Remember that Petey Pablo song “Raise Up” where he starts the first verse by screaming out “Who am I? Petey Pab’ motherfucker!” (If you don’t go look that up right this second). That’s how I wanted to start my first blog for The Crier, but, with this being a Providence College basketball blog and all, I am pretty sure that early 2000s rap fans and #pcbb blog readers don’t land in the center of that Venn diagram –consider me a unicorn, but that’s the energy I’m bringing as I write this blog. So, here on the inaugural tip off of the 2018-19 Providence College Men’s Basketball season, allow me to introduce myself –I’m @ryaneatonstreet and I’m the newest contributor to The Providence Crier.
“Ok, so what are your creds?” First off, chill out man. This is a blog and you literally don’t need to have any type of credibility to write one (see: basement, mother’s). Also, who in Cooley’s name uses the term “creds?” Alright, moving on. I’ll have you know that I’m an absolute blue blood of a Friar fan. I grew up in URI country cheering on the Friars. I was there when PC lost to PJ Tucker and Texas because the rule at the time was the game ended when the lights on the backboard went off, not when the clock hit 00.00. I was there when some kid from the student section missiled an absolute meat stick of a dildo onto the court forcing the refs to stop the game (you never forget your first dildo, am I right?). I cried in my seat when Ryan Gomes took his shoes off and left them on the court on Senior night. As a PC student, I was there when Keno Davis set the program back five years (remember Russ Permenter? Wild). I was on the call for WDOM when we upset #1 Pittsburgh. In spite of my massive student loans I’ve ponied up and traveled to each of the NCAA tournament games In the Cooley era (shout out to the Texas A&M fans who by their reactions had clearly never heard someone say the F-word in their entire lives, but that’s a story for another blog). What I’m trying to say is I’ve been losing my mind over the Friars for about two decades, and now my boy Mike over here at The Crier is offering me an outlet to talk shop.
This season there are a couple of things you can expect from me. I’m probably going to say some wild shit. Some of it will be in the name of humor, some of it will be because I have a weird brain, but all of it will be in the name of unloading some fresh takes on this Friars Men’s Basketball team. I am a huge fan of the other PC coverage on this blog and the other sites out there and I don’t want my content to create an echo chamber. I’m going to write blogs with legitimate analysis. I LOVE college basketball and, like literally every single person in the world who has ever written a blog, I think I have a pretty good grasp on what’s going on out there on the court. I’m also going to write blogs that will periodically have little examination of the play on the court (think that callback to how I rallied the entire Texas A&M section to rally for my ejection). I will do my best to make it clear out of the gate which type of blog you’re getting into. I also promise that if you go follow your boy on Twitter you won’t be disappointed.
So, that’s me. I’m a die hard, I’m a Friar, and apparently now I’m a blogger. Kick it here for the rest of the season and let’s find out together if I’m any good at this shit. I’m expecting this PC team to show some growing pains this season, and I’m expecting some out of myself too. Join us both this season for what’s sure to be a wild ride.
Friars over Siena by 17. Book it.