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What's going on here?

November 13, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Vermont Frost Heaves News Release


Is our guy in blue, the Frost Heaves' Markus Austin, auditioning for Barbarella? Or is he about to be flung from Montreal's Pierre Charbonneau Centre, where we beat the Montreal Matrix last night for our first win, into the Grey Cup semifinal in adjacent Olympic Stadium?

Matrix center Pascal Fleury is out of the frame, but seems to have things well, uh, in hand. Maybe he's trying to prove that a guy named Pascal Fleury can be taken seriously (as if being 7'2" with a Georgetown pedigree weren't street cred enough).

Markus is the most mellow fellow on our team. To hear him tell it-as an owner, it's HIS side of the story I'm passing along, O.K?-he was innocently going after an offensive rebound. "He threw an elbow. I threw one back. Next thing I know, he's got my jersey."

So, moments after this shot was taken, Markus grabbed Fleury's jersey. "Coaches always say the worst thing is to get that label of being soft," Markus says. "I've always been taught, be aggressive and don't take nothing, or you get that label."

Fleury got tossed, but Markus did too. He holed up in the locker room by himself, fitting himself with teammate Antonio Burks' iPod buds while we finished up the 94-83 victory to move to 1-1.

We're all relieved to learn that Markus won't miss our home opener at the historic Aud in Barre on Thursday night. The ABA office, preoccupied with a case of a coach allegedly punching a player during the Brooklyn vs. Newark game over the weekend, feels the refs on the scene have said their peace. Meantime, we've got a seamstress bill to pay. While Markus may not want a label, Fleury got one-plus a fistful of fabric and piping.

Now it's three days of fevered prep for our home opener. If I go down the rabbit hole for a stretch, hope you'll understand.

You can get tickets for Thursday night's debut at the Aud by going to the Barre Opera House during regular box office hours, noon to 5. Tickets for both of our home openers, including Saturday night's in Burlington's Memorial Auditorium, are also available through the Flynn Regional Box Office: 802-86-FLYNN; flynntix.org; or at 159 Main Street in Burlington and 153 Pearl Street in Essex.

Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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