Something I saw Sunday morning reminded me of this, a commercial selected for the book The 100 Best TV Commercials...and Why They Worked:
See, from the video I shot of the final seconds of FIU's 66-64 loss to FAU, it doesn't look like FIU's DeJuan Wright did anything to warrant being called for a foul as FAU's Greg Gantt launched an off-balance three-pointer.
But check out this video from FAU Owl Access: http://fauowlaccess.com/articles/121/fau-defeats-fiu-66-64.aspx. The slow motion at the 58-second mark seems to show Wright getting Gantt on the wrist as he goes up. That would be a foul. Not terribly flagrant, literally a slap on the wrist, but it would be a foul on a shooter.
Maybe there's a third angle showing Wright missed his wrist and Gantt went down from a poisoned dart from the man on the grassy knoll behind Beehive Woman. How ever the final call went, FIU lost by two after blowing out to a 14-4 lead, then throwing away several possessions with basketball obtuse plays. They also got outrebounded badly, which often goes to hustle and positioning (see: "FIU women lose 50-49 to FAU."). You lose 16-2 on second chance points, get only four offensive rebounds, there's only so much you can gripe about officiating (which wasn't great either way) before you need to hit the mute and go forward.
FOOTBALL
North Palm Beach Benjamin offensive guard Trenton Saunders, 6-4, 280, has verbally committed to FIU, according to a South Florida source.
With 6-5, 334-pound Edens Sineace, who announced his commitment a couple of weeks ago, that's a lot of buffet damage coming into the program on the offensive front from Palm Beach County. Josh Hess, a big offensive lineman from Virginia who committed last summer, no longer has a scholarship offer on the table from FIU.
The FIU mens bball program is in a dilemma. They don't draw a huge crowd to home games, even against the arch-rival. Therefor, no overwhelming home court advantage because the team does not win. It always manages to blow games. Every game I've watched this season (Maryland, Bowling Green, and FAU) they've lost by single digits. A competitive team that could easily be .500 or above, but something is missing.
Good to hear about football recruiting news! Keep it up!
Posted by: FIU on the rise! | January 22, 2012 at 12:15 PM
Wins will fill the arena. I personally believe that IT is one or two key players away from winning those close ones.
Posted by: GOLD | January 22, 2012 at 01:24 PM
Welcome to FIU Trenton! Great to see our lines are continuing to get bigger and better.
As for basketball. I wish we used more of our depth. We can't leave guys on the court for almost 40 minutes, we need to get the younger guys minutes and get them up to speed. We need to give our starters a rest, if not we will continue to lose close games as our players tire down the stretch.
Posted by: JulesFIU07 | January 22, 2012 at 02:31 PM