SPORTS INFO PHOTO OF THE DAY

Guess who’s on the cover of Richmond Magazine this month?

INTRODUCING DREXEL SQUASH

Look, VCU doesn’t have squash, so I see no reason why I can’t be a Drexel Squash superfan. Look, Coach John White is leading the Dragons to the varsity level in 2011-12, and I want to get in on the ground floor. So count me in, Drexel. I’m on board. Send me a Drexel Squash t-shirt and I will wear that to work and post a pic on the blog. I mean, look at these guys’ new digs. Philadelphia, Squash Capital USA.

By the way, why does the NCAA sponsor squash and not racquetball? Everybody knows racquetball is way cooler.

E-MAIL FAIL OF THE DAY

Our office gets a bunch of random e-mail and snail mail. Every year, there are people that request media guides, schedule cards, a lock of Kirill Pishchalnikov’s hair, you name it. Some are fans, some are collectors posing as fans. We generally try to comply when possible. This guy, however, may have a hard time getting any material.

FRIDAY LINKS!

Yesterday’s post about Mike Duda, who tweeted his doubts about a VCU upset over Kansas and is running a marathon for charity as a result, has started to take on a mind of its own. Yahoo’s The Dagger college basketball blog has since picked up the story.

Shaka Smart and his wife, Maya, had their first child, Zora, the other day. Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports reveals the origin of that name.

I wrote a little about Larry Sanders’ return to campus yesterday. Paul Woody of the Richmond Times-Dispatch also wrote a nice column.

Speaking of The Dagger, the blog also ran a CAA Preview the other day, one that looked at how VCU’s Final Four run has impacted recruiting.

TWO RANDOM PIECES OF INFO
According to the VCU Ticket Office, Men’s Basketball season ticket sales up about 30 percent from last season.

Joey Rodriguez is visiting Richmond to see his son, who was born after he had left to play professionally in Turkey, participated in Navy SEAL training with the rest of the basketball team.

BACK TO SCHOOL

Larry Sanders could be coming to a classroom near you.

If you’re 6-foot-11 and 235 lbs, you don’t sneak into anything, not the movies, the water park or night club. People can see you coming down the street on Tuesday for a Wednesday lunch date.

But Larry Sanders insists that he can stealthily squeeze his gangly frame into a crowded class and then back out without detection. At least that’s what the former VCU Basketball star would have you believe.

“I just kind of snuck in and sat in the back, man,” Sanders said. “I don’t really try to cause too much commotion. The door is in the back of the class and everybody is looking the other way, so I just sneak in and sneak out before anybody sees me.”

Uh, okay.

Whether his classmates have spotted him or not, Sanders is back on campus at VCU this semester. This summer, NBA owners locked out the players as they seek a new collective bargaining agreement. The fight is expected to be a lengthy one. Just last night, NBA commissioner David Stern dangled the possible cancellation of the season. That means Sanders has some free time on his hands, time he plans to put to good use. Sanders said he has not seriously considered playing overseas during the lockout, not yet, anyway.

The Milwaukee Bucks power forward is taking two classes through VCU this semester – one online, one in the flesh – as he aims to finish his sociology degree. Sanders, who declared for the NBA Draft after his junior season at VCU in 2010, estimates he’ll need about a year and a half to complete his degree.

JUST YOUR TOP FIVE INTRAMURAL FLAG FOOTBALL PLAYS OF THE WEEK

(Skip to 0:42 for the top five plays)

Weekly Rewind 9/26 from Mesh Media on Vimeo.

First of all, Theta Chi’s Matthew Jin got straight up robbed here. How many other intramural safeties have the tools to make a play like that? Nice combination of speed, leaping ability, soft hands. You think anybody on Sig Ep or Pike can make a play like that? The answer is obviously no.

Meanwhile, VCU reliever Kyle Pelchy is throwing wounded ducks for Pike and having his receivers bail him out. Seriously dude, stop throwing off your back foot and stick the ball in there.

NAVY MANAGERS MAKE TRICK-SHOT VIDEO FOR MAROON 5 TICKETS. WHAT???

I stopped listening to these guys after I heard “Maroon 5” and “Gavin DeGraw”. We talkin’ ‘bout Maroon 5 and Gavin DeGraw? Not Foo Fighters, not Red Hot Chili Peppers, not The Killers. We talkin’ ‘bout Maroon 5 and Gavin DeGraw.

Talk about wasting it. Are these guys serious right now? This is your 15 minutes of fame, where you put together a viral video of basketball trick shots to win backstage passes for the Phil Collins and Savage Garden of this generation. This can’t be real life. If Ozzy Osbourne could form a coherent sentence, I wonder what he would be saying about this.

If I’m going to make this play, it’s me jumping off trampolines, dunking the ball through a flaming hoop with Rage Against the Machine melting speakers. Go hard or go home. Amateurs.

THE ACCIDENTAL MARATHONER

Meet Michael Duda, accidental marathoner.

This certainly isn’t the first time Twitter put somebody in a tough spot, and $1,000,000 says it won’t be the last.

But this isn’t a story of an athlete, manager or executive popping off via social network, in 140 characters or less. There will be no suspensions, dismissals or public floggings over this. Everybody wins this time.

Meet Michael Duda, managing partner of Consigliere, a Connecticut-based, marketing-driven investment company he co-founded with Steve Nash. Yes, that Steve Nash. Duda, 40, is a lifelong Syracuse fan, a college basketball enthusiast and prolific tweeter.

On Mar. 27, Duda watched 11^th-seeded VCU, Cinderella slipper in tow, battle top-seeded Kansas for a spot in the Final Four. Like many of the fans who enjoyed the Rams’ stunning run through the NCAA Tournament, Duda expected the Jayhawks to roll past VCU. This was Kansas, after all.

SPORTS INFO PHOTO OF THE DAY

1985 Sun Belt Championship trophy, just chillin'.

WEEKEND FORECAST (SEPT. 30)