Ira Cronin WCNC Sports

It's always hard when a run in the NCAA tournament comes to an end, no matter how long or short that run is. The tournament is the goal of every college basketball team in the country. As a journalist I have to remain un-biased in my reporting of the game and its outcome. But on a personal level, when a team invites you into their family - because that's what this Winthrop team is - it's very difficult not to feel the loss on a more personal level. (Click here for a complete game recap)

The game was close in the first half, and was tied at half time. But something very different happened in the second half. The Cougars got red hot, and when the first few buckets didn't fall for the Eagles, things began to steamroll. Washington State shot a scorching 65 percent, while Winthrop shot a dismal 16 percent.

As the final minutes of the game are winding down, I'm contemplating the NCAA tournament record books for the Eagles, and it's not the good kind. Earlier in the day, Kent State lost badly to UNLV, and set a new record for fewest points scored in a half, when they only managed 10 in the opening half. With less than a minute to go in the game, Winthrop had only scored eight points. With every possession I was praying for a couple more buckets, but nothing was falling. At this point I'm looking for any kind of good news I can find in this game and it looks pretty bleak.

I have a hard time keeping track of everything going on in the course of the game, but in the mind of Chris Gaynor, as time is winding down, he is three points short, of 1000 for his career. With about 10 seconds to go he puts up a long three pointer that finds home. My heart leapt for joy because in my mind the Eagles have avoided the bad record books by a point.

For Chris, as he told me later, it was relief because he attained his personal goal of 1000 career points. Chris leaves Winthrop as only the third player in Big South Conference history to score 1000 points, hand out over 500 assists, and record over 200 steals. For me, the final basket that pushes Winthrop to a mere 40 points for the game is a silver lining.

In the locker room the team is classy in defeat. The team is very disappointed, but handles their emotions like the well coached young men they are. The four seniors - Chris Gaynor, Antwon Harris, Taj McCullough, and Michael Jenkins - pose for pictures together and it's a stark reminder to me that all things must sooner or later come to an end. Whether it's a run in the dance, a college career, or larger things in life. How you handle those situations say a lot about a persons character.

I thanked Coach Peele for allowing us as a TV crew to so closely follow his team and tell their story. It's the second year I have been so allowed to do so, and it is a VERY rare thing in the broader world of sports. Any story teller is only as good as the material he is able to gather, and Coach Peele and his team allowed us to gather great material.
I'm excited to share it with our viewers coming up this Sunday night on Sports Extra in a special Game Day behind the scenes segment we're working on.

Inside the locker room

The first words that come to mind are wow I can't believe we are here! I'm talking about on the inside. We're inside the Eagles locker room in the Pepsi Center as they are in the final minutes of getting ready to take on Washington State.

We first enter as the team has left for their first shoot around 60 minutes before tip off. It's a large locker room and is mostly empty with the exception of Coach Peele and assistant Marty McGillan. Marty is finishing up writing the scouting report on a white board of the Cougars.

When team arrives back in they gather around their lockers and give the Marty their complete attention. He goes down the list player by player talking about their strengths and weaknesses. It's amazing how detailed the staff has broken down each of the Cougars. As he finishes he shifts gears from a briefing to a motivational speech. He's passionate, he's emotional and he tells the Eagles they can compete and if they execute their game plan they can win. The team gathers for a prayer and then heads back out on the floor for more warm-ups.

While the team is gone this time, Randy Peele takes his turn preparing his final notes on the white board. When the team returns his message to the team is more big picture stuff. He says if they can hold Washington State to 55 points, and if the Eagles can rack up 18 assists offensively they will win.

The team gathers one more time and then heads out on the floor.

Winthrop game day is here

There is nothing for a college athlete that compares to game day. The game boils down to just over 2 hours on the court, but the preparations begin first thing in the morning for the teams. Once again the Winthrop basketball team has invited us on the inside to share an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at their run in the NCAA tournament.

Our day began at 9 a.m. when we arrived at the team hotel. There were some fans and a few of the coaches milling around the lobby and a few of the players were trickling through on the way to breakfast. Some of the players were signing autographs. Taj McCullough rolled down in his casual attire wearing a pair of eyeglasses. I had never seen him in eyeglasses before and almost didn't recognize him. He looked like a 6' 11" professor of some kind.

The team met in a small meeting room with a breakfast buffet laid out for them. After the players were done and rolling out, some of the family members of the coaching staff came in. You can tell this is a very special time for them, and at the same time there is a sense of normalcy. Team trainer Jeff Lahr's wife made the trip along with his 2 sons and daughter. His sons wanted to go to shoot around with the team, but Dad said no. Too much business going on today for his sons to be running around in the gym and shooting hoops like they did yesterday. His daughter had a birthday yesterday; she turned 10.

From breakfast it was into a short film session. Coach Peele talked to the team about some of the key points for today's game before assistant coach Mary McGillan went through some film. Being on the inside with the team isn't about giving away secrets, but I can tell you the team is very well prepared for today's game. If the Eagles play their game, they will be in this game and have a great shot at winning.

After film it was on the team bus for the 25 minute drive to Regis University for a light shoot around that lasted about an hour.

At that point we had to break away to begin editing the tape for this story that will air tonight at 6 p.m. It's so rare to be invited on the inside with a college basketball team at tournament time. Listening to Coach Peele really fired me up. I'm ready to play myself but luckily for everyone involved I won't. I'll be sitting court side to tell the story at 11, no matter who it ends up.

Good Luck, Eagles!

Ira

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First look at Washington State

All the talking is done.

I'm sitting here in a virtually empty Pepsi Center. It's a very weird thing to be alone in such a big building. I can see three people across the way in the stands cleaning up from today's open practice sessions and that is it. It truly feels like a dead calm before the storm begins tomorrow.

I had my first look at Washington State today in person and my first impressions are that they are big. I also didn't get the feeling off them that they are in any going to sleep on the Eagles like Notre Dame did last year. I still give the Eagles a great chance of winning however, if they can duplicate the same kind of effort they put out against UNC Asheville in the Big South tournament championship game.

With all the access that Coach Peele has given my photographer Andrew Phillips and I it's hard at this point not become so personally invested in the game.

I know I said the same thing last year and the loss to Oregon in the 2nd round hit me harder than most games I cover. I can say from being in such close proximity to these Winthrop players and coaching staff, they are such good people. I'm sure the same can be said for Washington State but the Eagles are the team we came with and they are the team I'll be privately rooting for tomorrow.

I spoke with Coach Peele's wife, Debra, who was in the stands and also Chris Gaynor's father, Al. These are the people who have an even greater investment in tomorrow's game than I do. Al and his wife have personally made great financial sacrifices to be at each of the four NCAA tournaments that Chris has played in. While he's telling me he has spent his retirement and is going into debt for this trip, he's grinning from ear to ear and tells me he wouldn't change a thing. I'll be rooting for Al and his wife tomorrow as much as I will be for the team.

Speaking of tomorrow, we are planning on hanging with the team step by step through game day, from the time they leave the hotel in the morning, to the shoot around, to the film session and the pre-game meal.

I'll keep up on the blog as much as I can while we try to keep up with the Eagles. We'll have some great TV to show you Thursday at 6, and Sunday night on Sports Extra.

That's it for Wednesday. Let the games begin.

Blog you tomorrow.

Ira

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The Eagles hit it hard

Head Coach Randy Peele once again granted us access to the team's closed practice this morning at Regis University. I have to say that the session seemed to be more intense than yesterday. Bodies were hitting the floor, coaches were cussing out players and things were moving at a brisk pace. Coach told me after practice that he's trying to get his kids us to the thin air. Guard Chris Gaynor told me that he can feel the altitude a little bit, especially at the beginning of his workout.

I'm now sitting courtside at the Pepsi Center. Notre Dame is on the court right now and I can't help but remember last year's win over the Irish in Spokane. It's that same kind of magic that Winthrop will be looking to recapture tomorrow. This building reminds be a lot of Bobcats arena. It's just a little bigger and all the seats are brown.

I have to run for now, the open media session is about to begin and I'll have a full report from Denver coming up live at 11.

Talk to you later.

Ira

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Jet Lag

Jet lag is a real bummer!

I'm not trying to complain here, but I have to say that after getting up at 3 a.m., flying to Denver through JFK including a 2 hour delay for those mechanical problems, heading straight to practice, and then editing our story for last night... I was more than a little tired when my head hit the pillow at around 1 a.m. Eastern time, but the clock only said 11 p.m. on that Mountain time.

I slept like a rock, no question there, but I went to bed thinking I don't have to wake up until 8 a.m.... but at 6:30 a.m. on the clock in the hotel room, my eyes popped open. My body is telling me it's 8:30, which is sleeping in for me, so I guess it's time to get up and get burning.

We have a big day ahead. The Pepsi Center where the games will be played opens at 9 a.m. local time and we will be there to pick up our credentials and set up our editing equipment. The NCAA doesn't allow local TV stations to shoot video of the games that CBS has paid big dollars to broadcast exclusively, so for our game highlights they set up a massive video compound for all the local crews to take video feeds of the games. You can imagine with 8 teams, there are a fair amount of TV stations to take care of.

After that, it's back to practice with the Eagles at 11 a.m. local time back at Regis University before their shoot around at the Pepsi Center tonight at 6 p.m. local time.

I'll check back in later in the day with all the latest on Winthrop but for now I guess it's off to the shower and go find some breakfast.

Ira

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The Eagles have landed

The Eagles have landed, and so have we.

After a very long day traveling from Charlotte, complete with mechanical delays, we have arrived in Denver, and got out rental car. Now I'm sitting courtside at Regis University in Denver watching Winthrop Head Coach Randy Peele run his team through the paces trying to get them ready to face Washington State.

It's a small gym, and Randy's voice is booming off the walls -- he's talking about screens, and fighting through them, and getting on the shooter, and lots of other basketball stuff. The team seems to have a sense of calm about them. Leading up to tournament time Coach Peele has told me time and again that his team is feeling confident and loose and it shows in this first practice here in Denver.

We'll talk with Coach after practice and have a report on the Carolina's News Connection tonight at 11.

As a side note, it's always good when the team acknowledges our presence having traveled a long distance to cover them, but Assistant Coach Paul Molinari took it to a new level just a few minutes ago, when he said he was glad I was here, that I was good luck to Winthrop last year in Spokane so he's happy to see me again. Coaches are a very superstitious bunch, but the sentiment was very much appreciated.

Blog you later!

Ira

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Trip hits a snag

Thank goodness for the professionals who really make a difference in the world! As a sportscaster, when something goes wrong while I'm performing my job generally the only thing that happens is I look like a fool on TV for all to see. When an airline pilot has a bad day, there is much more on the line!

As we were getting ready to leave JFK for Denver things came to a halt. We were number 1 for take off, and as the captain hit the throttle for take off there was a loud bang. He then announces that the number 1 engine had a compressor failure causing an aerodynamic stall or something like that. We taxied back to the gate and had to wait for a new plane.

All is well that ends well but banging around in the back of my head is that saying that bad things happen in 3's. Leaving Charlotte this morning as we were number 1 for take off, the captain rolled the plane off the runway, and then announced that some thought they had seen some kind of debris on the run way. What is this a NASCAR race with one of those mysterious yellow flags for invisible debris? It was quickly checked out, and we were cleared for take off. We are in the air now and on our way to Denver a couple of hours behind schedule but we are still going to try and catch the end of practice for Winthrop.

We'll blog you later.

Ira

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Journey begins

Let the odyssey begin! JetBlue Airlines is a sports fanatic's dream!

I'm on my way to the NCAA Tournament in Denver!

Day one of my favorite time of year is now underway. This blog comes to you from gate 16 at JFK international in New York City. My photographer Andrew Phillips and I have a 2 hour layover here before we head west to Denver, Colorado, where we will meet up with the Winthrop Eagles. In all fairness to the finer places in NYC, Andrew made the astute observation when we arrived that "this place is a dump!" He's correct. This terminal is long overdue for a renovation.

It's a good thing this is my favorite sporting event of the entire year and I'm passionate about it, or I would be in a pretty foul mood about now. Our flight out of Charlotte was wheels up at 6 a.m. I anchored last night's (Monday) 11 p.m. show, so I'm running on about 2 hours of sleep about now. There should be plenty of time for sleep on the next 4 hour leg to the Mile High City. The only problem is we are on JetBlue. This is my first experience with this wonderful airline. I watch an entire hour of Sports Center, followed by nearly a half hour of ESPN News on the way up here. Just what every sleep deprived sportscaster needs -- free sports TV on the airplane to keep me awake. I'm sure sleep will take over at some point.

Still on the way today: The always exciting rental car counter, trying to finagle a free upgrade to a bigger and nicer car. The long anticipated hotel check-in and then we're off to find the Winthrop basketball team that is having a closed practice this afternoon in Denver. I'm confident we can talk our way in and should have a report from practice tonight at 11.

Time to go scrape up some expensive breakfast something or other in the airport here. We'll blog you later...

Ira

P.S. - I always thought that guys typing away on laptops in airports were doing really import things like million dollar business deals... that's not the case here!

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