The Mid Major Review

8:55 PM EST - The Jaspers have pulled out an exciting victory here tonight in the friendly confines of Draddy Gymnasium.  They travel over to Fordham on Saturday for the Battle of the Bronx.  Morgan State slumps to a defeat game they looked like they were going to put away mid way through the second half.  However, the Jaspers move to 2-0 on the winning shot by Chris Smith in a game in which he didn’t shot particularly well, but ended up getting the job done in the end.  I only hope that every game we attend this year is as exciting as the one witnessed tonight.  We have a two day break before our next Game Night, and also two more days to evaluate what this sites purpose is going to be moving forward.  Each game that I attend will help mold and shape what our goals will be.  This weekend will be a time for reflection.  Join us on Friday evening as we travel to Nashville to attend the game between Northern Illinois and Tennessee State from the Gentry Sports Center.  Hopefully we will have an interview lined up between MMR and Graduate Assistant Brian Collins.  Have a good night everyone!   

8:53 PM EST - The Jaspers pull out the victory, as the final shot from the Bears is partially blocked.  What a night!  We’ll have a wrap for you.  Pictures to come either tonight or Friday when I have internet access again.    

8:52 PM EST - The Bears miss a free throw!  Chris Smith gets a brilliant pass and takes it for the reverse lay-up with 6.5 seconds left and the gym explodes!  This is the kind of game one should watch on a cold November night.  

8:50 PM EST - The Jaspers will have a chance to at least tie here at the end.  They will get the last possession.  

8:46 PM EST - The Morgan State players look hungry.  They just took the lead 60-58 with 45.6 remaining.  Morgan State’s last 4 points came from Kevin Thompson.  He just fouled out, so if the Jaspers are tie they will do so from the free throw line with Andrew Gabriel.

8:43 PM EST - It’s going right down to the wire here.  At 2:05 left we have MC 58-56 over Morgan State. 

8:40 PM EST - Meanwhile, it’s a barn burner over in Boone.  App. State holding on there 60-59.  

8:38 PM EST - The Jaspers have really woken up.  It’s now an 11-0 run from the Jaspers that sees them with their largest lead of the game at 5, 56-51.  It’s going to be a wild finish.  Andrew Gabriel at the line to complete a three point play.  

8:28 PM EST - The Jaspers have gone on a mini 5-0 run to cancel my previous statement.  

8:26 PM EST - This is by far the coldest gym I have ever been in.  Even though this place is a cathedral of college basketball, it is also a drafty place to watch and play a game.  

8:23 PM EST - 45- 40 Morgan State at the second media timeout.  The Bears look like they are one or two possessions from breaking it open. 

8:13 PM EST - 37-36 with 15:41 left.  

8:04 PM EST - I wish so much I could have brought my audio equipment tonight.  This place is full of so much history and character, I feel like I am not even going to do it justice chronicling it here in words or in the pictures that are to come later.  

8:02 PM EST - We are about to start the second half.  The Jaspers will be looking to over turn a four point lead.  

8:00 PM EST - Charlotte and App. State are locked in a real good battle tonight in Boone.  At halftime it’s App. State 36-35.  

7:49 PM EST - We’ll be back in a few.  We’re going to meet some folks and see if we can snap some photos. 

7:48 PM EST - Halftime comes and we are at 30-26 Morgan State.  Stats coming up.  Remember to check back later for some pictures of the game tonight.  

7:43 PM EST - The game has become a defensive slog as we have been stuck at 30-26 for 2 minutes now.  

7:37 PM EST - Even though the Jaspers return a lot of their players, they still seem young.  They start two seniors.  At times, Manhattan have looked brilliant.  At other times they seem to struggle and have spurts where they turn the ball over inexplicably.  The Jaspers can still make some noise in the MAAC, but they will have to have more focus on each possession to really compete.  Jasper fans need to pay attention and get to know their team. They have a lot of potential.  

7:31 PM EST - Herve Banogle is banging away inside for the Jaspers on both side of the floor.  He is a real load for the Bears to contend with in the paint.  

7:28 PM EST - The game so far has been a fast moving affair.  We are already at the third media timeout.  We stand at 20-19 Bears.  

7:21 PM EST - I don’t have anything against the Public Address.  I have never heard a public address that has narrated the game as much as the Manhatten P.A. guy has.  It’s a nice change of pace.   

7:18 PM EST - Nothing too interesting going on right now around the nation.  Most of tonight’s action is coming a little later tonight.  When we start seeing some scores of note we’ll start talking about them.  

7:16 PM EST - Just had a conversation with Jaspers SID Steve Dombrowski.  He gave us a copy of Ronny’s box score from the NJIT game from last week.  13 all with 12:55.  

7:08 PM EST - I just figured out we aren’t going to have pictures until later.  We already have some good ones.  I left the memory card reader at my hotel down in Times Square…  

7:04 PM EST - It’s almost tip-off time here in Draddy Gymnasium from the campus of Manhattan College. 

7:00 PM EST - Hey guys.  It’s been since opening day since we have seen a post on MMR.  There are several good reasons for this.  The first and most important is that I have not had free access to the internet since I have arrived in New York for a trade show that my company is a part of at Javits this week.  There are a myriad of other reasons that are not as important and not really relevant for tonight’s festivities.  Tonight, I will be bring you more live blogging from the game, hopefully answering some questions, and hopefully getting closer to what purpose we actually serve.  For now and the immediate future all that matters is the question we will be asking those whom we visit:  What is a  Mid Major?  We won’t have a podcast tonight, but this weekend is going to chalked full of Audio/Visual Win.  More detail later.  For now it’s national anthem time.

9:18 PM EST - While I remember, Howard pulled off an upset of Oregon State by two.  The Beavers need some hope right about now.  More on scores later. 

9:16 PM EST - Tonight’s game have finished for the Mid Major Review.  They aren’t going to let me stay for very long so we will have a wrap up of tonight’s action with our last Audio Update and more pictures around 11:30 PM EST.  What a night!  

9:09 PM EST - Kentucky has closed the gap to ten 90-80 with under 10 remaining.  Our final s

9:00 PM EST - Picture Dump.  7 new photos.  

8:59 PM EST - Kennesaw State’s season can be getting off to a better start.  80-51 with 5:09 left to play.  

8:48 PM EST - VMI 73 - 58 Kentucky!

8:37 PM EST - Picture Dump Time. 6 more for your consumption. 

8:33 PM EST - After a lot of fail on the Pro Tools side, we have the interview.  Check it out.  Our guest is Casey Kahler of NIU Radio and 670 The Score.  We also give a score rundown.  Pictures are coming. 

Audio Update:

Opening Day Part II

8:12 PM EST - KSU and WIU are at halftime here.  Our score is KSU 51-26.  Not too much went wrong for the Owls in the first half.  The best WIU can hope for is to get it back to respectable.  

8:08 PM EST - We’ll have new pictures up as soon as the interview is up.  A nice crowd has been filling the Convocation Center since the beginning of the game.  

8:03 PM EST - The interview is bouncing right now to my hard drive.  The interview will be ready soon.  It’s KSU 42-24 right now in the second game of our double header.  We will keeping a close eye on the VMI v. Kentucky game.  BBState has that score still at 44-32 right now.  Could it be another embarrassing loss early for UK?  One can only hope!

7:52 PM EST - Sorry for the long delay.  We just had a real impromptu interview with NIU Color Commentator Casey Kahler, who gave us some of his perspective.  We will have that up here in the next 10 minutes.  It is absolutely raining 3s for KSU here in the night cap as it is 32-17 for the Fighting Owls.   

6:58 PM EST - Maine has taken our first game 77-64.  Maine really dominated the last 10 minutes and held down the Huskies.  

6:55 PM EST - Central Connecticut State is making it interesting with Boston College.  They are only down 8 at the half.  

6:49 PM EST - Things are looking good for Maine here as they are up 69-57 with 2:08 remaining in this first round matchup in the 100 Club Classic.  

6:46 PM EST - Dionte Christmas is tonight’s top Mid Major scorer in games against Division I opponents so far.  He dropped 26 point on East Tennessee State in the first game of the Charleston Classic.  Christmas shot it well from the floor going 9-16 with 5 threes.  Look for good things from Dionte as the season progresses.  

6:41 PM EST - It’s been close between Maine and Northern Illinois.  At the moment it’s Maine 62-56 with 4:24 left in the half.  This game could have an exciting finish.  

6:24 PM EST - We have our first audio update!  

Opening Night Audio Update #1

5:12 PM EST - Keep sending in the questions guys, I’m here for you.  I know were new, but it is no reason to be shy.  

5:10 PM EST - After 3 and half minutes of futility we have our first basket, 2-0 to the Huskies.  

5:02 PM EST - About to tip!

5:00 PM EST - We just got done with the National Anthem and will be tipping momentarily with our first game of the evening.  Maine and Northern Illinois are both teams looking for a good start to the season after poor showings last year. 

4:44 PM EST - Scott asks, ‘Will Portland State be the champion of the Big Sky again?  What about the Grizz?

Scott, I think if any team has the ability to dethrone the Vikings, it is going to be Montana.  Although they lost a couple of their key players, Montana is still going to be competitive the the Big Sky.  The Vikings on the other hand are returning Big Sky MVP Jeremiah Dominguez, and also getting the boost of three transfers who figure to contribute after sitting out for a season.  

4:40 PM EST - Temple is killing ETSU right now.  I, for one, was expecting a better game than this.  

4:36 PM EST - Remember to check the Basketball State Scoreboard to keep up with all of today’s opening day action.  

4:30 PM EST Ezekiel asks, ‘Can Davidson be the next George Mason and get to the final four?

Ezekiel, as much as I would like to see the Wildcats make it to the Final Four and and win a championship, I don’t think it is going to happen.  Stephen Curry is a great player, but I don’t think his supporting cast is as good as it was last year.  The three seniors they lost were excellent role players and a big reason why Curry was able to do what he did.  I wrote a SoCon preview on Rush The Court, and the more I think about it and read about it the less likely I think that Davidson will even sweep through the league like last year.  Davidso will make the NCAA Tournament and probably advance, but I don’t see a Final Four run.   

4:08 PM EST - We are 51:40 from tip-off here in Kennesaw between Maine and Northern Illinois.  Our first question of the afternoon/evening regards the homestanding Fighting Owls.  

Robert asks - Do you think Kennesaw State is going to have any impact this season in the Altantic Sun?

Robert, For you I have both good news and bad news.  Bad news first, KSU lost their two best players in Shaun Stegall and Ronell Wooten.  They were both outstanding and deserved better from the Atlantic Sun with All Conference honors last season.  This means that the Owls aren’t going to have enough coming back to break into the upper ranks of the A-Sun.  However, next year the Owls are eligible for their first A-Sun tournament, and I fully expect them to be competitive next year and in the top 4.  You heard it first here. 

3:42 PM EST:  We’re live from Kennesaw State in Kennsaw, GA!  Wherever you are tuning in from welcome to Opening Day on the Mid Major Review!  Sorry that we are running late, I arrived an hour early at the Convocation Center, and they weren’t ready for me just yet.  We’ll be going until they kick us out later tonight!  Keep sending in those questions!

Beginning at 3:00 PM today we will be blogging live from the campus of Kennesaw State University and giving you updates from around the country.  I will be watching the first rounds of the 100 Club Classic which has an all mid-major field of the hosts Kennesaw State, Northern Illinois, Western Illinois, and Maine.  

Send in questions about the upcoming season and Mid Majors and we will destroy them with answers.  We will also be giving you audio updates when we can fit them in.  Send in your questions now!