*** NCAA DIVISION TWO ***
FIRST SEMIFINAL – The top seeded LINCOLN MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY RAILSPLITTERS squared off against the 4 seeds – the WEST LIBERTY STATE HILLTOPPERS. Points flew like shrapnel in this game, which the Railsplitters led 54-53 at Halftime. Following the break the Hilltoppers continued giving LMU a thorough challenge but in the end the Railsplitters triumphed by a Century Club level score of 103-102. Gerel Simmons put up THIRTY-FIVE points for the victors. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
Spring is the time of year that always puts me in mind of the many dead and resurrected deities who were featured in various seasonal myths around the world. This is a look at Inanna, but if you want more dead and resurrected gods and goddesses click HERE
INANNA
Pantheon: Sumerian (The Babylonians called her Ishtar)
The Tale: Inanna the fertility goddess and queen of the heavens was looking to extend her reign to the land of the dead. She descended into the Netherworld, which was ruled over by her sister, the goddess Ereshkigal. Fighting on the death goddess’ own turf was foolish and Ereshkigal won the controntation and either nailed Inanna to a wall of her palace or impaled her on a stake, Vlad the Impaler style.
With Inanna thus imprisoned, vegetation died from the withering heat of summer, which could get even worse in that part of the world, where droughts could be so intense that the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were the only bodies of water that would NOT get dried up. The usual drought cycle continued, with vegetation dying, then animals who lived off it dying, etc. In the case of Inanna her dominion over sexual fertility also added the angle that males and females of all species lost all interest in sex and reproduction as well. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
*** NCAA DIVISION TWO ***
FINAL FOUR – FIRST BERTH – The LINCOLN MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY RAILSPLITTERS are the only 1 seeds left, and yesterday they battled the 8th seeded BARRY UNIVERSITY BUCCANEERS. The Railsplitters had their hands full with the Buccaneers in the 1st Half, but squeezed out a 42-38 lead by Halftime. After the break Lincoln Memorial University slowly but surely put more and more distance between themselves and Barry University. The Railsplitters won it 93-75 led by Emmanuel Terry’s Double-Double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
KAUAI
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART EIGHTEEN
On the island of Kauai the goddess Hi’iaka and her female mortal companion Wahine prepared to launch their assault on the cavern lair of the evil sorceresses named Kilioe and Kalanamainu’u. The entrance to that cavern was nearly inaccessible, since it was basically just a large hole on the side of a steep mountain hundreds of feet up.
Hi’iaka and Wahine needed to reach the cave to free the corpse of Prince Lohiau from the clutches of the sorceresses so that it (the corpse) could be reunited with its wandering spirit, thus restoring life to Lohiau, the chosen mate of Hi’iaka’s sister Pele, the fire and volcano goddess. (Meanwhile, Megan’s love for Stan is still unrequited since he is obsessed with his sexy new neighbor Samantha, not realizing she is his mother’s murderer Sam after a sex-change operation …)
When our two heroines began to climb the sheer cliff wall the sorceresses used their dark magic to create winds strong enough to knock them back to the ground. After repeatedly being hindered by this maneuver Hi’iaka used her divine powers to make Kilioe and Kalanamainu’u so sensitive to sunlight that they had to retreat to the furthest reaches of their cave to avoid the burning pain. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
*** NAIA DIVISION ONE ***
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – You can’t get much more exciting than a game-winning shot in Overtime right at the buzzer. Malcolm Mann made that shot to bring its first National Championship to the 4th seeded MID-AMERICA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EVANGELS! The Evangels triumphed over the top seeded GEORGETOWN (KY) COLLEGE TIGERS in a genuine hardcourt classic.
Georgetown College led MACU at Halftime 50-39 and seemed headed for victory but the Evangels came out of the locker room primed for a comeback and forced Overtime with an 82-82 tie to end Regulation. In the extra session Mann came through to lift MACU to a 100-99 win. Devonse Reed led the Evangels with 25 points. * THE EVANGELS ARE NAIA DIVISION ONE CHAMPIONS * Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
FIRST SEMIFINAL – The 4 seeds – the MID-AMERICA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EVANGELS – got the action going last night with their game against the 6th seeded CAMPBELLSVILLE UNIVERSITY TIGERS. It was a tale of two Halves as the Evangels confidently built up a 55-44 lead by the break, but then had to hold on by their fingernails against a furious comeback attempt by the Tigers. The final score was Mid-America Christian University 93 Campbellsville University 89. Devonse Reed led the Evangels in scoring with his THIRTY points. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
Never let it be said that Balladeer’s Blog’s readers don’t get things done! In 2013 I covered the neglected comic book heroine Wynonna Earp and hoped for a movie about her. Still no movie BUT the Sci Fi Channel is launching a television series based on the monster-slaying figure.
The eponymous series debuts April 1st (but this is NOT an early April Fool’s joke, I swear!). Here’s a refresher on Wynonna’s action-packed saga.
WYNONNA EARP – December of 1996 saw the comic book debut of Wynonna Earp, a descendant of Frontier Marshal Wyatt Earp. Wynonna worked in present-day law enforcement in the American southwest. What separates her from her more well known ancestor is the fact that Wynonna was a United States Marshal, Black Badge Division.
The Black Badge Division was a top-secret branch of Federal Marshals established by President Theodore Roosevelt to deal with paranormal menaces. That’s right, Wynonna Earp was as sexy as Barb Wire or Xena and fought werewolves, mummies, zombies, gremlins and all other manner of supernatural foes just like Kolchak or the X-Files crew. In her earlier adventures Marshal Earp was drawn as a drop-dead sex-bomb who often gouged out the eyes of her opponents with her impossibly high heels while in her final few escapades she was drawn as a more sensibly-dressed heroine.
Wynonna Earp was the Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
*** NCCAA DIVISION ONE ***
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The last two teams standing in this tourney were the top seeded EMMANUEL COLLEGE LIONS and the 2nd seeded SOUTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EAGLES. The Lions calmly went about gaining control of the game, building up a 39-29 lead over the Eagles by Halftime. Southwestern Christian University eroded that advantage a little during the 2nd Half but ultimately Emmanuel College retained just enough distance for a 75-68 victory. Kurtis Robinson led the Lions with 16 points. * THE LIONS ARE NCCAA TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS *
*** NJCAA DIVISION ONE ***
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – It was virtually all Cinderellas left in this tournament for the past couple rounds. The title game pitted the 13th seeded SALT LAKE CITY COLLEGE BRUINS against the 7 seeds – the HUTCHINSON COLLEGE BLUE DRAGONS. True to form for this year the underdog Bruins contained the Blue Dragons and led 42-27 by the break. From there Salt Lake City stayed on top for a 74-64 triumph. Connor Toolson tossed in 28 points to lead the victors. * THE BRUINS ARE NJCAA DIVISION ONE CHAMPIONS * Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
This review is especially relevant to the insanity of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and the increasingly open hostility between the voters and the ugly criminals who hold elected office.
TO THE FOURTH POWER (2013) – You’d think it would be impossible to do something creative with the mock documentary format at this point but To The Fourth Power proves to be a thought-provoking and inventive piece set “just a few years from now”.
The movie depicts a near future in which the American people have taken back the 4th of July and have transformed it into more than just a celebration of the nation’s birth: into an expression of the rapidly rising public resentment at the way elected officials represent the wishes of their political party and not the wishes of the people who elect them. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES
*** NAIA ***
ELITE EIGHT – FIRST BERTH – The 4 seeds in their Region – the MID-AMERICA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EVANGELS – played Bracket Busters yesterday in their game against the top seeded BIOLA (CA) UNIVERSITY EAGLES. The Evangels once again proved how dangerous it is to underestimate them and by Halftime were on top of the shell-shocked Eagles 49-30! After the break Biola University inched closer and closer to their opponents but Mid-America Christian University kept them at arm’s length for an 88-80 upset win. Devonse Reed led the Evangels with 27 points. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
