Mar 25, 2017
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Ilia Malinin's Olympic story was a shock. The coincidence of Olympian failure and Ash Wednesday has happened before, and I believe that the falls touch us more deeply than the triumphs, summoning us to self-compassion in the dust and ashes of our own defeats.
Ash Wednesday Isn't for Heroes
#AshWednesday isn't for heroes. Some Lenten thoughts after the snowboarding halfpipe. #WinterOlympics.
Giovanni Bellini, Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels (1460)
Yesterday’s come-from-behind Olympic victory by Shaun White in the snowboarding halfpipe was both thrilling drama and breathtaking athleticism. Following a failure to medal in the last Olympics and a serious injury in competition just four months ago, his triumph fit the classic pattern of the hero’s journey: an arduous path “through…
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Augustana’s Dan Jansen Hits the Game-Winning 3-Pointer at the Buzzer
What a game!
Northwest Missouri State’s Justin Pitts put on a show in the second half, hitting five 3-pointers and going for 22 points in the second half alone. This included a steal and bucket with less than 30 seconds to go to give NWMS a 77-76 lead.
Auggie called time out. Casey Schilling got the ball, and tried to drive with a few second remaining. NWMS played good help defense, and Schilling kicked it back out to the 6′9″ Jansen, who promptly hit a fade-away three-pointer as the buzzer sounded for the 79-77 win.
Just a heck of a game between two very good, well-coached, NCAA Division II teams. Jansen finished with 23 points and went 4-4 on 3′s. Schilling finished with 16 points & 13 rebounds.
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Minutes after the game, a roar came from the crowd.....which apparently came when Schilling proposed to his girlfriend. Based on the roar, I’m presuming that she said “yes”, but I don’t have any verification....
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As a note, Augustana does a really nice job with their broadcasts of these games. Nice work with the play-by-play and color, and nice job with the graphics. Very impressive arena, and tremendous community support. While I have no figures on attendance, it appeared that there were a couple of thousand fans at the game. Impressive.
All Kinds of Updates
In no particular order, here goes.....
* Congratulations to Davenport senior All American Dominez Burnett for breaking the school record for points in a game when he scored 40 points in a 85-78 win at Michigan Dearborn. Here’s the game story: http://albertusfalcons.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/releases/20151113x71yr2
* Albertus Magnus won their first home game of the 2015-16 season, thus running their home winning streak to 58 games, which is the longest active home winning streak at any level of the NCAA. Freshman Shontaey Lovell is off to a heck of a start. In two games (he didn’t start either game), he’s averaged 23 ppg, 17 rpg and is shooting 65% from the field.
* It's very early in the season, but West Liberty has played three NCAA Division II teams, and check out these numbers: The Hilltoppers are 3-0, with an average margin of victory of 47 ppg. They are averaging 116 ppg while shooting over 52% from the field, averaging 27 assists per game and +14.7 in turnover margin (forcing almost 30 turnovers per game).
Senior All American has more points than he has minutes played, and is averaging 28.3 ppg (in just over 27 min. per game) while shooting 66% from the field and 62% on 3's. Freshman point guard David Dennis is averaging 14.7 ppg, 5.7 apg, 5.3 rpg & 3.6 spg in just 24.7 min. per game.It's (obviously) very early in the season, but the Hilltoppers are off to a heck of a start.
* Congratulations to DeSales Coach Scott Coval for reaching the 400-win milestone.
* I’m quite excited about watching the Augustana-NW MO State game tonight through the Augustana website. They do a nice job with their broadcasts, and this is a game between two really good teams. Last season, Augustana entered the NCAA Tournament as the region’s #1 seed, and NW MO State knocked them off. Augustana is the preseason #1 team in the country in NCAA Division II, and got knocked off in the first game of the season in Las Vegas by Washburn (KS). Ironically, both NW MO State and Washburn are both in the same conference, the MIAA. I saw NW MO State play in person last weekend, and they looked really good. Augustana had beaten Iowa (of the Big 10) in an exhibition game the week before getting knocked off by Washburn. This should be a heck of a game, as it features two very good teams. In addition, the game feature three of the better individual players in all of NCAA Division II; NW MO State’s sophomore Justin Pitts and Augustana’s senior duo of Casey Schilling and Dan Jansen.
* Tonight, Travis Grant is in town (Kansas City), and he called to get together. Travis is one of the all-time great small college players, as he played for Kentucky State in the early 70′s. He led his team to three consecutive National Championships (NAIA), and Travis finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in the history of college basketball, at any level, with 4,045 points. (This record has since been broken). He won the Lapchick Award for the top player in all of college basketball, the first small college player to ever win the award. More than 40 years later, Travis still holds the NAIA Tournament records for points in a game, tournament and career.....and field goals in a game, tournament and career. He was a first-round draft pick by the Lakers.
Travis is one of the all-time great small college players.....and he’s one of the all-time nice guys! I look forward to spending time with him while he’s in town...
Dan Jansen winning the gold. Lillehammer, Norway, 1994
Just in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, Conan learns how to speed skate from Dan Jansen in this clip from 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien'.
20 days 'til Sochi and 20 YEARS since the 1994 Lillehammer Games, where Nancy Kerrigan earned silver and Dan Jansen collected his first Olympic gold medal.