Three days of sports; one loss, one win and one still in progress

As I type this Villanova and St Joe's are playing the annual Holy War game at the Palestra. Definitely the biggest non-conference game on both schools' basketball schedules. (It's halftime and St. Joe's is leading 45-26). A win for Nova gives them a recored in consecutive Big Five wins and a fourth consecutive win over St. Joe's. Unfortunately, St. Joe's is hot right now and Nova...well quite frankly they are not.

It's been a tough year to be a Villanova fan. On Saturday, they lost to Syracuse at the Wachovia center. We were at the game. I went to CVS afterwards still wearing my Nova gear. A woman in the store stopped me asked me - with a rather sad look on her face - "Were you there?... At the Game?". The look, her question... about said it all. Like I said, it's been a tough year. But seriously, it's a young team. I haven't given up hope that they will gel at just the right time and ..... and if not, there really is next year! :)

Speaking of gelling at the right time. How about those Giants? I've spoken to a few who were disappointed...thought the game boring. Personally, I was glued to the TV. The Giants defense was amazing and Eli Manning pulling away from an apparent sack in the 4th quarter and that catch.....? Well anyway, I enjoyed the game immensely. Good thing, too, because the commercials really weren't all that exciting now were they?

My first call after the game was to my Dad to check on my Unlce Philip a diehard Giants fan. His heart isn't what it used to be... but Dad said he was doing just fine. He also said that my Aunt and her husband were taping the game to watch together later so we couldn't call them as they might not know how it ended yet. They actually live on Long Island though.. I find it hard to believe that they won't know within seconds of getting anywhere near home.

It's 56-34.......

If you've never been to a game at the Palestra you've missed something that can't be understood......... unless you go to one. Things have changed over the years - like you can't throw streamers out after the first basket anymore - and the roll out banners are more limited - but the atmosphere is something else. Two teams; almost 50-50 split in fans; bands; noise beyond safe levels; hard hard bleachers that no one hardly sits on anyway; .........and anything goes! Two years ago for my birthday, Dave got us tickets to St. Joe's - Nova. It was the 50th year of the Big Five rivalry. Both teams were 3-0 coming into the game. Winner took the series championship for the year! A roll out banner from passed down the St. Joe's student section read "One small step for Allen Ray, one big loss for Villanova" (referring of course to a controversial call in Nova's loss to North Carolina the year before). Anyway, this was Dave's first Palestra game. He said it was all I had built it up to be and more.

65-42 halfway through the second half.....