In the spirit of March Madness, I figured it would be appropriate to pay tribute to perhaps the greatest college basketball commentator of our time, Gus Johnson. Most of our readers probably already know who Gus is and what he represents, so I won't waste your time. Rather, I'd offer the clips below as some of the most memorable Gus Johnson moments of the tournament over the past decade. You can also check out his soundboard which surged in bro-life popularity during last year's tournament.
Most recently, Gus called the 2011 Pac-10 Tournament Championship game. The game went into overtime and true to form, Gus willed Washington into an impressive buzzer-beater.
The Infamous "I Get Buckets".
"Heartbreak City"
"Lewis, who's been awesome!!"...sends it into overtime for Ohio State who would go on to win.
Probably the besst game of the 2010 tournament, of course Gus had the call.
Here's to hoping that this year's tournament will provide even more memorable Gus moments.
~Geno.
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Monday, March 14, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
"I'm not your pal, buddy!"
Last week, a few Gentlemen, a coworker, and I had the unique privilege of taking in a Maryland Terrapins basketball game. Percy had 4 tickets and a parking pass to the Maryland-FSU game so we decided to take him up on this economic free-ride opportunity. I will describe the experiences of the game later, but first, I'd like to share a social interaction I had with a fellow ticket-holder.
Our seats were in the 2nd row of upper deck corner opposite Florida State's bench, pretty good area especially for the price of Free.99. At half-time, my coworker and I began a long discussion about career-related issues that would continue well into the second half. Two gentlemen in front of us left their seats at half to enjoy the $10 nachos and Terrapin Pretzels. As our discussion progressed, I eased into my seat and put my feet up on the back of the chair directly in front of me, not realizing that 18% of my left foot was on the one guy's jacket. 10 minutes later, I was so engaged in federal software contracting talk that I assumed the fellows had left the game, not realizing how much time had actually passed since they left their seats. However, with about a minute before the start of the 2nd half, they returned. As I saw them wiggle their way down the row towards their seats, I realized that I was invading their space and promptly removed my feet from the chair. When they got closer, and before they even had a chance to say anything to me, I said "Oh I'm sorry, sir" and removed my feet. As realized the assault for which I looked guilty, he clutched his jacket, pointed out a trivial trace of dirt on his sleeve, and said "Gee, thanks pal."
"Gee, thanks pal". Did he not just walk himself into a response that bears the title of this post! At that point, I was so shocked that he even said something like this that I had no response other than a pathetic "what?" to which he did not answer. As the men took their seats and watched the Terps beat up on the Seminoles in the second half, I slouched in embarrassment - not because of what I DID, but what I DID'NT say. Larry David is not just funny to me, he is someone I aspire to become. Why could I not come up with a better response when this guy called me "pal"?! I thought to myself that I am never going to get another chance to so easily respond to someone with something like, "I'm not your pal, buddy!" and that greatly depressed me. As we drove home that night, I gathered the broken pieces of my emotion and tried to think optimistically about my future of socially awkward moments. One word will summarize that moment and haunt me for the rest of time... regret.
As for the game - The Terps won 78-62 on the heels of some great shooting and better defense in the second half. They currently sit at 18-11 (7-7 ACC) which will give them #7 seed in the ACC tournament. They will likely need to run the table in Georgia Dome to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
The highlight of halftime, other than the jacket incident, was the Maryland B-Terps. We couldn't tell from our seats if the kids were white or asian, but thankfully we were able to confirm our guesses. College Park was a neat little town but I wouldn't even send my worst enemies for a walk on the outskirts of campus at 3AM.
Overall the game was a blast. But, regret is something that few people should ever feel. If it happens to you, move on. Look to the future and recognize the opportunities when you might have the chance to socially p'wn someone. If not, you will be a fool like me.
~Geno.
Our seats were in the 2nd row of upper deck corner opposite Florida State's bench, pretty good area especially for the price of Free.99. At half-time, my coworker and I began a long discussion about career-related issues that would continue well into the second half. Two gentlemen in front of us left their seats at half to enjoy the $10 nachos and Terrapin Pretzels. As our discussion progressed, I eased into my seat and put my feet up on the back of the chair directly in front of me, not realizing that 18% of my left foot was on the one guy's jacket. 10 minutes later, I was so engaged in federal software contracting talk that I assumed the fellows had left the game, not realizing how much time had actually passed since they left their seats. However, with about a minute before the start of the 2nd half, they returned. As I saw them wiggle their way down the row towards their seats, I realized that I was invading their space and promptly removed my feet from the chair. When they got closer, and before they even had a chance to say anything to me, I said "Oh I'm sorry, sir" and removed my feet. As realized the assault for which I looked guilty, he clutched his jacket, pointed out a trivial trace of dirt on his sleeve, and said "Gee, thanks pal."
"Gee, thanks pal". Did he not just walk himself into a response that bears the title of this post! At that point, I was so shocked that he even said something like this that I had no response other than a pathetic "what?" to which he did not answer. As the men took their seats and watched the Terps beat up on the Seminoles in the second half, I slouched in embarrassment - not because of what I DID, but what I DID'NT say. Larry David is not just funny to me, he is someone I aspire to become. Why could I not come up with a better response when this guy called me "pal"?! I thought to myself that I am never going to get another chance to so easily respond to someone with something like, "I'm not your pal, buddy!" and that greatly depressed me. As we drove home that night, I gathered the broken pieces of my emotion and tried to think optimistically about my future of socially awkward moments. One word will summarize that moment and haunt me for the rest of time... regret.
As for the game - The Terps won 78-62 on the heels of some great shooting and better defense in the second half. They currently sit at 18-11 (7-7 ACC) which will give them #7 seed in the ACC tournament. They will likely need to run the table in Georgia Dome to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
The highlight of halftime, other than the jacket incident, was the Maryland B-Terps. We couldn't tell from our seats if the kids were white or asian, but thankfully we were able to confirm our guesses. College Park was a neat little town but I wouldn't even send my worst enemies for a walk on the outskirts of campus at 3AM.
Overall the game was a blast. But, regret is something that few people should ever feel. If it happens to you, move on. Look to the future and recognize the opportunities when you might have the chance to socially p'wn someone. If not, you will be a fool like me.
~Geno.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
He's Heating Up!
If you were a normal kid and grew up playing NBA Jam for n64 and grew into an adult who has a passion for throwback NBA jerseys, then this post is for you.
A big part of being a bro, in which I take great pride, is attire. Typical bro gear can include any combination of the following: flat brimmed hats, lax pinneys, mid-calf black socks, boat shoes, turf dogs, brown flip flops, knockoff wayfarer sunglasses, croakies for the sunglasses, and of course throwback NBA jerseys. For the sake of blog space, and suspense, I will only touch on the NBA jerseys today and save the rest for later, or my new startup company brogear.com.
Here is my top 10 for the best NBA throwback jerseys to own if you're looking to spice up your wardrobe as the summer approaches:
10. "Thunder" Dan Marjele. #9 Phoenix Suns.
Thunder Dan should be included in the book Stuff White People Like, if he's not already in the expanded edition that should come out soon. Marjele's travel shown above has millions of YouTube hits, proving his popularity among 20something nerds like me. In 1993, Marjele was voted a starter in the NBA All-Star Game by the fans, the first time ever that a player was a starter for an All-Star team without even starting own his own team.
9. Jeff Hornacek. #14 Utah Jazz.
Hornacek's jersey is the epitome of the notion that it's cool to own jerseys of lesser known NBA players. You could argue that it would be cooler to have Hornacek's gruesome two-some mate, John Stockton, but everyone still remembers Stockton. Let's face it, these old Jazz jerseys are great. And you have to give props to Hornacek's contributions during the golden years of Jazz basketball.
8. Larry Bird. #33 Boston Celtics.
I know what your thinking..."this guy totally contradicts himself with this selection". And you're right. But this list would be incomplete without Bird. People literally think he was the reincarnation of Christ on the court calling him the Basketball Jesus. He is also widely respected in how he represented the Caucasian race and the East coast during his rivalry with Magic Johnson. Plus he has this awesome commercial with Johnson where he just clowns on him. That deserves a spot on this list.
7. Tom Gugliotta. #24 Minnesota Timberwolves.
Gugliotta is an authority in "NBA Jam". Like, seriously, it's almost impossible to beat him. Googs also starred under Jim Valvano at NC State so he certainly has been gifted with the inspirational words of Valvano throughout his career.
6. Cliff Robinson. #3 Portland Trailblazers.
No, this is not the same Cliff Robinson that played for the Nets. This Cliff Robinson was lucky enough to sport these sweet Blazers jerseys. Robinson was given the 1992-1993 NBA 6th Man award. I can really identify with him because I used to come off the bench myself and contribute valuable minutes (in the 5th quarter). He is also currently holding the #8 spot on the list of "longest NBA careers" in terms of games played...he really wanted to use that longevity to get on this list.
5. Bryant "Big Country" Reeves. #50 Vancouver Grizzlies.
First of all, it's incredibly cool to own jerseys of teams that don't even exist anymore (see also, later in this list). Second, much like Googs, Big Country is an absolute force in "NBA Jam". A word to anyone who might dust off their n64 after reading this post..if you go up against Reeves, don't even attempt layups or anything close to the rim because he'll swat you every time.
4. Dominique Wilkins. #21 Atlanta Hawks.
Ok, this was a real tossup. Between Wilkins, Mookie Blaylock, and Spudd Webb, I had to pick one to be on this list since these old Hawk jerseys are outrageous. What really won Wilkins the spot was that he competed in 5 dunk contests throughout his career, winning 2 (1 over Jordan). Who cares if he never won a league title, the guy was a show.
3. Larry "Grandmamma" Johnson. #2 Charlotte Hornets.
This falls under the "teams that don't exist anymore" category. And much like Wilkins, I had to include one of the 90's Hornets stars on here. Seriously, who didn't like the Hornets growing up? Find me that person so I can fight him/her.
2. Shawn Kemp. #40 Seattle Supersonics.
I was also a huge fan of the Sonics when I was a kid. I actually liked Gary Payton more than Kemp but there are reasons that Kemp made this list over Payton. Kemp has a long history of arrests relating to cocaine and weapons possession. He is also reportedly the father of AT LEAST 7 children. And he recently starred in an episode of Pros vs. Joes.
1. "Pistol" Pete Maravich. #7 Atlanta Hawks.
Go look up his stats. Enough said.
~ Geno.
A big part of being a bro, in which I take great pride, is attire. Typical bro gear can include any combination of the following: flat brimmed hats, lax pinneys, mid-calf black socks, boat shoes, turf dogs, brown flip flops, knockoff wayfarer sunglasses, croakies for the sunglasses, and of course throwback NBA jerseys. For the sake of blog space, and suspense, I will only touch on the NBA jerseys today and save the rest for later, or my new startup company brogear.com.
Here is my top 10 for the best NBA throwback jerseys to own if you're looking to spice up your wardrobe as the summer approaches:
10. "Thunder" Dan Marjele. #9 Phoenix Suns.
Thunder Dan should be included in the book Stuff White People Like, if he's not already in the expanded edition that should come out soon. Marjele's travel shown above has millions of YouTube hits, proving his popularity among 20something nerds like me. In 1993, Marjele was voted a starter in the NBA All-Star Game by the fans, the first time ever that a player was a starter for an All-Star team without even starting own his own team.
9. Jeff Hornacek. #14 Utah Jazz.
Hornacek's jersey is the epitome of the notion that it's cool to own jerseys of lesser known NBA players. You could argue that it would be cooler to have Hornacek's gruesome two-some mate, John Stockton, but everyone still remembers Stockton. Let's face it, these old Jazz jerseys are great. And you have to give props to Hornacek's contributions during the golden years of Jazz basketball.
8. Larry Bird. #33 Boston Celtics.
I know what your thinking..."this guy totally contradicts himself with this selection". And you're right. But this list would be incomplete without Bird. People literally think he was the reincarnation of Christ on the court calling him the Basketball Jesus. He is also widely respected in how he represented the Caucasian race and the East coast during his rivalry with Magic Johnson. Plus he has this awesome commercial with Johnson where he just clowns on him. That deserves a spot on this list.
7. Tom Gugliotta. #24 Minnesota Timberwolves.
Gugliotta is an authority in "NBA Jam". Like, seriously, it's almost impossible to beat him. Googs also starred under Jim Valvano at NC State so he certainly has been gifted with the inspirational words of Valvano throughout his career.
6. Cliff Robinson. #3 Portland Trailblazers.
No, this is not the same Cliff Robinson that played for the Nets. This Cliff Robinson was lucky enough to sport these sweet Blazers jerseys. Robinson was given the 1992-1993 NBA 6th Man award. I can really identify with him because I used to come off the bench myself and contribute valuable minutes (in the 5th quarter). He is also currently holding the #8 spot on the list of "longest NBA careers" in terms of games played...he really wanted to use that longevity to get on this list.
5. Bryant "Big Country" Reeves. #50 Vancouver Grizzlies.
First of all, it's incredibly cool to own jerseys of teams that don't even exist anymore (see also, later in this list). Second, much like Googs, Big Country is an absolute force in "NBA Jam". A word to anyone who might dust off their n64 after reading this post..if you go up against Reeves, don't even attempt layups or anything close to the rim because he'll swat you every time.
4. Dominique Wilkins. #21 Atlanta Hawks.
Ok, this was a real tossup. Between Wilkins, Mookie Blaylock, and Spudd Webb, I had to pick one to be on this list since these old Hawk jerseys are outrageous. What really won Wilkins the spot was that he competed in 5 dunk contests throughout his career, winning 2 (1 over Jordan). Who cares if he never won a league title, the guy was a show.
3. Larry "Grandmamma" Johnson. #2 Charlotte Hornets.
This falls under the "teams that don't exist anymore" category. And much like Wilkins, I had to include one of the 90's Hornets stars on here. Seriously, who didn't like the Hornets growing up? Find me that person so I can fight him/her.
2. Shawn Kemp. #40 Seattle Supersonics.
I was also a huge fan of the Sonics when I was a kid. I actually liked Gary Payton more than Kemp but there are reasons that Kemp made this list over Payton. Kemp has a long history of arrests relating to cocaine and weapons possession. He is also reportedly the father of AT LEAST 7 children. And he recently starred in an episode of Pros vs. Joes.
1. "Pistol" Pete Maravich. #7 Atlanta Hawks.
Go look up his stats. Enough said.
~ Geno.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Berks Catholic _______ ??
Although it had been clear for quite some time that Berks County could not sufficiently support two Catholic high schools, I was saddened yesterday to hear that my alma mater, Holy Name High School, would no longer exist in its current form after merging with archrival Central Catholic. The "new" school, which will be at the current Holy Name site, will be called Berks Catholic. Even though some of my fellow alumni aren't thrilled with the new name, I'm fairly ambivalent. Generally there are two routes when it comes to naming Catholic high schools: 1) [Geographic Location] Catholic or 2) [Former Bishop/Pope] High. To me, there wasn't a slam dunk name that was the obvious correct choice, although I suppose Reading Catholic would be equally fine. I'm as sad as anybody that the school will no longer be "Holy Name," but keeping the name would be patently insensitive to the Central Catholic community that we're trying to welcome. And once the boys' basketball or football teams, which in all likelihood are going to be among the bigger AA schools, make deep runs in the county and/or state tournaments, nobody is going to care about two different communities playing together at the same school. I'm not saying that the current situation is equal to (or anywhere as important) as integration by any means, but if we learned anything from the Titans, it's that athletic success solves a lot of problems with creating a new community.
The Boxcar Boys
With Reading's proud railroad past, this isn't a bad start. Its obvious shortcoming is that Berks Catholic will be a coed school, which means we may have to accept an alternative -- the Boxcar Children. If nothing else, our students will have excellent mystery-solving skills, a lost art among today's youth. Something along the lines of Railsplitters could work here, too.
The Inquisition
A very cool yet underused device is a nickname that doesn't have a physical mascot counterpart (think of Alabama's Crimson Tide). The Inquisition is a distinctly Catholic phenomenon, albeit not our proudest moment by any stretch of the imagination. However, having a mascot with a resplendent mustache and pointy goatee would make for the best use of mascot facial hair since the old Tampa Bay Buccaneers logo:
Pretzels
Reading is known for its many brands of pretzels, all of them salty, delicious, and terrible for you. And plus, what self-respecting Simpsons fan wouldn't want to incorporate the legendary phrase "And here come the pretzels!"
So there's my suggestions. What are yours?
--J.J. Gittes
However, what really matters to me about the transition is this -- the nickname and mascot. Having a cool school nickname makes all the difference in how you perceive a school. I love going to George Mason and their basketball team is killing it right now, but their color scheme, logo, and nickname is just awful. I'm borderline embarrassed to own any GMU gear.
 |
| C'mon, man. |
In the spirit of improving the new school, I'm opening up the comments section to suggestions for mascots for the new Berks Catholic. A point of clarification before is needed, as the following nicknames are currently in use by other local schools: Mountaineers (Antietam H.S.), Bears (Boyertown H.S.), Bullets (Brandywine Heights H.S.), Scouts (Conrad Weiser H.S.), Blazers (Daniel Boone H.S.), Eagles (Exeter H.S.), Tigers (Fleetwood H.S.), Mustangs (Governor Mifflin H.S.), Hawks (Hamburg H.S.), Cougars (Kutztown H.S.), Muhls (Muhlenberg H.S.), Lynx (Oley Valley H.S.), Red Knights (Reading H.S.), Panthers (Schuylkill Valley H.S.), Trojans (Tulpehocken H.S.), Raiders (Twin Valley H.S.), Bulldogs (Wilson H.S.), Spartans (Wyomissing H.S.).
Here are some suggestions I've thought of--some borderline serious, others not so serious.
Here are some suggestions I've thought of--some borderline serious, others not so serious.
With Holy Name as the Blue Jays and Central Catholic as the Cardinals, the Birds of War makes all the sense in the world. It continues the avian theme while allowing for an awesome fight song. Take flight with the Birds of War, indeed.
The Boxcar Boys
With Reading's proud railroad past, this isn't a bad start. Its obvious shortcoming is that Berks Catholic will be a coed school, which means we may have to accept an alternative -- the Boxcar Children. If nothing else, our students will have excellent mystery-solving skills, a lost art among today's youth. Something along the lines of Railsplitters could work here, too.
The Inquisition
A very cool yet underused device is a nickname that doesn't have a physical mascot counterpart (think of Alabama's Crimson Tide). The Inquisition is a distinctly Catholic phenomenon, albeit not our proudest moment by any stretch of the imagination. However, having a mascot with a resplendent mustache and pointy goatee would make for the best use of mascot facial hair since the old Tampa Bay Buccaneers logo:
Pretzels
Reading is known for its many brands of pretzels, all of them salty, delicious, and terrible for you. And plus, what self-respecting Simpsons fan wouldn't want to incorporate the legendary phrase "And here come the pretzels!"
So there's my suggestions. What are yours?
--J.J. Gittes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)