Iowa
Jan. 22	Michigan State
Jan. 26	Minnesota
Jan. 29	at Ohio State
Feb. 03	at Illinois
Feb. 06	Iowa
Feb. 09	Michigan
Feb. 14	at Minnesota
Feb. 17	Ohio State
Feb. 20	at Northwestern
Feb. 26	Nebraska
Mar. 02	Purdue
Mar. 07	at Michigan State
Mar. 10	at Penn State

By Roy George

North Carolina State Wolfpack – takes down No. 1 Duke

January 14, 2013 By R.George

Taking down the number one ranked team in the nation is never an easy task. Whenever that team is an undefeated Duke squad, its especially difficult. Led by CJ Leslie with 25 points, Richard Howell with 16, and Scott Wood with 14, NC State powered their way to victory throughout the whole game.

Using mostly six players, the 6’8′ forward Howell played particularly strong around the boards and down low while adding defensive pressure along with 18 boards to his resume. Big guard play and toughness in transition allowed the team to respond to the multiple comeback threats Duke posed down the stretch. With the big guards posting down low at times, Duke didn’t seem as though they could cover everyone though Plumlee made his presence felt inside with 11 rebounds and 15 points. At the end it however, it was NC State 84 Duke Blue Devils 76 and a major ACC victory for the Wolfpack now at 14-2.

Menacing Duke now 15-1, will eventually recover from the loss and probably play better than it has all season. Great coaching does that to a team. As for NC State, the win could put this team on the trajectory to play big for the remainder of January, into February and who knows, the sky is the limit come March. Their next test will be against the Maryland Terrapins on the road so we’ll see if their energy and fight can be carried over and become contagious. If nothing else, the “W” should signal anyone to watch for this sextet during March Madness, because it definitely proves they can play big and beat anyone on any given night.

PLAYER ROSTER/STATS AREA

#	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	Class	Hometown	PPG	RPG	TO
2	Lorenzo Brown	G	6’5′	186	Jr.	Roswell, GA	xx	xx	xx
1	Richard Howell	F	6’8′	257	Sr.	Marietta, GA	16	18	2
5	CJ Leslie	F	6’9′	200	Jr.	Holly Springs, NC	25	6	1
15	Scott Wood	G	6’6′	169	Sr.	Marion, IN	14	1	2
0	Rodney Purvis	F	6’4′	195	Fr.	Raleigh, NC	7	1	1
24	TJ Warren	G	6’8′	233	Fr.	Durham, NC	10	3	1
12	Tyler Lewis	G	5’9′	157	Fr.	Statesville, NC	0	0	0
30	Staats Battle	G	6’6′	191	So.	Raleigh, NC	0	0	0
20	Jay Lewis	G	6’2′	198	Sr.	Greensboro, NC	0	0	0
13	Thomas de Thaey	F	6’8′	244	So.	Dendermonde, Belgium	0	0	0
14	Jordan Vandenberg	C	7’1′	264	Jr.	Melbourne, AU	0	0	0

TEAM SCHEDULE AREA

Date	Opponent
Jan. 16	at Maryland
Jan. 20	Clemson
Jan. 22	at Wake Forest
Jan. 26	North Carolina
Jan. 29	at Virginia
Feb. 02	Miami (FL)
Feb. 07	at Duke
Feb. 10	at Clemson
Feb. 16	Virginia Tech
Feb. 19	Florida State
Feb. 23	at North Carolina
Feb. 27	Boston College
Mar. 03	at Georgia Tech
Mar. 06	Wake Forest
Mar. 09	at Florida State

MARCHVEGAS 2013
To catch the action, why not take a break, “March to Vegas” and see all the excitement at once for the first round of the March Madness tournament? Watch hoops and gamble by day, play and party by night for 4 blissful days; it’ll feel just like a 4-day™ holiday.

MARCHVEGAS 2013 is from Thursday March 21st till Sunday March 24th. Though visiting Las Vegas is the greatest during this time, it is only optional. You must think real hard young Jedi and decide if you want to “work” or take the MARCHVEGAS 4-day Holiday. If you choose the later, then Sign the Petition, “Make MARCHVEGAS a 4-day holiday and check out our travel options to Las Vegas.

By Roy George

4-day-holiday

PLAYER ROSTER/STATS AREA

TEAM SCHEDULE AREA

PLAYER ROSTER/STATS AREA

TEAM SCHEDULE AREA

PLAYER ROSTER/STATS AREA

TEAM SCHEDULE AREA

Believe in a 4-day Holiday™