Between the seasons (oooh, baby, baby....)

With football season over, and the men's and women's basketball teams at DSU on the road until at least Christmas, your favorite sportswriter is on somewhat of a beat-writing hiatus, but fear not, TPGS fans, I still will update as much as possible. Of course in my never-ending quest to branch out beyond the sports realm, I will be random with some posts, measured in my thinking with others, but this is definitely a random moment in TPGS history, so sit back and enjoy the ride.

Facebook is a helluva drug...

O.K., a bit of a review for those who are unfamiliar with my roommate annoyances. My roommate is of all things an athlete for one of our campus teams (the sport will be witheld to protect the innocent), and aside from the constant repeat of simpleton-ass rap mixtapes, groupie traffic also irks me the rare times I actually am in the apartment for more than an hour at a time. But this one chick (who also shall remain nameless) took it to the extreme. She hit me up on Facebook to ask me where my roommate was.

Now, I could be a skosh irrational...but what is the purpose of sending me a message if you're just a J-O for someone else? I am not my annoying roommate's keeper, nor do I care to be his appointment book. Handle that on your own, missy.

Granted, one cool thing to come out of the Face is catching up with some high school folks, and gaining new readers for the Post Game Show. Mike Knight, a recent DSU grad, who along with the voice of DSU athletics Ralph Wesley had the funniest DSU-TV show I've ever seen, stopped through to give me props on my blog, and is starting one on his own. Thanks again for the props Mike, when you get yours started, let me know so I can add you to my links section.

Bruce Bruce the quarterback?

Now granted, Grambling State QB Bruce Eugene is not the same size as the comedian Bruce Bruce, but he isn't exactly your svelte, prototypical signal caller. Eugene, generously listed at 6'2 and going about two-siddy (260), fired six TD passes in the Tigers' 50-35 Bayou Classic win over Southern in Houston last Saturday.

While he's built more like Warren Sapp than Warren Moon, one thing you can't deny about Bruce is that he has an NFL arm. Period. Not to mention some mobility, which is a must for quarterbacks, (black, white or whatever) these days.

His lack of height and obvious heft might hinder him in the draft process, but I'd rather have the Biggie Smalls of the backfield than some whiny, no-account loser like Ryan Leaf as my offensive leader. Let's hope NFL Draft icon Mel Kiper, Jr. big-ups Bruce like he did for Hampton's Jerome Mathis last year, who is wrecking shop as a return specialist for the sorry Houston Texans.

Darling Nikki, and the power it holds

As someone who respects, admires, and pumps the old school of Black music, I'm fairly late on the "Darling Nikki" bandwagon. For those who have no clue what I'm talking about, "Darling Nikki" is Prince's tale of one-night debauchery off the wildly successful "Purple Rain" soundtrack, accompanying The Purple One's 1984 semi-autobiographical flick of the same name. Prince meets this lovely lass named Nikki who is indulging in *ahem* self-love in a hotel lobby with a mag, and asks him if he wants to spend a little time with her. Now how he was able to even say yes is beyond me.

Same scenario different character: Chris Stevens, an unassuming, sort of neurotic sportswriter accosted by a fine woman killing a couple of kittens and wants to replace her hand with, well...me. Me: *insert loud THUD of me fainting here*

Aside from the actual storytelling, this is Prince at his funk & rock fusion best with the Revolution providing the instrumentation, and it's a pretty cool song. Just thought I'd let y'all know that I wish Prince wasn't all Jehovah'd out so he could perform this with Beyonce, Nona Gaye, or Rosario Dawson on stage. Hel...lo.

A quick random thoughts finale

My co-worker's longtime friend is mad fine. She needs a journalist in her life, not an athlete.

DSU needs its own version of VH1's Best Week Ever. The stuff that goes on at this school could be TV show material forever and a day.

Def Jam artist Ne-Yo's new song, "So Sick" drives me up the wall. I love it, but at the same time it makes me sad. He says it best, "Why Can't I turn off the radio?" That's how I feel everytime I listen to it. Sounds like Hova's got himself another R&B winner.

The Sixers need to stop bs-ing and put the Atlantic Division in their back pocket. New Jersey doesn't play any D, Boston's too young, and the Knicks and Raptors suck.

The Indianapolis Colts will go 19-0 and win the Super Bowl. Yeah, I'm saying it. More detailed post as to why to come in the near future.

Women are great liars. I'll leave it at that.

Want to know if the Thanksgiving food you ate was good or not? If you still have "The Itis" and it's Monday night, you've had some good eatin'.

Finally, I'm glad the semester only has three weeks left to run. I've earned the right to sit on my behind for a month and enjoy the Holidays with my family. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and is getting their holiday shopping done peacefully.

Grand Opening, Grand Closing

Well, for the last time yesterday, I sojourned to Alumni Stadium on a lovely autumn afternoon to cover my final Delaware State University football game as sports editor of the Hornet newspaper, and as a freelancer for the Delaware State News (http://www.newszap.com/articles/2005/11/19/dm/central_delaware/sports/dsnspt03.txt).

Mixed emotions are the key to a finale I'd like to believe, but there was no confliction; I'm going to miss these Saturdays, period. I've been blessed for four seasons to cover a team who couldn't beat your best Pop Warner youth leaguers, now a team who was in slight contention for the MEAC title for more than half of the season.

Of course, we beat Howard 23-7, the final record is 7-4, 6-2 in MEAC (good enough for only third place), and unbeaten at home for the first time since 1985. Contrary to popular belief, I was not attending DSU games that far back. Here are some moments that made Saturday's finale worth remembering:

The first half was an outright comedy of errors. Anything you can think of that went wrong in a football game, did go wrong, especially Howard blocking a punt and returning it for a TD to take the lead 7-6 at the break. The Bison had two straight false start penalties and a couple of broken plays that just screamed "we're done, let's just get back to the Mecca and those brilliant beautiful chicks our school has."

Freddie Middlebrooks. Middlebrooks, a smallish senior receiver from St. Petersburg, FL, hadn't sniffed the end zone in his previous three years on the active roster, but scored his second touchdown in two weeks, this time an acrobatic 36 yard catch and run that proved to be the straw that broke HoU's back. It's good to see cats who work hard get their time to shine, even if it is this late in their careers.

The media box crew. It was only three people this week; myself, Kris Pope from the Wilmington News Journal, and Ms. Dawn, the wife of DSU SID Dennis Jones, who provides us food and copies of stats. We had a grand old time up there clowning any and everything we saw fit. And for Ms. Jameil, another "I don't want to hear this from grown folks again in life" moment:

Ms. Dawn: there's something strange about the fact that the Lady Bison mascot has on a skirt...but the male Bison doesn't have on any pants.

Kris: And his Jersey number is 69...

Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH, this conversation is too grown for me! (the biggest lies we tell are the ones we tell ourselves)

The interviews. Coach Lavan was a bit jovial Saturday afternoon, which is different for him, but a welcome sight. His second year on the job and he goes 7-4, I'm sure he would be happy. Meanwhile Kenny Kern, the senior linebacker who transferred from I-A Mississippi State, is an absolutely fun interview. Country as hell, but articulate and actually willing to talk to the media, Kern has been a joy to have around DSU on and off the field.

Finally, reflection. As I heard my alma mater being played, I thought about the football part of my job. I've covered at least 25 DSU football games in my time as sports editor, and the memories will always be getting to the stadium early to clown around with the game day crew, the Mud Bowls we've had (sup, Hampton) and just being around to witness HBCU football, albeit in unorthodox fashion. So, Alumni Stadium, thank you for the fun. Now I guess it's time to focus on my last season of basketball.

*cue the piano outro of "Encore" by Hov*

It's The Dynasty People, as promised...

Coming off a unbelievable storybook ride to the Big Dance last March, the 2005-2006 edition of the Delaware State men's basketball team tips off their season in less than two weeks at UCLA. Considering the murderous non-conference schedule most mid-major programs take on, wins may not come right away for the Hornets, but the good news is that the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference schedule doesn't start until after New Years'. With that in mind, here are the players, events, and things that will define the Hornets for this coming season.

Breakout Player: Shooting guard Tracey Worley. The MEAC experts and fans were stunned when conference coaches and SIDs picked Worley as a first-team All-MEAC selection at guard this pre-season, but look for Tracey to earn his stripes.

Aside from leading the team in scoring (13 points on six-of-six shooting) against Duke in the NCAA tournament, the 6'3, 190-pound sophomore has unfailing confidence in his J (which reminds me of long-forgotten Sixer stud Andrew Toney), and a willingness to play defense. Also, he's very mature for a youngster (he doesn't turn 19 until January 25th) and along with the rest of team, lives on his faith in God. With teams keying on last year's breakout guy Jahsha Bluntt, Worley should have plenty of chances to prove his worth to the doubters.

Player who must step up: Center Aaron Fleetwood. This is not a slight by any means, considering how Aaron came on strong in the MEAC title game last year, but now as the man in the middle, "Fleet" is going to have to do his thing in more minutes, and more than likely against Hampton's behemoth, Bruce Brown in the title game in '06. At 6'9, and generously listed at 215 pounds, Fleetwood can block shots and rebound, but also handles the ball and shoots very well, which could be an added bonus for Coach Greg Jackson if Fleet can do his thing all game, all year.

Player(s) to look out for: Redshirt freshman guard Phillip Brown and true freshman Forward Frisco Sandidge. Brown (6'3, 180) broke his wrist last season before he could really get a foothold in Coach Jackson's system, but showed flashes of why he can be a capable point guard to spell Darrin Shine.

Sandidge (6'6, 210), meanwhile will more than likely give the Hornets depth in the Frontcourt, combining the recently graduated Terrance Hunter's ability to the get to the hoop, and the consistent shooting touch of this year's starting power forward, Troy Roundtree. If both of these guys can give the Hornets some quality minutes, everyone else would really be playing for second place.

Now it's time to answer some questions pertaining to the Hornets and their MEAC repeat chances.

Why is South Carolina State ranked ahead of the Hornets?

Because they have the conference's best player, Thurman Zimmerman returning for his senior season, along with junior forward Brian Mason (whom I call "Deebo" due to his Tim "Tiny" Lister physique). With those two up front, the Bulldogs have as good as shot as State to win the title. But guard play might kill them again if they're not careful.

What does Jahsha Bluntt have to do get better after last year's breakout season?

While Jahsh's shot is always going to be there like Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, one thing I'd like to see him do is crash the boards a little more. That's hard especially since he plays the perimeter on offense and defense, but he can definitely help himself out by helping his teammates on the glass. Apparently he has been working on his ball-handling and driving to the hoop, which everyone has requested he do, so pencil Mr. Bluntt in for about 17-18 points a game this year.

What team is the scariest threat to the Hornets' crown?

More like one player, and that player is Bruce Brown. An uptown fade shy of 7 feet tall and 280 pounds, the Hampton center is a monster underneath with soft hands (pause), and quick feet, making him hands down the best big man in the MEAC. If Pirates coach Bobby Collins is smart enough to ride the Bruce Brown express throughout the season, Hampton could get its revenge on State.

What do you see happening come March?

Well, predictions aren't recommended in my line of work, but with Hampton, SC State and DSU being the top three, it's a severe drop off from that point on, so I'll say one of those three will end up representing the MEAC in the big dance. Which one remains to be seen.

Random Thoughts From A Sportswriter

I'm feeling more comfortable straying away from sports topics, albeit I will continue to give you guys the real on that subject (DSU men's and women's basketball previews coming soon), but I really have to let thoughts flow from my mind, through my arms and fingers to this here blog, so consider the Random thoughts of one Chris Stevens, submitted for your approval...

My car got locked up!

Yep, my 1994 Mitsubishi Diamante, a.k.a The Champ was towed away from the lovely campus of Delaware State University due to lack of a current parking sticker. Hey, when you're broke, some things just slip your mind. A parking pass was one of them. But I was able to bail my car out, none the worse for wear, and pay for the decal thanks to the kindness of my mom. Although Champ has been actin' funny since we got him out. Found a shank in the glove compartment this evening....hmmm....

What's love got to do with it?

Apparently not much for a woman in Murrysville, PA. According to the Associated Press, this woman lured her ex to her house to rekindle a relationship, but when he mentioned a new love in his life (mistake number one), she got mad and waited for him to fall asleep (mistake number two).

She then glued his penis to his stomach, one of his testicles to his leg, glued his rear end shut, and dumped nail polish on him. Now I don't claim to be a ladies' man or a romance doctor...but what the hell would possess you to mention a woman in the presence of another?! He asked for it. That said, all that glue was extreme. It'll be a while before he can go near a shelf full of Elmer's and Krazy Glue before he has an episode, that's for sure.

Maurice Cheeks could dunk!

O.K., as a lifelong Philadelphia 76ers fan (literally) I always got mad as a youngster when Sixers point guard Maurice Cheeks would have an absolute head start to the bucket and he would just lay the ball off the glass. Apparently, I should've been six or seven years old in 1978-79, Mo's rookie year. When CSN-Philly's live coverage of the Sixers' season opener with Milwaukee began, it showed footage the current Sixers coach as a rookie with a mushroom cloud of an afro leading the Sixers for the first time.

One clip that stuck out was a '79 Eastern Conference playoff game with the San Antonio Spurs (yeah, the NBA's geography has come a long way), when Mo stole the ball from George "Iceman" Gervin, and with Ice giving chase, 6'1 Mo threw it down. Not your typical short guy fingertip, scrape the rim dunks, I mean a throwdown. I was stoked like the game was live. Can you tell I have an old soul?

Jaguar Wright, Freedom Fighter

Granted, I may be late as hell, but Jaguar Wright's current single "Free" is just a dope song, and an inspirational one in general, I especially love these lyrics;

The future's before me/the past left at dawn
See, the mornin' brought a new song/and do you know what it's called? It's free...

That's like my mantra from now on, everyday I'm allowed to see is a new day, and it's going to be something different every day. Take the good with the bad and keep on rollin'.

One-sentence thoughts, to close it out...

Y'all ever hear a song and like it and never get to hear the title of it so you can find it? For me that song was "Rainforest" by Paul Hardcastle, and I had trouble finding it mainly because it was an instrumental, one that sooths my soul and is a very good song to cruise to. Of course I found out the name and artist thanks to DSU Sports Information Director and jazz fan Dennis Jones.

I'm glad Thanksgiving is coming up. Family, Friends, Turkey, and football.

This DSU football season has been the most exciting and the most fun to cover since I started my gig as sports editor of the Hornet three years ago. I'm going to miss the action and pre-game socializing when I graduate, unless I'm blessed enough to cover football on my first job.

Gabrielle Union left her husband. PRAISE GOD! HALLELUJAH! THE LAWD IS MY SHEPHERD! HE KNOWS WHAT I WANT! O.K., I'm calm.

50 Cent, just shut up. Your attacks on Kanye West are rather petty and Mean Girls-like, although you apparently enjoyed that flick so much you tried to get at anorexic anonymous' Lindsay Lohan. And I hope your movie bombs like a shock and awe campaign. Coon ass coon.

I have a crush on a girl right now, but I am worried of making a fool of myself (Ms. Jameil, I know I'm supposed to look up.) She's a cutie-pie, biology major, and easy to talk to, but I don't know if I'd ever tell her I was feeling her.

And that is all kids. Hope you've enjoyed the random thoughts portion of the program. You're a beautiful audience, be sure to tip your waitress. Thank you, and Good Night!