Providence Friar Loyalist

Back in mid-October Talk Practice’s fiery writer and Providence Friar fan, the other shammgod, guest posted here about his beloved Friars (Providence Friar Homer). It was a nice little preview of the season with some lofty expectations placed on the squad to boot.

Well, now he’s back and still making all sorts of questionable statements, but who can really blame him, because the Friars are playing splendidly right now (14-6, 6-2 in the Big East), putting points on the board with ease. 7 players are averaging more than 9ppg and no one is playing more than 29.5 min/gm. The Friars are heading in the right direction and are staying fresh in the process.

I guess he’s just like the rest of us: completely passionate about his team and willing to promote them anyway possible, even if sucking Kool-Aid down his wind pipe is part of the scenerio.

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Yesterday I looked out my window. I saw the sun shining, birds dancing, and hobos smiling. Of course, it was 18 degrees, cloudy, and Herbert continued to rant about god’s existence while angrily downing a Miller High Life. It just doesn’t matter when you live in Rhode Island and the Friars are winning. It only happens about once every 4 years, so the hallucinations are appreciated.

I was called, an “out of touch Homer” in this space a few months ago. Today I’m still an out of touch homer, except now, instead of expecting a tourney berth, I expect the Friars to make the sweet sixteen. If they upset UConn in Connecticut on Saturday (where they have won four straight times), expect some elite eight or final four predictions.

Needless to say, confidence is high. I’m starting to make ridiculous wagers. In fact, here’s my wager for the writers of College Fast Break: If the Friars make the sweet sixteen, Ryan or Kevin have to watch a full length WNBA game and do a live blog (with at least a few non-sarcastic comments). If the Friars don’t make it I’ll give either of you guys a free post (or two if you insist) on Talk Practice about anything you want. Swearing encouraged.

On to the Friars. This team is athletic as hell. Geoff McDermott has really impressed me by his ability to do more than just rebound. One name I didn’t mention in my makeshift Friar preview was Marshon Brooks. This kid gives me hope for the future. I thought after these seniors left, the Friars would go on a (roughly) two year losing streak. Marshon is tall, rebounds, has handles, and can nail 25 foot+ three pointers. His consistency has been amazing, and I hate using the word “consistency.” He also plays defense. So basically, look at the preview, and then add on a tall guard who scores at will. Does that look like a tourney team? I think so.

One of the reasons to be so supremely confident is that PC should have won even more games than they have. For thirty minutes they were destroying Marquette. That’s the same Marquette that is undefeated in the Big East as I type this. They also should have beaten Northeastern and St. Mary’s. The difference this year is that they have won almost every other game. Previous years have featured so many close losses, but this year they actually have close wins. They beat Seton Hall in overtime. They just beat Syracuse (albeit an injury depleted Syracuse) and have won every other game they should have. Some Friar fans fear they will begin to fall back to the pack and start losing some games they shouldn’t. But why not think this team could get some upset wins? We’re beating UConn on Saturday -half an hour from now- (I really hope you guys post this after we won so it looks like I’m prescient), PC could easily send a scare Louisville’s or Notre Dame’s way. Can the Big East get ten in the tournament? Does it matter if the Friars are actually the 7th or 8th best team?

See everyone in Boston! (Sweet Sixteen of the East Region)
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Sure Friar fanatic, we will take you up on that deal. No sweat.