Category: college basketball 365

…In the Clubhouse turn…and beginning the Stretch Run.

On By @gtmoblueIn college basketball 365
“This is It.  Make no mistake where you are…
your back’s to the Corner”.


Courtesy Creighton Athletics
Ahh, suddenly February.  Yes, the month of Freedom Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, Black History Month, Lincoln’s Birthday, Ice Cream for Breaky Day, Lame Duck Day, Boy Scout Day, Weathermans Day, Clean your Computer Day, Ash Wednesday, Mardi Gras, Creighton Run Month, Kite Flying Day, Superbowl Sunday, Chinese  New Year, and much more…

February.  College basketball’s month for sifting out the wheat from the chaff. The month to measure the mettle of the men.  We are in the Clubhouse Turn and heading into the Stretch Run of the basketball season. 
Oh the excitement, oh the drama, oh the exuberence of the last month of the regular season of hoops. It’s the “put up or shut up” time of the season and such fun.  Now – the limp prognostications of the experts get exposed, the unending babble of the media talking heads gets temporarily silenced as the elites underachieve, and the true cream of the season rises to the top.  
The title lyric comes from the song: “This is it” by Kenny Loggins… a poignant theme for hoops, especially as we enter the stretch of the season.  “you think that maybe it’s over…but you don’t want it to be.  Stand up and Fight…This is it!  The waiting is over!”  The rush of desire, heart, fight, determination, will-to-win…the whole rush of emotions and efforts.  This it it!  Go take your victories, claim your goals, win your championships.  Men…”for once in your life, here’s your miracle.  Stand up and Fight! – This is It!”  “No one can tell what the future holds…This it It!”  This season is an oyster and You are its’ pearl!  Stand up and Fight!
The Stretch run and our Creighton Run start tonight, in Philadelphia.  I can’t think of a more fitting beginning than taking out league-leading Villanova, at their house. Stand up and Fight!  This is IT! 


Take another look at that uni tonight before you put it on…It represents a long, storied, and proud history, tradition, and legacy at Creighton.  It ain’t just about you…it’s about a great little university that can do.  A city that will bust it’s gut for you.  It’s about alums and friends and fans the world over – who tune in to see or listen to your games – not just the folks in the CLink seats.  Folks who work overseas, military folk worldwide from the U or from the area, alums and fans the world over.  Old men with money, workin’ folks, kids who wanna be like u, people livin’ through your exploits, and many others – all who rise and fall with your seasons. Represent men, represent.  Give ’em sumthin’ to cheer and be proud of.  Give me sumthin’ to talk trash with on the Holyland and other boards 😉 .
Add your chapter to the rich traditions and legacy of Creighton…

Stand up and Fight!

The season ain’t over.  It ain’t over til the confetti falls in April.  It ain’t over til the fat lady sings…Represent men.


Go forth and win Jays, just Win. 
The waiting is over…Go Big Blue!

This is a Test…

On By @gtmoblueIn college basketball 365

                                                  
When the going gets tough, The tough get going
 When the going gets rough, The tough get rough

– Billy Ocean


Emergency Broadcast System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a test of the emergency Creighton broadcast system.  This is only a test. Had this been an actual emergency, the emergency broadcasters in your area would post instructions on this screen.  This is a test.   


Some of the greatest teams CU has ever fielded were teams with lesser win totals and were without “name” players back in the day (’60’s, ’70’s, and a few of the DA team of the early 2000’s).  Teams that were mired in with average or below records come February.  Because they were either independent (60’s and 70’s) or in the Valley (2000’s) most pundits and media never gave them a 2nd look.  

Those past teams were not in a big, well known conference. They only played on the tube a few times a year. They only had a paltry 4-6K regular diehards in the stands. They didn’t get new uni’s every year. They had varying levels of support from university administration and the AD’s of those times. They had the “old gym” (Vinardi).  

However, these teams had heart, grit, determination, and never quit. They “bought in” to the given team concepts of that time, buckled up their armor and resolve, and beat the odds, beat their opponents, beat the know-it-all media and experts, and won.  They knew who they were – Creighton – and fought like hell to uphold our traditions as a “tough out” and an “overachieving” team. 

Whether as the independent “Traveling Bluejays” or as DA’s MVC Bluejays, they made themselves a factor nationally.  Now these were only 21-24 win seasons, but it is in the “how” they did it, not the mere numbers.  Wins are great, but they do not measure heart, they do not measure will-to-win, they do not measure a teams resolve.  How you play is just as important – refusing to lose, going on February “Creighton Runs”, and if necessary in the MVC Era – stealing the “Creighton Invitational Tourney” in St Louis.  They were tough and did whatever it took to come out winners, come out champions.  

THIS IS A TEST! This is a gut check to see what u got…to see what u r made of. A check to see if u have some intestinal fortitude, juevos grande, guts, heart, will-to-win?  The season is halfway done, with 10 and up to 19 games left, depending on you.  

What u got Bluejays, what u got?

Now is the time for the team to come together and resolve to fight to the finish line.  Now is the time for the team and coaches to pull out all the stops and to give 125% effort, adjust gameplans as needed, play the guys sitting in the doghouse, whatever it takes-to win.  

“When the going gets tough…the tough get going; 
when the going gets rough… the tough get rough…“

Get Rough Blue…get going!

luv ya,
gtmo