blogsketball

a couple of notes from the beginning of the game:

1) i watch SFX intently during their warm-up. they look good. they could be trouble. this could be a great game!

2) i am pleasantly surprised when the announcer says that Jared Cheverie, who was acting head coach after Matthew Davies’ ejection yesterday, is the acting head coach today. this is promising. this could mean good things. i definitely preferred his coaching yesterday. hrrrm.

i don’t really have much to say about the first quarter. it’s best summed up by steph shantz’s comment that “this is kind of like watching highschool ball.” the quarter ends with a score of UPEI 12 SFX 17.

the game gets really exciting in the second quarter. Shakir Chambers’ three-point basket makes it UPEI 31 - SFX 30 and the entire crowd is full of energy.

with 1:11 left in the quarter, an SFX player makes a HUGE block against some UPEI player. i really wish i was one of those people who screamed things. “OH SHIT! OOOOH SHIT!!!” instead, i just bite my fist.

shortly before the half, Tim Butler gets called for an “intentional foul” (aka a flagrant) on SFX’s Christian Upshaw. Upshaw gets up and elbows Butler, but no call is made. my new hero, some chick sitting nearby, starts taunting Upshaw. My favorite line out of her mouth is “What jungle did you come from? Animal!”

the score is UPEI 36- SFX39 at the half and the crowd is still pretty energetic.

the game remains close throughout the third, and at the end of the quarter it’s UPEI 55 - SFX58. there are some sloppy passes and some turnovers but both teams are making silly mistakes.

the fourth quarter is disappointing, although a high point comes when Chad MacDonald scores his second three of the game. I am once again forced to feel *a little bit* like an asshole.

otherwise, UPEI commits turnover after turnover. when they’re not making turnovers, they’re missing shots. it’s pretty much the same set of problems they had yesterday in the third quarter, only they’re having them in the fourth quarter.

maybe it’s just because my opinion of Matthew Davies is pretty low, but i’m reeeeeally liking Cheverie’s coaching today. Cheverie gives constructive criticism, he makes better subs than Davies, and he doesn’t lose his head over silly things. he REALLY wins me over after an SFX player dives, screams, and somehow convinces the ref to call a charge against UPEI. Cheverie responds with “if he had screamed louder he would have got an award!” awesome.

the game eventually ends, with Cheverie once again allowing the bench warmers (such a cruel term) a minute of playing time. respect to Cheverie.

final score: UPEI 66 - SFX 86.

stats will probably show that Manock Lual and Andrew Black played great games (again, i hesitate to say that anyone played a “great” game today). Jared Budd and Jonathan Cooper played well and Tim Butler surprised me a few times.

Random Other Things (another installment of the section with a bolded title!):

i forgot to mention that jared budd took an elbow (or something) to the neck in the fourth quarter yesterday. he looked like he was in some serious pain, so he gets a ton of my respect for toughing it out.

the advertisement for “the family pharmacy” is the funniest advertisement ever. straight outta the sixties.

the SFX coach was throwing a FIT in the second quarter. had coach Davies not been kicked out of the game yesterday, this coach’s hissy fit would be the most hilarious thing ever.