No real surprises yet in Nashville. Campbell gave Belmont a good game, but Justin Hare hit an ill-advised shot late to put the Bruins over the top. Jacksonville handled Mercer fairly easily, with James Florence shooting his team out of the game . . . again. Seriously, dude shoots way too much. He's got good guys around him. Use them.
On the women's side, Stetson gave Jacksonville all they wanted, but the Lady Dolphins pulled away late. ETSU crushed Mercer.
An upset by seed-line but not by conventioal wisdom saw Gardner-Webb blow out Stetson by 20. The best game so far has been G-W's women vs. Campbell. The conference really got lucky that their 3-6 and 4-5 women's games today are local rivals. G-W led by as many as 10 in the second half, but Campbell came back to take a late lead. Campbell had the ball down 1 with 16 seconds to go, but Lauren Arthur missed a well-defended jumper with 2 seconds left. G-W held on to win 57-56.
Two games left in the quarters -- Lipscomb's women host Belmont tonight at 6, followed by the men vs. ETSU.
Two things I've noticed so far:
1 -- Allen Arena may be the least telegenic building in college basketball. Oh my, that place is dark. They do their best to light up the floor, but the sideline beckdrops are really, really dark. Memo to Lipscomb students: if you're going to the game tonight, wear bright colors. The TV people will thank you.
2 -- Some of the pictures I've seen of the arena are not just dark, they're outright stark. There is nobody there. Attendance yesterday afternoon was about 1300. Compare that with 3500 last year for the first afternoon session in Johnson City. To be fair, the ETSU folks support college basketball better than anybody else in the conference by a wide margin. Their average home attendance was more than double the conference average, even for the women.
But that said, 1300 is just embarassing. Last night wasn't much better. Even with Belmont playing, only just over 1500 came out. Put a "home" team in a conference tournament and you HAVE to do better than that. Belmont averaged 1,350 per non-Lipscomb home game. Last year, ETSU averaged triple that. That's right, I said triple.
I'm not sure why the A-Sun decided to bring their tournaments to Nashville, but I hope whatever publicity they were trying to generate was worth the hit at the gate.
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Half-Marathon Training Log
June 23 -- 2 miles, run/walk mix. Time: 26:32
June 24 -- Rest
June 25 -- 3 miles, run/walk mix. Time: 39:16
June 29 -- 2 miles, run/walk mix. Time: 24:37
June 30 -- Two VBS's, in the office until after midnight. Excuses, excuses . . .
July 2 -- 3 miles, run/walk mix. Time: 38:11
July 7 -- 3 miles, run/walk mix. Time: 37:24
July 13 -- Battling nasty intestinal infection for the last several days. Going to the doctor tomorrow morning. Hope to get back out there soon.
July 16 -- Training on hold while I take a month's worth of antibiotics.
September 19 -- Elkton 5K, 37:39.
September 23 -- Soccer season and the SHC are over. The antibiotics have run their course. I'm even over the flu. So no more excuses. Today: 5 miles, run/walk mix, 1:06:21
September 26 -- 5 miles, run/walk mix, 1:05:24
September 28 -- Mowed the entire lawn (front, back, and side) in 3 1/2 hours,stopping only to clear pine cones. The half-marathon will take about 3 hours, so making my brain and body go that long is big.
October 3 -- Made it almost six miles before getting hit -- HARD -- by cramps. Felt like my liver was trying to crawl out of the scar where my chest tube used to be. Walked back. Total time about 84 minutes. Gatorade is my friend.
October 5 -- Finally finished a 7-mile bustle. 1:31:39
October 8 -- I moved all 7 miles, but had hydration issues the last 1 1/4. Cramps, some joint stiffness, and my face falling asleep made for a slower-than-good time. One more week of 7's before I try a 9. 1:41:09
June 24 -- Rest
June 25 -- 3 miles, run/walk mix. Time: 39:16
June 29 -- 2 miles, run/walk mix. Time: 24:37
June 30 -- Two VBS's, in the office until after midnight. Excuses, excuses . . .
July 2 -- 3 miles, run/walk mix. Time: 38:11
July 7 -- 3 miles, run/walk mix. Time: 37:24
July 13 -- Battling nasty intestinal infection for the last several days. Going to the doctor tomorrow morning. Hope to get back out there soon.
July 16 -- Training on hold while I take a month's worth of antibiotics.
September 19 -- Elkton 5K, 37:39.
September 23 -- Soccer season and the SHC are over. The antibiotics have run their course. I'm even over the flu. So no more excuses. Today: 5 miles, run/walk mix, 1:06:21
September 26 -- 5 miles, run/walk mix, 1:05:24
September 28 -- Mowed the entire lawn (front, back, and side) in 3 1/2 hours,stopping only to clear pine cones. The half-marathon will take about 3 hours, so making my brain and body go that long is big.
October 3 -- Made it almost six miles before getting hit -- HARD -- by cramps. Felt like my liver was trying to crawl out of the scar where my chest tube used to be. Walked back. Total time about 84 minutes. Gatorade is my friend.
October 5 -- Finally finished a 7-mile bustle. 1:31:39
October 8 -- I moved all 7 miles, but had hydration issues the last 1 1/4. Cramps, some joint stiffness, and my face falling asleep made for a slower-than-good time. One more week of 7's before I try a 9. 1:41:09
1 comment:
Good summary of the A-Sun tournament and the dark arena.
In all fairness to the attendance figures, ETSU's enrollment is higher than Belmont and Lipscomb's combined...I should hope that ETSU's attendance would be higher. And, the competition for student entertainment in Nashville is ferocious: 5 Division I programs in the city plus professional sports plus a major entertainment industry focus. It is tough to get crowds consistently for anything in Nashville.
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