Over the break . . .

With no games the next few days, here's what you ought to find here over the next couple days.

  • A fix for the recruitniks ... we're in the process of pulling together some info and links on some of the Patriot League recruits. Might be one piece, or a couple ... not sure yet, but we're finding some good stuff.
  • Where have you gone ... An update you won't want to miss on a former Patriot League hoopster

    We're also going to work a little on fixing up this joint.

    This site is very much the result of a spur-of-the-moment, flash-of-inspiration idea that came in between the final buzzer of the Bucknell-St. Francis game and the postgame press conference that followed.

    My presence at the game was mostly social in nature. It was a combination of a convenient night on my schedule for a trip to Lewisburg, a desire to see some live hoops, a chance to visit some old friends and, as an excuse to justify a credential, an opportunity to get a look at a Bucknell team that I would likely see while covering Holy Cross games for the Worcester Telegram-Gazette in January.

    In other words, I was a drifter.

    I actually took some notes during the game. When I was a sportswriter full time, it always took me a few games to adjust to the new season as we moved from football to hoops to baseball. I figured it would not hurt to shake off the rust, but I wasn't figuring on actually writing anything.

    After the game, though, I mentioned to Bucknell SID Jon Terry that I wished I had an outlet to write about the game. Why not a Web site, JT suggested.

    I don't know if he was serious, but it sounded good. I had been thinking of starting a blog of some sort, and when Jon made that suggestion, it hit me that this might be a good format for bringing back Hoop Time. By the way, you can e-mail John here to thank him.

    That is a long story, if you stuck with it till now, you deserve a point.

    This site was born later that night. Out of a desire to get the thing up immediately, design was not a priority. It still is not. I mean it is not going to morph into some fancy flash-enhanced creation with streaming media and hip graphics.

    But we will take advantage of this lag time during finals to do a little tinkering. You might notice we found the old logo from Hoop Time version 2, for example.

    We're also working on adding some little extras. You might notice the Santa links on the right side of the page. They go to Amazon.com, who will underwrite some travel expenses (and hopefully our bar bill) if you folks buy enough of their wonderful merchandise.

    Also in the works is a Hoop Time store (Sneak Preview with pre-grand opening prices) on CafePress, where you will be able to buy all kinds of cool Hoop Time gear. We'll even have one of those cheesy trucker hats the kids like these days. There's some stuff there now, but it is all from the slap-on-the-old-logo school of design, stuck in the store to get it built. Eventually we might offer things like a remake of the classic Hoop Time shooter's creed T that reached double figures in sales back in the print days.

    Of course we will continue to keep an eye out for Patriot League news.

    In the meantime, number crunchers and stat freaks ought to click over the Patriot League Hoops Blog to find conclusive evidence that poor Matt has no life. Matt has been staying up late giving his calculator a workout and has put together some very interesting statistical comparisons.

    In the words the immortal Todd Rundgren, "We gotta get you a woman."

    Matt also noticed that Holy Cross and American both received votes in this week's AP poll. He has the links, no need to duplicate them here.

    Kyle has his own version of finals on his Mid-Majority site. Ace you hoops exams and you could win cool prizes, including a brand-new copy of The Last Amateurs. Too lazy to take the exam? That is O.K., you can buy the book here. Matter of fact, it is on sale for $5.99. You can even qualify for free shipping.

    Yoni is on vacation. Rumor has it he is in the Caribbean looking for the next Tim Duncan or Adonal Foyle. Meanwhile, he has guest-bloggers filling in on the No. 4 ranked College Basketball Blog.

    You might also want to join the discussions over at the Patriot League message board.

    We'll try to get the recruiting thing edited and up later today. Check back this evening.




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