SJU recap forthcoming...

Just a quick note to let the Loyal Readers know I'll have the SJU recap up later today...Litos has MPH work that often takes precedence. Today, I've got KMAM (Keep My Ass Married) work to take care of. We're hosting Christmas Eve and my house now looks like it is occupied by a blogger who writes from his recliner. So give me a few hours to stay out of divorce court and stop back later!

If a Final Four berth is worth $677 million, then a brief glance at my backward hat has to be worth at least twice that

Hey! That's my hat!

Really, Hofstra ought to be paying me. I mean, all the cash they spend on finding new ways to promote the school worldwide and I’m giving the school billions of dollars of free publicity all over the Internet—on my own time and my own dime, to boot.

I’m not even talking about this blog. There’s no real brand awareness in here for the ol’ U, not with my stubbornly nostalgic ways running counter to the new logos and new nicknames “bestowed” upon us after so many cram sessions with off-campus “marketing geniuses.”

I’m talking about the video linked above. That’s a well-worn (I can hear my wife right now: “IT’S NOT WELL-WORN! IT’S DISGUSTING!!!”) Hofstra hat perched atop my melon that’s bobbing up and down as Extreme performs “More Than Words” at Toad’s Place in Connecticut last Saturday night.

I didn’t go to the concert expecting to become an Internet superstar promoting Hofstra to a global audience. I went because I’ve been an Extreme fan for 20 years (egads, I am old) and I have a soft spot for a band that did the nearly impossible by making me look prescient. As you know if you read either of my blogs, my crystal ball is murky at best. For example, there was this one time I declared the Red Sox were superior to the Yankees in almost every way. Yeah. Not so much.

So I took great—wait for it!!!—pride back in 1991, when Loyal Reader Matt and I were already wearing out our cassette versions of Extreme II: Pornograffiti long before the gentle acoustic ballad “More Than Words” topped the charts the week of our prom.

(Parenthetical tangent: Pornograffiti eventually went top 10 on the strength of “More Than Words” and the folksy follow-up “Hole Hearted,” and I always wondered what people who bought the album because of those songs thought when they were presented with a profanity-laden, hard rock concept album about America’s obsession with sex.)

Let me make it clear that I don’t usually surf YouTube looking for myself. But I saw clips from the show on YouTube and the wife wanted to see “More Than Words.” About 20 seconds in, I yelled “THERE’S MY HAT!!!” You get your best glimpse at me exactly one minute in, but the back of my head comes in and out of view multiple times throughout the clip.

That’s multiple plugs for Hofstra, you know. Multiple VALUABLE plugs for Hofstra.

The video has been viewed 251 views. We only accounted for, err, seven of them. So that’s 244 people seeing my hat a bunch of times. Two hundred forty-four people going, hey, this song is awesome, but that dude’s well-worn hat is even more awesome. Two hundred forty-four people deciding, hey, Hofstra, that sounds like an interesting place to go to college. Two hundred forty-four people that decide to drop what they’re doing and apply to Hofstra.

Two hundred forty-four people that are accepted at Hofstra equals…holy crap, roughly $7,320,000!!! The least Hofstra can do is comp my season tickets.

I probably look foolish and I know I did things I’m not really proud of—like turn my hat backwards and become That Guy who snaps photos with his cell phone, even though he sucks at photography and has a phone that takes crappy pictures—but I don’t care. This was to concerts what the JMU game was to sports—a seemingly normal night that turns special and reminds us why we attend games and concerts.

For every 10 or 20 or 30 games or concerts in which nothing remarkable happens and everything unfolds just as projected or as planned on the set list, there’s the one night where magic occurs, where the headliner is at the very top of its game and rides the euphoria and adrenaline of an appreciative crowd into a performance that’s as unforgettable for the participants as it is for the audience.

The JMU game wasn’t our Woodstock and the Extreme concert won’t be a generational touchstone either. But like those who only like big-time college hoops, those who only attend arena shows and/or dismiss Extreme because of their two lite FM hits have no idea what they missed nine days ago.

Anyway, time to take off my rock critic hat and put back on the well-worn and world-famous Hofstra hat. Here are a few other bits and bytes completely unrelated to Extreme or any other ‘90s musical act.

—It’s the second Monday of August (thanks, Captain Obvious!), which to me has always marked the beginning of summer’s last lap. From 1993 through 1995, this was the part of the summer in which the days on the calendar could not disappear fast enough. The approaching first day of school, such a dreadful concept as a youngster, filled me with an almost indescribable anticipation as a collegian. I couldn’t wait to get back to campus to hang out with the guys (and eventually The Girl, awww hi honey!), immerse myself in sports coverage at The Chronicle and, occasionally, attend class.

The feelings come mid-August aren’t quite the same as an adult, of course, but the second season of Defiantly Dutch has me pretty stoked. Camp opened yesterday for the Flying Dutchmen football team, whose season opener against suddenly fierce rival Stony Brook is a mere 26 days away. The first official athletic contest of the 2009-10 school year is even closer: The Flying Dutchwomen volleyball team hosts Rhode Island in the first round of the ASICS Invitational Aug. 28.

I’ve got a lot of things planned for the start of the school year (first day of classes is Sept. 2…class beginning in September? Next thing you know Hofstra will start the spring semester more than a week before the Super Bowl), some of which I may even implement! Seriously, stick around, as I hope to make this an even better destination for Hofstra fans this year. And I’ve got some fun non-sports programming planned, too, that should really appeal to those of us who came of age, so to speak, at Hofstra in the early ‘90s.

—Speaking of the football team, part one: The Dutchmen were picked to finish fourth in the CAA North in the coaches poll unveiled during CAA Media Day July 29. Linebacker Luke Bonus, who was earlier selected to the Sports Network’s preseason All-America team, was the only Hofstra player selected to the preseason all-CAA team.

For what it’s worth, the Dutchmen were picked third in the CAA North and received a first-place vote last year.

Phil Steele’s College Football Preview projects a far better season for the Dutchmen, who are ranked seventh in the country in the annual magazine. That…that would be pretty good.

—Speaking of the football team, part two: A couple corrections to make in our last entry about Steve McNair and the ’94 Flying Dutchmen. The Dutchmen beat New Hampshire 28-6 that season, not 24-7. And the Dutchmen have made five trips to the Division I-AA playoffs, not four. Thanks to football alum Uncle Buck at the CAAZone for pointing out the errors.

—I leave you with this and without comment: Jim Larranaga tweeted the following after a brawl-filled game between Italy and Canada: “Players need to understand there is no excuse for this kind of behavior & poor sportsmanship. Compete hard – yes. But control your emotions.”

—I lied. I’m going to channel Mean Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler. Really, Jim? You’re going to preach how there’s no excuse for poor behavior and sportsmanship on the court, Jim? Really? After 2006, Jim? Really? Are you trying to be ironic? Cripes.

—I will leave you with this, part two: As I mentioned last week, I’m hoping to do a season-long retrospect of the 1994 Flying Dutchmen football team this fall. If you were a member of that team in any capacity—player, coach, student manager, administrator—I want to hear your stories and recollections of that memorable season. Email me here at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com, find me on Facebook at facebook.com/jerrybeach73 or connect with me at Twitter at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch. Thanks!

Bits and Bytes: Saturday

Can’t say this enough: If you’re not clicking repeatedly on Litos’ tournament blog, you’re missing out on some great stuff. The above clip contains footage shot before, during and after the Flying Dutchmen’s win over UNC-Wilmington. It’s almost as good as being there and he’s really revved up for today, so check back all afternoon and evening.

Give the Dutchmen’s win another look by reading the game stories from the Richmond Times-Dispatch (as well as a notebook that features items on both the Dutchmen and Old Dominion), the Daily News and Newsday. Tom Pecora also appeared after the game with Mike Francesa, who, to the surprise of no one, could not be bothered to figure out what Charles Jenkins did before Pecora called in.

Pecora hints he believes the Dutchmen need to win today to give themselves a decent chance of earning an NIT bid, should, of course, they not win the tournament and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. I still think today’s game is an elimination game for the NIT—no way a 32-team tournament takes a fourth- or fifth-place team from the CAA that didn’t get out of its own quarterfinals—but that whomever wins still has to get to the final to have a realistic shot.

I’m pretty sure the world spun off its axis sometime yesterday, because my mother-in-law is now contributing to the blog. She told us she read on The Sports Network that the Dutchmen were predicted to win 79-64. I told her that was crazy, she must have seen a box score from late in the second half. But it appears she was right. Of course let’s not get carried away pounding The Sports Network on its back. That’s the website, after all, that picked the Dutchmen to finish last in the CAA way back in November.

As for March, maybe it’s a good thing Hofstra didn’t finish sixth after all. That Towson thrashing of Drexel looked real familiar. And hey, Drexel, thanks for nuking my CAA tournament bracket! I felt pretty good two games in, not so much after four games. You know, a lot like I feel on the first day of the NCAA Tournament.

And don’t forget this afternoon’s potentially epic Old Dominion game is on MSG2-Plus, which I’ve never heard of and which apparently Cablevision customers don’t get (I’m pretty sure that’s ironic, in that it’s not ironic at all, since Cablevision runs MSG) However, it appears as if the game will be carried on Channel 14, otherwise known as the Channel That Killed TV Guide. Seriously, when was the last time you opened up a TV Guide or checked out the TV listings in the local paper?

Anyway…lastly, stop by for another story around noon or so, this one in which Darius Burton talks about the task of winning at least three games in as many days in a postseason tournament. Burton, of course, was the point guard on the 1993-94 Dutchmen, who won the ECC Tournament by winning three games in three days—a feat unmatched by a Hofstra team before or since.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com. And join the Defiantly Dutch group at Facebook today!

The calm before (and after) the storm

Hope you took advantage of the snow day Monday with burgers at USA!

Just a quick note to request that you travel to the upper right of this here page and click, early and often, on Litos' sure-to-be-excellent blog about the CAA Tournament. He's already started and will be a busy man over the next few days.

I'm biased, but I find it hard to believe there's someone out there with a better bead (or is it beat?) on a conference than Mike, and it's awesome that the CAA is providing him (and, by extension, us) an all-access pass. Just another of the million reasons why it's better to follow mid-major hoops than the BCS bullies.

Also, stop by here over the next two days as we rev into high gear with previews, features and what not. We got a chance to talk to Tom Pecora and Charles Jenkins yesterday and those stories will be up tomorrow. Come Friday, I'll have something about the challenges of playing four games in four days as well as my sure-to-be-inaccurate predictions for the tournament. And maybe I'll find a way to reference the 15th anniversary of the ECC championship, too.

No idea yet where we'll be for the tournament, but one way or the other, we'll have weekend posts as long as the Dutchmen are playing. So stop back and check us out.

Litos was right (well, sorta...)

Apparently I'm allowed to use this photo once per month.

Sorry for the sporadic posting the last few days, we're out of state and it's a bit hectic. Got a couple posts today, including a Georgia State preview that will hopefully be worth the wait. Stop by this afternoon for those posts. As Beavis would say: Thank you drive through.

Coming August 25

Check back August 25 for the debut of Defiantly Dutch.

Old-school Hofstra pride. Fresh analysis.