Written by Scott | 12 January 2012

It seems like it's been forever since the Cincinnati Bearcats laced up the kicks and took to the floor. It seems like Saturday is miles away. As your kind of late week oasis, here are some news and notes from the past few days. 

First of all, Saturday's game against the struggling Villanova Wildcats is a ring of red game. So wear some red shirts. Students get free shirts with a hashtag that I already forgot because I'm not a student, so I'm not getting a shirt, no one will send me one and I don't care. Hmmph. Don't know why I started this off by acting like a spoiled brat, but hey. 

Ge'Lawn Guyn update. After spending the night in Washington, he's back in Cincinnati and seems ok. He might play against Villanova. He also might not. Oh my god I don't know how to end these anymore. 

If you want to be like Ge'Lawn Guyn and be at the Bearcats game this weekend, UC is having a happy hour ticket selling bonzana. I don't want to step on anything, so here is the whole post. 

The Bearcats Men’s Basketball team and Head Coach Mick Cronin want to see you inside Fifth Third Arena for the remainder of the BIG EAST Conference season. For tonight only, the Bearcats will be offering “Happy Hour” specials from 5-9pm for fans who call in to the ticket office at 1-877-CATS-TIX (1-877-2287-849).

Coach Cronin and members of UC’s Ticket Office and Marketing and Fan Development team will be answering the phones all night and fans are encouraged to call in to take advantage of the promotion. The team will also be reaching out to those fans that have been inside Fifth Third Arena for games during the year. Individuals will be able to order a four ticket package plus parking for only $55, tickets for all remaining home games for only $12, and it is the final opportunity to purchase the best mini-plan in the country for only $100 (includes tickets to games against Villanova, Syracuse, Louisville, and Marquette).

“I’m excited to have the chance to connect with members of our fan base and help fill Fifth Third Arena with Bearcats fans,” says Mick Cronin, Head Coach. “We are offering some great packages that all fans will hopefully take advantage of. We cannot do it without them and this serves as another great chance to connect with each of them. I might even end up taking their order myself.”

These great opportunities are only available over the phone so make sure to plan your evening accordingly. The Coach Mick Cronin Radio Show on 700WLW will be receiving periodic updates from the Ticket Office so make sure to listen live tonight from 8-9pm after you have secured your order.

Let's talk football. The Bearcats have scheduled a home and home with Toledo, with the first game being at Toledo in October. That screams ESPN3. Toledo star receiver Eric Page was so scared of the prospect that he turned pro. Page got a mid-round grade. 

 Everyone's favorite Andrea Alderson at ESPN put out a couple of good things. First off, her best bowl moments. Here are the Cincinnati things, but read it all. You'll never know what Best momentum swing (1) is if you don't. 

Best comeback: Zach Collaros, Cincinnati. In the weeks leading up to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, we could only guess about whether Collaros would make it back from a broken ankle. He was weeks ahead of rehab, but there was still soreness and he was not running all that well. But Collaros is such a gamer, he refused to be held out of the game. He made his triumphant return and the Bearcats beat Vanderbilt 31-24.

Best momentum swing (2): Cincinnati trailed Vanderbilt 21-17 early in the fourth quarter, after Larry Smith connected with Chris Boyd on a 68-yard touchdown pass. Ralph David Abernathy IV took the ensuing kickoff and returned it 90 yards for a score to put the Bearcats ahead 24-21. It was the first return for a score in his career. Even better -- Cincinnati would never trail again. 

Double A followed that with the top 10 Big East moments of 2011. Number 4 is not good

4. Down goes Collaros. One play changed the entire complexion of the Big East race. Too simple to say? Nope. Cincinnati had a two-game lead on everybody else on Nov. 12 when West Virginia came to town. In the second quarter, Bruce Irvin sacked Zach Collaros, who fumbled on the play. Julian Miller recovered in the end zone for a touchdown but the damage was done for the Bearcats. Collaros broke his ankle, and Cincinnati dropped two straight. West Virginia won out and finished in a three-way tie with Cincinnati and Louisville. The Mountaineers clinched the BCS berth -- leading to the eventual walloping of Clemson -- because they finished as the highest-ranked team in the final BCS standings. 

SB Nation ranked the top 100 games of the season. UC checked in at 82 with their win over USF.  

Koch wrote a little bit about the new AD Whit Babcock. Whit seems like a nice guy. He's certainly putting his face on the brand. People at the Liberty Bowl said that Whit got crazy druink at the tweet up and sang Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap seven times in a row, even though there was no kareoke. That's 100% true (it's 100% false). 

 Matt from Down the Drive reviews the Cincinnati running back(s) here. He gave them a 9/10, spoiler alert. 

Chris from Bearcats Nation takes a crack at the 2012 depth chart. He leaves probable backup Brendon Kay off the list. Instead of reading that, send him emails telling him how horrible he is for not respecting Brendon Kay.  

The Daytona Beach News Journal, a real thing, wrote about UC recruit Trenton Norvell. Why UC?

"It was my decision," he said. "It wasn't anybody else. I didn't even talk about it with my family or anything. The more I thought about it after I made my official visit to Cincinnati, it was always in the back of my head of what would it be like if I went there. I prayed and woke up, and it just popped in my head to go there."

Is he afraid of competition?

"I'm not afraid of competition at all," Norvell said. "Anywhere you go, you're going to have competition. One of the reasons I graduated early was to get into the playbook and get on the field as soon as possible."

Alex Pace verbally committed to UC, but picked up an offer from North Carolina. Apparently he wants to come to UC, but is keeping all the doors open. Makes sense. I would do that. 

Here's a little piece about the Harlem Globetrotters' rookies. They include Biggie McClain and Darnell 'Spider' Wilks. Spider is a cool nickname. 

Circling all the way back to basketball, the man Paul Dehner brought the guys from the great Ballin is a Habit on his podcast. They talk about the BIAH road trip, UC, the Big East, ribs, the meetup on Monday and other things. I can't live down not being able to attend. I hang my head in shame.

Ballin is a Habit is on a road trip, as mentioned. In their last diary, they went to UC practice.  That's where they took this picture of Cashmere Wright. 



Not quite John Stockton short, but in this day and age it might as well be. They have some great videos from practice on there and that site is a must read. I think we figured out how to end the notes well. Thanks for reading.  

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