Owls vs. Wildcats

Yesterday held a rare treat for me as I got to attend a Big 5 basketball game for the first time in several years. The results were outstanding. North Philly's Finest knocked off the Main Line's Finest in a Philly Hoops Classic.

After the Owls fell behind by 12 in the first half, I was beginning to think they were outmanned by the Wildcats. But Temple hung in there and hit some big shots at the end of the second half to keep the game within reach.

It was a big win for the Temple program as the Wildcats rarely lose a Big 5 game. Juan Fernandez and Lavoy Allen were the stars of the night. It seemed that Fernandez could not miss and Allen pulled down a key rebound every time they needed one.


Here is a write-up from Yahoo:

Juan Fernandez led a sizzling 3-point attack that stunned the Wildcats (9-1) in the second half and helped them pull away for their first win over a top-five team since beating No. 1 Cincinnati on Feb. 20, 2000. The Owls (8-2) opened the half on an 11-0 burst and grabbed a lead in front of their raucous fans they would never surrender.

The fans demanded an encore after their biggest win in coach Fran Dunphy’s four seasons, stomping the court and chanting “We Want Kansas!” in preparation for the top-ranked Jayhawks’ visit on Jan. 2.

“What’s it going to do for us down the line, I’ve got no idea,” Dunphy said. “We’ll figure it out later on.”

The Wildcats hadn’t lost a city series game since Feb. 4, 2008, against Saint Joseph’s. Villanova has won 21 of its last 23 Big 5 games.

“We were going to get our first loss at some time,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “This team wasn’t going to go undefeated, I promise you that.”

Lavoy Allen had 10 points and 17 rebounds for the Owls in their fourth straight win. The Owls beat Villanova for the first time since Dec. 4, 2004.

“We haven’t beaten them in quite some time and to get it now, where they are ranked in the country and this time of year, I think is a great confidence booster and show what we’re capable of in the future,” Brooks said.

The Owls made the NCAA tournament the last two seasons under Dunphy and were certainly not a pushover for Villanova.

But the Wildcats have dominated the city series like few teams in the 55-year history of the Big 5. The Wildcats had cruised through the city games like a No. 1 seed handles a 16 in the tournament.

After Scottie Reynolds made a layup off his steal, then hit a pull-up 3 on the next possession for a 31-19 lead, Villanova appeared on its way to another rout in its perfect start.

Not so fast.

The Owls entered shooting only 29 percent from 3-point range, but, as so often happens in a Big 5 game in front of a packed crowd, the numbers are meaningless.

Fernandez hit big 3 after big 3, each one more meaningful than the last. His first one of the second half put the Owls ahead 39-37 and Craig Williams followed with a 3-pointer to cap an 11-0 run that put the roaring crowd on its feet.

Reynolds coolly keep Villanova in the game with a 3 that brought them to 49-47 and made it seem like Temple’s lead would be short-lived.

Not Sunday. In front of nearly 8,500 fans at the Liacouras Center, Brooks nailed a 3 and so did Fernandez for a 59-53 lead.

The Owls made 11 of 22 3-pointers after entering a woeful 49 of 168. Fernandez, who was averaging only 10.6 points, missed only two of his 3-point attempts. He was 4 of 4 on 3s in the second half.

“When you’re feeling good, I can’t explain the feeling, you just throw it up there and it goes in,” Fernandez said.

Brooks said he started running down the court to play defense each time Fernandez shot because he knew it was good. Reynolds was equally impressed with Temple’s sophomore guard.

“Once a guy like that gets it going, it’s hard to stop it,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds led Villanova with 23 points, Antonio Pena had 16 and Corey Fisher 14.

Wright likes to say how Big 5 games—city games against Temple, Saint Joseph’s, Penn and La Salle—ready his team for a rugged Big East season even though the nonconference games rarely help their RPI.

“There’s benefits to it,” Wright said. “We’d either play these games or a national game like Kansas. We think these are just as good.”

The Owls gave them everything they could handle and looked like they were the team that ruled the city. Temple lost by one point earlier this season to No. 15 Georgetown, and have proved they are poised again to make a deep run in the Atlantic 10.

When Villanova looked like it was turning this one into a rout midway through the first half, Fernandez and Brooks sank 3s to slice the deficit to 37-31 at halftime.

“The end of the first half was critical to us,” Dunphy said.

The Wildcats get a dose of good news when guard Reggie Redding returns to the team for Saturday’s game against Fordham. Redding, arrested and charged over the summer with possession of a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, sat out the first 10 games because he violated the school’s student of code of conduct.

Letter to Enterprise

This is a note I wrote to Enterprise regarding my recent trip to Chicago....I got the money back for the unlimited mileage and am going through the process of filing the insurance claim...

On Tuesday, November 17, I booked a car through Expedia for four days, $303, unlimited mileage. On Wednesday, November 18, I received an e-mail confirmation through Thrifty that, in fact, there was no unlimited mileage. Therefore, a new reservation needed to be placed. While on the phone with the representative from Expedia, she informed me that Enterprise could rent a car for $343 (plus insurance charges) with unlimited mileage and called Enterprise to confirm this. On Thursday, November 19, I received an e-mail confirming this information.

When I arrived at Enterprise on Friday, November 19 to pick up the car, I was informed that, in fact, the agreement did not include unlimited mileage. Tim and Chrissy informed me that the airport rental locations have different mileage arrangements than regular Enterprise Offices. Therefore, the agreement included 150 miles per day plus $0.20 for every mile thereafter. As a sign of good will, Tim offered 200 miles per day plus $0.15 for the extra miles. I appreciated this gesture.

At the same time, the frustration I had already experienced once this week with e-mails not matching reality was happening again. It was roughly 7 a.m. and I was told that if I needed to book a car with unlimited mileage, I would have to rent it from a different location that did not open until 8 a.m. With a 12-hour drive ahead of me, I declined this option and signed the rental agreement, knowing that I would have to re-coup the mileage fees after returning.

On Sunday, November 22 at 11 a.m., I discovered that the car had been vandalized. I immediately reported the theft to the Chicago Police Department and Enterprise. I was informed by Larry in the Philadelphia office that I needed to drive the car to O’Hare Airport in order to get a different car.

Having seen that I had already been through an awful morning, the associate in Chicago (Adam) made the transition to the new Ford Edge incredibly smooth. On November 24, 2009, when I returned the car to the Philadelphia Airport, Lauren refunded the mileage fee to me. We had a lengthy discussion leading up to this refund and I feel it is justified.

At the same time, I understand Enterprise’s side of the story. In order to keep the airport cars in top condition, there are mileage limitations. This makes sense.

It is for this reason that I strongly recommend that Enterprise and Expedia alter their communication so that the confirmation e-mail for an airport location includes mileage limitations. This allows everyone to be “on the same page” at the time of car pick-up.

In closing, I want to say that because of representatives like Lauren and Adam, I will continue to be an Enterprise customer in the future and will look to them first the next time I need to rent a car or recommend a rental company.

Cool With Me

Written April 1999

It's funny how little it seems,
how strikingly insignificant it is;
but being on a porch can scorch
if you say the right, forget the wrong.
In any case, he's cool with me.

Acting like you wanna be around,
in fact, you corroborate the sound;
being indecisive and indifferent
can catch up to you if you let it.
But it's alright, she's cool with me.

Wavering from decision to decision,
is this your behavior, your production?
The once thin grey line
is now a football field
and where do you stand?
Talking big without logic home
can be a daunting task.
Don't sweat it though,
you are cool with me.

Acting cool, playing only for yourself,
has left you alone - cold, lazy, and shady.
You talk a great game and it sounds even better
but it all disappears when you're under the weather.

Being cool with me was a matter of indifference,
something you always took for granted,
perhaps that's why you aren't cool with me.

Three weeks since Chicago

Today marks the three week anniversary since I visited Chicago for:

1. My friend Jill's football game
2. The Bears-Eagles wedding
3. Maybe I should switch those two around
4. Getting my old things out of storage

Regarding the latter, my cousin warned me that I would end up throwing out at least half the stuff I had in storage and he was right. In fact, it cost me about $100 because I threw away so much stuff that it overflowed from the dumpsters. But I knew deep down that there were at least a few items of sentimental value that I must keep, a few of which were my old journals.

And in one of those journals, I came across a lot of old memories that I had since forgotten about. For example, about ten years ago I was going through (what I considered to be) a dreadful break-up. At that age, it probably meant that I was paying way too much attention to the girl, she was ignoring me, and I couldn't handle it. So, I wrote. A lot. I even took a crack at writing songs and poems, which is something I rarely tried before or since. The next post will be one of them.

Ideally, I will also write more about my experiences with Expedia and Enterprise that weekend, having a GPS stolen, the torture of driving 12 hours non-stop by yourself, how good it is to see old friends, the feeling you get when you go back to a place you used to be intimately familiar with and it seems like you never left, and the best song to sing in a karaoke bar.

Missing Shanghai, Missing China

It's 1 a.m. here and I'm wide awake thanks to the four nap I took earlier.

It's 2 p.m. in Shanghai and I'm thinking about everything going on there at the moment -

the bustle on the streets,
subways packed,
noodle shops empty after lunch,
bikes everywhere,
clothes hanging out to dry despite the cool, damp air
ah, the air, the dirty dirty air,
the afternoon english classes,
tourists along the river,
and sounds of construction blending with the sounds of commerce along Nanjing Road

Oh, how I miss Shanghai...