The All Star Game and the waiting game

The face of a man who knows excitement

Tonight baseball played its annual midseason exhibition game. Called the All-Star Game by some, this game was neither All (several players dropped out) nor Star (everyone look, it's Joel Hanrahan!). While I'm sure you are now wondering what the baseball Midseason Not Classic has to do with Xavier, bear with me. You see, this exercise in futility made me wonder how long it will be until Xavier takes the court again. 
 Unfortunately, I don't have the answer for that, neither does the internet. While we know exactly who (Gonzaga, Purdue, Georgia, UC, Miami (OH), Oral Roberts, Morgan State, IPFW, Butler, Memphis, Vandy, three games in the Diamond Head Classic, and the A10) Xavier is playing this year, we don't yet know when. That leaves us with things like the All-Star Game, golf, and endless updates on the NFL Lockout to worry about until then. To help stave off the boredom, I came up with a few suggestions:

Diamond Head, the Cleveland of the Pacific

1. Get Twitter. Registration is simple, just visit twitter.com, and, after us (@XavierExaminer), you can follow Mark Lyons (@Mooga_Mark), Tu Holloway (@ESPNTU), Kenny Frease (@tallfreak1018), Dez Wells (@dwells_21), Justin Martin (@jmart202), Brad Redford (@B_RadXU12), Dee Davis (@DeeDavisX), Travis Taylor (@TakeoffTrav), Jeff Robinson (@Big_Rob21), Mario Mercurio (@MarioMercurio), Coach Chris Mack (@CoachChrisMack), and, of course, Griffin McKenzie (@biggriff44). Prefer to keep your heroes at arm's length? We'll compile the best tweets weekly once the season starts.

2. Watch some baseball. Other than the All-Star Game, it's actually pretty compelling. It's also currently the only sport where our native Cleveland is clearly superior to Cincinnati.


3. Pay attention to the little things. Did you know that Kareem Richardson is a top-notch recruiter and dresser, as well as an assistant coach? That Mario Mercurio consulted Joe Lunardi to begin Xavier's quest to schedule like a high-major? That Dante Jackson is now a graduate assistant at Ohio University? That the kid who jumped good Samaritan Griffin McKenzie got two years?  News like this goes by the wayside during the year, but the details behind your favorite program can make it more fun to follow.


4. Catch a summer league game. If you live in Cincy, you can see many Xavier players in the Deveroes Summer League. There are a host of other recognizable names there as well, including Tyrone Hill, Adrion Graves, and a personal favorite of mine, Mike Bardo. 


5. Wait patiently. It's less than 130 days until our boys in blue hit the court again. It seems like a long time now, but it will be worth it come November.