Thanksgiving Hangover

By Mark Buckets


It’s great to be back in the fold following Thanksgiving and all that it entails - I’ll take some Alka-Selzter with a side of Pepto - along with the usual gathering of family and friends. And you also know what Thanksgiving means - LOTS and LOTS of college basketball. Ever since the NCAA abolished the hideous “2-in-4” rule - where teams were allowed to compete in only 2 exempted tournaments every 4 years - there has been an explosion of holiday events. Tournaments such as the Maui Invitational, Great Alaska Shootout (which has lost it’s luster of late) and the NIT Season Tip-off are the hallmark events of the Thanksgiving season.

Those three tournaments have blazed the trail for new tournaments to emerge. One of the newest events - and perhaps the most competitive of the young season - has been the Old Spice Classic. Don’t let the location (The Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, FL) or the arena (It’s called the Milk House for heaven’s sake) fool you. And despite low attendance, top-level basketball has been played over the past four days. The nation was introduced to a pair of prolific freshmen Michael Beasley and J.J. Hickson. How can anyone forget about Villanova and star guard Scottie Reynolds? Yes, Jay Wright ditched the Armani suits for a classic polo shirt, disappointing legions of admiring women across the country. Next year’s field is also stacked, so this tournament figures to have some staying power.

The season is progressing nicely - we all know of the bulk of early upsets - and should provide fans with more moments to remember. The kind folks at Kay Jewelers are calling and want their slogan back. I don’t feel like being sued, so I’ll give them the credit. Until we meet again…..

EDIT: (11/25/07)

Trashtalk Superstar adds:

In his most recent posts, Mark Buckets has criticized Marquette coach Tom Crean and Villanova coach Jay Price's fashion choices. Drive and Dish's editorial board has, apparently, decided to branch out beyond just talking about basketball. That's OK -- I probably should have seen the changes coming after this blog attracted national attention when I posted a couple items about college football. And, in fairness, the recent fashion talk has sparked a fair amount activity in the D&D's comments section.

So now that Mark Buckets has been promoted from basketball analyst/pundit to basketball analyst/pundit/fashion critic, I thought I'd join the party and weigh in with my two cents (and hope that maybe the editorial board will see fit to throw a promotion - and pay raise - my way, as well).

Tom Crean's windbreaker at the Maui tournament may have been questionable, but at least he didn't wear a Hawaiian shirt, as coaches always used to do at the Maui tournament. My main criticism of Crean's windbreaker is not that he wore a windbreaker, but that he didn't wear a cool enough windbreaker. A vintage 80's style Members Only windbreaker would have been hellasweet!! For future reference, if Tom Crean -- or anyone else, for that matter -- is having trouble finding a sweet 80's Members Only windbreaker, look no further: Sweet 80's Members Only Windbreaker.

But, even better than a vintage 80's style Members Only windbreaker, Tom Crean could have rocked a vintage David Hasselhoff Knight Rider windbreaker.

Better yet, if Crean had wanted to look extra cool, he'd have done well to have stayed with the Hasselhoff Knight Rider motif, but to have bypassed the windbreaker altogether-- and just gone for the full Hasselhoff Knight Rider ensemble: replete with boots, unbuttoned shirt and bitchin' leather jacket.

However, if Tom Crean had truly wanted to make a STATEMENT, he should have gone for the kick-ass Hasselhoff Knight Rider ensemble - sans the boots, pants and open shirt. Now THAT would've been SWEET!