[Post-Blog Note: I intended to talk about the games, and I eventually did, but not until after a big rant about how Harding > UCA in a few categories it shoudn't be. You can either scroll down to that, or wade through my gripes about video. If I were you I'd probably do both, because it's quality stuff. But hey, it's your call. I don't get paid either way.]

I hate going to Harding, but at the same time I love it.

I hate it because not only is it hard to hear yourself think, but because it's virtually impossible to wiggle in and out of the press seating area. It's a row of bleachers with a table about three inches taller than the seat itself stuck where your feet go. You have to basically lie down and slide your legs under the table, hook them on the seat, and do a situp to get your body to the table. Getting up actually requires dislocating your femoral head from your acetabulum and swinging the leg around independent of the trunk.

But despite all that, I love going to Harding because you can hardly hear yourself think. It's by far the best atmosphere you're going to get in the Gulf South and maybe in the state - UA included. The students go nuts (and occasionally out on the court) and never truly shut up. They jump, scream, frolic, pound on the thick padded walls behind the baselines, and basically just wreak all kinds of havoc for about 39 minutes. It seems the visiting team usually has some success early on and gets them shut up for a minute. Then the Bisons get back into it, and the crunkness is back.

I will never understand why Harding, with its enrollment of 5,000, can get about two-to-three times as many students out as UCA. Or maybe it's really not that many more, it just seems like it since they all sit, err ... stand together in one big mass. Well, you get the requisite few on each end to pound the walls, but everybody else is right there going nuts on the sideline. Regardless, it's impressive.

You know what else is impressive? UCA cheerleaders in streetclothes, in the stands, performing stunts during the game. For as good as Harding's students are, their cheerleaders are equally as underwhelming. Since UCA's crew can't actually get on the floor and roll out any cheers there at Rhodes Field House, they just grouped up in the stands and did what they could to combat the Rowdies. Tired of the endless heckling from the HU students and the nausea they were getting from watching the subpar cheering/stunting efforts of the Harding group, they decided to break off a few things right there in the stands. I'm fairly certain that's the first Arabesque I've ever seen performed in the middle of some packed bleachers. Likely the last, also. Some security personnel ambled over to the UCA side of the gym in anticipation of it happening again. He didn't look too pleased ... I think maybe he's the Harding cheer sponsor. Regardless, somebody was going down hard if it happened again.

But you know what else impressed me about Harding?

This. Notice the guy in the green polo on the right there? See that fancy piece of video equipment he's got? Well, he and that thing stand on the court all game and record all the action, up close and personal. High tech business. Probably makes for a fine quality video.

UCA doesn't do this. UCA needs to do this. UCA perches a videographer halfway up in the bleachers with a camera and that's it. Now, that's fine and dandy for the coaches' game tape (which is why he's there), but there needs to be something else. Why isn't Channel 6 out there doing anything? They've got equipment. They've got students. They've got a freakin' TV station that needs some programming. They've got a newscast with a sports segment that could probably use some highlights. Get out there and film something.

Also, UCA has these coaches shows. Rand's is on KATV, which reaches a lot of homes. Coach Seals' doesn't reach as many people, but it's tossed out there for public consumption. When you do something like that, you probably want to put forth the best, most attractive product possible, right? If you're going to have an infomercial, make it sell as well as possible. Coaches' film footage is better than no highlights at all, but wouldn't it be nice to have something court level?

If Harding can get two TV cameras set up in the stands and then have another camera on the floor, UCA should be able to do the same. One camera can do a lot of good. Better quality video for the coaches shows, highlights for TV (be it Channel 6, or ... and this may be going nuts here ... to send out to the Little Rock stations), and for promotional DVDs for recruits, fans, etc. How many people would like to have some nice footage of last year's Elite Eight run by the Sugar Bears? I know I'd drop $20-$25 or so on a DVD to have that at my house. Game footage, player and coach interviews/commentaries, etc. I get a feeling I wouldn't be the only one clamoring for one of those. Not only do you make money, but you also further publicize your program.

That'd probably be something nice to send to high schools and/or show recruits. Hi, I'm _______ (Coach's Name), and this is a little taste of what it's like to play at UCA. *cue DVD*

Furthermore, that same video, in digital format, would probably look pretty spiffy somewhere on UCAsports.com if you ask me. More stuff for fans and recruits to see. And players probably don't get real tired of seeing themselves. Toss a few clips or montages up there and you've got yourself a winner.

You can package those DVDs up with season ticket-holder packages, too. You can do an all-sports one, one for each sport or just do the major sports and then have another one for the lesser sports (once you think of a more politically-correct name than "Lesser Sports"). The possibilities there are just about endless. You can produce several and include an increasing number with the season ticket package as the giving level rises, or you can just give everybody a pick of which one(s) they would want, or something. Just make one if you want, and pitch it in for free at the higher level(s). Something. Anything.

Anyway, how about those games, huh?

Darryl Jones was back and in full effect, getting the Bears jumpstarted from the outset. With his illness and hair both long gone, he's ready to resume his role as the team's best player. Other guys have their flashes, and plenty of them stepped up in DJ's absence, but he's still the best the Bears have to throw at the opposition. His shot has been falling pretty good this season, shooting 48 percent from the floor (which, for a perimeter player, ain't bad) and 44 percent from 3-pt. range (which, for any player, is good).

But how about Freddie C, eh? Nearly getting Artest with some folks, and knocking down game-winners in front of a bunch of rabid fans. That's a good solid night.

Get up off me.

And again.

It seemed that the Bears did as good a job staying composed and running their offense in the three years I've seen them play at Harding. Of course, with the fans two inches from the court (I might be exaggerating, but by about 3/4 of an inch) and the Bisons running a bunch of quick guys around the court in a full-court press, it's going to be tough to get much of anything done. But, doing more than your opponent is really all you need. Chappell had told me Sunday that if it was, much like the North Alabama games, a medium-paced, 70s-scoring game, it probably favored the Bears. If it started to inch closer to 80 or better and got into a track meet, then it's Harding's game.

Based on the 70-69 score, I'd say he pretty much nailed it. Harding was 0-4 when they scored less than 70 going into the game, and that streak carries on. Chappell knows his stuff.

The Bears did a good job of limiting possessions, kept Harding from getting into full helter-skeleter mode, and took away the Bisons' biggest weapon - the 3-point shot. Harding came into the game averaging nearly nine 3s a game, to just under 5 a game for UCA. Monday night, UCA hit eight to Harding's five. Leading scorer Lonnie Smith was held nearly six points under his average, too. That obviously helped.

And, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the spark Aubrey Bruner provided off the bench. He just killed them. I think they expected DJ to come back and get his, and they probably expected a decent bit out of LeMar Phillips, but I bet they weren't prepared to throw everybody at Bruner, who hit four 3s and finished with 15 points. He was the player of the year in Kansas his senior year of high school, so he's got some game. It hasn't always shown this season, but he's gradually gotten more productive each of the last few games and could starting to be molding into proper form. If so, that's going to make the Bears much more lethal. If he and Cortez are on the court much together at the same time, that essentially gives you two point guards out there. That's probably going to get you a lot of good shots.

On the women's side, I had no idea Harding was going to be that fiesty. The McClindon and McMenamy girls can hoop. After that, though, it's not so great. Kinsey Tucker is okay, but that's all. They were able to hang tough much of the game, but eventually the more talented Sugar Bears were able to put it away. And if I'm passing out MVP trophies for each game, I think I might give this one to Shannon Oden. A career-high 13 points, eight rebounds, and a lot of it coming in a critical juncture where the Lady Bisons were on the verge of taking the momentum and soon thereafter the lead. Shannon kind of killed that, and if there was any life left, Allyson Sample came by for the last time and stomped that out. She hit 0 3s against Henderson, came back with four against Harding, so by my estimation she's due for about eight against Delta State. It might take that to win.

I also did some calculating, and Sugar Bears games would be, on average, 38 minutes and 19 seconds shorter if Caronica Randle wasn't allowed to shoot free throws. I say if she gets fouled just give her two points each of the first four times, and none on the fifth. That's 8 of 10, or 80 percent, which is about right. I guess in the final 2:00 she has to shoot them, but until that point just award the auto points and move along. It's not vastly different than the intentional walk in baseball. Plus if you happen to be on that fifth foul, you can foul her and know UCA's not getting points off it.

Also, I hardly noticed Lauren Williams during the game. I usually pay pretty close attention, and I know a lot of what she does goes unrecognized/unappreciated by a lot of the average spectators and that Coach Seals has called her a "silent killer". Well, she was in rare form Monday night, doing her damage so stealthily that, off the top of my head, I only remember two instances of her really doing something. And then I look at the stats and see she wound up with 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. I'm dumbfounded. Oh, and how about her and Renita teaming up for 10 assists to only 3 turnovers? I'm fairly certain at least one of those turnovers (Renita's, maybe, if they credited it that way) was a pass that hit somebody right in the hands, slipped right through, and skirted out of bounds.

So Thursday night's game looks tough on paper with No. 15 Delta State rolling into town. But, as Sample said, they're all tough in this league. I think that's truer than ever this season, and looking at all the scores would bear that out. Anyhow, if Henderson State is No. 8, then UCA should be No. 9 or so. Rankings in Division II don't mean a lot, but I would imagine the Lady Statesmen are pretty good. I may be going out on a limb here, but I get this feeling it will go down to the last minute.

Okay, bedtime. Class might call in the morning.