A couple of weeks ago when Deadspin asked for contributors to do a blurb on each of the 65 teams in this years NCAA Tournament, SML volunteered for the Vermont Catamounts.

We know Vermont has not yet actually “made” it to the tourney yet, but all that stands between Vermont making the tourney for a fourth straight year is Albany.  It’s always Albany.  And SML is putting is money on the Catamounts.

Deadspin never responded to our offer for doing Vermont; it could be that they are waiting for Vermont to officially make the tournament, or it could be that there are other volunteers for Vermont.  We specifically picked Vermont because we figured there would be less competition, and because we know some good stuff about Vermont, having spent a weekend up there not too long ago.  But while the no response is alarming, we aren’t going to let good material go to waste.  Here is SML’s four tidbits on the Vermont Catamounts:

Passing Bad Czechs: Senior starting center Martin Klimes hails from Prague (backpacker traveling through Europe heaven) and represented his native Czech Republic at the World University Games in 2005.  He averages 0.6 assists per game in 23.8 minutes per game, meaning he is last in the team in assists per minute.  SML checked with their top notch translators, and confirmed that “Martin Klimes” is Czech for “Yinka Dare”.

It’s Latino for El Verde Montañas:  The signs in Burlington (where SML spent the weekend a few weeks back) all refer to the University of Vermont as “UVM”, which struck me as odd since the postal abbreviation for Vermont is “VT”.  Turns out UVM is short for “Universitas Viridis Montis”.  After checking with those SML translators, we confirmed that it is Latin for “University of the Green Mountain”.  Vermont is, by the way, the 2nd whitest state in the country, with 95.9% white (non Hispanic); 1.1% of the population is Latino.  That rate tripled the weekend I stayed in Burlington.

You come and go, you come and go: The team colors for the Catamounts are red, gold and green.  Just like my dreams.

Insert your Puerto Rican stereotype joke here:  One of head coach Mike Longeran’s three assistant coaches is Gabe Rodriguez from the Boogie Down.  Aside from apparently accounting for 1.1% of Vermont's total population, Mr. Rodriguez is well connected.  His brother played on last year’s Sweet 16 surprise Wichita State Shockers, and Gabe’s cousin (one of many) Oliver Antiqua is the head coach of St. Raymond’s High.  St. Raymond is one of the top high school basketball programs in NYC, and fertile recruiting ground.  The NYC talent, they will be coming soon…

Bonus: What the hell is a Catamount?: Another name for the mountain lion also known as the puma or cougar, depending on your location.  It lacks the vocalization power of larger cats, so it doesn’t roar so much as purr loudly.

 



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[March 10, 2007 4:31 PM]  |  link  |  reply
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I hope you have one in the can for Albany. Tough loss for the Catamounts.

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