Hoop Dreams!

It's relatively common knowledge that I love the sport of Basketball about as much as I loved the fact that my car got flipped over/towed away when the Philles won the World Series (that's another sport I love..).  Don't let the sarcastic intro fool you, I definitely watched our tallest Drexel Dragon squad take out #21Louisville on ESPN3.com, and was absolutely excited to see our boys snatch the win!  Drexel slipped ahead towards the end of the game after a few lead changes earlier in the second half, holding on for a 52-46 upset over the #21 ranked Cardinals.  Nearly every crucial player on the Drexel squad came close to fouling out, with only my namesake Dartaye RUFFin being forced to take a seat.  Head Coach Bruiser Flint gave credit to Gerald Colds for a calm senior performance as Drexel's point leader on the night, and my boy Yannick Formbor for some solid minutes in the paint.

That's as far as I go with commentary.  I've worn out my thesaurus choosing words that won't get me yelled at for bring up memories of bad pre-season press releases... and I don't think I can talk Basketball for much longer before I say something that makes me sound as dumb as anyone on SportsCenter trying to recap a premiership match... Hell of a win for the boys in blue & gold.  As our friendly neighborhood crack addict used to yell down to us from the projects out at Vidas Field - "Hey Drexel! Good game last night! Keep that SHIT up!"

Drexeldragons.com is good, but it looks like The Ineligibles beat them to the story yet again...  Look for a fuller official recap to be posted sometime tomorrow.

Check out both Drexel's & Louisville's pre-game previews for a bit more intelligent background on the game.  

December News

Yes, I am over my shock and bewilderment that the USA lost the World Cup bid to Qatar.  I will attempt to stem my sarcastic remarks for the next 12 years and instead start immediately on building up the excessive tan necessary to survive in the harsh desert climate.  For this weekend anyway, spin the globe away from the Middle East and land your finger on Philadelphia PA.  Drexel Soccer has a few great events to check out.  

Doug Hess & Brian Green will host a College Soccer Prep Camp this Saturday, December 11th.  One more step in the direction of "program building" is great for our men's soccer program.  Let's hope the coaches get a good showing of players interested in getting a look at the college soccer environment.  Details and sign-up information available on drexelmsoc.locker10.com.

One of the great fundraisers related to Drexel Soccer, The Laura Miekle-Koch Alumni Happy Hour will also be this Saturday, December 11th.  Hosted by our favorite sponsor Cavanaugh's Restaurant & Sports Bar.  Make sure you leave time in your weekend for this event, like I always say "It's a great cause and a great time, so why not..."  Details available on Facebook as well as under "Tailgating & Events" at the top of the page.

In other news, Drexel kicks ass at the CAA Blood Drive Challenge yet again!  This year is now the 5th straight in a row that Drexel Athletics has raised the most usable pints of blood of any CAA school.  One can't help but feel the irony that this consistent achievement doesn't seem to translate over to the athletics side of.. athletics..  Regardless of how simultaneously uplifting yet depressing this fact may seem to all those involved in Drexel Athletics, it is certainly great for the community and a considerable amount of credit has to go to Dr. Rebecca Weidensaul for everything she contributes.  Congratulations Drexel, The ACHIEVE Center and everyone else involved.  

2022, The Year Without A World Cup

Qatar 2022                     ---                     Russia 2018

2022 is now "The Year Without A World Cup" for The United States.  FIFA's surprising December decision to award hosting rights of the 2018 World Cup to Russia & the 2022 World Cup to Qatar can only be the work of the two most dubious holiday mischief makers of all time!  This photograph of The Miser Brothers was taken just minutes after the decision was made in Zurich Switzerland today.  The reason for the delay in the announcement is undeniably the work of these two tyrannical brothers, Heat Miser & Snow Miser!  While football conscious and fair weather loving voters were prepared to select England & The United States to host in 2018 & 2022, The Miser Brothers had other plans.  Any who dared express a view contradictory to holding the World Cup in two of the most miserably uncomfortable countries in the world, were simply melted or turned to snow by the touch of one of the Miser brothers... (Bun Num, BUM BUM!).  As the situation stands now, Rudolph along with Mrs. Claus, Jingle & Jangle are on their way to plead their case before Mother Nature in the hopes that she may be able to sway her two sons, Heat Miser & Snow Miser, into surrendering their evil plot.

"So it's funny furry hats for 2018 & sunscreen and personal fans with water spritzers for 2022?".  Russia & Qatar will be the next two nations to host The World Cup after Brazil in 2014.  Over the next 12 years the World Cup will take soccer fans from the savanna in South Africa and the jungles of Brazil, to the frozen tundra in the far north before heading to the Middle East to host the world's greatest spectacle on a desert peninsula.  While the executives at Coppertone are certainly licking their lips, american soccer fans are wide-mouthed and dumbfounded.  FIFA has blown our minds and crushed our hearts.  What seemed like a golden chance to catapult U.S. Soccer to the forefront of american and international sport turned out to be a gulf-sized oil spill of disappointment when we lost our chance to host.  Being the only bidding nation to receive 100% marks for its presentation, it just goes to show that good grades aren't everything.  Sometimes whoreish-ly disgusting amounts of oil money do the job much better...  

So Qatar it is for 2022.  It's a good thing they have all that oil money, because Qatar will need to construct one world class air-conditioned stadium every year for the next 12 years just for the matches alone.  These venues better be the most spectacular, sleekest, sexiest, sickest stadiums the world will ever see!  If you run on a promise of "We're going to pull a World Cup out of our ass, because we have the oil money to do it", then do it...  Mediocrity will simply not do.  I'm talking virgins in vending machines and air-conditioned gerbil tunnels from stadium to stadium!  I know I'm excited for it, so make it happen!  Personally I'm hoping for a Qatar vs. USA match up in the opening game.