by Kent Sterling

This is not my cake as I do not bake, and sit here alone tonight in St. Louis waiting for Julie.

Things used to drive my nuts.  I found annoyance in every moment.  How people drove, grocery store cashiers’ behavior, lazy bartenders, the way Tom Crean drinks whatever that goop is, sweater vests, strangely shaped eyebrows, and even people who complain about the mundane drove me to the keyboard to write something angry.

As this birthday approached, three years ago, I decided to try to evolve toward normal.  This has been a process of accepting different levels of consistent failure in allowing for the massive and innumerable inconveniences, deplorable conduct, and sloth of others.

But then I got serious, and started asking myself the question that most quickly whittles away the reasons to scream, write, and correct – “Who gives a shit?”  Some idiot cuts me off because they can’t stop texting, a cashier keeps me waiting to check out because they like to chat with the 90-year-old who can’t hear, or Crean can’t figure out how to attack a zone?  I repeat my mantra.

The result has been more focus, a heightened level of empathy, and more smiles and laughter.  In short, I have become the kind of douchebag I most loathe, the enlightened guy whose day cannot be ruined.  Yes, I’m now the asshat who tells people to relax and enjoy the moment.

It’s not that I haven’t written.  I have written a lot, but mostly nonsensical garbage that would sound natural coming from Joel Osteen’s mouth, not from my website or computer.

At my core, I’m a nasty, anything for a laugh bonehead who once drove around the north side of Chicago for five-and-a-half hours because I was not going to accept slovenly service at a fast food restaurant.  I chastised so many people for such an incredibly wide variety of reasons that listing them would leave a book thicker than anything James Michener ever dreamed.  ”Go ahead, Jimmy, take “Texas” and shove it up your ass.  I’ve got Kent’s list of comportment critiques.

People wanted to know what it’s like to yell language so foul so loudly that it quieted the entire food court at Circle Centre Mall in Indianapolis because a Subway employee spilled a large lemonade on my newspaper?  I was the guy.  (By the way, I also threw the newspaper with enough force into the atrium of the mall that the remnants cascaded to the ground floor for the next 90 seconds.)

The idiots running the Carmel Clay (IN) School District was a repeating source of angst as they mismanaged the basketball scandal to the point where the players who allegedly assaulted a freshman appeared to be the victims, and I enjoyed writing about it.  Now, it appears to have been a ridiculous waste of time as Carmel High School wrestlers are being accused of urinating on a teammate.  So much for expanded anti-bullying rhetoric in the student guidebook.  But what good did any of that do?  Nothing.  Should have learned to ask “Who gives a shit?” long ago.

So what things matter now?  Good question.  Friends matter.  Co-workers matter.  Doing the right thing matters.  Being a person who does something good matters.  Treating people I love with affection and compassion matter.  Carping about the massive and incontrovertable injustices perpetrated on our society by self-important mopes?  Not so much.

I can continue to write, but I doubt anyone would bother to read it.  Life is too short and futile to invest tension in those who act like the world was created to give them pleasure.  Correcting them is the definition of a waste of time.  Go ahead and get pissed off at some lunkhead cruising at 50 mph in the left lane while both talking on their cell and applying gobs of wasted makeup.  Honk your horn.  Flip her the bird.  You’ll pass her on the right, and the person behind you will do the same thing.

That’s the way life works because the stupid are stupid because they aren’t capable of being smart.  They don’t understand that their behavior affects others.  Americans are 320-million goofballs all convinced they are each the most important people on the planet.  That’s how we wound up with the government we have.

Sixty years ago, dads went to work every day to try to feed their families and put a roof over their heads.  They drank, smoked, ate only red meat, and died young because they knew it didn’t matter when they died because Earth had been here for more than 10,000,000 times their lifespan.  Life was the blink of an eye, and then they let the next bunch of boobs figure that out.

Not anymore.  Now we all want to be here forever, as though 90 years might not satisfy our curiosity as to what the best and worst of mature activity on this orb might be.  All of us want to be the best person we can be.

So instead of mocking, vilifying, and pointing at fools as my genetic lineage would suggest I should, I smile and keep that blood pressure at 110 over 76.

I try to explain to myself that this is the start of gaining some wisdom – that I might leave the world a better place by smiling and helping.  It goes against my grain, but I’m going to give this a real shot.  Go ahead, try to piss me off.

by Kent Sterling

A little hard to see, but a vomitous drunken lout from Saskatoon is wheeled from the pool area after fouling the pool, cement surrounding the pool, and a deck chair. She was rinsed with buckets of freezing cold water, and delivered to her room. This was the last we saw of both her and her miserable boyfriend who knocked her into the pool shortly before she began belching bile.

There are many reasons to avoid embarking on a six day adventure with old friends –  sans wives and kids.  The wife and kids among the very best reasons.  Spending time with those we like at the expense of those we love seems silly and capricious.  There are other reasons, most related to money – the expense and the lost hours that could have been used to create more wealth.

by Kurt Loder

(Special to kentsterling.com)

Boff Whaley (right) and his wife O'Londa perform recently at The Abbey in upstate New York. Whaley is the only remaining member of Kub & the Marshmen to continue to play music professionally.

Anyone who went to college in the mid-1980s remembers the rock anthems “Angelic Demon” and “Psycho Skank”, but few remember the band whose brief rise to the top of the charts and then steep plunge into the abyss of total anonymity render them a distant afterthought in the history of rock music.

Next Friday, the five men who formed Kub & the Marshmen, once thought to be the progeny of album rock gods Pink Floyd, will be reunited for an episode of VH1′s “Bands Reunited” at the Sammy Hagar owned Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

“Sam asked us to put the past aside, and play our only album start to finish, and I figured, ‘What the hell else am I doing?’” explained front man Kub Kaschman.  ”I called the guys to make sure we were ready to put the past behind us, and except for (guitarist) Kent (Stark), no one could remember what the hell got things off track in the first place.”

Stark decided to sit out the show, but the band is still hopeful he’ll reconsider, “Old wounds die hard, I guess.  Kent was the guy with the grand design,” Kaschman added.  ”He thought we were going to be artists.  Shit, we were just some knuckleheads who wanted to thrash and screw.  Kent was ambitious, and we were happy playing polka and blues in bars.”

Bo Gritz played drums for Kub & the Marshmen, and remembers the break-up, ”I dug the tap dancing that was incorporated into the show, but that wasn’t at all what Kent wanted.  He told us the tap was out, so I left with (bassist) Boff Whaley, moved to England, and formed Chumbawumba.”

Boff boffed Gritz common law wife Kelly, Kub’s sister, and combined with Gritz’ constant puns utilizing his last name (Bill of Gritz, trademarks and copyGritz,  and theme song “youse gotta fights, for your Gritz, to party”) he soon became too tedious for remaining bandmates to bear, and the once fruitful creative relationships imploded.

The show has been on the schedule for months, but tickets were not released to the public until yesterday when the band decided it would be more fun to play in front of a crowd, “Rock, polka, blues, or our combination of the three is meant to be played in front of people.  That’s where the energy comes from.  Without a crowd, what’s the point – even if we sound like shit.  And maybe it brings some joy to folks who bought our records,” said Kaschman.

Those records have never been released on CD or in any digital version because of trademark issues that would require the reclusive Stark to resolve, “He’s just being a tool,” said Kaschman.  ”The guy has never gotten over the break-up, and this is the only power he has left.”

Hagar is excited to have the band play their first show in 28 years in his cantina, “Hey, I love the guys.  They were my heroes.  To have a chance to see them play a little bit will be the all-time highlight for me owning the bar.  Got the tequila ready for ‘em, and whatever they need, they get.  I opened for ‘em in their only tour, so if I jump on stage and do a couple of songs, that will bring this thing full circle.”

Kaschman says that this isn’t just a reunion for the band, but for the whole extended family from Kub & the Marshmen, “We’re flying everyone down – Paulie Balst (agent), Spanky Froatmark (manager), Lon Tommell (producer), and even old Clive (Davis – record company executive responsible for signing them), and the whole damn crew.  It’s gonna be a thrill.

“Hey, one other thing, I’m supposed to drop a mention of the Riu Santa Fe in this interview because of the deal for our rooms that VH1 cooked up.”

Yeah, the last time this briefly iconic group brandished their weapons and kicked their idiosyncratic blend of blues, polka, and even tap came in 1984.  It would be special if Stark showed up, but 80% of Kub & the Marshmen will be much better than the 0% we have had since that last show in Chicago Stadium so long ago.

by Bert Beiswanger

Are Indianapolis Colts fans having trouble coming to grips with the fact that greatness doesn’t last forever? Listening to local sports talk radio Tuesday night, you would have thought that Jim Irsay, one of the most respected owners in the NFL, has lost his mind.

By the end of the evening, I could surmise from some fans that:

a). Jim Irsay is some wild man who tweets about Pink Floyd all the time, is a goofy, slick dresser and doesn’t know a damn thing about running a successful organization.

b). New G.M. Ryan Grigson, who has been on the job for all of five days, was a bad hire. Yeah, I sensed he had some nervousness that translated into some stand-offish answers. This is all a little new to him. But I also sensed he was tired of answering the same question for 30 minutes and wanted to get busy with the job at hand. He knows we don’t know all the facts and we don’t need to.

Listening to people’s reactions – even some in the media – was kind of comical. Judging by the opinions of some, you would have thought that Jim Irsay and Ryan Grigson have been twirling their thumbs the last few days. How could there be reports one minute that Jim Caldwell was being retained then an announcement a couple hours later that Caldwell was being fired?!

Clearly we don’t know all the facts. But that doesn’t mean Grigson and Irsay don’t. What changed? I don’t know. But something did. You don’t just fire Caldwell after an exhaustive process without having a reason and a plan.

Folks, it’s time to come to grips with the fact that it may be time to move on. People act as if they know Manning will be healthy and greatness for this franchise will last forever.  They’re arguing Peyton this and Peyton that: The Colts can’t get rid of Manning! Getting rid of Caldwell must mean they’re getting rid of Manning! Uh, does anyone know if the guy is even healthy? Do you want to throw $28 million at a 36 year old quarterback who’s had three neck surgeries in 17 months, while you can start grooming Andrew Luck right now? Do you even know if Manning will be 100 percent? If he’s not, debating what the Colts should do with Manning is a moot point.

I know Andrew Luck is going to take his lumps. But he’s not going to take them sitting on the bench. Sure, he could learn from the bench, too, but this isn’t just any quarterback we’re talking about. This is what many are calling the best NFL-ready quarterback to come out of college since Peyton Manning. And with the depletion of talent on this team right now (and don’t tell me about all of the talented pro-bowlers still on this team. Those guys just went 2-14) and the question of Manning’s health, it may be time to move on.

Look, this team was severely deficient heading into this season. Just look at the opening week secondary and O-line. If you don’t believe that then you’re blinded by blue-colored glasses. And this team isn’t going to be championship caliber next year, with or without Peyton Manning.

Has this all unfolded smoothly? No. Is this the way we want this era to end? No. But just because we don’t have all the answers doesn’t mean Irsay and Grigson don’t know what they’re doing. There are reasons why this has unfolded the way it has. We just don’t know exactly why and frankly, we don’t need to know.

What I do know is Jim Irsay has been the steward of a franchise that set NFL records that will be hard to break (most wins in a decade, most consecutive 12 win seasons, and on and on). He doesn’t have a track record of making wild, knee-jerk decisions. He had the same president/G.M. for 14 years! During that time the Colts had all of three coaches.

I trust Irsay knows what he’s doing.

by Kent Sterling

Every day for 10,000 days my wife and I have spoken – sometimes in laughter, sometimes sorrow, and very occasionally in anger, but always honestly, and without exception – daily.

10,000 days ago Julie and I dancing frenetically and repeatedly to side one of Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” album at aq party in her Walnut Knolls apartment at Indiana University.  9,990 days ago, I asked her to marry me.  She said yes, defying logic, prudence, and reason.

Today seems like as good a day to look back as any at a marriage as strange and silly as it is solid and productive.

Julie Purcell was simply the best person I had met when we danced, and she remains that.  Each of the 10,000 days seemed to improve her somehow.

The first night was ridiculous.  Not many people dance to “Rock and Roll Never Forgets”, and our performance on that first night is Exhibit A as to why.  Fifteen minutes into the marathon, a friend named Freddy pulled me aside.  He said, “She’s the one.  Don’t fuck this one up.”  Freddy was the same guy who three months later maxed out his new JC Penney’s card by buying a VCR that for days that turned into nights played an almost endless run of porn selections from Full-o-Pep Rental.  He was prescient in his wisdom that night though.

Out of every 100 couples who meet as we did, certainly 99 fail to remain together.  Our ability to overcome those stiff odds is almost entirely due to Julie’s incredible appetite for mayhem and belief that at some point I would wake up and assume the behavior of a functional adult.  I get marginal credit for seeing through the haze of immaturity to see Julie as a beacon that can always make me embrace my own humanity.

Where there is love, there is hope.  Julie kept telling me that I would find the thing that made me happy, and as I searched for that thing, Julie worked, earned, and paid.  Eventually, I stopped looking for my own happiness, and started trying to find it in Julie and our son Ryan.  Then, life became easier.

I’ve always listened to people talk about giving their lives over to God, and then enjoying some harmony.  To focus making family happy makes more sense.  Julie taught me that roughly one-third of the way through these 10,000 days. You’re thinking, people become brain surgeons in less time.  You are right, and I’m not a brain surgeon.  For some lessons, being a slow learner is good enough if the instructor is willing to wait.

Each and every morning, Julie put me on the short bus to adulthood hoping that when I returned, the all grown up Kent would get off, and they would settle into a normal quiet life.  But I wasn’t quiet, and I’m sure as hell not normal.

Julie is a master at humanity.  She consistently sees the world as a place that can be more fair for the people she meets.  She laughs loudly.  She gives generously.  And she loves deeply.  Her only flaw is a lack of tolerance for my trying to deliver her more quickly by car than she finds necessary.

For 10,000 days, I have had the brains (sometimes barely enough) to understand how lucky I am to have had my belief confirmed by Freddy that Julie is indeed the one.

Through odd nicknames, persistent laughter, and arguments about Julie’s preoccupation with cooking shows, we have shared challenges, nights of madness, and days of dreams.  We raised a son who has done nothing but make us proud, and reaffirmed Julie’s wisdom.

Through thick and thin, Julie has always believed that she did the right thing by dancing to Bob Seger for hours with an oddly dressed boob in a black hat.  And now we hopefully have another 10,000 days that will be as filled with love as the first 10,000.

No one could have predicted that on January 16, 2012, Julie and I would celebrate a seldom recognized milestone like this.  My greatest contribution is in providing a consistently vexing series of challenges for a girl who has always loved them.

by Kent Sterling

So much for the seamless transition in the front office of the building Bill Polian once ruled with an iron fist.  Both Bill and Chris Polian were told to vacate the premises on 56th Street today in the aftermath of a horrifying 2-14 season.

Really smart guys evidently become really fireable really quickly when a Hall of Fame quarterback with a laser rocket arm has surgery on his spine and misses an entire season.

Granted, Bill Polian is a bit of a tortured genius who tends to torture others when things don’t go according to plan, but has there ever been a better builder of quality NFL teams?  Through this weird year, minus the first years he spent running the shows in Buffalo, Carolina, and Indianapolis, Polian’s teams qualified for the postseason 18-of-21 times.  That includes an NFL record tying nine consecutive seasons from 2002-2010.

That’s incredible.

There are very few front office people who can virtually guarantee success, but Polian is one of them.  I have no idea what prompted the hair trigger owner Jimmy Irsay used to cap both Bill and the well-regarded Chris (although it’s hard to imagine popping Bill will retaining Chris), but it might have started at approximately 5:48 p.m. Indianapolis time December 27, 2009.

Colts fans remember that moment when they watched Curtis Painter trot from the sidelines to replace a perfectly healthy Manning as the Polian orchestrated abdication of that beautiful undefeated season was unveiled.  A chance at history evaporated, and as outraged as fans in Lucas Oil Stadium were, there was a guy in the owner’s suite whose anger was off the charts.

Polian’s employer coveted that undefeated season, and to shrink away from the challenge was not acceptable.

If the Colts had finished that year without a blemish, Polian would still be the president of the Colts, and Irsay would still be lauded as the owner who finally stuck a cork in Mercury Morris’s pie hole.

From the second Painter trotted on to the field against the Jets, the Colts have compiled a 14-24 record, including a Super Bowl loss to the New Orleans Saints.

For me, I always liked both Polians.  Chris was very nice and forthcoming during a phone interview on 1070 The Fan with Chris Hagan and I.  He wished me well in St. Louis.  That was nice of him, and that’s all it takes for me.  I have no idea what Chris knows or doesn’t know about football because I don’t know enough about football to gauge his acumen.

I enjoyed Bill’s company a couple of times, and told him he should write a book on management, which I still believe.  As much as he is mocked in Indianapolis (and elsewhere) for being a control freak and a guy prone to flash anger, he knew how to build a roster and coaching staff.  As weird as the rumors about his behavior are, he wins – all the time.  The Colts won more during the first decade of this new century than any team in the history of pro football.

And he was always very cordial and polite to me.  Of course, all I did was praise him, and even unbalanced people (I don’t believe Polian to be unbalanced) generally don’t attack those who fill their ears with compliments.

Polian is a good guy with a sense of humor who is usually the smartest guy in the room.  Teams with whom he is associated almost always win.  For those reasons, if this is the end of the road for one of the greatest executives in the history of team sports, it will be his choice – not that of Jim Irsay.

by Kyle Miller

This picture has nothing to do with this post, but it is pretty damn cool

Is it bad to consider the weekend not over until after Monday Night Football? Since my weekend is dominated by my addiction to fantasy football, I see nothing wrong with a three day weekend, every weekend. What a great time of the year.  College basketball is heating up as conference play approaches, its bowl season for college football, the NFL is nearing the playoffs, and the start of the NBA season is just days away – oh, and did I mention its Christmas season.  This weekend was the start of winter break for most college students and what a way to kick it off.

How can I not start with the Crossroads Classic, which every person living or dead in Indiana had to enjoy?  In the first game, Butler rallied back against a Purdue team that simply is incapable of scoring outside of Robbie Hummel.  That’s not a smack in Purdue’s face, well maybe it is, but I just don’t see how they will finish in the top eight of the Big Ten with the scoring options they possess.  If you can’t shoot, you can’t play.  Lewis Jackson, Kelsey Barlow and Terone Johnson can’t shoot – at all.  If they want any chance – at all, they need to give the ball to Hummel and get out the way.

The Hoosiers continued their sweep through the state. They’ve already drubbed Evansville and beat Butler, and now have grinded one out against Mike Brey’s Notre Dame Irish.  IU came out flat and unenthused, but what did you expect after they recorded their biggest win in Tom Crean’s era?  It took IU about a half to shake off that win, and realize they haven’t earned anything yet.

This game, however, did raise a few concerns of mine.  Notre Dame dictated a slower pace and had they been able to put the ball into that circular orange rim, this game would have been a nail biter.  But Notre Dame looked like a bunch of 12-year-olds trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.  The pace was a concern.  If IU is forced to play a slow-it-down game then they must be able to execute their offense in the half court because unlike Notre Dame, teams likes Michigan, Northwestern and Wisconsin, who all slow it down, can and will put the ball in the hole.

Speaking of not being able to put the ball in the basket, Howard is god-awful.  IU definitely played well, but no Division I basketball team should be beat by 57 points.  That score reminded me of some AAU games at the Indiana Basketball Academy in fourth grade.

Friday night I went to the Pacers first preseason game versus the Chicago Bulls.  The Pacers looked good – in the first quarter – and then struggled mightily the remaining three quarters.  There certainly is a sense of excitement surrounding Pacer basketball this year, but is it warranted, I’m not sure.  The shortened season benefits the Pacers because for one, I’m not sold that the first unit is better than the second unit.  And two, we still lack a late game scorer that can create his own shot, or at least create an open shot for someone else.

I don’t see the Pacers finishing better than fifth in the East.  That puts them in front of Philadelphia, Atlanta and Orlando.  Atlanta’s on the downslide, Philadelphia has a good core with Elton Brand, Evan Turner, Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams (Andre Iguodala is overrated), and depending on where/when/if Dwight Howard departs to could have a huge effect on the eastern conference.  If he stays in Orlando, then Orlando will be tough; if he goes to L.A., then Orlando and the East get worse; and if he goes to New Jersey with D-Will then New Jersey has to be considered a playoff contender.

Finally, how ‘bout dem Colts?  Am I the only Colts fan that doesn’t want the Colts to get the number one pick?  I just don’t want the endless discussions that started about week six to continue all the way to the NFL draft about what the Colts should do with Peyton Manning.  I want Manning.  Manning is the only Colts quarterback I can really ever remember, so is that opinion bias, you bet your ass it is.  However, I do think we can fill a lot of holes by trading a top three pick.  An offensive lineman maybe, a defensive back, or a defensive tackle are all viable options.  On the season though it’s great to see the Colts avoid the record books, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Colts ran the table from here on out. The remaining two games are at home versus T.J. Yates and crew and on the road versus Jacksonville, who I refuse to admit are better than the Colts.

by Kent Sterling

Things are looking up in Bloomington for the Hoosiers and Cody Zeller

It’s been a long time since Indiana posted anything resembling a gaudy record.  The 107-50 blowout win today over Howard isn’t worth raising a banner, but the 11-0 record for a team that had been 28-66 the previous three seasons shows the program has turned a corner.

Or has it?

The schedule hasn’t been too taxing, but the only game where Indiana allowed an opponent to finish inside double digits was the signature win against Kentucky two Saturdays ago in Assembly Hall.

The Simple Rating System that takes into account strength of schedule and point differential shows the Hoosiers are ranked 10th in the country (out of 344 teams).  The offensive ranking is seventh with an average of 1.17 points scored per possession, and the defensive ranking is 35th with 0.88 points scored against per possession.  That’s good – as in much better than was the case in years past.

Last year’s defensive rating of 1.04 points scored against per possession ranked 258th of 345 (not sure who decided D-1 was too rugged, and decided to drop out).  The offense was 86th.  The two years before that?  Let’s not pick that scab.

One game is left against Maryland-Baltimore County in the non-conference schedule before the tests become more daunting.  The first three games on the Big Ten slate are at Michigan State and then two at home against Ohio State and Michigan.

There isn’t quite as much trust for the Hoosiers as there might have been 20 years ago when there was some hard-earned swagger going on down on 17th Street, and there are still those who haven’t seen enough of this team to feel they have really turned the corner.  That’s understandable, as the wounds of the past 3 1/2 years still sting.  But this is different, and I’ll tell you why.

His name is Cody Zeller.

The Big Ten season won’t be as much fun for Zeller as the 12 game run that precedes it, at least defensively, but he makes Indiana so much better offensively, comparing this year to last is a waste of time.  Zeller isn’t just good, he makes everyone else much better.

Matt Howard (no relation to the university that was throttled tonight) was a similarly generous player for Butler.  Matt made his teammates at Butler better than they would have been without him.  The selflessness he showed on and off the court was the engine behind the magnificence of the past two seasons for Brad Stevens’ Butler Bulldogs, and that’s the case for Zeller at Indiana this year.

Zeller isn’t just very adept at getting the shot he wants, he’s especially good at getting looks for his teammates.  If you want to see a truly happy kid playing basketball, watch Jordan Hulls as Zeller finds him on the perimeter after facing a double team down low.

Inside out passes that are on target to a three-point shooter like Hulls make shooting fun.  Zeller cares that his teammates get a good look, so he passes accurately.  The passes are almost always straight into the pocket of the shooter, and the ball dives straight through the hoop.  Nothing gets a great shooter into a rhythm like pinpoint accurate inside-out passes.

And nothing makes coaches look smart like players who want their teammates to succeed as much or more than they want to succeed themselves.  Tom Crean looks brilliant these days after looking a little, well, slow, the past three seasons.  Thanks, Cody.

When the best player on your team is also the best teammate, there is a chance for something special to happen, and maybe there is something special ahead for Indiana.  Hell, for IU fans, a return trip to the NCAA Tourney would be very special.  Irrelevance is not a popular place for IU hoops in southern Indiana, and regardless of the outcome of this rebound season, the Hoosiers do appear to be quite relevant heading into 2012.

Yes, the rest of the Hoosiers are playing better, but just as Butler succeeded because of the magnanimousness of Howard’s play, Indiana is rolling because of Zeller.

Indiana fans should pray for his continued health and excellence (but not so much excellence that he would be encouraged to leave for the millions that await him down the road).

Welcome back to the land of teams that play meaningful games, Indiana University Basketball.  This improvement is a process and there are some bumps ahead, but this part of the process is a hell of a lot more fun to endure than 28 wins in three years.

There is somebody else in Indiana who loves making his teammates better.  His name is Yogi Ferrell, and he’s coming next year.  You want to see fun basketball?  Just wait for 2012-2013.

By:  Dustin Lytle

As you are likely aware, last night the New Orleans Hornets agreed to trade Chris Paul and two future second-round picks for Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and Minnesota’s 1^st round pick in 2012. The Hornets were in the unenviable position of being stuck with a franchise player who wanted out of dodge and the whole league knew it. They weren’t supposed to get a great deal for him, especially after the league vetoed a trade that, in my opinion, was sufficient with the Lakers and Rockets.

However, they managed to pull off a trade that may end up being significantly better than the one that was previously concocted. The hornets only have a handful of players under contract next year and need to fill their roster, first and foremost.

This trade gives the Hornets three starters and a first round pick next year from a team that is undoubtedly going to finish in the lottery (Minn) for Paul and two future 2nd round picks. Those picks would likely be spent on players who are unlikely to make the roster for years to come. Don’t underestimate the first round pick from Minnesota sent back to the Hornets. As bad as Minnesota is, that could be a top 5 selection in arguably the deepest draft since 1984. It’s just a shame that David Kahn can’t select a point guard with it.

Knowing the other team’s hand certainly helped the Clippers as they were able to get one of the top 5-10 players in the league to a team that has been awful for years without giving up too much. There was a good chance that Eric Gordon would sign with a different team next summer (cough, Indiana), Aminu has not lived up to expectations and Chris Kaman is expendable after the blossoming and subsequent re-signing of DeAndre Jordan at the 5 spot. The Clippers are now based on a core of Paul, Jordan and Blake Griffin. Yeah, that’s not the Clippers I grew up with.

This is truly a win-win trade for these organizations. The Hornets get quality players to fill their roster and keep the value of the franchise up for the NBA to sell. The Clippers get another star to go along with Griffin and suddenly become relevant in Los Angeles.

If the Hornets can get Gordon to re-sign with them next year, it is even greater for them. Now that you know my affection for the trade itself, I do believe this trade should have never happened.

Under no circumstances should David Stern and the NBA stepped in to block the Lakers-Rockets-Hornets trade last week. Not only is it collusion, it wrecked three locker rooms – including Lamar Odom requesting and getting a trade almost immediately for an unequal return to the Lakers. The NBA and owners wanted to stop players from deciding where they want to be traded to and dictating the terms. Clearly that isn’t the case as they folded on that issue in negotiations and now are paying the price. Stern set a piss-poor precedence for these types of trades by vetoing it due to owners not wanting the Lakers to stock-pile talent. I am no Laker fan, but that is BS. It is the only business or league I know of that would consider such a move. Could you imagine Roger Goodell doing such a thing?

I am glad this CP3 saga is over and am excited to see NBA basketball again.

Twitter @dustinl1332

by Kent Sterling

Indiana Basketball beat their neighbor to the south 73-72.  You know, the one that keeps kids around for nine months and turns them loose to the NBA.  Yeah, those guys in blue and white.

This is THE win that fans in Bloomington have waited for since disgraced former coach ran the SS Hoosier into a reef of illegal phone calls that almost claimed the program for good.  Kelvin Sampson was fired, and a majority of the players left as well.

Rebuilding seemed to take forever – the last three years have seemingly lasted forever – and while the Hoosiers occasionally mustered the energy and faith needed to battle obviously more talented opponents, it was clear that more was needed to get over the hump and beat someone real.

Today, Indiana beat someone real.  Kentucky continues to benefit from the asinine age restriction rule that prohibits high school kids from being drafted despite being ready to play in the NBA, turning its basketball program into little more than a one year basketball academy like IMG in Bradenton, Florida.  Indiana recruits kids who play and study, and hopefully will earn degrees.  And they work hard.

The Hoosiers battled back to win on a three-pointer from Christian Watford as time expired after blowing a double digit lead.  Threes rained through the hoop seven straight times after Indiana started 0-for-4, and they survived turnovers caused by Kentucky’s great athleticism.

For kids who have worked their asses off for years, this win was a sweet and well-earned reward.  Anyone who has spent any time at all covering Indiana Basketball has seen the sweat equity players invested without any promise of return at all, and over 60 losses that validated any cynicism.

The most incredible attribute of these kids and coaches is the dogged belief that motivated that work ethic.  People outside the program have asked why they kept working, but it never appeared that question was asked by anyone inside Cook Hall.  Loss after loss was met with hour after hour of dedication, arduous hours of shooting and lifting, and a faith that hard work would yield a positive result.

What a positive result this afternoon’s 40 minutes of play brought.

And for Kentucky?  I suppose all talk about abandoning this series in favor of scheduling someone else will cease.  After today’s game, they would look puny and intimidated by pulling the plug on the Hoosiers.

There are three more months of hooping left for these gifted soon-to-be pros, and this loss might be the best thing that could happen.  This loss to Indiana is going to smart for awhile, and might get the attention of those who played with marked indifference at Assembly Hall.

For Indiana, the players will be fueled by having their faith validated in such a profound way.  Later in the season, when the Big Ten (12) season gets tough, they’ll be able to look back at this game to fuel more work, faith, and mayhem.

This was one game of 30-plus games for both teams, but what a game it was.  And what an afternoon for Indiana Basketball fans, who have been waiting, hoping, pining for, dreaming of, and wanting more than anything else to see electricity and significant victories return to Assembly Hall.

To the team, coaches, and administrators – congratulations.  To the student body – leave Showalter Fountain alone.  Scattering the statues around campus is for NCAA Championships only.

And to Kentucky fans – Shut the hell up, and pay off all those bets.  I await your checks, or feel free to use Paypal.