76 replies to this topic

[SumnerH]

Rooting for Yale to beat Penn is like rooting for the MFY to beat Tampa.

This not only makes no sense but is almost exactly the opposite of the truth. Penn if anything is the MFY of the league, with the highest winning percentage in league history. They have 22 Ivy league titles (Princeton has more, but that's because of longevity) and 7 undefeated seasons. Yale, meanwhile, is one of many sub-.500 teams in the Ivy league, with only 4 league titles.

Rooting for Yale over Penn is much closer to rooting for the Orioles over the Yankees than it is to your scenario.

[snowmanny]

Suck it Crimson!

(Penn class of 87)

I see you were an English major at Penn.

Harvard wins in OT to stay one win ahead of Penn. Win tomorrow and wait for Yale or Princeton to beat Penn.

[Mugsys Jock]

The curse of Mugsy's Jock nearly had its way again I was in the stands to see mediocre Columbia team take Harvard to OT before running out of gas. Harvard just couldn't get stops against a Lions team that doesn't have anything you'd call an offensive weapon (a nice little point guard who can only go to his left, two big bangers that can hit a 6-footer but nothing especially closer, and no kind of outside or foul shooting at all).

Casey was fantastic, and it was a strong game for Wright as well, but the guard play was poor. Curry did not take good care of the ball, and Rivard was off-again, not on-again. Saunders got a ton of minutes, and while I think he's pretty talented, he has a horrible habit of going to the hole determined to take the ball all the way to the hole before deciding to shoot or dish. Any number of times he could've pulled up for a simple 4-footer, but his head was down and he just wound up getting crowded out of room to maneuver.

I think it's likely Harvard wins the Ivies and that makes me happy. But the dreams of their being a dangerous 10-seed, or having a shot at the NCAAs even if they didn't win the league, has probably gone away. They're just not that great now -- struggling to be even mediocre Ivy teams. The program is improving at light speed...but they just aren't there quite yet.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the real highlight of the game -- about five minutes into the second half, during a time-out, Jeremy Lin entered the arena. The crowd was shrieking like it was the Beatles, and a spontaneous chant of M-V-P broke out on both sides of the court. Pretty cool.

Edited by Mugsys Jock, 02 March 2012 - 10:18 PM.

[Mugsys Jock]

This not only makes no sense but is almost exactly the opposite of the truth. Penn if anything is the MFY of the league, with the highest winning percentage in league history. They have 22 Ivy league titles (Princeton has more, but that's because of longevity) and 7 undefeated seasons. Yale, meanwhile, is one of many sub-.500 teams in the Ivy league, with only 4 league titles.

Rooting for Yale over Penn is much closer to rooting for the Orioles over the Yankees than it is to your scenario.

No, it makes perfect sense. If you root for Harvard, Yale is the enemy.
Or, put more succinctly, Harvard : Yale = Red Sox : MFY.
Or, put even more succinctly than that, Yale sucks.

As for Penn, their consistently good basketball and football programs notwithstanding, I have to cite Conan O'Brien's fantastic commencement speech speaking to the Dartmouth Class of 2011:

Because if Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are your self-involved, vain, name-dropping older brothers, you are the cool, sexually confident, Lacrosse-playing younger sibling who knows how to throw a party and looks good in a down vest. Brown, of course, is your lesbian sister who never leaves her room. And Penn, Columbia, and Cornell …..well, frankly, who gives a shit.

[runnels3]

Or, put even more succinctly than that, Yale sucks.

For sure. Down by 26 in the 2nd half. Thanks, bulldogs.

[Mugsys Jock]

Harvard survives, with a 67-63 victory at Cornell. Curry did a much better job tonight, including a couple of back-to-back three-pointers that gave Harvard a little pad. 17 from McNally, whose excellent free throw shooting also makes the end game a little more comfortable.

Still, Cornell fought their way to a second-half lead before succumbing. Casey (11 points) and Wright (8 points) had pretty unspectacular games -- which I blame on their having to work harder than they should have had to against Columbia last night.

Anyway, Harvard has at least a share of the Ivy title, and if Princeton can beat Penn Tuesday night, the Crimson will punch their ticket. Go Tigers! [I'm not exactly thrilled to be rooting for Princeton, but hey, it ain't Yale.]

And Yale sucks.

Edited by Mugsys Jock, 03 March 2012 - 09:01 PM.

[singaporesoxfan]

Yes, go Tigers!

And Yuck Fale.

[beezer]

Princeton is up 9 with 5 to play. The game is on espn3 if anyone is interested. Penn was down 17 in the first half, but they keep fighting back. Lets go Tigers

[runnels3]

This thread is now officially THREAD TITLE APPROPRIATE!!

[Mugsys Jock]

VICTORY!! [Thanks, Princeton!]

The USA beating the USSR in Olympic hockey? I can see it.
The Red Sox coming back from 0-3 to beat the MFY? Sure, why not?
An African-American President? Of course, it was just a matter of time.
Harvard having a basketball team that qualifies for the NCAAs? Go on...

Congratulations to Tommy Amaker and his young team. I know it's fashionable to say "getting there isn't our only goal", but I'm deeply satisfied and I hope the kids are too. I hope they enjoy the shit out of the tournament. I plan to go and get so drunk I can barely remember the games.

[beezer]

Time to do some damage in the first round.

[Mugsys Jock]

Looking at the sites for the NCAA opening round, there aren't exactly a lot of glamorous (or cheap to get to) travel destinations in there: Albuquerque, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Portland OR, Columbus, Greensboro, Nashville, Omaha.

Really concentrated in the Midwest. Closest thing to the Northeast is Pittsburgh, and closest thing to Southern California is Albuquerque.

[RedOctober3829]

Looking at the sites for the NCAA opening round, there aren't exactly a lot of glamorous (or cheap to get to) travel destinations in there: Albuquerque, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Portland OR, Columbus, Greensboro, Nashville, Omaha.

Really concentrated in the Midwest. Closest thing to the Northeast is Pittsburgh, and closest thing to Southern California is Albuquerque.

Maybe they'll get in the East region and come back to Boston for the Sweet 16.

[Hendu's Gait]

Maybe they'll get in the East region and come back to Boston for the Sweet 16.

If I had to bet, I'd say they're destined for Oregon, and perhaps then Arizona.

Pac-10 sucks this year. There are too few west coast teams that are good, may as well get an Ivy that can draw grads to the game.

Edited by Hendu's Gait, 06 March 2012 - 09:51 PM.

[Old Fart Tree]

Good for Harvard! Got a few very happy friends tonight.

[bankshot1]

Ten thousand men of Harvard

want vict'ry today



Thank you Tigers

[Joe D Reid]

PRINCETONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

Goddamit. I hate losing to those straw-hat motherfuckers.

Anyway, good luck to Harvard at the Dance. Go scare the hell out of Iowa State or some similarly lousy school.

Though, watch--Harvard will somehow get paired up with Vanderbilt in the DAR bracket.

[Joe D Reid]

I will forever regret that there was no market in which I could have backed that Vandy pick.

[Mugsys Jock]

Yeah, good call. Time to flush the Commoders.

The 12-seed doesn't show a ton of respect, nor does the road trip to Albuquerque (hey, elitist Harvard alums can all afford the road trip). But as noted above, I've seen enough of the last few games to realize Harvard isn't really a Top 30 team yet. Soon perhaps, but not yet.

Vanderbilt/Wisconsin doesn't strike me as the most impossible possible route to the Sweet Sixteen. Harvard should be sturdy underdogs in each game, but it's not totally inconceivable, is it?

If they make it to Boston, Mugsy's Jock would be pleased to buy you a beer or two at the Garden (or whatever it's called now).

[BigSoxFan]

I have family who went to Vandy and have seen a lot of their games. Here's the skinny:

1. John Jenkins - 6'4 SG - he's the best shooter in the nation and has legit NBA range. He'll be running off screens all day. If you don't contain him, your season will be over quickly. Athletic defenders can disrupt his timing so Harvard better have one on the wing.

2. Jeffrey Taylor - 6'7 SF - great athlete with more of a power slash game. Can hit the 3 if you leave him open but looks to drive first. Is getting consideration as an NBA 1st rounder due to size/athleticism but is too inconsistent for my tastes. Loses confidence if early shots don't fall. A big X-factor for Vandy.

3. Festus Ezeli - 6'11 PF/C - built like an ox with great athleticism. He is going to make life for your frontcourt very difficult. Offensively, he's mostly dunks, putbacks, baby hooks, etc. but he's a defensive force at the college level. Not a good FT shooter so make him earn it.

4. Brad Tinsley - 6'3 PG - your typical slow and white guard but don't leave him open cause he can shoot a bit. Hates pressure so getting up in his face is a great idea and will lead to turnovers. His backup, frosh Kedron Johnson, played very well today so you may see more of him.

5. Lance Goulbourne - 6'7 PF - Vandy's garbage man. Has a limited offensive game but gets rebounds, hustles, etc. You don't have to game plan for him but he'll piss you off from time to time.

The bench - nothing much to speak of. Steve Tchiengang is their first big off the bench and he pretty much sucks at everything. Occasionally, he'll make a 3. Rod Odom is the backup wing and he does very little out there. Kedron Johnson is the backup pg who can make plays off the dribble. Not a good shooter so I'd sag off.

All in all, this Vandy team is peaking now but can have stretches of really putrid offensive execution. Amaker really only needs to gameplan for 2 guys - Jenkins and Taylor. Contain 1 of them and you have a great chance of knocking Vandy off. Regardless, I expect a close one since they typically don't blow teams out.

Edited by BigSoxFan, 11 March 2012 - 07:02 PM.

[Mugsys Jock]

Good article in the Crimson recounting the rise of the Amaker era at Harvard. Some pretty in-depth stuff on the recruits Harvard has been in on, the challenges presented by Harvard's academic standard (and how that standard has, and has not, evolved), and the role of fast-rising assistant and recruiting genius Yanni Hufnagel.

http://www.thecrimso...ard-basketball/

[BSF, thanks for the scouting report]

[Mugsys Jock]

This just in... 4-star recruit Zena Edosomwan decides to take a P-G year at Northfield Mount Hermon, and commits to Harvard, entering in 2013!

I know a million things can change between now and then, but sure is exciting news

http://www.thecrimso...osomwan-commit/

“I’ve talked to all the coaches that are still waiting and hoping he comes to them, and none of them have ever run into somebody who has the options that he has and is waiting for a non-scholarship school, which I think is pretty amazing,” Hilliard said. “His heart and mind are definitely in the right place.”

Edited by Mugsys Jock, 11 March 2012 - 09:51 PM.

[Dan Murfman]

About 4:30 on Thursday afternoon

Edited by Dan Murfman, 11 March 2012 - 09:59 PM.

[Matty005]

If anyone is looking to make the trip out to NM, you can sign up for tickets here:

http://www.gocrimson...ATicketWaitlist

[deanx0]

After disposing of Boston College for the fourth year in a row (BC is now like a second MIT game for Harvard), the Crimson probably have their toughest matchup of the rest of the regular season this evening. St. Joe's is carrying a smooth 10-3 record, including an impressive win over Creighton, as well as wins over good programs in down years like Western Kentucky, Villanova, Coppin State, and Georgia Tech.

The good news is that the game is at Lavietes, and St. Joe's isn't any bigger than the undersized (but hard-fighting) Crimson. Plus Phil Martelli is a scumball and the crowd chants at the game ought to be of high entertainment value.

Deadspin: "Right Now, The College Basketball World Hates Phil Martelli"

Edit: Princeton's 7-7 record ain't bad considering the quality of competition they've faced, and Yale's looked better than usual this year, though they'll get a lesson from Florida today I expect.

Have to drop in here and say that you shouldn't compare MIT to BC. BC's at home, while my Engineers are 28-1 and going to the Division III final 4 next weekend. Cambridge represent, yo!

[Mugsys Jock]

And that's that for the Crimson, who were overpowered by a big veteran Vanderbilt team.

As I watched today's games, I got madder about the Crimson being assigned a #12 seed, not to mention a match-up against what strikes me as easily the most dangerous #5 seed in the tournament. I saw 5s, 6s, 7s, and 8s today that I feel Harvard could've beaten. But the Vanderbilt matchup was a nightmare, particularly Ezeli who I believe set an NCAA record with 237 rebounds (including 3 separate offensive rebounds in one particularly embarrassing sequence).

Not only was Ezeli a man among boys on the boards, but he also was a defensive menace, with 47 blocked shots (or so it seemed). Casey and Wright really gave it their all, but they couldn't get anything going inside. Harvard's second-half comeback (a 13-0 run pushed by Rivard's great shooting and Curry's effective penetration that helped make up for his abysmal first half) was pretty inspirational though. They were within 5 points with a couple minutes to go, but Vandy sure can board and shoot the 3.

Respect to the Commodores, who strike me as a pretty easy team to root for.

I hope the Crimson are treated a little more kindly in 2013. I was sorry not to get the chance (or have the budget) to fly to Albuquerque for today's historic game, but I'm really confident I'll get more chances in the next few years.

Edit: I forgot to mention -- YALE SUCKS.

Edit: Hey Deanxo, let me know if there's still a seat on the MIT bandwagon

Edited by Mugsys Jock, 15 March 2012 - 09:11 PM.

[runnels3]

They were within 5 points with a couple minutes to go, but Vandy sure can board and shoot the 3.

Harvard had the momentum at this point but the call against McNally, who appeared to have position, took care of any hope for a garrison finish. They sure had some good looks in the first half when it was tied at 22, but Vandy capitalized on the misses and the game slipped away pretty quickly. Exactly right, hard not to root for Vandy from here on in.