Suomi, täytä Derrick Mercer (that's "Finland, meet Derrick Mercer" for those of you not acquainted with Finnish, and really, who is?)

Here at the AU Hoops Blog, we like to keep you apprised not only of current AU basketball news but also, when possible to keep you informed about what happens to past Eagles (I say past, and not former, because you know the line: ONCE AN EAGLE, ALWAYS AN EAGLE).

Derrick Mercer, four year starter, point guard extraordinaire, who helped lead AU to two straight Patriot League titles and subsequent NCAA tournament appearances, is now playing with the Kataja Basketball Club in Joensunn, Finland. Kataja plays in Finland's Korisliiga, which is the top tier basketball league in Finland.

This is, according to EuroBasket.com the third American point guard that Kataja is trying out this season (the first two left of their own volition). Mercer, in his first game yesterday, played 29 minutes with no points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, 2 blocked shots.

Nice to see Mercer continuing his basketball career! I'll try to keep you updated with any notable happenings with him.

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Ah, October is finally upon us. Despite the long-awaited (or dreaded, as the case may be) onset of cooler weather and the crazy shenanigans of Halloween, October is actually rather uneventful. Well, it does mean THERE IS LESS THAN A MONTH UNTIL COLLEGE BASKETBALL SEASON! By my count, in a mere twenty five days we will be donning our Blue and Red and taking to the bleachers of Bender to watch our Eagles fly again. Of course, the first game on November 3rd is only an exhibition against Division III Randolph-Macon, but to my basketball-starved mind it might as well be the the NCAA Tournament.

Although the season is not quite yet upon us, things have still been happening in AU Basketball Land. Today I'd like to discuss a few of these things, in the tried-and-true format of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (the latter replete in Holy Cross Purple, of course).

The Good

Suspicions that the AU student body is just as restless as I am for basketball season to begin are confirmed. How? For a few hours yesterday passerby on Ward Circle saw the stalwart figure of Artemas Ward decked out in the greatest t-shirt in college basketball.

Image courtesy of The Eagle's Twitter feed.

That's right, Artie is sporting a Blue Crew shirt! Some intrepid student thought it prudent to dress Artie up early yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately heavy winds took it off after only a few hours, but not before a photographer from The Eagle was able to snap a photo. Always the strong, silent type, Artie nevertheless looks pleased to support the Eagles. New tradition perhaps? Maybe the DC government wouldn't be so pleased, since Artie technically belongs to them. Oh, screw it. Viva La Artemas!

The Bad

As Bill previously reported, Army went out of their way to cause confusion by letting go of their head coach mere weeks before the season began. What does this mean for our Patriot League foe? Well, Army proved resourceful when they pulled Zach Spiker away from Cornell University to lead the Black Knights this season. While maybe not a household name like Connecticut's Jim Calhoun or Duke's Coach K, Spiker certainly has earned his basketball chops. He lead Cornell from the bottom of the Ivy League heap to becoming the first ever back-to-back Ivy champion whose name did not begin with the letter P.

It's well-known that the boys up at West Point excel at a good many things, but college basketball isn't particularly one of them. Can Spiker change that? I don't think there's too much to worry about this season, as no matter who you are it takes time to built up a program. But certainly a few seasons down the line our perennially basketball-challenged rival might claw their way to the top of the Patriot League heap. We'll have to wait and see.

The Ugly

Alright, this isn't particularly "ugly", but definitely weird. I certainly like to keep a few solid pieces of Eagles gear around, but who in the hell would ever want this?

Image courtesy of The AU Bookstore

That, friends, is the "spirit bell", and for a cool $115 it can be all yours. Wait, what? Whoever does the ordering at the bookstore should really lay off whatever it is the kids are dealing behind the South Side dorms. To quote avid Eagles fan Marc Tomik, "I love AU just about as much as I can, but I can't think of anyone who'd buy one of these." You hit the nail on the head, Marc. If you know of anyone who actually buys one of these, however, please let us here at AU Basketball Central know - we'd love to go ring it while wearing a sombrero (also Marc's idea).

Well, that's it for now, Eagles fans. Now I'm off to vote a few more times for the Eagles in the college basketball category of the Express' "Best of 2009" competition. Have you voted yet today? Here's the link again if you need it, and remember you can vote unlimited times:

http://www.expressnightout.com/bestof/

Pro Deo Et Patria,
Josh

WE MUST, SCRATCH THAT, *WILL* WIN THIS.

Courtesy of AU Hoops Blog contributor TheGirlfriend, comes this doozy of a link:

http://www.expressnightout.com/bestof/

http://www.expressnightout.com/bestof/

http://www.expressnightout.com/bestof/

http://www.expressnightout.com/bestof/

http://www.expressnightout.com/bestof/

If you do a CTRL+F for Basketball, or click Sports and Recreation and go down to College Basketball Team, or get really ambitious and scroll down to 3/4 of the way down the page, you will find the chance to vote for DC's Best College Basketball Team.

I'm not sure why this is even a competition, but apparently The Express desperately wants to give OUR Eagles, OUR Blue Crew, and OUR American University the chance to decimate other DC schools.

Turns out we can vote as many times as you want, and so it begs the question, why are you reading this when you could be voting for the Eagles?

Get out there and vote!

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

Can You Feel It?

If you don't get chills watching this video, you might be a cyborg.



Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!