An Attendee Helps His Hunger in Hope
On the last Friday of October, I strolled through to Hope Dining Hall just looking to get some pasta and chicken from the pasta line and roll out. It just so happened on this random Friday, there were some unexpected guests filling up the line in Hope. At the front of the line was Rhode Island's #0, E.C. Matthews waiting for whatever he was getting from the pasta line. All I noticed from the Michigan native was his fruity, cheerful attitude the whole time I was line. Also, everyone else in the pasta line including me peeped E.C.'s swift moves when it came to checking out all the girls in yoga pants and leggings. According to the kid behind me, he learned a thing or two from Matthews' quick pivots.
Besides this, E.C. was yelling back at Jeff Dowtin and Michael Layssard, two promising freshmen looking to make an impact on this season's team. While both players are looking to have powerful effects on the Rhode Island squad, the reactions that they got from some URI students that night were polar opposites. In the case of Dowtin, a bunch of girls I saw walking around Hope made sure they checked out the new freshman recruit and the one girl in the stir fry line whose face turned beat red while staring at Young Jeff, did not care who knew. This was so obvious that I was halfheartedly tempted to let the Baltimore native know since he was unaware. On the other hand, Layssard, called "Big Mike" by Dan Hurley in interviews, was getting looked at by Rhody students due to his physical stature in terms of his clear-cut basketball abilities. While I stood in the pasta line for approximately 30 minutes, I heard the same thing on several occasions, "Damn, he's HUGE". Layssard's afro probably did have him around 7 feet to be fair. I am not quite sure how he did not notice these loud reactions but I for one will not forget the girl who just stared at the Louisiana native in awe, as if he was King Kong or something. Clearly, the prospects of the URI basketball team look promising on and off the court.
Ultimately, I got my usual order, white pasta and chicken (with broccoli, onions, and mushrooms) from the pasta man who has memorized my order for the past 3 years (I eat way too much pasta and chicken at URI). So, I had to wonder when I left, was I happier that I got my pasta and chicken or was I happier because Rhody's basketball season was 2 weeks away? I guess I'll never figure that out but one thing is for sure.
