March 24, 2008

Landry Kosmalski on DavidsonCats:

As the Davidson band played "Sweet Caroline" during Sunday's game against Georgetown, I looked around the RBC Center. Davidson fans, students, parents, alumni -- and even former basketball great, Hobby Cobb -- were on their feet singing enthusiastically. One journalist later labeled this display "corny." But as I scanned the stadium to measure the reaction of the thousands of North Carolina fans in attendance, it seemed to me that they thought it was anything but corny. In fact, I think they were somewhat envious and thought it was pretty cool.

That is what makes Davidson special and unique. Sure, we don't have the same facilities and resources that many of the bigger schools have: we don't have 17 practice courts, or charter planes, or obscene amounts of shoes and apparel. But that is not for everyone. What we do have is players that know our fans and students by name and are proud that we have an anthem to sing (however irrelevant it may be).

Despite being a former player and coach, I was not prepared for how proud I would feel after this weekend. After the Gonzaga game on Friday I raced to the hotel to meet the team. I hugged some of the guys and told them that they had no idea how much the win meant to former players. The older guys -- Boris, Thomas, and Jason -- might have understood a little bit. The freshmen said, "Great, Larry," and went looking for their girlfriends.

As cliche as it sounds, why did this team's success mean so much to me, someone who graduated eight years ago? Why was I tearing up when the final buzzer sounded against Georgetown? I will do my best to articulate it: in January, with many players gathered for Davidson basketball's 100 year anniversary, Coach McKillop talked about dreaming big. He spoke about how he believes Davidson can get back to the heights it reached in the 1960s. While many may think that is impossible, the people at Davidson do not. Therefore, we work very hard: we lift, we run, we play, we fight, and we compete every day of the year -- all while simultaneously working hard in the classroom. While struggling through the rigors of the Davidson academic workload, and playing for Coach McKillop, one is not inclined to make excuses. Home from Georgia Southern at 4 a.m.? So what -- get to class at at 8:30. Up all night studying for a test? Too bad -- practice hard for two and a half hours. Nasty dead-leg to the thigh? Get tougher. We welcome these experiences because we see that goal in the distance: getting back on the national stage. We know that all the hard work -- all the early morning workouts, all the frustrations, all the long, tough practices -- will one day be worth it. But when? We made a small step in 1998 by making the NCAA tourney. Almost had Ohio State in 2002. Gave the Buckeyes another run for their money in 2006. Gave Maryland all they could handle in 2007. Great progress, but still not where we wanted to be. Everyone associated with Davidson basketball --players, coaches, fans, students -- still wanted to take the next step and make some real noise.

So would all the hard work over the years ever be worth it? Would tiny Davidson ever really be able to touch the national scene? Well, I can now tell you that the answer is yes to both questions. This year's team may never fully understand it, but what they have accomplished this year (so far) is a gift to anyone who has ever been involved with Davidson basketball: fans, students, coaches, and players. We all know that Davidson is a special school in a special town and, despite its size and seeming limitations, we have always felt that it can have a very special basketball team.

This is where the feeling of pride came from on Sunday. That is why, when I felt myself tearing up, I did not know if I could articulate my thoughts to anyone. Luckily, I was sitting next to my former teammate and roommate (and soon to be former Davidson career assist leader), Ali Ton, and when I saw the emotion on his face, I knew that he did not need an explanation. When I left my seat and went out into the hallways of the RBC Center and saw the students and fans cheering, high-fiving, chest-bumping, and singing the fight song, I again realized that no explanation was necessary. The Davidson people understood it: against long odds our team accomplished a near miracle.

So as Davidson heads to the Sweet Sixteen and maybe (gasp!) the Final Four, my pride will not dissipate. And if I find myself being envious of other schools' resources, facilities, or the size of their fan base, I will think back to this weekend and remember that I would rather be singing "Sweet Caroline" with Hobby Cobb any day of the week.

Comments?

Aftermath

Me in an email -- to myself.

Subject: just breathe.

I cannot believe that I am writing to tell you this after the most insane basketball game ever. I cannot believe I am writing to tell you that about 20 minutes ago, we did it.

WE DID IT.

WE BEAT GEORGETOWN.

HOLY SHIT.

WE WERE DOWN 17 IN THE FREAKIN SECOND HALF.

AND SOMEHOW, WE DID IT.

Steph wasn't hitting much of anything, Thomas, Andrew and Steph had over 3 fouls, the Hoyas are damn HUGE and hit 3s like crazy and -- WHO COMES BACK FROM 17 POINTS DOWN IN THE SECOND HALF OF A NCAA BASKETBALL GAME????!!!!!

Dad and I were yelling, I got text message after text message:

Anna: Oh. My. God.

Rachel: Ahhh! Go cats!!

And suddenly we were up 3 with 2 minutes and more stuff happened that I can't even tell you right now because I just don't even know, and they fouled Steph AGAIN! And Dad was tsking because two minutes is a long time in a basketball game but he kept shooting them and we held our damn defense and I still can't quite believe this happened. And with 9 seconds we had it and Elizabeth called and I answered the phone and we shrieked without actually talking for a full minute, watching OUR FREAKING BOYS GRIN AND SMILE AND DANCE AROUND AND THROW THEIR ARMS AROUND EACH OTHER AND HOLY SHIT WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe: oh my god

And on the davidsoncats board people are going beserk, and other SoCon fans are sending their congratulations, and Will Bryan said he nearly freaked out on press row and Lauren Biggers is going to have one hell of a blog to write, and the front page of SI.com has a picture of Steph POINTING UP AT GOD LIKE HE ALWAYS DOES AND OH MY DEAR LORD I CANNOT FREAKIN BELIEVE THIS!!!!!

Everyone's facebook statuses are changing and more and more texts and phone calls and articles and this is not just a one-game thing anymore. This is national. This is IT. This is a fairly unathletic #10 beating a huge, went-to-the-final-4 last year #2 who was up for almost the entirety of the game. This is unspeakable, indescribable, hands down my life is made.

When I talked to Em and Elizabeth we kept repeating "I love our school. Our school is awesome."

More will come later. Oh my god. This is one of the best days ever.

Comments?

March 23, 2008

Me:

Andrew rips into the rebound and I'm screaming, all I know is that I'm screaming deep in my gut and I'm moving, past the television that I can't hear anymore, leaping towards my father, wringing him out with a hug still yelling and he's yelling too and I wrench away to the other end of the basement body shaking palms sweaty and all I can do is keep pushing my heart through my mouth because I will die if I stop screaming because because -- because --

Comments?

March 22, 2008

Adam Stockstill on Cats.com:

What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Curry. No, my fair cousin:
If we are marked to die, we are enow
To do our Wildcat Nation loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will, I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for just a first round win,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It ernes me not if men my Curry jersey wear;
Such outward things well not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet a trip to San Antonio,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from Davidson, North Carolina;
God's peace, I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more long range three.
Rather proclaim it presently through my host at the RBC Center,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let the Hoyas depart. His passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into John Thompson's purse:
We would not die in Georgetown's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the Feast of Curry:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a-tiptoe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Curry.
He that shall see this day and live t'old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his Tar Heel neighbours,
And say "Tomorrow is Saint Curry's Day":
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars
And say "These wounds I had on Curry's day."
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in Billy Packer's mouth as household words
J-Rich the Warrior, Sander the General,
Lovedale the Nigerian Nightmare, Gosselin and Archambault,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Curry's Curriness shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered;
We few, we Lunatic Fringe, we band of Wildcat;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my Wildcat brother, be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in Davidson now abed
Shall they think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Curry's day.

Comments?

March 21, 2008: Stories

Lauren Biggers on DavidsonWildcats.com, post-Gonzaga:

For Bob McKillop, this story goes back 19 years.

"He eats, sleeps, breathes, lives Davidson basketball," Steph tells the press room, much to the delight of Richards, who is looking very comfortable at the podium tonight.

Tens of questions later, leaving the press conference to rejoin his team's locker room celebration, the winning coach smiles, free of all monkeys, and offers, "I've never done that before."

Indeed, this year's NCAA CD will be full of smiling press conference photos.

For Davidson College, the story goes back much, much farther. We've all heard that story.

And today, we got our own.

Comments?

Andrew Sullivan’s new book

“You matter to each other.” On The Daily Dish.

March 21, 2008

From Raleigh, on Cats.com, after Gonzaga:

Dear America,

It was, up until now, a hopeful but hypothetical conversation. We’ve had it over beers in bars. We’ve had it on cell phones from Boston to San Francisco, from New York to Atlanta, from Charlotte to Tampa. We’ve had it in the fall and in the winter, and in the spring and summer, too. We’ve had it for years.

What if?

What if we won in the tournament?

It’s SUCH a good story, we said to each other -- little school, big dreams, cute town, smart kids. People, we kept saying, WANT to tell this story. They just needed a reason. They needed us to win.

This tournament is a series of finite 40-minute windows of opportunity. Seize one and you earn another. Win and you get another two days of news cycle. Win and you get to tell your story.

You have to understand something about us and our school. I don’t know if it’s Southern gentility or Presbyterian humility, but we’ve always been institutionally reluctant to say, Hey, look, look at us. It’s just not what we’ve done and so it’s not what we do.

But we want so badly for people to know.

So we’ve looked to Bob McKillop and his basketball team.

He went 4-24 in his first season at Davidson. That was 19 years ago. He has taken us from the Southern Conference tournament to the NIT to the NCAAs and now to a win in the NCAAs. He built this. He didn’t leave us when he could have. He has raised his family in a house across the street from campus. His oldest son played for him. His youngest son plays for him now. His daughter went to Davidson and is engaged to a Davidson man. He tears up when he talks about this.

His team went to the NIT in ’94.

His team lost in the conference finals in ’96 after going undefeated in league play. Another NIT. In ’98, a conference tournament title, a trip to the NCAAs. It seems so, so long ago, but not really, and we were giddy. That felt like this feels. Really it did.

Finally.

There were trips back, in ’02, in ’06, in ’07.

Close, close, close. But never that win.

Now THIS.

Make no mistake: We beat a good team today. This was not about the bounces or the breaks. No. We beat a really good team that played really well because WE played really well.

Because we got a ballsy gutsy late three from Max.

Because we got 13 rebounds from Andrew.

Because we got two huge buckets late from Rossiter.

Because we got nine assists and 15 points from Jason.

And also, of course, because we got 40 from Steph. Not just any 40. An 8-for-10-from-three 40. A 14-for-22 40. A five-steals 40. A first-round-record-setting-40. A forever 40.

But this whole thing is less about how it happened and more about what it means. After the game, Joey Beeler, the men’s basketball media relations guy, was looking frazzled. His life just got crazy. He said his phone started going off right as the buzzer sounded. Let it be told. We are one of the smallest schools in Division I.

We are 1,700 students in Davidson, N.C., just north of Charlotte, that’s it, all undergrad.

We are NOT Davidson University.

We are ranked ninth in the U.S. News and World Report and 23rd in the AP poll.

We keep in touch with our professors after we graduate.

We watch basketball games on grainy Web video from wherever we live.

A couple weeks ago, at the Southern Conference tournament championship game, there was a man with a sign, and the sign said:

YOU

MAKE

US

PROUD

And they do, and in a way that’s much, much more intimate than most other Division I program, and certainly most other programs that are playing this weekend for a spot in the Sweet 16. This program, our program, is now big enough to matter but still small enough to touch.

After the game on Friday, in the locker room, there were the lights, the mics, the pens and the pads, the bigness, and there was Steph, surrounded by a scrum three- and four-deep, saying what he said, tired, happy, the faintest of facial hair, as always, on his chin and his upper lip.

We saw in the peach-fuzzed face of this pretty kid from Charlotte the potential of what happened today.

The hypothetical is no longer hypothetical.

He helped make our conversation real.

Sincerely,

Michael Kruse

Davidson College

Class of 2000

Comments?

March 10, 2008

Bob McKellar on DavidsonCats.com out of North Charleston:

This is my first live and in person exposure to “Sweet Caroline”, and it’s spectacular. I have no idea how a sappy song about sweet love and tender affection got transmogrified into an arrogant musical assault on a defeated foe, but it sure is effective. I would hate to be on the receiving end.

Those of you who are used to it may not fully appreciate the structure, the instrumental lead-in to alert the crowd, the initial monosyllabic grunts to get them started, the choreographed hand moves, and finally the full throated singing. It’s a piece of work.

Comments?

We got fun and games

Later that night ...

Me, at the bar, on Cats.com:

Full disclosure right up front: This is coming from the bar downstairs at the Sheraton, otherwise known as Brickhouse South, where it’s crowded, where it’s going to be more crowded, hopefully for a good long while. Anyway. Ready. Set. Drink. I mean blog.

So the Wildcats played 23 Southern Conference games this year and won all 23 of them and won their three tournament games by a combined 79 points. But tonight was HARD. Hard hard hard. Scratches on the arms hard.

But know what? It’s SUPPOSED to be hard.

Question. Real question. Legitimate question. How did that team lose 11 games in the league?

Cheering from the lobby. The bus has arrived.

Teams playing Davidson must feel like they dodge bullets when Steph misses looks that are anything close to open. But then he doesn’t stop shooting. He never stops shooting. He shoots with what I’d called earned audacity.

But his biggest play tonight? THE biggest play tonight? That rebound he got with just under three minutes to go. Up nine, had just been FIVE, and the ball comes off the rim and Steph has two taller guys all over him and somehow HE is the guy who comes away with the ball. And he ripped it away. With a sneer. Steph Curry, sophomore sensation, star shooter -- getting the biggest damn rebound of a Southern Conference championship game.

Will Bryan’s now at the bar and has a relay from McKillop’s speech out in the lobby. “He comes in and talks about family. Talks about how important everyone here is to the way they’ve done this. Talks about the importance of seeing all the players and their extended families here with them. And then he said I want everybody to say a little prayer for us. We’re blessed. We’re blessed with the opportunities we’ve had. God doesn’t stand over the rim and knock some balls in and some balls out. He just gives us opportunities. I know there’s pressure right now. But we’re not crawling on our bellies in Ramadi or Fallujah. I want you to pray that we continue to do this the right way. We represent something here.”

Will: “I need to get me a drink.”

Me, too, by the way.

At the end of the first half Jason found Andrew for a layup and the ball went through the hoop to give the Wildcats an eight-point lead and there was still like 2-point-something seconds left and Rossiter (oopsy) kicked (daisy) kicked (was that me?) the ball out of bounds and the last couple of seconds ticked off and the Wildcats ran off the floor.

Little things.

Little things.

Little things.

Text from Bro Krift up in Pittsburgh: “Never in doubt. Just kidding. FYI we will win in the NCAA tourney. At least once.”

Another text from Bro: “We are good. George Mason good. Gonzaga good. Stan Heath Kent State good.”

The boys are going to be in class tomorrow I’m told. Nice.

Team is out in the lobby. Steph’s signing backs of shirts. Jason’s got the net around his neck. Barr’s talking to some ladies.

This poor bartender.

Matheny is in the house.

According to Matheny, the Southern Conference tournament has been going on for 75 years, and over the last three days the Wildcats set a heck of a record: fewest field allowed in the history of the event.

Comments?

March 10, 2008

Lauren Biggers on DavidsonWildcats.com:

Finishing a conference season AND winning a sudden-death tournament with an unblemished -- yes, perfect -- record is a seriously good accomplishment. But what does it mean to be truly perfect?

“Flawless,” says Stephen (Most Valuable Playa) Curry.

Are you flawless? “Not yet. We gotta win some tournament games.”

“Without flaw,” agrees director of basketball operations Jeremy Henney.

“Put a mirror in front of me,” says an assistant basketball coach. I’ll let you guess which one. I’m not much of a movie person. I very much enjoy going to the movies, but I will rarely, if ever, sit down and watch a movie simply for the sake of watching a movie. But there is one movie that I will watch no matter how many times TNT airs it (okay, two if you count Legally Blonde), and tonight it’s plenty applicable.

Remember the Titans? The Titans are, of course, on their way to a perfect season (say what?), but nearly stumble on a roadblock (pesky, pesky Phoenix …), and are in dire need of that perfect half-time speech that probably really only happens in the movies.

The ever-dapper Denzel, er, Coach Boone, tells his guys, “It’s all right. We’re in a fight. You boys are doing all that you can do. Anybody can see that. Win or lose … We gonna walk out of this stadium tonight with our heads held high. Do your best. That’s all anybody can ask for.” Seriously?

“No it ain’t coach,” Julius, star defensive end, disagrees, “With all due respect, uh, you demanded more of us. You demanded perfection. Now, I ain’t saying that I’m perfect, ‘cause I’m not. And I ain’t gonna never be. None of us are.”

No, not even you, Mr. Curry, or you, Mr. Richards.

“But we have won every single game we have played till now. So this team is perfect. We stepped out on that field that way tonight. And, uh, if it’s all the same to you, Coach Boone, that’s how we want to leave it.”

In my humble estimation that’s the best way I can summarize this season. This team is perfect. Taken apart they are just guys who sometimes make big plays -- Max disrupting the inbounds for the umpteenth time, Steph/Bryant with the daggers, Jason with the cutters -- and guys that sometimes don’t.

You can pick something that each does great -- Thomas taking a charge, LOVEdale with that baby hook, Jason, Steph, well, you know those two. MAX the defense. Will, the hair. Boris, the tomahawk … Where Steve is the muscle, Bryant is the flare.

But divided that’s all. You need them all for perfection … together, they are perfect.

And before you say anything, I know there are more games to be played, but there’s plenty more where that third straight SoCon championship came from, which is why I settled on the last definition.

Perfection is the act or process of perfecting.

Comments?

Waiting for tip

In North Charleston.

March 10, 2008

More from the mysterious PMM on the old Davidson Basketball Update:

Davidson’s blowout weekend shows the team is finally worthy of national poll rankings. Unlike the ESPN coaches poll that put Davidson at No. 25 after an “admirable” loss to the Tar Heels early in the season, this week’s two rankings acknowledge the longest winning streak in the country and the ‘Cats’ deafening declaration of dominance. Again, blind to the numbers, at an instinctive, gut sense, the team seems to get into a better rhythm with every performance. Each night, we see new elements of talent emerge such as a stifling defense that shut down Kyle Hines, and another player getting the hot hand and rivaling Stephen in scoring. The lamenting “home run” metaphors that Coach McKillop adopted frequently in December and January are these days noticeably missing in his postgame interviews.

In turn, the Feral Faithful are rabid. Since the buzzer sounded last night, I have heard from fans from Lusaka, Zambia, to San Francisco to Anchorage, Alaska, who will be huddling around the tube to take in tonight’s game. In the remotest parts of the land, revelers in black and red will be requesting spouses and bartenders to turn the channel to a team that is about to become a household name. It is March, it is madness and it is sublime.

PMM? Anyone know?

NCAAs in Buffalo

Skinny Stephen.

March 8, 2008

Me on DavidsonWildcats.com from North Charleston:

Collective wisdom had it that Greensboro was the group that was going to knock off Davidson if that was going to happen this weekend. There was that much-discussed 20-point first-half lead in the game at Greensboro, the game in Belk was quite competitive throughout, and when those tournament pairings came out the eye couldn’t help but go immediately to that likely semifinal rematch.

A thread on DavidsonCats.com indicated that at least one Wildcat fan was “terrified” going into this one.

Um …

Okay.

Here’s the thing, though: For a good chunk of the first half Sunday, Greensboro had made I would say two or three contested threes that were out of the ordinary, and Steph and Bryant Barr had missed I would say two or three relatively uncontested threes that were also out of the ordinary. And the good guys were still up by 14 at the break.

In the second half, when those shots stopped going down with that frequency, and when the Wildcats just kept doing what the Wildcats do …

Well.

Y’all saw it.

The boys are making hard look easy.

Steph sure has a way of making crazy shots par for the course. Said Derek Smith on press row: “Cue the circus music.” For the most part, though, his 26 points were quiet. There are many, many things to love about Steph, but this is what I love the most: He is as big as he needs to be. He ups the ante when the ante needs to be upped -- the 41 in Greensboro, of course, being the most conspicuous case in point. He had, what, 19 on Saturday, and then 26 against Greensboro, and it’s just a flat-out fact, no ifs, ands or buts, that full-on Steph hasn’t had to show up so far this weekend. You get the feeling he’s saving some of that A game for when it’s more necessary to roll it out.

A quiet 26.

Davidson basketball.

I love that.

Comments?

March 7, 2008

Someone called PMM wrote this on Wells’ old blog:

To convey the bliss this year has created for the Feral Faithful is as difficult a task as it is to explain away the visions we perceive of the team going deep into the NCAA Tournament. Perhaps, the feeling is most similar to that extraordinary but familiar sensation Richard Juhlin describes in tasting excellent Champagnes: the mind races forward into honed, euphoric thought, but the legs become sluggish, unable to follow, and the drinker is left momentarily paralyzed in place and time to focus on this brilliant, glorious instant.

Anybody know who PMM is?

That same night

Celebration.

March 10, 2008

After the win over Elon.

More March 1, 2008

Claire in that notebook of hers:

There they were -- facing the world that couldn’t help staring back.

No way was this just another season.

Davidson Basketball defies definition.

It’s the busload of residents from the Pines who don’t miss a home game. The huge group of kids from Davidson Elementary who took over the topmost bleachers and showed us in the student section how real cheers are done. D-Block, with permanent courtside seats, never missing an opportunity to taunt the visiting fans and bench unfortunate enough to be in front of them, who dance unabashedly and are the loudest in the place -- “Hoo-ha, Davidson, say hoo-ha Davidson!” -- through all this becoming more lovable than obnoxious. It’s the ever-present pep band that keeps us pumped up and clapping to the fight song that hardly anybody actually knows. It’s my friends who make me laugh and chuckle at me, who I turn to when I’m happy or frustrated. The sixty plus people who smushed in front of the Union TV to form a family, screaming and cheering our unbelievable come-from-behind victory at UNCG. It’s Kilgo and Kosmalski, radio duo extraordinaire, who have uttered lines for the ages and invited Chambers the yard dog into the building many a time. The amusing passion of alums and students on the DavidsonCats discussion board, who sit at their office desks frantically typing their joys, opinions, frustrations to share. It’s John, Pam, Cathy, Jackie, the staff at Commons, the Den, the laundry, post office, physical plant … all of them who encourage the guys during the day and still come to the night games after a long day of work to cheer them on. It’s the boys themselves, grateful, focused, humble, and hard-working, each individual personality essential to the whole. They gel on the court the way we all should outside this loud, yet cozy arena: supporting each other, working together, recognizing the joy in it. It’s their coach, the most gracious of them all.

I fit in here somewhere too. In about the second to top row behind the basket, eternally on my feet, clapping and chanting, emitting choppy profanities that my mouth apparently finds necessary to exclaim, muttering under my breath to these talented men like I’m their mother (“don’t you dare screw this up -- ”), standing next to Joe and the other ’08 boys who are as close to the sports-loving men of my family as I could ever want at Belk Arena or clutching Elizabeth for dear life. I have a place here, cheering alone as people join in, yelling these names --

There will be two more Davidson basketball teams in my years here, but this one has no equal. They make us proud. Proud of their work and accomplishments, yes, but proud of the community that we all come from. They come from us, as we come from them. That’s what Davidson is, I think; we create each other, appreciate each other, take joy in each other. And it’s not just students; it’s those who used to be students, teachers, elders, children, staff, players, coaches …

We all know that this transcends sports.

It is a reflection of what we have here, our leafy green, red-bricked, blue-skied home in North Carolina. Life joining with life.

Which is why when we sing

SWEET CAROLINE, OH-OH-OH,

GOOD TIMES NEVER SEEMED SO GOOD

(SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD!)

We sing it loud.

Comments?

March 1, 2008

Me in Statesboro on DavidsonCats.com:

Before we shift our full focus to Charleston, before we start talking about possible rankings and whatever, let’s just pause, just for a moment, maybe even till Monday, to acknowledge 20-0.

I’m not totally certain, but no way anybody else has done this, ever, in the history of Division I college basketball, right? A 20-GAME league schedule is practically unheard of. To WIN all of those games?

The temptation is to call it absurd. But I won’t. I’ll just call it what it is.

Amazing.

Really it is.

It’s just an incredibly fine thing.

To have 10 other teams in your conference, and to beat every one of them TWICE, your gym, their gym, on nights, off nights, good refs, bad refs, and to finish it off by beating a 20-win team, at its place, on its senior night, and to BEAT THEM DOWN?

“I told them in the locker room,” Coach McKillop said after the game here. “In 35 years of coaching I have never been a part of such an accomplishment.”

Heck of a statement.

And Steph. Not a half-bad way to wrap up Southern Conference Player of the Year, huh? Oh, and so much for that “only”-29-points-in-two-games “slump.” He took 17 shots and 13 of them went in. He took nine threes and seven of them went in. That was good for 35 points, and in just 26 minutes, which is about as efficient as it gets. There was one three, real early on, like five minutes in, when Steph got it in transition, on the left wing, and was just silly open. Cue Steph Curry, and again, and again, and again, and again …

Comments?

Feb. 27, 2008

From one of my many notebooks filled with words:

God, I can't believe it went so fast! WOW. WOW. Now -- #27 in the country, longest winning streak in the country, #4 shooter in the country, #1 leader in assists... 22-6. 18-0 since January 3. And so much joy. I want so badly to be able to write beautifully about the bond that this team and these people make me feel but it's so hard... I can't explain that it's the whole thing -- especially tonight, with Boris's mom here and we screamed "THANK YOU SENIORS!" and I stood with my '08 friends for the last time in this section. As Steph ran the point for the last 20 seconds and we rose to honor those 3 young men that I don't know and yet I do.

Comments?

What (I think) this is

Here's what I had in my head when Claire and I started talking about this over the summer: I've had people tell me stories about what basketball has done for them over the last couple years in particular -- March 2008 being the most powerful moment, of course, but certainly not the only moment. I'm talking about people who hadn't been back to campus for a long long time until basketball drew them back and now they keep coming back. People who hadn't seen classmates for decades until they ran into each other at a game and now their families get together for long weekends or vacations. People who were struggling or in a difficult spot or had lost loved ones and for whom basketball ended up serving as a sort of salve. All of this sounds overwrought, I know, but people have in fact told me all of these things. That's what I mean when I say it's about basketball but it's not. My hope for this project is that the people with those stories put them into words and send them along, and then we pair those pieces with the stuff that's already been written along the way, and then we put all those stories with the best of the many pictures that have come in and continue to come in, and then we put it all between two covers to form an actual physical thing that can be a community-created keepsake that as a whole at least says something about Davidson, the college, the place and the shared experience. Deadline? How about New Year's Day?

That elusive experience

Meg Kimmel over at the Facebook group:

So, the basketball moment could not have happened without the continuum, or maybe the circle of, moments we all associate with the Davidson experience. Maybe it becomes a metaphor for that elusive experience -- the thing we struggle to explain to others and even to ourselves. We know it when we see or feel it, but we can't... define it in a satisfying way. So when we shared it universally through that thrilling basketball moment, we could all point [to] it excitedly from our various locations and ages and say -- yeah, see? THAT's what I'm talking about. Davidson.

What is it? This

Mike McCabe's response to Claire's e-mail:

There's a story to be told... not sure exactly what that story looks like, but as Kruse has said, it's not EXACTLY Davidson basketball. It's community, connectedness, personified by Davidson basketball. It's like a massive puzzle (think exam time at the Library), and we all have a piece of it in our hand. We just need to know and understand where our puzzle piece fits. A story, a theme, an emotion. Think something like the Bro and Tripp story. It doesn't even have to be a non fiction thread (try to breath Michael). I can imagine a historical fiction piece of sorts with a main character formed by our collective stories. Or maybe it's like Kruse's book... the Davidson Basketball Moment. But not moment, Moments. We all have a Davidson basketball moment in our mind that was special for some reason or in some way. Maybe it was a game, a play, or a car ride on the way to game. And the story is about those moments. Yes, there is still THE Davidson basketball moment, but I'm supposing the story, like in your book, was really told long before THE moment ever occurred. Maybe just request an all call for all Davidson basketball moments. Then piece it all together.

Consider this that all-call request.

Mobbed

What, exactly?

From: Claire Asbury
To: Michael Kruse
Subject: The quest for specificity
November 15, 2009

Based on several conversations I've had recently, in person and via email, I think we need to try and draft a more specific project description. I think that folks certainly understand, appreciate, and celebrate how Davidson basketball is such a wonderful communal space and how it seeps into our lives beyond sports, and given the size of the Facebook group there seems to be an interest. I've talked to people (mainly students and recent alums) who would like to write something, but I'm getting the vibe that it's hard to know where to start. And it's also hard for me to try and tell them how definitively -- "Yes, write about basketball, but not just -- but also --"

I'm not sure if a specific, detailed description can truly exist; after all, the original pieces should be just that, and the topics and memories that people choose to write about should be personally significant and not explicitly "assigned" by us. It's not meant to box people in. But I think somehow we need at least a few words to... push it forward. Make it less abstract. And at the moment, I'm not sure how to do that.

We should also set a precise deadline for submissions/contributions. I've had several students tell me they would like to contribute, but most likely won't get around to writing until winter break, which makes sense given the dwindling number of weeks (3!) that remain before exams. I know we've talked about January/February, and I think that's good. Don't know where we want to fall within that, but an exact date might provide more focus.

Just throwin' all of it out there.

Feb. 23, 2008

Eddie Nicholson on DavidsonCats.com:

One other thing. When the team ran off the court, the last two guys leaving were JRich and Steph. As they approached the tunnel, both turned back toward the Davidson section at the other end of the building and pointed to it. JRich then did the thing where you hold up your jersey to show off the team name. For some reason, I really loved that, and wish the cameras had been on him for it.

Comments?

Feb. 22, 2008

Davidson 60, Winthrop 47, in Rock Hill, S.C., where Jim Richards ’81 turns to his son Jip and says: “They can’t score. They cannot score.”

Feb. 18, 2008

Steve Sechrest on DavidsonCats.com:

We are who we thought we’d be … it just took at bit longer than we hoped. This team is now what many of hoped we would see this year. Steph is fantastic, Jason is wonderful, our bigs have been very, very good, but the Canadians have become what they were not, whether because of health or psyche, back in December. If Max and Will were where they are now, we win UNC and Duke. Let alone WMU and UNCC. That is why we are such a threat now to do damage in the tourney and why next year will be a very good year as well.

Comments?

Quincy Smith of CBS

In Ken Auletta’s new book Googled: “On the Web, you build communities. And traditional media has to change its DNA to think about that community. Our most trafficked CBS sites are the ones that create community. The Internet is not just a platform. It’s about interactive storytelling.”

Great night

November 14, 2007.

Feb. 13, 2008 Part III

Will Bryan:

The stars were aligned for Davidson to lose tonight. Greensboro had been underperforming... Davidson had been blowing people out... Sander was on the bench. The Spartans scorched the nets shooting 9-12 from three in the first half. Their intensity and home crowd helped ignite a first half blitz that found Greensboro sitting right below their average offensive output of the last week: at halftime. But Davidson won by five. Their defiance of the basketball gods tonight was extraordinary to say the least.

The heart of this team literally came spilling out on the court tonight. Richards' eyebrow was split open in an ugly way, bleeding all over everything... yet he came back to make the game-winning drive and free throw. Max Paulhus Gosselin recovered from endless "air ball" jeering to make the game-saving steal leading to Richards' drive. Andrew Lovedale overcame foul trouble to bring down the rebound with a scream after Greensboro's late attempt to tie the game. Thomas Sander did not let his sidelining keep him from supporting the team... he was the first one on the court at every timeout and was never quiet on the sidelines even when the Wildcats trailed big. And then, of course, there was Stephen Curry.

Davidson's attitude in the second half was definitely one of a team finally kicking it into overdrive. The several hundred fans in attendance got into a shouting match with Spartan supporters while Davidson was not unwilling to show a ton of emotion on the court. This was probably the first time I have seen Davidson win a game and have the team run out to celebrate in a very long time. It felt like a game one more time.

Comments?

Feb. 13, 2008 Part II

Lauren Biggers on The View From Press Row:

Making their way from the Davidson locker room to the post-game interview in the Fleming Gym media room, Stephen (Are you not entertained?) Curry and MAX Paulhus Gosselin look simultaneously exhausted and exhilarated.

As many words as I will write, SteF-in sums up Davidson's down-to-the-wire 83-78 thriller in one. "WOW," he sighs more than says.

Call me a pessimist, but when the Spartans took a 9-0 lead behind the dominant play of current SoCon Player of the Year Kyle Hines, I wasn't exactly feeling the "wow" factor.

Watching the players and coaches on the bench... they too looked, well, uneasy. For most of the first half, the Davidson contingent, fat and happy (?) and accustomed of late to kicking back and watching, could only sit quietly, nervously, and watch as the UNCG students more than earned their middle block of seats and the pep band played the SportsCenter theme song for what seemed the 10 millionth time.

"We were a little down," Curry said of the locker room mood at halftime. "Coach told us to find a way to win. To chip away little by little."

"To play defense. To stop them from shooting threes in our face. To keep our heads cool," MAX says of the coaching staff's halftime advice. "Chip away, chip away until we get in a position to win. Which we did."

"It wasn't really that bad," Thomas Sander, relegated to street clothes on this evening, said of the team's half-time mentality. "We weren't really down. We made some adjustments. We have a mature team. I feel like we all knew that we were gonna come back."

Comments?

Feb. 13, 2008

A fateful prediction and much rejoicing over on DavidsonCats that crazy night:

Mike Reed:
Curry will go over 40 tonight and lead us to a comeback. G's 15-point halftime lead means they will lose by 5 instead of 20.

Chip Clark:
Steph had 41. Cats 83-78. Lazarus is the MVP tonight.

Adam Stockstill:
Amazing comeback by the Cats, I'm speechless, anyone who questioned their heart is an idiot. They had EVERYTHING going against them (including themselves) in the first half and they came back and got it done. Curry doing an MJ impersonation, Richards bleeding as wills them to victory. I know it wasn't what we expected but these things happen, especially on the road during a long conference season. This will help us in the long run, the 30-point blowouts make us complacent after a time. This will prepare us for Chucktown. My hats are off to the Cats.

Stephen Curry on the Davidson Radio Network
"I got real tired, but I heard Mom on the 4th row saying, 'Take deep breaths! Take deep breaths.'"

Eddie Nicholson:
This team has some serious heart.

Comments?

Feb. 1, 2008

Eddie Nicholson on DavidsonCats.com:

At some point when we stop taking RPI out to the fourth decimal point, we might have to take a step back and think about what we’re seeing (and starting to take for granted) from Steph Curry.

Who else in America drives AND shoots a three on the same play? One of those from Curry on Wednesday had us shaking our heads. In the 3-steal-3 sequence against UNCG last year, Steph shot that second three as the guy guarding him crossed the end line under the basket into the red sideline paint. He does this all the time. Imagine a situation in which a player does this and several instances are not on the highlight film because it’s a standard move.

When he drives the lane and pulls up for the soft jumper, it is so automatic that if he misses, I wonder if he hurt himself. If a ball is loose, not only do I assume Steph will end up with it, but I look down court, certain that the turnover will result in a breakaway for someone (preferably MPG on the dunk).

Wofford went into what looked like a 1-2-2 zone at one point in the second half and Davidson seemed clueless as to how to attack it. No problem, with seconds remaining on the shot clock, they just put it into Steph’s hands about 26 feet from the basket, beyond the zone. Davidson scored three points against a defense it had failed to crack. As the CBS color man said during the Maryland game, Steph’s range is “in the building.”

I feel sorry for people who get their Steph info from the radio and/or the box score. Live and in person is the way to see the next number hanging from Belk’s rafters.

Comments?

There’s something about this picture

Jan. 26, 2008

Another win in the Lowcountry:

Kevin Cary, the Observer’s conscientious tracker of the ‘Cats, pointed out on press row that Davidson has trailed in the second half of just one conference game so far this year -- that, of course, being the scrape up at Elon.

To which Steph said after this latest win: “We haven’t really done anything yet.

McKillop said he was happy with the post play. He said he wasn’t so happy with the so-so second half. Still, though, the boys got back on the bus and went home, a job well done down here.

A win is a win is a win, and in the league now that’s 11 and 0, 21 in a row, 35 of 36, etc., etc., etc.

Comments?

Charleston game last year

After the win in Belk over UTC

Me on Will Bryan’s old blog:

McKillop’s teams, when they’re right, they play with such a level-headed fury.

Jason did his thing, all angles, intellect and body control.

Max was Max. That kid, and I don’t know that I fully understood this before, at least not to such an extent, but sitting press row at Belk for the whole game for the first time in years and years made me appreciate his play more than ever. He plays, defense in particular, with an utter ferocity. You can practically hear his exertion.

Steph was awesome, of course, he of the light that’s as green as green can be. You always know he’s going good, though, when you notice, just as much as the threes, the floaters, the runners, the pull-ups, the crafty little dribble drives that turn into layups that lead to him piling up all those twos like he does all those threes.

No wonder middle-aged men in the stands at Belk wear those No. 30 jerseys. The part of me that’s a sensible adult thinks that’s kind of ridiculous, but I’ve got to be honest here: The proud, almost primal part of me kind of digs the hell out of it.

Steph aside, though, the tenor of Saturday’s game was established just as much by the whole team’s sticky fingers and active hands. Thomas Sander had SIX steals. All of it was a 40-minute reminder that being in the right place at the right time doesn’t have to be an accident, and shouldn’t be.

After the game, in the little press get-together, Thomas said this succinct thing about Steph: “Seeing him feel like he can do anything makes us feel like we can do anything.”

Steph, asked about his 37 points, said this: “We played our best game of the year.”

The kid said we.

Comments?

Says Kyle Whelliston

Over on The Mid-Majority: I've learned that it's more important to have a good audience than a big audience.

Jan. 20, 2008

Me, up late:

There are ups and downs and profanities and jubilations -- but they're always there, and we're always there.

That's what it is.

At halftime today, the court was lined with 70 years' worth of men who have left our collective home away from home and made their way out of the bubble to create wonderfully full lives. They came back and stood before us so that we, no longer teenagers but barely adults, could see the significance that this place holds for them, and that there is much more history behind today's dunks and threes and blocks and steals and rap music intervals than we realize. And that our boys, holed away in the locker room planning, have a place in this history -- and therefore, so do we.

It's a humbling feeling. And honestly, it's not humbling because it's basketball and we're oh-so-good at it and we can get national recognition for such a small school; it's because I will always be able to say that I am a part of this COMMUNITY that comes together to support each other, that becomes joyously one in so many ways -- yes, this is only one.

It feels kind of silly to be so emotional about a basketball team, trying to write about it in such a life-altering sense, and I know that my male family members deserve some of the credit for passing on their intense sports-angst to one of their few daughters. But it's that word up there in caps -- the word that inspires so much of what I write, the very real concept that brings a grin to my face at some point every single day -- that leads me to this point. Standing there in that arena that only holds about 5,500 people, I can scream, jump around, sing, laugh, shriek -- I can be completely myself (sometimes with a little extra profanity thrown in) and it's fine with everyone else, it's welcomed by them. I can start cheers if my sports-angsty heart moves me, and people will join in. There I stand in the sold out student section behind the basket, with a very deep knowledge that this is exactly where I am supposed to be -- not only in this hour, but in my life. At this place, in the state of North Carolina, in this dorm room writing at 2 in the morning, not knowing so many things. But it's okay, because this place -- most importantly, these people -- bring me such joy.

And so it semi-started with a basketball game, but it will never end.

Comments?

Last night

And so another chapter starts. Wonderful to be back in Belk Arena. Dunno about y'all, but I'm excited.

Here we go

Belk Arena 7 PM.
Davidson vs. Lenoir-Rhyne.

"A way to continue the conversation."

Michael on WUNC's College Hoops Preview: if you didn't hear it this morning, listen.

(And don't skip the end.)

Jan. 19, 2008

Assistant SID Lauren Biggers on The View From Press Row at the Centennial Basketball Celebration game vs. Chattanooga:

There was a point in today’s game that it happened. If you were one of the 5,300-plus in attendance, you probably didn’t miss it, but you might not remember it.

The ‘Cats were holding a tentative 11-8 lead and it was, obviously, still early. After a missed Moc field goal and an offensive rebound, Stephen (excuse me, can I get your autograph?) Curry makes the first of four steals and, after a little give-and-go, caps the play with his first of eight three balls. A second later, a second steal results in a second three-pointer.

A Jason Richards steal turns into an easy back door lay-in for Boris Meno, and the scoreboard reads 19-8. This one is essentially over, again.

And then it happened. Jason is smiling. SteF-en is celebrating. The bench, always led by SteV-en Rossiter, is up and shouting.

This team is having fun again.

There’s Max Pauhlus Gosselin crashing into the scorer’s table with Davidson leading by eight. The students chanting “Steph-en Cur-ry” as he pours in his 25th, 26th and 27th points of the half, putting the ‘Cats up 41-26 at the break. The crowd sending the Wildcats to the locker room with a standing ovation.

In the second half, back-to-back dunks by Meno bust the game open, putting Davidson up 49-26 and getting the crowd to strike up the BOOOOORIS! chant, the one with the tomahawk and my favorite. There is fist pumping and chest bumping.

“I always have fun,” Boris said in between the media room and the autograph session. “Every time I play a basketball game, I have fun.”

There is Will Archambault passing to Andrew Lovedale, who has a better position under the basket, and earning a high five from his coach as he sprints back down the court. There is Lovedale earning an ovation after fouling out. And of course, there is “Sweet Caroline,” forcing, to the students’ great delight, a missed free throw.

“It’s always fun to play at home,” Rossiter said graciously granting me an audience and proving himself a worthy interview. “When we come out and execute our game plan, it allows us to really get out there and have fun.”

“Max always has his energy. If Thomas takes a charge, or Steph makes a shot, or Boris gets a dunk, or J makes a play on a fast break, any of those things can really get us going.”

Davidson’s non-conference schedule has been called one of the toughest in the country. Plenty of people will say – have said – too tough. Everyone has an opinion, but one thing is certain, those close losses weren’t fun.

But if you made the game today, you had to feel good about one thing. This team is having fun again.

Comments?

Here Comes Everybody

Clay Shirky in his book: “We now have communications tools -- and increasingly, social patterns that make use of those tools -- that are a better fit for our native desires and talents for group effort.”

Bro and Tripp

CSTV.com:

Head coach Bob McKillop’s basketball team is what got them together. It’s what brings them together. It’s what keeps them together.

“Davidson basketball,” Tripp said, “is the reason I see Bro, when he lives however many hundreds of miles away, three or four times a year.”

They like the intimacy.

“We can talk to Coach McKillop,” Bro said. “Not because we give millions of dollars. Because we care.”

They like the continuity. The college has had three presidents since ‘95 but just one basketball coach.

They like the underdog story.

Davidson is unique in Division I basketball -- a tiny school, 1,700 students, a No. 9 national academic ranking in the U.S. News & World Report and a location that puts it in the middle of all the attention-getting ACC schools.

It also has a history uncommon for a mid-major program: In the late ‘60s, Lefty Driesell took the Wildcats into the national spotlight: big crowds, the cover of Sports Illustrated and to back-to-back regional finals. That it has happened before gives the program’s fans the hope that it can happen again.

The Davidson basketball story is that chance.

And the chance never ends.

Comments?

Dec. 22, 2007

Will:

The connections that have been forged through Davidson basketball are really quite amazing. I found an old friend that I hadn't seen in years in the arena concourse while the Davidsonian editor from my freshman year ended up sitting right behind me. This basketball team has been the emotional and physical rallying point of Davidson friendships for many years and I hope it will continue that way.

Comments?

On making and marketing books

Seth Godin: My goal was to make a rare item, even if it doesn’t make any money. More and more, I’m thinking of books as artifacts and souvenirs, as convenient and collectible packages for ideas that spread.

Welcome to Belk

Dec. 9, 2007

Will Bryan '08 on Will's World (which you should check out in more detail because of his awesome in-game blogs and posts from '07-'08):

Last week, Michael Kruse asked if we were still having fun.

Yesterday, I watched Davidson take on college basketball’s most storied program, and I had seen the Wildcats answer some very important questions. In the first half, they moved the ball, shot it well, found inside looks and attacked loose balls. But then something happened … they started turning it over, making bad fouls in transition and taking bad shots. I thought we had answered our questions. But ultimately, it was just another “coulda” loss to a Top 10 on national television.

Are we still having fun?

The other day, Stephen Curry was walking around campus with a reporter from the Los Angeles Times. They walked into the Lula Bell Houston Laundry where Steph explained how the whole process worked. To many outsiders, Davidson’s free laundry services seems like just another weird quirk to add to this already quirky school. As Steph demonstrated where he would usually drop off his dirty clothes, Carol Belk walked up to him and gave him a big hug and a word of encouragement. The reporter quickly noted this and started spinning a story in her head for how Curry is loved and embraced in such a small community. What this, and so many other stories, don’t mention is that all of us here at Davidson receive our own embrace. It’s not just Stephen Curry that people know. Everyone knows everyone, and we all support each other through that. Davidson is a really special community with special people to keep it that way.

Are we still having fun?

As Davidson jumped out to its 18-point lead yesterday over UCLA, I received numerous calls on my cell phone from rabid Davidson fans watching around the country. As I periodically check my stats for this blog and see the numbers of Google searches that merely say “davidson basketball,” I continue to be amazed at the growing popularity of this team. As my Dad can no longer wear his Davidson shirt around Charleston without having some random stranger ask him something about our basketball team, I know that we have something special. As national reporters continue to call for interviews with a team that is now 3-5, I know that Davidson’s name has become associated with the big time.

Are we still having fun?

Not long ago, I read a post on Davidson’s message board that said that there is no difference between this year and any other year of Davidson basketball. I completely disagree. From one standpoint, I could argue that this year is better because of the attendance numbers, media attention, marketing clout, etc.

But I would also argue that this year is unlike any other year in Davidson basketball because we’re on the verge of replacing fun with a drive for professional success. Davidson fans seem to need that NCAA tournament victory like their lives depended on it. Back in high school, I felt like my life depended on my high school football team winning the first round of the playoffs my senior year. I never played in a game where I had less fun. And of course, we were upset on a last second TD.

There was a time in the past when Davidson players stopped having fun. They were 10-5 in the Southern Conference and did not look like a team with seven seniors. But then Coach McKillop wobbled into practice completely wrapped up in duct tape. “You aren’t playing loose!” he yelled as one of his assistants unwrapped one layer. “You are playing not to lose!” he screamed as they took off another layer. “You aren’t having any fun!” he exclaimed as he ripped through the final shreds of tape, grabbed a ball and nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key. That year, Davidson went on to sweep the tourney and win the automatic bid.

Are we still having fun?

Over the course of the next two days, I have to write my last ever article for the Davidsonian. I am going to take the time to recount how much fun I have had in the last four years. Fun in winning, fun in losing. Fun in being a part of something exciting, competitive, but ultimately noble. Davidson athletics are noble, and that is a part of what makes them fun.

Are you still having fun? I hope so … because I am.

Comments?

Dec. 8, 2007

Me on DavidsonCats.com:

So: Beat the Citadel, and by a lot to a little, just because. Then go to Raleigh and win. Then get into the thick of league play, and win a game, and then win another, and then another after that, and keep doing it, and keep doing it until Charleston, and then IN Charleston. Because it’s always about the first week of March. It always has been.

Then: We can all start to think about The Next Step, which, remember, happens on CBS in March, not WGN in December.

And: Enjoy it along the way. Enjoy Steph because he really is a joy to watch. Enjoy Jason because every game he plays is one game closer to his last as a Wildcat. No more gnashing of the teeth over the fact that we came up short, but not by much, against THREE OF THE BEST PROGRAMS IN THE HISTORY OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL.

Chill out.

Settle in.

It’s time to be the bully. Beat the bejesus out of the Southern Conference. I don’t know about you guys but I’m rooting for bloody noses.

But before moving on, before preparing for Thursday night’s laptop listen to the Citadel game, it should be said that a nonetheless good time was had in Anaheim, albeit quick, too quick, out and back. Saw some good people. Saw some good people I hadn’t seen in a good long while. Saw Nick Booker, saw Dick Snyder, saw Quinn Harwood give his son noogies. Saw some Davidson banners in Southern California. I like it when I see Davidson stuff in faraway places. I know where it came from.

Comments?

Looks like home to me

Slumdog director Danny Boyle

In Kurt Andersen’s Reset: “There’s something about that innocence and joy when you don’t quite know what you’re doing.” March 2008. The Davidson Project.

Dec. 3, 2007

Kruse on DavidsonCats:

Still having fun?

I started really thinking about this after talking with Kyle Whelliston at halftime. He said he was there to do another something on Davidson. The two possibilities heading into Saturday’s game: (1) Davidson as “conquering hero,” to use his term, or (2) “What’s the matter with Davidson?”

See the end of Sorensen’s column Sunday?

“Here’s the best thing about Davidson.

“There was a time when almost beating the Blue Devils and Tar Heels would have excited the team and its fans. That was long ago.”

Kinda makes me happy to read that. Also kinda makes me sad.

This IS exciting. This SHOULD BE exciting. We lost by a combined 10 points, on a neutral floor, to two of the best teams in the country. What’s the MATTER with Davidson?

Don’t get me wrong. I want them to win, get over that hump, whatever. I want McKillop to win one of these games because I think he’s an awesome ambassador for my alma mater, and because we’re lucky to have him, and because all three of his children decided to go to Davidson, and because I think that’s maybe the coolest thing about the man and his relationship with the institution. I want Matheny to win one of these because he went to Davidson, and because he’s been at Davidson, and because he’s STAYED at Davidson, and because that’s worth a lot, because it’s stuff like that that makes a place what it is.

But I don’t want them to win for me. They owe me nothing.

Maybe that’s splitting hairs. I don’t know.

One last thing, though: Last Thursday night, I went to a Davidson alumni event in Tampa. Tom Ross was there. These things are always the same, a little cheesy, totally formulaic, but at the same time I’m always glad when I go, because while you’re eating shrimp and drinking wine and meeting doctors and lawyers and watching that parade of blue blazers and khakis, you listen to the president give his little status update, about how smart and accomplished this year’s freshmen are, and how good Chambers looks now, and somehow it’s exactly what I want to hear, because it makes me think about things that make me feel good.

I was born outside Los Angeles. I grew up outside Boston. Since I graduated, seven years ago, I’ve lived in Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Durham, Wellesley, Mass., Warwick, N.Y., Spring Hill, Fla., Tampa and Land O’Lakes, Fla.

Which, bear with me, is my way of explaining why I got in my car Friday night to drive 569 miles to go see the Wildcats play, win or lose, past the palm trees, away from Florida’s loose, sandy soil, up toward all that rich red dirt.

Comments?

Starting something

Roy and Stephen

Calls for a caption contest.

From the pages of Charlotte magazine

Here:

Now it’s almost forty years post-Lefty. Bob McKillop has been Davidson’s coach for almost half of those. His team won a school-record 29 games last year, is returning every player of any consequence, is in line for a third straight NCAA tournament appearance, and has on this season’s schedule games at Charlotte Bobcats Arena against North Carolina and Duke.

This year could be the year the Wildcats win back Charlotte.

All it took was the legacy of a coach who did his thing and left, the development of a coach who’s done his thing and stayed, burgeoning suburbs, and finally a skinny, unafraid 19-year-old kid who could end up being the most important player in the history of Davidson basketball.

Comments?

Video from Evan Downey

Nov. 14, 2007

Claire:

And somehow the time winds down to when this moment is ACTUALLY HERE, when we overpower the announcer as he proclaims our boys — Steph, Thomas, BO-RIS, MPG, and JRich, the heart of the team. I mean. I don’t even know these boys but I love them and their journey is a PART OF US. And so it begins — we keep up with them, we’re WINNING! And things turn over and turn over, and we are killing our voices and yet bringing them to life with never-ending cheers — we are freaking HOLDING OUR OWN AGAINST THE #1 TEAM IN THE COUNTRY. We’re making mistakes but in a way it doesn’t matter — suddenly they’ll miss a shot, somehow we’ll get it back, and we score and we jump up and down and up and down and shriek and yell even if nothing comes out. I keep turning to Joe because I feel like he understands me best in this regard — “Look at this. Look at what the hell we’re doing. Holy crap.” I can’t help the profanities that leave my mouth, I really can’t. Becca and I wrap our arms around each other from the suspense. The D-Block chants, chants, chants. Half ends. Losing by 7. I’m terrified we’re gonna get tired and lose it. But we just go for it. It’s tied or within 1 for the rest. Tyler shoves Andrew and we flip out. Steph makes his free throws. He’s looking at us for a second, as if he’s just taking this all in, and we simply point back at him — what else can we do? IT’S YOU. And when we sing SWEET CAROLINE, OH OH OH we are ONE. I am surrounded by one wonderful Davidsonness. It means so much in these moments it’s hard to describe, and it’s not just because we’re doing so well … we are proud of our community, of our life together. Someone starts “FOUNTAIN WALKER” and it grows louder until he waves at us and we cheer. And then we shriek and yell and scream and jump and pretty much freak out some more. And you know what? Losing by 4 POINTS to the best team in the country is not a DAMN bit of bad. We are walking out of the arena, surrounded by our peers. We are exhausted and undoubtedly disappointed because if we hadn’t made stupid mistakes it would’ve been different. Someone yells and it echoes: “DAV-ID-SON, DAVIDSON, DAV-ID-SON, DAVIDSON!” And soon we are all screaming it as we leave the arena, and that pretty much made my week.

Comments?

Dec. 9, 2006

Davidson 79, Charlotte 51.

Oct. 31, 2007

Claire in her journal:

Halloween -- although the adorable kids came through the dorm last night, so it doesn’t really feel like it. In the lobby before breakfast, I flip to the Sports section of USA Today, in case some little blurb about Davidson basketball shows up unexpectedly like it did a couple of weeks ago.

Hm, there’s a lot of red on the front page of Sports today. Wonder what --

WAIT. WAIT. WAIT.

STOP. STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSODASHOP -- ?

I tug, and the pages come whooshing out.

It feels kind of like walking into the 900 Room before Maryland, being jarred into a weird little 2-hour surreality where I see familiar faces starring on national television. But somehow this is a little different.

Number one, we haven’t done anything yet.

And number two, we’re not … we’re not moving.

This is not a channel you change if you don’t like what’s on. This is not a name you hear through air on the street and never think of again. This is a nationally syndicated newspaper that is sitting in offices, schools, on doorsteps and street corners … Today, millions of people have NO CHOICE except to stare at these resolute, unwavering faces, these red jerseys, these boys all piled into a very recognizable wooden corner, not a mile from where my feet are planted. I could get there in three minutes, easy. The Soda Shop, the second place I ever ate in Davidson, with its oldies rock and hardwood booths and paper cups with cold ice water and onion-y burgers dripping with soupy blue cheese and ketchup. Black and white pictures of basketball teams hang on the walls, a quiet tribute to passing history (and the age of short shorts). The Soda Shop, on the front page of a section in USA Today.

AT DAVIDSON, HOOPS, BOOKS COEXIST.

I’m sorry, WHAT?

This is too much, this is too -- makes it pound harder in my veins than it ever has even though I know all the facts, I know the challenge, I know the possibility, I know …

They’re not moving.

LOOK AT US.

Comments?

Current community footnotes

So let's start this.

An Experiment in Trust

Kuykendall: “... these four years at Davidson are not an end in themselves, but primarily a means to a much larger end ...” Listen. Read.