What to do when desk-bound during a game (Soft Pretzel Logic)

What to do when desk-bound during a game

I wish I could be watching Temple-Providence, but we don't have ESPNU here in the Philly.com newsroom.

We do, however, have a poll asking readers which of the local teams is the best in the region. So far, Villanova is winning in a landslide.

So let's have a look around today's stories, because there are a lot of them.

-- Austin Scott pled not guilty to a range of assault charges yesterday.

-- Jeff McLane also writes about Penn State's offensive line, which is living up to that perennial nickname "big eaters." We also learn that Dan Connor is a finalist for the Walter Camp Award.

-- Joe Juliano takes a look around the local small-college football scene, as a number of local programs get ready for the playoffs.

-- Mike Kern wonders why Hawai'i isn't getting any respect.

-- Drexel won at Florida Gulf Coast, 77-58, thanks to a career high 22 points from Tramayne Hawthorne.

-- Bad news at Penn, which lost guard Darren Smith for the year due to a broken kneecap suffered against Drexel. Smith was definitely going to be one of the Quakers' main scoring options this year and those hopes for a fourth straight Ivy League title just took (no pun intended) a big hit.

-- Speaking of Penn, there are no more single-game tickets left for the North Carolina game. Jay Bilas has some thoughts about the Tar Heels' win over Davidson last night.

Okay, now for a little bit of fun. Line of the Day makes its return this afternoon with a frankly astonishing game last night between Troy and Dallas-based Paul Quinn College. The Trojans won in overtime, 133-131.

The Basketball State boxscore reports that Troy recorded a "NASCAR" tempo of 109.3 possessions and an average of 1.22 points per possession. The Paul Quinn stats aren't included (the team is NAIA) so the stats don't go into the Basketball State machine), but the Yahoo box score has them.

Both teams attempted 92 or more field goals each, including 41 three-point attempts each. Whoa.

This being a new season of LOTD, I've redesigned the template a bit and added the NBA's efficiency model statistic. It is used by Basketball State and a few other sites as well.

The formula (which I am thankful I don't have to do by hand) is:

((Pts + TReb + A + Stl + Blk) - ((FGA - FGM) + (FTA - FTM) + TO))

Our first winner of the season is Troy's Justin Jonus:

Name	Min	FG	FT	3pt	OR	DR	TR	A	S	TO	Blk	PF	Eff	Pts
J. Jonus	37	16-27	4-6	8-17	2	6	8	4	1	3	0	1	41	44

Tags:

Posted by Jonathan Tannenwald on November 15, 2007 2:01 PM | Permalink

Comments (3)

Gary:

I saw the note about the Penn-Carolina being "sold out".

I then clicked on the link and saw an "auction" for a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to buy the package.

Thought that was a bit of an overstatement, but didnt know what "passes to the Class of 71 Room" was all about?

Thanks! Gary

Posted by Gary | November 15, 2007 7:42 PM

Posted on November 15, 2007 19:42

Jonathan Tannenwald

The Class of '71 room is the room where Penn's really high-end fundraisers get to hang out before games. It's in the northeast corner of the Palestra, just off the floor.

I've been in there a few times for off-season interviews and it's full of old Penn and Big 5 memorabilia. Cool stuff, but nothing the majority of us will ever see with our own eyes.

Posted by Jonathan Tannenwald | November 15, 2007 9:28 PM

Posted on November 15, 2007 21:28

Brian:

Get a Slingbox...then you can watch anything from your home cable box on any computer. It will be especially handy for me during March Madness time.

Posted by Brian | November 16, 2007 9:57 AM

Posted on November 16, 2007 09:57

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Author

Jonathan Tannenwald is a producer with Philly.com.

I fell in love with the Big 5 at first sight upon moving to Philadelphia in 2002. At various points in my journalistic career, I've covered all six of the region's Division I teams. During that time, I've eaten many soft pretzels from the Palestra's concession stands, which is how this blog got its name.

In addition to the blog, I host and produce the Inquirer's College HoopsCast. It's a weekly podcast that features all the latest news and analysis from around local and national college basketball. Regular guests include Inquirer writers Mike Jensen, Joe Juliano and Mel Greenberg.

I also occasionally contribute to the Inquirer's women's basketball weblog, Women's Hoops Guru. If you've come here from there, this blog deals mostly with the men's side of things, though I do write about women's basketball and other sports when they fit in.

When not focusing on college hoops, I host and produce the Inquirer's PhilliesCast with Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki, and can occasionally be found behind the camera shooting videos of the Eagles, other professional sports teams and the tiger cubs at the zoo.

One of the great things about City Series basketball, and college basketball as a whole, is its sense of community. So I want to hear from you. Post a comment or send me an email by clicking on my name above. But don't be profane, and don't post hate speech. I'm sure you'd like to take a shot at that commenter on the opposite side of a rivalry from you, or say something nasty about a team you don't like. But this blog isn't the place for it. Thanks.

About

This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on November 15, 2007 2:01 PM.

The previous post in this blog was Technical difficulties.

The next post in this blog is Gil Jackson's homecoming.

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

Soft Pretzel Logic

A blog about college sports in the Philadelphia region and across the country.