The Holy Cross Crusaders. As archaic as the image implies.Hello, Eagles faithful, and happy PHIL BENDER day! PHIL BENDER is without a doubt one of my favorite days of the year, just like Empire Records is one of my favorite movies of all time (for those of you who didn't get the reference in the title). I can honestly say I have been waiting for this day all season, and it could not be sweeter. Affectionately referred to by The Washington Post's DC Sports Bog as "state school day", PHIL BENDER "phils" the heart of every AU student with joy, while simultaneously filling the hearts of the hapless Crusaders with a terror that cannot be described by mere words. Of course, Bender Arena "phils" up as well, and that's a sight I have not yet seen this season and my little blue heart aches to gaze upon it again. But enough waxing poetic, find out how we're going to squash the Crusaders like the purple chimps they are after the jump!
Last year my heart broke when bad scheduling luck resulted in PHIL BENDER 2009 against Lafayette. Of course, RE-PHIL BENDER was against the Purple Chimps, but it just wasn't the same. This year we return to the status quo, however, marking AU Basketball's signature regular-season event with a game against the Crusaders (can the average Holy Cross student even spell Crusader?). I won't lie, despite my lame jabs at Holy Cross, they have a damn good basketball team. In fact, they're the only Patriot League team to have a better conference record than we do since we joined in 2001. I'd reckon that AU-HC is one of, if not THE, most-played Patriot League Tournament games since 2001. We've met in the championship game THREE TIMES in the past eight years (yes, nearly half of the Patriot League Championship games since we joined the League are AU-HC). Early on, Holy Cross kept us from our first-ever tournament berth in both 2002 and 2003. We returned the favor last year with the 73-57 spanking that was without a doubt one of the most
Despite our taking 4 of the last 5 games against the Crusaders, they hold a 15-7 all-time record against us. They also happen to be the only Patriot League team last year that actually beat us. Of course, that was in Worcester, where lots of bad things happen. For example, Holy Cross was founded. Ba-zing! We do have our 18-game Patriot League home winning streak on the line here, and I damn well want to make it 19. We're certainly going to have sections 114 and 115 packed with the Blue Crew, the sixth man we've needed all season. So if we want to win, what do we have to do?
Simple. Take the vast majority of things we did at Army on Wednesday, and do THE EXACT OPPOSITE. Simple, right? I'd like to say that we have a nice history of whooping Holy Cross after struggling against Army (the only precedent for this, admittedly, being last year's Patriot League Tournament semi-final and Championship Game). Fact is, though, Holy Cross is TOUGH. They've been struggling with a new coach and the toughest non-conference schedule in the league, but that shouldn't fool us.
R.J. Evans and Devin Brown are two of the best Point Guards in the League right now, and I'm sure they know that the PG position is our weak spot right now (and in a guard-heavy league like the PL, that's deadly). Then there's Meister and Keister, who've been thorns in our side for three straight seasons now. Andrew Beinert will likely give us fits as well, although freshman Forward Phil Bean will hopefully lighten the mood because I can already think of twelve different ways to turn his name into something that gave me food poisoning in a Worcester, MA restaurant. Point is, Holy Cross has some serious talent. If they use it right, we're going to have a tough game. Although they struggled throughout the non-conference schedule and into the beginning of PL play with an identical record to ours (up until Wednesday), HC is coming off of a two game win streak with solid victories over Bucknell and Navy. If we play like we did at Army, we don't have a chance. For example, Vlad cannot be half of our scoring output. Over on Holy Cross' page, they posted an interview with head coach Sean Kearney on "Crusader Vision" (which just sounds unbelievably racist when you think about it) about our upcoming game. The first thing Coach Kearney identifies is Vlad. Of course, his absolute butchering of Vlad's last name made my heart burn with a fiery passion. If you have the misfortune of watching this interview, look away as he mangles MOLE-DUH-VAY-NOO. I really hope that their play isn't any better than their coach's pronunciation this afternoon.
As for us, there isn't much I can say that hasn't been repeated ad infinitum on this blog already. In this game, every player is going to have to step up, and I believe they will. This isn't just any game. This is PHIL BENDER. This is the "Super Bowl of Tenleytown" (another WaPo gem). This is what 3000 rabid fans are going to pack Bender for. We all know this team is young, and youth breeds inconsistency. Sometimes I think I'm watching completely different teams from one game to the next. But if they're going to step it up, this is the time. Vlad, keep avoiding the fouls. Lumpkins, finish the shots and be the beast in the post that we all know you are. Hendra, get hot from beyond the arc (oh, Hill, Luptak, Danny, you too). Riley, get in there and show them why it matters that their tallest player is two inches shorter than you. McCormack and Wilson, keep hustling like there's no tomorrow. If there is one game this season I desperately want to win, this is it.
So I will see you in Bender Arena at 2 PM this afternoon. In fact, get there early to make sure you get a seat. I will be there, LOUD, PROUD, and BLUE as can be. If you can't make it to Bender, then Mike Unger will be liveblogging straight from the game on aueagles.com, which should be a good time. We'll also be live-tweeting as much as we can. Speaking of which, if you are on twitter, I have made it a little goal of mine to get the hashtag #beatholycross trending, so try to incorporate it into every tweet you can today. So far I'm up to three.
If you're going to come to one game this season, come today. I will see you there.
BEAT HOLY CROSS,
Josh
How many times has AU played HC on PB Day? And how many times has AU actually won? Look it up.
ReplyDeleteGo Cross!