I'm Listening

I wonder if Frasier Crane has that copyrighted. I hope not. That would be awkward. Maybe I should have gone with, "The Doctor Is In." Of course, that suggests I'm a medical doctor, which I'm not. I'm the Doctor Professor, after all, despite being neither of those things.

Here's the question, though. If you're in school and your professor has a PhD, do you call this person Dr. ____ or Professor ____? These are the things that keep me up at night.

Well, not really. I'm just excited about Wednesday night's 7:30 p.m. Vipers-Toros game at Dodge Arena (BUY TICKETS). The Vipers are 3-1 against Austin this season. To put things in perspective, the Vipers are 7-12 all-time against the Toros. Do a little quick math to see how the Vipers' arch-rivals dominated the first two years of the series. And to think, the Vipers just beat Austin without Mike Harris (GATORADE Call-Up to Houston Rockets) or Joey Dorsey (knee). Imagine is Dorsey is back on Wednesday? It really just speak to what I've been putting up on the chalk board all year... The Vipers are an insanely deep team with an incredible amount of talent and work ethic. They can make up for the loss of a player or two, even those of Harris and Dorsey's caliber.

It doesn't hurt to have an incredible fan base too. Attendance has been up noticeably this season, but the energy in the building has really been the thing standing out. Vipers fans have really been into it this year, and the players (and broadcasters) are feeding off the energy. The Vipers are 5-0 at home, and I have to give a tip of my cap to Vipers fans and a big thank you for being a big part of that.

Additionally, Vipers fans are helping to make Dodge Arena a place where no one wants to play as an opposing team because they not only have to deal with the Vipers, but the best fans in the NBA Development League. It really does make a big difference, not only during the game, but mentally leading up to it. So keep up the good work!

I was chatting with ADB the other day about the schedule, and he talked about how red-hot Maine comes here for a two-game series February 20-21 and that would be a tough stretch of games. And that's when I got to say something that I couldn't have said in years past, and it really felt good... "Yeah, Maine must be dreading having to come play here." I'm not even going to get into Maine being in the weaker conference, or how they lost to now 2-11 Bakersfield the other day because the Red Claws are a good team. Those will be good games when Maine comes to town, but the pre-game edge certainly belongs to the Vipers right now.

---

Hoops Against Hunger Results Thus Far:
1. Thursday, December 10 - 70 pounds
2. Monday, December 21 - 286 pounds (356 total)
3. Saturday, December 26 - 300+ pounds (We have another box of donation in our office that will be dropped off at the Food Bank RGV in the morning... 656+ total)

Those last two games set single-game food collection records. The next Hoops Against Hunger game is Wednesday, January 13. Keep up the good work and thank you for helping the Vipers, Action 4 News and Clear Channel Radio to support the Food Bank RGV in our mission to Bounce out Hunger in the Rio Grande Valley.

---

The Maine Red Claws sent us Whoopie Pies Monday as a holiday gift. After the Bakersfield Jam sent us bags of incredibly good nuts, I didn't think anything was going to beat that, but these were delicious! Second best whoopie pies I've ever had (home made ones from the parents of a friend in the Bangor/Orono, Maine area back in the winter of 2006). For those who are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, think of a chocolate sandwich filled with cream you would find in a snack cake, except thicker and sweeter. Can you say sugar rush?

---

Okay, now for your homework (I'm a professor, remember?) – Go to the Vipers game on Wednesday, be very loud. No, wait, that's not loud enough. We're going to have to go straight to... *dramatic pause* ... ludicrously loud!

Prepare for ludicrously loud! Cancel the three-ring circus, close all the shops in the mall, secure all...

Oh, enough already. LUDICROUSLY LOUD... GO!

(You don't suppose Dark Helmet copyrighted that, do you?)