Seton Hall//Creighton

[jaxalum]

I will be forever grateful if some good samaritan/the most intersting person alive here, is able to find and post links to these epic victories/full games. I am only able to make it through very small spurts of X games until I feel like I'm going to blow chunks due to a plethora of mental and psychological..... "happenings" is potentially the correct verbiage, as I would not describe my issues as character flaws...i.e. who knew throwing a TV remote at a brick wall from roughly three feet away would cause it to explode into a miniature mushroom cloud made of thousands of "anger pieces", as I have come to name them, or any other non living entity that has felt my wrath. /Eureka! They are "indifference occurrences" and as I'm not hurting anyone, my actions can best be described as "violent non-organic matter reconfigurations".

I've accepted that I'm a complete freak when watching my beloved Muskies (well...not really watching). When we beat Ole Miss and Georgia St in Jacksonville where I live a couple years back, I hung out with the smokers outside, and I don't smoke. And I cant tell you how many times I've utilized Loyd Christmas' move shown below, the "Desensitizer", so as not to hear a score, or the enemys cheering crowd. I think I just had some weird mental break down/possibly a psychotic episode. Any help with those games would be great.


http://media.giphy.com/media/2dcW1Dlu2s ... book_s.jpg

[edgecliff hall]

I understand perfectly what you go through. For whatever it's worth to ya, my method is: I check out the first ten or fifteen minutes to get a take on how they are playing. Then I go to bed. Wake up around 3 AM, come downstairs and turn on this site. I look for mention of "a win" in the posts. That feels great.

[kyzrex]

You guys are nucking futs.

[edgecliff hall]

Well, yes.

[xu koop scoop]

To those who are Nucking Futs. Games are Entertainment. The enjoyment is in watching the action unfold. Win or lose, these young
men try their hardest to score more points than the other team. Even when they don't win, I don't see them as losers. They made their effort
and both teams win to the extent they competed to the fullest. Too much emphasis given on the W or L. Not suggesting they all get participation trophies, but each made or missed shot, each rebound, each steal, block, diving on the floor for loose ball makes watching every minute of these games worthwhile. I had 2 or 3 season tix every year from 1986 to 2005 & gave them up for budgeting purposes & still bought tix to a few games. Since 2011 I have been retired and winter in Florida. We camp in a trailer all winter and go to various RV resorts. I simply get excited knowing the RV Resort has Cable TV & if not I try to find a place to watch most games. The only time I tune out early is in the event of a blowout loss, but I didn't turn off the TV when the Pats were down 19 in the 4th quarter. But if X is down 20 with 5 minutes to go - I might give up & tune out. If the team has a chance to comeback & win with 2 minutes or less to go, thats what makes me happy. Your individual life is no better or worse upon the outcome of the game. But I did enjoy reading about your angst.

[edgecliff hall]

Xu Koop Scoop, I enjoyed your post, and I must admit I do watch games too, and for the very reasons you mention. I was in NYC last Saturday, staying with a friend who does not have basketball cable coverage. So therefore the Creighton game didn't exist for me, and it was not covered in Sunday's New York Times. So when I returned to Connecticut on Sunday, the first thing I did was tune in to MM. Wow, what a kick that was, reading the thread. I guess we are all fans in our own Nucking Futs ways. Fun to read about Mr. Jones vs Mr. Patton!

[Shadow]

Since 2011 I have been retired and winter in Florida. We camp in a trailer all winter and go to various RV resorts. I simply get excited knowing the RV Resort has Cable TV & if not I try to find a place to watch most games.

I can empathize with that having full-timed from 2005 through 2015. Back then there weren't as many games available on TV and I would be happy to be able to even listen to Byron & Joe. I missed the days of gathering at Mother Hubbard's with friends (and I still think of those days) but the call of the road was overwhelming. I've watched the Shootout with various chapters during those days and in the process met up with old classmates.
I, in a way, envy you as I do miss my 40' DP and long to be back out there exploring this wonderful country but the fickle finger of fate finally pointed in my direction and I had trouble with the physical aspects.

[xu koop scoop]

Enjoy reading how others travel and watch games. The only reason to go "nukcing futs" is if you have big money on the XU game. My biggest wager is $5 and that's on the UC game yearly. One bet I want to mention that paid off big was this: 2004 A10 Tourney & I want Thursday off work to go to UD Arena to Watch 8 seed XU play 1 seed, undefeated, #1 in country St Joe. My boss said it was a busy time at work, but he was an XU fan & we made a bet. I could take a Vacation Day and go, if XU lost then I lost a 2nd vacation day on top of that. If we won, then he would give me an extra week of vacation. Anybody who was there knows that game was over by halftime as we had a lead of nearly 40 pts at times and all are walk ons got to play. Our team was going nowhere before that game, we had to win the A10 Tourney after finishing 8th in regular season. He gladly gave me the extra week of Vacation. That game inspired an awesome run to XU's 1st elite 8. We won the A10 Tourney, then beat Louisville, Miss St & Texas before
losing a "nucking futs" kind of game to Duke, thanks to Anthony Myles fouling out with 16 minutes to go after having 1 foul at the half.

[commish118]

I got nervous watching them earlier in the season, but the only game I stopped watching was Nova when they got down by 20. And that wasn't because of nerves. But I have found the last 2 games easy to watch. I think early in the season I just expected so much. These last two were different. It was fun watching them come together as a team, and I would not have been devastated, (under the circumstances) if they had lost one, or both games.

[jaxalum]

To those who are Nucking Futs. Games are Entertainment. The enjoyment is in watching the action unfold. Win or lose, these young
men try their hardest to score more points than the other team. Even when they don't win, I don't see them as losers. They made their effort
and both teams win to the extent they competed to the fullest. Too much emphasis given on the W or L. Not suggesting they all get participation trophies, but each made or missed shot, each rebound, each steal, block, diving on the floor for loose ball makes watching every minute of these games worthwhile. I had 2 or 3 season tix every year from 1986 to 2005 & gave them up for budgeting purposes & still bought tix to a few games. Since 2011 I have been retired and winter in Florida. We camp in a trailer all winter and go to various RV resorts. I simply get excited knowing the RV Resort has Cable TV & if not I try to find a place to watch most games. The only time I tune out early is in the event of a blowout loss, but I didn't turn off the TV when the Pats were down 19 in the 4th quarter. But if X is down 20 with 5 minutes to go - I might give up & tune out. If the team has a chance to comeback & win with 2 minutes or less to go, thats what makes me happy. Your individual life is no better or worse upon the outcome of the game. But I did enjoy reading about your angst.

Scoop, am I sensing a modicum of judgment in your post of us "Nucking Futs" that could perhaps be construed as negative, or is this simply your expressed opinion concerning your viewing rituals? I'm hoping the latter.

The games are indeed entertainment for US, and watching the ebss and flows, the fluidity, the runs, who wins the first or third "4 minute wars", is just ONE of many parts of the game that are enjoyable. But we are all wired differently and our levels of interest/our vestment in the team vary(I'm a #ucking #ut), hence, viewing rituals and behaviors are naturally going to deviate from person to person, but with the emphasis on the understanding that one way is no BETTER OR WORSE than the other. i.e. I fall into a Type A/hyper competitive, former college athlete (for X) that is highly vested in a plethora/all things Xavier basketball related. My enjoyment as a fan manifests itself in different ways. Its a competitive outlet/competing vicariously through the players. I derive enjoyment in witnessing the improvement of these kids as basketball players, as students(our great reputation for graduating students), and watching these kids becoming young men. Essentially, it's a mini, 4 year journey for the fans and players alike.

Even when they don't win, I don't see them as losers. They made their effort
and both teams win to the extent they competed to the fullest

I'm not aware of a single X fan that has ever felt or expressed the notion of a player(s) being a "loser" if they lose a game. As players, coaches, and a majority of the fanbase, it's 100% about winning and losing. No gray area exists, no such thing as "moral victories" or "both teams winning because they tried hard". A coach/player will take sub par effort w/ a win over great effort and a loss 100% of the time. Effort/lack of it is only discussed by a pissed off coach who's team just lost.

Too much emphasis given on the W or L.

I have to respectfully disgree. The mens basketball program, like it or not, is the most important entity on campus. Forbes ranked it as one of the top 20 most valuable programs in the country. It's, by far, the largest revenue generator for the school. That revenue is used for scholarship programs, renovation of the campus....that money is spread throughout the school. It's by far the most important marketing and branding mechanism the school possesses. The winning of the team allowed for advancement from one conference to a better conference over and over the last 40 years. Winning allowed for X to recieve that highly coveted invite into the Big East. While in the A-10, we played teams like St Bonaventure and Fordham, were on mostly regional TV channels, and our TV take dollar wise was roughly $400,000. In the Big East, we play, and are associated with a world renowned academic and basketball school in Georgetown, the reighning national champions in Villanova, and St. Johns, a team who plays their home games at the most famous areana in the world in Madison Square Gardens. And our take in TV money is roughly around $4 million.

There is absolutely not to much emphasis on winning. All of these beautiful campus renovations would not be possible if we were consistent losers. There's a reason why the highest paid employee at Xavier is one Coach Christopher Mack....by a longshot.

More reasons why winning matters so much. Regarding the NCAA Tournament, each game(also called an NCAA "Credit") played by you or a conference mate/member, is worth roughly worth $260,000, which will be distributed between all conference members(on a six year rotation), and with the yearly increase in Credit value, after those six years are up, the orth of that one credit has spiked to 1.5 million. That's why, from a conference standpoint point, accruing these credits/WINNING these games is huge for the confrence and each school. It's better explained in this article which is a quick, short, to the point read:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/ ... 18a0c26ca9

Hey, I respect any way a fan wants to be a fan. It's a passion for a few, a hobby for others, and a passing interest for some. All are copasetic in my book.


note: There is not a single #ucking reason to have/wear a red sweater vest: no occasion to wear, own, borrow, take pictures of, be seen looking at one, dating a girl that has one (even if she's smoking hot), the vest must go or you must introduce her to your foot and his buddy, the curb, there should be red sweater vest burnings, if you are unable to rid yourself of this ghastly item, call your nearest alumni chapter for "refresher courses" to be attended immediately, or behavioural re-modification courses if the "complication" has become severe in nature. Even though we finally left behind the UDump clan, 3-4 later, they continue to bother/follow us onto our own conference page (Holy Land of Hoops). As you can see, I'm still not real fond of those Cro-Magnons that dwell north of our great city.