Picked up a good book today about the Big 5 called "The Big 5-0, The 50th Anniversary of the Philadelphia Big 5" at the local Barnes & Noble. Very good read about the history of the Big 5 teams in the city (Nova, Temple, Penn, Saint Joe's, and LaSalle) and the games between them. Also talks about the old traditions of streamers being thrown after the first basket and the rollouts. The rollouts would usually be something witty, unless it was something from Saint Joseph's, which in that case it would be something dumb. Of course Nova had some of the best, including the classic "Patrick Ewing Can't Read This" rollout from a game against Georgetown in the mid 80s. Definitely worth the $25 if you're a college hoops fan, but it's really only avaliable in PA, NJ, and DE bookstores, but I'd imagine that you could get it online somewhere.

Speaking of the retards from City Avenue(SJU), I'll do an entry soon about Nova's rivalry with them, and how SJU basically is little brother to Nova, which pisses them off a great deal, which is pretty funny.

According to an article by Andy Katz on ESPN.com, the Big East is going to sign a new television deal, apparently one of the richest in the history of college athletics. Most of the new deal centers around basketball, as ESPN and CBS will expand their coverage of Big East basketball, which I guess will make up for the new Big Ten network being launched for Big Ten college sports, including basketball.

There was also a blurb by Katz that Pitt's Aaron Gray's decision whether to stay in the draft or not will heavily influence the number of TV appearances that the Panthers will have next year. If he stays, Pitt is likely to be on national TV more, and if he doesn't, it means less appearances. I imagine that the teams that are considered contenders for the conference title (UConn, Louisville, Syracuse, Georgetown, Nova, Pitt) are going to get more of their games on national TV than ones that aren't.

I've been finally forced back into going to the gym regularly after seeing how pudgy I was in my graduation photos. The beer gut that I had before is starting to disappear, and I'm starting to get more toned in my arms, chest, shoulders, and legs. Definitely looking good on that front, but I'd like to get the abs toned more.