Here we go, Tigers...Here we go!

Ah, Tigers season....strangely, I never would have foreseen such anticipation and fandom on my part when I was a kid. Dad was always a diehard and he even managed to make a casual fan out of Mom, but I could just never dig up too much interest in the matter. But now, in my late twenties (and, yes, I can still say that for another few weeks), I have really learned to not only enjoy the season, but to savor it. Getting to sit 5 rows back from the court with your Dad will do that to you I think. And it sure don't hurt that *ahem* we were the winningest team ever last year... And I got to see the whole thing up close in person with the old man, getting served beer! Moments to be treasured for sure.

And here we find ourselves again - Saturday night we got to see our true first home game of basically Tigers Part 2. So how was it? It wasn't on TV, so we wanna know! If you saw the paper or the news you know we kicked their ass. But what sort of ass kicking did we have here? Was it UCLA-Kevin Love-on -the-floor-style ass whupping? Was it Final 4 style ass kicking? Or was it just a buncha guys who were better than Fairfield, whoever the hell they are supposed to be? What about Tyreke? Is he the new D Rose? And who is the new Joey? Or the new CDR? I will give you my thoughts, but first, enjoy the new movie intro:

Well, friends and fans (the only ones who would still be reading at this point), let me give you my two cents worth since you stopped by to read my thoughts on the matter today. I like itemized lists, so hang with me...

1. Robert Dozier will be awesome this year. Antonio Anderson will be as solid as ever - and thats saying something. Shawn Taggart will snatch a lotta rebounds and tip in a lotta loose shots. But you know all this.

2. Doneal Mack is going to be damn good! He is taking it to the hole as well as shooting lots of his trademark 3's - and looking sharper than I expected doing it! You didn't know that!

3. Willie Kemp - all eyes on you, bro - he is pretty solid on the point...but he just doesn't have the speed or power to blow by people like Derrick Rose or even Andre Allen did...but I like Willie and I think he'll dig deep this year.

4. Pierre f'n Niles. The girl sitting next to me said she goes to Ridgeway and has Pierre's old history book. I really think this guy is going to defy odds and become a hometown hero this year. He looks like a monster and is surprisingly fast and nimble out there. He even hit an alley oop dunk that looked like Joey Dorsey! Oh, and did I mention that most of our guys (including Mr. Niles) can actually hit free throws?

5. Jeff Robinson - this guy barely played more than the walk ons. I don't know why we aren't seeing more of him, but he has a certain buzz. People around me were asking each other when he was gonna get to play. I think everyone senses that this guy has breakout potential...he wants to do something explosive and dynamic whenever he gets the ball. Lets hope he sees some real PT this season. He's on the poster this year instead of Doneal for cryin out loud!

6. Tyreke....the big question mark of the season. And he has been clouded even further in mystery by injuries and sickness that kept him out of the exhibition game with CBU (see 3 entries ago)...he didn't start this game, but he was in there plenty. Does he score? Yup. Is he awesome? We'll see. He made some CGI looking moves when he took it to the hole. He can make it go in no matter what comes between him and the basket....but then he also shoots this awkward 3 pointer that, despite his squaring up and having time, doesn't even hit the rim! Noooooo! This guy will be plenty badass though once Cal gets ahold of him and he gets a taste for the pace.

All in all - we will kick ass. The fun part is, I have no idea which combination of guys will turn out to do it. There are no proven stars really - just proven potential. It was great being back at the Forum with the band going off (they learned a White Stripes song this year!) and the crowd fired up and on their feet. I will keep taking pics and videos to keep you posted. And if you're lucky and nice, we might even let you tag along sometime!