VCU Rams

Can I get a whistle please?

VCU-ODU LIVE BLOG

This is where it gets good. You can enjoy Sunday’s Super Bowl all you like. I don’t really have a stake in either of those teams. Saturday at 4 p.m. is what I’ve been waiting for all season. It’s VCU and Old Dominion for the 80th time.

I’m willing to say this to anyone who will listen. This game can hold its own against the best college rivalrys. On the so-called mid-major level, I’m not sure there’s one better. (Sorry, Towson/Georgia State) I mean that sincerely. Why do we love to hate each other so much?

I figure there’s roughly five things that make a good rivalry great.

#1. Proximity: There’s nothing quite like showing up the neighbors. If your neighbor’s lawn looks like Wrigley Field, what are you going to do, roll over? Of course not. It’s Miracle Grow time. Gotta keep up with the Jones.
#2. Common goal: Nothing adds venom to a rivalry like a championship. All the best rivalries, Duke/UNC, Ohio State/Michigan, Browns/Steelers, Florida/Florida State (forgive me for not including your team, I don’t have time to name 300 rivalries), include two teams in the same conference or division. That old Celtics/Lakers rivalry feels manufactured. It really hasn’t carried much weight since the mid-80s, when Magic and Bird were leading their teams into the finals every year. Now? Yawn. It’s a good game, but it doesn’t have that “can’t miss” appeal. This is why I don’t see Richmond as VCU’s biggest rival. It’s just one game, and no matter who loses, it doesn’t have much impact beyond that day. Whereas, the outcome of the two VCU-ODU games may very well determine the fate of the CAA title. And that’s not even accounting for the possibility of playing the CAA Tournament. My head is going to explode talking about this.
#3. Competitiveness: As much fun as winning is, beating somebodys brains in year in and year out takes some luster off a series. You know why the JMU-VCU game isn’t that big a deal? Because we’re 41-19 all-time against the Dukes and because James Madison hasn’t won a CAA title since 1994. You know how long ago that was? I was a high school junior and weighed 155 pounds. I worked at McDonald’s (some might argue that I should still be there.) You know what the No. 1 song in the country on this date in 1994 was? Celine Dion’s “The Power of Love”. Seriously. Somebody has some ’splainin’ to do, but I digress. VCU leads the overall series, 41-38 and except for one 10-game winning streak by the Rams from 2001-05, the series has always been close.
#4. Supportive fan base: With the exception of George Mason, VCU and Old Dominion are the two most fervent fan bases in the CAA, at least in a basketball sense. William & Mary is closer to VCU than ODU and plays in the same league, but people in Williamsburg don’t care about basketball. Not yet anyway. We’ll see if they’ve turned a corner this year. Meanwhile, the ODU-VCU game has been a guaranteed sellout for at least the last five years. No other CAA rivalry can say that.
#5. History: VCU has played ODU 16 times more than any other opponent. Not only have they been CAA-mates for 14 years, but they also have a shared history from the Sun Belt. All those games leave some lasting memories. I’ve only been around for five years and I’ll never forget the no-call on the final play of the game in ‘08 or last year’s CAA semifinal win. Duke-North Carolina has things like Jeff Capel’s halfcourt shot in 1995 (By the way, I’m told Jeff really doesn’t like talking about that shot because Duke lost that game), or Gerald Henderson demolishing Tyler Hansboro’s face with an elbow a few years back. Those ghosts don’t go away.

VCU-JMU LIVE BLOG!

When the CAA Preseason Coaches Poll came out in October, it had VCU ranked fifth and James Madison second. The Rams did not have any players on the Preseason All-CAA Teams.

Those rankings were fair, given VCU’s loss of its top two scorers, Quanitra Hollingsworth and Radoslava Bachvarova. However, a something funny happened on the way to March. The Rams ripped off an 8-1 CAA mark in the first half of the league season. Their only loss is a two-point defeat to Drexel, in Philly.

Beginning with tonight’s TeeVee tilt with JMU, we’re going to find out a lot about this VCU team in the next few weeks. Two games with the Dukes, Old Dominion and a match-up with Drexel lie ahead.

James Madison is led by junior Dawn Evans, a 5-foot-7 3-point shooting sparkplug. Evans is second in the country in scoring (25.7 ppg) and is firing more than 11 treys a game.

Contenders or pretenders? We’ll find out if VCU can earn a little respect.

While there is snow on the ground in Richmond, it's nearly 60 degrees down here in the "Dub"

Click here for the Live Blog

WILMINGTON, N.C. - Fresh off a three-plus mile run with Athletic Trainer Todd Craft, I’m still trying to catch my breath as I’m making this blog entry. Hopefully that’s the way the Seahawks feel after the first few minutes of tonight’s game as the Rams will look to pick up their seventh win in the past eight games in a place that has been none to friendly to the men in the Black & Gold.

None to friendly may be putting it nicely as VCU is just 3-11 all time at the 32-year old Trask Coliseum, including a very puzzling 81-72 loss to the Seahawks last February.

This year is set up much like last season with the Rams pounding UNC-Dub at home (91-57 on Jan. 2), but the Dub has a new look with 29-year old Brooks Lee taking over the Interim Head Coaching Duties after Benny Moss was “reassigned” last week. The release stated that he was reassigned in the Athletic Department, now this may sound cruel and I don’t mean it that way, it just sounds funny… wouldn’t it be funny if Benny was working the concession stand or was a ticket taker tonight or something?

Anyway, it’s obvious that this is a game that the Rams need to stay focused on the game plan. If they do that, a win should be in store. That’s why we turned to this old jam from the group “Focus”. Maybe Chris Kowalczyk of Around the Horns was around to see these guys play.

VCU-Georgia State Live Blog!

As I look out my front door, I’m confronted by 12 inches of soft, fluffy, irritating snow. If I manage to make it to my car and down my hillside driveway, I’m fully aware of two things. No. 1, I may end up spending the night in my cul de sac. No. 2, once that car goes down that driveway, it’s not coming back up until sometime next week. This may be the first time I blog a game from my couch.

If I do make it to the Siegel Center tonight, I’ll be watching VCU take on Georgia State, in search of its second consecutive win. They call that a winning streak.

The Rams are coming off an absolute shellacking of Towson on Wednesday, 112-53. VCU hit a school-record 20 3-pointers in that game. It’s hard to believe that it’ll be that easy today, against the defensive-minded, albeit offensively challenged, Panthers. GSU played at Old Dominion on Thursday and scored a total of 40 points.

Every game is critical at this stage for VCU. Let’s hope its a win so we can use a bunch of snow-related puns in our headlines tonight. Snow Problem, Rams Plow Panthers, Snow Chance and others are under consideration.

Go Rams! I hope I’m there to see it.