It was just a prelude, as it turns out.
Right now, six teams have 4-2 marks in conference play. Sixty percent of the league is tied for first. Notwithstanding the Ivy, where everybody's only played one game, no other league has more than two teams deadlocked at the top. It is, in the aggregate sense, a rock fight.
(Rock fights, to the uninitiated, are the CAA's stock in trade. Or at least they were before several of the league's programs began to develop highly efficient offensive games. The phrase was coined by the granddaddy of CAA bloggers, FOG:TB Michael Litos to describe offensively-challenged, hard-nosed, inelegant and slap-the-floor entertaining ball.And speaking of the opposite of highly efficient offensive games, our friend Dan Crain at Dragons Speak penned yet another statistically astute, emotionally drained post about his Drexel team today. That poor guy. That dreadful team. Drexel, to be sure, isn't part of the logjam at the top.)
Unlike last year, when our Tribe would've walked away with the league regular-season title had they only been able to beat the worst teams in the conference, the Green and Gold have held their own against the CAA's dregs, beating Drexel and Charleston (twice) in addition to a convincing home win over defending league champion Northeastern. W&M's losses have come to fellow league-leaders Towson (at home) and UNCW.
That latter loss was a textbook case of a defeat that left no sting. On the road, in a tough building, without second-leading scorer Daniel Dixon (out with the flu), the Wrens went to overtime before falling in a 97-94 classic. We're not losing sleep over that one.
Not only is the CAA arguably the most competitive conference in the NCAA this year, the league is having one of its best seasons in history, top to (nearly) bottom. Boosted by a strong out of conference performance, the CAA is currently ranked 9th in RPI, the highest in league history at this point in a season). At 55, W&M boasts the league's highest RPI.
The competitive nature of the conference makes for compelling basketball nearly every league night, but it's a bit of shame in one sense. CAA teams are eating their own, all but assuring the league's once promising chance of multiple NCAA bids have dwindled away to nothing. Alas, poor #2bids4caa, we knew you well.
#1bid4wmtribe, though, is still in play. And like always, it'll come down to March. The Tribe doesn't need to win the league, but they do need to find a way to finish in the top six and avoid a first-round conference tournament matchup. That's a pretty strong likelihood, given what we've seen of this team. (In an amusing conference history coincidence, the first round of the CAA tournament is colloquially called Pillow Fight Friday, as it features the bottom four teams in the league.)One of the ways they'll do that is by winning at home and beating bad teams wherever they play them. W&M gets a chance to take care of the first part of that equation tonight when Elon comes to the TribeDome. The Phoenix are in seventh place in the league, but only a game out of first at 3-3 in CAA play.
Saturday, the Tribe heads to Hempstead, NY to take on fellow co-leader Hofstra. That place is a house of horrors for W&M, which makes the Elon matchup all the more important. We'll take 5-3 after this weekend.
DC had one inch of snow last night and is potentially getting a big snowstorm starting Friday afternoon. University of Maryland just closed through Sunday. Fear the Turtle.
ReplyDeleteI was one of those people stuck in the gridlock last night. left classes over by the Verizon Center at 10:30pm. Didn't get home until 1:30am. That's 3 hours to go 7 miles. I don't know how the region is going to survive the weekend.
ReplyDeleteHave they cancelled public school for tomorrow yet? We have newbie employees in Santa Monica for work that are scheduled for the red-eye back to Nova Saturday AM. They are all single and just out of college and freaked out they potentially, really won't, get back Saturday. At that age I would be psyched to have a 'free' weekend on the company in California and avoid the mess the storm will bring.
ReplyDeleteSqueaky--I was scheduled for a flight to the mid-west on Sunday afternoon and American Airlines sent me a note LAST NIGHT saying "we encourage you to reschedule for Monday or later--and it's free of charge"
ReplyDeleteThose kids aren't getting back to NoVA this weekend. Tell them to enjoy the vaca on the company. And bring back the sun with them
At some point Fairfax and Arlington counties ought to invest in snow plows and rock salt.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Marls sent me to the store this morning to pick up some wine for dinner tonight. It was like the fall of Saigon at the Harris Teeter. People are funny.
ReplyDeleteI'm so envious of the students at Maryland. The most school I ever had cancelled was two days due to a hurricane when I was at Florida. Gainesville is so far inland that it was a free two days off during a really long thunderstorm. Good times.
ReplyDeleteA fond memory from college was on some random Tues or Wed night in winter, when everybody's voice mail lit up at once w/ an automated message from the school that classes were cancelled. About 20 minutes later, there was a visible parade of folks heading to the bars*.
ReplyDelete*They were actually delis. Some folks had bars by their colleges. We had delis.
And we spelled one of them "Delly." Weak.
ReplyDeleteIs it safe to assume all of you will be at home drinking for the next 48-72 hours?
ReplyDeleteMarls if we lose power (very likely) we will be heading over the river and through the woods to grandmas house. In other words, we'll see you at bar taco.
ReplyDeleteI have fond, albeit fuzzy, memories of snow day 10 am games of anchorman with the rugby team, local frat boys, and the Dead heads from the apartment below. Quite a colorful mix.
Marls if we lose power (very likely) we will be heading over the river and through the woods to grandmas house. In other words, we'll see you at bar taco.
ReplyDeleteI have fond, albeit fuzzy, memories of snow day 10 am games of anchorman with the rugby team, local frat boys, and the Dead heads from the apartment below. Quite a colorful mix.
Anchorman at the World of Beer could get ugly.
ReplyDeleteSo fond you posted twice! And who is this Anchor guy?
ReplyDeleteRob, even though you ignored my invite email to meet at LPH, I'll still inform you they have Maine Lunch on tap . Get some.
ken, when did you sent that email? to which address? i haven't seen it.
ReplyDeleteNoonish? Responded to the Rhett email which is "jimmye" account I think. No worries I'm on to Caboose Brewing in Vienna to meet a few lads.
ReplyDeleteLads brewing in your caboose?
ReplyDeleteHow many pairs of shoes constitutes "too many shoes" for a 41-year-old man to own? What if said man is a northeastern liberal?
ReplyDeletei'm going to guess you have 37 pairs of shoes. close? i have north of 25, many of which are about to get thrown out.
ReplyDeleteapparently killer mike and ta-nehisi coates talked today about the latter's recent piece that took a shot at bernie sanders' campaign on the issue of reparations for slavery. man, would i like to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else listening to the album Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here in entirety? Just me?
ReplyDeletemost of the rest of us aren't aarp members, ken
ReplyDeleteI'll take the over (by a good bit) on Z'snahoe total if our series of shoe related emails are any indication.
ReplyDeletez'snahoe is a lesser-known but lyrically brilliant rapper
ReplyDeleteI'm talking just shoes, not sneakers. There's no upper limit on sneakers. Oxfords, loafers, chukkas, etc.
ReplyDeletereally impressive offensive performance by the wrens tonight. good win. now they have to get on a bus and drive through a blizzard to long island. that seems less than optimal.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Okemo, VT. I am looking for ways to convince my wife that getting our 6 y/o out to his (pre-paid, non-refundable) ski school appt is a good thing, despite a swollen lip. The plastic surgeon said to let him do everything b/c the stitches are on the inside. Protective wife says otherwise, which impacts my ability to get a day in on the mountain. Conundrum.
ReplyDeletehow many shoes does the protective wife have? maybe she needs some more?
ReplyDeletelatest gfs weather model calls for 45" of snow in my area. no, i don't know what gfs is, either. but i know that's a fuckton of snow.
ReplyDeleteI know what a gif is, and I know what a gilf is. No idea what a gfs is.
ReplyDeleteThe wife does like shoes, but she's all into this "child safety" fad these days. Weird.
hello gheorghies! not only did i participate in a bourbon and rye testing event tonight, but i also made it to pub night! i am not feeling good about my performance as a public servant tomorrow! i am thinking my choices were bad! i wish i were at okemo!
ReplyDeletejust found leftover book club sandwiches in the fridge. going to watch cheers on netflix
ReplyDeleteI feel a "movie day" coming for Dave's classes today.
ReplyDeleteMore importantly, we were all robbed. For some reason Kobe Bryant was listed as a front court player in this year's All Star voting. If he's been listed as a guard as he should have, Zaza Pachulia would be starting in the All Star game. As a member of Team Zaza since his rookie year (Orlando Magic!), I really wish this had happened.
little teej is running around nottingham forest, stealing from the rich, giving to the poor. pity we haven't heard from him.
ReplyDeleteEat a dick, pal
ReplyDeleteThe Brits have Dollar Stores. They call them PoundLove. Great porn title.
ReplyDeleteWe should open a restaurant called The PoundRound. We would show black and white porn and you could throw peanut shells on the floor.
ReplyDeletelittle teej, like little john? get it? i'm very pleased with the mental image i've created for myself.
ReplyDeletespeaking of rock fights, charleston beat towson, 40-37, last night. i watched much of the second half. it was as putrid as it sounds.
ReplyDeletewow. bad idea going out after i went out last night. mark is very accurate on movie friday. much ado about nothing in shakespeare, street fight documentary in comp (highly recommended) but i'm actually going to have to teach creative writing . . . might be ugly.
ReplyDeleteIs the street fight doc you're referring to Dawg Fight? It's quite good. But I'm a sucker for all the Rakontur docs. Cocaine Cowboys, Square Grouper, Limelight, The U.
ReplyDeletewe are both fighting vicious head colds while over here, and I must say, these British over the counter drugs are no joke. american dayquil needs to up its game
ReplyDeleteno it's actually called "street fight." documentary about the newark sharpe james/cory booker election.
ReplyDeleteOh. Well, I'm guessing it's far different than Dawg Fight. Which is a documentary about backyard brawls in western Dade County.
ReplyDeleteTaking the kid to Disney for her 4th birthday later today. Well, actually Downtown Disney (and the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique) tonight and Disney World tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIt's been 20 years since I've been to Disney. That time it was with my then girlfriend and we were both super high on acid. Going to be a much different experience this time around.
snow day open thread now posted for your commenting enjoyment
ReplyDelete