New Arena, Good. Terrorists, Bad.

Our friends over at http://www.lasalle-explorers.com/ have an interesting post up about a proposed new arena and terrorists.

First up, the Islamic terrorists - we need to defeat them no matter what the cost. It will be a great day when the world is free of Islamic terrorists and we can all drive to work in our space cars eating dippin dots.

Screengrab via lasalle-explorers.com

Until then, we should probably get a new arena.

Lionel's Den is on board with the new arena idea and will donate real hard earned money to see this happen. We were all at school when Gola opened and the first time we walked in we said......"Dude?" In a bad way. Like "Dude, tell me this is the practice court."



This informal survey that La Salle-Explorers did is pretty spot on. We co-sign all this too.

Informal surveys have indicated that LaSalle alums have listed the following needs for the new arena:
1. seating behind the baskets
2. an arena where most seating you walk down to
3. chairbacks with cupholders except for behind the baskets where bleachers are preferred by students
4. an above court scoreboard with 4-sided video feed
5. outside corridor with local vendor food concessions - (steak sandwich, hoagie, pizza, salad);
6. at least 6 luxury suites (center court and corners).

I'd like the joint to be terrorist-proof it possible.

By the way your name's Maalik

(Cue Dr. G in the voice of Phife)

By the way, your names Maalik
The six-foot one freak
Lets say we get together by the end of the week
He simply said, no, labeled me a hoe
I said, how you figure? You haven't been to the tourney since 1990 and my friends tell me so.


Maalik Wayns goes to Roman and is nasty. We've had two dudes come out of Roman in recent memory - they were also nasty. Good news - Maalik is coming to La Salle!...ummm...no.

Handing it over to Northstar Basketball:

NB: What went into your decision to commit to Villanova?
MW: I [have been] watching them play since I grew up, and [it is] . . . like my dream school, so when . . . the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at it.

NB: What were some of the other schools that were offering you and were looking at you?
MW: Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, . . . [and] North Carolina St.

NB: When the offers first started rolling in, and the interest first started rolling in, were you . . . planning on making your decision before your senior year, or was it just something that, the time felt right?
MW: The time felt right. . . . It’s a great school, great tradition, and I just, when I visited it, I liked it a lot, and I [have been] around the program a lot, so it just felt right.

NB: What about attending Roman Catholic for high school? . . . With all the private schools . . . around Pennsylvania, what made that school the most appealing to you?
MW: The tradition. A lot of great players [have] went there, Eddie Griffin, Rasual Butler, players like that went there before me, so I just wanted to follow the tradition.

Rasual's name in there breaks my heart.

I hardly think that my college process was analogous to Maalik's. Yours wasn't either. But you had choices and you chose La Salle for one of two reasons.

1) The reputation of the school. Which for basketball, is severely tarnished.Last time we were in the tourney he didn't exist. Now if he wants to be a nurse.....

2) You made some type of connection with someone. A professor, a fellow student, an alum. Someone that made you think, "Yeah, this could be the spot for me."

So the question is - did we make a personal connection to Maalik? Did Dr. G say hello? Did Rasual call him? Did Donnie text him from Athens or wherever Donnie is? Legler? Glenn from North Dining? Anybody? Did anyone do anything besides complain on a blog at 1:05 after drinking four Sierra Nevadas?

Dr. G. Prefers Prose to Pros

While Dr. Giannini penned this feel good article about the importance of assistant coaches, Martelli and Wright were out pounding the pavement inking recruits. Can you name the last great PhD coach? You can stop thinking after you get to Dr. Naismith and Dr. Jack Ramsey.

Lionel and some other dudes

Here's a copy of Sporting News from March 20, 1989. (Go buy it from this dude on Ebay.)

The copy below Lionel's pic is...."PRIZE PUPIL Lionel Simmons has helped bring La Salle closer to the national spotlight."

I can't tell what I like most about this. Lionel, seeing Jordan III's in action, or an article titled..."The Image of Jose Canseco."

Jerrell Will Be Warm

Jerrell Williams, our freshman star in the making, is no longer jacketless. We're expecting big things out of Jerrell now that he doesn't have to battle swarming defenses and the Philadelphia winter.

Lionel for the Philly Sports Hall of Fame

We have many interconnected goals here at Lionel's Den and we should never lose sight of our magnetic north - calling on LaSalle basketball to return to greatness. However, we need small wins when we can get them.

The Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, founded in 2002, is dedicated "to developing a sports hall of fame for Philadelphia as a means to preserve and promote the rich history of Philadelphia sports." Pro legends and college phenoms, players and coaches, arenas and stadiums - the Philly HOF is designed to recognize greatness in all forms.

What's LaSalle's corner of the yet to be built hall look like? Tom Gola, in. Joe Verdeur, LaSalle gold medal swimmer, in. Lionel? Shockingly, the namesake of this blog has yet to be enshrined. You can understand him not going ahead of Gola, but come on, the fourth class just welcomed a field hockey player and a soccer player.

You can try to ignore 3,217 points, but you can't ignore that many emails. I just submitted a nomination form and the response said "Thank-you. Your nomination has been received. Your choice is now eligible for consideration for Inductee Class IV." Is that all it took? Is it possible no one nominated him the past 5 years?


Use this link to lobby Lionel for the PHOF

Lions v Hippo

I didn't realize how big hippos were. You always hear about hippos being assholes so as a species, they've had this coming.

Sual Kinda on Kimmel

Sual's sitting on the sidelines at Kimmel during CP3's interview.



First spotted at Hornets Hype.

1999 - The Year That Could Have Been

1999 "Potential" Starting Roster

4 K'Zell Wesson F-C 6-7 254 SR
5 Julian Blanks G 6-2 181 FR
12 Donnie Carr G 6-3 212 JR
33 Kobe Bryant F 6-7 191 JR
45 Rasual Butler F 6-7 185 FR

Coming off the Bench…
25 Victor Thomas F 6-7 178 SO


No team in the A-10 could have even come close to this one in 1999. The starting line-up would feature 2 NBA players (Rasual Butler, Kobe Bryant), one First Team All-A-10 (Donnie Carr), and two solid players (Julian, and K'Zell - who at 254lbs. is still the largest vegetarian I know.) Victor Thomas could have come off the bench and we would be talking about that La Salle team that made a run into the Sweet 16 right now.

All because Kobe decided he was too good to be an Explorer.

I like Lionel's Den More Too

I know I know. "Lionel's Den" has a much better ring to it. Problem is, this dude already has it. Word came down from marketing that we should change the title to the URL because "No one else has a blog that's a different name than the URL." Don't shoot the messenger.

The Doctor Will Read You Now

Lionel's Den has a big week of posts coming up but until then, not much is happening in the world besides, you know, civil unrest.

We sent a flyer to Dr. G via his website to see what he was up to.


I pray that the response is:

Dear Lionel's Den,

Sorry I haven't updated my site. I've been busy recruiting players for your favorite college basketball team. Hope that's ok with you.

PS - The email doesn't work. Come on Doctor.

Former La Salle recruit can jump high

Former La Salle recruit Kobe Bryant jumps over an Aston Martin. Or doesn't. Either way, it's fun to watch.

Happy Birthday to Lionel's Best Friend!

1 minute left east coast time to wish Bo Kimble a very happy 42nd Birthday. Not sure if Bo is really Lionel's best friend, but both had Hank Gathers as a mutual good friend so I'm going with friendship by association.

According to his Wikipedia entry, Bo is "currently campaigning to be the head coach at LMU, citing their terrible record in recent years as well as himself being one of their most famous alumni, although he has never coached on any level before."

I love it. If Mufasa, Wild Boar, and I were Loyola Marymount alums, this blog would be called Bo's Dojo.

Excuse me, I'm going to go edit Lionel's record on Wikipedia and add that exact sentence and just replace "LMU" with "LaSalle". In addition to bootleg video, we will also use rumors to campaign for a return to greatness.

Yeah, Well, LaSalle Has a Good Forensics Program Too

Your favorite gazelle represented LaSalle tonight at a National College Fair in Boston. Good to be on the ground, walking among the pre-frosh who may one day be cheering for the blue and gold. I got many "I hear your Nursing program is good. What's your average SAT score?" and a few parents prodding about the "safety of the neighborhood."

You know what question I didn't have to answer - "You must have been proud to see Darnell Harris win the 3 point contest. What's it like to watch a home game under the basket?" Which proves that the three point shot can only take you so far.

You know who did have to answer that question? Siena. That's right, # 13 seed Siena who upset Vandy in the first round. Siena was across the aisle, four students deep all night. Three weeks ago these kids knew as much about Siena as I did - it's a light brown color in the crayola palette. Tonight, they knew it as a cinderella team and swarmed around their recruitment table wanting to know about their forensics program.

I ran into the admissions guy from Siena at the refreshment stand and the first thing he said to me after learning I was from La Salle was "We used to play each other in the old MAAC. Man, it's been a long time since La Salle made the tournament." 16 years, Siena. 16 years.

Another Blue and Gold

We're going to try to keep this blog as focused on La Salle and lions as possible. We know that's why our readers are here. Every once in a while we'll deviate and post something about a Liger or another college basketball team that doesn't wear the blue and gold. It just so happens that Kevin Love's squad does wear the blue and gold so we're still good.

Kev Love is a great b-boy name.

Postgame (no shout out yet)

Overstating the Importance of this Blog

The "this humble blog" stuff lasted two weeks.

I'll be selling bootleg dvds in the subway this week

Senior Darnell Harris laced them up for the Explorers one last time and brought home the 3-Point championship. Darnell outshot Tennessee's Chris Lofton in the final round to win a glass trophy with the word Midas on it. Midas, I'm not joking, next time I need a muffler, I'm headed your way. You've got Darnell to thank for that.

Sidenote - Darnell was always pretty close to not getting the last money ball out of his hands. If you had three seconds left, it seems like you could just pretty much drop that last ball, count that as your shot, and then shoot the money ball.

Speedy Hates a 'Backstabber'; Gets 3 Game Suspension

Philadelphia Daily News reports that our old friend Speedy Morris has been suspended for three Catholic League games for 2008-2009. Archbishop Wood AD and Catholic League czar Joe Sette went against the voted plan and pulled a Roger Dorn, calling his own number in deciding the best playoff format for the CL. Speedy didn't take too kindly to the benevolent dictatorship. He didn't go John Chaney nuts, but to his credit, he didn't go for cheesesteaks either:

Therein, Morris expressed distress over a new playoff plan approved by the athletic directors and claimed that Joe Sette, Archbishop Wood's coach and AD and the moderator for CL basketball, had "stabbed his fellow coaches in the back" by not pushing harder for a plan the coaches had approved by an overwhelming margin.

Reached last night, Morris declined to comment.

When asked whether Morris could erase or reduce the length of the suspension by appealing to the league's principals, an administrator who insisted on anonymity said flatly, "I think that would be a futile experience."

Calling a fellow coach a 'backstabber' is three games in high school? Chaney threatened to kill John Calipari in 1994 and got one game. If an NBA player actually stabbed another player, he gets a game for every inch deep tops.

Speedy's Top 5 Most Hated Backstabbers Besides Joe Sette:

5. Geunter Parche against Monica Seles. She was 19 and going to retire anyway, but tennis is supposed to be civilized.
4. Danny Noonan against Ty Webb. Only lasted nine holes and he did redeem himself, but inexcusable.
3. Mo Cheeks against Dr. J. Mo has Doc on the wing in '83 to clinch the title against L.A. and he dunks it himself?
2. Rollie Massimino against the Big 5. Remember all those fun pasta dinners the Big 5 coaches had together? They became less fun with knives in our back.
1. Kobe Bryant against Philadelphia, LaSalle, and that young lady from Colorado. I could have had another 29-1 season and the city would have been proud to call you a son (even if you are from Lower Merion)

Darnell Reps Us Well

Do it to em Darnell!

Bootleg video coming soon.....

Top Big Five Schools We Hate (in order)

4. Penn - It's hard to work up much bile against a team that lets you play in their gym for like 3 games a year. OK, that's what's nice about them. Here's the rest: Penn students are cocky, arrogant, and rich, and we you have pathetic names like Chadwick Penworth Waddington IV.


3. St. Joe's - When I was younger, one of my brothers joked before we all sat down to dinner that he was going to apply to St. Joe's. Two things happened that night: He didn't get dinner and the rest of the family took shots punching him in the face until we could prove the he bled La Salle blue. That isn't a true story because of the color properties of blood when it hits the outside air, but you get the point.


2. Villanova - You break up the Big Five on the strength of the 1985 National Championship and you get our #2 spot, you overdressed humps. Nova fans aren't quite as full of themselves as Penn students (see above), but they did steal the right of La Salle fans to point to our 1954 National Championship banner and feel like we're special. And for that, we do not forgive you.


1. Temple - Yes, the Owls earn the top spot. Not only did you take Fran Dunphy from us (alumns should ALWAYS come back to their alma maters to coach like Roy Williams did for UNC - that's called loyalty, and you've got none of it Dunph), but we don't really like sharing Broad Street with you very much. You crowd the R5 regional rail line when you go to school (for those of you who do go to class) and you don't shower often. Bad combo.

Don't Take the Warm-Ups Off, Darnell

La Salle is not accustomed to playing a key role in Final Four weekend over the last 50 years, but tomorrow night the road back ends. That is, if you don't mind hitchhiking and riding in the sidecar of a URAL to get there. The Blue and Gold is sending sharp shooter Darnell Harris to compete in the 20th Annual 3-point contest. The event will be televised Thursday at 9 pm on ESPN immediately following the NIT championship showdown between Ohio State and UMass.

Has anyone with decision making authority asked themselves this question: Who wants to watch a 3 point contest when the entire college game is a 3 point contest? 20 years this event has been going on? Unless you are Larry Bird in a green warm-up or Billy Hoyle shooting for Sudan, I don't want to see you standing on the elbow hoping you make the moneyball.

NCAA and ESPN, time to mix it up and get a little street with it. Forget about shooting skills and slam dunks. Time to bring back the match game. Seabiscuit and War Admiral. Kobra Kai and Myagi-Do. Lions call it "eat my dinner" in the animal kingdom; on the playground we call it "Rise and Shine."

There are 327 division one teams. 65 enter the dance. 32 go to the NIT. That leaves 230 schools to fall into the third dimension - The Fight Club. Each school sends one player to compete in a "Rise and Shine" tournament. Score three baskets, you advance. You lose, your school is out. I want 12 courts going at once like we are watching the All Valley Karate Championships, and keep track of the winners using a Big Board with removable panels stamped with their conference affiliation.

Hey, Bruiser Flint, don't go stepping in front of no car windows, you hear.

Under Compression

Thanks to some dude on ebay and $4 I got 50 La Salle alumni cards. These will provide me with minutes of enjoyment. Hopefully I will unlock some secrets to La Sallian success through these relics. If archaeologists can do it with broken dishes and pieces of tibia (great band name, feel free) then I should be able to do it with these cards.

First up, the best card out of the bunch.


I wonder what is helping Lionel rebound so hard and causing dude between his legs (pause) to look up at the L Train in awe....hmmmm........oh, I don't know, maybe the perfect length compression shorts?

The compression short is part jock strap, part spandex, part loving hug for your legs. Wearing the compression short is like dancing - do it right and look awesome. Do it wrong and look kinda like a girl.

Late 80's early 90's, compression shorts underneath your champion mesh shorts was very necessary. The bicycle hat and the Sizzler eating was optional.

So what happened? If me and Lionel and Sidney looked so awesome in compression shorts, why aren't we still wearing them?

Damn boosters. La Salle has never recovered.