Krunch Time at the CAA Tournament - Day Two

10:08AM - Krunch Time is beginning as I type this. Kind of a hassle to start the morning. Apparently, the young lady that works the front desk at the Sheraton West Broad Street doesn't know the difference between UNCW and Towson. I called yesterday to make sure it was the correct hotel, and was assured that the Seahawks were staying there. I get there this morning to pick Mike Vaccaro up and it's the wrong hotel.

So...I hit the road, trying to find the Sheraton - Park South. I found it...and gas at $2.08 a gallon. Next Media will be happy about that! More to come!
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1:17PM - I thought the show went pretty well. Thanks to Mike Vaccaro, Rob Washburn, Joe Browning, Rob Brickles, and Robert Metzger for joining me at various parts of the show.

I was talking about it on-air, man the Drexel Cheerleaders and Dance Team are nice to look at. Go look at the photos on am630.net when you get a chance.

I have to say that I'm extremely impressed with the renovations to the Richmond Coliseum. It's been a few years since I've been here, but the work they've done on the building is awesome. Skyboxes, new seats, a way to keep it from smelling like elephant urine, they've really outdone themselves here with the Coliseum.

As I type this, Drexel leads Delaware, 28-27. UNCW plays the winner tomorrow at noon. If whoever wins this game plays this poorly tomorrow, the Hawks won't have anything to worry about. More to come later.
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2:02PM - This has turned out to be a pretty good game. Less than a minute, big three pointer by Delaware, and they're up 51-49 with 34 seconds left. The good part is that both teams are beating the crap out of each other, so whoever wins will be good and tired for their game against UNCW tomorrow.

Another timeout. That's the only thing I hate about close, late games. The time outs. It really kinda kills the momentum and excitement for me. At least we have good tunes to listen to here in the coliseum, however. If you check out the audio section, I have an interview with George and Neil, who are kind of in charge of the off-time music here in the building. Interesting stuff.

Okay, so they've come out of the time out. Drexel needs a quick one and they miss. Delaware with the rebound and a two point lead, this will likely be the ballgame. Bruiser looks mad. Free throw time.

Oh, but there's a miss. Drexel still has a chance. One more FT and Delaware goes up by 3 with 14.5 left. Like I said, good game. Another time out. Damn time outs.

Not quite sure what's going on over near the scorers table, but it looks like Bruiser Flint is close to getting T'ed up. Way to go, Bruiser. Kill your team's chance in this game.

The referees are conversing over near the baseline. Doesn't look like a T will be called, but Bruiser better keep his mouth shut.

Well, here's what Bruiser was mad at. Delaware should've had one and one, but the refs administered it as a two-shot foul. I think Delaware is going to get possession, based on the arrow. Way to go, refs. He made his fouls shot. 52-49.

Oh, wow. Mason with a shot to tie but misses. No call. Game over. Delaware wins and will face the Seahawks tomorrow. More later.
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3:12PM - Finally got the website updated. I put pictures of the postgame press conference, as well as audio. Man, Bruiser was mad! Apparently, the scorers table did not tell the referee's that the scoreboard had the wrong number of team fouls for Drexel. Delaware was on the line, shooting two when it should have been one and one. Bruiser seemed to take it in stride though. He said he was used to outcomes like this.

Right now, we have James Madison and Northeastern going at it. There's approximately 3 people here rooting on Northeastern, from what I can tell. I suppose you could say they have about 20 people, if you count the guys on the team and the coaches. Jose-Juan Barea is fun to watch though.

Renowned sportswriter John Feinstein just arrived. I'll try to get an interview with him at some point this weekend. I mean...he's been on our station once...he should remember me. (Yeah, right!)
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3:36PM - It's halftime. James Madison leading Northeastern, 28-26. I walked back to the media working area and John Feinstein is interviewing Tom Yeager, the commissioner of the CAA. I'll attempt my interview with him a little later.

It's kind of amusing, however. A writer like Feinstein walks in and everyone in the media room just stops and stares at him. He is truly a legend in the craft of writing.
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4:05PM - So much for the close game. With 10:42 left, Northeastern is leading 56-36. Yeah...JMU realized they were JMU and Northeastern started playing the way they are capable of. All 4 Northeastern fans in the building are going nuts. It's really quite the site.
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5:38PM - Well, the 4 Northeastern fans will be tearing up the town tonight. They move on to the next round to face Old Dominion. Jose-Juan Barea went off in the 2nd half. Great game for him.

The food in the media room was not bad. Meat loaf, with potatoes and carrots. The meatloaf had an interesting mushroom flavored sauce for it.

I have to say this. Towson's pep band is among the best I've ever heard. Ever. They are DAMN good.

Getting ready for Towson - Georgia State as I type this. Pat Kennedy will have a hobbling Gary Neal in there, trying to stop the Panthers. Should be a doozie.
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6:35PM - Pretty tight game again so far. All three games have been close in the first half at least. I think this one may stay close though, as both teams seem like they are evenly matched. With 4:11 to go, Georgia State has a 29-22 lead.

I was talking to a guy that works at the ESPN affiliate in Richmond. They're carrying the entire CAA Tournament on their station. I told him they should syndicate so that WMFD could pick up the broadcast. Devious, aren't we?
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7:05PM - Second half is underway here at the Coliseum. Georgia State went on a bit of a run and now leads 44-30.

I just had the opportunity to interview one of my all-time favorite Tar Heels, Scott Cherry. Scott is an assistant coach for George Mason now. I'm in the process of posting that interview up on our website, so check back in a few minutes and it should be there. Of course, I had to sneak in a few UNC questions. The minidisc ran out during the interview, so it kind of ends abrubtly. Sorry.
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7:53PM - Well, Towson made it close but this one's basically over. GSU leads 71-64, 28 seconds left, and we're in free throw mode. I threw a couple more pictures up in the photos section, so be sure to check that out.

Towson's team is decent, and I think Pat Kennedy will eventually get it turned around there. GSU, in the meantime, is going to pick up a very nice win here. They didn't have the greatest of seasons, but this win, I'm sure, will help validate their season a bit. Postgame pictures and audio from this one to come.
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8:44PM - I was extremely impressed with Georgia State's players in the postgame presser. I asked the kids if they were going to enjoy the possible role of the spoiler tomorrow against George Mason. Both kids seemed very excited about that possibility. You'll have to check out the audio from it. The link to it is on the main CAA Tournament page on am630.net.

VCU and William and Mary are playing right now. I'll tell you what...supposedly the campus of W&M is about 40 miles away from here. My question is this. Are there any roads between Richmond and Williamsburg? If so, why haven't the W&M fans used it? There is almost NOBODY here rooting for the Tribe. This is very much a VCU building right now. 12 minutes left. Game tied at 12.
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9:10PM - With the first half almost over, VCU leads Bill & Mary, 30-24. VCU is playing down to the level of the competition, for sure, and the fans are getting restless about it.

Here's another thing I noticed. VCU's dance team is STILL incredibly hot. I'll try to get a picture up in the photo section sometime soon. That's one thing I remember about them the last time I was at a CAA Tournament.

The interview with John Feinstein never happened today. Hopefully, he'll be around tomorrow and I'll get a chance to talk to him.

I'm trying to decide whether or not to head to the Embassy Suites after this. That's where all the Seahawk Club folks are at, partying the night away, no doubt. I'm kind of tired now and sort of would like to just got back to the hotel room after this game, but then again, how often am I at the CAA Tournament?

At the half, it's VCU 32, W&M 27. Closer than I thought it would be. Stay tuned...
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9:34PM - I just saw the VCU Dance Team perform at halftime. Wow!! Check out the photos to see what I'm talking about.

16:40 left in the game, VCU leads 34-31.
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10:03PM - Ladies and gentlemen, we may have an upset on our hands. William & Mary is matching VCU an eye for an eye, and right now, they lead 55-52 with 4:12 left in the ballgame.

Credit W&M and coach Shaver for having an excellent gameplan in this one. They are doing what they want and VCU has no answers. You can tell the Rams are starting to get frustrated. This would be a huge shocker, considering the fact that VCU is playing about 5 minutes down the road from campus.
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10:16PM - Wow. For the first time all day, I really feel like I'm a college hoops game. This crowd is REALLY into it. VCU is up 3 with less than a minute left. Almost 7-thousand strong here right now, mostly cheering for the Rams.

Tribe just got a quick 2-pointer to cut the lead to one and VCU calls a T.O. Now there's 24.8 seconds left. Expect the quick foul. Knowing VCU though, it wouldn't surprise me if they threw the ball away here, late. They've been rather sloppy tonight.

Good move by W&M, putting a man on the inbounder. VCU got the ball in anyway, and the Tribe commit the foul with 19.4 left. Big free throws for VCU.

First one? Good. Second one? Good as well. W&M needs a three here, I think. Not enough time to get another 2. They shoot a 3 and miss, ball goes out of bounds, W&M ball. They try another and miss...that's the ballgame. VCU wins...err...I mean survives. More later.
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10:41PM - I'm in the process of putting up the postgame audio from VCU, but apparently, there was some sort of altercation between VCU coach Jeff Capel and another party after the game. Just a bit of jawing back and forth, nothing serious, but Capel makes mention of it in his postgame. I'm going to put this stuff up on the web and get on out of here. More from the hotel room, if I can keep my eyes open.