How can you list Calasan as a positive? I was yelling at the TV every time he went in. It seemed like he turned the ball over every time he got it.

You have a point about the ESPN broadcasters showering accolades on the Boilers, but it is far from surprising. Recall that Obie has pretty much made a second home in West Lafayette, as he has been assigned to almost every game in Mackey over the past year or so. At least he handles it better than his moments covering association football (soccer). ;-)

As for Lavin, well, he has always looked fond on his time as one of Keady's assistants, and if I am not mistaken, Painter was playing when Lav was there. So he sees their play as a re-incarnation of the style he came to know and love.

Being in Boston and living (and growing up!) in the shadows of BC, I had to listen to the radio broadcast, specifically the BC play-by-play man, former sports talk-show host and political candidate Ted Sarandis. Teddy is one of my favourite broadcasters and I always listened to his show (and sometimes called in!) when he was on. Unfortunately for him, he did not exactly mesh well with the rest of the programming on WEEI, the sports-talk juggernaut. Boston is almost exclusively a major professional sports city and region; more recently, that has meant two teams: the Red Sox and the Pats, although the recent performance of the Celtics has changed that to an extent. Thus, his quasi-crusade (which has become mine) of increasing the profile of intercollegiate athletics (especially BC, although I try to spread the love around and view events involving BU, Harvard, and Northeastern as well) in the city became a source of mocking among the rest of the 'EEI hosts; his hatred of rain delays and rainouts in baseball and desire for a new retractable-roof park for the Red Sox also became a source of mocking, as has his goal to see local fans attend minor professional sporting events, primarily baseball and hockey.

Another aspect of his career was his love for the Big East basketball tournament, which he developed while he was a student at Syracuse. Of course, this also became a source of mocking on 'EEI, as they have sound bytes of him on the ready ("Eight games in one day at Madison Square Garden! Eight!") So, now, when somebody asks a question involving a number on WEEI, producers always have that recording available to play, "Eight!"

So, anyway, Teddy, as usual, was gushing about how much he loved being in New York since he had not been there much since BC joined the ACC and started playing conference tournaments in Greensboro. He had a beat writer for the Daily News on at halftime, and he kept going on about how much college basketball needed a New York program (more than likely St. John's) in order to get the buzz back into the game.

However, he was entirely smitten with Boiler basketball. He loved E'twaun Moore's strong play, and kept saying that it was "a joy to watch" Purdue. He is an unabashed BC homer, but even he got excited when the Boilers made big plays. It's difficult to find anyone who gives the Boilers respect because they're not "sexy" (and let's not forget the man-crush that Dukie V and Grave Digger have on Bobby Knight!), but it was apparent that Teddy had seen video of them before the game.

As for the game, I tend to agree with a lot of your observations, but the anonymous guy does have a point about Calasan (dude, get a username!). Every time he is out on the floor, he looks awkward, and he still keeps trying to launch Js. He works hard, but he is far from talented, which is disappointing in a juco.

I also came away impressed with the adjustments of Lewis Jackson in the second half. He played like a freshman in the first half and let Tyrese Rice blow by him and picked up a bunch of fouls, but in the second, he was much smarter and played tighter defence.

That's all I got for now. Looking forward to the game today. Also, I am posting this in the Yard.

Boiler Up!

--Eric