And the Weather's So Breezy...Man, Why Can't Life Always Be This Easy?

The U.S. Virgin Islands have a total population of about 110, 000 - roughly 50% of whom call Saint Thomas home.  The island, sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1493, has an area of an estimated 30 square miles, including the territorial capital Charlotte Amalie.  The United States purchased St. Thomas in 1917 for $25 million in a package deal that included additional islands Saint John and Saint Croix.  

Did you ever learn any of this in school? No, probably not, unless you took a History of the Caribbean class at UM (or some other less accomplished university, for that matter).  This weekend, however, the eyes of all Hurricane fans should be square on that small island as the Canes try to win their second Paradise Jam title in program history.

The Canes won the very first Paradise Jam tournament in 2001 with a 67-65 win over Clemson. Last season, the Canes made a trip to Puerto Rico for the first ever Tip-Off Tournament, and returned as champions with a six-point victory over Providence.  The Canes now return to the Virgin Islands for the first time since the inaugural Paradise Jam with dreams of another championship trophy.

Friday's tournament opener has the Canes squaring off against Southern Mississippi at 1:00 PM EST.  If Miami is able to pull off the victory, they'll likely take on #2 Connecticut, who is facing off against La Salle in Game Three of the tournament (6:00 PM EST).  The other side of the bracket has San Diego battling Valparaiso at 3:30 EST (Game Two) and Wisconsin matched-up against Iona in Game Four, the last opening day contest at 8:30 EST.  

None of Friday's opening round games will be televised, but the semi-final round and championship games will be broadcast on Fox Sports.  If the Canes beat Southern Miss, they'll be playing again at 6:00 EST on Sunday, November 23rd.  If the Canes lose (hypothetically speaking, of course), they'll play Saturday night at the same time (6:00 EST).

The Golden Eagles of Southern Miss finished 19-14 last season and return six of their seven top scorers from '07-'08, none more impressive than junior guard Jeremy Wise (18.7 ppg last season).  Wise, who is averaging 24.5 points in the Golden Eagles first two wins over Loyola (N.O.) and Alabama State, was described by Frank Haith as likely "one of the best guards we'll face this year."  

Does that mean you should be scared of a potential upset at the talons of these Eagles?  Eh...no, but don't start looking ahead to UConn just yet either.  The Golden Eagles' near 20-win season was no fluke, and they bring back a more experienced team with returning scorers, including Wise, senior Courtney Beasley (12.0 ppg) and sophomore R.L. Horton (12.0 ppg).  

Southern Miss is a very undersized team in general, with only four players on the roster listed over 6-7 and only one of whom making any real contributions (6-8 junior Andre Stephens).  The Canes will need to look to their big men to establish a post game early on in the contest, so expect a big game out of Dwayne and Cyrus down low.  Wise (55%) and Beasley (44%) are both tremendous shooters from the field, so the Canes will need to maintain their lockdown defense that has impressed early on.

Remember, the Canes' pre-season tournament championship in Puerto Rico helped set the tone for a tremendous start out of the gates last year (13-1 before their first ACC regular season game).  Miami will hopefully find themselves in a match-up against former Big East rival and #2-ranked UConn on Sunday, a team the Canes beat out for a pledge of allegiance from high school shooting guard Durand Scott this past week.  

Beating UConn twice in the same week would be nice, wouldn't it? Alright, alright, enough being hypocritical on my part.  No more looking ahead.  Let's see the Canes shoot down the Golden Eagles tomorrow before any wild predictions for the rest of the tournament.

You can register to watch streaming video of the opening round games here:   

http://www.watchbtihoops.com/

The site has been a little wonky with registration, but hopefully it will be up and running before tomorrow's 1:00 tip.   Oh, and don't forget to watch the Canes football team take on Georgia Tech tonight on an ESPN prime-time matchup at 7:30 PM.      

You Don't Need A Curriculum To Know That You're Part Of The Math

This blog is available for everyone to enjoy.  Whether you're a UM student, season ticket holder, Coral Gables resident, or just a college basketball fan in general, I'd hope that anyone who has any interest (and even those who don't!) would stop by and at least read an entry or two.  We're all equal, I would imagine, in our appreciation for ballers who do their thing with dedication and heart, two characteristics that Hurricanes hoopsters have embodied under Coach Haith.  As such, I try and make sure that the entries have a little bit of something for everyone, because it's all about love here on T.H.T.J.B., not discrimination - no one sits in the back of this blog bus.

With that said, I'd like to make a special entry dedicated to the students at the University of Miami, if that's okay with everyone.  If it isn't, then don't feel obligated to keep reading.

Take a deep breath and please listen, just for a second...ready? Canes fans, I have to tell you something that I think you should know (something many of you probably already do know): there's a feeling that pervades the Atlantic Coast Conference (and beyond) that Coral Gables is home to some of the worst fans in college athletics.  There, I said it.  Now don't get angry and close your Firefox window just yet!  Take another breath, and let's take a minute to analyze this thought to the fullest, shall we?

When you decided to enroll at the University of Miami, your father was probably pretty excited; he finally could watch football on Saturdays with some sort of pride in his own vicarious affiliation, instead of relying solely on his local NFL team for his football fix on Sundays.  Your mother?  Well, she couldn't wait to visit you on Family Weekend (and every other weekend when she had the chance) to lay on a chair by the pool or on South Beach to get away from the man who now spends his Sundays AND Saturdays watching football all day.  Okay, maybe it wasn't exactly like that, but sort of, right?

When you finally got to school, you were mesmerized (and your parents were likely a little bit scared).  The palm trees, the lake, the sunshine, the people, everything was just so much more attractive than at home, wasn't it?  Alright, international students, I'm not talking to you so much as those from the freezing cold Northeast and the teenage wasteland fields of northern Florida. 

And then came your first "UMiami" weekend...Coconut Grove on Thursday, followed by a day of hungover class and then your first trip to South Beach on Friday night!  After you woke up on Saturday morning (naked and wearing someone else's pants), you came to the realization that kickoff at Dolphin Stadium was in less than an hour.  All of the tailgates would probably be over by the time I get there, you said to yourself, so you went back to sleep and woke up five hours later when the first cars started rolling into the parking lot honking their horns after a huge Canes win.

Put that scenario on repeat for the rest of the semester (including every weekend with a home football game), and then ask yourself...why were the Canes outcheered in a home tilt against Central Florida?  Why were there almost as many Florida State fans as Canes fans at the Dolphin Stadium showdown this year?  Why was the recorded attendance (almost always believed to be padded, for the record) less than 36,000 against North Carolina ?

You read that right. 35,830 showed up to a stadium whose capacity is more than double that (76,500 for football games).  If you remember correctly, this came at a point where the Canes had just thrashed Texas A&M (and impressed with a competitive game against the Gators before that), and had a 2-1 record at the time.

Some of you do head to Dolphin Stadium to actually root for your Canes, not to tailgate.  You cheer louder on third downs and you keep your four fingers up all the way until the fourth quarter starts.  You don't go to football games because everyone else does.  You know Jacory throws to Aldarius, but you also know who Tommy Streeter and Kendall Thompkins are. You know about Sean Spence, sure, but you also know that Arthur Brown and Jordan Futch will be wreaking havoc alongside him soon enough.  Maybe you even know about Bryce Brown and Lamar Miller.  To those who do, I salute you.  The school could use more fans like you.

  

Perhaps now you have a better idea of why people think so poorly of the loyalty and allegiance Canes have to their school.

Attendance at Hurricane games is not a question of whether or not you enjoy football.  Attendance is about coming together in support of your fellow students and the school itself.  Attendance serves as the only number in a school catalogue that can even remotely depict student loyalty - more so than any alumni donation figures or Homecoming concert turnout numbers.  Do you care?  If you do, you go to Hurricane games, it's that simple.   

Way back when, did you really drive up to Gainesville to watch the Hurricanes play the Gators, or did you voyage to Gator Country to black out with DPhiE's and SigEp's from a different chapter, thereby adding a little spice to your social life in the process?  

Ask yourself: do the Canes make a difference to you?  Did you sleep just as well after the heartbreaker against North Carolina as you did after the comeback against Virginia?  Do you really care?

If you find yourself answering "Yes", or "You're right, maybe I should care about my school," the Canes basketball team plays in a huge opening tournament starting on Friday in the Virgin Islands called the Paradise Jam.  You came out to the basketball season opener in force, so do it again. Go to the Rathskeller to watch the Canes play in the tournament if you don't have class.  Go support this team.  Start caring.