I Bleed Blue and White

It’s a lot different when you’re in school, and you go to your first game of the year. I learned that in a big way yesterday. I had visions of Saturday exhibiting similar qualities to a big-time conference clash at The Wachovia Center. Hell, we were at The Meadowlands (more of a home game for me personally), my friends threw a great tailgate (quick shout out to the Torney family), and it was freezing cold and snowing. I was loving every second of it.

And then we walked into The IZOD Center, home of the Fordham Rams, and New Jersey Nets, who are quite possibly 2 of the worst basketball teams of the last 10 years. And the atmosphere inside reflected that. There couldn’t have been more than 8,000 fans at the game (about 3/4 of which were from Villanova), ‘Mom ‘n Pop’ were running the beer stand (slowly, I might add), and let’s just say that the Fordham student section left a lot of be desired. I will give them some credit though. Their mascot provided two of the best moments of the game when he face-planted not once, but twice. So they had that going for them.

(Okay, I’m sorry for the last paragraph. I was just blindsided by the whole thing. After all, I see at least 15 Fordham Basketball ads on my way to work everyday. I guess the marketing surge just isn’t working.)

So as I sat there with my friends in the cheapest, best seats I’ve ever sat in (about 10 feet from center-court), I couldn’t help but just laugh at the small-time operation I was experiencing. But hey, all in all we had a great time and Villanova cruised to a nice, easy Saturday win in the return of Reggie Redding.

Speaking of Reg, he’s just phenomenal. I forgot how good he really is. Every ‘Nova fan I chatted with told me how apparent it was how much more comfortable the team looked with him on the floor. A kid who couldn’t have been more than 6 astutely noted that he should play for the entire game. Even though it was Fordham, you can tell how much better he makes the team. He’s the definition of a stat-stuffer (15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 0 turnovers in his return) and he’s such a calming influence over everyone. I’ve thought we’ve looked a little frantic in the half-court set this year. Not anymore.

As for everyone else…

• Corey Stokes finished 2-11 as he came off the bench for the first time this year in an apparent disciplinary move for missing a meeting or something. I’m starting to get a little worried about him. Redding’s return should ease the pressure on him, but we need more efficient shooting.
• Save Stokes, Dominic Cheek was the only player to record a basket and not shoot over 50% from the field. He was 2-5, which isn’t even bad. That’s the kind of offensive efficiency we need.
• Corey Fisher was awesome. So was Scottie Reynolds. So was Antonio Peña. It was Fordham, but it’s good to see them dominate a team they should.
• The rotation that was used in this game was very revealing. Maurice Sutton only played 5 minutes in this blowout. And he didn’t even have a foul. Could this be the end of his run? Isaiah Armwood was in this game while it was still a game, and played 17 minutes overall. Nobody went over 30 minutes.
• Taylor King had a quiet night. There was really nothing special or bad about his performance. Which is probably the first time all year that has happened. And he started.
• One more time, it’s great to have #15 back.

…One more yawner against Deleware on Wednesday before the Holiday Break and then we move into BIG EAST play…