Pirates of the Carolinas

The ECU Pirates unveiled a new midfield logo today for their matchup with Virginia Tech:

(Picture courtesy of NCAAbbs)

I love this for a couple reasons. For one, it looks extremely badass. Secondly, for those who haven't caught wise, I have an advanced degree and career in higher education. I won't get all thesis on you, but I do believe that colleges--particularly public colleges--exist to serve the greater societal good. As such, it's great when states embrace their institutions of higher education and vice versa. I especially like when schools that aren't the flagship feel empowered to use the state's images or likeness.

I'm also a geography nerd, so the state outline speaks to me. Similarly, the vexillology nerd in me really enjoys College Park's MD flag end zones and Clemson and Carolina's battle over the palmetto and crescent.

In a similar vein, I've thought I'd love to see UMBC incorporate the MD state flag in some way, even if it's just the Calvert banner black and gold as used in the Baltimore flag. The confederates in College Park can have their red and white. Some time ago, I also put together a green and gold mock-up of the Florida flag with the USF seal.

2009: The Year of Chalk

The New York Yankees just won their 27th World Series. My first thought as a fan was that with Lakers and Yankees wins in the same year, perhaps the sporting universe isn't too happy with me right now. But then I looked a little closer at a confluence of this year's championships. So far, in 2009:

• College Football: Florida Gators
• NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers
• Men's College Basketball: North Carolina Tar Heels
• Women's college basketball: Connecticut Huskies
• Men's College Lacrosse: Syracuse Orange
• Women's College Lacrosse: Northwestern Wildcats
• NBA: Los Angeles Lakers
• DCI: Blue Devils
• MLB: New York Yankees

What do all of these teams have in common? These are all teams which, either historically or recently, have been the banner carriers in their respective sports. In each case, it would have been entirely reasonable, before a ball was ever kicked, tipped, or pitched, to pick the team above as the champion and had a pretty good shot, or at least not have had everyone look at you like you were crazy.

2009: The Year of Chalk.

Like Christmas in Philly

Normally, I hate to look at the home stadium on TV and see an abundance of another color in the stands. But it pleases me to turn on Giants-Eagles and see an abundance of red in the stands. Right now, the Philly sports faithful serve two masters. They've shown any number of people in the stands in Eagles jerseys and Phillies hats, who no doubt will be just as jacked after this game ends in anticipation for tonight's.

Game 3 of Philly-NY weekend is under way. So far, it's 1-1, with the Sixers beating the Knicks and and the Yankees beating the Phillies. Hopefully we can get out of this weekend 3-1.

It's gonna be a good weekend

Nothing like a win on a Friday (or Thursday) night to know the weekends gonna be A-OK.

The Bulls got a big one tonight against West Virginia in Tampa to halt the mid-season skid and notch one against a team that's perennially the class of the league but is now 2-3 vs. the Bulls, with two of our wins coming on Friday nights in Tampa. Hopefully this helps us right the ship and we can be competitive for the rest of the season.

I've never talked high school football in here. A brief history of my high school's team: It was standard practice to come to AI football games and leave after the band's halftime show. Tonight was our Homecoming game, and clearly I didn't make it back up to Delaware, but I was compelled to go online and check the scores. Turns out we beat Brandywine 55-0 to improve on the season to 8-0. Way to be, Tigers!!

Also going on this weekend: Game 3 of the World Series tomorrow night from Philly. The fact that this runs up against college football probably affects a surprisingly little amount of people. Sure baseball fans want to see the World Series, but consider the teams competing: the mid-Atlantic and Northeast aren't exactly hotbeds of college football. That, and the teams that do have regional interest there will all play earlier in the day. A game with Tri-State implications, Rutgers vs. UConn, will be played at 12 noon. Other New York schools in action, Syracuse and Army, also play early games. In the Phillysphere, Penn State and Temple (ha!) play early as well. 

And if you're a New York sports fan looking to take a road trip, Sunday in Philly is the place to be. May I suggest setting up your tailgate right between Citizen's Bank Park and Lincoln Financial Field. Eagles play Giants at 1, and then it's Yanks at Phillies at 8. Sounds like a helluva day!

Trunk or Treat!

To continue on the regional theme: I currently live in the South, which, I'm willing to wager, is the region of the country with the most churches per capita. I've lived in NC for over four years now, and before that I lived in Tampa (which I consider my gateway drug to the South). It's been since I've been here in NC that I've been seeing church signs advertise for "Trunk or Treat." I'm surprised it's taken me this long to actually look it up, considering how quick on the google-fu I tend to be, but I've always thought: What in the heavens is Trunk or Treat? I figured surely it was a church attempt to get out of the witches-and-devils view of Halloween, or maybe even the mean aspect implied in the "trick," but couldn't for the life of me figure out what the "trunk" part referred to. I just figured I hadn't spent enough time with my bible and was missing something.

On my way home from work today, I passed one of the churches that's been advertising and saw what most certainly must have been Trunk or Treat. I came home and googled it to be sure that's what I had briefly witnessed and came across this Trunk or Treat article. It describes Trunk or Treat as "a Halloween event that is often church or community-sponsored. People gather and park their cars in a large parking lot. They open their trunks or the backs of their vehicles and decorate them. Then they pass out candy from their trunks. The event provides a safe family environment for trick or treaters."


Well I'll be! Halloween tailgating! Sign me up!

Getting Territorial

I am a native mid-Atlanticker and I wear it proudly. For reference, my personal definition of the mid-Atlantic is the states on the I-95 corridor between DC and NYC; inclusive of DC metro, and exclusive of NY metro. It includes NoVA, DC, MD, DE, PA and all of Jersey but North Jersey, where, in my definition, the Northeast begins. As such, I cling pretty hard to that which I consider to be mid-Atlantic, however rationally.

Utz Potato Chips are a product of Hanover, PA and widely associated with the mid-Atlantic. A clever billboard in Baltimore, for example, depicts National Bohemian's Mr. Boh proposing to the Utz girl. And, of course, Utz is widely regarded as part of the snack food industry in its home state of PA, which includes Snyders of Hanover and Hersheys chocolate.

I say all that to say: When the Phillies take on the Yankees in the World Series, I don't want to see a damn Utz advertisement in Yankees Stadium.

Intercollegiate Athletics at its Finest

I'm not a Potterhead. In fact, to the disbelief of most, I started reading the Harry Potter books and stopped somewhere in the middle of one. I've seen all but the most recent of the movies and enjoy them, and from knowing people who are bigger fans I think I know the general gist of the series, but I wouldn't consider myself a Potterhead by any means.

That said, to use the series' native British vernacular, intercollegiate quidditch is bloody brilliant.

The mental_floss blog wrote all about the Quidditch World Cup, which took place this past weekend. I'll let you read the link for the details, but essentially, 20 collegiate teams faced off in a competition which was as quidditch as you can get without the ability to fly.

Professionally, I work in the field of student activities, and I look forward to the moment a quidditch club walks through our doors looking to form.

The Time Is Now

As I've said in this blog before, of my four major "sports" seasons (football, basketball, lacrosse, drum corps) basketball is the sport I follow the least in the off-season. It's not that I care any less about basketball than the others, but to me, basketball is a lot more about the now, where in the others there's so much for me in the antici... (say it!) ...pation.

That goes double for the NBA, because I think I anticipate college ball a little more than pro ball, but I did pay a bit of attention this off-season, and what I saw? Stagnation. The Sixers were a playoff team last year (which I realize is no huge feat in the NBA), but in the off-season, when the big players in the East were making moves, the Sixers were decidedly quiet. The Cavs added Shaq. The Celtics added Sheed. The Magic added VC. The Sixers? Added a new logo--which, by the way, was the old logo. OK, so we did add a new head coach, and I'm looking forward to the Eddie Jordan era, but let's be honest--he's a Rutgers alum.

That said, as we speak, I'm watching the first game of the season, as two of the Eastern conference players, Cleveland and Boston, battle it out. The season is pregnant with possibility. Anything can happen. The time is now.

But who needs New Jersey anyway?

The World Series is set, and it will feature the two largest metro areas on the East Coast, just over 90 miles, and nearly the entire state of New Jersey. It could tear the state in half.

No big loss.

My allegiances in this World Series are simple. Let me share with you two simple truths:

1) I am a Boston Red Sox fan.
2) I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware.

So yes, I will be rooting for the Phillies to repeat as World Series champions. You'll note that I say I'm rooting for the Phillies, but never claim to be a Phillies fan. I'm a Sox fan and don't intend to change that, but as a fan of Philly sports in general I of course want to see them do well.

That said? It's almost like a tease. The Phillies are the one Philly team that isn't my primary team in its respective sport--I don't follow hockey, but in a pinch I'd identify as a Flyers fan, and I definitely ride with the Eagles and Sixers. So for all of the city's sports success to go to the Phils does little to satiate my needs.

But I'll take it--especially at the expense of the Yankees.

Groundhog Day

GOTDAMMIT BULLS!!! Different year, same result. USF went up to Pittsburgh for a noon kickoff with Pitt, and we got run out of the Steel City to the tune of 41-14. Once again USF football nets a big OOC win in September (though the FSU win is no longer quite as lustrous) and once again we roll over once conference play begins. And once again, we're off to a 1-2 conference start, this year having beaten only Syracuse.

In the interest of not having to flag this blog for "adult content", I"m just going to say that I'm sick of this mess and spare you the profanity-laced tirade I'm prepared to embark on.

To be somewhat fair, I will note that Big East didn't do us any scheduling favors, lacing our October slate with consecutive games vs. Cincy, at Pitt, and vs. WVU. Each of those games is entirely winnable, but as two of three have shown thus far, they're also entirely losable. Especially by the Bulls, in the month of October. I'm starting to fear October as a Bulls fan like I fear the NFC Championship Game as an Eagles fan. But in either case, we need to get over that to actually be something. Unless, as I've half-jokingly suggested, we start stacking our non-conference games in the month of October. I don't know what it is, but it needs to change. I'll feel a whole lot better if we can manage to beat WVU on Friday night in Tampa, but I'm not holding my breath.