OH MY IONA
This is really starting to hurt. Seriously, someone please make it stop. Iona's 2007 basketball journey has gone from bad to worse to downright unbearable. Tonight, as the not-so-mighty Gaels entered the final 10 minutes with a ten point lead, it looked, once again, as though they were poised to finally grab their first win of the season. But the Stags from Fairfield suddenly went on a 13-3 run, forced overtime, and prevailed 70-67. Ouch.

Honestly, I'd rather my team get beat by 30 every night then lose the way Iona has been lately. At least then you could just give up. But no, this winless team actually gives its fans hope every night only to send them home with nothing but thoughts of turning the ovens on in their dorms and lighting a match. Kaboom. It's that bad. Last Saturday they lost a heartbreaker 81-80, to Niagara. Prior to that, they lost two games, both in overtime, to Canisius and Fairfield. Painful.

While searching for an Iona-appropriate image, this was, by far, the best thing I found:

The pride of New Rochelle

She has absolutely nothing to do with the school mind you. It's just that her name is Iona. Still, we're going to anoint Ms. Iona here the official mascot of the '07 Iona men's basketball team. At least it'll give us a reason to keep watching.

By the way, if they keep it up, Iona could join Prairie View A&M ('92) and Savannah St. ('05) as the only schools to have a winless season in the last 50 years. We hope that doesn't happen, but if it does you can bet us Nuts will be on hand to witness it.

Elsewhere...

St. John's -- After watching St. John's look downright ugly against UConn a week ago, it seems as though they've finally turned it around. On Sunday, they beat a favored Syracuse team. Tonight, they welcomed a ranked Notre Dame team to the Garden and sent them home crying in their Guinness after a clutch '3' from Larry Wright. Why can't we ever pick one of these games to go to?? Damn.



Maybe the Irish woulda played better if they hadn't left their pot in the car. Just sayin'.

UConn -- Meanwhile, UConn is reeling; some have already written them off. After that drubbing of St. John's at the Garden a little over a week ago, UConn went out and got spanked by Louisville last night. Before that, they lost to Indiana at home. I enjoyed that game not because I have anything against the Huskies per se, but rather because I will always root for a Kelvin Sampson-coached team. You see, he was the man that last took my Washington State Cougars to the NCAAs, way back in '94 when I was a sophomore in Pullman. So for the first time in my life, Go Hoosiers. (at least I don't have to root for Oklahoma anymore)

St. Francis (NY) -- I have to admit, of all the teams in The Empire, I'm partial to the Brooklyn ones. It is, after all, my home borough. Sadly, neither the St. Francis Terriers nor the LIU Blackbirds seem to be going anywhere this season. But last night, in front of 226 'fans' who must've been lost or something, the pride of the Terriers shone through as they knocked off Monmouth for their second straight win. The Blackbirds didn't fare as well, losing to Wagner 88-74. Don't worry Blackbirds, at least you're not Iona.

Marist -- The boys from Poughkeepsie bounced back from a stumble last Saturday at Canisius by thumping the Peacocks from St. Peter's 67-58 tonight. Point guard extraordinaire Jared Jordan was held to his lowest point total of the season but is still averaging close to a triple double (16 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 7.1 apg) as the surprising Red Foxes continue to make the ghost of Fred Sanford proud.

I'm coming, Elizabeth!