Monster Day 2 wrapup, and some other feelings

I'm not going to lie to you -- I was a bit down on things after watching my team lose on Saturday afternoon, and I was pretty freakin' tired from blogging all day long. I overslept today and missed the entire UMBC/UVM game and the first half of the Hartford/Boston game. I guess that's the disadvantage of only being accountable to yourself.

I just read America Least's monster recap, and I feel like he took a few unwarranted shots at me for requesting a media pass, blogging live during the tournament, etc. Kinda stings a bit; since the first time I saw a 'glog' (game blog) on CBS.sportsline.com, I thought it was kind of interesting to follow along with someone somewhat knowledgeable who was there watching the thing live. They can bring a lot more to the conversation than people just quietly watching a Realvideo stream. So I'm sorry if I offended anyone by accepting the media pass I requested, but I hope at least someone enjoyed following along with me yesterday.

As a Bearcat fan, I'm overjoyed that Vermont lost today, of course. If I put my "objective" hat on -- you could see it coming. UMBC is the dominant force in this league this year and I definitely cannot see Hartford stopping them next weekend.

But. Everyone's been underestimating Hartford all year long. Maybe it's finally time for the Hawks to get a little bit of dap ... or maybe they just got a great draw with a short-handed, soft-and-chewy-in-the-middle UNH team and a we-always-choke-in-the-playoffs Boston team. That sure would've been a beautiful draw for the Bearcats, I'll tell you that much.

Boston's really the tragic hero of the weekend; taking out the Great Danes with a ballsy effort on Saturday night, despite a couple of very bad calls and some awful free-throw shooting; followed by a win-by-the-three, die-by-the-three death this afternoon.

I can't see the Terriers really getting any better than 9-7 if they continue to play the style that they do all year long. They have some great three-point shooters, but they can't always hope to make the miracle threes (I'm thinking of this year's and last year's Carlos Strong jumpers) that propelled them to victories against Bing last year and Albany this year. Yes, it works sometimes, and when it works it looks great, but in the postseason it's interior play that wins games.

I was very, very impressed with Joe Zeglinski and Morgan Sabia this afternoon. Zeglinski definitely showed he deserved to be on the first team, while Sabia showed a strong inside/outside game that is sure to present matchup problems for years to come. (Sabia/Laz could be a great battle for the next couple of years.)

It was ultra depressing to see Mike Gordon in the postgame yesterday. It's always difficult to see the departing seniors, and of course 8 out of 9 teams' graduates will go out with a loss in their last game. But Gordon's story, after three years with Walker, where he was really counted on as the man, is especially sad -- (and I wish one of the local newspapers could've put this story together).

The tale of Mike Gordon has to be one of the most compelling personal stories you could write. Everyone pointed to Mike, Mike, Mike last year, playing his SportsCenter clip over and over, and indicating immediately after the Boston loss that 2008 would be the year of Mike Gordon, and that the team had plenty coming back to support him.

Except its coach. The referendum on Al had to be a direct shot at Mike, and I can't even imagine how hard it was for him to understand -- even thought it was never explicitly spoken -- that the job that GORDON had done was not good enough to keep his coach's job.

And after all that, this new guy from Georgetown waltzes in ... and immediately hands No. 5 the keys. How difficult must it have been for MG to regain his confidence after the man he entrusted with his college years was axed?

It could make for a great story.

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As complicated as this game can be, sometimes it just comes down to how the ball bounces off of the rim. I thought Albany could've won last night's game, but there were just a few shots that came bouncing out -- there was at least one Lillis drive that immediately comes to mind -- that, if they had fallen, you might be looking at the Danes heading to the RAC next weekend.

I really thought the Gifford intentional foul call was the wrong call, in addition to the Lowe and Brittain calls I pointed out last night. The refs really took over the end of that game, which was a little disappointing to see.

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I've got some more feelings on the Binghamton loss, and why the team we had never really had a chance, but last I heard, Mark Macyk possibly wants me to write something for Tuesday's issue, so I'm going to hold back for now.

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Got to see Christine again this afternoon. Congratulations to her and the rest of the Hartford spirit squad, and good luck in Baltimore next weekend -- I'll be watching intently on TV (if I can wake up).

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Want to say thank you one more time to Sean Tainsh for allowing me to come courtside and blog throughout the weekend. With the way bloggers seem to be taking over the "real" media world, maybe I've opened up a door for the way AE coverage works in the future.