Marcus Fitzsimmons made the trip to Clinton, Miss., yesterday with his sights set on seeing a key American Southwest Conference showdown. Hilarity ensues. Or something.

The Warm Up …
It’s 4 a.m. Wednesday morning and my nerves about traveling to Mississippi College for the night’s ASC conference game with McMurry have me awake. I suddenly empathize with a slew of coaches I’ve heard utter the cliche, “they keep me up at night.”

Traveling for Hoopsville I won’t take the court in the Golden Dome of Clinton, Miss so it’s not performance anxiety. But my flight plans are all crossed up by some confusion over a.m. and p.m. and I’m worried that I may not make the games at all as I’m either going to get lucky going standby or arriving at 11 p.m. for a 5 p.m. tip.

Giving up on getting any more meaningful sleep I down another dose of cold medication, find my shower and layer up to drive to Alcoa and the airport. It’s raining and low 40’s with snow up in the Smokies as I walk into the terminal. Luck is with me. The ticket agent understands my dilemma and thankfully the stand by status has not changed since my phone call the night before. By 7 a.m. I’m having a Ron White moment on a puddle jumper to Charlotte. If something goes wrong the pilot won’t have to use a microphone to let us know.

With three hours to kill in the E terminal and a FoxSports Restaurant offering multiple screens there’s no doubt where to roost for the long layover. A text informing my favorite red head that I did get booked through and that I might live through this cold after all gets sent. Then it’s a phone call ahead to let MC SID Chris Brooks know when I will be arriving in Jackson before breakfast – feed a cold – arrives.

Alternating between a final edition of The Daily Times and cable news it becomes clear that I didn’t miss much overnight. I spend a moment smirking to reread the capsule on Kentucky’s fourth consecutive loss. The Wildcat Blues are killing our latest crime reporter at the paper.

Deboarding in the Jackson-Evers International Airport I’m trying hard not to laugh as the Jeff Foxworthy sketch about flying into this very airport runs through my head. I can’t swear the second puddle jumper didn’t spray crops on the final approach. The feeling subsides instantly as I realize that a) I forgot to ask Chris what car to look for at arrivals and that b) while I expected Mississippi weather to be milder than Maryville it’s a good 50 degrees warmer than it was when I was last outside.

Fortunately David, the graduate assistant for the sports information office, spots me before I melt. A quick stop by the hotel to drop bags, drop another dose of cold medicine, shed some layers of clothing and we’re on the way to the A. E. Wood Coliseum the dome home of the Choctaws.

Turns out David is from Memphis and wants to know the latest from UT, which takes most of the ride with the speculation surrounding Vol assistant football coach Trooper Taylor and the first home game for J.P. Prince just hours away.

Finally at Mississippi College my nerves about missing the games are now settled. I’m here. Let the hoops begin.

Talk some basketball with Chris and then decide since I have plenty of time to plop down in the Dome and work for a little while. I’ve heard about this place, but have never been able to make the trip. It’s where Maryville College’s postseason has ended in the second-round for the last three years – always to the Choctaws. While I’m far from a homer Maryville coach Randy Lambert and his program have earned my respect as a solid team since I took this beat. This is the gateway to the Sweet 16 for the midsouth that until now I’ve only heard described on the radio and seen on webcast, neither of which give you the feel of a campus and its gym.

The good news I hear is McMurry is supposed to have a good player making his debut. The bad news is that All-American Tarra Richardson is injured so I won’t get a follow up game to compare to her Thanksgiving performance. Also my joke on Hoopsville about a Santa hat has been partially fulfilled, so I have red head gear for game time that while minus a basketball does have my name on it.

No. 10 HOLDS ON
The teams are warmed up and while Richardson did shoot around, her tweaked ankle is going to keep her from this game.

Coach Veronica Snow thinks a game without the All-American forward with be a good test for her Top Ten team that remains without a mascot this season.

After 40 game minutes the coach may have found some more inspiring news in her team’s 70-67 ASC win. Maigen Sawyer broke out of a 29 percent slump to hit all four of her trey attempts on the way to 18 points. Back-to-back trifectas by the senior put McMurry up 37-35 after the Choctaws had led by four at the break. Allison Nelson explodes for 19 points, a dozen above her average as the no mascot offense adjusts and executes much better than I’d seen during Thanksgiving.

Mississippi College had opportunities but couldn’t convert the go-ahead run late after leading all but two minutes of the first half. Down by 10 with 3:46 to go MC cut the margin to 64-62 before McMurry pulls back away. A late trey by Anna Patterson gave MC light with 14 seconds left but McMurry added one at the charity line, where the team struggled to 18 of 30 while MC’s 19-for-23 kept them in the lead the first half.

I’m greatly impressed with McMurry’s ability to win on the road minus Richardson. The team still looked a bit lost at times but overall they are a much improved from the squad that lost to Birmingham Southern with the star in foul trouble. The no mascots are definitely in the conversation for me, but with 20-plus conference games preventing any more head-to-head comparison with the other region powers the seeding is all on ASC play.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS?
I get company in my ringside seat as Coach Mike Jones comes over with his special guest – his cardiologist and the doctor’s son. The head coach recovering from heart surgery is behind the scorer’s table for his second game and is under orders not to yell. We chit chat briefly about how some teams are looking but his attention is all on the floor as soon as the player introductions end. In deference to the coach and the light crowd on what must be the first Wednesday night game in a decade for MC I leave the bright red D3 Santa hat on the table and unworn.

McMurry is much more than its 3-5 record indicates. All the losses have come in conference and all have been close. Even more surprising to me is to find Travis Tennyson back on the former Indians roster. The 6-foot-7, 300-and-then-some post shows his rust in his second game back with his former school. Two seasons ago he was an all-conference performer but he’s carrying some weight now. The big man can still move and while he’s held in check by Mississippi I can’t help but wonder how much bigger a factor he might be by conference tournament time.

Jones takes his notes to the locker room but it’s obvious he and current assistant (former head coach) Don Lofton are on the same page from slightly different directions.

The Choctaws prevail in a 85-74 decision that puts them into a tie for first in the ASC East with LeTourneau. The roster is barely recognizable from the Sweet 16 team that lost to Va. Wesleyan nine months ago.

Under the direction of Lofton MC is showing signs of growth after a conference opening loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor. Three players from last season are still in the first 10 rotation of the Choctaws five-at-a-time sub-system. Blending in are five junior college transfers and two freshmen.

It’s obvious from the start that this MC team while smaller is much faster and carrying a lot more offensive force. Junior Bryan Johnson and senior Tyler Winford both stand out as the lean fast posts that can not only bang but fall away or step out to drive or shoot.

Clarence Jeffrey may be the best leaper I’ve seen this season. When he’s focused there isn’t a rebound he doesn’t take from taller players.

But uncharacteristically of an MC team defense is not the glue. These Choctaws will be learning the defensive lessons during the season rather than leading the nation in scoring defense but they have the luxury of a multitude of scoring options that should allow them to learn against most competition with a win.

CALL IN SHOW
After the teams shake hands I circulate the floor picking brains and having mine picked. The staff is as interested in the midsouth and eastern side of the region as I am in the west. David is once again tapped as chaueffer and we head to the hotel as McMurry begins a 9-hour ride home that will put them on campus after sun up to scatter for the holiday break.

It’s at this point I tell David that he may be able to get an early start on a drive to his home in Memphis as my 6:10 a.m. flight means he’ll be picking me back up in a less than six hours. A dose of cold cure and I’m out with my alarm set but lap top open. I find I went down mid-sentence when I stir awake not long enough later.

Good as his word the guy chasing his MBA at MC meets me at the lobby door at 4:50 in the OMG it’s early. At the airport I bid him farewell and wish him luck for the post-Christmas trip to Hampden-Sydney.

The airport security line stretches almost the length of the lobby and I know I’m in trouble even with an hour to wait. Arrive at the gate at 6:12 with two other passengers bound for Charlotte only to see the door to the plane close. The pilot waves as he pulls the plane away. Take a minute to put belt back on and slip back into the shoes I carried in my sprint from the security station. With no other option rebook a flight home and the fortune of the fates that got me here with no delay now spins back as I will now spend the next six hours waiting on the next flight out of Jackson International.

Decide to edit my travelblog and delete the long line of random characters I hit in my sleep. Find a strange reference or two that I blame on the cold medicine and then delete.

Text the favorite red head to cancel our planned afternoon Christmas shopping. Decide to also text the newbie in the sports department and give him fair warning I won’t be back for the afternoon news meeting and that he’ll be covering. It would be more fun to panic him with 10 minute notice of it but it’s the holidays after all.

Despite the bumps it’s been a great trip and some good basketball. MC has been a great host and I can’t help but think I will see the Choctaws and the Lady No Mascots again in a few months provided I ever work my way back through the security line and get out of Jackson.

Marcus Fitzsimmons covers Maryville College, the USA South and Great South for The (Maryville/Alcoa) Daily Times and can be heard doing the South Region report on Hoopsville Sunday nights. Send him tips, travel advice or homemade cold remedy recipes at marcus.fitzsimmons@thedailytimes.com

After a season hiatus, the Hoopsville Rant returns and the first topic of the season: every game counts!

It seems every season, when late February arrives and it comes time to start seriously talking about the NCAA Tournament, the fans of teams on the proverbial bubble always complain:

“Our team is one of the hottest teams in the nation. That loss to so-and-so in November shouldn’t count against them!”

Or, “they didn’t have their top player when they played so-and-so in that game in December, that shouldn’t be the reason they miss the tournament!”

Guess what… it very well could be.

When the Selection Committee sits down and decides who is in and who is out of this season’s tournament, they aren’t going to look at how teams played only in February, or the last two months, or just the second half of the season, they are going to look at the WHOLE season.

So, any team hoping to make the NCAA tournament has to keep a few things in their minds right now, there are only two ways to get in: win your conference’s automatic bid or be good enough to get one of those coveted at-large, Pool B or C bids.

For those top teams in weak conferences like the NEAC, CUNYAC, HCAC or the Skyline, losing a bad game may not haunt them later. For those in the WIAC, CCIW, ODAC, and even the OAC, a bad loss out of conference could ruin any chance at the Walnut and Bronze, before the tournament even tips-off.

Remember… EVERY game counts, especially when in region.

So, Wash U can’t take a night off against Earlham; Augustana shouldn’t be losing to Coe; Mary Hardin-Baylor can’t take Worcester State lightly; Amherst can’t look past Emmanuel; Rochester can’t ignore
Nazareth; and Baldwin-Wallace needs to play all 40-minutes against Case Western Reserve.

We will find out on March 2^nd – Selection Sunday – if the losses experienced by Wash U. to Calvin, Brockport State to Rowan, or Capital to Mount St. Joseph will end up keeping them out of the NCAA tournament or the chance to host.

Just ask Millsaps football. They lost a 21 point lead in the last half of the fourth quarter against Mississippi College in the first game of the season. The starters were on the bench during the rally; it was the first game of the season after all. Millsaps stumbled to Mississippi College in the first game of the season, ended up costing them a tournament bid.

This grand adventure I’ve been on this year — changing employers for the first time in 12 years, moving 300 miles away from home, working five nights a week instead of splitting days and night — has had its advantages and its drawbacks. While I’m in a new part of the country and can go out and see different teams I’ve never seen before, I’m also working until 1 a.m. at NBCSports.com and can’t get as much done on the site as early in the evening as I’d like.

That’s where Gordon Mann comes in. Gordon has been pulling a lot of weight at D3sports.com this year, on both the hoops and football sites. The weekly podcast that is on the front page at the moment is completely a Gordon Mann production. He picks an interesting subject to interview and records a sit-down conversation, whether in person or over the phone. This has been a great addition to the site.

Gordon has been a very active blogger as well, keeping the Daily Dose churning at an important time of the season. But Gordon does a lot behind the scenes as well. If you see an early update on a Wednesday night, a big night on Division III schedules, most likely he analyzed the night’s games, decided what was the big news, wrote it, got the photo and posted it. And even further behind the scenes, Gordon has been the man on score cleanup all season — tracking down the missing scores that schools don’t post, more than 1,100 of them. Without Gordon, we wouldn’t have timely scores from a bunch of Division III schools, including some very prominent athletic departments.

He’s come a long way from play-by-play at Trinity College’s student station. I’ve thanked him many times, I’m glad that he’s here and fans should be too.

Just thought you should know. 🙂

It has been almost a month since McDaniel Coach Bob Flynn suddenly died at his home near Baltimore, MD. In that time, the coach has certainly not been forgotten. His famous red towel is draped over his chair on the McDaniel bench; the team and students still wear “Flynn’s Friends” t-shirts; and as the Green Terror men’s basketball team continues to deal with the loss of a man who was resurrecting the program they still find ways to win and continue the progress Coach Flynn began just two years ago.

Last Wednesday, the team upset Johns Hopkins University which made two things possible (which Gordon Mann also points out in his recent blog), the Blue Jays now have to play Ursinus for the regular season crown and the #1 seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament and McDaniel has a chance to still make the same tournament.

Coach Bob Flynn could not be more proud.

Just the other day, I ran across an article in The (Baltimore) Sun, written by a man who certainly knows Baltimore sports. Simply titled: A Sideline Salute, Paul McMullen’s article brought a tear to my eye, reading about a man who never quit improving himself, his team, or those around him.

Last month I went to Coach Flynn’s viewing and at first was confused. I thought that possibly the funeral home was hosting multiple viewings at the same time. It was nearly impossible to find a parking place and people were streaming in and out of the building like it was an open house. Only after I got out of my car and walked into the funeral home did I realize all these people (adults, teenagers, and kids) were here for one reason… Coach Flynn.

This was actually the second viewing and the funeral home was almost completely full of those wishing to say goodbye and console the Flynn family. I was told the night before, a line wrapped throughout the modest building and out the door on what was just the beginning of a very cold week for Baltimore.

As I looked around, I saw coaches from all over the region. Coach Harney of St. Mary’s who played for Coach Flynn when Harney was a student at SMC and Flynn was working his first magic in resurrecting a program. Coach Dickman of Hood who is Maryland’s all-time winningest high school coach and now in his fourth year of starting a new men’s program at Hood, who had now coached against Flynn both in high school and college. Coach Brett Adams of Villa Julie, who said Coach Flynn was one of those men who was always a phone call away in case help or a sounding board was needed.

There were numerous other coaches from the region and one who had traveled up from Florida that day. I never got his name, but he spoke with me for about 15 minutes about his first coaching job working along side Coach Flynn. He even talked about how Coach Flynn subtly tried to recruit his son, who wasn’t even thinking about Division III schools. I believe the story ended with Coach Flynn saying, “after you look around and you’re no longer interested in Division I or II, giving me a call.”

Referees and administrators mingled with friends and family. And even the current Cardinal Gibbons high school team was there – a team still influenced by what Coach Flynn did for his alma mater over six seasons.

While there were not that many tears, there was certainly sadness and mourning. The line was at least a half hour long, winding its way through several rooms and the hallways. At the end was Tina Flynn, Bob’s wife. She was standing, smiling, and taking every opportunity to say talk with and listen to stories from every single person who passed through the line. Some people she knew well, others – like myself – she only knew through either other people’s stories or reputation.

When I walked up and introduced myself, I hardly had a chance to say how sorry I was when she told me how many great stories and material about her husband she had heard had been on D3hoops.com and Hoopsville. She followed that by up asking me if she could get a copy of that material. I was stunned. I thought we were supposed to be there to consol her. But she was consoling us. And she was reliving Bob Flynn’s life and affect on people through us… and she seemed to thrive on it. Every person who had a story or memory was asked to email or send it to her – something I still need to finish for her.

I got a chance at the beginning of this season to talk with Coach Flynn at the Provident Pride of Maryland Men’s Basketball Tournament at Goucher College. I told him I was impressed with how far the team had come in such a short time and I was looking forward to watching the improvement this season.

And while he is no longer around, it has been nearly a month and the team he was resurrecting in Westminster, MD is still experiencing its best season in recent memory. And while I try and remain impartial in my coverage, I will certainly be rooting on the Green Terror.

And I am sure Coach Flynn is looking down and rooting them on as well.