Saturday, March 13
Well I'm sitting here watching the first of four quarterfinal matches today and unfortunately our Mountaineers will not be in one of them. But, EOU fans, our guys played their hearts out yesterday.

That group of nine young men is very special. They accomplished far more than many of us expected ... I'll admit myself included. Indiana Wesleyan entered this tournament as the country's third-best team, but trailed to our Mountaineers for much of the first half. Eastern accomplished more than getting into the national sweet 16.

This group heard everything in the offseason after last year's trip to the quarterfinals. That they lost too much to be good this season, that they would only finish in the middle of the conference, and that our new coach couldn't find the same success as recent years. They proved many of us wrong.

A team that was predicted to finish fifth in the conference in the coaches' preseason poll was one win away from sharing the conference title. They went from receiving 11 votes in the national preseason poll to a final ranking of 13th nationally. Nine young men got Eastern Oregon University to the national tournament which only invites 32 of the nation's 143 NAIA Div. 2 schools. Nine young men solidified EOU basketball on the national stage with three straight trips to the tournament.

This group was special for me personally because of the connections I had with some of the guys. Monica and I actually drove Dan Stafford around when he visited EOU before choosing the school. Little did we know three years ago how much Dan would mean to us.

Josh Landsverk is a guy who was a freshman when I was in my senior year at Eastern. He has been an amazing guy to get to know. He has been here for the turn-around of EOU basketball. His 96 career wins are more than any in school history.

Then there's Steve Sawyers. When he got here I didn't know much about him other then he came all the way from Chicago. Steve was quiet, as he always is, but once you get him talking you'll learn he's one of the funniest guys. Not too mention a pretty good dancer. Steve had one of the best offseason's last year during his redshirt year. He changed his game to become quite a threat off of the bench this season.

Lastly Jordan Gregg. I remember when I interviewed Jordan after his first game for EOU. He just finished his first of 46 double-digit scoring games while with Eastern at Hermiston High School. I remember thinking how young he looked, but how good he could be. Jordan went from solid help off of the bench to the go-to-guy this year.

And how about Isaac Williams? The guy went from Sports Information Director and Assistant Coach last year to having the best first season out of any of the active coaches in the Cascade Conference. I know Isaac probably does not like me putting Sports Information first there. After helping Isaac as an assistant two years ago, he provided me a great reference for my job when I got hired. I've got to know him very well over the last four years.

It was amazing watching EOU play this season and I thank the players and coaches for letting me be a part of it all again. When I got to my hotel last night, feeling sad, I remembered how sad I felt last year at this time and thinking would there be another great season ahead? There was. So to all the fans who may be down today, Eastern Oregon basketball has arrived. Three straight trips to the national Sweet 16, and people here at the national tournament know EOU now.

I'll never forget as Dan Stafford went around in the locker room yesterday thanking everyone for the season and career at Eastern, he included me and said, "Thanks for being a part of this team." The pleasure has been all mine Dan.

Thursday, March 11
Is it wrong for a 26-year-old guy to watch cartoons? Well, it's not really cartoons, its Family Guy. But it is 2:30 in the morning and what else is there to watch when you've watched the same SportsCenter four times.

It may say Thursday as the posting day, but it's really early early Friday morning. And oh how sweet it is right now. I'm still coming down from today's big win in the first round. I told Monica I think it's safe to begin including Eastern Oregon University in some men's basketball elite program talks. The Mountaineers have made the last three Sweet 16 rounds at the national tournament.

I guess I should start with yesterday. Our guys had a nice day off and had their practice at a local elementary school. We got to watch fellow Cascade Conference teams, Evergreen State and Oregon Tech. If there is one thing I've taken away from this tournament after the first round, it is that the seeding is useless and no one is safe. Just ask OIT.

The Owls got quite a scare as the second highest seed in the 32-team field. Tech was able to pull it out in the end, but Judson is very talented. Evergreen exploded out to a great early lead in its game, but couldn't hold on to its upset bid over ninth-seeded Embry-Riddle.

It has been unbelievable basketball. I'm having an incredible time. I was even so happy that I included a trip to Branson Landing, a very nice outdoor shopping area, which is a rarity for me. Luckily the only thing we walked away with in a bag was some apple licorice. The guys enjoyed the nice sunny and warm weather walking around outside.

We watched the EOU women last night. I'm very proud of our Mountaineer women. They battled back and played extremely well against a very talented Black Hills State team. You all had a great season and I had a wonderful time covering our Mounties.

Monica and I actually went up and caught the second half of the 9:15 p.m. game, which actually tipped off at 11 p.m., after our women's game. We decided after the game to set our alarm for the 8:30 a.m. game this morning and see how we felt when it off ...

We chose to sleep. And it felt great. I woke up at 10 a.m. only to find that I missed a one-point upset. Now to a die-hard basketball fan that's a rotten feeling. I followed some live stats of the next game and went with the guys to Ruby Tuesday's for their pregame meal. I'm not sure honestly what the highlight was, Josh and Tom posing for these pictures or Isaac and I's reaction when the waitress brought us strawberry lemonade in very tall and narrow glasses.

We got to the gym in time to see Warner Pacific's game. Tough one for the Knights and the CCC. Our athletic director, Rob Cashell, made it for the game as well after an eventful trip from Sioux City, Iowa. I won't say anymore because I'm hoping to get a mini blog from him ... he's had quite the overall trip!

I'm writing the releases for our conference website along with the NAIA for all of the conference games so I hustled to finish the Warner Pac recap just in time for our tip-off. It was great getting to be in the stands cheering the whole game. I actually stood next to the stands because I didn't sit down the whole time and didn't want to block any views. We had great support from Oregon Tech fans which was nice. It was also great to see the Mountaineer fans who made the trip!

My hat goes off to Davenport University. They were classy through the entirety of the game and showed the definition of the Champions of Character. The Panthers may have been down after the loss but they are a great team, and a great group of young men. They helped our guys off of the court when we fell, shook hands after the game, and never really whined during the game ... not to mention played an incredible first half!

Well Family Guy just ended so I better wrap this up. I can't wait for tomorrow, breakfast at the gym at 8 a.m. and I plan to watch every Sweet 16 game. I wish the best for our men. I got some great locker room footage during halftime and after the game I will be posting. I plan on doing the same for tomorrow's game. Isaac maybe the calmest coach I have ever met, but obviously he knows what he's doing! Time to begin that four hour sleep, but it's tournament time .... MARCH MADNESS!

Tuesday, March 9
BRANSON, Mo. -- It may have been tough for the folks on the Oregon Trail going from Missouri to Oregon, but I'm not sure they understand how tough it is to go from Oregon to Missouri.

Alright, I understand they traveled in severe conditions, with no technology, and not exactly in cars in airplanes, but the last two days were not that easy for the Eastern Oregon University men's basketball team and their fans.

My journey began with the almost three hour drive from La Grande to Boise, Idaho. I don't know if many of the 32 teams here in the National Tournament have to drive three hours to the closest airport, then fly four hours, then drive some more hours to get here. I don't know how many of you are familiar with the classic comedy, "Trains, Planes, and Automobiles," but I felt a lot like Steve Martin yesterday. However, my loveable and sensative John Candy character in this case is my fiance, Monica.

Monica and I arrived two and a half hours early to Boise to find out the plane to Denver was delayed 51 minutes, which is great because we had a 50-minute delay in Denver fo our flight to Kansas City ... that's right off by one minute. No sweat though we soon found out that the layover in Denver was extended three hours. After watching the men leave an hour late, we flew with the women's team to Denver and then waited three hours for our next flight.

After three gate changes, we boarded our flight and left the Mile High City at 11:47 p.m. Now I understand were high up in Denver, but I really think we fell all the way to Kansas City. Monica somehow slept through all of the flight, but I could not. We landed at 2:45 a.m. and got a taxi to our hotel. Funny stuff here, our taxi driver didn't know where our hotel was and he had to use my directions from Mapquest. We got our room and passed out at 3:30 a.m.

Five hours later, up and picked up the rental car. I picked up Monica and we made our four hour trip to Branson. The drive was interesting as it was when I came two years ago with the team. I like seeing the unique landscape that differs from anywhere in the Northwest. We ate lunch at Lambert's just outside of Springfield. Lambert's is amazing! They throw rolls to the customers and offer all-you-can eat meals.

We got to the College of the Ozarks just in time for the Sports Information Directors meeting and then looked around the gym and campus. Tonight we joined up with the guys and went to the annual kickoff dinner all 32 teams are invited to at the Dolly Parton Dixie Stampede Dinner Show. It was pretty neat watching all of the guys reactions to the entertainment and food. The meal is phenomenal ... it starts with a roll, then soup, then a small rotisserie chicken, then corn, then a potato, then pork, and of course finish with a turnover. Needless to say we're stuffed.

Off to sleep and then a full day of basketball from an 8:30 a.m. tipoff to a 9:15 p.m. tipoff. And hey, I'm not complaining about traveling, sure is nice to be able to get from Oregon to Missouri in four hours thousands of feet above the air ... unlike those early travelers.