The End of a Run

BEVERLY HILLS (MI) -- A “run” in pick-up hoops parlance is a regular game, held at the same time, with a semi-set cast of characters. For almost 20 years I was part of a lunch-time run at the Birmingham YMCA. My intro to the game there came in 1991 when I joined CNN and I was able to play on a regular basis by scheduling sales calls in the area immediately before or after lunch. At that point in time, the game had been going on for over 15 years, with mostly the same rotating group of guys showing up on any given day.

The Y game had its own set of unique rules. The basketball court at the Birmingham Y is not even close to being full size and consequently newbies would inadvertently step out of bounds all the time. So there was the “newbie rule”: if it was your first time there, your team was allowed to keep possession of the ball when you stepped out. Since the court was short, there was no “over and back.” In an effort to reduce arguments (and because they are so subjective), traveling calls did not result in a turnover. Unlike most playground games, “continuation” was allowed. We didn’t play “winners.” Since we were all on lunch break and we all wanted to play, a team could win two games in a row and then they had to sit for one. Squads were chosen by the first five guys who arrived in the gym facing the next five guys. Defining what constituted “arriving in the gym” was always up for debate. Was it dressed and ready to run or did walking thru on the way to the locker room qualify? All of these “rules” which were established long before I had arrived on the scene were a constant source of strife between the younger guys and the veteran old guard.

As you can imagine, when you play with and against the same crew all of the time you learn a lot about your opponents’ game: who passes the ball and who doesn’t; which guys are all right hand; those who defend and those who pretend; which player is gonna go psycho if you foul him and who will just take the ball out. Over the course of almost two decades I played with a bunch of really good dudes who I got to know pretty well (including Ryan Perryman) and with the occasional tool box who you simply learned to avoid.

One of my biggest regrets in taking an inside sales job in Livonia three years ago was that I would no longer be able to run during lunch-time at the Y. I had been back once or twice, but when I went there on New Year’s Day it hit me -- the lunch-time run at the Birmingham Y was no more. In looking at the schedule, they only have the time slot reserved for adult men’s basketball on Monday-Wednesday-Friday. I ran into my old friend Brent and he said that they really only play there on Wednesday and the other days they run at the Royal Oak Y. In years past the gym would have had up to 30 guys there to play; on this day there were a couple of HS kids and a bunch of dads there with their youngsters running all over the place.

Just sitting here I can think of three or four dozen guys that I enjoyed playing with over the years on a regular basis. They got old, hurt, moved or just simply stopped playing. The younger guys took over, changed the “rules” and then simply moved the game to another gym. Like anything else, all good things must end. I miss them. I miss the run.

Here’s what’s happenin’ elsewhere:

-- Pickin’ Splinters predicts that Vee Sanford will be one of five guys who will impact the Atlantic 10 race:

http://www.pickinsplinters.com/2012/...antic-10-race/

-- Vee also gets some favorable ink courtesy of Ian Nolan at College Chalk Talk:

http://collegechalktalk.com/?p=4864

-- Buy, sell or hold? Seth Davis doesn’t include UD in his list of teams and investment advice, but what would you do with this years’ edition of the Flyers?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/col...&eref=sihp#all

-- In case you missed it, this spreadsheet created by someone at the Georgetown MB clearly shows that the University of Dayton belongs in the newly-constituted Big East:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...mc&output=html

-- Some New Year’s resolutions for college hoops, courtesy of Matt Norlander at CBS Sports:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...-hoops-in-2013

-- The ratings for the A-10’s new TV partner the NBC Sports Network have been, in a word, abysmal:

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/40835384/

UD will appear on NSN twice this season, including the home game vs. Butler next weekend.

-- It’s mix tape time!

Dayshon “Scoochie” Smith:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUCW0...ure=youtu.be&a

Kyle Davis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py8u_...ature=youtu.be

Kendall Pollard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtA49o6JRwg

KP and Simeon will square off vs. Montverde Academy featuring Dayton native and UD recruiting prospect Justin Bibb at 6:00 PM tonight on ESPN 2.

-- LaDontae “Buckets” Henton is putting up some numbers at Providence, including a game where he tallied 37 in a losing cause vs. Brown:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mens-colle...adontae-henton

-- Brandan Kearney, who was Percy Gibson’s teammate at Detroit Southeastern HS is transferring from MSU:

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-bas...-will-transfer

-- The Sporting News list of the Top 75 NCAA players of all time doesn’t include any Flyers, but does have some guys that UD has faced over the years:

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-bas...bill-russell/#

-- The Sports illustrated list of the top 100 sports pictures of all time:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/spe...reatestphotos/

The most glaring omission:

https://www.google.com/search?q=bobb...w=1280&bih=664

Plus, two pictures of Joe Willie Namath? Really?

-- “Toughness” by Jay Bilas will come out in book form on March 5th, just in time for March Madness. Here is the article by Jay that started it all:

http://www.mdbball.com/Documents/Tou...byJayBilas.pdf

-- Over at The DDN, Arch remembers Dayton racing legend “Salt” Walther who died recently at the age of 65:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs...ad_at_65.html/

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: swampy@udpride.com