The Explorers' Club
№ CCCXXIX - The University of Chicago Scav Hunt.









A bit o' lighthearted fun before… something darker.

"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."
—Wm. Shakespeare, Macbeth Act IV, Scene I

The Victors: Project OSPREY
(№ 7) Michigan 71-58 Illinois
23-4, Big Ten 10-4

In the second half against the feisty Fighting Illini, I saw the valiant Wolverines do something I had not seen them do in a dog's age, something they did with pleasing regularity earlier in the season: out hustle an opponent. When broadcasters & sportswriters refer nebulously to one club "wanting it more" than another, mostly what they mean is that one club out hustled the other, often by a gaping chasm. Hustle. Hustle, hustle, hustle. An old swim coach had a sign that summed up nicely the importance of hustling: "Hard work beats talent unless talent works hard." After trailing by three at halftime, the valiant Wolverines came out & hustled. When a club hustles, good things result. The valiant Wolverines found more & better looks at the basket, more shots open & uncontested. The valiant Wolverines were able to flummox the feisty Fighting Illini's offense, resulting in empty offensive possessions, turnovers, & desperation. Hustle, hustle, hustle. A basketball squad shoots better when it hustles, gets to the free throw line more often when it hustles, breaks down an opponent's discipline & morale when it hustles. Hustle, hustle, hustle.

Now, we should not assume that all is well, that the valiant Wolverines are back to their pre-Murderers' Row form. Michigan had already defeated Illinois earlier in the season, at Illinois. The feisty Fighting Illini were at .500 in league play coming into today's game, & are 7-8 in the Big Ten coming out. Sure, Illinois defeated Indiana, but Illinois also lost to Purdue & Northwestern. I was frankly shocked that last week's A.P. poll had the valiant Wolverines ranked № 7, & even after today's highly satisfying win I'm pretty sure we don't deserve to be ranked in the top ten. But I'm not an Associated Press voter, so what do I know?

Next: At Penn State on Wednesday, 27 February. By then, Michigan will not have won a road game in exactly a month, since prevailing against Illinois 74-60 on 27 January. Three regular reason contests will remain after that, Michigan State & Indiana at home split by a game at Purdue.

Go Blue!

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Five Iron Frenzy, "Vultures" from Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: All this week, the R.B.D.S.O.T.D. will be critiquing our capitalist economy. No, I'm not joining the mindless ranks of modern anti-capitalist, anti-globalization anarchism. Markets have proved to be the best mechanism known for the generation of prosperity & the elimination of poverty, but only a fool would insist that 21st century capitalism is without its flaws, especially in the growing pervasiveness of commercialism & the nihilistic undercurrents of materialism. "Vultures" addresses this last tendency specifically.