Monthly Archives: February 2013

COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT RESULTS: USCAA, ACCA, NAIA AND OTHERS

Yesterday was Day One of the national championship tournament for both divisions of the USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association). Likewise for the Association of Christian College Athletics. Conference tournaments continued, meanwhile, in the NAIA1, the NJCAA and the CCCAA.

ave maria university gyrenesThe AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY GYRENES are the 2nd seed in the USCAA tournament and last night put away the 7th seeded VICTORY UNIVERSITY EAGLES by a score of 89-76. The Gyrenes led 48-27 at halftime but Victory U fought back to make the final score a little more respectable.

svu-logoMeanwhile, in a 5 seed over a 4 seed upset, the USCAA’s SOUTHERN VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS toppled the LINDENWOOD UNIVERSITY AT BELLEVILLE LYNX 91-79. The Lynx actually outscored SVU 51-46 in the 2nd half, but the Knights were too shrewd defensively to let their opponents get too close. Continue reading

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THE 2013 IDITAROD RACE OFFICIALLY BEGINS THIS SUNDAY, MARCH 3RD

Dog sled raceThe last great race, as the Iditarod sled dog race is called, begins in just a few days! Balladeer’s Blog will have its usual updates as the race goes along, complete with the official Balladeer’s Continue reading

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL: MORE TICKETS PUNCHED TO THE NAIA’S BIG DANCE

ius_logoKENTUCKY INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE – The top seeded INDIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST GRENADIERS notched another conference title. The Grenadiers (love that name) defeated the 3rd seeded ASBURY EAGLES 74-62 in the KIAC championship game. This after eliminating Alice Lloyd and Cincinatti Christian in the previous 2 rounds.

calmaritimekeelhaulersCALIFORNIA PACIFIC CONFERENCE – The 2 seeds, the CAL MARITIME  KEELHAULERS, won the CPC title by winning a 66-63 Instant Classic over the 4th seeded MENLO COLLEGE OAKS. The Keelhaulers made their way to the championship game by smacking around the UC- MERCED GOLDEN BOBCATS in the semifinals after their first- round bye.

Bethel (in) PilotsCROSSROADS LEAGUE – The BETHEL COLLEGE (IN) PILOTS came into this tournament in the 3 spot, but walked away with the conference crown with a nailbiting 68-65 victory over the 5th seeded TAYLOR TROJANS. St Francis (IN) and Marian University fell to the Pilots (riverboat pilots) along the way. Continue reading

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FORGOTTEN TELEVISION: COUNTERSTRIKE (1969)

COUNTERSTRIKE is a tragically forgotten British sci fi  television series from 1969. Jon Finch (left) portrayed Simon King, an alien agent who worked for the Intergalactic Council. This council had sent him to Earth to protect it from a group of renegade aliens  from a dying planet who wanted to conquer the Earth and make it their new home.

Not the most original of premises, but that inimitable British panache breathed life into the series, which Continue reading

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL: USCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT GETS UNDERWAY

Balladeer’s Blog presents its look at the college basketball teams competing for the championship in the two divisions of the USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association). Tip-off is tomorrow at 2pm ET. The NAIA conference tournaments are continuing, too, so I’ll still be covering those, as well!

USCAA DIVISION ONE (according to seeding)

rochestercollegewarriors1. ROCHESTER COLLEGE WARRIORS (2012 runners- up)

 Conference: Association of Independent Institutions

Record: 26-3 

Head Coach: Klint Pleasant 

ave maria university gyrenes2. AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY GYRENES

Conference: The Sun Conference  

Record: 22-8 

Head Coach: Jamon Copeland Continue reading

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MOVIES NOT COMING SOON TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU

Hollywoodland

Hollywoodland

Welcome back to Balladeer’s Blog, the only site on the web that is truly non-partisan in its criticism of those irrational zealots called Liberals and Conservatives. As I have often pointed out in the past there are no such things as right and wrong, there are simply things that a culture finds acceptable and things that a culture frowns upon. Six decades ago Hollywood films conformed to the tired Conservative cliches of Eisenhower’s America and earlier years. Today Hollywood films conform to the tired Liberal cliches of the Political Correctness Police.

In the 1950’s a movie depicting a gay (or black or female) character in the same positive way that the straight (or white or male) characters were depicted would be frowned upon. Today a Hollywood movie depicting a white, straight or (gasp) Christian character in the same positive way that the black, gay or Muslim characters are depicted would be frowned upon.

As always fringe filmmaking is where the courageous storytelling is to be found. The gutless, pandering Hollywood studios all make cookie- cutter movies lacking any sort of diversity in their worldview. Long ago it was uniformly mindless Conservative films being churned out by the dozens. In recent decades it’s been uniformly mindless Liberal films being churned out by the dozens. So let’s proceed with this light- hearted look at movies no Hollywood studio would touch today.

Crimson ImamNot Coming Soon – THE CRIMSON IMAM – A heroic Muslim woman dons a red costume and mask, then takes to the streets of her Muslim community punishing men who physically abuse women in the name of the outdated dictates of their religion. Calling herself the Crimson Imam she becomes a nationwide role model and inspires a large-scale feminist movement within Islam. Eventually women and gay people are embraced by Islam, with female clergy and gay marriages commonplace and with abortion rights a new Muslim priority.

What You’d See Instead – THE CRIMSON NUN – A heroic Christian woman dons a red habit and mask, then takes to the streets of her Christian community punishing priests who molest children and Continue reading

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Filed under Fantastic Movie Reviews, humor, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES

NOTEWORTHY POSTSEASON RESULTS FOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL AND HOCKEY FROM FEBRUARY 23RD

COLLEGE BASKETBALL GAMES THAT MATTER! The Conference Tournaments continue in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)

IUS_LogoKENTUCKY INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE – In quarterfinal action the top-seeded INDIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST GRENADIERS got more of a fight than they anticipated from the 8 seeds, the ALICE LLOYD EAGLES, but still emerged with a 77-68 victory.   ###   In the 2 spot the INDIANA EAST RED WOLVES eked out a 69-68 win over the (7) BRESCIA BEARCATS.   ###   The 4 seeds, the CINCINNATI CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EAGLES, bounced the 5th seeded POINT PARK PIONEERS, by a score of 87-70.   ###   … And the (3) ASBURY EAGLES put up a Century Club- worthy 102 points to the 73 scored by the (6) BEREA MOUNTAINEERS.

McPherson College Bulldogs logoKANSAS COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE – The 8th seeded MCPHERSON BULLDOGS continue to be THE story of the KCAC tournament. In the quarterfinals they stunned the top seeded UNIVERSITY OF ST MARY SPIRES with a 91-82 upset in Overtime. Yesterday McPherson edged the 4 seeds, the FRIENDS FALCONS, in an 81-80 nailbiter.   ###   The 3rd seeded STERLING WARRIORS, meanwhile, dispatched the 7th seeded OTTAWA (KS) BRAVES, 87-71, after the Continue reading

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COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM: NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

Northwest Christian University BeaconsNORTHWEST CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY BEACONS

Location: Eugene, OR

Division: NAIA

Conference Affiliation: Cascade Collegiate Conference

Comment: How cool is the nickname Beacons? From the Pacific northwest comes this excellent institution of higher learning founded in 1895 by Eugene C Sanderson. As usual with NAIA schools NCU has Continue reading

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PULP HEROES – THE MOON MAN: STORIES 19-21

Moon ManI’m continuing my look at Frederick C Davis’ pulp hero the Moon Man. In reality police detective Stephen Thatcher, the Moon Man stalked the night-darkened streets of fictional Great City clad in his black costume and his helmet made of one-way Argus glass. Armed with an automatic pistol plus limitless courage and ingenuity the Moon Man captured or killed Great City’s most dangerous criminals –  both white collar and blue collar – and robbed them of their ill-gotten booty. He would then distribute that money to the city’s Great Depression-ravaged poor. All this made him hunted by both the crooks AND the cops. For more on the Moon Man and other neglected pulp heroes click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/

19. BADGE OF BLOOD – No, not Blood On The Badge, Badge of Blood. We are at the mid-way point of the Moon Man’s adventures, with 19 tales down and 19 to go! The opening teaser in this story finds our hero and his sidekick Angel burgling the mansion of tycoon Van Zant Latham. No that’s NOT a typo, and yes, the Moon Man succeeds, making off with jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars IN 1930’s MONEY! Unfortunately during their escape Continue reading

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS CONTINUE IN THE NAIA

Huntington College Foresters logoCROSSROADS LEAGUE – The upset of the evening last night came when the 8th seeded HUNTINGTON COLLEGE FORESTERS stunned the 1 seeds, the INDIANA WESLEYAN WILDCATS, by a score of 81-69. The Foresters faithful will be talking about this game for years to come!   ###   In the 7 spot the MARIAN KNIGHTS, the reigning NAIA football champions, likewise shocked the prognosticators by taking down the 2nd seeded GRACE COLLEGE LANCERS  62-54.   ###   The (3) BETHEL (IN) PILOTS (as in riverboat pilots) performed as expected, defeating the (6) ST FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS in an 89-73 affair.   ###   … And in the typically tight 5 vs 4 matchup the (5) TAYLOR TROJANS beat the (4) SPRING ARBOR COUGARS in a 70-62 upset.

menlo college oaks logoCALIFORNIA PACIFIC CONFERENCE – In the opening round of the CPC tournament the 4th seeded MENLO COLLEGE OAKS let a healthy lead slip through their fingers, allowing the 5 seeds, the SIMPSON RED HAWKS, to force overtime. The Oaks emerged with a 111-103 victory in the extra session.   ###   … And the (3) UC- MERCED GOLDEN BOBCATS defeated the (6) PACIFIC UNION PIONEERS by a score of 73-54.   ###   The top 2 seeds had a bye in the first round, so on Friday the Golden Bobcats face the (2) CAL MARITIME ACADEMY  KEELHAULERS and the Oaks battle the Continue reading

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