Those brave, brave basketball programs...

Winthrop University is garnering attention these days because the men's basketball team is 25-4 and is the first Big South bball team to go undefeated in conference play. We're sure Coach McCartney got the same attention when he created the juggernaut volleyball program...

Anyway, there's an article in the Austin Statesman highlighting the achievements of the Winthrop basketball program, while marveling at the casual attitude of Coach Gregg Marshall in the face of unspeakable adversity:

Three hours to a Tuesday night tipoff at Winthrop Coliseum, and the women's volleyball team has commandeered the game court. They throw up a net, place tape on the floor to help with positioning and run through a quick workout.

Oh my God! It's a hostile takeover by the women's volleyball program! They're commandeering, the scoundrels! Surely Marshall will go nuts and boot the lowly volleyball team into the next county? Away, you ruffians! Away!

In his office 100 yards away, men's basketball coach Gregg Marshall shrugs off the news of the volleyball team on his court.

W-w-what? "Shrugs off"? How could he do that? Has he no sense of decency!

So sharing the court and dealing with some tape residue when the game against Liberty starts? No big deal, Marshall says.

This man has the patience of a saint, I tell you. Even though there exists the chance of deadly tape residue being on The Basketball Court--I think we all remember where we were during The Great Tape Residue Disaster of '93--Marshall remains calm, even indulging in shrugs, a scant three hours before tipoff.

Amazing. Maybe we're not too far from being accepted into the minds of mainstream newspaper sports reporters.