It hasn't been the easiest 2+ weeks for Bonnies men's basketball. They lost to the top 3 A10 teams and needed OT to beat Fordham at home-ish in The Bronx. I've said it before, but an OT win over Fordham should be like a soccer draw or a shootout loss in hockey. It should count less than a regular win.
Of course, Duquesne needed overtime to beat Fordham in OT AT HOME, but the DUQs only lost to Dayton by 4 in the house that Sidney Crosby built on Wednesday. By that logic, since our Fordham near-travesty was on the "road," I feel confident we would beat the Fayers in the RC. Bonaventure now looks to stack up some more wins before our first showdown with Dukes coach Keith Dambrot, who, before coaching LeBron in high school, was in the classic sitcom Cheers.
Bona's continues this stretch of playing teams we've already played once with George Mason on Homecoming weekend. When the schedule came out, this didn't feel a typical easy homecoming win, but it's certainly trending that way. They're 2-6 in the conference, with those two wins coming at home to UMass-Amherst and at La Salle. Those were huge wins to avoid the Wednesday Night Pillow Fight, but not exactly terrifying otherwise.
The biggest difference from our first game against the GooMoos is that they will be without Justin Kier, who had a season-ending stress fracture that some fear could be career-ending. Kier had 11 points in 38 minutes against the Bonnies on January 8th. Javon Greene has stepped up in his absence, but the Patriots don't feel the same as they were a month ago.
Again, this is our homecoming game, which is possibly a smaller alumni weekend than 80s Weekend? Either way, expect plenty of alums — boomers and millennial brats — to help the Wolfpack make plenty of noise. I'm in negotiations with Tim Apple to fund a private jet for Petey Buckets's uncle Vinny from DC to Bradford, as we try to get the new SBUnfurled and Friends podcast on Apple.
*extremely Gary Nease commerical voice* SBUnfurled and Friends: The biggest Atlantic 10 podcast to launch in 2020!
Last year's homecoming was, uh, very not good. VCU won by 30, it was somehow even worse than this year's game against those pricks. Before that though, we had won four straight homecoming games. It's a day when The Burton is bumping, Hickey Tavern is hopping and townhouses are like, oh yeah, it's alumni weekend, lol totally forgot.
Normally, in the recaps, we get into the other team's famous alumni, but we're going to stick to our own this time. Shout out to all our basketball alums, but we're gonna mention the ones we have off the court here.
One of the biggest alums in the business world is Ed Bastian. He's the CEO of Delta, the only major U.S. airline that never flew the Boeing 737 MAX, which is also known as the Tom Gola Arena of the skies. He was also in charge of international finances for Frito-Lay in the 2000s, so this guy literally knows how to count his chips.
The Bonnies own the skies in another way: through satellite radio. Jim Meyer, who's the CEO of SiriusXM, is a member of the Brown Cult. I hope you realize that when you don't renew a subscription and just listen to the preview channel, you're literally hurting Bonaventure's bottom line. Howard Stern actually introduced Lester Green to Jim Meyer a couple years ago. That's how Lester became a Bona fan and sparked a civil war.
Neil Cavuto was possibly the most widely known and respected journalist from Bona's until about 2015. Not only is that around when Woj clearly asserted himself as the top NBA reporter, but it's also when Fox News turned its "ruin America" meter up over 9,000. Sure, Cavuto has a small metatarsal-sized spine compared to idiots like Hannity, but I've heard he no longer cares about donating to the school, so screw him.
I'd go into Carl Paladino if my name was GMUCommenter, but it's not. "Mad As Hell Carl" got his law degree from Syracuse, so I blame them for... well, everything that clown has done.
Seven Steps to Victory
Mason's law school is named after Antonin Scalia, so we need to make sure our defense smothers them.
Have Petey's Uncle Vinny serve some magic grits for breakfast.
I know we criticized students for the "you are ugly" chant on the podcast. Might I suggest adding the LSU "Neck" song, but changing the word "Tiger" with "Bonnie." It'll come in handy for the 2022 Final Four in New Orleans.
Tom Brady's cryptic photo will be a distraction to the Patriots.
Five people from Fairfax, Virginia have listened to the SBUnfurled and Friends debut episode, so they're on to our strategy of... *checks notes* smuggling empty bottles and cans to redeem for 10 cents each?
No more Osun injuries. Please. I can't take it any more.
We need more of Welch's great juice he brought in the 2nd half against Fordham.
BonaCommenter's Score on #a102k20: Bonnies 78, Mason 71
Unrealistic 2k Stat of the Game: Carpenter with 8 rebounds (tried playing more with him).
Bonnies A10Talk.com Forum Quote of the Day: [after the game "at" Fordham] - "Okay I take it back. We can talk politics and movies instead of that game."
George Mason Message Board Quote of the Day: "Mason loses by 15. Paulsen apologist trolls say give him another year. Same old story."
I'm hoping for another rerun and another double-digit win over the GooMoos.