From Buffalo to the Big Apple

I finished up my MAAC basketball slate with two trips to Buffalo in the last week, calling Canisius-Marist men on Feb. 20 and Canisius-Niagara women on Feb. 25 (open with one of my favorite analysts, Julianne Viani, pictured at right).

It was great to get a little more time in Buffalo and get good time with both local coaches - men's coach Jim Baron at the airport and women's coach Terry Zeh providing a clutch lunch recommendation.

On Friday morning, I had the ol' pre-dawn wake-up call and drive to the airport amid minor snow, which allowed for a great view of New York (and a common site for my work, Kaiser Stadium and Belson Stadium at St. John's) on the morning flight to La Guardia.

Plenty busy in the broadcasting and personal departments over the next month!

All basketball, all the time

I'm happy to report that I have a busy week of broadcasting coming up, including four NCAA basketball games on ESPN3 in six nights - three Rutgers men's games from New Jersey, with a St. John's women's game mixed in.

Prepping for this many games at once is no easy task - I'm about halfway through all the flashcards and team research I need to be doing - but it's a good problem to have! There are a lot of good stories out there, and hopefully I get to see a few more play out on the court.

First up is the NIT Season Tip-Off, with four teams competing at Rutgers for the right to move on to the tournament semifinals in Madison Square Garden next week. When I was in high school, I went to the Garden for several of those doubleheaders - usually to see a powerhouse like Duke or to watch Delbarton alumnus Troy Murphy play for Notre Dame - and that makes it extra special to work the tournament this year.

This four-team group has Rutgers playing Canisius tonight (click here to watch), following the opening game between Elon and Drexel. The winners and losers play each other on Tuesday night, but our broadcast will definitely be the Rutgers game.

I really don't see an overwhelming favorite in this pool: Elon has a veteran team and was a consensus pick to win the Southern Conference, and Rutgers is the biggest name in the field, but Drexel is a great defensive team, and Canisius is coming off of a 20-win season.

So it's time for me to buckle up for a busy week of basketball!