Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Great Night to be a Falcon...

More on the actual game tomorrow, but it was a great night to be a Falcon.

First, Bill Frack delivered a $10 million gift to the Falcon Basketball program...the biggest gift ever to BGSU and the biggest basketball gift in the Mid American Conference.  The money will be used over time to increase recruiting budgets, coach's salaries and then buy some games for the Stroh Center.  This vision is simple:  put BG's budget onto a par with the top non-BCS programs in the nation.

And put our program there, too.  With the new arena and the new budget, the trajectory of this program is up.

Here's the thing.  Today, we got to see history and know it was being made.  Today will probably go down as one of the most important days in Falcon sports history.  When Urban Meyer came, we didn't know how big it would be.  Same with Curt Miller.  This we know.  We might well look back on January 19, 2011 as an anniversary we cannot forget.

On behalf of all Falcon fans, thank you Bill Frack.  He first attended games in the Men's Gym.  My own history only goes back to the early 70s, but on behalf of everyone like me who has been there through good days and bad, full arenas and empty, victory and defeat, thank you.

With or without this donation, I would have been there.

But this excites me.  Let us hope.  Let us cheer.  Let us thank.  Let us enjoy.

And then to top it off with a win, a 12-point win over last year's MAC Champs, that just made the night perfect.  Even better, we played a thrilling game with some huge plays.  The Jordan Crawford alley-oop from halfcourt to Oglesby was unforgettable.  With 7:51 left, BG was only up 1 after leading the whole way.

From there, BG scored 17 points and held OU to 6...one of them a garbage basket at the end.  BG started the run with 5 straight stops....it was just great to see OU creep close, and then have BG turn back the run and dominate the game's last 8 minutes.

And, BG is now 3-1 in MAC play, and I'm getting increasing confidence that what we are seeing is real....a deep team that has the ability to compete in this conference.  The dark fears at 1-8 have turned around.  The season has turned...very fun now.

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the news and thanks to Bill Frack. Let us hope that it allows Falcons to soar to greater heights.

A question for you ... early 70s? the era of Cornelius Cash, Jeff Montgomery, & Skip Howard running Pat Haley's no-motion offense?

Orange said...

Yes, indeed. I attended my first game in 1971 when BG played St. Bonaventure. But those are the first Falcons I remember.