Reflections on the MEAC Tournament

Overall, I think the best teams won last weekend. The N.C. A&T Lady Aggies and the Morgan State Bears were just the better teams. The Lady Aggies showed true heart and won the title for the first time since 1994. Here are just some quick thoughts that I want to hit you with. Sorry, but I need to do it like this because I’m still running on fumes. I feel like I've just done back-to-back ‘2-to-6’s (2am to 6am parties).

The Lady Aggies:

• Coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs represented the school and MEAC well. She made history with her third conference title at three different schools. C. Vivian Stringer’s work has some parallels, but Bibbs is unique.
  
• The Lady Aggies play defense and block shots
  
• This team will dive for loose balls and try to achieve a jump ball.
  
• Brittanie Taylor-James and Amber Bland are so humble off the court. It's funny, but when A&T starts to build a lead the other teams in our conference try to get physical and/or fight the Lady Aggies. Bibbs said her players knew that if they retaliated they would hurt their team and get suspended for the next game. The sisters walked away from it and just huddled. Then they went on a run! Enough said!
  
• The Lady Aggies’ bench really came in and added to the lead, therefore our squad next year looks like it will continue to be a good one.
  
• The Aggie Fans showed much respect for women’s basketball in Winston Salem last weekend. There were many people from other schools that said that they liked this about us.

By the way, check out my exclusive interview with the 2009 MEAC Champion Lady Aggies after their win in Saturday's title game:



A&T Men:

• The Aggie Men had a good year…pound for pound. They surprised everyone with their midseason winning streak.
  
• The men will have some key people returning next year.
  
• Eaves and company made the Aggie Fans proud this year; the team made some big shots and they are good students.
  
• Coach Eaves was really disappointed with the tournament loss.
  
• I really look forward to seeing how the men will bounce back next year. I felt that we could have probably given Morgan trouble in the MEAC Tournament if we had gotten past Coppin State.

The Tournament:

• Winston-Salem was glad to get the tournament this year.
  
• The league needs more activities for the youth.
  
• The weather was rough, but the men’s championship game was nearly full in the bottom of the arena.
  
• The Micheal Baisden/ Ledesi show fooled everyone. It seemed like it would be a show and after party. The show ended at 11PM and they turned it out! WTF! People were looking around at one another. The Doug E Fresh gig did it correctly. It was a show and an after party. Club 411 had the Thursday night R&R production with live music and after party. It was worth the money. I’m letting the other $25-$30 promoters have their stuff. They have to learn the hard way that one needs to keep the prices low.The Tom Joyner party started too late (11- something I heard) and ended too early (2 AM). Maybe all of the Aggieland parties have spoiled me. I, at least, expect a 3 AM party.
  
• The businesses on 4th street did not do that well.
  
• The league should request that the hotel add ESPNU to the lineup (for the delayed women’s championship broadcast. I had to hunt around town just to find it, and the game was played in Lawrence Joel!
  
• The timeouts during the games were balanced very well. They were not top heavy with commercials. Therefore, the bands showed out and entertained many of the younger fans. Plus, they can play everything and chant as well. They also played some gospel songs before the games started.
  Morgan State’s band and others started the wave. The changed the directions, made it fast and slowed it down…causing the announcer to remark, “the MEAC is in slow motion”.
  
• Mr. MEAC (who dances), and Mr. CIAA (who styles in suits) were both there. Man, they are something! They made the older sisters smile and the younger brothers shake their heads in admiration.
  
• WSSU and NCCU represented the future of the conference. They played a scrappy game, and both had their bands and cheerleaders in attendance. It meant a lot to these schools to be there, especially NCCU who is still without a conference home.
  
• The ticket prices need to be lowered for the upper deck…just to pack the place with families.
  
• The demographic seems to be 45+.
  
• The conference needs to do more to get the ‘city folk” involved. The CIAA has a fan expo in the convention center with facials, cooking, contests, cars and a sound stage with the line-up posted. They also had the "turnstiles" and the doors. There were kiddies everywhere. The MEAC could have the top of the Benton Convention Center full of the local beauticians (paid by the league) doing eyes, ect. and maybe have some barbers cutting hair … along with a gaming area and kiddie stuff. Also, give the vendors a low price and make it a market place.

Lastly, congrats to both Aggie basketball teams this year. They made us all proud.

May I have this Dance?

The fine and talented Lady Aggies are on a mission.

Are you the type of guy who’s afraid to ask the “fine” woman for a dance? Or are you the type who says “#%*k it!, you only live once. Come on Baby, lets do it. I like this song” - and then you go grab her hand!??

The Aggies want to go to the Big Dance (the NCAA Tournament) this year. They have played hurt, they have been helped by their bench, and they have beaten teams by 20 points or more. They beat ECU & UNCC after a noted rough-house battle.

Now here they are. Ready for their chance. Delaware State and Hampton are nipping at their heels, but the Lady Aggies want to dance.

They owe it to Coach Bibbs and to the entire Lady Aggie basketball program. We have been shut out of the dance too long. The A&T football team is rebuilding and the fans are noticing the greatness of this squad. The Lady Aggies will take the floor today at 12:30 PM against the Howard Lady Bison, who knocked off Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday. These A&T women want to Dance. They do not want to sit at home during March.

They are too “Fine” of a team to be wallflowers.

The Battle in Tobacco Town

The A&T men will journey to Winston Salem, N.C. this week to seek the MEAC basketball crown.

It’s been a good year for the Aggies, but unfortunately they lost their hold on second place during the last weekend of the regular season. Ironically, Hampton started our winning streak when we were struggling, and Hampton stopped our willing streak when we were rolling.

The city of Winston-Salem is known for its tobacco heritage. Greensboro is just 20 minutes away and the conference hopes that the MEAC tournament grows while it’s there. The MEAC needs a good A&T team to boost the attendance. The Aggies play on Thursday night at 8pm against Coppin State and this is going to be a tough contest.

The Aggies do not want a “one and done” appearance. And Winston-Salem does not want it either.

Morgan State is unquestionably the team to beat this week but South Carolina State has some very tough inside players. But guess what - the Aggies themselves are tough to match up against.

They sport a balanced attack and will cause problems for every team they face. You can also expect Hampton, Norfolk and pesky Delaware State to keep things interesting.

The majority of tobacco road crowd will be pulling for A&T this week. And personally, I expect the Aggies to handle Coppin in the first round.