Guess Who's Back?

Not to get sentimental, but I was recently reminded of the joys of writing a blog. So, I logged into Dribbling Ink to see my past failed attempt at a blog. A number of things immediately struck me. My last post was dated Monday, December 1, 2008, which was just a short video of the immediate celebration after the Miracle on Markham II. Seriously? I went an entire year without writing a single blog entry. Naturally, I asked myself what happened.

The answer is simple. Life happened. I started blogging because I didn’t have anything better to do. I had just gotten married and moved to Arkadelphia, where I failed to find a job for a few months. Tell me a better way to waste your time than to write blogs that nobody reads? After Christmas I started graduate school at Henderson State University. During the fall, I began working as a graduate assistant in the HSU Writing Center. (I also spent a few torturous months as a substitute teacher.) Essentially, I didn’t have a reason to write a blog anymore. I had life to do.

Except that’s not how it works.

I’ve had plenty of time and thoughts since my last post; I just needed to be reminded that I love to write. A co-worker of mine in the writing center always jokes that I should write my thesis about sports because it is the only thing I know and care enough about to crank out 100 pages worth of information concerning, which is a fair enough assessment. I spent all four years as an undergraduate covering local sports in Greene County for the Paragould Daily Press.

However, I’d like to think that I can talk about more than just sports. Therefore, though Dribbling Ink was created nearly six years ago as a sports column in the Paragould Daily Press, it’s time to expand. To what? I don’t know. But I do know the three things that dominate my life: sports, literature, and Arkansas. The first two are pretty obvious, but the last one may be the most important. Arkansas encompasses a lot more than just its physical boundaries. It’s about family, growing up, identity, and the future.

I like to think of myself as a realist, though most people that know me don’t hesitate to call me a pessimist. Sure, I’ll probably forget about Dribbling Ink again—I certainly don’t expect to be writing it a decade from now—but there’s a joy that comes with writing a blog. With writing, in general. Life will assuredly happen again, and Dribbling Ink will probably disappear from my thoughts completely the next time; however, there’s still plenty of time in-between school, work, and home to contribute a few more blogs to the annals of writing that nobody will ever read.

Maybe I will see (or blog about) you along the way.

Miracle on Markham II

(The video is of Colt David's hopeless, last-second field goal attempt and the celebration that ensued.)

First off, thanks to my wife for buying me a ticket to the Arkansas-LSU game. (She just felt guilty because she is always leaving me for days at a time to go on basketball trips.)

Next, what a game. Besides being rained on for a few hours, everything was great, from the Whole Hog Cafe BBQ to Casey Dick's last throw as a Razorback. The worst part was the contingency of LSU fans. Oh well, the purple-and-gold hush after London Crawford's catch was beautiful.

Anyway, since this post is going nowhere, too bad the Hogs didn't take care of busniess the week before against Miss. St.; however, hopefully they can carry this win over into next year and build on it. There's plenty of talent for Bobby Petrino to exceed expectations next year: D.J. Williams, Joe Adams, Dennis Johnson, etc.

Woo Pig Sooie for the football Hogs one last time. Now it's basketball season. And time to endure another freshmen-laden squad that will make you say, "Wow," some games and tear your heart our the next.

OBU vs. Central Baptist College

(I always love art with writing; however, this will be a challenge for my coverage (?) of the OBU Lady Tigers. Since it was a monumental night for OBU head coach Garry Crowder, this will have to suffice.)

Ok, as promised, here is the first Dribbling Ink post about the Ouachita Lady Tigers’ basketball team. Before we get into any specifics, I’d like to layout how this will work. After every game I attend, which will mostly be home games, I will write up a quick reaction to all the action. I will break each post into four parts: 1) The Dirty Details, which will list all the essentials in case you aren’t interested in my ramblings; 2) Dribbling Ink’s Recap (let’s call it DI’s Recap), a.k.a. my random, almost-journalistic thoughts on the game; 3) The Wife Update, a quick glimpse of Kasa Cooper’s role in the game; 4) the Dribbling Ink Made-Up Quote of the Game (does DIMUQOTG work?), where I attribute a quote to Coach Crowder that he didn’t say but could, should, or may have said afterwards; finally, 5) the Random Fact, which will be a random fact. Also, if you want to check out the official story from OBU's SID, Brian Howard, check out the link in the Dirty Details.

Dirty Details:
OBU vs. Central Baptist College
6:00 PM CT, Nov. 18, 2008
Bill Vining Arena
Arkadelphia, AR
OBU 111--CBC 51
http://www.obutigers.com/story_page.asp?ID=2431

DI’s Recap:
Honestly, before I get into any specifics—though details will be scarce since I’m going straight from memory and not from a reporter’s notepad or a play-by-play stat sheet that most college SID’s provide—I’ve never witnessed a women’s basketball team score so many points. 111?!

(Dribbling Ink Disclaimer: Since I have no official stats or comments on the game, please do not be offended if I mess something up. In fact, who cares? This is a blog post, not a newspaper article—I can screw up and be as biased as I want.)

For example, it was clear that CBC wasn’t on OBU’s level—talent-, conditioning-, or athletic-wise. The Lady Tigers imposed their will upon CBC, controlling the tempo by speeding past the Lady Mustangs on offense and creating a slew of turnovers on defense.

I bet CBC had more turnovers than attempted field goals. After the game, my wife said CBC committed 37 turnovers. Microwave recipe for losing by 60 points: commit almost as many turnovers as points scored.

With every player but one scoring for OBU, and all 14 players logging significant minutes, it’s clear the Lady Tigers and Coach Crowder are a unselfish bunch. Instead of announcing starters, the OBU players ran through the cheerleader gauntlet as a team.

As rare as 111 points might be in women’s basketball, a group of 14 individuals coming together unequivocally as a team is harder to come by. When it happens, it’s fun to watch, and the results can be dazzling. If OBU can keep up this team chemistry throughout the season, I think the Lady Tigers have the talent to win a lot of games.

Wife Update:
In her first career collegiate game, my wife made her first shot—a 3-pointer—kicked a ball, got a rebound, committed a foul and notched a few steals.

Ball-kicking note: If someone asked me to bet $100 on the one thing that my wife would do in, say, five minutes of playing, here’s my top three: 1) kick the ball, 2) commit a foul, 3) make a three. I proposed the same situation to her and she said definitely kick the ball.

Bottom three (for fun): 1) be assessed a technical foul, 2) call a timeout, 3) roll on the floor like she’s hurt and jump up and jog off the court a minute later.

DIMUQOTG (Dribbling Ink’s Made-Up Quote of the Game):
“I thought tonight was a real team effort,” Coach Crowder said afterwards. “But we still have to go back to work tomorrow and continue getting better. We can’t be satisfied with this one.”

Random Fact (DIRF? Dribbling Ink’s Random Fact):
The win marked Coach Crowder’s 200th at OBU.

Lady Tigers

This is largely a precautionary post. I've mentioned that my wife plays for the Ouachita Baptist Lady Tiger basketball team a number of times; however, I wouldn't be surprised if A) you didn't believe me or B) you didn't pay attention. I just wanted to post a quick link (or you can just click on the title of this blog post) to the roster so you can check out the team: http://www.obutigers.com/wbasketball/2008-09roster.asp

Anyway, since I'll be around for most of the home games, it seems I should keep a running commentary about the team. I mean, I'm so used to watching sports with the eye of the journalist that sometimes it's hard to just enjoy for pure entertainment value. This way maybe I can satisfy a little of both cravings.

Quick OBU Lady Tiger rundown (at least from my limited prospective): Last year, the Lady Tigers had a few internal problems which forced them to clean house of many of their upperclassmen. Therefore, there are only two seniors and three juniors on this year's squad, leaving underclassmen to populate a majority of the roster, including returning the Gulf South Conference West Division Freshman of the Year in Gabby Coleman.

Though they have a few players around the six-foot mark, the Lady Tigers lack any real presence inside. OBU will have to rely on a guard-oriented, perimeter attack that will feature plenty of slashing, driving, and kick-outs for three-pointers.

As of now, Coach Crowder looks like he will play a rotation of at least ten, with frequent substitutions due to the fast-paced tempo that his team will employ.

The Lady Tigers were picked seventh in the Gulf South Conference Preaseason Coaches' Poll, according to the OBU SID Brian Howard. However, I think the Lady Tigers have enough talent to surprise some people. Granted, I don't know much about the GSC, I'd be willing to bet OBU will finish above seventh.

The Lady Tigers will begin the regular season on Tuesday at Bill Vining Arena against Central Baptist. I'll be there and I'll let you know what I think sometime. Or, maybe if I'm lucky, I can get my wife to write an insightful piece about the game from a Lady Tiger's prospective (don't bet on it).

(Of course, the opinions expressed here are not those of any member of the OBU Lady Tiger coaching staff. Just one man's educated, biased opinions.)