Tuesday, February 24, 2015
FGCU Eagles Continue to Soar
On Wednesday night, the Florida Gulf
Coast Eagles men’s basketball team closes out its regular season with a game
against Northern Florida Ospreys. The Eagles have been on a roll recently, with
ten straight victories. But the last time these two teams faced each other, the
Ospreys beat FGCU in Jacksonville 80-64. That was in early January, and there
has been a lot of water under the bridge since that game.
At a recent game, White Sox starter was recognized by retiring his jersey at centre court. He is a great guy, from all reports.
With a win, the Eagles will become
the Atlantic Sun Conference champions for the second consecutive year; however,
if the Ospreys win this game, and their final game on Saturday, they will take
the crown. The winner gets to host the playoff games leading to the National
Basketball Championships. Home court is a bonus in this game.
All of the seniors on the team will
be recognized for their efforts on Wednesday night. They start as freshmen,
become sophomores, then juniors and seniors. The high profile players never get
to graduate, let alone become seniors in the American basketball world. Teams
in the National Basketball association pluck the college stars from their
schools with the draft. A case in point is Andrew Wiggins, now with the
Minnesota Timberwolves. Andrew went to school barely long enough to get his
sneakers dirty, from the small Ontario berg called Toronto. An early signee for
FGCU next season is Eli Long. Eli now attends John Carroll High School, a well
respected American High School; however, he hails from Mississauga.
American basketball legend Dick
Vitale is also scheduled to attend the game Wednesday night. Vitale spends a
good deal of time in this area during the winter. He is quite familiar with the
Eagles, and is a big supporter of Coach Joe Dooley. Vitale, now 75 years old,
finished his singles tennis game and spoke with Fort Myers News-Press after his
game. “”I’ve known Joe for a long time. I think he does a great job.” Vitale
will be signing his latest book, “Tt’s awesome, Baby,” in support of pediatric
cancer research.
The Eagles got a significant scare
last week in their game against the Kennesaw State Owls from Georgia. At one
point in the first half, they were down by 12 points. They rallied somewhat,
but still trailed by eight points at half time. The Eagles once again relied on
Brett Comer as a sparkplug to ignite the offence. With a couple of incredible
drives to the basket, aggressive defense, and timely foul shooting, the Eagles
watched the clock tick down with a one point win, 54-53. As I am wont to say in
these situations, “Never in doubt”.
I saw a chap wearing a University of
Western Ontario sweatshirt in the stands. His name is Larry Haylor, and he
coached football there for many years. I told him that I had spent a year there
in 1964. “Before my time,” he stated, without suggesting that I am ancient. He
coached Andy Rossitt during his university days, an outstanding quarterback
from Quinte Secondary School in Belleville. He also remembered Mike Schad from
his college days at Queen’s.
Can’t wait for the tipoff against the
Ospreys. Understandably, one of these teams will claw its way to victory.
That’s just silly. I apologize!
February 24, 2015
Sportslices.blogspot.com
# posted by James Hurst @ 12:59 PM 
