** On most Saturday nights, it’s a routine for me to run out and grab some take-out dinner for my Wife and Son.
** A big part of the appeal of this routine is to enjoy a tasty malt beverage at the bar while waiting for my order’s completion.
** It’s a chance to get out and see what is new on tap at several of the area’s finer establishments with a nice craft brew selection.
** But tonight’s while-I-wait beer choice was easy, even if not the most adventurous. Tonight, I ordered a Sierra Nevada, almost ordinary by beer snob standards.
** Sierra Nevada was the brand that first spearheaded the craft brew phenomenon from their home in Chico, California. And knowing that Chico is the home of the Panther’s Sterling Smith, I knew I had to in his honor.
** Sterling’s performance this afternoon was the greatest of his short Panther career, in a game it was needed so much for so many reasons.
** Sterlings’s performance was needed because our usual scoring subjects were not at their best, and in the case of Sheldon, not even on the court.
** He was in all ways splendid, and was really the huge difference maker this day.
** But he was needed so much more because a loss in this game could have been quite devastating to our Panthers.
** Our men seem to be teetering between being a pretty good offensive good with defensive issues, and a team who could let it all slip away. No one needs to be reminded of that as a fitting description of last year’s Panthers.
** I don’t think there is a beer brewed in Hampton PA, but if I knew of one I would have ordered that too.
** Ryan has so much to be proud of regarding the minutes he gave to his team today. So often, people will talk about the “little things” teams need to win, like timely rebounds, taking charges, or playing just enough defense. One could argue that the Panthers haven’t really had a “little things” player for quite some time. Ryan was the little things player today, and his impact was huge.
** To this moment, Ryan’s drive, offensive rebound, and dish to Jamel for the three is the biggest play of the year.
** Perhaps, I should have ordered a Bell's Two Hearted Ale for Ryan. He showed that kind of heart.
** Mike Young’s play in the first half of this game wasn’t even worthy of a Duquesne Pilsner. But there’s no sense on dwelling on that any further. Mike turned it around in the second half with enough of performance that his team was able to win this one.
** Before talking about “winning this one,” I want to make clear that I don’t think this win was especially remarkable, nor do I think it signaled that the Panthers have turned any important corners.
** Nonetheless, this win was probably much more unlikely than we might think.
** The Panthers didn’t come back from 10 down on the road with great offense. Heck, I can’t even say that the played especially great defense in the second half either, although it was much better than the all-to-typical abysmal defense played in the first half.
** While the Panthers never really showed physical toughness throughout this game, they did demonstrate more than enough mental toughness to win this. This is what truly mattered.
** This game was really more about “finding a way to win,” and that’s just what happened today. Hopefully this difference was because the Panthers are starting to understand this. Hopefully.
** Beer snobs like me know the difference between ales and lagers. Ale’s tend to have sharper, fruitier flavors while lagers are more smooth. Along these lines, lagers aren’t necessary considered the most appreciated beers, but are sometimes more consistent or sturdy.
** However, when lagers are hitting big three point shots to get your team back in the game, they can surely seem much more appealing. James was a fine lager today.
** I’m not sure who needed this game more, the Panther team or their fans.
** Not many believe in this team, and I’m sorry to say that I’ve even included myself in the non-believer group at times. Down ten at halftime in this one, I’ll readily confess that my usually positive self didn’t see a turnaround coming.
** OK, that’s not really true. I was thinking perhaps that if the Panthers caught fire, they might pull it out. But they never really did catch fire.
** Instead, we watched our team methodically take care of business to get the job done. I’m wondering what was the last tough game we have actually won when we didn’t shoot well.
** We can’t know if this is the beginning of any kind of important trend, but it was certainly a welcome change.
** So I’ll end this night thinking about the next fine beer I’m going to drink to savior this tasty ACC road win. Cheers!
** A big part of the appeal of this routine is to enjoy a tasty malt beverage at the bar while waiting for my order’s completion.
** It’s a chance to get out and see what is new on tap at several of the area’s finer establishments with a nice craft brew selection.
** But tonight’s while-I-wait beer choice was easy, even if not the most adventurous. Tonight, I ordered a Sierra Nevada, almost ordinary by beer snob standards.
** Sierra Nevada was the brand that first spearheaded the craft brew phenomenon from their home in Chico, California. And knowing that Chico is the home of the Panther’s Sterling Smith, I knew I had to in his honor.
** Sterling’s performance this afternoon was the greatest of his short Panther career, in a game it was needed so much for so many reasons.
** Sterlings’s performance was needed because our usual scoring subjects were not at their best, and in the case of Sheldon, not even on the court.
** He was in all ways splendid, and was really the huge difference maker this day.
** But he was needed so much more because a loss in this game could have been quite devastating to our Panthers.
** Our men seem to be teetering between being a pretty good offensive good with defensive issues, and a team who could let it all slip away. No one needs to be reminded of that as a fitting description of last year’s Panthers.
** I don’t think there is a beer brewed in Hampton PA, but if I knew of one I would have ordered that too.
** Ryan has so much to be proud of regarding the minutes he gave to his team today. So often, people will talk about the “little things” teams need to win, like timely rebounds, taking charges, or playing just enough defense. One could argue that the Panthers haven’t really had a “little things” player for quite some time. Ryan was the little things player today, and his impact was huge.
** To this moment, Ryan’s drive, offensive rebound, and dish to Jamel for the three is the biggest play of the year.
** Perhaps, I should have ordered a Bell's Two Hearted Ale for Ryan. He showed that kind of heart.
** Mike Young’s play in the first half of this game wasn’t even worthy of a Duquesne Pilsner. But there’s no sense on dwelling on that any further. Mike turned it around in the second half with enough of performance that his team was able to win this one.
** Before talking about “winning this one,” I want to make clear that I don’t think this win was especially remarkable, nor do I think it signaled that the Panthers have turned any important corners.
** Nonetheless, this win was probably much more unlikely than we might think.
** The Panthers didn’t come back from 10 down on the road with great offense. Heck, I can’t even say that the played especially great defense in the second half either, although it was much better than the all-to-typical abysmal defense played in the first half.
** While the Panthers never really showed physical toughness throughout this game, they did demonstrate more than enough mental toughness to win this. This is what truly mattered.
** This game was really more about “finding a way to win,” and that’s just what happened today. Hopefully this difference was because the Panthers are starting to understand this. Hopefully.
** Beer snobs like me know the difference between ales and lagers. Ale’s tend to have sharper, fruitier flavors while lagers are more smooth. Along these lines, lagers aren’t necessary considered the most appreciated beers, but are sometimes more consistent or sturdy.
** However, when lagers are hitting big three point shots to get your team back in the game, they can surely seem much more appealing. James was a fine lager today.
** I’m not sure who needed this game more, the Panther team or their fans.
** Not many believe in this team, and I’m sorry to say that I’ve even included myself in the non-believer group at times. Down ten at halftime in this one, I’ll readily confess that my usually positive self didn’t see a turnaround coming.
** OK, that’s not really true. I was thinking perhaps that if the Panthers caught fire, they might pull it out. But they never really did catch fire.
** Instead, we watched our team methodically take care of business to get the job done. I’m wondering what was the last tough game we have actually won when we didn’t shoot well.
** We can’t know if this is the beginning of any kind of important trend, but it was certainly a welcome change.
** So I’ll end this night thinking about the next fine beer I’m going to drink to savior this tasty ACC road win. Cheers!
