ASU pre-game Division II championship blog

About 30 minutes to go before tipoff

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- As famed Georgia play-by-play football announcer Larry Munson says, get the picture.
The teams have yet to take the floor. A spirited bunch of ASU fans wearing different shades of blue are on the other side. Winona State has a large contingent of fans. They will make noise, lots of it. It's important the Jaguars get off to a fast start to silence these people wearing purple and white body paint.
As of Friday, about 4,400 tickets had been pre-sold for the 6,600-seat MassMutual Center. This place likely will be full today. It should be a great atmosphere not only for Division II basketball, but basketball in general.
If you want to play "Where's Waldo?" with us, photographer Michael Holahan will be behind the goals wearing an orange shirt and a red Masters cap. Don't worry, he's wearing pants, too. I am wearing glasses and a Braves hat (with either a gray pullover or a red sweater -- hey, it's cold in here). You likely won't see me, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I haven't shaved in a week or so (Thanks Delta, for destroying my electric razor.)
So much for my plans to watch a different movie Friday night. After writing and then grabbing a late supper, I went back to the hotel room and re-watched "Miracle" and "Hoosiers," two great inspirational sports films. See them both if you haven't already.
Kurt Russell, portraying U.S. Olympic Hockey Coach Herb Brooks, delivered a great speech before the U.S. team shocked the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympics. He said something like this to his team:
"Our time is now. Their time is over."
What a great thing for Augusta State coach Dip Metress to tell his team before it faces the Winona State dynasty at 2:30 p.m. on CBS.
I also went back and watched "Hoosiers." I've watched that film every night before the Jaguars' have played. Why stop watching it now?
Also, Michael and I went back to the Donut Dip (49 varieties!) this morning. For my money, about $.89, there's no better donut (or doughnut?) than the Bavarian cream.
All week, I've heard Sara Bareilles' "Love Song" on the radio. What a fantastic song. I may have to purchase the album. She's performing with the Counting Crows and Maroon 5 in Charlotte in July. I may have to look into getting tickets for that as well.
Well as you already know, today's game will be broadcast live to millions of people nationwide. For any Augustan, this is nothing new. The Masters Tournament will be broadcast around the globe in a couple of weeks. But today, it's time for tiny Augusta State to shine.
If the Jaguars win today, Peach Belt Conference media relations director Ken Gerlinger deserves an assist. When Augusta State trailed by double digits Wednesday to Central Oklahoma, he got a phone number for Orbitz to change his plane flight. Ken did not go home early; he's still around here somewhere probably eating the free food.
As for today's game, Augusta State can win if it sticks with its inside-outside game plan. The Jaguars must get the ball inside to center Garret Siler and let him establish an inside presence. If he can do that, he can free up the perimeter shooters. Augusta State can ill afford guard Ben Madgen to have another poor shooting performance. The sophomore guard is due a good game. I expect him to get the ball early. If he can play confident, the Jaguars will be tough to beat.
This if the final game for two-time All-American senior forward Tyrekus "A.J." Bowman and guard Demetrius Howard. Bowman's had one heckuva career at Augusta State. It'd be nice to see him play like he's played all year: taking the ball to hole and throwing down some highlight dunks on national television. Howard just needs to play like this is his last game and hustle around the court like he's done so many times before in recent weeks.
There's a lot of people wearing Winona State purple around here. One guy in the parking deck was wearing a short-sleeved short. Crazy! It's in the 30s here and it's not getting any warmer today.