Saint Patty's Day musings from an Irishman,

[Cowboy Junky]

Happy Saint Patty's. My girlfriends corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot smells damn delicious.

I don't know if anyone else feels it, but I think we're a team of destiny. We haven't been playing survive and advance the last three games, we've been playing seek and destroy.

In the first round of the MWC tourney Wyoming had to get by Utah State, a team coming into the tourney 6-2 in their last eight games. All the Pokes did was destroy Stew Morrill's going away party to move on to the semi-final against Boise. Boise, 14-1 heading into the tourney with a regular season championship, did all the pre-game talking on the MWCboard to find out that Wyoming wasn't ready to lose quite yet. Wyoming locked down the MWC player of the year to move on to the finals. SDSU, a team with a lot of laughs in the regular season against Wyoming, didn't find much funny in the title game and watched Wyoming "win, win, win, cut down nets."

The NCAA tournament did the exact same thing to Wyoming that they did last time we made the dance. They under seeded us to match us up with another under seeded team from outside the power five conferences. In our last appearance, we got a Gonzaga team that had been in the top 10 all season in the first round. This year we get another pesky top 10 team in Northern Iowa. The NCAA selection committee likes to eliminate small conference threats in the first round.

From advanced scouting I've figured out that Northern Iowa has a defense similar to ours and an offense similar to CSU/Boise. They play a four out 1 in offense. We swept the two best MWC teams that run a four out one in offense: CSU and Boise.

Wyoming traveling basketball fan base is the ace in the hole. We're show ponies. We do well when there's a big event to attend. Wyoming fans have an uncanny ability to get other people not affiliated with Wyoming to become temporary Wyoming fans and join in on the screaming. We don't really care about p.c. and are committed to making the building as hostile as possible. I think the good fans are going to invade Key Arena on Friday.

Get ready Poke fans. It's going to be special.

It has to be. Almost 2000 years ago, an ancestor of mine/carbonpoke/a couple of million other people, kidnapped Saint Patrick to expand his territory. The rest is history.

Go Pokes!!

 

[Cowboy Junky]

I'll post this in it's own post because there is no way to fit it into the above post.

Wyoming has a classy, gifted, coach that is going to retire in Laramie. We're sitting on a pile of some of the best facilities in the country. We've got a loaded recruiting class getting ready to lace them up. When the AA is done, we'll have one of the nicest basketball complexes anywhere. The budget is about to go up substantially. We get to attend a championship banner hanging game. We get to attend a Kenny Sailors statue unveiling game.

It's a damn fine day to be a Poke fan.

 

[stymeman]

it does have a eerie strange same feeling that 2002 did for sure

 

[NowherePoke]

it does have a eerie strange same feeling that 2002 did for sure

I think it is a combination of 1987 and 2002, for example:

1. Just like in 2002, we are playing a highly ranked team from outside the major conferences who appears to be underseeded.

2. Just like in 1987, we won 11 conference games and were the 4 seed in the conference tourney before going on a run in the conference tourney.

3. We were a 12 seed in 87 and an 11 seed in 2002.

It's all coming together!

In all seriousness, it is fantastic to be back in the tournament. Just a great feeling. We play a tough opponent, but that's the whole point. Test yourself on the biggest stage against the best. Happy for our players to have a chance to experience it.

 

[Cowboy Junky]

it does have a eerie strange same feeling that 2002 did for sure

I think it is a combination of 1987 and 2002, for example:

1. Just like in 2002, we are playing a highly ranked team from outside the major conferences who appears to be underseeded.

2. Just like in 1987, we won 11 conference games and were the 4 seed in the conference tourney before going on a run in the conference tourney.

3. We were a 12 seed in 87 and an 11 seed in 2002.

It's all coming together!

In all seriousness, it is fantastic to be back in the tournament. Just a great feeling. We play a tough opponent, but that's the whole point. Test yourself on the biggest stage against the best. Happy for our players to have a chance to experience it.

The other eerily similar feeling I get is one of security. Like the early 80's, when Jim Brandenburg showed up in Laramie, we have a coach that is going to be here for the long haul. Like Jim Brandenburg, he's going to play great defense, he's going to push the pace when available, and he's going to run a developmental program that focuses on teaching kids basketball as well as life skills. There are a lot of similarities to the Jim Brandenburg years.

This program isn't going anywhere. I think the class with Justin James, Conway.....might win multiple MWC titles.

This is going to be like the Brandenburg 80's for the next several years.

Get ready to hang some banners and fill up the trophy case.

 

[CowboyNV]

it does have a eerie strange same feeling that 2002 did for sure

I think it is a combination of 1987 and 2002, for example:

1. Just like in 2002, we are playing a highly ranked team from outside the major conferences who appears to be underseeded.

2. Just like in 1987, we won 11 conference games and were the 4 seed in the conference tourney before going on a run in the conference tourney.

3. We were a 12 seed in 87 and an 11 seed in 2002.

It's all coming together!

In all seriousness, it is fantastic to be back in the tournament. Just a great feeling. We play a tough opponent, but that's the whole point. Test yourself on the biggest stage against the best. Happy for our players to have a chance to experience it.

And in 1987, all the experts said we had no chance against Virginia, yet we overcame. Then we had no shot against UCLA, the 4 seed. Yet we overcame. This is the year the Pokes go back to the Sweet 16.

 

[carbonpoke]

looks like saint patty struck down the aliens from salt lake.

legend has it that saint patty made all the snakes disappear from Ireland.

guess he's still up to his old self.

and this was a joke... don't go "raising a barn" in your Tuesday underware zoobs

 

[carbonpoke]

take me to your leader

lol