Hobbes, what the HELL are you thinking?

Okay, first let me say this, before I get to the subject of my post. DAMN YOU, MARLA, for getting Diana eliminated on Project Runway. I didn't think Diana would make it to fashion week, but for sure I thought she'd outlast stupid Zulema. At least dumb Cara is out too, since she was Marla's horrible model.

Anyway, on to the subject at hand, which is what the hell is going on in Karl Hobbes' head? Seriously? Okay, for those who don't know, I am a huge George Washington University men's basketball fan. I've been going to games for almost six years, so I've seen them really evolve over the years, and under Hobbes they've really blossomed. One of Hobbes' strengths, as a coach, is his ability to recruit players who are versatile, and can play a range of positions, shoot from all over the court, and has enough of them that he can rotate in and out. No one on the team is ball hog or a glory hound, different people have the high score each game. They're team players, and they're really fun to watch. Most of the time. Because there are nights when I watch them, and I think to myself, what is going on with these guys. And tonight it was Hobbes who confused me. For example, this St. Louis team we were playing was really good. Really, really good. Good shooters, great defense, fast. And they shut us down for much of the first half. Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who, when he is not being shut down, is spectacular at one thing, and that is getting the ball inside and slamming it in the basket. Which, is great, and fun to watch. When he can get it done, which he hasn't all season because everyone is onto him, and they put three guys on him and then he gets the ball, and he's compelled to put the ball on the floor, and then he's done. He can't just get the ball, turn, and take the jump shot. There was a period last season where he got out of it, but he goes back to it, every time. Plus, he can't free throw for shit, and I'm sorry, if you can't do the one thing you're on the court to do, the LEAST you could do is make the freakin' shots where no one is on top of you. And damn that I never noticed that the boy lumbers around the court. He is slower than molasses.

Okay, so there are some amazing players on this team. Mike Hall, Danilo Pinnock Mo Rice, Carl Elliot, all solid, smart players. Omar Williams is adequate, with flashes of greatness when he gets fired up, which is about once a year. Kid can jump when he wants to. And there are some really promising freshman who are getting play: Montrell McDonnell and Rob Diggs. McDonnell gets a lot more play, but Diggs has a lot of talent that might come out next year.

So, tonight, some of our good players were not doing well, Mike Hall among them. We couldn't get a break, St. Louis was ahead of us by about five points, and we are out there just, well, sucking. Suddenly, Hobbes puts in McDonnell, Diggs, Elliot, Rice and the new guy whose name I don't know yet, and suddenly they are on fire. Suddenly we're climbing in points, then we're tied, and then we were ahead. They are blazing, everyone is on their feet, we're all screaming, clapping, shouting for them, and then, at a time out, Hobbes dismantles this team, and puts Williams, Pops and...someone else who was sucking, and all the life goes out of them. The hell? Why would you take a team that was doing amazing things, running the ball, intercepting, having an incredible run, and dismantle it, never to be seen again? I find it baffeling.

Incredibly, we ended up with a tie at the end, and in overtime we won, but it was pure luck and a couple of bad breaks for St. Louis. And, in terms of stragegy, this was Hobbes' fault. In court play, if we'd lost, it would have been Omar's fault. He made some really bad moves that cost us a lot (and let's not forget McDonnell's intentional offensive foul, which was pretty egregious).

This GWU team has so much talent and potential, and sometimes I don't know what Hobbes is seeing when he looks on the court. It was a mystery to me why he wouldn't let that bizarre combination play out a little longer to see how long they could maintain the energy and run. So, GWU, saved again by the other guy being a little worse, but, like Wendy Pepper from season one of Project Runway, eventually you will come up against your Jay McCarroll, and you will never recover from it.

I bet you wondered how I was going to work Project Runway into the end of a post about Basketball, weren't you?