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View Full Version : Time for some well deserved accolades



wkrq59
03-10-2013, 03:19 PM
By WKRQ59

Aaahhhh! The season of our discontent is finally over. Yes, to some 2012-13 will go down as one of Xavier basketball's worst.

Yes, all knowing ones, I am well aware that Xavier has at least one more game to play before it has to kneel at the feet of some selection committee and await a determination of its worthiness to compete further in a tournament. But that's just the way it is.

We are all well aware of Xavier's many sorrows since Dec.10, 2011. So I won't waste our time diving back into that cesspool. Too much sewage, too little time.

For a number of selfish reasons, and I can be a very selfish SOB (Silly Old Bear), I choose to view this past regular season as one of alternating exquisite joy and madding frustration.

Let's start with the best and work down. The best of course is still to come, hopefully.

For today, I'll focus on three of the best people to play for Xavier in its long court history—Brad Redford, Jeff Robinson and Travis Taylor, Nos. 12, 21, and 4 in your program, No. 1 in your hearts. Here are my memories of:

BRAD REDFORD—The sudden inhale of 10,200 fans in Cintas Center whenever Brad caught a pass and launched one of his threes and the subsequent roar or awwwww when he hit or missed. Roars more often.
The interview he conducted during the halftime of a game in his absentia season due to an ACL tear. His interview of U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R. Ohio) and a Xavier grad was more professional and polished that many of today's radio and TV reporters who are paid for their work. The Tasmanian Devil determination he brings to every moment he spends on the court whether it be offense or defense. His blocking of the St. Louis player's shot in the Muskies last win of the regular season over the rated Bills is never to be forgotten.

JEFF ROBINSON—It isn't often someone in my former profession gets to enjoy the work and talents of both father and son in the same lifetime, but I've had the privilege of watching both Jeff and his dad Jeff Sr. The rebounds senior grabbed in the longest game in Division I NCAA history, UC's seven overtime win over Bradley in Peoria, Ill. And talking to Jeff in the locker room afterwards was up there in the RAM banks. But it would later be superseded by his son's Sports Center Top 10 moment of Xavier 2012 when Kenny Frease fired that pass to Jeff Jr. already roaring down the runway for a soaring two-handed slam that rattled teeth in Cintas. But an even better memory was constant determination he showed as he came off the mat numerous times to help his team win.

TRAVIS TAYLOR—I'll long remember Travis' “Senior Night,” in Cintas. All he did was throw down 19 points, grab 19 rebounds (another of his many double-doubles ) and block six shots while leading the Musketeers to their upset of No. 16 St. Louis, a 77-67 overtime victory. As I watched Taylor this season who played behind Frease his junior year and ended up as Xavier's leading returning senior this season, I wondered what would he have been like had he played four years at Xavier instead of two after transferring from Monmouth. Taylor, like Redford and Robinson will long be remembered for his never-say-die determination.

As I once again look at the cover of Xavier's 2012-13 media guide, I can smile and remember James Farr, Erik Stenger, Isaiah Philmore, Robinson, Justin Martin, Taylor, Dee Davis, Redford and Semaj Christon and the promise of a bright future those who return hold.

There is one more person who deserves recognition and applause for a remarkable job and that's coach Chris Mack. His detractors will say if they haven't already continued to level the sling an arrows motivated by past slights of just plain dislike that he failed. I don't believe there is a coach in the nation who could have done better in view of the circumstances this team endured. But that's my opinion and you know what they say about opinions. I say screw "they."


xxx

The stat mavens tell us this year that scoring is down and physical violence is up. That's not good. Because stats often bore me, I'll drop just two instances of concern—or what should be of concern to most Xavier basketball fans: When was the last time a Xavier player missed games because of “concussion-like syndromes????”

Ask Justin Martin and Dee Davis that question? Both missed games this past season.

Then listen to the commentators on radio and television games and offer your reaction: “Oooooh, ..rough, should have been something called...But you can't expect a call on every play.”

“The refs are letting them play all night. I guess that's incidental contact.” (The fouled player lay on the floor shaking his head as the teams ran to the other end of the floor. No call. No replay review.)

“That's just a hard foul.”

“My question is, how can you call that a foul at one end of the court and not at the other?”

“Something has to be done before someone is seriously hurt.”

Yes, and the beat drones on. Occasionally, many times in reaction to the home crowd, the officials will review the TV and rule an Flagrant One Foul, two shots and the ball.

But at the end of the game when Team A is trailing and fouling, where are the flagrant fouls? Especially when Team B players hit the floor?

Apparently the only time the rules will be changed—read enforced—is when a player is carried out on a stretcher or dies. Stay tuned.

Muskie
03-20-2013, 09:05 PM
My apologies to Q in getting this out late.