I was able to take in New Year’s with my family at Epcot.  The fireworks and presentation was amazing.  Disney is definitely Florida’s Time Square.  It was packed, crowded, and the beer prices were a bit expensive.  The only things that angered me (and usually I’m a lot more angry) was the quality of the food and that Yuengling, America’s oldest brewery, was served not in the American pavilion but at the Chinese one.

Returning to my classroom on Monday, I pleasantly found that my hardwood floors had been redone over break.  Now I just need a basketball hoop for the front of my room!

The Bearcats have also been ringing the New Year in style.  After losing two games on the left coast against St. Mary’s and Stephen F. Austin, Bearcats won at home against A10 member LaSalle 66-61 and opened up conference play with a victory at Albany last night 62-57.  Lukusa was a point away from a double-double and Camara exploded for 24 points, including 5 Threes.  Broadus has recruited some talent even at the bottom of his roster, and it looks like Macon is doing a good job in the interim.  It will be interesting to see how everything plays out in conference play and in the aftermath of the Kaye report this season.

Albany Recaps:

Albany Times Union:

• Albany Times-Union: “The Binghamton basketball team, plagued by turmoil in the off-season, wasn’t the group that left SEFCU Arena with serious questions about itself on Thursday night.  It was UAlbany doing the soul-searching with doubts about its own leadership and toughness after losing to the Bearcats 62-57 in the America East Conference opener for both teams before a crowd of 2,458.”
• AP: “Moussa Camara scored a career-high 24 points and Greer Wright had 11 points and 11 rebounds as Binghamton held off Albany (N.Y.) 62-57 in the America East Conference opener for both teams Thursday night.  Binghamton (6-10) took control with a 26-4 run in the first half, keyed by four 3-pointers by Camara, and led 36-25 at halftime.”
• Troy Record: “Despite losing six players and their head coach after an offseason of turmoil, the defending league champion Bearcats (1-0, 6-10) proved that they would not just roll over.  ‘We’re the champs,’ said Binghamton junior Moussa Camara. ‘That’s how we play and that’s the way we think.’  Despite being the defending champions, the Bearcats were picked to finish last in the nine-team conference.  ‘I haven’t talked to these guys, but I think that they take that to heart,’ said Binghamton interim coach Mark Macon said. ‘We have a great bunch of character guys. Nobody likes to be spat on or stepped on, that’s any creature.’”
• Press & Sun Bulletin: “Camara was unstoppable early against Albany. He made his first five shots, four from 3-point range, scoring 14 points in a 26-4 first-half run that turned a 7-2 deficit into a 28-11 BU lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half. His final 3-pointer came midway through the second half, capping an 11-3 run to put BU up, 51-36, after Albany had drawn within seven midway through the half.  ‘It was bad, my confidence was not there,’ Camara said of his recent shooting struggles. ‘But I told myself, this was a fresh start. It’s conference time, a new beginning.’”

I needed some basketball, so last night I decided to stop by my school’s girls team. It was a great game. My team has two very good players, a couple serviceable role players, and a couple girls that could at least play defense. There is not much space from the baseline to the gym wall so inbounding was a big issue and pressure created a lot  of turnovers. If there was a Guinness record for jump-ball calls, this game might have come close.

The really difference in the game was that our two star players made our less talented players better.  The other team had the best player on the court, but she rarely got her teammates involved.  I loved the teamwork and heart that they showed.  The game came down to the last second and we pulled off a victory.  The ref after the game said that it was like MSG in there (probably around 25 people at the game but the sounds carried).

I also hated the opposing coach.  He yelled and berated the players.  He also made poor fashion choices, wearing a polo that matched his players jerseys and a black fannypack circa 1994. 

Anyway, I out to see the boy’s game this afternoon.  Hopefully, it is equally as entertaining.

• Mark Macon got a raise.  He was make a little under 60k before the raise.  No one knows how much it is.
• My favorite hoops magazine Slam has an online feature on walk-on Mike Horn: “Unlike some of his high school teammates who ended up answering the call from DIII recruiters, Horn opted for academics over athletics. He headed off to DI Binghamton, last season’s America East Conference champions, knowing his chances of ever playing organized ball again were one in a million. Defying the odds, Horn recalls ‘a series of unfortunate events for the school, but a great opportunity for me.’”