The annual Cal MMB's Tipoff Dinner tonight was the the University Club atop CMS and well attended by alums, coaches and players, with Mark absent due to being required to do his part at home after the arrival of child # 5. It was a great event with lots of camaraderie with a very friendly and engaging group of coaches and players. Mark's assistants were simply very entertaining and candid with their comments which is the reason why I will not repeat them on a public blog. There is no question that they felt genuine and deep disappointment with the way the second half played out in Missouri, but it also is clear that they felt that they learned a lot from that experience which should toughen them up for the remaining non-conference games and the ACC grind. Definitely, the SDSU game in San Jose is being targeted as a on-the-road redemption game. Cornell is said to be very good this year (a bigger and more athletic Cal Poly one coach said to me )and will be a formidable opponent at Haas. I can definitely report from viewing practices and attending this dinner and the Vandy road trip, that our team's chemistry this year is far better than last year with the players bonding much closer and no anointed ones present (Daws and JT last year were not seen by me as being as engaged as teammates last year as say Andrej and Mady are this year).
