The Goat Pen

Great trip. I'm going too. Let me know if you want to meet up.

Maryland picked up a huge recruit – literally and figuratively – on Wednesday morning when Houston center Shaquille Cleare, who is 6 feet 9 and 285 pounds, called to say he will accept a scholarship offer to play for the Terrapins.

“He’s a great big kid who has great hands,” said Cleare’s high school coach, Don Harvey. “He shoots the ball extremely well and has great post moves. I really do believe he’s going to well at Maryland and in the ACC.

“He can get up and down the floor. He’s very athletic and has a lot of upside. And he can flat out shoot the ball, which a lot of people don’t know because he scores so easily inside.”

With Cleare in the fold, it seems possible that Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon and his staff could be on the verge of adding commitments from some of the other top prospects they have been recruiting.

“I think so,” Harvey said. “I think a lot of guys were waiting on him. By him going ahead and getting it over with, I think you’ll see some of the other guys start to fall and go that way as well.”

Maryland began recruiting Cleare early in the process, with former coach Gary Williams and his staff making inroads.

“He fell in love with Gary Williams and when Gary Williams left, Shaq was devastated,” Harvey said. “What pulled Shaq to Gary Williams was his ability to put players at the next level. But the school that was next on his list was [Texas] A&M and we know how that ended up. They hired Turgeon and Maryland was even higher on his list.”

They literally picked up a big recruit? Bet he was heavy. Remember, lift with the legs.

AlabamAlum wrote:Great trip. I'm going too. Let me know if you want to meet up.

Hell yea I want to meet up.

I couldn't get hotel rooms under $220 a night in the Quarter though. I"m 5 miles away in Harvey? or something similarly named.

Turgeon is country strong!

I"d heard about that Shaquille kid. He is a good pickup

Dear lord. Harvey? That's what locals affectionately call "little Beirut."


Always consult me about NOLA hotels. Ive got a room at the Monteleone.

You know Bama is making the FF this year.

AlabamAlum wrote:Dear lord. Harvey? That's what locals affectionately call "little Beirut."


Always consult me about NOLA hotels. Ive got a room at the Monteleone.

fuck me

ok, I'll change it - if I have to I'll just stay in Slidell

I'm not interested in a high end hotel, I'll hit a Holiday Inn Express or something.

Too bad he won't be there this year. We're going to suck major dick. I'll be happy if we don't finish last in the Puerto Rican tournament. I can't believe they kicked PR-Mayaguez out of the tournament because I think we could beat them, although they could probably whip our ass in a brawl like the Chinese whipped Georgetown, albeit with knives rather than kung fu...

What's your budget and what days will you be there?

The FQ is where you need to be for this. Traffic will be gridlocked and parking/taxis will be more rare than you can possibly imagine.

Congrats, eCat! I hope you have great seats...

look at that possibly hot chick eyeballing Roy's tush

eCat,

If you can swing a few extra dollars (okay, a buncha extra dollars), a FQ hotel for this will be much, much better. It will be money that you're glad you spent.

In 2008, I ended up staying at a Residence Inn in Metarie for the Sugar Bowl. Hated the thought of not drinking before, during and after the pep rally, game, and NYE/NYD parties (because I had to drive). Tried to get a taxi a couple of times. 2-3 hour waits and they tried to rip me off ($80 each way was what most were going for - with the meter off), so I didn't drink and drove to a couple of events and ended up having to park 2+ miles away and still paid $30 to park. Horrible.

I swore then that I would pay the premium rate for the hotel on events like that from then on - hence me booking the Monty.


I strongly recommend opening the wallet and booking the FQ - or at worse, the CBD. Both are walkable to the event and the party in the Quarter afterwards.

And I would pull the trigger on something soon. Lotsa people have gotten the "congrats! you're getting or eligble for tickets" e-mail recently and what few rooms are left will be gone in short order.


Of what I've seen on the retail side of Priceline, the Le Richelieu is doable. Four nights (Check-In: Fri, Mar 30, 2012
Check-Out: Tue, Apr 3, 2012).

If Carolina goes to the Final Four, I'll be in New Orleans.

on Hotels.com

The Le Richelieu, older hotel east side of the quarter but much closer than Metarie etc. 265.00 per night, one room left. Check in on 30th, check out on April 03, 2011. Might try and call their first to see if can get it directly (so you can cancel of you want to).

eCat wrote:

AlabamAlum wrote:Dear lord. Harvey? That's what locals affectionately call "little Beirut."


Always consult me about NOLA hotels. Ive got a room at the Monteleone.

fuck me

ok, I'll change it - if I have to I'll just stay in Slidell

I'm not interested in a high end hotel, I'll hit a Holiday Inn Express or something.

That's usually where my parents stay whenever they come out this way. Sometimes Covington.

what about Gretna? Is it a dangerous area too?

not dangerous at all, but across the river and traffic going across the bridge can be a bear