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Did you hear that Gonzaga beat Duke in a basketball game?


sheep_herder

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Gonzaga!  What cool name for a college!

There was a ruling family of Mantua, Italy from 14th to the 17th centuries that included Saint Louis Gonzaga, the last name from a location within Mantua.  The college is named after the Saint.

I'm always intrigued by name origins.

Near me is a road named "Jumpers Hole Road."  There's no one named Jumper associated with it, no place called "Jumpers Hole" today, and the origin of the name is a hotly debated topic among local historians.

Some say an unusual concentration of rabbits once existed in the woods along the road. Others say frogs. Yet others say horses from a horse farm that existed on the widow Mary Johnson's property. And they all "jumped." Others say tobacco barrels - rolled down roads in those days - "jumped" over the potholes in the road.

The name is listed in an 1805 state record that someone recently discovered about construction of a road: “...not exceeding 30-feet in width, in the most convenient direction from a landing on the north side of Severn River, called and known by the name Jumper's Hole...to a landing...called Marley Creek. "

I contributed to what some online local historical magazines say is the most likely origin.

I coached a high school cross country team and we ran on that road often.  At the point where you approach the north end of the Severn River, you feel like you're running down into a "hole" - something that is probably more noticeable to a runner or cyclist or horse-drawn wagon than when you zip through in a car at the 40 mph speed limit.

The most likely final piece to the puzzle is that the "landing" mentioned in the state document has been determined to be the site of a ferry service that existed before bridges were built to cross the river and a common slang in its time was that people using ferries "jumped" the river to get to the other side.

So the best guess is the "Jumpers" were the people using the ferry. The "Hole" was the landing where there are hills slightly away from the river both east and west of the landing and a long, sometimes steep, hilly area to the north - where the road is today that my team ran on and experienced the sensation of running down into a hole!

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2 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Gonzaga has played for the national championship in the past.  For you football fans, they are usually a big deal in basketball.

Yes.  Gonzaga was ranked No. 3 and Duke No. 1 in the country.  It is really no big surprise that No. 1 loses by two points to No. 3.

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10 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

Yes.  Gonzaga was ranked No. 3 and Duke No. 1 in the country.  It is really no big surprise that No. 1 loses by two points to No. 3.

Yes, except for the 'hype' heaped on this year about the fabulous freshmen and how Duke was likely to go undefeated. 

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6 minutes ago, sheep_herder said:

Yes, except for the 'hype' heaped on this year about the fabulous freshmen and how Duke was likely to go undefeated. 

I heard a few "experts" on the radio yesterday saying that Coach K probably wasn't upset by this loss at all.  He may have even welcomed it.  Just to let the team of young players know that they aren't invulnerable and to reinforce the need to work hard if they want to be great in March (when it counts).

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2 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

I heard a few "experts" on the radio yesterday saying that Coach K probably wasn't upset by this loss at all.  He may have even welcomed it.  Just to let the team of young players know that they aren't invulnerable and to reinforce the need to work hard if they want to be great in March (when it counts).

That is often the case. Hopefully, they'll both be in the final 4 in March.

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