In researching some of the NCAA basketball tournament’s automatic bid qualifiers for Deadspin, we came across one school that charmed us easily. The Florida A&M Rattlers put away Delaware State in the MEAC championship game on a buzzer-beater from their best player, Senior Guard/Forward Brian Greene. As we scrambled to learn more about the men in green & orange, we discovered three delightful tidbits:
1. This one time, at band camp… Florida A&M is rightfully proud of their band, the Marching 100, called “The best band in the land”. The band has their own practice field and a recruiting staff that goes after top High School musical talent. Their most recent high-profile gig was a little thing we like to call halftime at Super Bowl XLI with Prince and the purple rain. Now go watch “Drumline” so you’ll know what I’m talking about.
2. Saint Patrick’s Day Special. FAMU went to the Chicago Invitational early in the season without then-injured Senior G/F Brian Greene and lost four in a row, including @Bradley, @Illinois, and @Illinois-Chicago. After the Rattlers were driven out of the Land of Lincoln, Greene was able to return to the team in time to hoist the buzzer-beater against Delaware State that put his team in the NCAA tournament.
3. Jerome James is still waiting for the call. The Florida A&M Sports Hall of Fame boasts more than 200 members, of whom 83 are indentified by some sort of nickname. Some highlights: Earl “The Hitman” Holmes, Glen “Knotty Pine” Edwards, Charles “Lip Jack” Leonard, and William “Chicken Shack” Wilson. We can only assume that Robert “China Doll” Paramore was frequently injured. No word yet on why Marquis Grisssom (“Grip”) and Vince Coleman (“Firecracker”) were inducted nickname-free.
The Rattlers (awesome mascot!) got in, but end up in the play-in game with Niagara. If they win, they get to face the #1 seeded mighty, mighty Kansas Jayhawks. So, while we applaud them for their true originality and one of the most compulsively readable team websites we’ve ever visited, enjoy them while you can, because they probably won’t be around long.
[...] Rule Notebook clues us in on the Florida A&M Rattlers, who will make a very brief appearance in the NCAA tournament. If they make it out of the play-in [...]
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