Ten Most Exciting Things

By Lauren Biggers
Men's Basketball vs. Furman

It’s a running joke around here.
(And they can’t laugh at you if you’re laughing, too, my friends.)

It’s a running joke around here that I write for mostly my entertainment. It’s true, of course, but I like to think that a few people in cyberspace are entertained along the way. (And I need at least two hands now to count readers... Thanks Mom!)

And yet, if ever there was a time to retitle this blog, “The View from Press Row of Things that Entertain Lauren and Gavin Other Than The Game,” this was it.

Because on the court, well... the ‘Cats won, 83-43.

The stat lines were good, as they will be when you shoot 55.6 percent from the field as a team.

The Ringer was 12-of-18 overall, 6-of-10 (!!) from behind the line, with five assists and five steals.

WILL (he’s earned his capital letters now, I think) Archambault added another 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

MAX, the WL, Ben Allison and Dan Nelms all added at least a pair of baskets, and Andrew LOVEdale turned in another solid effort with seven rebounds (All Defensive!), five points and three blocks.

Even Steve Rossiter (not even... rather, additionally) finished with nine points on a lone made bucket after going 7-for-8 at the line (coaching point 1: make your free throws).

But there was excitement, too.

If I were, indeed, mailing in this column (and I know, by now you have your suspicions), I would have made a list of the top 10 most entertaining things of the night. Because I’m sure there were at least 10.

There was the D-Block chanting, “We want shirts; We want shirts” just before the 8-minute media timeout, a call answered, swiftly, by assistant SID Matt Harris and His Amazing T-shirt Launcher (which he dubbed later in the office one of the Top 10 moments of his life.) That media timeout – and the game, really, punctuated by a rim-rattling exclamation point (!) of a dunk from Frank Ben-Eze.

There was MAX-Pauhlus-Gosselin leaping over the scorer’s table for a loose ball despite a 40(ish)-point lead (coaching point 2: value the basketball) much to the crowd’s delight... and WILL’s ... and Steve’s. Suffocating Wildcat defense that allowed just four (FOUR!) Furman points in 17:10 in the second half.

The debut of the new fan student newspaper, yet to be named (students, submit your suggestions to athleticsmarketing@davidson.edu for a chance at 10 Wildcat Pride Points. Non-student winners, a shot at normal pride points). Doing the Lobster Claw. Another sellout crowd. A trophy for College Athlete of the Year that could (might?) easily double as the most expensive candy dish in the history of college apartments.

And there was TV Teddy. Confession: I love the guy. And I love, even more, the fact that he worked this game. If it were up to me, he would work them all. I’m not a coach (coaching point 3: have an act), so my reasons are purely selfish. But someone get the man a reality show.

And yet, with all the excitement on the court (see, I’ve proven it...), I got a mid-game text that read, correctly, the 10 most exciting games in Belk Arena today were in darts. THAT would be a good Top 10.