About Kent

kentsterling — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:30:20 +0000

Kent Sterling does not write from his basement because his house sits on a slab. He occasionally indulges his impulse to write in his underwear, but not regularly. He has worked in Chicago and Indianapolis radio, and built 1070 - The Fan into Indianapolis top sportstalk radio station. Kent owns the Cubs hat that Andy Pafko wore while singing during the Seventh Inning Stretch at Wrigley Field in 2006, and a Fender Stratocaster that he does not know how to play. This site celebrates critical thinking and intolerance for the morally challenged of sports and entertainment (as though those two are different at all). Those who live to the fullest are celebrated, and those who count mediocrity as a gift are skewered. Fast food delivered slowly is exposed, and great food delivered with relish (the adjective describing joy, not the condiment) is saluted. Music played angrily is applauded, and rock played by flaccid poseurs is harangued. This site is a primer for those who haven't yet formed their final opinions about sports, service, music, and all else that either pleases or annoys. Kent gives you informed insight on how teams, players, and management let you down, and how so many get it right.

Kent Sterling Fired as Program Director of WIBC and 1070 The Fan

kentsterling — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:34:35 +0000

In the event that anyone googles "Kent Sterling Fired", I want them to come to my site. Why not. Maximize page views. In fact, it's unlikely people will google this, unless my wife is eager to read additional material on the temporary freeze of her husband's career. My head is still swimming a little bit, but I know enough that staying busy is a really good idea for me. Hence this blog exists. One of the things I really enjoyed about my responsibilities with The Fan was writing a blog about whatever the hell I wanted. The results were immediate and accurate, in stark contrast to the methodology of radio listener measurement. If I wrote something that resonated, I got hits. If I wrote about something only I gave a damn about, nothing happened. In December, The Fan's website generated 258,000 page views, which was 58,000 more than we had ever done. In November, we hit 200,000 page views. My blog did 48,000 views last month. That showed improvement that gave me reason to believe that I could write well enough and agitate effectively enough to get some people to come to a site and read for two-minutes a day. I like to write, so that is what I'll do. Everyday. You have to work, and that's what I'll do. Instead of busting my ass to bring people to 1070TheFan.com, I'll bring them here. Certainly not in the same number at first, but I'll do the work, have the fun, and reap whatever reward there is to reap. My overhead is minimal. $10 to godaddy.com for the URL. And some cash to Rob Nichols for helping me get all of this up and running. That's really it. Rob is another Emmis expatriate, although he left of his own volition. He is the first place former Emmis folk turn for help when they are shown the door. Rob should get a taste of the HR money Emmis allocates to generalists who help the dearly departed deal with their newly acquired free time. I wish everyone at Emmis well. It's a great place to work during a very tough economic time. This year has been especially hard for Emmis Indy. I remember sitting in my office in 2005 and thinking about how the place never changes. Change came with a vengeance, and finally swept me out too. And it will sweep John Calipari from his perch of iniquity in Lexington. May he land with grace and may Kentucky be allowed by the NCAA to keep their wins and banners.

Real Story Behind Indianapolis Colts Bill Polian Show

kentsterling — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:37:56 +0000

Last week, as the program director for the Colts media partner, I spoke to TV and print about what happen during the last seven minutes of the Bill Polian Show. There was a report that Bill Polian left the studio in anger after having his feet held to the fire by fans for the pulling of starters during the third quarter of the game with the Jets at Lucas Oil Stadium that would have lifted the Colts record to 15-0. My story then was that Polian stayed to the end of the show, and the six minutes of spots in the last seven minutes were a result of the format clock getting away from host Bob Lamey and producer Vince Eagan. That story was from the guy who it was said could not deviate from the company line.I'm no longer with the company and now am the only person to whom I answer for saying or doing anything. There is absolutely nothing to prevent my complete honesty in discussing the event of last Monday. The story is what the story was. Polian was there, stayed there, and left once the show ended. To think that Polian would leave the show in a pique of anger that a couple of season ticket holders didn't grasp the logic of pulling starters is silly.Those who listened to the show on Hank 97.1 FM said that the show ended abruptly or awkwardly. Those who listed to it on The Fan, as I did heard no such audio problem. That was an operator issue on the Hank end, not a Colts or Polian generated issue. There is a distrust of the Colts organization that they drive themselves by saying things that are pretty obviously untrue. Take for example the claim by Peyton Manning that there were no personal agendas driving the offensive choices the Colts made during the time the starters played Sunday against the Bills in the final regular season game. That's patently ludicrous. Tight end Dallas Clark needed seven catches to reach 100 for the season to join Tony Gonzalez as the only tight ends to catch 100 balls in a season, and Reggie Wayne needed five to get to 100 for the second time in his career. Clark caught exactly seven and Wayne exactly five, and the starters left the game as soon as that business was done. Coincidence? Ridiculous. Why make such a claim? It erodes the trust of Colts fans, so that when they are actually telling the truth, the media comes to a knucklehead like me to explain what happened when Polian went unheard for the last seven minutes of his show. People didn't believe me either. I got notes for two days saying that I was a mouthpiece for the Colts. Claiming that you don't lie is like saying you don't beat your wife. The denial only confirms the suspicion.The fact is though, I don't lie. I don't cheat. And I don't steal. Lying is not only immoral, it is shortsighted because people see through most lies, and the truth wins eventually. We are so systemically imbued with a need to be seen as righteous and intellectually superior that most tend toward explaining their actions with the most positive back-story possible. That is a waste of effort, because the people listening like to think they are pretty smart too, and if they catch you painting the facts in a rosier than accurate hue, the party is over and they will always eye your comments with suspicion.The Colts are one of the best - if not the best - organizations in all of sports. They need to act consistently with the confidence only blunt honesty conveys. Polian is the best evaluator of talent in sports, and the creator of the best system for evaluating in the history of the league. That's not belief. It's a simple connect the dots informed by the seven consecutive 12-win seasons for the Colts, four straight trips to the Super Bowl in Buffalo (Polian there for only the first three, but the fourth was achieved with his players), and maybe the most incredible achievement of all in Polian's career - a trip to the NFC Championship game in the Carolina Panthers' second year of existence. What do Polian and the Colts have to lose in telling the truth? Nothing. Tell the truth. Admit an error once in awhile. Ask for the fans forgiveness as Manning did for the team pulling the starters. Champions walk tall, tell the truth, and admit wrongdoing. The Colts are champions, and they should act like it.

Purdue University Basketball Plays Like a Team and Keeps Winning

kentsterling — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:11:31 +0000

Purdue is undefeated after thrashing Minnesota 79-60 last night at Mackey Arena, in front of the largest audience of octogenarians this side of the doo-wop reunion concert PBS airs every six hours. They do it by playing selfless basketball. They play basketball the old fashioned way - the Indiana way. The defense is beyond intense almost every possession, and the offense moves the ball with precision and a lack of interest in personal glory. Coach Matt Painter has assembled the kind of group IU and Bob Knight would have had back in the 1980s. They are gritty and simply out-hustle teams from the tip to the buzzer. Last night, the Boilers were led in scoring by Robbie Hummel and E'Twaun Moore with 18 each. JaJuan Johnson had 16, and Chris Kramer 15. That's balance, baby. And that is what the Boilers do, game in and game out. Those kids didn't learn selflessness overnight when they moved to West Lafayette either. They played that way from the time they were in the fourth grade, as Indiana kids do. Things are changing a little bit in Indiana today. Kids still play ball, but this is quickly evolving into a state where kids play football first. Back in 1997 though, the best athletes played basketball nearly 12-months a year, and they learned to play hard or lose. You know what kind of kid Moore was on the basketball court. He scored 18 points. That's what he did. Always. Through his AAU career, I don't believe I ever saw him do anything else. It always felt like he had 10, but after looking in the book, he always had 18. Hummel? He played hard as hell and tried to intimidate a little bit. His team - the Valpo Venom Vipers were always a tough team. They won - a lot. You never knew how though. The kids were all white, and didn't seem to do anything great. I watched and wondered, "Are they really that good?" They had Scott Martin as well as Hummel, and yeah they were that good. JaJuan Johnson took some time to grow into his body, but when he did it was clear that he was destined to play for a winning team. He played on the same team my son did for two-plus years, and there isn't a sweeter kid alive. He's smart, long, athletic, and has a competitive streak that trumps that sweet disposition when the game is on the line (in Purdue's lexicon, the game is on the line every possession). He has soft hands and great hand eye coordination. How important is Kramer? Based upon what you see of this kid, if you were a teammate, do you have a pretty good sense that if you take a couple of defensive possessions off, he would kick your ass? I do. He sets the tone and the mood, not just in the games but in practice and off-season workouts. He can score, but doesn't care about stats. All I needed to know about Kramer was there for everyone to see at the John Wooden Tradition game against Ball State. The Cardinals were held to 15 first half points primarily because of Kramer's on-ball defense against poor Randy Davis. He harassed Davis into five turnovers and four fouls in 19 minutes. The kid never had a chance to breathe, and Ball State never got into any rhythm at all. Purdue is a 14-0 team that is incredibly fun to watch and makes you wonder what could have been in Bloomington if Mike Davis and Kelvin Sampson had been smart enough to recruit these kids with the same enthusiasm Matt Painter showed. Why the shot at Purdue fans in the first paragraph? I’m an IU guy, having spent 1980-1986 in Bloomington. I’m not going to write some glowing treatise on Boilermaker basketball without some kind of dig. Being honest with myself, I can’t criticize what I see on the floor, so I’m reduced to cheap shots. Not sure why I worry, the fans look like they would have trouble with a TV remote control, much less a laptop.

Andre Dawson Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

kentsterling — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:41:42 +0000

They finally got it right. "The Hawk" will be enshrined in Cooperstown this summer, as it should be. The litmus test for non-pitchers making it to the Hall should be whether you were the dominant player at your position for a decade. Andre Dawson was absolutely and consistently the best right fielder in baseball from 1979-1991. Dawson stuck around past the time that he was an everyday productive player, apparently to accrue some additional stats and make as certain as possible he got the call today. The most famous Dawson story is that in the free agent season prior to the start of the 1987 season when the owners colluded to try to control spending on free agents, Dawson showed up at the Cubs spring training camp in Arizona with a blank contract. He told Cubs GM Dallas Green that he wanted to play in Wrigley Field and be a Cub - at least that was the story reported in Chicago media. When those stories were published, Dawson assumed the mantle of the most popular Cubs player. He is still revered by the Cubs faithful. Dawson played a big role in making the right field bleachers a sought after destination, as it gave fans the chance to salute him with what Harry Carey called a "High Salami". Dawson proved to be the best bargain in Cubs history (during the free agency era) as he hit 49 homers, drove in 137, and amassed 353 total bases - all National League highs - on his way to the NL MVP Award. The gaudy offensive numbers weren't all that there was to Dawson. He was defensively superior, earning eight Gold Gloves and unleashing incredible throws from right that were reminiscent of Roberto Clemente. Physicists swear that a baseball can't rise after it's thrown, but sitting in the bleachers from 1987-1991 (I had some free time in the afternoons) I swear that the ball rose out of Dawson's hand, and didn't start falling until it was over the infield dirt. My son revered Dawson. Because of a persistent ear infection, Ryan's hearing was a little screwy when he was a kid and he instead of calling Dawson "by his name, he referred to him as "O Dawson". When Ryan turned three, Julie and I got him a whiffle bat and ball, and we went to the schoolyard at Oakdale and Seminary to play. He took some feeble swings at the first couple of pitches, and asked, "Can I be O Dawson?" I said sure. Ryan locked into the signature Dawson stance - slightly closed with the front leg locked. I threw, and Ryan put the ball on the roof of the school. That's what Andre Dawson meant to the kids of Chicago for six seasons. After moving to Indiana, Ryan played little league, and as a 10-year-old was a contact hitter who took the ball the other way too often for me. Frustrated as his coach, I yelled "Be O Dawson!" Ryan stepped out, and said sternly, "Please don't say that anymore." The lesson? What works on a kid's third birthday is no longer relevant, and likely embarrassing when he's 10. Dawson was a singularly powerful and gifted athlete with knees that were ravaged by Montreal's Olympic Stadium's Astroturf. Had he been lucky enough to begin his career at Wrigley or any of the other natural turf stadiums, the ceiling for statistical excellence would have been nearly limitless. That this honor took the Baseball Writers Association of America nine tries to finally get Dawson over the 75% needed for election is ridiculous, as are all ten of the voters who submitted blank ballots. Dawson will be joined by God-like umpire Doug Harvey and one of the great all-time managers Whitey Herzog.

Indiana Loses to Ohio State 79-54

kentsterling — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:06:57 +0000

Indiana University's men's basketball team failed to show up for the game at Value City Arena in Columbus, and was dominated in every facet of the game. The team that beat Michigan was nowhere to be seen. The shooting was awful - 34% field goal shooting for the game, 22% from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers offensive rhythm was totally destroyed by the Buckeyes defense - nine total assists and 24 turnovers. Ohio State's Jon Diebler was allowed to go 5-for-8 from beyond the arc on his way to a 21 point night, and that speaks volumes to the Hoosiers defensive desire to get stops. Being an IU guy, I hate to make comparisons to Purdue, but I can't fathom the current Purdue team giving a hot shooter enough good looks to go 5-for-8 shooting threes. Chris Kramer would give up his life before letting Diebler hit the fourth and fifth three. There are some good barometers for how a team is playing. Assists is one of the best stats in measuring both offensive and defensive effectiveness. It's almost impossible to win a college basketball game when your offense assists on less than 10 field goals. Obviously, that make winning very likely when allowing less than 10 assists. IU has made this rule look meaningless as they have both won and lost when wiinning and losing the assist battle. I have always believed that assisted buckets are a result of poor defensive effort or execution, or at least better offensive desire and execution than your defensive opposition. There have been games where IU got a nice number of assists, but didn't shoot it well and others where a huge chasm between IU and their opponent's trips to the free throw line. Purdue is a much more predictable team based upon their assists allowed. Look at these assists allowed numbers for Purdue this season - 6, 6, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 12, 12, 14, 16. The 14 assist game was in a blowout win against Buffalo, and the 16 came against SIU-Edwardsville in another blowout. This is a lock-down defense that forces 18 turnovers a game and allows only 9.8 assists per game. Conversely, IU is right where you would expect a 7-7 team to be. They are very close to being even in all stats. Okay, having a unique perspective is a good thing, and the only reason anyone would read these things, but IU just isn't putting a basketball product on the floor that promotes the formation of any perspective at all. They play with average passion and average defensive tenacity. They shoot it okay. The get to the line okay. IU defends okay. In business, you have to be the -est of something. IU is the -est of nothing. They define mediocrity, and I don't like it. Indiana Basketball ought to bring more to the table than average effort and execution. You go watch Purdue, and by God, they bring intensity like I've never seen. There is no reason Indiana can't play harder than anyone. I get that they won't be tremendously talented for awhile as the program rebuilds, but to not be the team that plays the hardest in the state is unacceptable for IU. I want to love IU basketball again. Some of the best times of my life revolve around IU basketball. It is an iconic brand in this state, but with every game, the defining trait of that brand is diminished. IU is losing the mantle as the team that embodied hard work and precision. Tom Crean needs to recruit kids who embody grit and desire. I spent an excellent night at Daddy Jack's with Dan Dakich, Bob, Kravitz, Eddie White, and Jeff Pigeon last night. We watched the IU game and talked about the difference between Purdue and IU. Someone said, "(Matt) Painter gets the Purdue kids to play so hard." That's true, but the other thing he did and does is recruit kids who show enormous desire. Chris Kramer didn't show up in West Lafayette and all of a sudden begin playing like every possession was worth his best effort. Same with Robbie Hummel and E'Twaun Moore. Who on IU plays like a made bucket for the opposition is the worst thing that could happen in their lives? Anyone? People in Indiana want to love IU hoops. It just doesn't feel right not to. This group is not inspiring that love, and the responsibility for that comes with the crown Tom Crean wears.

Colts Very Close to Becoming Indianapolis Colts; Not Baltimore

kentsterling — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:22:45 +0000

The Colts moved to Indianapolis from Baltimore in 1984. The City of Baltimore which had grown tired of team ownership, had largely abandoned their support for the franchise. Bob Irsay had very little option but to move the team either to Phoenix or Indianapolis. The City of Baltimore has been quite stingy, in fact borderline sophomoric in its treatment of the Colts since the Mayflower trucks rolled past the Maryland State Line. The P.A. announcer refers to the Colts as the "Indianapolis Pro Football Team", and the scoreboards read "Indy" instead of Colts. The pain the city suffered in losing the Colts is still profound 25 years later. In that quarter century, the Indianapolis Colts have played 435 games including the playoffs. While the Colts were in Baltimore, they played 438 games in front of the embittered knuckleheads who refuse to acknowledge that their team changed addresses, not logos, stats, or history. Those 438 games included 15 playoff games. That means that if the Colts win the opening playoff game and the AFC Championship, the Super Bowl will be their 438th contest as residents of the friendliest city in the midwest, tying Indianapolis and Baltimore as the true home of the Colts by virtue of games played. The people of Baltimore seem to fail to recognize that Art Modell simply ripped a page out of the Bob Irsay playbook when he moved the Browns to Baltimore after the 1995 season. The Baltimore "Pro Football Team" will need to do some work to close the gap to become the true home for the former Browns. The Ravens have played 235 games to date. The Browns, prior to the move, played 749 games for the citizens of Cleveland. If Baltimore plays two playoff games this year, and another 16 playoff games over the next 30 years, the team will surpass Cleveland as the host of that franchise during the season opener in 2041.

BCS National Championship Needs Playoff - NOW!

kentsterling — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:48:58 +0000

College Football is enjoying a period of great growth in its national footprint and popularity. That must be enough for the powers that be because a playoff, while discussed often by the media and fans, it is never considered seriously as an option to this "Best of both worlds" solution of using the established bowls to determine the national champion. The voters have ordained that the champion of the SEC and the Big 12 get first dibs at entry, followed by Ohio State and USC. That could be written as the champs of the Big Ten and the Pac-10, but who we crappin'? If it's not the Buckeyes and Trojans, those conferences have a very limited chance to play on the showcase night for college football. After that, no one has a prayer. Not only is that inherently unfair, it's also shortsighted. What's the most compelling part of March Madness? The stories that come from underdogs rising up to bite the national powers in the ass make it go. George Mason getting to the Final Four was outstanding, as would be Boise State upsetting Florida, if there was a playoff. There is no doubt that the SEC is seen as the top football conference in America. A school from that conference has won the last four BCS National Championships, and none of those games were decided by less than 10 points, so I don't doubt that the best team won last night. But is this the most compelling way to present your product? An eight-team playoff would allow the entry of at least a couple small conference teams who can bring the underdog vibe to the event, and the delay between games for the teams playing in the championship wouldn't be 30+ days. There is all of this momentum following the SEC and Big 12 championship games, and then fans are put on ice for a month (if Ohio State gets in, the wait is much longer). If a bunch of dolts sat in a room and devised a method to build interest in a sporting event, they would come out with a better system in 15-minutes. The two arguments against a BCS Tournament are that these are students and they need to get to class, and that it would kill the bowls. Both are ridiculous. The kids are students - that is true - but college students have a month-long break surrounding Christmas that would easily accommodate an additional three games. In fact, it would be better to extend the season through the holidays, rather than play conference championship games in early December. People need to know that college athletes are probably the most disciplined students on campus. The study tables and tutors provide disciplinary and academic resources far beyond those available to ordinary students. How many of us spent two hours studying every weekday. Not me, and no one I knew at Indiana. We are not a representative group as we were much more interested in the social aspects of campus life in Bloomington. It wasn't all drunken boobery, but I would have much rather used the campus directory to call every freshman whose last name began with "A" to invite them to a Monday Night Football Steak Dinner at the Sigma Chi house than prep for Elton Jackson's Sociology final. I've always been a proponent of student before athlete, but as the dad of a kid playing college sports, I know that my son has so much mandated study time that failure is damn near impossible. He's a kid with self-discipline, so he generally studies on his own and is bored during the mandated team table time, but the coaches play very close attention for attendance because of the NCAA rules tying the number of available scholarships and eligibility to academic performance of the students and their retention. The Bowls? Why couldn't the Rose, Orange, and Fiesta Bowls be used as the semifinals and championship games, almost as they are now? The Cotton and Sugar Bowls can be two of the quarterfinals. The other two? How about the Astro-Bluebonnet and Sun Bowls? Who cares? College football is a front burner sport now, and it needs to act like it. Stop trying to please the traditionalists, and capitalize on your own momentum - created in spite of your own deeply entrenched and dated philosophies. Get with the program and hip this thing up. This run of dull BCS National Championships has to stop.

Weekend TV Listings For Sports Fans

kentsterling — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:24:49 +0000

How many of us will remain glued to the TV all weekend? The NFL's Wild Card Weekend is always great TV, and this year it's better than usual. So we have that to look forward to, but there is other fare available that will make the foggy days, and crazy nights go very quickly. Not sure why that would be a good thing, but it seems to be the goal. This serves as a primer for your viewing pleasure. I get 620 channels, including the music stations, so here is your informed source for TV excellence. As always, any program featuring Dan Dakich on the Big Ten Network are always worth your time. Saturday (all times Eastern) 1:30p Men's Basketball - Purdue @ Wisconsin (Big Ten Network) This is the best game of the weekend. Purdue is undefeated, and both teams play with incredible tenacity. This has a chance to be one of those classic 54-52 games Wisconsin Coach Bo Ryan likes so well, and with the game in Madison, expect a young and loud crowd. The Badgers are coming off a tough loss Wednesday night @ Michigan State, and have no interest in opening the Big Ten at 2-2. Purdue is worth the watch because they are the hardest playing team I'm ever seen. They contest every pass, shot, and drive. The Boilers are harder to penetrate against than a hot bartender, (I almost went with "field hockey captain", but thought it might advance a stereotype that may no longer be true). (My Pick - Purdue by four) 4:30p NFL Football - NY Jets @ Cincinnati Bengals (NBC) This is the first of three rematches from last weekend when the games didn't matter quite as much. The first game between these two teams really didn't matter at all to the Bengals and they played like it. It meant everything to the Jets, and they played like it too. This game will look much different. Expect far less dropped balls by the Bengals receivers, and a hypermotivated Tank Johnson raising hell in the middle against the Jets offense. The Jets have a very tough time scoring, and Mark Sanchez hasn't played in the middle of a hostile playoff atmosphere. (My Pick - Bengals 17, Jets 9) 8p NFL Football - Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys (NBC) Last week's game was for the division title, and home field in this game, so it was for something, and the Eagles failed to show up. The Cowboys haven't won a playoff game since 1996 at home or away. Some would say Dallas QB Tony Romo can't win the big one, or any one, in the postseason. Maybe so. For years, Colts QB had the same rap, and then in reeled off three in a row to win the Super Bowl. The Eagles were either holding back a little from the game plan last week, or their season will end in a hurry. Nobody goes from being really good to really bad that quickly. (My Pick - Eagles 33, Cowboys 31) 8p Men's Basketball - Indiana @ Illinois (Big Ten Network) The Illini are 2-0 after wins against Northwestern and Iowa, but also have wins against Clemson and Vanderbilt. Indiana played a terrible game against Ohio State, but beat Michigan so they are capable of putting up a fight when motivated. Even though the catalysts in the stink that gave Illini Coach Bruce Weber reason to loathe Indiana are both gone, this rivalry continues to incite passion. Dmitri McCamey is a cold-blooded kid and a tremendous competitor. When he played AAU ball for the Illinois Wolves, he put that team on his back time and time again to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. If we could turn back time to see Lou-doo and The General go at it, that would be a ball, but we'll settle for the peripatetic Tom Crean and whiny Weber. McCamey and Weber won't be enough. (My Pick - Indiana 69, Illinois 66) Sunday 1p NFL Football - Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots (CBS) This has the potential to be a great football game. The aging but still crazy and violent Ray Lewis waging war against a Pats offense sans Wes Welker (I'm sure Welker would rather be playing, but Lewis puts the scalps of possession receivers on his bookshelves - he has 34). There are some worrisome reports about QB Tom Brady's health that Coach Bill Belichick refuted earlier this week, and who would ever think Coach Genius would shade the truth. Regardless, that's blood in the water for the Ravens defense. There were reports today about Randy Moss limping. That could be more chicanery from Belichick. This one is worth settling in for. PBA Bowling on ESPN during the timeouts? Sure. (My Pick - Ravens 23, Pats 21) 2p 30 for 30 - Ali vs. Holmes (ESPN2) This is a riveting look at the last shot at greatness for The Greatest. You can see that Ali's heart wasn't really in the game, and that the reason for continuing was to continue to provide for his coterie of hangers-on. The current interviews with Holmes are funny and sad at the same time. Ali took thyroid medication that gave him some help losing weight and according to Ferdie Pacheco caused a complete lack of energy in the rink. Holmes is still hated in some circles as the guy who beat Ali into his current state of mental difficulty, but he seems a happy and gregarious guy living an interesting life in Easton, PA, the hometown he never left. If the Ravens/Pats tilt goes awry, or if you get sick of halftime pap, turn this on. 4:30p NFL Football - Green Bay Packers @ Arizona Cardinals (Fox) The final wild card game, and it might be the worst. The Pack is rolling. The Aaron Rogers led offense is rolling, and Clay Matthews is playing his ass off. Who wants to overlook the Cardinals though, given their run to the Super Bowl last year. There are few better big game QBs that Kurt Warner, and what has Rogers ever won. Anquan Boldin is going to give it a go, and if he can play at 80% that might be enough. I have to be honest and confess to having no quality feeling one way or the other here. Neither team is likely going to make it beyond next week, so maybe I'll catch this in and out of naps. (My uninspired pick - Packers 34, Cards 13) 4:30p Men's Basketball - Kansas @ Tennessee (CBS) The Jayhawks are undefeated and the number one team in the country, but this will be a very tough test for Bill Self's team. Xavier Henry, Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich, and Marcus Morris are averaging in double figures, and they don't seem to care whether they score inside or out. They shoot an outstanding 43.1% from beyond the arc. Bruce Pearl's Vols will be ready to welcome the Jayhawks without a scorer averaging more than 13.5 ppg (Scotty Hopson). This will either be a great game, or a mirror image of the thorough 32-point thrashing Kansas gave Temple last weekend in Philly. (My Pick - Kansas 79, Tennessee 61) 7p NCCS Women's Flag Football Championship (CBS College Sports) I'm not sure what the hell the NCCS is or why they exist, but God bless them for bringing us the silliest televised sporting event of the weekend. Not sure who the teams are, but if this is anything like the Powder Puff game they played at New Albany High School in 1979, this will be must see TV. One warning. The usually safe port in a storm that is TV Land is not a place for loitering between events this weekend. Marathons of "Roseanne" and 1965 episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" dominate their schedule. I'm bamboozled by programmers who isn't on airing post-Barney "Griffith" shows, and any "M*A*S*H" episode after MacLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers left.

Peyton Manning Earns Record Fourth MVP

kentsterling — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:37:49 +0000

Was there ever any doubt? The only debate is why this is only the fourth MVP award for Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning has won. He's played 12 seasons, and was only the MVP four times? Ridiculous. Manning has authored the most consistent run of regular season excellence in the history of the NFL and arguably in pro sports. He has been the constant, the face of the Colts franchise, and unquestionably its best player. His work ethic sets the example, tone, and culture for the Colts and the City of Indianapolis. During the Raiders game last weekend, former NY Giants QB and current CBS Analyst Phil Simms said about JaMarcus Russell, "When your quarterback is not the hardest working player on the team, you have a problem." The Colts do not have a problem. Neither does the city. Indianapolis existed for decades as a city without a personality. Like Louisville, it came alive for one weekend in May and then went back to sleep and evaporated for the America's collective cultural consciousness. Then, Bill Polian drafted Manning instead of Ryan Leaf with the number one overall pick of the 1998 NFL Draft. From that day forward, the city embraced and emulated Manning. He works hard, so kids work hard - dads work hard, moms work hard, and everyone else works hard. That is the reason that folding the tent with 5:36 left in the third quarter against the Jets a couple of weeks ago was so hard to swallow. In the minds of people in Indianapolis, the Colts embody their work ethic. To turn their backs on a chance to prove to everyone that the Colts are the best team in NFL history, meant that the city was doing the same. The Colts are Indy, and Indy is the Colts. They are now we, and Manning is now us. That's value. What other players in the history of the NFL have been so intrinsically linked to a city, and have raised the image of a city? The list is but one name long. Jim Brown. An argument could be made for Walter Payton, but Chicago is probably as well-defined by Ernie Banks and Michael Jordan. Indianapolis has Reggie Miller, but as much as he is loved in Indianapolis, he's not THE GUY. Culturally, the case could be made that Elvis did the same for Memphis. Manning has done all of this without much fanfare around town. He's rarely seen out and about, so either he is a pretty laid back and quiet guy, or he does his social business as celebrities should - in a controlled environment away from cameras and prying eyes. TMZ hasn't had a story about Manning, and they likely never will. This award is about accomplishments on the field, and Manning had no peer there this year. In the games Manning played throughout, the Colts were 14-0. He left the 15th game with a lead, and in the 16th he made it look easy only using Dallas Clark and Reggie Wayne to move the ball down the field. When Manning came out of those games, the Colts folded. There were questions about how the loss of future Hall of Fame WR Marvin Harrison would affect Manning this season. Then, after the collapse of WR Anthony Gonzalez's knee, he had to work with Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon. Didn't make any difference. Manning went to work with what he had, and put up stupendous statistics, and led the Colts to seven fourth quarter come from behind wins. 2009 was Manning's second best statistical season. To go through all the numbers would do nothing but eat space, but there is one that is unreal. Manning dropped back to throw 581 times this season. He was able to throw 571 passes. His sack rate of 1.7% is crazy low. It speaks to the quality of the offensive line and work that the receivers do to get open, but the timing of that clock inside Manning's head that tells him when to get rid of the ball is not exactly a Casio. It has Swiss precision. Indiana has been a basketball state since Johnny Wooden laced up whatever passed for basketball shoes in the 1920s for Martinsville High School. Today? Throughout the Manning era, more and more of the best athletes have decided to play football instead of work at basketball year-round. That is the true value of Peyton Manning. He has made the people in his city notice his public behavior and emulate it. Indianapolis is a better place for Manning being here. How many athletes can you say that about?

Purdue Loses 73-66 at Wisconsin

kentsterling — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:06:52 +0000

The previously undefeated Boilermakers didn't go down without a fight. Winning at the Kohl Center is a rare achievement - Bo Ryan teams have posted a 130-10 record there since he took over eight seasons ago. It appeared that Wisconsin out-Purdued Purdue. The play was intense throughout, and even though the game appeared over, Purdue kept hanging around giving themselves a shooter's chance. A banked Robbie Hummel three cut the lead to five points with 10.7 seconds left, but that was as close as they would get as the Badgers posted the mild upset. W#isconsin is what Wisconsin always is - a real pain in the ass to play against. They play hard and are exceptionally well coached. Bo Ryan knows what kind of kids he needs, and gets them. Unfortunately, those kids aren't able to be anything more than that. The system is great for finishing in the first division of the Big Ten, but there is never a chance that Wisconsin will win a national championship. That's alright. You think Indiana fans wouldn't be thrilled to have the Badgers program now? Purdue was never going to going undefeated for the entire season, and this game was circled by Boiler fans as a tough get, and one thing you cannot do on the road and win games is miss foul shots. JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore combined to go 3-for-12 from the line, and that is just not going to get it done. The Boilers looked a little tired defensively as well. They didn't get out on shooters with the tenacity they've shown in other games this season. Foul trouble didn't help either. Keaton Grant and Robbie Hummel both picked up their third fouls relatively early in the second half, and the Boilers defensive depth just isn't great enough to overcome both of those guys sitting for any extended period. College kids are a flaky bunch, and they aren't going to bring consistency every game - especially on the road. Purdue has been better than most in that regard so far this year. Purdue held Wisconsin to nine assists,and losing while hold a team to single-digits in assists does not happen very often. The weight of the poor foul shooting and the 17-4 Wisconsin run was just too much for the Boilers to bear in Madison. Purdue will return to West Lafayette to prepare for a huge Tuesday night duel at Mackey with Thad Matta's Ohio State Buckeyes.

Illinois Comes Back to Beat IU 66-60 at Assembly Hall

kentsterling — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 03:35:50 +0000

Home court advantage must be worth a hell of a lot in basketball. The court is exactly the same size and the rims are 10-feet off the ground in every arena, but after watching IU play with malaise at Ohio State on Wednesday and then with a significant edge in hustle Assembly Hall against Michigan and Illinois it appears that the Hoosiers are much more comfortable in Monroe County than outside it.. Purdue got beat at the Kohl Center, and Ohio State was handled with relative ease at Minnesota. All were upsets on paper, but if you want to win at home in the Big Ten you better get a good night sleep, stay away from the bacon at the team breakfast, Indiana is still playing without a clear cut personality. I know more and have more concrete expectations while watching Purdue, which is unnerving and sickening. During the game broadcast, the Big Ten Network showed street shots on downtown Bloomington, and I didn't recognize too much. There was a store that looked as though it sells both rugs and copies, which is an interesting business model. My familiarity with the basketball being playing in the place where I spent a sweet six years informs my emotional response to losses like this. Campus Casino (the people who had the idea to combine cheap beer and video games 20 years before Dave & Buster's), The Penguin, The Reg and Walnut Knolls are all either gone or operating under a different name. Indiana's basketball uniforms, warm-ups, and the arena look the same, but the basketball is different. Allowing penetration and kicks the way it used to be done, and jacking up shots early in the shot clock during Illinois' last second half run are things we almost never saw before this grim decade. If they Hoosier did that during the 1980s or 1990s, they got an earful from the white haired lunatic in the red sweater. I'm not pining for a return of the General. He was a bona fide nut who was so over-the-top abusive to Todd Jadlow during a game I watched from the third row behind the bench in between Pauly Balst (financier to the stars), Senator Richard Lugar, and Ryan White. I'm still not sure about whom I was more shocked Knight would use such a stream of profane epithets in front of. Easily offended is something I've never been accused of being, but my stomach hurt after listening to Jadlow being dressed down like that. This Hoosier team is better than the group with whom we suffered last season, but there is still a long way to go if Indiana is going to stand for the same level of excellence it enjoyed back in the day. The first order of business is getting to work on foul shots. You can't win if you can't shoot, and if you can't hit a 15-foot set shot more often than you miss, you can't play. I hate to single out kids, but just what the hell is Devan Dumes doing jacking up shots every time he touches the ball? That kind of inane shot selection deserves a seat with the managers. Indiana will always have a huge fan base because of the passion built through years of excellence, and I will always be one of them, but at some point this tide must turn. All areas of the defense must improve markedly, the helpside rotation in particular. Offensively, shot selection is a constant issue. Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe IU was tired in the second half, and that affected the Hoosiers intensity. Dan Dakich said something very smart in the Big Ten Network postgame - as he always does - "A basketball game lasts the perfect amount of time. Forty minute is just right to find out who is the best team." Tonight, for the first 20 minutes, IU looked ready to compete. They hung on through the first ten minutes of the second half. Illinois proved itself superior in the last ten minutes. Illinois goes to 3-0 in the Big Ten, and IU drops to 1-2. Next up for the Hoosiers is a trip to Ann Arbor for a 9p tilt with the 8-6 Michigan Wolverines.

Indianapolis Colts Get Rematch with Ravens

kentsterling — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:22:58 +0000

: Colts vs. Ravens, Saturday Night

Now the Colts know who with whom they need to deal next Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Baltimore Ravens left no doubt early in today's win over the shell-shocked Patriots. It was 21-0 before many in Foxboro found their seats, and the rest was academic. The Colts and Ravens have no secrets from one another having played seven weeks ago at M&T Stadium. The Colts won 17-15 in a game that was undecided until a Gary Brackett interception late in the fourth quarter. Both teams moved the ball well at times, but the Ravens were fatally hurt by an inability to get the ball into the end zone. Kicker Billy Cundiff accounted for all 15 Ravens points, and former Ravens kicker Matt Stover drove a 25-yard effort through with 7:02 remaining in the game to provide the winning score for the Colts. Manning was effective, but not great, going 21-for-32, 299 yards, one TD, and 2 picks. The Colts have won their last seven against the Ravens, and will enjoy some home cooking unlike the regular season game. Joseph Addai ran for 76 yards, and averaged 3.9 per carry. Pierre Garcon got hot and had a great game catching six balls for 108 yards. I seem to recall Garcon barking at Ray Lewis. I questioned at the time whether that was the smartest play in the world. Taunting a guy who may or may not have taken part in a murder or its cover-up is not the kind of thing of which long NFL careers are made, but football is a man's game so there's nothing wrong with a little posturing as long as you survive it. Of all the teams to play in the divisional round of the playoffs, I like this one best. There is no dragon to slay here for the Colts. They pummeled the Ravens last year, and then came back in a tough game to beat that again this year. The defense stood tall with a seemingly endless string of big plays, and then Brackett found a way pick the Flacco pass to end the Raven's hopes. The Colts have some issues of their own though. In nine trips to the playoffs, four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning has lost his first game six times. For whatever reason, the Colts seem to get tight in the postseason. Not sure why, but it seems to happen in other places too. The Pats looked like the Bills today, and as I write, the Packers are in big trouble against the Cardinals. Comebacks in the regular season are fun. If the Colts had lost one of the seven games they won with fourth quarter comebacks, who cares? Play with abandon, and turn the inner beast loose. But when the game means your season after not playing a meaningful game in a month-and-a-half, getting your pulse rate to a manageable level is not easy. I still believe the Colts are a team of destiny this year. There is a cool phenomenon for veteran teams who get a new coach. There is a sense of the unknown that ratchets up the level of work and preparation, and the immediate result is success at a higher level. I'm not really sure what Colts Coach Jim Caldwell does but say nothing interesting in front of a microphone, but at the least he stays out-of-the-way of some of the smartest assistant coaches in NFL history. Howard Mudd, Larry Coyer, Tom Moore, John Teerlinck, Clyde Christiansen, Gene Huey, and Ray Rychleski have been great all year. Rychleski as the new head of the Colts previously woeful special teams has been a revelation. The statistical difference between the potential for offensive success starting from your own 20 versus your own forty is nearly 40%. The coverage unit for the Colts has had as much to do with the Colts success this year as the development of the young wide receivers or the way defensive backs Jacob Lacey and Melvin Bullitt have stepped into positions vacated by injured starters. Next week, we'll see whether the Colts are ready to assume the mantle of team of the decade or whether they are just another one-and-done team that just couldn't get to greatness from real goodness. No excuses this year. Virtually total health, home field, and a game against the #6 seed should be enough for the Colts to get over the hump. If that happens, how fun would it be to have to play the team you had beat and out of the playoffs until the starters were pulled. The Jets and Colts would have one very compelling storyline.

Geriatric Wainwrikle Out at DePaul

kentsterling — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:42:20 +0000

ESPN is reporting this morning that beleaguered basketball coach Jerry Wainwright will be fired this morning as the head coach at DePaul. What made Wainwright a peculiar coach at the time of his hire almost five years ago was never resolved, and the team predictably struggled. Wainwright's commitment was called into question by boosters throughout his reign of malaise, preferring to discuss his availability for other jobs rather than the potential success of the Blue Demons. Maybe that was prudent as DePaul's record in the Big East last season was a humiliating 0-18, finishing 9-24 overall. The blame for the poor records that followed his second year - one where he won 20 - was usually laid by Wainwright at the feet of the kids like Dar Tucker who bolted before finishing and injuries to others. The true culpability belongs to the athletic department headed by Jean Lenti Posetto, who continues to spend on basketball coaches like they are in the Horizon League. If DePaul wants to make boosters and alums to believe they are truly a Big East school, they need to invest heavily in their signature program. They need to get a guy who can flat-out coach and find a way to keep him around. Loyola played DePaul throughout the Summer in open gyms, and routinely thrashed them. Can you imagine a scenario where IUPUI would play Butler at Hinkle and beat the hell out of them each week? Those games don't count in the standings, but they count in how a culture of pride and winning was never established in Lincoln Park. Dave Leitao was that kind of guy. He had the program headed north, and provided the players Wainright empoyed to the limited success he enjoyed. The top programs in the Big East have coaches who've been at their schools for a long time, and don't turn over simply because they were too cheap to hire the right guy or retain the right guy. Wainwright was lauded as a Chicagoan who could get out and recruit his hometown of Chicago. His ability as a guy who looks 80 to connect with 18-year-old kids from the city was questioned early, often, and correctly. Build an 8,000-seat campus arena. Hire a great coach, or potentially great coach. Embrace your Big East membership. Or, get the hell out of the Big East. Join the Horizon League. Jean, take the first step today back to being a source of pride for Chicago. Hire a guy who can do the job.

McGwire Admits to Steroid Use - Wow, Really?

kentsterling — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:29:33 +0000

That this is a news story is ridiculous, and that Tony LaRussa is applauding former slugger Mark McGwire’s contrition is a mockery of honesty, decency, and goodness. Was there anyone is the English-speaking world that didn’t know McGwire was taking steroids, human growth hormones, and every other legal or illegal supplement known to science to gain an advantage over pitchers during his big league career? People respect honesty in difficult circumstances. McGwire’s dodging of questions from the congressional committee five years ago was ill-conceived and catastrophic to America’s perception of both McGwire the player and the man. Rightly so. The only rule my parents were adamant about was to “tell the truth”. Like many kids, I always tried to dip and duck, giving them as little of the truth as possible while still being able to claim the moral high ground. What I found out over many years of alibis, winking, and coming clean a little bit was that there are no degrees of truth and deceit, just is there are no degrees of being dirty. You are either clean or not. Telling the truth acknowledges that nothing is worth the alternative over the long haul. In 100 years, no one in going to remember anything about you, me, or Mark McGwire. So, who you crappin’? Be a guy, own up, and move on. Too bad there isn’t an over-the-counter supplement for going a sack. Ironic that steroids shrink your balls, isn’t it. For McGwire to expect anyone to forgive him today because he has done what he should have done years ago is preposterous. Even in his written statement, McGwire said that he wishes he hadn’t played during the steroid era. The era determined his ability to determine right from wrong? What a valueless a comment. He also says, “Now that I have become the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, I have the chance to do something that I wish I was able to do five years ago.” WHAT! Was he physically prohibited from owning up to his behavior until there was a paycheck involved? McGwire blames his era for using, and then blames advice from his attorney for not telling the truth. Does this guy accept responsibility for anything? To see this as a moral epiphany is just as silly as accepting the apology in lieu of an admission during the hearings. Someone in baseball mandated that McGwire issue a statement because he wants to return to baseball as the hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals. This isn’t contrition, it’s convenience. If anyone wants to see a true role model, point them toward a public figure whose version of the truth is both raw and consequential. There aren’t many examples. Ron Artest has always been honest; crazy, but honest in a compelling and unhinged way. Muhammed Ali is an honest man. His stand with the Nation of Islam against the Vietnam War took away four years of prime earnings, and painted him in many communities as un-American. Andy Petitte and Alex Rodriguez came clean about their use of banned substances, but at that point it was clearly the path toward salvation. The only way any columnist or reporter comes out as pro-McGwire in today’s tumult would be if he or she is cozying up for a potential interview, or if they are suffering from an advanced level of moral turpitude themselves. Below is the remainder of McGwire’s statement. If that satisfies you, take a look in the mirror and decide what kind of person you are and what you want to be – a circumstantially good man, or a guy with a sack who can make the tough call and say it straight. “I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come. It’s time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected. I used steroids during my playing career and I apologize. I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989/1990 off season and then after I was injured in 1993, I used steroids again. I used them on occasion throughout the ’90s, including during the 1998 season. I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era. During the mid-’90s, I went on the DL seven times and missed 228 games over five years. I experienced a lot of injuries, including a ribcage strain, a torn left heel muscle, a stress fracture of the left heel, and a torn right heel muscle. It was definitely a miserable bunch of years and I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster. I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too. I’m sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids. I had good years when I didn’t take any and I had bad years when I didn’t take any. I had good years when I took steroids and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn’t have done it and for that I’m truly sorry. Baseball is really different now — it’s been cleaned up. The commissioner and the players’ association implemented testing and they cracked down, and I’m glad they did. I’m grateful to the Cardinals for bringing me back to baseball. I want to say thank you to Cardinals owner Mr. DeWitt, to my GM, John Mozeliak, and to my manager, Tony La Russa. I can’t wait to put the uniform on again and to be back on the field in front of the great fans in Saint Louis. I’ve always appreciated their support and I intend to earn it again, this time as hitting coach. I’m going to pour myself into this job and do everything I can to help the Cardinals hitters become the best players for years to come. After all this time, I want to come clean. I was not in a position to do that five years ago in my congressional testimony, but now I feel an obligation to discuss this and to answer questions about it. I’ll do that, and then I just want to help my team.” McGwire could have helped baseball five years ago by telling the unconditional truth. He also could have done the same thing today. Whoever vetted that tripe did McGwire and baseball no favors.

NBC to Move Jay Leno to 11:35p; Conan to Midnight, or Out?

kentsterling — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:13:55 +0000

Who in their right mind at NBC thought primetime America wanted 60-minutes of Jay Leno at 10p? That question presupposes anyone at NBC was in their right mind during that meeting. After nearly 60 years of winding down at 10p with a drama, NBC thought people were ready for relentless jokes and panel interviews. You know why no one in the history of TV tried this before? Because it's idiotic, and would require a complete and total change in media consumption habits. Did NBC programmers wake up and decide they were such geniuses that they could outprogram rebels like Pat Weaver, Fred Silverman, and Brandon Tartikoff in one fell swoop? Variety/talk shows like Leno and Letterman are niche programming. Where do niche programs go? Out of primetime, that's for damn sure. The Leno defenders have alibied Leno by saying he has more viewers than he did when he hosted the Tonight Show. How could he not? The number of available viewers is greater by a factor of ridiculous. The big factor prompting this change back is that as a lead-in for the newscasts of local affiliates and O&Os, Leno sucks. Ratings for local news have dropped by 50+% in some markets. That means big money, and when you lose that kind of cabbage for your current affiliates, CBS, ABC and Fox affiliations start to look pretty damn good. Networks without affiliates are fancy buildings with really expensive gadgets. The change was so stark that everyone at NBC should have known that evolving the American consciousness into accepting this radical departure from the norm would require a minimum commitment of two years. Four months in, the squawking from GMs across the country is gathering momentum, and is now too loud to escape. When profits are down by 30% during an already terrible economy because of the hubris of network programmers, GMs get angry. When the network doesn't take that anger seriously, phones start ringing at the other networks. This series of events has been entirely predictable, but once a group of people commit to the logic of an idea, and contracts with talent are signed; it becomes nearly impossible get the boat out of the bottle without breaking some glass. Unfortunately, the expectations were not correctly communicated to the affiliates. This radical a change takes…? Class? Class? Two years. How long will it take for NBC to put together programming that can reacquire the audience lost to CBS, ABC, and the local news on Fox affiliates? NBC can shift it’s bevy of Law & Orders back to 10p, but what will then replace those. One sure bet, there are a lot of nervous people in Burbank pointing fingers and building alliances after nights without much sleep. That’s it – how about “Network Executive Survivor” at 9p weeknights.

Kentucky Basketball Continues Run at Undefeated Season - at What Cost?

kentsterling — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:12:14 +0000

Kentucky plays at Florida tonight in one of the tougher games it will face in trying to run the regular season table. The SEC is down this year, but still poses a few challenges for one of the most heralded classes in college basketball history. Tennessee and Vanderbilt are very good teams, and the Wildcats play each school twice. There are questions - loud pointed questions - being asked about the group of kids leading UK to their excellence. Circumstantial evidence and a passing knowledge in how college basketball recruiting works leads Bob Knight and many others to believe that Kentucky Coach John Calipari likely crossed ethical and NCAA lines in assembling this group of talented kids. Calipari's history of leading programs that get into serious trouble with the NCAA is profound and unique. His last UMass team vacated its 1996 Final Four appearance because of cash and other considerations paid to star player Marcus Camby. This was after Calipari left UMass for the NBA's New Jersey Nets. Then, Memphis to forfeited its entire 2007-2008 season, including Calipari's other Final Four appearance because Derrick Rose falsified his SAT scores and an associate of Rose's received paid airfare and hotel rooms to Memphis games during that season. Did Calipari take the test for Rose or directly pay Camby or Rose's associate for travel? No. Did he arrange it? He's too smart for that too. Did he have any knowledge of it? A smart guy wouldn't. Could he have stopped it? Of course. He ran the programs, and he is running things at Kentucky. In a very, very short period after his hire at UK, Calipari assembled the very best recruiting class in America. Here's the timeline: March 31, 2009 - John Calipari is hired at UK April 7, 2009 - #2 ranked recruit DeMarcus Cousins commits to Kentucky. He rescinded his commitment to Memphis when Calipari signed a $31.5 million contract to take his act to Lexington. April 24, 2009 - Four-star recruit Darnell Dodson signs with Kentucky. May 5 - Five-star point guard Eric Bledsoe signs with Kentucky and cites Calipari as the deciding factor in his recruiting May 18 - The top ranked national recruit John Wall commits to Kentucky. Brian Clifton, a former registered agent who pulled that registration in order to qualify to coach Wall's AAU team plays a significant role in the decision. The other two recruits, Daniel Orton and Jon Hood belonged to former coach Billy Gillespie. So if there were any promises made to secure those commitments, they belong to Gillespie. John Wall is the consensus choice as the number one pick in June's NBA Draft if he decides to forfeit his final three years of eligibility, and no one passes that up. DeMarcus Cousins and junior Patrick Patterson are projected to go in the middle of the first round. That means Calipari will have to reload, which doesn't usually present a problem. College basketball can be a wonderful game. The kids are phenomenal. The level of play is incredible. Recruiting in college basketball is a seedy meat market. At the highest level, the coaches don't recruit kids. They recruit skills and measurables that can help them move up a level of two in salary. When rewarded to the tune of $2-$4 million per year for putting a successful basketball team on the floor, what kind of rule bending can fans expect? Plenty. How smart do you think the most successful of these coaches are in hiding the payouts through third, fourth, and fifth party runners? Real smart. It's doubtful Calipari is ever caught holding the smoking gun, but that doesn't mean there aren't $1,000 bullets flying all over Lexington and the hometowns of many of these kids. Kentucky has a slim chance to finish the regular season undefeated, but even if they do, at what cost does that excellence come? Is the lack of morality, regardless of culpability or level of responsibility at which the NCAA is empowered to hold its authors, worth it? What lessons are learned by the student-athletes? The ends justify the means is not a course that should be taught at any university. Unfortunately, the lack of consequences for the smart operators rewards exactly the kind of behavior which fuels the economy for the street agents, pimps, “coaches”, registered agents, and runners that so completely squeeze the good out of what is at its best – a pure game played by wonderful student-athletes. Shame on everyone who makes it otherwise through their smarmy, deceitful, and corrupt actions. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Mark McGwire Continues to Astonish with His Ill-Informed Babbling

kentsterling — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:14:56 +0000

Mark McGwire is a strange man, continuing to do himself harm by opening his mouth in the safest chair available for a baseball player in exile, across from Bob Costas. On and on he went, blathering about people still talking about the home run in his first at-bat in little league, the titanic blasts in high school, and legion ball. He went on to claim that he has no doubt he could have beaten all the home run records without steroids and illegal supplements. I wanted to reach through the TV screen and grab McGwire's lips so he would stop. If he could have broken all the records without steroids, was he using them recreationally? For fun? McGwire says he didn't use steroids for the strength - he did it for his health. Well, really. People retire from baseball because they can't recover from injuries. That's why their statistics end where they do. It's like the REM song - "Everybody Hurts". He didn't heal well, so he injected himself and that got him well. He felt good again. That's what these hormones do. If Ernie Banks could have played like a 30-year-old until he was 50, Mr. Cub would have hit 900 home runs. Someone needs to get McGwire to stop talking about the past and get him to quit rationalizing about why he chose to inject himself through the majority of his career. With every word, his apology became less meaningful and sincere. He claims to have wanted to come clean since 2005, but no one would grant him immunity. Consequences are why sackless boobs lie in the first place. If not for that, there is no disincentive for telling the truth. McGwire's incessant ranting painted him as a guy who believes he's the victim in this whole affair. "People still talk about me..." sounds like the boozy hero in Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days". He did apologize throughout, but clearly still doesn't understand that cheating is cheating. God bless ESPN's John Kruk and the borderline anger he showed during the discussion on Sportscenter. Kruk did it right. He worked hard and played hard, but when it was time to hang it up he took off his jersey in the middle of the game, and left the stadium with a career .300 average. McGwire stuck needles in his body and injected fix-it juice. He now talks about how magically healing gave him no advantage. What crap. The ends justify the means seems the mantra for today's society. Whether it’s cheating to get recruits, juicing to heal, or financing homes for the indigent, Americans have completely abandoned the idea that honor is a worthwhile pursuit. Success is measured in dollars, not the ability to sleep at night or the pride you see in your child's eyes when he or she sees you gladly accept a negative because right is right. And then we demand forgiveness and a financial or moral bailout. Screw that. Wrong is wrong. Be a man, and pay the piper. If you cheat, you pay. That shouldn’t be a profane concept. I wrote earlier today about John Calipari and the potential for inequity at Kentucky given the tax levied by the NCAA upon his two previous universities, and his overwhelming recruiting success. The Kentucky fans stood in line to call me a conspiracy theorist. I will buy any UK fan a sandwich if they reply by saying, "I don't care about cheating. I want wins." At least that would be honest and show a brain willing to take a look at the steaming pile of evidence that doesn’t require a smoking gun to draw an inference of guilt – at least through oversight. Craving immediate wins, yet claiming the moral high ground is pathetic and delusional. McGwire should have embraced his stupidity and shortsightedness. Saying it didn't make him hit better make McGwire look like the oaf that he is. Maybe that is his penance.

Purdue Loss; UK Win Highlight Great Night of Hoops

kentsterling — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:00:26 +0000

Ohio State and Thad Matta deserved a loss last night at Mackey Arena for choosing to stay in that zone and leave Robbie Hummel open to hit eight three-pointers in the first half in one of the most impressive halves of shooting in college basketball history. What needs to happen to get the Buckeyes to adjust as a kid is unloading for 29 first half points? In the second half, ESPN viewers were in for a different kind of treat. Evan Turner brought to bear every bit of what he had in a furious comeback to close a ten-point gap with four-minutes to play and lead the Buckeyes to the 70-66 upset. With the students back in Mackey, the demographic of the crowd dropped by roughly 45 years, and the conversation turned from favorite applesauce and favorite Tony Orlando set lists to cheering like hell for the Boilers, and Hummel responded by hitting one three-pointer per minute during the last six minutes of the first half. There is always and uneasy feeling that surrounds a team when they can't put away a team in the first half despite incomparable shooting, but the Boilers maintained that 10-point lead until just prior to the four-minute TV timeout. That's when Turner took over, going on a personal 10-0 run to tie the game at 62, and then scored another four of the last eight-points to secure the road win. By the way, Turner's great finish came during his 36th and 40th minute on the floor. He never sat. So all you candy-asses who bitch about getting tired after 28 minutes, grow a sack and get in shape. E'Twaun Moore, as always, put up the quietest 19 points you ever saw. The Big Ten is a war this year. Illinois and Michigan State are still undefeated, but this conference race looks a lot like what we used to see in the 1980s when there were six teams capable of winning, and the champ came in with four losses. The Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis should make for a very special weekend. The game that followed the Boilers loss featured one good SEC team hosting another. The Kentucky Wildcats teased and tormented the Florida Gators throughout, before finally deciding to end it 89-77. Florida electrified the Rabid Reptiles (is there a lamer name for a group of fans in all of sports?) by taking at 73-72 lead with 5:12 left, and then the Wildcats went on a 13-1 run to pot the game away. There is speed and there is basketball speed. I can't tell you what kind of 40-yard dash time Eric Bledsoe and John Wall have, but they both have incredible basketball speed. From three-point line to three-point line, those two looked to be nearly two steps faster than the Florida guards in transition. It's not like UK was playing against the University of Vermont. This was Florida. But when those kids turned on the jets, the Wildcats had numbers. Wall does something else I really like, and that is throw very accurate, very catchable passes. He doesn't fire them unless he has to, and it looks like DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson know when and where to expect the ball from him. He is more impressive with every game. The only downside of the two broadcasts was the sycophantic ranting of Dick Vitale, who proposed that John Calipari is the coach of the year in college basketball. Vitale’s constant praising of coaches (particularly those who share his Italian descent) regardless of the circumstances was tired in 1989. What a travesty bestowing that award to Calipari would be. Calipari is to the Wildcats as Chuck Daly was to the 1992 Olympic Dream Team with Magic, Michael, Larry, and Charles. He selected the players, got them to come to Lexington, and now his biggest challenge is to get the bus safely to the arena. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Indiana Pacers Are Doing Exactly the Right Thing

kentsterling — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:48:09 +0000

The interest level in the NBA and Indiana Pacer in the Indianapolis metropolitan area is low. Really low. How low? I've taken my wife to BW3s in Fishers twice in the last two weeks during Pacers games (yeah, I know, I'm a big spender), and on the 38 screens surrounding the dining area and bar exactly none of them displayed the game. We asked the server why the game wasn't on instead of the Morehead State vs. Austin Peay women's basketball tilt. She said no one asked. The next time we went, we didn't bother asking. I would have liked to watch the game, but was more interested to see if anyone else would ask. They didn't. That's bad, but it's okay. The best thing that could happen is for the days until the Pacers are out of their salary cap driven paralysis somehow speed past, and then they rebuild. The second best thing is for the fans of Indianapolis to be distracted so thoroughly by something else that they forget about the team while it struggles. The Colts are doing one hell of a good job of providing that other distraction. Indianapolis is crazy about the Colts. People can't wait to hear or see anything remotely connected to the team as they begin their tenth playoff run in 12 seasons. The Pacers are only one-half game out of a top three draft pick in the June NBA Draft. They are also only 4.5 games out of the eight seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Do the Pacers have the stomach to ride these still waters of malaise into a salary dump that leaves the teams destitute for the rest of the season, draft high, and spend on the best free agent class in NBA history? The upside is huge, and the downside is finding a way to win just enough to eke into the playoffs or just miss it again and draft 13th - again. Mediocrity is never going to steal headlines or interest from the Colts. There is no joy and no victory there. Average play begets more average play. Drafting in the teens forces teams to build with comparatively average talent. Is Roy Hibbert ever going to be an all-star? Brandon Rush? Tyler Hansbrough? Maybe, but it's a long shot for any of them. The Pacers need a star, and you don't get a star by drafting in the teens. There is such significant gravity for a sports franchise to try to win. It's almost irresistible. Given the current level of adoration for the Colts, and opposing ambivalence toward the Pacers it's a no-brainer for those of us outside Conseco Fieldhouse to posit toward holding a fire sale to acquire expiring contracts that reduces the current quality of play. Who on the current Pacers roster should be deemed untouchable? The question so completely defies logic, I can't begin to form an answer. Sport is a great place for comparative science. The Pacers are 12-25. I don't need a degree from MIT and analytic pedigree like Jeff Sagarin to say with confidence that no player has been instrumental in generating 12 wins without also being instrumental in causing the 25 losses. Granger has been out until recently with some plantar fasciitis, but injuries are even more damning than poor play. Can Larry Bird sleep while putting a purposely inferior on the floor? One of the great competitors in the history of team sports is driven by the opportunity to build a winner. The road toward winning may so temporarily unpleasant that he is unable to muster the internal fortitude to sell that strategy to Owner Herb Simon, who wants nothing more to feel pride in the franchise he saved from leaving town more than a quarter century ago. It occurred to me while writing this that generating web traffic by writing about a franchise that is so far away from the collective local sports fans attention, much less the national mindset, is potentially a complete waste of time. Hopefully, if fans aren't interested enough in a Pacers game to watch it in a sports bar, they still have enough passion to read about why. That's optimism for you. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Dallas Cowboys a 2.5 Dog; Does Rawling's Know More Than Vegas?

kentsterling — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:15:13 +0000

Rawlings is blowing out the Tony Romo crap stuck in the warehouse (see advertisement below). The Cowboys are only 2.5-3 point dogs to the Vikings, but the folks at Rawlings figure they better strike while the iron is hot if they are going to move it at all. Maybe the sporting goods manufacturer feeling that counting upon a second playoff win in the same season after winning exact zero in the postseason makes the Cowboys especially vulnerable. Or maybe they overestimated Romo's appeal as a pitchman and regardless of the result of the game, will have trouble moving skids of Romo composite footballs and youth jerseys. Either way, the timing is hilarious. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

John Feinstein on UK's Calipari

kentsterling — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:31:35 +0000

I have written in the past, and will continue to that John Calipari is a guy that Kentucky may regret hiring because every success that his programs have enjoyed in the past has been erased from the books by the NCAA. Below is a quote from author, columnist, and college basketball expert John Feinstein regarding Calipari, whom he likes: From John Feinstein: "One coach I know who knows Calipari well and has recruited against him for years said this about him: “He’s the most dangerous guy in the game right now. Why? Because he’s a good coach and a good guy and people like him. But he’s going to do whatever it takes to win—whatever it takes. You think it’s a coincidence he’s had two Final Fours vacated? Sure and Mark McGwire took steroids because of injuries.” "That sums up the way a lot of coaches feel about Calipari. Some of that is jealousy but some of that IS his past. I fall into the category of people who like John. I first met him in 1984 when he was a 25-year-old assistant coach at Kansas and was working at The Five Star camp. We were close in age and hit it off right away. John liked to talk. My job is to listen." Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Colts Mocked in The Onion

kentsterling — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:54:39 +0000

You have to love The Onion. If they had journalists, the media relations office for the Colts would be on the phone to them asking what their problem is. They quote Jim Caldwell during his monthly press conference as say that he plans to rest many starters this Saturday in preparation for the Super Bowl run. http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/colts_to_rest_starters_for Colts fans uninitiated in the tone of The Onion should know that the purpose of the website and paper version is to mock, mock, and mock some more. The Colts should be pleased that their behavior is so well known and imbedded in the public consciousness that it merits mention in a publication like The Onion, which works to reflect popular sentiment and mirrors its level of interest. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Premiere Episode of Harry's Take on Sports

kentsterling — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:37:30 +0000

Every weekday, we will present with pride "Harry's Take on Sports". This is a custom for kentsterling.com. Harry is pithy, energetic, and is full of unique insight.[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry2.mp3] Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Colts Playoff Season Is Time for Confidence

kentsterling — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:28:08 +0000

That headline was supposed to motivate me to write something about knowing that the Colts are going to win Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are the sixth seed, and already lost to the Colts on November 22, in Baltimore, so what's the big deal? The Ravens can't score. Flacco is dinged and his release is goofed up. And the Colts have won seven in a row against the Ravens. Where is the cause for drama? I'll tell you the same thing every Colts fan is thinking. Peyton Manning is 7-8 all-time in the postseason. The ball is not round. It bounces funny, so on any given Sunday...you know the rest. The Colts have not played a meaningful game in well over a month. Their competitive rhythms could be completely screwed up. The Colts were the number one seed in 2005 and 2007. Those postseasons ended with dispatch. That is why Colts fans are starting to feel their nerves tingle a bit two days prior to the game that could bring the AFC Championship to Indianapolis for the first time. Given the previous record, the layoff, and the oblong structure of the ball, I would still much rather be the Colts than the Ravens. Of the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL, I would rank Flacco solidly in the bottom 10 because of his hip injury. He was clearly not right against the Patriots. The defense is aging quickly and with each game played, the abilities are less sharp, or you would think until you see that Ray Lewis had 13 tackles last week. Maybe he shot his wad. Safety Ed Reed has always been a thorn in Manning's side, but how bad has he made life when Manning has won his last seven starts against the Ravens. A good start will settle a lot of nerves around Indianapolis. If the Ravens go berserk, and get up 21 points on the Colts like they did against the Pats, the blood pressure will go through the roof on the field, in the stands, and in the sportsbars. There will be some of that errie quiet that we don't like to hear. If the Colts cash in on their first possession, Colts fans might relax and enjoy the game. The Ravens are not built to comeback. They are a grind it out group with a rotating backfield of Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. The Colts defense did a great job the first time around limiting Rice (20 carries for 71 yards) and McGahee (six carries for 25 yards). Those two make the offensive engine go. Derrick Mason had his best statistical game of the season with nine catches and 142 yards, but the Colts defense closed down opportunities when the Ravens got to the red zone, so for all of his work, the Ravens were forced to attempt six field goals, making five. This game should come down to a battle of field position. If the Ravens start inside their own 30-yard line throughout the game, the Colts should be in great shape. That means the Colts need to pick up first downs, cover kicks and punts very well, and limit turnovers. Football is a simple game. Colts fans found that out last season against the Chargers. Punter Bruce Scifres may have had the best punting game in NFL postseason history, and the Colts couldn't move the ball the length of the field. Chargers win. The odds of scoring a touchdown on a drive starting from your own 40 are roughly double those starting from your own 20. Against an offense that chews up yards as slowly as the Ravens with a wounded Flacco, making them go 80 yards instead of 60 or less is key. What kind of a simpleton analyzes a game a little bit, and concludes that turnovers and bad field position are the enemies? I guess the kind of simpleton that know that football is an easy game to figure out, but almost impossible to execute perfectly. The keys for a Colts win - win the turnover battle, Joseph Addai is able to average 4.0 yards per carry, offense converts on 45% of third down opportunities, and Pat McKee is good for a 50% touchback rate on kickoffs and is able to pin the Ravens inside the 20 each punt from outside the Colts own 40. Colts 20 - Raven 9 Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Jersey Johnny Contest - Complete the Sentence

kentsterling — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:36:13 +0000

"Jersey" Johnny Cimasko appeared as a guest on ESPN's "Outside the Lines - First Report" just moments ago, and was unfortunately cut off before finishing the following sentence, "Always a ...............". Complete that sentence correctly for a chance to win a Blue Ray copy of "Red Dawn" - Number Four on the list of the www.kentsterling.com all-time Top Ten Silliest Movies. Cimasko, better known as Jersey Johnny because he moved his family to Indianapolis from New Jersey to more closely follow the Colts, had just finished providing insight as to how the Colts will respond to not playing a meaningful game in 29 days by ESPN's count (I would say the last meaningful game was four days earlier against the Broncos). Jers said the Colts will have to focus on the task at hand, and the offensive line will need to protect Peyton Manning. I love Jers, and don't mean to bang on him at all, but what the hell did Bob Ley think Jers would say when asked that question? The Colts will need to run faster and hit harder? At any rate be among the group to answer correctly among the following choices, and win the Blu- Ray of "Red Dawn" starring the late Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, and Lea Thompson. Don't miss Harry Dean Stanton yelling "Avenge me, Boys!" in one of his finest performances. "Always a ......" a) ...groovy time sharing space with you, Bob." b) ...nerve-wracking experience to answer such insipid questions." c) ...less than thrilling experience to drive down to that studio and wait 35 minutes before you finally start asking me rudimentary questions." d) ...pleasure, Bob." Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Indiana Travels to Ann Arbor for Game Against Michigan

kentsterling — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:35:37 +0000

The Hoosiers will try to go 2-0 against the Wolverines this season and level their record in the Big Ten at 2-2. Michigan will be keen in their effort in avenging that loss. Tom Crean previews the game below, citing his hope that the Hoosiers will be able to match not their level of intensity necessary, but their level of execution. Crean attributes the win two weeks ago to the ability to run their stuff, and run it right. The intensity of the home Michigan crowd will likely effect that for the worse as there is no worse enemy for offensive execution than defensive intensity. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYU13ZKSxlY] Teams that get focused on the defensive end hedge on the wings, deny penetration, and recover more quickly. Sit back, and everyone executes. The Hoosiers will have to make good decisions to punish Michigan for their aggression, or that 15-point line Vegas has thrown at this game will be generous to Indiana. The absence of Maurice Creek and Matt Roth remains huge for Indiana. There is nothing quite like kids who can knock down shots to help get a team going. With Creek and Roth, Indiana relies upon Verdell Jones III and Christian Watford for offense, and God help Indiana if Devan Dumes supplies offense or at least shots. He is shooting 32.5% overall and 34% from outside the arc. Dan Dakich always says, you have to guard shooters because shooters can make shots or they wouldn't be shooting. Dumes violates that rule. There are kids you pray miss the first shot because then they might back off the throttle. Make the first shot, and it's going to be a long night where a kid goes 2-for-12. That's Dumes. It's also the entire Michigan team. They are among the poorest shooters from beyond the arc, and that is one of the key reasons the Wolverines are 8-7 and 2-2 in the Big Ten. As a team, Michigan is shooting under 30% from beyond-the-arc. The six kids who have accounted for all but one start have posted the following averages from deep - 28.4%, 30%, 28.4%, 32.5%, 35.2%, and 27.8%. Contain the dribble, and contest shots. Game time is 9p, which means unless Georgetown blows out Seton Hall, the first five minutes will be missed. Bob Knight used to rail on the 9p games because kids didn't get back to Bloomington until 3a and then had to go to class. That shouldn't be a problem tonight. Kids who sign-up for Friday classes are saps, and class time never got in the way of The General getting guys in the gym to work at 2a or 3a after a loss. I hate the 9p games because joining the game at the 15:00 mark of the first half is a given. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Life Throws Curves - But Some Hang

kentsterling — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:35:14 +0000

Emmis Communications fired me nine days ago from my position as program director of WIBC - a legendary news/talk radio station, and 1070 The Fan - Indianapolis' leading sportstalk station. I got to build The Fan from scratch and craft a sportstalk I knew Indianapolis would be proud of. Indy was proud of being the WIBC's home long before I was hired there in 1993. After getting canned, I drove to see my wife at Today's Dentistry and give her the news. I grabbed her by the hand and led her into the break room, "Julie, I got fired." Her mood lifted. "I'm sorry for you," she said. Then we talked about money. Self-pity is not a good place, so I went to work. Rob Nichols helped get this site up quickly, and within 24-hours I was writing and learning. At the same time, I had this really nervous feeling in my stomach that just wouldn't go away. I tried deep breathing, walking, laying down and thinking about other things. I watched a 30-minute Joel Osteen show. Nothing helped. Then, last night, my wife grabbed me in the kitchen, "I have something to tell you, but I don't know if you want to hear it." That's never a good way for a conversation to start. My mind ran through the thousands of potential things about which she might be upset or disappointed. Having not done anything in a couple of years that could prompt a woman within easy reach of one of those expensive Cutco knives to slice me up like a boneless chicken breast, I told her she should tell me. I did remind her that I had been fired recently, so maybe she should be gentle. "I was happy when you were fired," she said. I had a choice - go for the joke, or remain serious. The joke would be, "If you would have told me that years ago, I could have saved myself a lot of time and effort." I wasn't funny enough, so I asked why? She told me over the next half-hour that I had gone away over the past year. I never stopped focusing on work. My thoughts were always on the programming and sales staffs at Emmis, and especially on the health of GM Tom Severino when he was ill with the lung cancer that took him too soon in early July. My focus after the hire of the new market manager, Charlie Morgan, evolved toward continuing to implement changes while maintaining the Emmis culture and figuring out what Charlie wanted. My brain likes to solve problems, and solving this equation took all of my energy and bandwidth. I felt like the WOPR in "WarGames", the Matthew Broderick film that shows the futility of nuclear war through the conundrum of tic-tac-toe. The WOPR's search for launch codes was slowed by the command to play X's and O's against itself. Endless cat's games ensued, and finally the computer gave up. Without knowing it, my brain was devoting more and more RAM to the solution of my problem, and less and less to what was going on at home. "You were here, but you were never here," Julie told me. We talked for awhile, and as we did, the sick feeling in my stomach evaporated and I relaxed. I'm still not sure what caused it, maybe a total emotional blockade because being fired was so emasculating, or because I felt I had disappointed my wife. That was clearly no longer worth devoting much concern to. Maybe it was because my identity had been so consumed by being the program director at WIBC and the pride I felt in building The Fan. Whatever it was, it was over. Julie told me she had given serious thought to pursuing an exit strategy, but my being fired had returned me. Not the guy who spent hours awake in bed during the overnight trying to figure out how we could get revenue numbers up, or get the talent to be more confident in their performance, but the guy she married. So Julie and I are moving toward a life where we can both be professionally challenged but attentive to family, friends, and each other. Getting that done will be a big challenge but worth the fight. Being so focused made me a lousy husband, inattentive friend, and probably not the best program director I can be. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Lou Piniella Ways In on McGwire

kentsterling — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:38:02 +0000

Here is Cubs Manager Lou Piniella's odd take on the recent Mark McGwire apologies and admissions; “Put it this way, if the steroids were not an issue, he would definitely be a first-[ballot] selection in the Hall of Fame," Piniella said Wednesday. "Is he a Hall of Famer? I would probably think that down the road he will be a Hall of Famer, maybe not in the first few ballots. "People tend to forget [incidents like the steroids admission], and rightfully so." To what episode of forgetfulness do you believe Piniella could possibly have been referring? Shoeless Joe Jackson, who hit .356 and was banned from baseball at the age of 30 in1920? Jackson's descendants continue to ram their heads in the brick wall that is Major League Baseball's very long memory - a memory that is a beacon of clarity for all the world to admire. Maybe Lou is talking about Pete Rose. Rose holds the MLB all-time hits record with 4,256 hits, led the National League in hits seven times (the last at the age of 40), and was named an all-star at five positions. He was banned from baseball 20 years ago, and he has clunkily tried hard to be reinstated ever since. Is that the forgetfulness Lou speaks of. How about Jackson's fellow Black Sox mate Buck Weaver, the third baseman who didn't take any money but was banned for life because he knew about the payoffs, but didn't disclose enough to management to be seen as anything but complicit in throwing the 1919 World Series? Is he the guy? By the way, banned for life, usually expires at the death of the sentencee. Jackson died in 1951 and Weaver passed on to his great reward in 1956 on Ernie Banks' 25th birthday. If baseball ran the American penal system, men and women sentenced to life in prison would be stacked like cordwood in a special prison wing upon their death. The next-of-kin would show up to claim the remains, and Warden Bud Selig would turn them away with the admonishment, "Oh, were you under the impression that the life sentence expires with the death of the prisoner? No, no. That should have been explained to you in the pamphlet we distribute to the cons as they enter the facility." The pamphlet is devoted to nothing but tales of how relentlessly accurate the memory that particular prison is. That is baseball. Babe Ruth is still ripped for eating and drinking his way onto the disabled list in 1925. That was 85 years ago! It seems the only guy in baseball with any memory loss issues is Lou. He continues to amaze every time his mouth opens. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Indiana Trails 27-21 at the Half Against Michigan

kentsterling — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:04:32 +0000

My God, can someone make a shot. Christian Watford seems to be the only guy who packed his contact lenses. I bust on Devan Dumes as much as anyone for being a bit of a chucker, and he is, but he brought some defense tonight. The rest of the Hoosiers did as well. Verdell Jones III is rebounding like a machine, and this game is what it was thought it would be. Indiana is fighting for its life in the Big Ten, not that they have a chance to contend, but if they can hang in against Michigan, Northwestern, Iowa, and Penn State, they can show growth and maybe get to the NIT. Michigan is maybe a year advanced from Indiana in their rebuilding effort, but IU looks like it's making strides. The guy introducing halftime coverage on ESPN really went out on a skinny limb saying to enjoy John Wall this season at Kentucky because "it might be his only season of college basketball. Watford leads the Hoosiers with eights points. He also has three boards, two assists and a steal. Jones leads all rebounders with seven. Sims leads the Wolverines with 12 points, four boards, three steals and two blocks. Bob Knight always said that the first five-minutes of the second half are the most important in college hoops, and that will be the case tonight. If the Hoosies hang in through the first TV timeout, they might have a chance to steal it. If the lead widens, that 15-point spread will look very good to U of M fans by the end of the contest.

Hoosiers Lose Late

kentsterling — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:00:41 +0000

That really got ugly late. The Hoosiers got blown out late to make the game look like a game that wasn't competitive. The 69-45 final was indicative only only the last five minutes of the contest. The first five-minutes of the second half are supposed to be the most important, but tonight's final five minutes were far more important. Indiana just does not have the depth to hang for 40 minutes against a team with a full roster. The Hoosiers are getting there, but have a tough time finishing.

McGwire; Colts Tomorrow; IU Last Night; Pacers Tonight

kentsterling — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:55:37 +0000

I'm on the road after spending a great day with Jim Priebe, printer to the stars at LithoTone in Elkhart. Great guy. Great company. Jim loves to laugh and bought me a sausage sandwich at a bars so loaded with cheese that my next stop will be at the cardiologist's office. That's the reason for the dearth of new material today, but I'll make up for lost time and words now. Jack Clark was a fearsome hitter during his career as a slugger most notably with the SF Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, and his mouth exacts the same price as his bat when employed correctly to assess the Mark McGwire situation. Unlike the mealy-mouthed Lou Piniella's quote from yesterday, Piniella said preposterously that baseball will forget the steroid issue and elect McGwire to the Hall of Fame after several years. Clark was more direct and served to speak in defense of the game, "These guys are playing the game for their own benefits and it's really disgusting. ... They go up there and shed a tear and they think all is forgotten. Well, it's not forgotten and it never will be." Honest guy with some integrity. How'd he find his way into baseball? *********** I have both a great feeling about the Colts tomorrow and a feeling of dread, depending upon the moment. So many bad things can happen during the course of a football game against an opportunistic defense like the Ravens, and then if they get a lead the ball control offense can wear you down and run clock. Clint Session being back is a huge plus for the Colts. I love Session's enthusiasm. He is the emotional center for the defense and having him out there will help take the edge off for the others on the defense. The Colts should be able to handle the Ravens without too much worry, but football games don't always unfold like they should. In idle moments, I start thinking about the six postseason one-and-dones in nine tries since 1999, and the nerves come back. I hope the Colts themselves are beyond such non-productive ideas. Most of the roster were close to starting high school in 1999, so I doubt it matters to Jacob Lacey and Donald Brown. It's like talking to me about the 1969 Cubs being the reason for the 2009 collapse. *************** Indiana put up a good fight on the road last night before being blitzed late at Michigan. Not that I gamble, I don't, but when I saw the line was at 15 points after the Hoosiers had already beaten them in Bloomington two weeks ago, I thought something bad might happen. The game was within reach with ten-minutes left, and if I had dropped some money on the Hoosiers, I would have been optimistic. Then, I would have started throwing shit at the TV. That's why I don't gamble. I can afford losing a little money, but replacing TVs gets expensive. Next up for the 1-3 (in the Big Ten) Hoosiers, a home tilt against Minnesota. ************* The Pacers are in New Jersey to play one of the worst teams in history as they meet the Nets. The coaching change from L. Frank to Kiki has really been fruitful. The Nets have won three games this season. The Pacers are 13-25 after winning their last two, and are now about to win another game. They are quickly going from being a bad team to a simply mediocre one. That means another draft pick toward the tail end of the lottery, and prolonged mediocrity. They need to lose and lose now, if they want to get great. All

Some Great Basketball Shots - All-Time Greats

kentsterling — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:47:21 +0000

Who doesn't like to watch incredible finishes? Here are some of the best on You Tube - all in one place to economize your viewing time. I prefer the high school and college shots as the kids are genuinely thrilled when they go in, None of the posturing and cockiness of some of the NBA shooters. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznOjyB-8sQ] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LapU0ugUBZw] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd0AgcvJCWg&NR=1] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJoxGpEswOI&NR=1] And the shot over Robbie Hummel in OT at the buzzer to lift Cathedral HS over Valparaiso in the semifinals of the 2006 Indiana Hall of Fame Classic. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob7fvXTUTtQ]

Colts Vindicate Polian's Decision to Rest

kentsterling — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:32:32 +0000

The Colts could have done little more than what they did tonight to make sure that Bill Polian'sn to call off the dogs in the third quarter was the right call. The offense moved the ball well, and the defense was stout to say the least. The points at which the Ravens could have wormed their way back into being competitive were all turned back. Most notably was the punch out of the ball during Ed Reed's interception return by Pierre Garcon. That interception could have turned the game around, but Garcon knocked the ball loose, and Dallas Clark jumped on it. The Raven's rushed for a total of 86 yards, and for a team that relies almost exclusively upon the rush for their offense, that was enormous. Colts Coach Jim Caldwell doesn't get a lot of credit, but late in the first half, Caldwell called timeout with 1:48 left. The Ravens had the ball second and six, and Caldwell stopped the clock. The Raven went incomplete, and then Ray Rice dropped a ball third and six. The Colts got it back with 1:26 left, up 10-3. They marched it down the field, and scored on a four-yard Reggie Wayne catch to take the score to 17-3 at the half. Caldwell also went for it on a fourth-and-three that the Colts converted that Joseph Addai converted that was instrumental in keeping the Colts moving. They could have punted and pinned the Ravens deep, but took the chance, and got it done. The Colts need to wait until 4:30p tomorrow to start sweating who the next opponent will be for the AFC Championship next weekend. This will incredibly be the second AFC Championship that Indianapolis will host. How do you win 12 games or more for seven seasons in a row, and host one AFC Championship game? This could have been a very unpleasant night for Bill Polian. Had the Colts found a way not to dominate the Ravens, there would have been some very loud carping from the Colts fans who were convinced that sitting the starters midway through the third quarter against the Jets opened the door to potential disaster. After watching the 2005 and 2007 teams throw up turds in the divisional playoff games at home as a result of pulling starters early and playing meaningless games with the intensity they deserve. Tonight was different. The defense went off, and stopped the Ravens cold. The Colts had a tough time running the ball, but with the ball bouncing the right way, the did that matter. In addition to the Garcon/Clark takeaway after the Reed interception, the Colts also got a nice bounce into the waiting arms of Clint Session after Ray Rice fumbled after a long run. There were also some good calls that went the Colts way. This was the kind of game that was dictated by both hard play and breaks. The Colts were the beneficiaries of both. Tomorrow, the Colts find out who come to town for to challenge for a ticket to the big dance.

Sports News Digest - January 17, 2010

kentsterling — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:31:07 +0000

There are online collections of columns and reports, but none I can find that combine the Colts, Pacers, IU, Purdue, Indy Car, and the Cubs. You can expect these digests to appear here daily to make your day a little bit easier. Building your own roster of favorites is simple enough, but then you have to clink around to find the story. Colts Dominate Ravens 20-3 http://www.indystar.com/article/20100117/SPORTS03/1170401/On-to-the-AFC-title-game-Defense-carries-Colts http://www.indystar.com/article/20100117/SPORTS15/1170400/Kravitz-Colts-dared-to-be-great http://www.indystar.com/article/20100117/SPORTS03/1170398/Manning-in-MVP-form http://www.indystar.com/article/20100117/SPORTS03/1170394/Slow-start-aggravates-Wayne http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=300116011 http://espn.go.com/blog/afcsouth/post/_/id/8316/nasty-colts-defense-dictated-games-shape http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12796335/methodical-can-beat-ravens-but-it-cant-lead-colts-to-ultimate-glory http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=8ea20ae3-da78-40e1-9652-8060bca581b4 http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2009/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=4832946 Purdue's Loses Yesterday to Northwestern http://purdue.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1040634 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/327410-northwestern-beats-no-6-purdue-72-64 http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/01/northwestern-beats-no-6-purdue-72-64.html http://boilerstation.jconline.com/article/20100117/SPORTS02010201/1170362/1047/SPORTS020102/Purdue-all-fouled-up http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=300160077 Chicago Cubs News - Cubs Convention in Chicago http://www.suntimes.com/sports/morrissey/1995144,CST-SPT-morrissey17.article http://www.suntimes.com/sports/deluca/1994329,CST-SPT-deluca17.article http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1995186,CST-SPT-cub17.article http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1995198,CST-SPT-cubnt17.article http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-17-cubs-brite-chicago-jan17,0,1790453.story http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/01/andre-dawson-wants-to-wear-cubs-hat.html http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/01/piniella-grilled-by-cubs-fan-over-soriano-decision.html http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=chc

And So It's the Colts and the Jets

kentsterling — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 01:16:28 +0000

Maybe it's better this way. Playing someone else might make going to the Super Bowl tougher. Maybe not. The Colts had every chance to end the Jets hopes of making the postseason during game 15 of the regular season, but they pulled the starters and gave the Jets life in the game and ultimately a trip to the AFC Championship Game next Sunday in Indianapolis. The Chargers played their worst game of the since September as their vaunted offense looked totally inert in the second half, turned the ball over, and normally automatic Nate Kaeding missed three field goals. The Jets just kept humping, and finally got it in the end zone twice in a five-minute span in the fourth quarter to provide the final 17-14 margin of victory. Now, it's on the Colts to make Bill Polian look good. Should the Jets win Sunday, Polian's decision to pull the starters will be forever questioned. Some would call that justice, but after watching the Colts give the Jets no hope offensively throughout the first half in week 16, I love this matchup and would far prefer the Jets to the Houston Texans. The Jets are the Baltimore Ravens but without the defensive star power and mystique. Good running game. No air attack. They have a solid and aggressive defense with the game's best corner in Darrelle Revis, but it's a defense that Peyton Manning has seen up close for more than one half. Tom Moore and Clyde Christiansen too. The Jets have seen the Colts too though. The difference in the demeanor of the two head coaches could be more different. Colts Coach Jim Caldwell is a stoic the likes of which the NFL has not seen. Longtime Dallas Cowboys Coach Tom Landry was said to be emotionless, but Caldwell makes Landry look like a cross between Jerry Lewis and Charo. Caldwell doesn't blink. I watched him at the press conference when he was named head coach, and I never saw his eyelids meet. I physically held my eyelids open so I wouldn't miss a blink if it happened to be simultaneous to my own blinking. Weeks later, the Colts hosted an event on Monument Circle, and we broadcast the Dan Dakich Show from there. Coach Caldwell stopped by. While we waited for Dan to finish with a guest, I spoke to Caldwell about anything and everything just so I had an excuse to closely watch his eyelids. Through one of the most pointless and wide-ranging conversations of Caldwell's life, he again did not blink once. Conversely, Rex Ryan is an emotional volcano and a blinking machine. He is engaging, funny, and makes all kinds of outrageous comments. The quarterbacks couldn't be any different themselves. Peyton Manning is the gun-slinging veteran who is seen as the finest quarterback in the history of the NFL. Mark Sanchez is a rookie who dinks, dunks, and hands-off as he tries to read complex defenses. Ryan doesn't let Sanchez beat the Jets, and Manning generally must win games for the Colts. The Colts couldn't have asked for a better road - the fifth seed in the divisional round, followed by the sixth seed. If the Colts happen to win next Sunday, they will either play the New Orleans Saints in a battle of two incredibly prolific offenses, or the Minnesota Vikings and a battle between the two all-time statistical quarterbacking monsters. Either way, it would likely be the most overhyped Super Bowl of all-time. What a great game we have seven days to look forward to, and with a little luck another fantastic match-up two weeks later.

Sports News Digest - January 18, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:56:04 +0000

Colts vs. Jets Preview http://www.indystar.com/article/20100118/SPORTS15/1180356/1100/SPORTS03/ http://www.indystar.com/article/20100118/SPORTS03/1180360/1100/ http://www.indystar.com/article/99999999/SPORTS03/90908053 http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2010/01/afc_championship_game_preview.html http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-playoffs/09000d5d815cd578/Jets-Colts-preview [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcfUBtk3MOM] http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2009/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=4834214 http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-spt_nyj-ind-box_0118jan18,0,5267112.story http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/18/2010-01-18_king_rex_goes_up_broadway.html Indiana Beats Minnesota in OT http://www.indystar.com/article/20100118/SPORTS0601/1180362/1069/SPORTS0601/To-foul-or-not-to-foul-IU-makes-right-call http://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1041020 http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/81935742.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUo8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr Chicago Cubs News - Cubs Convention in Chicago http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/sports/baseball/18cubs.html?ref=sports http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1996557,CST-SPT-gordo18.article http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-18-cubs-chicago-jan18,0,4403801.story Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Colts Play Sunday; Top Eight Things to Do Until Then

kentsterling — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:00:37 +0000

Six days until the AFC Championship game against the Jets. Jets Coach Rex Ryan will keep reporters busy as he says outrageous things and predicts victory. The Colts will do what they always do, say nothing and prepare with focus. Thank God for Rex or it would be a long week of listening to Indianapolis Colts Coach Jim Caldwell and QB Peyton Manning say all the right things. Caldwell is looking to stretch his run of saying nothing of interest to a career starting record of 20 weeks. I remember as a TV photographer watching congressmen and senators visit southern Illinois and talking to the press for a half-hour, miraculously only being interesting for 15-seconds. I asked the reporter what the point was. He said, "They want us to use the 15-second cut, so they say nothing during the other 29:45." I thought then how hard it must be to be so boring for that length of time. Caldwell has taken it up a notch by saying nothing of interest at any time. He has the gift of tedium. Over the next week, the Colts will be the focus of every conversation, but there is plenty for sports fans to do in Indiana. Here are some highlights. 8. Today at 1p, the Big Ten Network will replay yesterday's thrilling IU win over Minnesota. To be honest, I totally spaced the game while watching the NFL Playoffs. Minnesota is not a great road team, but for a team that won exactly one Big Ten team last year, a win is a win. IU is now 2-3 in the conference this season, and despite the losses or Matt Roth and Maurice Creek for the season they are moving in the right direction. 7. The IUPUI Jaguars host Southern Utah is a conference matchup at The Jungle on the IUPUI Campus. The Jags are riding a three-game winning streak, and feature a lot of kids who played their high school ball nearby, including Sean Esposito (Cathedral) who is a flat-out great shooter. He doesn't play a lot, but when he's in he's shooting at a 47.2% clip from downtown. 6. The Hoosiers travel Thursday to Happy Valley to try to even their Big Ten record at 3-3. Penn State is 0-5 in the Big Ten, but they are capable of winning against most conference teams. On Sunday afternoon (5P), the Hoosiers will host Iowa in one of the few games this season where they will be favored. Coach Todd Lickliter's team is 1-4 in league play after eking out a 67-64 win on Saturday. The Colts are playing at 3p, so this one might be a DVR choice. 5. Even if you're not a Cubs fan, take fifteen minutes to jot an angry profanity-filled note to Cubs GM Jim Hendry expressing your discontent for his mismanagement of the Cubs payroll and roster. He spent more money than all but the Yankees and Red Sox, and managed 83 wins. The Cubs are now a collection of middle-aged journeymen who are on the downside of their careers. The one constant over the past few seasons has been lefty Ted Lilly, but until he recovers from shoulder surgery (perhaps on the shelf until July) the Cubs rotation is a flaky group without an anchor. In this day and age, people don't send a lot of letters, so a few from you might actually have the desired effect - making Hendry's day as miserable as Cubs fans. 4. Do something nice for a kid. Riley's Hospital is full of sick children who are courageously fighting battles that many of us can't even imagine. Go to a toy store, drop $100 on some Hot Wheels, and take them over to Riley's. The people there aren't nutty enough to let strange adults wander around passing out stuff to the kids, but the toys will find their way to the kids. Or go to a senior center and talk to one of the people there. The days are all the same for the residents, and you can help break the monotony. 3. The Pacers go on the road to play Miami (Tues.), Orlando (Wed.), and Detroit (Fri.). While the Colts are on their run, the Pacers are not exactly a top-of-mind concern in Indiana, but you should take the time to listen to a radio broadcast of one of these games. Mark Boyle is absolutely one of the best play-by-play guys in America, and his broadcasts are routinely entertaining and superb. He is pithy, funny, and honest, and brings listeners descriptions of the action that make listening almost as fun as being there. With the Pacers building, there aren't a lot of people listening, but you should. Slick is a miked fan, and he's great at bringing that energy, but Mark is a sublime pleasure. 2. Spend an entire day without watching ESPN. The Worldwide Leader in Sports can live without you for a day. 1. Butler travels to Chicago's north side to battle resurgent Loyola-Chicago. The Ramblers were a consensus last place pick in the Horizon League, but are now 3-4 in league play and 12-5 overall. Butler has had a comparative tough go of it this year with a 14-4 overall record, and an unblemished 7-0 mark in league play. Butler is playing well, and the point of differentiation is Brownsburg's Gordon Hayward. The 6'9" wing has guard skills and great athleticism. He is an impossible match-up for opponents and is projected as a potential first-rounder in several NBA mock drafts. The Loyola campus is an aggressive two-and-a-half hour drive, and tickets are usually plentiful. The atmosphere has improved with the victories, but I'm sure you can still walk up and get seats 15-20 rows up. Cheer for Butler if you must, but if #30 gets in for the Ramblers, get on your feet and support that kid. He has overcome the challenge of having a non-athletic rube for a Dad, and loves basketball. And in your spare moments, say a silent prayer for Colts President Bill Polian. If the Jets find a way to beat the Colts, the offseason will be long and cold for the Colts head man. When he and his wife walk into restaurants or the local Target, there will be muttering. No one likes muttering. Polian has done a singularly magnificent job of building the most consistently excellent franchise in NFL history, and he deserves to be remembered for that, not the decision to give the Jets life. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - January 18, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:17:27 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry3.mp3] Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

John Feinstein Hates Rick Greenspan, and Wants Us to Know It

kentsterling — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:04:18 +0000

My friend in Chicago, Len Totlan, PR advisor to the stars, is no fan of former Indiana University Athletic Director Rick Greenspan, and a big fan of author, sports enthusiast, and moral barometer John Feinstein. This results in an email to me every time Feinstein lights up Greenspan in writing or on a broadcast. Feinstein is a big fan of the Patriot League and the U.S. Military Academy. He wants Army to perform well athletically and attributes the steep decline of the Army athletic programs to Greenspan. Indiana University also slipped backwards under Greenspan, who presided over the nightmarish regime of Kelvin Sampson as the head basketball coach. Below are some of the most memorable and angry of Feinstein's quotes regarding the man Feinstein loathes more than all others: John Feinstein was writing about the Jets today and was talking about some of their assistant coaches and he threw this line in: "And then there’s Bob Sutton, who was the coach at Army when I wrote, “A Civil War.” There are few better men in sports than Sutton, whose firing by the worst athletic director in history (Rick Greenspan) was the start of Army’s 11 year tailspin, lowlighted by an 0-13 record a few years ago." Here are some other quotes from Feinstein, who equates all incompetence in sports to the standard set by Greenspan. "Ever since Kelvin Sampson was forced to resign in disgrace as Indiana's basketball coach a couple of week ago, people have wondered how Rick Greenspan has kept his job as IU's athletic director. Apparently Greenspan is going to survive because Indiana has another one of those gutless presidents that litter the college basketball landscape." "The real culprit in this story, though, is the athletic director, just like at Indiana. Bob Scalise has a lot in common with Greenspan: He's arrogant and self-righteous and not nearly as smart as he thinks he is." "The hiring of Brock gives some Academy grads flashbacks to Todd Berry's arrival at West Point in 1999. Then-athletic director Rick Greenspan hired Berry from Illinois State without conducting an extensive search. Berry was fired in 2003 after going 5-35 in three-plus seasons. According to author John Feinstein, who wrote a book on Army-Navy football, as well as Harry Walters, who played on Army's last undefeated team in 1958, Navy's Paul Johnson and Ohio State's Jim Tressel both were interested in the position when Berry was hired. Johnson was at Georgia Southern and Tressel at Youngstown State. Walters said that alumni also were brushed off by Greenspan when they mentioned Jim Grobe, then at Ohio University, as a candidate." "Navy's seven straight wins over Army by an average margin of 39-10 (think about that) are a reflection of the complete incompetence within the Army athletic program, dating back to the disastrous decision to briefly join Conference USA and the even worse decisions to hire Rick Greenspan as athletic director (he also ruined basketball at Indiana if you're scoring at home) and Todd Berry as football coach." "On Tony Kornheiser's radio show today, Jay Bilas was asked about Bruce Pearl and the Indiana job. He said, "Indiana is a little bit disfunctional right now. And, honestly Tony, I wouldn't work for that athletic director for any amount of money. I don't think he's competent." This echoes John Feinstein's sentiments when Sampson was hired." "John Junior Feinstein was quoted on Tony Kornheiser’s radio show recently that Indiana AD Greenspan 'could always be counted on to do the wrong thing.'” "I pretty much lost it, screaming at Tim, Dick and Dean, 'What the hell is going on here? Who hired this guy? (Rick Greenspan, the worst Athletic Director hire in history) They’ve given up! How can Army players give up!'" "Soon after Sutton was gracelessly fired on a Philadelphia street corner by the graceless Greenspan, Dick had a bout with depression brought on by 9-11. He kept having recurring dreams about firefights he’d taken part in during Vietnam and also worried constantly that his players who were overseas fighting were going to die. During the period that he was out of work players streamed by Dick’s house to see him. Most of West Point went to see him. Neither Todd Berry nor Rick Greenspan ever contacted him. In fact, their response was to bring in Berry’s equipment manager from Illinois State and push Dick out of his job. " John Feinstein is one of the guardians of sport. He holds people accountable to a standard beyond wins and losses, but also to the records teams post. He is what all sportswriters should be honest, indignant in the face of idiocy, and a zealous advocate for honest competition. My enduring memory of Greenspan is of watching him sit on the sidelines of basketball games with reading glasses perched upon his nose scribbling furiously on a legal pad. Just what the hell was he writing? "Get Eric Gordon the ball more" "Jordan Crawford looks high." "Deandre Thomas is a glazed doughnut away from being as big as I am." Was he working on a shopping list? Who watches a game like that regardless of his position? I have nothing against Greenspan, other than the peculiar scribbling during the basketball games, but I love it when a writer has an ax to grind - well-earned or not. Feinstein obviously believes with all his heart that Greenspan is one of the worst people in sports, and that makes his writing a lot of fun.

Sports News Digest - Tuesday, January 19, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:07:49 +0000

Colts vs. Jets Preview http://www.indystar.com/article/20100119/SPORTS03/1190316/1004/SPORTS/Colts-refuse-to-take-winning-for-granted Kravitz http://www.indystar.com/article/20100118/SPORTS15/1180356/1034/SPORTS15/Colts-fans-be-wary-of-what-you-ve-wished-for Other New York - Colts Articles http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/stew_siers_bDSvIZ5ZH4TP1PYQhKh82I http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/sports/football/19jets.html?ref=sports http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/sports/football/19ryan.html http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/19/2010-01-19_gang_greens_surge_shows_big_blue_magic.html http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/01/19/2010-01-19_jet_fan_plays_hoosier_daddy_indy_folks_are_waaay_too_nice_to_newser_as_he_paints.html http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/19/2010-01-19_jets_blare_as_peyton_peeps.html http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/lucky_jets_seek_Vkau4i7snhzk7lyJpDdJFK http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/odds_not_so_long_ntMJjn6MN04qChTVoLNclK Painter Does Not Like Purdue's Recent Effort http://www.indystar.com/article/20100119/SPORTS0602/1190342/1004/SPORTS/Sudden-slump-puts-Boilers-on-noticeIndiana Pacers - Hibbert Must Find Consistency http://www.indystar.com/article/20100119/SPORTS04/1190339/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-Hibbert-seeking-consistency Indiana Nearing Decision on Matt Roth http://blogs.indystar.com/hoosiersinsider/archives/2010/01/decision_time_a.html IU - Minnesota Recap http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=72995 Penn State Is Next - Penn State Hoops News http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2010/01/19/lions_halfcourt_offense_remain.aspx http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=72995 Cubs Maddux May Be Huge for Pitching Staff http://www.suntimes.com/sports/1997177,cubs-greg-maddux-18.article Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

New York Claims Indy "Too Nice" to Compete

kentsterling — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:24:53 +0000

A dolt from the New York Daily News has been roaming around Indianapolis trying to incite Colts fans into nastiness, or at least debate. He calls New York the cradle of passionate sports fans, and says that Indianapolis fans just don't measure up because they don't bite on his bait of sad rhetoric. The Colts are eight-point favorites, and looked to be the better team by a wide margin when the two teams played four weeks ago. Maybe that accounts for the nice things Colts fans had to say to Daily News reporter Matt Lysiak, who walked into Kilroy's and The Ram in downtown Indianapolis to try to get someone to rip him. Lysiak's theory is that Hoosiers are just too nice. Indianapolis has been nice enough to build a downtown that is the envy of every city in the country. There is none like it. Indianapolis is also nice enough to have fallen in love with a football team that doesn't need to wait more than a decade between trips to national relevance. Yeah, Indy is boring. Not too much happens downtown, now that Jamaal Tinsley has been traded to Memphis. The people are pleasant. They are reasonable. They don't yell and honk their horns, despite my efforts to renew that traditional expression of vehicular anger. The Colts are efficient. They are quick and fast. They don't commit penalties because of an inability to control their anger. Jim Caldwell shows no emotion whatsoever. The craziest thing that has happened on the field or sideline was when Peytom Manning yelled at the offensive line and Jeff Saturday barked back before Tarik Glenn led Manning away. No one for the Colts mouths off, except for a brief turn of honesty from linebacker Clint Session a few weeks ago. Immediately following Session's quotability, we knew it would be a matter of minutes before media relations head Craig Kelly or Bill Polian himself would sit Session down and let him know that saying interesting things does not win games, so why bother. Frankly, for better or worse, Colts fans don't see the Jets as serious threats. The Colts haven't lost a meaningful game in more than a year, and while the Jets beat a good Chargers team, they certainly have no immediately evident intimidating trait. The defense is good, but relies upon blitzing to pressure the quarterback, and Manning eats blitzes for lunch and poops touchdowns. Where would you rather live? New York is a city where people live on top of each other, and people still need to shop at a produce store, butcher shop, bakery, and deli to meet their grocery needs. Instead of sections of store, they have different stores entirely. New York's most infamous criminal - the Son of Sam. Indy's - Anthony Kiritsis, who was a nut, but never even pulled the trigger. Commutes in New York can routinely last two-to-three hours by train. In Indy - I live in a suburb and the trip downtown by car is less than 30 minutes most mornings, and never more than 40. In Indy, if you are staying at a downtown hotel, you are a five minute walk from Lucas Oil Stadium, Conseco Fieldhouse, the Indiana Repertory Theatre, Circle Center Mall, and maybe fifty bars and restaurants. In New York, Yankee Stadium is in the Bronx, Citi Field is in Flushing, football is played in New Jersey, and the theatre district is in Manhattan. Crime is everywhere - especially on Wall Street. New York touts itself as "The City that Never Sleeps". Who wants to live in a city that doesn't sleep? I like a good night sleep. I also like a great football team that does its best work on the field. They focus on what's important, and take care of business - just like everyone else in Indianapolis. Chicago is the "City that Works". Indianapolis is the "City that Works Hard". The Colts walk the walk. All the talk in the world doesn't win football games, and that's a good thing. The Jets and their coach Rex Ryan like talking, and so far his players have done enough heavy lifting to back him up. This is their first trip to the rodeo since 1998. Peyton and the Colts are focused on the task at hand and aren't too worried about what the Jets are saying. Sunday, the talk stops. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, January 19, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:07:25 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry_11.mp3] Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Tony George Out as Board Member at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

kentsterling — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:15:38 +0000

Tony George is such a strong presence at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that it's impossible to believe that his last link to the operation of the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was eradicated today as George resigned from the board effective immediately today. As with most occurrences at the IMS, this prompts more questions than it answers. The most important question is, what the hell does this mean for race fans who love the Indy 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Unlike most questions about racing, I can answer this one, and it's not a good answer for race fans. When any organization loses a leader who was also its most passionate supporter and advocate, the result is not positive for those who share that love. People don't resign from a board, even one as inherently dysfunctional as the Hulman Company Board of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, without a significant level of discontent for the decisions being made and the level of input that Tony George has in the direction of the facility, series, and race. Expect changes at the IMS based upon an eye toward the bottom line, and not interest in the fans' racing experience. That isn't good for anyone not a member of the board, or who is rewarded based upon the health of the Hulman-George Family's financial statement. The total of what I know is that when passion is valued less than the bottom line, there is a tangible lessening of what makes a place or experience special. For fans of one of the world's most special places, that is not good news. Below is the entire release sent out today by the IMS. For Immediate Release TONY GEORGE RESIGNS BOARD MEMBERSHIPS OF INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, HULMAN & COMPANY INDIANAPOLIS, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010 The Board of Directors of Hulman & Company and affiliated companies, including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, has received the resignation of Anton H. Tony George from the board of directors effective immediately, according to Mari Hulman George, chairman. As members of his family, we are sorry to see Tony leave, said Mrs. George. We are grateful for his service to our company as a board member and of course for formerly serving as CEO and president of our companies. I speak for our whole family in wishing him well. All of us had hoped that Tony would continue to serve on the board, and we made that clear to him. We are disappointed with his decision to step down despite our wishes. His resignation removes George from any remaining role in Hulman & Company, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indy Racing League, IMS Productions and other affiliated companies. His term as CEO of the family companies ended June 30, 2009. He continues to be involved in racing through his ownership of Vision Racing, a competitor in the IZOD IndyCar Series of the Indy Racing League. The board vacancy will be addressed at a later date. In addition to Mari Hulman George, board members include Nancy George, Josie George, Kathi George-Conforti and Jack Snyder. Mari Hulman George said she is very pleased with the direction of the company and the progress that has been made during the last six months. Our company is healthy and is weathering the economic recession well, she said. Jeff Belskus, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Curt Brighton, president and CEO of Hulman & Company, are both doing excellent jobs in guiding our companies through this difficult time. Many hard decisions have been made, and now our companies are well positioned for the future. Media Contact: Fred J. Nation, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, (317) 492-6752, fnation@brickyard.com World Wide Web: http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com <http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com> Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - January 20, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:11:25 +0000

Colts vs. Jets Preview from NY Papers http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/20/2010-01-20_indy_can_blame_itself_for_this_green_monster.html http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/backpage/stats_say_sanchez_destined_to_be_xeuv3BtpNm3YVdhFC6rbGN http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/buddy_ryan_rex_doing_great_job_nhuNjBvTvSx903MCxT6fZM http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/20/2010-01-20_phil_simms_expect_more_sanchez.html http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/in_indy_peyton_dlOnEazVCJPrRDt1Ex7i4J http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/20/2010-01-20_testaverde_thinks_jets_look_super.html http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/rex_set_to_pull_out_all_the_stops_TM64RZTfDmfJms6US9Io9H http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/food/2010/01/20/2010-01-20_whos_got_better_food_indiana_vs_new_york.html Colts vs. Ravens Wager Payoff http://www.indystar.com/article/20100120/SPORTS03/1200378/1004/SPORTS/Maryland-governor-starts-to-pay-off-Colts-bet Colts Remember Early Playoff Exits http://www.indystar.com/article/20100120/SPORTS03/1200364/1004/SPORTS/Colts-remember-bitter-losses Purdue Ends Losing Streak at Ililinois http://purdue.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1041964 http://www.indystar.com/article/20100120/SPORTS0602/1200365/1004/SPORTS/Hart-s-effort-worth-the-T-for-Purdue Pacers Lose Big in Miami http://www.indystar.com/article/20100120/SPORTS04/1200356/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-KO-d-by-Heat-s-physical-defense Pacers - Mike Wells First Half Report Card http://www.indystar.com/article/20100120/SPORTS04/1200355/1004/SPORTS/Poor-marks-on-1st-half-report-card Indiana Basketball Making Progress http://www.post-trib.com/sports/1999881,bkc-indiana-0120.article IU - Minnesota Recap http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=72995 Cubs Sign Five Arbitration Eligible; Theriot and Marmol Still Negotiating http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100119&content_id=7936336&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2000405,CST-SPT-cub20.article Steve Rosenbloom Calls Cubs Manager Lou Piniella a "Cruise Director" http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/rosenblog/2010/01/what-part-of-manage-doesnt-the-cubs-manager-understand.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rosenblog+(ChicagoSports-+RosenBlog) Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Purdue Stays Alive in the Big Ten

kentsterling — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:54:04 +0000

The Purdue Boilermakers set the second half tone with an 11-2 run through the 16:00 TV timeout to grab a lead that they never relinquished. Redshirt freshman John Hart of Beech Grove was a spark off the deepest part of the bench, so deep that the assistant responsible for filling out the official scorebook for the Boilers forgot to list him. That cost Purdue an administrative technical that was more then worth it. Hart scored 14 points in 18 minutes. That goes to show the quality of the player that sits on the end of the bench. They are damn good. People look at Hart or Daniel Moore for Indiana like they really aren't that much better than the really good intramural players. Preposterous. Those guys can flat out play. There is always talk about a great high school team's ability to beat a bad college team, or a college team like Kentucky's chances against a terrible NBA team like the New Jersey Nets. A great high school team would be annihilated by any college team, as would Kentucky against the Nets - despite Calipari using NBA tactics to build his roster. JaJuan Johnson was a dominant force in the second half, scoring 18 of his 24, grabbing rebounds on possession after possession, and altering Illinois shots in the paint. Johnson is 6'10 1/2", but his wingspan is 7'4", and he can jump. All that added up to a nightmare near the glass for the Illini. Purdue needed a superior effort last night, or they would have fallen completely out of the Big Ten regular season race. Michigan State looks dominant, and four Michigan State losses would have been a lot to hope for. Purdue improved its record for 3-3 in league play, and stayed within 2 1/2 of the Spartans. Michigan State has a tough stretch coming up, traveling to Minnesota and Michigan, then hosting Northwestern, and again hitting the road for games at Wisconsin and Illinois. That five game stretch follows a cupcake game against Iowa tonight. Things can tighten up considerably during the next couple of weeks, if the Boilers can keep playing with intensity. When playing harder than the other guy is your point of differentiation as is the case with Purdue, things can go wrong in a hurry. These are kids with classes, social lives, and distractions. Focus, as I recall, is not a chief attribute for college students. There are going to be times during the season that teams will suffer through the kind of malaise Purdue endured until bouncing back in the second half last night.

Indianapolis vs. New York

kentsterling — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:21:39 +0000

There are four days until the Indianapolis Colts welcome the New York Jets to Lucas Oil Stadium. The New York media is maligning Indy for its pizza, hotdogs, bagels, and complete lack of a chocolate egg cream - whatever the hell that is. They are also ripping Hoosiers for being nice, which is odd. New Yorkers live in a state of perpetual gridlock, which might explain anger as their default emotion. They are stacked one on top of another like cords of firewood. New York is a great city. I love visiting there. To go to Yankee Stadium for an afternoon ballgame, get a steak at Gallagher's, and see a great Broadway play is the kind of day you just can't have in Indianapolis. It's a day most New Yorkers can't have either because they would drop a grand easy. In Indianapolis, we have better normal days and a higher standard of living because more can afford it. Indy has no water to speak of, and less known monuments. The tallest building in Indianapolis is the 830-foot tall Chase Building, which would rank outside of New York's top ten. New York has 30 Rock. Indy has Block's. New York has Michael Bloomberg. Indy has Greg Ballard New York has the Empire State Building. Indy has, well, the Empire State Building was built with Indiana Limestone, so I'm claiming it for Indiana. New York has the East and Hudson Rivers. Indy has the White River, which is more like a creek, but who judges a city by its rivers? Louisville and Memphis? Those are the cities Indianapolis laughs at. New York has the Yankees and Mets. They cancel each other out. Indianapolis has the Indians - a triple-A affiliate of the Pirates. Even with the Mets, we lose that one - BIG! The NBA franchises are a wash. They are all struggling. The Rangers vs. the Ice. I have an Ice player living in my house, so I'm exercising a preëmptive challenge here. Ice win. New York has elected Hillary Clinton, Daniel Moynihan, and Robert Kennedy to the U.S. Senate. Indiana's recent senators have included Dick Lugar, Vance Hartke, Dan Quayle, the Bayh Boys. Despite Clinton, Indiana surrenders. Another area of dominance for New Yorkers over Hoosiers is in their arrogance. So, come to little old Indianapolis and show us how big and tough you are. Bring your Jets, and let's see what happens. Big and loud Rex Ryan can blow into town and see if his are better than quiet (really quiet) and stoic (really stoic) Jim Caldwell's. Indiana will treat you well, and hope you enjoy your stay. There won't be any fights like in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, or New York. Jets fans once assaulted Colts play-by-play icon Bob Lamey with snowballs as he broadcasted a game several years ago. Having worked with Bob for several years, I can't hold that against New Yorkers. I might have softly tossed one up there myself. Even if Indy didn't have a roofed stadium, no one would throw snowballs at Bob Wischusen. Game time is at 3p. One thing is for sure, the team bus won't get caught in traffic.

Harry on Sports - January 20, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:09:49 +0000

Your daily dose of sports information from Harry.[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry21.mp3]

Sports Digest - Thursday, January 21, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:34:47 +0000

Colts vs. Jets Previewhttp://www.indystar.com/article/20100121/SPORTS03/1210483/1004/SPORTS/Winning-the-Super-Bowl-requires-an-elite-QB http://www.indystar.com/article/20100121/SPORTS15/1210478/1004/SPORTS/Jets-victory-was-a-G-I-F-T-gift-gift-gift http://www.indystar.com/article/20100121/SPORTS03/1210430/1004/SPORTS/Jets-QB-Sanchez-growing-into-the-job http://www.indystar.com/article/20100121/SPORTS03/1210431/1004/SPORTS/Jets-upset-about-talk-of-gift-win http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/21/2010-01-21_lesson_1_jets_colts_peyton_problem.html http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/21/2010-01-21_lesson_2_mark_sanchez_jets_colts.html http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/21/2010-01-21_lesson_3_jets_colts_ground.html http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/21/2010-01-21_new_york_jets_need_to_shut_down_the_rest_of_indianapolis_colts_receivers_in_afc_.html 1968 Jets Think Jets Can Win http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/21/2010-01-21_siper_bowl_3peat_jets_1968.html http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/21/2010-01-21_jets_peyton_manning_colts.html Colts Toe Company Line http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/sports/football/21colts.html?ref=sports http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/deadly_silence_0K9Nt4UR9RbEfcCJ7qFy1H For Sanchez, It's All About the Beard http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/sports/football/21jets.html?ref=sports The Bling Is the Key for Jets Woody and Faneca http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/woody_faneca_tell_jets_it_all_about_UoucuEYZlUV53KWC1Hs1rI Ryan Has Given Jets Identity http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/rex_philosophy_paying_off_YK6k7azopbxcPJZhDNJYjL Purdue's Deep Bench Performed http://www.indystar.com/article/20100121/SPORTS0602/1210434/1004/SPORTS/Purdue-s-Hart-prepared-when-called-on Pacers Lose Big in Orlando http://www.indystar.com/article/20100120/SPORTS04/1200356/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-KO-d-by-Heat-s-physical-defense http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/game_100120.html Pacers - Mike Wells Digest http://www.indystar.com/article/20100121/SPORTS04/1210476/1004/SPORTS/Magic-s-Howard-gets-back-at-Hibbert-leads-win-over-Pacers Hoosiers Play Tonight at Penn State http://www.indystar.com/article/20100121/SPORTS0601/1210435/1004/SPORTS/Hoosiers-still-fight-for-respect-in-Big-Ten http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=73077 http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=73068 http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100121/SPORTS/1210321/1002 IU Moves Game Time so People Can Watch Both Colts and Hoosiers http://www.indystar.com/article/20100120/SPORTS0601/100120017/1004/SPORTS/IU-moves-Sunday-game-time-to-avoid-Colts Butler Ready to Laugh Threes at Loyola http://www.indystar.com/article/20100121/SPORTS0605/1210469/1004/SPORTS/Butler-feels-better-about-shooting-3s Cubs - Sosa Loses 45 Pounds http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100120&content_id=7943056&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc Former Cub Edmonds Wants to Comeback http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/01/edmonds.html Cubs Among Teams on Hand for Ben Sheets Workout http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/01/sheets.html Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Conan O'Brien Out as Tonight Show Host

kentsterling — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:06:09 +0000

Jay Leno in explaining the mess that is the current late night debacle at NBC, comes off as something akin to Phil Hartman's caveman lawyer character on SNL. In reality though, Leno never loses. Since 2004, NBC has planned to can Leno in favor of the younger and hipper O'Brien. Then someone had the grand idea to load Jay into the 10p slot to save money and test the popularity of the longtime host at a time when employed adults are watching TV. If it didn't work, buh-bye Jay. Really? Not quite. Leno has survived, and O'Brien gets the buyout. Conan's final Tonight Show will air tomorrow night on NBC affiliates, and Leno will slide back into his late night seat beginning Monday, March 1. For his trouble, Conan will receive $33-million. His staff will split an extra $12-million in severance. February will be dominated by NBC's Winter Olympics Coverage. Leno averaged virtually the same audience he enjoyed as the late night champ - 5.2 million viewers. There are many more viewers available at the time, so the show was seen as an audience failure by affiliates and the network. "The Mentalist" on CBS ot the same time averages 17-million. That lack of lead-in left NBC affiliate newscasts with far fewer viewers during their cash cow newscasts. Those affiliates had become so enraged with the audience bloodbath that many had threatened to launch local programming in lieu of Leno to try to recoup some of that money. So NBC looks like a company run by chimpanzees, and the affiliates will hope that the chimps have the brains to gather viewers in larger numbers so the financial bleeding can stop. The most amazing part of this drama is not that the NBC executives made this colossal blunder, that Leno's show failed to attract ratings, or that affiliates were ready to jump ship. It's that Leno is the survivor, as he always seems to be. He appears goofy and affable, but when the chips are down he obviously knows how to play the cut-throat behind the scenes game better than David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and the NBC executives. How this unfolded will be revealed over the next few month, but the one thing we know is that Leno played the right cards at the right time to be able to keep his gig. He did the same thing in getting the Tonight Show instead of Letterman, and then again when the show initially tanked. O'Brien won't be crying poor, but he's going to be sitting at home next week while Leno plans his return. NBC will air some reality shows and established dramas to fill the 10p-11p void left by Leno's departure. Here is a really good rule. It takes a great personality driven show up to two years to establish audience traction. That's life in broadcasting. O'Brien foundered as the host of Late Night for months and months before finally attracting respectable ratings. Same with Letterman. Same with Leno. And on and on. Hell, the same thing happened with Indianapolis' Bob & Tom. They were nearly fired a year in. Building habitual viewing and listening takes time, and programmers need to be committed to ride out the worst case scenario when they launch a show. And they better be right. NBC made a series of mistakes, but their biggest was in not establishing reasonable expectations in the affiliate community. There was no way this kind of radical change was going to be immediately embraced by a 10-million plus level of audience. The routine for millions of viewers in the Eastern and Western Time Zones is to head to the bedroom at 10p, watch a drama, and go to sleep. Leno was a departure from that routine, and people don't like change done to them. They went elsewhere. Eventually, Leno would have found the audience. The show was pretty good, and good usually wins, especially over dreck like CSI-Miami and CSI-New York. I'm no fan of Leno's middle of the road comedy and planned spontaneity, but the fault was with the programmers whose hubris led to unreasonable expectations. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

In 24/7 News Cycle World; Colts Operate at :45/1

kentsterling — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:11:17 +0000

The Indianapolis Colts limit their exposure to the media and other distractions to the bare minimum. If the NFL changed their policy and allow teams to ban media from their facility and players, it would be done before Bill Polian finished reading the announcement. It's not that the Colts hate the media. They hate any and all distractions. If it doesn't help the Colts win, the players, coaches, and senior management wants nothing to do with it. That represents a complete departure from many other teams who fight daily for column inches in newspapers and websites, seconds on local and national TV, and interest in the marketplace. The Colts don't care about any of that. They already dominate the Indianapolis sports and cultural market in a way few franchises do, so allowing access to the players and coaches outside of mandated windows is seen as an unnecessary expense of time and energy. It's hard to argue with the results. Seven consecutive 12-win seasons, and ten trips to the playoffs in the last 11 seasons is unprecedented. Peyton Manning sure doesn't need additional exposure, and the market is small enough that the money available to players in endorsements amounts to little more than tip money. While the difficulty in getting the Colts to make the players more accessible is maddening for those in the local media, there is no incentive for the Colts to motivate a change in attitude. As a contrast, take the Houston Texans Director of Public Relations Kevin Cooper. At The Fan, I loved the two weeks each season when the Colts played the Texans. All we had to do was call Kevin to get nearly anyone we wanted on the shows. Kevin sent daily emails with audio cuts and accurate news about injuries and the roster. He made our jobs in producing quality radio filled with great information very simple. He handed cell phones to players and coaches, and our shows were really solid. The Colts do what is mandated. The players are made available by request for a 45-minute window. No cell phones. One-on-ones were sometimes accommodated. No audio sent in emails. Nothing shared that could possibly be used by the opposition to gain an advantage, which means nothing of substance shared. The players, minus Clint Session and occasionally Reggie Wayne, rarely say anything interesting. Jim Caldwell is the master of making meaningless noise. The media erroneously believed that Tony Dungy was dull, and that anyone replacing him would have to be more forthcoming by default. How we underestimated Caldwell. If his statements were crafted by White House attorneys, they couldn't be more miraculous in their non-revelation. Two questions are murmurred during each Caldwell press availability - "What did he say?", and "Does he ever blink?". He's a perfectly nice man, and so brilliant that I've never been able to tell whether he is being purposely evasive or just so intensely boring that he is incapable of saying anything interesting. This is not an indictment of the Colts' media practices at all. They are paid to sell tickets and generate TV ratings, and winning is the best way to do that, so the Colts devote all of their energy toward the goal of winning. Over the past decade, they have done it better than any team in NFL history. Is it silly to be so paranoid about the media and not charge your staff to be accommodating? Maybe, but again, the Colts win and Indianapolis is in love with them. It could be that the way Houston does it is completely wrong, and that the Colts are right in their suspicion and lack of desire to allow access. The media, after all, is not without huge warts. Why trust the media? It waits for someone to do or say the wrong thing without any regard for the repercussions on the franchise or the participant. Yesterday, ESPN conducted an interview with an author who had spent time in the same sex addiction rehab clinic that is reportedly treating Tiger Woods. They spoke about the structure of the facility and the quality of the treatment. What the hell business is that of ours? ESPN crawling into that sewer of tabloidism was wrong, and does nothing to inform, only titillate. It also undermines the trust athletes and teams feel toward the media. The media has a compulsion to satisfy public curiosity, as though that is its only job. The media then should feel rebuffed when the Colts refuse to play ball their way. Trust is a two-way street, and while a columnist like Bob Kravitz can be trusted to investigate responsibly and analyze thoroughly, that is not the case for everyone. There are those out there who abuse access, so the responsible are punished for their behavior. Which would fans rather have, unfettered access for the media, or a focus on winning and historic success? Not that the two are mutually exclusive, but I'll take a controlling president who drafts great players and builds a winning culture over some slap-dick nice guy who reportedly drank screwdrivers during the draft and treats Draft Day like a party. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - January 21, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:51:28 +0000

Another in our run of daily Harry features.[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry-3.mp3] Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - January 22, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:06:37 +0000

Voice Guarantees Colts Win!

kentsterling — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:07:33 +0000

Earlier this afternoon, I had an epiphany. Just like Warren Beatty in the film "Bugsy", an unmistakable message was delivered to me. Unlike Beatty I was not seated in a convertible with Harvey Keitel and Annette Bening in the Nevada desert. I was making my post lunch repose in the upstairs lavatory, which bears a resemblance to a desert in exactly one way - it can get chilly there at night. A voice as clear as my own said, "The Colts are going to win this one easy." I asked the voice why he thought so. "Because the Jets will score three points at a time, Dumbass." Wow, an angry and judgmental voice that sounded eerily like Chicago Bulls play-by-play man Chuck Swirsky (pictured right). While I was an intern at WGN-Radio, Swirsky once forced me to call the NFL office to get an explanation for the difference between a conditional and unconditional draft pick as compensation in a trade. I tried to explain the meaning of the word "conditional", but Swirsky violently shook his head and told me emphatically to get Greg Aiello on the phone for an official answer. That memory made my brief conversation with the voice less than pleasant. Here is the full transcript of our chat (thankfully I always do a Sudoku as I relax, so I had a pen and paper): Voice: The Colts are going to win this one easy. Me: How do you know? Voice: Because the Jets will score three points at a time, Dumbass. Me: You got some attitude on you, Voice. What will be the difference between the Jets and Colts, Sunday? Voice: Like I implied before, the Colts get seven, the Jets come back with three. That's simple math...dumbass. Me: Why don't you just leave me be to finish my business. You have me at a disadvantage here. Voice: A voice from the sky is giving you divine information, and you want to reschedule to accomodate your bowels? Listen up, Turd. The Colts are healthy. Clint Session is healthy. Jerraud Powers is healthy. Pierre Garcon is healthy - sad about Haiti, but healthy. Melvin Bullitt is healthy. Robert Mathis is healthy. Dwight Freeney is no longer on a pitch count. The Jets couldn't score when the healthy guys were in the game during Game 16. You think they'll score this weekend? Me: I'm having trouble with the sixes. Any ideas? Voice: Put down the Sudoku, you boob. We're talking sevens and threes. This is the real deal. A disembodied voice is giving you the tip of a lifetime. Sell your wife's baubles and give the seven-and-a-half points. The Jets showed Manning their whole package four weeks ago. The Colts showed the Jets nothing, and Manning was off. They still had the game won. It won't be close. The over under is 39. Take the under. The final will be 27-9. You'll sweat the under, but doubling your cash is worth a little sweat. Me: Even a disembodied voice would probably be wise to leave this room right about now. Voice: Ingrate. So there it is. Colts 27, Jets 9. The voice of Chuck Swirsky set the number, and all of my worries have vanished. The Colts are going to the Super Bowl because a voice that belongs to a sportscaster who didn't know the difference between a conditional and unconditional draft choice. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - January 22, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:20:46 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry41.mp3] Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Kent Sterling Fired as Indy Talk Program Director (part 2)

kentsterling — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:46:30 +0000

The number of hits on this site that my posts on being fired continue to accumulate troubles me, but never one to spurn an audience I offer this update. The problem with explaining things after being canned is that it's almost impossible to be perceived as anything but either morose and bitter, or ridiculously brave-faced. Hopefully, this is interpretted as neither. Being fired is a game-changer. No doubt about that. My old boss Tom Severino used to say that change is great when you choose it, but sucks when it's chosen for you. That's true. The thing that sucks is that you feel like you've somehow let everyone down - your family to an extent but especially the people who worked for you. The people I managed are great, and deserve nothing but great things. They trusted me, and now I screwed up so they have to adjust to some new person. That's not what happened, but the feeling is that somehow they are in peril because I'm not their to help. It's somehow arrogant, ignorant, and naïve all at the same time. I've seen how radio talent and producers adjust to PDs being fired before, and it takes about 48 hours - which might be generous. WIBC and The Fan continue to broadcast, and sound just like I left them. That is what I would expect from a group of dedicated professionals. The ratings for the Fall Book were outstanding for both radio stations, so I couldn't be happier for the people there. WIBC has been on an uptick for the past six months, and The Fan has had its three best months in September, November, and December so the rule of thumb that it takes two years to build a talk brand to the point that it can become a destination is just about right. I've found a bunch of people I know in the same position - trying to piece together enough stuff to make a living while also doing only things you love. I like the idea, as you might imagine, that doing what you love can also sustain itself as a profession. Who knows whether that can be pulled off or not. I may not be bright enough. There is always the media, which is endlessly fascinating to me. It is so filled with corkheaded dunderbrains that making sense of it, and building something positive in it is very alluring. Take the failure of Air America, which never had a chance in the world to succeed. The arrogant tools decided to provide a product without an audience. Jeff Smulyan speaks often of the folly of hubris, and nothing smacks of hubris like a liberal talk radio network that only existed to counter the wildly profitable and popular conservative media like Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. "If people listen to Rush, they'll sure as hell listen to us because we're smarter and right about everything!" seemed to be the mission statement for Air America. No one bothered to listen to Rush to hear that he is a superb radio talent, and that he is a conservative is really almost beside the point. Clearly, interest in media survived my removal from it. The Conan/Jay debacle is also very interesting. I can't imagine the unpleasant meetings and nervous stomachs in Burbank. There are a bunch of people who screwed this up but good, and the collateral damage to NBC is still incalculable. Can whatever they throw on to replace Jay pick up enough audience to make the affiliates happy? Will the Winter Olympics capture America's imagination and drive numbers for the February sweeps? Can Jay win back the viewers that abandoned NBC completely from 10p forward? Where will Conan land, and will the marketplace support another 11:35p show? How many of the kooks who saw the idea of Jay at 10p on paper and said, "Damn it, that looks smart as hell," will survive? When will NBC grow the stones again to try something so outrageous? Writing about myself is just about as self-indulgent as anything I can think of, so why would I do it. I'm healthy, happy, and busy. My friends have been fantastic, and my wife has been amazing as always. I was foolish enough not to notice and appreciate it as much as I should. Learning never ends, and this experience has been a good teacher. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry's Saturday Sports Spectacular - January 23, 2010

kentsterling — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:39:42 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry5.mp3]

Conan O'Brien Goes Out with Class

kentsterling — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:00:56 +0000

Maybe the only good thing about adversity is that it provides a bit of a window into the soul of the victim. No question Conan has been a victim over the past few weeks as the NBC real life dramedy over its late night programming unfolded. The cash settlement aside, Conan was fired from the job of his dreams after seven months. After the settlement was announced, and it became common knowledge that Jay Leno would return to the Tonight Show he hosted from 1992 until 2009, but that Conan would get to host Thursday and Friday, Tony Kornhiser asked during "Pardon the Interruption" whether NBC had lost its mind. Conan, Kornhiser said, could say or do anything and should be led from the Burbank lot by armed guards. Conan continually acted with dignity and class during the final two shows, and did it without a hint that he knew it was the right strategic play. His behavior seemed driven by an internal compass that would allow only for him to rise above bitterness and anger to deliver two quality hours of entertainment. Cynics will say that $33-million will provide a man the perspective necessary to get through the most trying of times. Cynicism was one of Conan's targets last night. He attacked cynics and the negative attitude that seems to plague many areas of our society. "To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen." With those words, Conan made easier his return into America's homes. That little window directly into the core character of Conan O'Brien will define him for those who watched the show last night. No one could have blamed Conan if he had chosen to attack the ridiculous bureaucracy in NBC programming that led to the series of events that culminated with Conan leaving his dream job. But he didn't. He chose in that moment to say something that might have a positive affect on viewers - no self-indulgence, just an honest heartfelt message. Anyone who watched Saturday Night Live in the late 1980s, "The Simpsons" in the early 1990s, or Late Night when Conan hosted it, has known for a long time that Conan is a very funny guy with little in the way of self-importance. What we found out last night is that Conan is a good man. There used to be a sign in every Wendy's. It showed a picture of founder Dave Thomas and the quote, "Just be nice". I liked that, and am sorry the powers that run Wendy's chose to take them down. It gave me reason to think that there might be a better way than to erupt with anger every time someone inconvenienced me or showed selfishness. Today, I left a Wendy's because there were three workers who saw me walk into the empty restaurant and never made a move to take my order because they were too busy entertaining each to ask what I would like to eat. Back in the day, I might have lectured the slack-jawed tools, or created some kind of spectacle Today, I just left. Baby steps, I guess. It's possible to be patient and kind, but still refuse to reward poor service. Work hard, be kind - with genuine sincerity. If that's all anyone gets from watching Conan O'Brien's seven month run as the host of the Tonight Show, that's more good than most do in their lifetime in the media. Wherever Conan lands next, if he's at 11:00p or 11:35p, my money is on him. Here is the entire text of Conan's remarks at the end of his last show: Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can't say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we're going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible. Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun. And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational. To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen.

Peyton Manning Will Lead Colts to Win

kentsterling — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:51:18 +0000

The best football player will lead the best team to the Super for the second time in four years by beating the loudest team today in the AFC Championship. Peyton Manning is the NFL MVP for the fourth time in his 12-year career, and the Colts won 12+ games for the seventh straight season. He is the best, and will play like it today because that is what he's done all year. Greatness is a hard habit to break. The Jets talk like the 1985 Chicago Bears. The doesn't make them the 1985 Bears. The Colts talk like a team that would prefer never to stand in front of a microphone. They speak in complete sentences, but reveal nothing. Football, like all sports, is compelling because of matchups. The Jets blitz like crazy - 60% of the passing snaps in the playoff games against the Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego Charger were met with Jets blitzes. No one is as adept at attacking the blitz that Manning. People blame Colts President Bill Polian for losing the game to the Jets. In truth, the Colts would have had the game won in the first half had Manning been sharp. Everyone is losing their minds over lockdown corner Darrelle Revis as though it's impossible to complete a pass to the receiver against whom he is matched. Reggie Wayne had him beaten several times, and Manning missed him. Had Manning performed as he regularly does, he hits Wayne when he was five yards behind Revis, as well as another three passes that were just beyond his receivers. The game could easily have been 28-0 at the half. The media are saying that the Jets have a "puncher's chance" against the Colts, but that's a metaphor that would only work if a football team could score a knockout. Should the Jets return the opening kickoff for the TD, as the Bears did in Super Bowl XLI, the Colts would still have 59:40 to comeback and win. If Manning throws a pick six, the Colts would get the ball right back and try to even the score. Football is a 60-minute game regardless of how badly a team dominates the other, and 60-minutes is a perfect amount of time to determine who is the better team. The Colts are just better than the Jets. I love the Colts quiet confidence and focus. They look like a group who know who they are, and how they function best. This is a team with a great balance of youth and experience. With Manning, Freeney, Mathis, Brackett, Clark, and Wayne, at the height of his powers this Colts team looks like a very difficult out. The lines are odd. All of the sports books have the Colts somewhere between an eight and nine-point favorite, except for 5dimes.com. They have the Colts -5.5. That's weird. A 3.5 point swing is a gob. Colts 27-9.

Live Blog - Colts vs. Jets

kentsterling — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:58:06 +0000

During the National Anthem, Mark Sanchez looked like he was ready to vomit. If I'm the Colts, I defer. Sanchez is trying way too hard to calm himself. My wife has fixed enough food for ten people despite it just being the two of us watching the game. I hate the way that CBS front loads spotsets at the beginning of the game. The first quarter always seems to take forever. Maybe it's Jim Nantz and his inability to be compelling at all. He won the national sportscaster of the year award for the fifth time, and I can't figure out why. His performance is always the definition of bland. More should be demanded from a man described as the best. The Colts look as though they will receive. We don't know for sure because CBS is too busy telling us about how big plays will be the difference. No shit. Chad Simpson to the 30, nice. Good start. Anything outside the 20 is a bonus. The Colts need a first down. Got one. Reggie looks good. Great protection. Gain of 13, followed by an Addai run for two. Third and long. Manning goes down. Colts will punt. Manning needs to figure this out...now. Good punt. No return. If the Jets don't run the first two plays, I will stop writing this blog. One run down, one to go. Another run, and third and seven for the Jets. Here comes a pass in the flat on the right. Should Caldwell have challenged. CBS dumbasses give us limited replays. Now we see it. Good no challenge. Now third and short. Eight in the box, and still they pick it us. First down Jets. Uh-oh. We need a turnover or to hold the Jets to an FG. Nice play to force a second and 12. Short pass right upcoming. Nope. They run straight into a run blitz by Bethea. Third and 14. Fourth down upcoming, and Feely is on for a 45 yard FG -- No good. Colts take over on their own 34. Nice stand. Time during commercials to grab a couple of shrimp. What the hell is Peyton doing. Don't go down without getting hit. Second and 17. Addai gets five back. This isn't going as I would have liked. Nice blitz pickup, but Manning looks buggy. They need to figure out these blitzes. Good punt by McAfee. More commercials. More shrimp. Jets 1st and 10 at the Colts 27. Under 39 looks good right now. Third and nine. I like the Colts defense today. Fast, Fast, Fast What kind of a conservative call is that by the Jets offense. Why the hell didn't the Colts fair catch that ball? This is a field position game, and we just gave the Jets 10 yards. Colts ball inside their own 20. Turnovers are going to decide this game if Manning can't figure the Jets D out. Nice gain of five on a pass to Clark. That's how you attack the Jets. Brown goes for 12. Looks like the Brown we saw early. Running downhill. Garcon for 27. Addai on way to the locker room. Now the Colts look right. Now the ten yards lost on the non fair catch doesn't seem like a big deal. Another huge play to Garcon. 1st and 10 inside the Jets 10. Jets burn a time out, and the Colts are moving. Great catch by Garcon. How did that guy last into the sixth round of the 2008 draft? Sweep to Brown for nothing. Now a missed ball to Wayne. 3rd and goal from the nine. Ryan Diem is rubbing me the wrong way. Christ. Holding. Declined. FG for Stover upcoming. End of the first quarter tied 0-0. 3-0 Colts on a Stover 25 yard FG. Now we just pray the kick coverage keeps the Jets inside their own 30. Good start really for the Colts. I would like to see TDs instead of FGs, but the Jets don't look like they can move the ball. I love touchbacks. Great kick. The Jets have to go 80. Well, that was a quick 80. Nice throw by Sanchez. 7-3 Jets Jim Nantz is rubbing my raw with this bullshit about Jacob Lacey being a rookie. Does he realize that Powers is also a rookie, and that Lacey has played every bit as much as Powers? Nantz's performance thus far is Musbergian. Nice run by Brown. The Colts need to get some rhythm. third and five after a drop by Collie. Penalty on the Jets for 12 men on the field. First down at the 30 Big ball to Reggie Wayne to the Jets 45 Addai for nine. How about the Jets penalty for 12 men. That's a good way to lose to the Colts. Addai looks to have figured out how to get two yards. Addai for another eight. Second and two. Let's take a shot downfield. Wayne wanted a flag, but nothing. Third and two. First down to the Jets four. Collie. Nice catch and run. Garcon well defended drops ball in the endzone. Collie got close, but the Colts rushed to the line so we never saw a replay to see if Collie made it. The replay after the fact showed Collie down before crossing the goal line. Two trips inside the Jets 10, and six points to show for it. The Oreo lick off spots were never clever, and now they are annoying in the extreme. They just don't make any sense. The Who at the Super Bowl halftime show will be great regardless of their age. Gain of three to the Colts 22. Green finally pops one for 12 to the Colts 40. Now, second and 7 from the 43. Brad Smith goes over the top to a wideopen Cotchery to the Colts 11. The Colts need to stiffen. Right now. second and six from the seven. Third and six. This is a key play. Mathis and Wheeler almost got to Sanchez, but what a play by Sanchez to get the ball out of bounds. The Colts need to maintain contact here. Keep it to 10-6 with plenty of time left in the half, and all three timeouts left. Ruh-roh. 14-6. Nice throw under durress by Sanchez, whom I am quickly beginning to hate and much as I find Nantz bland. First down Colts on two Addai runs. Need to continue to run clock. The Jets look like the Colts and vice versa. Oh boy. Fumble Addai, and the Jets recover in Colts territory. This isn't uncommon territory for the Colts. Seven comebacks for wins this year. The Colts will need another one. Huge play by Freeney. Third and 16 for the Jets. Unleash the hounds and hope Feely misses another long one. It will be a 48 yarder. This one was straight through, and the Colts are on the business end of a 17-6 game. Two - minute warning. First down Colts at their own 38. This is what Manning does better than anyone. The two-minute drill at the end of the first half is where he has shined all year. Do I sound like i"m starting to hope a little bit? I am. The confidence I had 90-minutes ago is gone. This is going to be a tough win for the Colts. They aren't out of it by any stretch, but this is not going to be the cake walk I anticipated. Great throw to Collie. Colts first down to the Jets 16. And now TD Colts. Another ball to Collie. 17-13 Jets. 1:13 left in the half. And so it's halftime. The Jets have played their asses off, and hold a four-point lead. The Colts look to have figured some things out, but those two big plays are the reason the Colts are not leading comfortably. I doubt the Jets are going to gadget it up at all in the second half. There are only so many times they can go to that well. To anyone who took my gambling advice - Colts -8, and under 39, I apologize. Clearly, wagering adjustments will be required or a beating will ensue. The under is all but dead, and the Jets are a net 12-point leader. If you told me that the Colts would out rush the Jets in the first half and be behind, I would have called you a nut. This has been tough to watch, but hey, it's a hell of a lot better than the 21-3 deficit the Colts came back from to advance to the Super Bowl in 2007. This Jets team is not the 2006 Patriots. The Jets get the ball first in the second half, so getting that initial stop is key. Much better to get the ball down four than down 11. Must stop the run and ball control passing game. second and three. Green goes for another seven, and the Colts aren't leading the rushing stats any more. Green shaken up. Excellent Keller for five, and the Jets are nearing midfield. Now are at the Colts 37 after a nice throw to Cotchery. Second and ten as the Colts d-up nicely on a Sanchez roll out. Stoned the run, and now third and seven. This is must stop territory. Fourth and seven. Feely on for the 52-yard FG. He misses wide right, and the Colts take over on their own 42. Good stop. Let's see what adjustements Manning and Tom Moore came up with at halftime. They seemed to have the ball moving well at the end of the half. Ryan certainly will bring some different looks himself. Garcon gets seven to force 3rd and 3. Austin Collie for another seven, ball inside Jets territory. Now Garcon to the 28 of the Jets. 2nd and ten from the 28 after throwing left beyond Collie. Addai breaks 22 tackles to get the first down at the Jets 15. Now the ball is inside the five after the 11 yard gain to Garcon. Touchdown COLTS! Did Garcon get the second foot down. I know he got his right foot down twice, but does that count? Colts 20-17 midway through the 3rd. Jets return to the 31. I like it at inside the 25. A three-and-out here would be great. I'm thinking the Colts -8 wasn't the catastrophe I believed it might be a few minutes ago, but God will have to involve himself to save the under 39 bet. Jones for another 12. Green looks like he won't return, so stop Jones now. Holding is a wonderful thing. Sends the Jets back 10-yards. Rex Ryan has some mouth on him, huh. second and 17, throw to Keller - first down. That's not good. Brackett so close to getting a mitt on that pass. Another penalty set the Jets up 1st-and-15. Now 2nd and 15. Mathis is getting close to Sanchez. Third and 15. The Jets will punt. TJ Rushing fields it on the bounce to the Colts 15. This could be a game (and season) defining drive. Move the ball into Jets territory, and the game becomes manageable for the Colts. Score and things start to look very good. Let's not even think about the T word. Addai rumbles for 17. Great to get some clearance and improve the field position. Brown tripped up from behind. Clark finally makes another catch for a short gain to the 36. Third and 7. Miss to Garcon, so another McAfee punt. Huge effort pins the Jets at their own 10. No return on a 52-yard punt. How enormous has Pat McAfee been this year? I loved Hunter Smith, but this guy has been an upgrade in almost every area. Smith might be a great holder, but I don't think McAfee has botched a snap on a FG all year. Jones gets two, but they are going to need to throw it to move it. Jones loses what he gained on the first play - 3rd and 10 Jets. First down Jets on a pass to Cotchery. Mathis ran a stunt, and got close. A run for no gain takes us to the end of the third. Colts 20-17. Time for more shrimp and a cookie. My wife and I used to have a bunch of our son's friends come over for games, and she still brings out food like we do. Keller gets five, so we're at 3rd and 5 again. GET A DAMN STOP. Sanchez with another throw to Cotchery. Do they have a receiver other than Cotchery and Keller? I know they have Edwards, but they never throw anywhere else. 2nd and 8 from the Jets 43; 12:55 to go. Yet another 3rd and long. This time 8. Now we get the ball back. Thank God the punt went into the end zone. Colts ball at their own 20. Oh my. Reggie fumbles and hops right back into his hands. There was a play that might just get the Colts to the Super Bowl. Clark with a drop. How about Collie with a catch and first down. What a game for the rookie. Another first down. Clark with a catch and the face mask penalty is huge. That moves the Colts to the 19. Addai for four up the gut. 2nd and 6 from the 15. TOUCHDOWN COLTS! Clark flashes up the seam for the typical Colts TD. Colts 27, Jets 17 with 8:52 left. Touchback, and the Jets face a long field again. Field position has been so critical. The Jets don't score quickly - at least not this half. Now they face a big third and long. The Colts hold, and now get to run clock. After a Jets punt, the Colts start at their own 25 with 8:02 left. If they can get two first downs and run three minutes on this drive, the game is over. The Colts are built to defend with a lead, and now up ten, they get to do just that - after running a little clock. Oddly, they are also very adept at moving the ball with a lead as well. Addai for a yard, and the clock continues to run. Illegal contact gives the Colts a first down with 7:17 to play. Incomplete to Clark, and the clock stops. Third and three. Garcon gets seven. Where'd he get those hands? Garcon again, and the chains move. Under 6:00 to play. How about Joseph Addai? First down, and this game is over. Done. Addai runs for another yard, but the clock will roll to 4:13 before the next play. Garcon with a huge third down grab for 23 yards. This is ball control offense baby. How many weapons do the Colts have? Take away Wayne, go to Collie. Take away Clark, go to Collie. Madness. Second down and nine with 3:23 left. Hard to score without the ball. Sanchez will have to be satisfied with acquiting himself well in his first trip to the big stage. And now third and seven after Addai goes for a yard or two. The Jets burn their second timeout. with 3:19 left. Thye Colts have a decision. I believe they should go for it. Fourth and one from the three. First down wins it. But they will settle for the three and go up 30-17. It will likely not matter, but fourth and one to end the game, I take it. Especially from the three. The Jets would have had 97 yards to go if they had gotten the stop. I remember the kick return to start the second half in the regular season game. No such luck for the Jets. They are at their own 32 with 2:18 left - 2nd and 10. Freeney just limped off. Not good. Hopefully, two weeks gets him healthy. Kelvin Hayden's pick ends any chance of drama in the last two minutes. And so Bill Polian is vindicated for pulling the starters against the Jets, and in what was a very stressful game early, the Colts played a nearly perfect second half to sew up their fourth ticket to the Super Bowl. Let the media madness begin!

Colts Grab Ticket to Miami

kentsterling — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:42:48 +0000

The Indianapolis Colts dominated the last 32 minutes of the AFC Championship game to remove all drama and doubt in their 30-17 mauling of the New York Jets. This will be the Colts fourth trip to the Super Bowl overall and second in the last four seasons, and it puts to rest finally all of the conjecture regarding the decision to pull the starters and concede any chance at an undefeated season in the week 16 game against these same Jets. Bill Polian is smiling tonight and for good reason. His defense was almost flawless. With the exception of two gadget plays, the Colts yielded virtually nothing, and shutout the Jets in the second half. Peyton Manning now has a winning record in the postseason, which should remove one of the smaller monkeys from his back. He is now 9-8, with a chance to go to 10-8 against the winner of the New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings game tonight. Either opponent creates a bunch of great story lines and will provide America with one of the most-hyped games in the history of the NFL. Manning was superb today completing 26 of his 39 passes for 377 yards and three TDs. Manning used to have a rep for choking in the postseason, but today's performance was one of the most dominant in postseason history. Pierre Garcon set an all-time AFC Championship Game record with 11 receptions. His 151 yards were huge in the win, and Austin Collie's seven grabs for 107 yards were equally important. Collie's two catches on the touchdown drive at the end of the first half set a great rhythm for the second half, and put the Colts in a great position to attack during the final 30-minutes. Joseph Addai ran 16 times for 80 yards - a gaudy 5.0 yard average - gaudy by Addai standards anyway. He seems to have gotten stronger throughout the season, and nearly outgained the Jets terrible twosome all by himself, as Greene and Jones combined for a paltry 83 yards. During the postgame trophy presentation, Colts Coach Jim Caldwell smiles - a rare treat. I'm not sure how good the Jets are going to get, but it wouldn't surprise me if the Jets became a rival similar to what the Patriots have been for the Colts. They are an aggressive young team that will get better as Mark Sanchez does. The story of the game though is what might have happened if the Colts hadn't found a way to avenge that manufactured loss four weeks ago. Bill Polian decided that the health of his team was more important that a whack at joining the Miami Dolphins as the only unbeaten team in modern NFL history, which potentially cost players millions of dollars. That Jets win was the difference between their joining the postseason party and sitting at home watching the games on TV. Had the Jets won today, Polian would have been forever defined by that decision. The Colts and Manning pulled Polian's bacon out of the fire, and made him look damn smart. How unfortunate would it have been for the architect of the best team in football over the past decade to be defined by a decision that made sense in the effort to get the Colts to the Super Bowl. Now that has happened, and we can remember Polian's decision with a smile rather than a grimace. Speaking of injuries, the Colts are undoubtedly sweating the status of Dwight Freeney, who limped from the field late in the second half. Freeney is the most disruptive player in the NFL, and exceptionally important in being competitive in the Super Bowl regardless of the opponent.

Sports Digest - January 25, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:09:48 +0000

Colts Punch Ticket to Super Bowl XLIV http://www.indystar.com/article/20100125/SPORTS03/1250345/ http://www.indystar.com/article/20100125/SPORTS03/1250337 Kravitz http://www.indystar.com/article/20100125/SPORTS15/1250356 http://www.indystar.com/article/20100125/SPORTS03/1250360 Garcon and Collie Catching on http://www.indystar.com/article/20100125/SPORTS03/1250349 Stover Will Be Oldest Ever in Super Bowl http://www.indystar.com/article/20100125/SPORTS03/1250338 How to Get Super Bowl Tickets http://www.indystar.com/article/20100125/SPORTS03/1250355 New York Coverage of Jets Loss http://www.newyorkpost.com/p/news/national/shocker_cops_taser_jet_fan_h3GlWKllBM6uplf0dOyc5K http://www.newyorkpost.com/p/sports/jets/magic_carpet_crashes_in_second_half_3Mh2hYlMqXdzEOjz8bFwJP http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/25/2010-01-25_missing_stand_causes_jet_fall.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/sports/football/25afc.html?ref=sports http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/sports/football/25colts.html?ref=football Bill Simmons Previews Super Bowl - This was written prior to the games yesterday, but still enjoyable.

COLTS-SAINTS

Vegas odds: Even. Enjoyable/poignant/fascinating subplots in play: New Orleans rebounds from Katrina. ... Manning versus Brees (the best Super Bowl QB matchup since Favre-Elway). ... Archie Manning's torn allegiances between Peyton and N'Awlins. ... The success of Rita Benson and Jim Irsay (two legacy kids who actually turned into good owners). ... Jim Caldwell's attempt to become the third black coach of a Super Bowl champ, as well as the first dead one. ... And obviously, can New Orleans win its first Super Bowl ever?

Secretly coolest subplot: For the first time since Super Bowl XVI (San Fran giving 1 to Cincy), we'd probably have a Super Bowl line that was less than 3. My guess would be Colts by 2½, but if the Saints thrash Minnesota this Sunday, it might be close to a pick 'em. A pick 'em! Can you imagine???

(Sign No. 357 that I have a gambling problem: I'm waaaaaaaaaay too excited about the first-ever pick 'em Super Bowl.) Potentially horrifying media day subplots: Will anyone cross the Marvin Harrison line with a Colts player? Will anyone cross the Kim Kardashian/sex-tape line with Reggie Bush? Annoying subplot in play: Indy eschewing 19-0 (and whether it was worth it). This topic should have died three weeks ago. I blame Skip Bayless. Maybe it's not his fault but I haven't blamed him for anything in a while. Funniest subplot: South Beach being morbidly depressed that, instead of New York fans flooding in last minute to see the Jets, blue-collar Colts fans arrive for the second time in four years. Would anyone like to book a half-price suite at the Delano? Anyone? Please? For the love of God, anyone???? U.S. rooting breakdown: A national landslide for New Orleans, the likes of which we've never seen for a Super Bowl. Aside from Indiana residents, Volunteer fans, fans of Manning's commercials and people wagering on the Colts, what normally impartial person would root against the Saints in this particular game? Really, you're going to root against a city that was annihilated by a hurricane, then attached itself to a football team as part of the healing process ... only to see that same football team make a Super Bowl four-plus years later? Possibility of a memorable game: Exceedingly high. Indiana Loses Chance to Go to 4-3 in Big Ten Against Bad Iowa Team http://www.indystar.com/article/20100125/SPORTS0601/1250351/1004/SPORTS/Crean-bemoans-his-team-s-lack-of-toughness-in-loss www.peegs.com http://www.indystar.com/article/20100125/SPORTS0601/1250352/1004/SPORTS/Crean-No-looking-past-anyone Pacers Believe They Have a Chance http://www.indystar.com/article/20100125/SPORTS04/1250350/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-believe-they-have-a-chance

Harry on Sports - Monday, January 26, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:22:36 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry61.mp3] Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Colts vs. Saints Should Be a Super Bowl to Remember

kentsterling — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:23:27 +0000

So often, the Super Bowl doesn't match-up the two best teams in the NFL, or there are no clear-cut best teams and we get a game featuring two teams that got hot late. Not this year. The Colts started the season 14-0 and the Saints nearly matched them as they won their first 13 games. These are definitely and unquestionable the best two teams in the NFL, and we get to see them match-up in 13 days. The Saints moved on in overtime by the skin of their teeth, and were the beneficiaries for Vikings QB Brett Favre's greed. Favre threw a pick with 13-seconds left in the game with the score tied at 28, rather than tuck it and run for the yardage they needed to get into reasonably comfortable field goal range for Ryan Longwell. The Vikings five turnovers were too much to overcome against a Saints team that is opportunistic and loves to strip the ball from running backs. Incredibly, this is only the third time since 1990 that the two number-one seeds have played in the Super Bowl, and although the Colts are early line favorites (-4 1/2), this has the earmarks of a classic. The Saints are an explosive offensive machine with multiple weapons and special teams excellence. The Colts are so incredibly efficient offensively and fast on defense that over the course of 60 minutes, they find ways to win as long as they hang onto the ball. There are enough story lines to keep the media machine running smoothly for the next 13 days as we countdown to kickoff. Peyton grew up in New Orleans watching his Dad quarterback some terrible Saints teams. The City of New Orleans has overcome great adversity over the past four-and-a-half years in rebuilding post Hurricane Katrina. The Saints were forced to leave the Crescent City for a long time as the Superdome was structurally compromised. The Colts are trying to cap off its resume' as the team of the decade - needing a second Super Bowl win to be mentioned with the New England Patriots, whose three championships and four trips make it the favorite. The Colts won more regular season games in this decade than any team has in the history of the NFL, so with a second title maybe a case can be made. The Colts are no longer a high-flying, explosive team. They are efficient and cold-blooded. This group has found so many different ways to come back and win that they are never out of any game. The accumulated excellence through hard work and diligence is almost impossible for opponents to overcome. Phil Simms said something really smart a few weeks ago during an Oakland Raiders game, "If your quarterback isn't the hardest working player on your team, you're in trouble." He was talking about the seemingly lethargic JaMarcus Russell. The inverse is just as true. If your quarterback is the hardest working player on your team, you can win - a lot. Both Peyton Manning and Drew Brees have unquestionable work ethics. Brees reinvented himself a couple of seasons ago by building his core muscles. The result was a significantly improved arm. Manning is constantly looking at film and honing his craft. He and offense coordinator Tom Moore are unparalleled in their ability to break down a defense and adjust on the fly to solve the puzzle presented by the schemes devised by the defensive geniuses on the opposite sideline. Manning has worked hard enough to dissect defenses that he has become an intellectual expert while his body is still sound enough to perform at the highest level. That almost never happens. It's early to predict a winner, but if the Colts can limit their turnovers, they win. There are going to be a lot of points scored in this game. Brees is not Mark Sanchez. He can win games with his arm alone. The Saints defense is a high risk, high reward group, who force turnovers and allow big plays with equal enthusiasm. DB Tracy Porter is a great example. Porter was one of my least favorite all-time Indiana Hoosiers as he missed tackles, bit on fakes, and generally goofed up enough to be a nightmare in a close game. He also made big plays at IU. He's doing the same at New Orleans. I don't think there was a single highlight yesterday that Porter was not a part of. He got called for pass interference in the end zone, gave up big receptions, recovered a fumble, and intercepted the ill-advised Favre pass late in the fourth. Manning will make mincemeat of that secondary, but the ball bounces funny sometimes. So we have 13 days to mull it over, chew on it, and analyze the most mundane of on-field match-ups. The Colts are drama-free. The Saints seem to live quietly as well, minus the Reggie Bush/Kim Kardashian relationship. I'm sure we will all get the opportunity to get real tired of the Kardashian Family. The Colts will win, unless they turn it over 4+ times, or give up a special teams touchdown. Colts 33-22 over the Saints. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Cubs GM Jim Hendry vs. Colts President Bill Polian

kentsterling — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:26:33 +0000

The following came to me from PR Maven-to-the-Stars Len Totlan: Hendry sighting: Cubs general manager Jim Hendry watched the game from the seventh-floor box that Colts President Bill Polian occupies. Hendry and Polian were introduced at Wrigley Field about 15 years ago by former Cubs GM and President Andy MacPhail and they've been fast friends since. Hendry said this is the fifth Colts game he has attended this season, and he grew up a Johnny Unitas and Colts fan. Hendry was seen in Houston at the Colts vs. Texans game, as well as several Colts home games this season. In the 15 years Hendry and Polian have been friends, how many pieces of management advice from Polian has Hendry followed. Polian is widely believed to be the hardest working evaluator of talent in the NFL, and a guy whose formula for building a winner has resulted in unparalleled success. Polian led the Bills to three straight trips to the Super Bowl, and the players he assembled went to a fourth the following year. He went to Carolina and took the Panthers to the NFC Championship Game in the franchises second season. With the Colts, he built a team that won more regular season games in this decade than any team ever, and may win a second Super Bowl in the last four seasons on February 7th. If a sports GM was to choose a mentor, he could do no better than Polian. Let's see what similarities there are between the two friends. Polian - Highest paid player is Peyton Manning, the NFL's only four-time MVP and the author of some of the biggest comebacks in the history of sport. Manning is an automatic first ballot Hall of Famer, and used some of his wealth to finance a children's hospital in Indianapolis. Hendry - Highest paid player is Alfonso Soriano, who has finished in the top five of MVP voting exactly once. Statistically, Soriano does not compare favorably with any member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, according to www.baseball-reference.com - the best website in the world. Advantage Polian Polian - The Colts have won a minimum of 75% of their regular season games during the past seven years. Hendry - The Cubs have won 52% of their games in the last seven years. Advantage Polian Polian - Once sent me a hand-written thank you note Hendry - Used a string of profanity unrivaled even by Bob Knight while signing autographs for a line of kids at a Cincinnati hotel restaurant the morning after clinching the NL Central as my wife and I sat at the next table. Advantage Polian - by a wide margin Polian - Drafts rookies who contribute immediately and adapt perfectly to the Colts culture. Hendry - Drafts players who enjoy long and fruitless minor league careers. The exceptions are Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, and Geo Soto. There are three guys who can turn you into an ex-GM in a hurry. He does seem to have a knack for drafting catchers who become good pitchers - Randy Wells and Carlos Marmol are two examples. Advantage Polian Polian - Almost never spends on the veteran free agent market, citing Chad Bratzke, Corey Simon, and Booger McFarland as cautionary tales. Owner Jim Irsay is thrilled to have a spendthrift not writing giant checks to broken down, past their prime non-contributors. Hendry - Habitual overspender who can't wait to overpay part-time players for middling results. Built 83 win team with the third highest payroll in baseball while paying little more than the league minimum to opening day starters Theriot, Fontenot, and Soto. No wonder the Tribune Company declared bankrupcy. Advantage Polian This is quickly becoming monotonous. Polian is superior to virtually every GM in sports. Hendry's results have been decidedly mediocre. His free agent signings have been mostly horrible. The exception is Ted Lilly, who is shelved likely until midseason. The big name acquisitions of Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Milton Bradley have been disastrous. The mid-level signings of Aaron Miles, Bob Howry, and Scott Eyre were equally wasteful. Hendry has made some outstanding trades, acquiring Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee for virtually nothing is hard to ignore, but overall given the open checkbook the Tribune Company allowed, the results have been terrible. It's better to have been in the postseason three times over the past seven years than not, but the current nine game losing streak in the postseason is a miserable testament to the Cubs fans lament. If Polian and Hendry have frequent friendly conversations, Hendry should spend more time listening than talking. Maybe Polian is like an Italian mother-in-law, appearing to be friendly as she shares recipes, but holding back one crucial ingredient. The daughter-in-law winds up with gravy that tastes like motor oil, and can't figure out why as the mother-in-law grins that her son can't ever get food like his mom's anywhere else. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Tuesday, January 26, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:22:53 +0000

Here are the stories that caught my eye today: Super Bowl - Family Moochers Need Tickets from Players http://www.indystar.com/article/20100126/SPORTS03/1260355/ Kravitz - No Doubt Saints Are Great Story http://www.indystar.com/article/20100126/SPORTS15/1260356/ Colts Fresh Legs Carry Them to Victory http://www.indystar.com/article/20100126/SPORTS03/1260336/ New York Media Lionize Manning http://www.indystar.com/article/20100125/SPORTS03/100125001/ No Rest for Weary Saints; Shockey Eager to Play in Super Bowl http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/01/little_rest_for_weary_new_orle.html http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/01/saints_tight_end_jeremy_shocke_2.html New Orleans Media Looks at Colts Defense http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/01/indianapolis_colts_defense_com.html Pacers Return Favor in Philly and Get Road Win http://www.indystar.com/article/20100126/SPORTS04/1260353/1004/SPORTS/Popular-small-lineup-produces-in-2nd-half As Always, Peegs Has IU Covered http://indiana.rivals.com/ Purdue Sports from Gold and Black http://purdue.rivals.com/ Cubs - Banks Calls for Sosa to Be Honest About Steroid Use http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2011168,CST-SPT-cub26.article Cubs Likely to Remain in Mesa for Spring Training http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/ct-spt-0126-cubs-mesa-chicago--20100125,0,502236.story Four Auditioning for Spots Vacated by Ted Lilly and Rich Harden http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0124-cubs-chicago--20100123,0,4486237.story Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - January 26, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:39:48 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry71.mp3] Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Hey, Brett Favre! Please Retire, and Stay Retired

kentsterling — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:42:47 +0000

This "Will Favre play or not in 2010" nonsense began as soon as the Vikings lost the NFC Championship Sunday night and will drag on for another seven months, as it has for every season for the past three. This drama is so tired and ridiculous that I can't imagine the media will indulge him in yet another circus of tweets to ESPN's Chris Mortensen and reports from the Hattiesburg Airport. Brett isn't a kid anymore and needs to find another way to indulge his need for adrenaline fueled challenges. Favre has made decisions that cost two Packers teams and this year's Viking team trips to the Super Bowl during the past seven years. His propensity for trying to be the hero has made him one of the more compelling figures in the NFL as well as one of the most troubled. Sunday's pass to Sidney Rice as the Vikings were so close to being in field goal range has been disected by everyone with access to a keyboard and a broadband account, and some have used the "h" word that I love so well. Hubris will always make you pay. If you have five players on a basketball court and any of them (unless their names are Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, or Michael Jordan) thinks "I can save the day by virtue of my own brilliance", the result will be trouble. Selfishness does not work in a team game. Peyton Manning's genius is in knowing that is success will mirror perfectly the success of his receivers, so he works tirelessly to help them improve. Manning took two early sacks yesterday instead of try to make something happen and open the Colts up to a game-changing turnover. He avoided disaster by not trying to make a play when none was available. All season, Favre resisted the temptation to play beyond his capabilities. The result was Favre's best statistical season - only seven interceptions. Yesterday, Bad Brett reemerged just in time to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, as Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell waited for his shot at glory. Favre is a gunslinger, and gunslingers die bloody deaths. I've watched a lot of westerns, and I have never seen the gunslinger ride into the sunset at the end of the movie. You get into enough gun fights, you get shot. Does this hurt Favre's legacy? Absolutely not. If he had gone out as a Jet last season, it would have been a little like Johnny Unitas playing in San Diego or maybe Joe Namath ending his career in L.A. Favre was certainly more productive than either Namath or Unitas in their respective final seasons., but to see Favre out of his Packers jersey flailing around toward the end of the 2008 season was just sad. His arm needed surgery, and the Jets unraveled around his failing body. I will always remember Favre as the quarterback who was one half of the best first half shootout I've ever seen. On September 26, 2004, the Colts hosted the Packers, and both Peyton Manning and Brett Favre threw haymakers throughout the first half. Manning threw for five first half touchdowns, and Favre threw two. For the game, Favre threw for 360 yards and four TDs. Manning tallied 393 yards and five TDs in a Colts 45-31 win. At the end of the first quarter, the Colts led 21-14, and it looked like the game might wind up 70-63. It was like the first Arturo Gatti vs. Mickey Ward fight. Two amazing talents at the peak of their powers throwing haymakers at each other. Regardless of Favre's decision, in fairness to the Vikings, he needs to make one and stick to it. He doesn't need minicamp and all the rest of the offseason work, so maybe Brad Childress can allow him to skip it. But let the team know what the hell is going on. And, for the love of all that's holy, don't put ESPN fans through another torturous August with the hourly updates. I get there is a $13-million check on the line, and you might think twice about turning your back on that kind of cake. You need another $13-million? You have made nearly $100-million, and live in Mississippi. You could buy the entire state. Retire and walk away. For the hell of it, here is a look at some of the NFL records Favre holds of which you might not be aware. We all know that Favre has a big lead in attempts, completions, passing yards, and passing TDs. Manning is on pace to grab all of them by the time P-Money turns 38. The record of Favre's that might be the safest is for interceptions thrown. He stands at 317 picks, with Peyton Manning roughly nine seasons of picks back at 181. Favre is only two back of Warren Moon's all-time record for fumbles with 159. Not surprisingly, Favre also leads all active QBs with 40 fumbles recovered. Manning is nowhere close in either category. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

The Who - Reveal Set List for the Super Bowl Halftime Show

kentsterling — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:58:06 +0000

The Who will play a 12-minute medley of some of the greatest hits during their mini-concert at halftime of the Super Bowl. There is a lot of talk about The Who being chosen because of their songs being used as the themes for the three CSI shows - a staple of the CBS primetime lineup, and that talk is definitely valid. Not sure why else the NFL would choose them. Hey, I'm a huge fan of The Who, and believe their library of rock songs is the most current of any of the super groups, including The Beatles, but as Pete Townshend has said many times, "If you want to ruin a party, put on a Who record." The music of The Who is not background listening, and the changes in metre is way not good for people who want to dance. "We're kinda doing a mashup of stuff," the guitarist tells Billboard. "A bit of 'Baba O'Riley,' a bit of 'Pinball Wizard,' a bit of the close of 'Tommy,' a bit of 'Who Are You,' and a bit of 'Won't Get Fooled Again.' It works -- it's quite a saga. A lot of the stuff that we do has that kind of celebratory vibe about it -- we've always tried to make music that allows the audience to go a bit wild if they want to. Hopefully it will hit the spot." Surviving founding members of The Who - Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are in their 60s. That is supposed to be some indictment of their ability to entertain and rock. They authored the absolute best 30-minutes of straight forward power rock I've ever seen in 2002. In 2007, the Indianapolis show was also amazing. Age won't be an issue unless Townshend's arm flies off as he windmills his Strat. With The Who playing at halftime, that leaves two bands the still exist that are worthy of playing a Super Bowl - Led Zeppelin and AC/DC. I've had it with the poseur bullshit of acts like Kanye and Diddy. Green Day is a waste - who wants smiling punks. Get angry when you play angry music or get the f**k off the stage. I can't think of a women who I would look forward to - especially with the FCC being a little intolerant of nudity. Given a one-time waiver for showing breasts, I would make an exception for a medley of girl group hits sung by Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, and Taylor Swift, but only if they danced in a circle holding hands and jumping up and down. The Who will rock it. People will watch. Some will bitch. Some will tell those who bitch to shut the f**k up. I'll be one of those guys.

Sports Digest - Wednesday, January 27, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:56:36 +0000

Here are the stories that caught my eye today Colts Still Remember First Trip to Super Bowl http://www.indystar.com/article/20100127/SPORTS03/1270353/1004/SPORTS/Memories-still-fresh-from-first-Super-Bowl Colts Defense Continues to Answer Bell http://www.indystar.com/article/20100127/SPORTS03/1270335/1004/SPORTS/Defense-answers-the-bell-vs.-run What Went Right for the Colts in 2009 http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-4450-Indianapolis-Colts-Examiner~y2010m1d27-Super-Bowl-XLIV-Wha-went-very--and-unexpectedly--right-for-the-Indianapilis-Colts-in-2009 Colts Will Work Hard to Be Quiet - Paul Kuharsky http://espn.go.com/blog/afcsouth/post/_/id/8776/colts-will-work-hard-to-be-quiet Colts Will Wear Blue in Super Bowl http://www.indystar.com/article/20100127/SPORTS03/1270352/1004/SPORTS/Colts-will-wear-their-blue-jerseys-in-Super-Bowl Saints: Crowd Noise Played Key Role vs. Vikings http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/01/tuesday_film_study.html New Orleans School Officials Consider Cancelling School on Day After Super Bowl http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2010/01/school_officials_weigh_cancell.html Indy Sports Agenda - Super Bowl, Then Final Four http://www.indystar.com/article/20100127/SPORTS03/1270352/1004/SPORTS/Colts-will-wear-their-blue-jerseys-in-Super-Bowl Pacers Host Kobe and Lebron This Week http://www.indystar.com/article/20100127/SPORTS04/1270351/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-get-close-looks-at-both-LeBron-and-Kobe What's Greg Oden Been Up to While Injured? You May Not Want to Know http://www.indystar.com/article/20100127/SPORTS/1260409/1004/SPORTS/Greg-Oden-apologizes-for-nude-photos Purdue News http://purdue.rivals.com/ Hoosiers Need to Become Better Teammates http://www.newsandtribune.com/localsports/local_story_027010536.html?keyword=topstory Cubs Sign Nady to One-Year Deal http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2012792,CST-SPT-cub27.article http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0127-cubs-nady-chicago--20100126,0,5662328.story Dawson to Go Into Hall as an Expo http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/01/andre-dawson-to-enter-hall-of-fame-as-an-expo.html Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, January 27, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:05:16 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry8.mp3]

NBA Draft Prospects of the Boilers

kentsterling — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:14:52 +0000

A caller to the Dan Dakich Show yesterday on 1070 The Fan asked for Dan's assessment of JaJuan Johnson's draft prospects. Dan said that JaJuan doesn't have the kind of frame that will add a bunch of weight, and JaJuan needs some bulk to be effective in the paint at the NBA level. He also said that JaJuan has the length needed for the NBA, but not the lateral quickness to guard on the perimeter. Of course, he's right. Dan knows sports. He thinks about sports and analyzes like the rest of us breathe. That started me thinking about the rest of the Boilers who might be equipped to go to the next level. After looking at two-dozen mock drafts and reading everything I could find that looked like even remotely coherent analysis, I'm convinced of two things. The people on these sites are really nothing more than consensus establishers. They all look at each others' mock boards and decide not to disagree because in disagreement lies the potential for a mistake. If everyone screws up, well then, they were duped at an equal level. Like corporate America, there is no culpability for failure if arms are locked in group idiocy. The second thing is that nobody knows what the hell a player will be in 12 months. When JaJuan played AAU Basketball, an assistant coach from the University of Virginia came to look at him. JaJuan is a smart guy, and could handle the academics at any school, so Virginia was interested in a 6'10" kid regardless of his girth. The AAU team was a guard driven group on the offensive end who shared the scoring load almost equally among the top four guys. The Virginia coach said on the plane out of Raleigh that they were no longer interested. I'm not sure what it was about a 6'10" kid with a 7'4" wingspan, great hands and hand/eye coordination, and a team first attitude that put off coach, but that was also the case with many other big time college coaches. Needless to say, Virginia sucks, and Purdue is ranked. Can JaJuan, Robbie Hummel, and E'Twaun Moore play in the NBA? That's the question, and should they come out after their junior season? That's the other question. The answer to the first question is yes, and the second answer is no. Let's get into the second question first. Other than for agents and the truly gifted players who need to start the NBA clock ASAP to get to the max contract stage of their careers, what's the hurry, Murray? College is sweet. For guys who are going to go to the NBA, college might be the last time they can meet a girl they can trust, laugh without the responsibility of taking care of employees/sycophants, and just be a guy. The NBA will wait. Well, barring catastrophic injury, the NBA or Europe can wait. Have some fun, and learn about life. A shitload of money won't do anyone much good if you don't know how to enjoy and invest it. The answer to the first question is easier. Of course, those three guys can play in the NBA. The degrees at which the 6'4" guards in the NBA are separated are so minute they are virtually impossible to see. As Purdue plays, E'Twaun Moore is never the most obvious choice as the best player on the floor. That has always been the case. When his AAU team played Moore would never stand out, but when you looked at the stat sheet, he had 18 points. Always. There are kids who are more spectacular, but there are few kids who have won more regularly. Moore is moving up in some mock drafts. The most recently updated is The Hoops Report, he is listed 17th in the first round. That gives me reason to believe somebody might know what the hell they are doing. Robbie Hummel is not as well regarding by the pundits as Moore and JaJuan. He's listed in the mid-to-late second round in every mock draft I found. Of course, that's ridiculous. What attribute does Hummel not have that other 6'7" wings do? He can shoot. He defends tenaciously. He's a very adept ball handler. He knows basketball. Sure, he had some trouble defending a tough shot in New Castle when he was a senior at Valpo, but how do you stop that kid (see video). [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob7fvXTUTtQ] Hummel looks a little like very rich NBA player Brian Cardinal in that he's a white, blond kid. If anything Hummel is a better NBA prospect than Cardinal was. He's a better shooter and athlete, but doesn't share Cardinal's willingness to batter his body. He'll play in the NBA and make a lot of money as a role player, which is what he has always been. That's not a rip. Basketball needs more players like that - especially the NBA. JaJuan can run the floor, jump as high as he needs to, has incredible length, hands, and hand-eye coordination. What more do you want? Another 25 pounds would be nice because a guy like Dwight Howard will eat him alive, or so people might think. Can he contribute right away to an NBA team? Probably not, but put him on a schedule like Donnie Walsh did with Antonio Davis, and you might wind up with a kid who turns into an all-star at 26. JaJuan has always been roughly two years behind his classmates. If you had told anyone in Indiana when JaJuan was a freshman at Franklin Central that he would be an Indiana All-Star, they would have questioned your sanity. JaJuan showed up at Cathedral High School and tried to enroll as a freshman. The head of enrollment apologized to JaJuan and said that the freshman class was full. That is how little known JaJuan was. As a freshman at Purdue, JaJuan worked hard and contributed a little - 5.4 points per game in an average of 16.6 minutes. He will enter the NBA needed two years to ramp his body up. One thing about JaJuan that weighs against him in the NBA is an absolute asset for him as a man. He is a really good kid, one of the sweetest friends my son has ever brought into our house. The NBA is not exactly a refuge for the sweet. Many of the guys in the NBA are from backgrounds that do not allow for the development of sweetness, and those who are, generally are still assholes. Anyone who has spent ten minutes with Bill Laimbeer can attest to that. If JaJuan comes out, he'll get a great break if he stays on the board until the second round. The team drafting him should send him to Europe. If he goes in the first round, early expectations may prove to be his undoing. I would love to see him stick around at Purdue and get his degree. Too many NBA short-timers retire into lives of impending poverty without that piece of sheepskin. I believe all three kids will stay a fourth year, graduate together, and go to the Final Four. Why not. What's the hurry? Purdue will try to go to 6-3 in the Big Ten against Wisconsin tomorrow night, and stay within a loud shout of conference leader Michigan State. As an Indiana guy, I should hope that JaJuan, Hummel, and Moore bolt after this season, but as a college basketball fan, I wish they could stay for another three years. In the corrupt world of college basketball, filled with pimps and street agents, these three young men embody what the institution of college hoops should be about. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

3D TV Coming this Year - You Won't Believe It

kentsterling — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:53:37 +0000

New technology fascinates me. I loved HDTV as soon as it came out. HD Radio is an advancement that addresses exactly zero marketplace needs. Hundreds of scientists and engineers sit in cubicles and dream. Those dreams are occasionally productive, and other times wasteful and nutty. It's always fun to guess at what the market will bear. Is the next big thing going to make a dent in market share, or will it just lay there. I was invited to view a demo of 3D-TV today at the Sony Store at the Fashion Mall in Indianapolis this morning, and I was skeptical. That skepticism lasted until I put on the glasses and looked at the screen. Holy crap! There will not be a kid from a family with a little money that won't demand one of these things for their game system. There won't be much content out there that will be broadcast in 3D for awhile - DirecTV is planning to launch three 3D networks in June. Even if all of the programming choices the networks produce were offered in 3D, why would people choose to watch it in that format. Jay Leno's chin would look like it was attacking us, and who needs that? The State of the Union Address would bring President Obama, Joe Biden, and Nancy Pelosi right into our living rooms. YIKES! But, with video games, live sporting events, and national geographic type programming, the effect is crazy. Going to a zoo will be a total waste of time. The video I watched of a polar bear was surreal. For video games, this will be an amazing upgrade. If you think your kids are brain-damaged because of the hours they spend in an unblinking zone as they enter combat against other game players from around the world, you will be horrified by how entrenched they get as they play in 3D. The retail price is supposed to be slightly more expensive than a simple HD set. For a 42-inch set, the expected retail is $1,000. For 50-inches (insert Greg Oden joke here), somewhere around $2,000. No word yet on the cost of games, or the amount of that the upgrade for subscribers. Frankly, the $10 a month for HD is a little onerous for me. For those of you who love new technology, I'm sure that there are other retailers have a display, but the Sony Store has everything you need to find out what this technology does. The downside is the glasses which are comfortable enough, but who wants to put on goofy glasses, and what about guests? Let's say you have a Super Bowl party, do you make it BYOG? There is a 3D TV in Japan that does not require glasses, but it retails for $10K. That is way too rich for my blood. iPad In other tech news, Steve Jobs and Apple unveiled the iPad a few minutes ago. Definitely cool, but I'm not sure I need an iPhone type accessory with a touch screen that looks to be roughly 8" x 10", and weighs 1.5 lbs. Battery life is 10-hours. I don't have a pocket that large. If I traveled a lot, it would be great in an airplane. On a treadmill, if they had an place to set the thing, it would be an excellent companion. This is a hybrid of the iTouch and a Mac Notebook. It will be interesting to see if there is a market for this dealie. I'm sure Jobs will get to the retail price, but nothing yet. If they price it as they have for past devices, my guess is $599 for the first three months, and then it will settle at $399. Apple is a really smart company, so I'm sure it will be successful. I don't see myself buying one anytime soon though, and I am absolutely the target for the iPad. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Thursday, January 28, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:24:35 +0000

Harry on Sports - Thursday, January 28, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:41:41 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry9.mp3]

"Rush Limbaugh - The Musical" at Second City

kentsterling — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:37:04 +0000

People are going to be upset. Humorless conservatives will be outraged. Liberals will be elated. Conservatives with a sense of humor will laugh some and wince some, as Chicago's venerable Second City does what it does best - skewer the self-impressed. If impression is the sincerest form of flattery, then satire truly announces that your reach is cultural rather than simply that of being a niche celebrity. Rush Limbaugh entered the cultural realm almost from the moment his radio show went national. In the art of hosting a radio show, Rush is without historical peer. He uses the medium better than anyone, and that is why he is a cultural phenomenon. People ascribe Rush's popularity to his politics, but that's like saying Greg Maddux was a great pitcher because he could throw a baseball. There are hundreds of conservative talk hosts. Only one does what Rush does. He's at the top of the heap - not only of political talkers, but he is the best host regardless of the show's focus. He mixes humor, well-researched unique perspective, and a wonderful sense of clubbiness to build the most successful radio franchise ever. That's what causes an institution like Second City to come after you - that and the knowledge that there are thousands of Chicagoans that will pay to watch clever songs lampoon El Rushbo, the physical incarnation of all they hate. Al Franken did the same thing with his book, "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, Fat Idiot". If you want to sell books, but have no following of your own, choose a position and attack the guy who sits at the most visible point in the opposite camp. Last night, Senator Al Franken was seated immediately behind the Joint Chiefs during the State of the Union. Without Limbaugh, there would be no Senator Franken. Al would still be running around Hollywood trying to get a green light for "Stuart Saves His Family, Again", if not for his decision to capitalize on Limbaugh's fame and climb upon Rush's shoulders to become the standard-bearer for the anti-right. The portions of the Second City show that I've found aren't terribly funny on the page. OxyContin, it makes me feel high Who would predict, I'm an addict? No one, I'll tell you why. 'Cause I'll keep telling 'Dittoheads' to just say no to drugs While making myself stoned as hell, which OxyContin does! I'm a political agnostic. The continued positioning by both conservatives and liberals as though someone can win or lose political battles is ridiculous. Government and politics should be mutually exclusive. Many root for republicans and democrats as though they are sports franchises. That's an unfortunate reality, and likely the only way to engage most voters. Maybe it's the other way around - sports have become successful because they learned how to emulate politics. Just as I root for kids in college basketball, I root for issues in politics. The side of the aisle is as important to me as the color of the jersey. If Purdue's basketball team plays the kind of basketball I like to watch, I should root against them because I went to IU? The logic there is just way too shaky for me to embrace. There is a quote in the Chicago Sun-Times from one of the show's writers that gives me reason to think this will be one of those pointed attacks, rather than a funny portrayal of a very successful egomaniac. "I'm tired of conservatives feeling that they can get away with anything they want, whenever they want," he proclaims. "And this is my way, as a liberal, to use my art -- I'm sounding pompous here and I apologize -- to express my point of view," says T.J. Shanoff. Nothing like guys who write parody songs talking about their "art" to whet my appetite for a long night of posturing and self-righteous bullshit. He also wrote the hilarious "Rod Blagojevich Superstar!", so maybe there is hope. Blagojevich is a democrat, and that show was great. Maybe Shanoff's politics doesn't get in the way of the humor. Limbaugh sure as hell doesn't talk about his art though. He does exactly the thing that is required for a radio talk host to be successful - he authentically delivers a unique perspective backed by facts with humor and innovation. No one does it as well, and that is why people write books and musicals about him. "Rush Limbaugh - The Musical" previews at Second City Sunday through Tuesday, and then open its seven-week run on Wednesday.

Are the Pacers Completely Lost?

kentsterling — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:03:17 +0000

This is my fourth pass at writing a coherent and interesting post about the Indiana Pacers. I went to the game Saturday night and watched the Pacers settle for 20-foot jump shots on virtually every possession as they sleep walked to an embarrassing home loss to the equally dismal Philadelphia 76ers. How do you write something compelling about an event so utterly miserable? I could lie, I suppose, and talk about how the Pacers were outmanned, but worked hard. That would be abject crapola. The Pacers were doing time on the floor. They were passionless in front of a fairly decent crowd. For a franchise that is doing everything but paying fans to come to Conseco Fieldhouse, it would have been great to give the kids in the balcony a reason to return. The fix may or may not be easily executed, but it's definitely to purge whatever has any value on this roster. Zero base this team, and start fresh with talented and passionate players. The sooner the rebuild happens, the better for everyone. Dump the big salary guys for expiring contracts, if possible. Tracy McGrady and Shaq are eating $42-million dollars of cap room for the Rockets and Cavs. What do they want? Give it to them. Get bad this season, and quick. Jump up in the draft, and get a potential all-star. The endless string of drafts where the Pacers pick somewhere between 10-18 in the first round must end. Last night, the Pacers were embarrassed by the Lakers. The highlights on ESPN did the game justice - no defense of any kind anywhere. The score stayed tight into the early second half, and then the Lakers jumped to a 29-point advantage before losing by 22-points. Beating the Lakers is a lot to ask. After all, at zero positions do the Pacers hold an advantage, and on the bench, Phil Jackson is starting to work on championship rings for his toes. Jim O'Brien? Nothing against this really good guy, but he's not Phil Jackson. It's hard to work up much of a dander over anything the Pacers do. I would never advocate a return to the roster that defined the franchise during the mid-2000s, and brought a nearly endless string of embarrassing incidents to the Simons and Indianapolis. Whether it was Jamaal Tinsley being chased and shot at after acting like an ass at a club, Stephen Jackson shooting his handgun in the air when another club goer nearly hit him with his car in the parking lot of another club, Ron Artest leaving the team, the brawl, and on and on, the Pacers were interesting and polarizing. This group is simply dull. There is nothing compelling about the team - at all. If Larry Bird was given the order to get rid of the bums, mission accomplished. The order he should have been given was to build a champion with young men we would be proud to have as neighbors. You start your day trying to undo something, rarely will something be done. The salary cap makes building without first unbuilding very difficult. The Pacers unbuilt while trying to maintain short-term respectability. The result has been a thoroughly mediocre team. In the John Wall sweepstakes, the Pacers climbed to within 11-games of the cellar dwelling New Jersey Nets. It's unlikely that without a fire sale, they can get to the worst record in the NBA for the best odds of winning the lottery, but they can get to the third worst record by consistently embracing the malaise fans enjoyed last night. For the Conseco Fieldhouse crowd to start chanting "MVP" at Kobe Bryant was one of the low moments of a season filled with valleys. Pull the trigger, Larry. Dump money if you can, get terrible, and then draft well this June and sign a couple of real players. Hold onto Roy Hibbert, Brandon Rush, and Dahntay Jones. The rest - exit passes for all. Above all, make the Pacers relevant somehow, some way. Give us some reason to talk about you and care.

Sports Digest - Friday, January 29, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:00:40 +0000

Harry on Sports - Friday, January 29, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:46:09 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry-10.mp3]

Tony George Shuts It All Down

kentsterling — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:17:05 +0000

First, he was removed as the head of the company that owns and operates the Indianapolis Motor Speedway among other enterprises. Then, he refused a position as the head of the Indy Racing League. After that, he resigned from the board of director for the company he used to run. Yesterday, he suspended operations at Vision Racing. That was Tony George's last link to Indy Car. In less than a year, George has gone from The Man to a guy. Whatever happened, and for whatever reasons, anyone who has watched the open wheel racing saga unfold over the past 15 years has to say that Tony George has balls as big as the oval at 16th and Georgetown. He started a major league. Starting a team in a major league is a generational issue. Expansion teams take forever to grow roots. The IRL had an advantage in that its showcase was the world's greatest single day sporting event, but starting a league is crazy bold. I know as much about open wheel racing as the average fan, but I am an expert in recognizing a person who has vision, and Tony George has vision. He had a dream, pursued it, and it became real. How many of you reading this has ever done that? Let's see some hands. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Whether he was right or wrong in creating the IRL, history will judge. The people who were violently anti-George still voice their opinions, as do those who were in George's corner. I can say this from experiencing it - the vibe was different last may. For the first time since moving here in 1993, I didn't have to call and invite anyone to come down for the race. Friends called me. It wasn't just about the Indy 500. They wanted to be here for Carb Day. It was the party and fun in addition to the cars and race. That's a reflection of the experience of the weekend, which somehow became hip again. It takes a long time to build back loyalty after radical change, and there seemed to be a tipping point last year for the Indy 500, if not for the entire series. There must be great pain within Tony George right now. All of the activities and thoughts that defined his life have either been stripped away, or he has abandoned. All of the responsibilities that motivated his work day are now gone. As he wakes up this morning, all he needs to think about are his wife and kids, and what he can next throw his energy toward. Wow. That is a change in dynamic that can be dizzying. If there isn't pain, there is certainly a void. While tethered to the board and Vision Racing, George was seen as a guy that still had something to focus on. Since the news yesterday, professional George is now an empty vessel who needs to sit down and decide what's next. He has enough money for his family to live comfortably for the next 20 generations if they employ even a modicum of discretion in their spending, but a man like George who is used to waking up with enormous responsibilities weighing on his mind needs to feel needed, challenged, and ultimately culpable for the success of a staff. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been George's passion for his entire life, and now he is no longer tied to it in any official fashion. All of the blood, sweat, tears, fears, joys, successes and failures have been judged as valueless by his family, and that must be exceptionally painful for George, especially as the tide seemed to be turning in the erosion of popularity of open wheel racing. George will get up this morning and find something to do beyond watching "The Price Is Right" and "Judge Judy". His DNA is to get moving, so that is what he will do. As silly as it sounds to wish strength for a guy with Tony George's wealth, money doesn't do much to help fill a man's soul, and right now all of the responsibilities that gave George the self-image he enjoyed for the past 20+ years are gone. Say a prayer for this guy. He has given Indianapolis a great deal, and he has earned our sincere good wishes and more. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has never asked for a dime from the City of Indianapolis or the State of Indiana. As our tax dollars and subsidies have supported the Colts, Pacers, Indians, and so much else through the C.I.B., the IMS has been a self-sustaining money pump for businesses in Indianapolis. That fact alone demands our respect, and should move all of us to thank George if we see him, or pray for his strength when we don't. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Closing Schools and Offices Day After Super Bowl Is Crazy

kentsterling — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:28:46 +0000

What the hell is going on with schools in Indianapolis and New Orleans? Both cities are seriously considering closing school the day after the Super Bowl. In Indy, the schools operated by the Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis have already announce they will close Monday, February 8. A spokesman for the Indianapolis Public Schools say they are considering closing because in 2007 after the Colts won Super Bowl XLI, hundreds of bus drivers called in sick. The Colts and Saints playing in the Super Bowl is a great coagulator for people in both cities. Everyone wears their jerseys, smiles at each other a little more, and common courtesy rules because of the common bond fans feel. That's wonderful, but to call off school or work is an insane leap into corrupting the priorities of kids and businesses. No one likes the Monday morning after the Super Bowl, but learning how to play hurt when the bell rings is a fact of life. People pay for their indulgences. That's how we learn to avoid them. The government stepping into our lives to shield up from the consequences of our behaviors is enabling at a level with which I am wholly uncomfortable. There are two debates in which America's sports cognoscente is engaged. The first is that the Super Bowl needs to move to Saturday. Many people are in favor of this plan because it would make life a little bit easier and turn Super Bowl Saturday into some kind of national party night. The only people who will squawk are the most important voices in the debate - those of the TV networks who are all acutely aware that Sunday night is the time when the most viewers are available. Even with the Super Bowl on, Saturday is a night for movies, going out to dinner, the theater, concerts, etc... On Sunday, what the hell else are people going to do? Saturday is TV's worst The other discussion is to change the day President's Day falls on to the Monday following the Super Bowl. Honestly? America will change the day we set aside to honor presidents to fit our schedule for watching a sporting event? The adjustment would be one week, but the message is that these holidays are simply days off, and nothing more. At least the Indianapolis 500 had the good taste and foresight to schedule the event on (and then adjust it to the day before) Memorial Day. Oddly, I believe this second idea is the more likely of the Let's all agree that the Super Bowl is a great event. The NFL is a machine. While other professional sports fight for market share and a balance between the power of the league and its players union, the NFL has been a harmonious profit machine for 23 years. The strike on 1987 was the last piece of ugliness, and when players crossed the picket line to get back on the field, it set the table for incredible growth and wealth. It's popularity is monolithic. Baseball, basketball, NASCAR, and hockey are so far behind the NFL they can no longer see the back of Commissioner Roger Goodell's head. Let's put the brakes on adjusting holiday schedules or handing out days off because of a sporting event. We need to find a way to revel in the success of a team the entire city is staunchly behind, but the line should be drawn at allowing schools to excuse the behavior of employees not committed enough to their jobs to even show up. Granted, driving a school bus is not a position that engenders tremendous passion among those who do it, but that doesn't mean those who display indifference should be accommodated. Let's all support the Colts or Saints next Sunday night. America will get one hell of a show as the two unquestioned best teams in pro football knock heads and earn their pay checks. And then, let's earn our own by dragging our asses out of bed, getting dressed, squirting a couple of drops of Visine into our eyes, and earning our own paychecks. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Dear Colts Fans

jshowal2 — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:39:59 +0000

Dear Colts Fans, I spent a considerable amount of my 41 years in Connersville, Indiana. One advantage to living in Connersville was that we had access to both Indianapolis and Cincinnati feeds for local television. I grew up watching Ken Anderson, Isaac Curtis, Ken Riley, Anthony Munoz and a cast of hundreds of other Bengals. My name is Jeff and I am a Bengals fan! I remember when the Colts played in Baltimore so when the Colts moved to Indy, I was happy, but my allegiance stayed with the Bengals. Being a Bengal fan has been, for the most part, a downer for the past 20 years. I was a an IU junior when Jim Breech gave the Bengals a 16-13 lead in SB 23. I looked to my friends and said "they scored too soon, they are going to lose". Sure enough, Joe Montana took the 49ers 92 yards and broke my heart. I remember how depressed I was but I believed that Boomer, James Brooks, Ickey Woods and the gang would help them get back to another title game. Colts fans, I am still waiting! I have seen 2 playoff games since that Super Bowl loss and both were terrible losses. First Carson Palmer shreds his knee on the first offensive play on a completed bomb to Chris Henry as the Bengals lost to the hated Steelers. This year Palmer, imitating Danny Wuerful, led the Bengals to a defeat to the Jets. Bengals fans understand pain and suffering. They have an owner that thinks he is a GM but all Mike Brown really does is save money by doing it himself. They have a small scouting staff and no indoor practice facility. I am convinced the Bengals will never have consistent success as long as he is alive. Sad but true. Colts fans, you have been on a tremendous ride. When Jim Irsay hired Bill Polian, a chain of successes was launched that would make a gambler blush. Manning, James, Dungy, Brackett, Wayne, Sanders, Rhodes and on and on. The Indianapolis Colts are the best run franchise in the NFL and possibly all of professional sports. Twelve win seasons are the norm. You get to COMPLAIN about playoff losses in games most teams would just love to get the opportunity to play in. Colts fans are spoiled. I root for the Colts. I have to. Most seasons my beloved Bengals are an afterthought by November 1st so at least I have a team to root for the last half of the season. This year I got to leave my 18 jersey in the closet all season, and wore my Bengal 85's around town, but a week from Sunday, I'll be wearing my 18, yelling at my TV about holding calls, missed tackles and incomplete passes. The Colts are one win from a second Super Bow trophy in four years. Pretty amazing when you remember how many years the Colts struggled. Colts fans, enjoy this next week and the rest of the time on top of the football world, one day it will end, but not anytime soon. Bengals fans that are jealous. Trust me! Jeff Showalter Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - Saturday, January 30, 2010

kentsterling — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:43:06 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/harry11.mp3]

Shorting the Colts After this Super Bowl?

kentsterling — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:50:08 +0000

The Indianapolis Colts are at the zenith of the football world for the next eight days, and if they beat the New Orleans Saints next Sunday, they will enter some rarified air as a team that has won the Lombardi Trophy twice in the last four seasons. The teams who've done that are historic franchises - the Packers of Lombardi, the Steelers under Noll, the 49ers under Walsh, Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys, and Belichick's Patriots. The Colts of the past decade won more regular season games that any team in NFL history, and have at quarterback a player who will very likely own every record for his position. Peyton Manning will retire as the popular choice as the greatest QB ever to play football. His combination of physical attributes, mental acumen, toughness, and the advantage of playing in one system behind consistently good offensive lines have help Manning reach a pinnacle of consistent excellence we have never witnessed. Manning is 33-years old, and because of the few hits he has absorbed and his enormous appetite for preparation he might be able to stretch his career for another six seasons. No one can know for sure when his body will start to show signs of aging. At some point, the recovery from a Sunday blow won't even begin until Wednesday. It might occur to him that football is a silly game and that as his youth begins to dwindle, precious time is better invested out of the film room. There are a lot of variables that can remove the edge that allows comparative excellence to blossom, and any one of them might shade Manning toward the ordinary. When that day comes, and it comes for all athletes, the level of success that the Colts have enjoyed for so long will also erode. As #18 goes, so go the Colts. When #18 really goes, God knows what will become of this team. With every passing game, the window becomes tighter because there is an expiration date stamped on each athlete. All football fans would love (except those rooting for AFC South opponents) to see Manning play forever and lead the Colts franchise to continued routine 12-4 seasons, and periodic trips to the Super Bowl. That isn't the way football works. Once Dan Marino, Troy Aikman, and Steve Young retired, their franchises began the long trek down the slope to mediocrity and then irrelevance. The quarterback being the most important player on the team works very well for the Colts because they have the best who's ever laced up a pair of cleats. Once Manning's gifts decline, Colts fans will start to wish that the free safety or punter was the most important. The odds of the Colts quickly finding a suitable replacement for Manning are exceptionally long. Johnny Unitas left the Colts after the 1972 season, they went through nine starters (QBs who led the team in passing during a season, not started individual games) before grabbing Manning in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft. They were Marty Domres, Bert Jones, Bill Troup, Greg Landry, Mike Pagel, Jack Trudeau, Chris Chandler, Jeff George, and Jim Harbaugh. [polldaddy poll=2620395] I plan to enjoy every game, audible, throw, and single second that Manning has left in the tank because there are a helluva lot more Jay Cutlers in the NFL than Peyton Mannings. The Chicago Bears really thought they did something good when they traded two first-round picks, a third-rounder, and Kyle Orton to get a franchise quarterback, (the Bears also got a fifth-round pick). Jerry Angelo was pleased that the Bears would not have to worry about the QB spot for another few years. Really? That's how rare a guy like Manning is. GMs will delude themselves into believing that a marginally good QB is a potential franchise guy, and deal the team's future for him. Manning is that guy - the Holy Grail for GMs, the real deal, the face, culture, and arm of the franchise. How fortunate are the Colts fans to have a quarterback with talent and drive so unique that he has become the face, culture, and arm of the entire league. If Manning plays another six years through 2015 - until he's 39, Colts fans need to prepare for another long winter of mediocrity. That preparation should begin next Sunday as you revel in every moment of excellence Manning delivers. Enjoy the moment because this too shall pass. Shorting the Colts will be the right move - in five years. Until that day, enjoy the ride. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

"Legion" Sucks; "Edge of Darkness" Pretty Good

kentsterling — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:59:54 +0000

My wife went through a brief phase over the past 48-hours where she wanted to see movies - any movie. I chose yesterday's feature - "Edge of DarKness" with Mel Gibson. Good movie. Kind of a thriller/crime drama. Gibson is always good as the morally superior loner, who does the right thing regardless of the cost. He's in his element here as his daughter is murdered, and he searches for the killer. Gibson's character is a Boston cop, so he knows a little bit about what he's doing. The story is smart, but not too smart. The foreshadowing is apparent, but not overdone. There are a few moments that were sincerely jarring, as in the kind of sudden action that would be priceless when we dated in high school. You knew the girl would grab something. For me, it was usually the upper arm. Not ideal, but you take whatever you can get. Gibson's daughter was into some shit she shouldn't have been at her employer's, but just like old Mel she was determined to right a wrong. This is Gibson's first movie in seven years, and it works. Not great, but worth the bargain matinée price. It might not be the splash it needs to be to get him another big part, after all he insulted the culture of the people who run the studios and unless he makes them a lot of money, those insults will have a half-life approaching Uranium 235. Today's movie was Julie's choice. She picked "Legion". Oh boy. She thought aliens came to earth to attack Americans in this movie. The truth was different. A large group of rogue zombies attack a diner/service station run by Dennis Quaid in the desert. The zombies are the emissaries of the Lord God, who is miffed at people for not living up to their potential. An angel comes down to help stave off the invasion. Some of the action is fun, but this movie shares a flaw with "Edge of Darkness" in that it was not satisfied being the movie it was meant to be. It tries to be more. "Edge" is a thriller that tries to deliver a message about the fragility of life. "Legion" would have been good in the hands of a director like Quentin Tarentino. It would have more over the top and funny, without the secondary religious connotations that only serve to burden it. Implants of morality that were commonplace in "Star Trek" seem ridiculous in a film with countless cutaways of shell casings piling up on the floor as machine guns cut down zombies. "Legion" starts with promise as an old lady customer of the diner strings together obscenities and uses the "C" word, then scampers across the ceiling. That's fun. She limped into the restaurant with the help of a walker, but when challenged, eats a chunk of a guy's neck, and sprints up the wall. Go see "Edge", but don't even rent "Legion". Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Kent Sterling Fired as Emmis Indy Program Director - Part Three

kentsterling — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:34:45 +0000

Being told to leave a place filled with people you care about is interesting. The work was relentless and the concern unending, but the people made all the sacrifice worthwhile, at least to the day I was canned. Had my wife taken a powder, as she was considering, that would have been an attention getter and I would have been challenged to change my obsession with helping the stations succeed. My initial feeling was guilt over not being smart enough to get my bosses to allow me to continue to help WIBC and The Fan succeed. Yeah, I know that's crazy. I dream about trying to help. I'm at work, hiding in the shadows trying not to get caught working. Very odd. The staff knows I don't work there anymore, and they all tell me things will be okay. I know that, and tell them I'm fine. My concern in the dream is for them. In real life, my focus is different. When I'm awake, I'm trying to figure out three business things, and how to live a little bit better balanced a life. Being responsible for the success or failure of a product that employs 50 people requires a best effort. Being a good husband and father also requires a best effort. That is the definition of a conundrum. The loser in my case was to choose away from where I was most secure. All of that was good when Tom Severino was the boss. Tom, from my perspective, was the master of balance. He encouraged all of us to spend time with family and friends. When Tom died in July, those at Emmis he left behind tried to serve two masters. The first was to try to continue as Tom encouraged us to. Follow the righteous path of building strong and profitable radio brands while maintaining our humanity and a sense of fun. The other was to try to keep our jobs in a tough economy. For me, those two focuses were proven mutually exclusive. Now, I get to do things I like, and build them the way I want to with the people I like and respect. And I get to spend time with my wife where I'm actually there, listening to what she has to say about things. A good program director spends a lot of time trying to get the hosts and producers mentally right, so that when they walk into the studio, they feel good about their performance. Talking into a microphone for three or four hours at a time without any feedback from the people you're talking to is an unnatural act. At the end of the day, I was about up to my eyes in listening - my daily quota for external input had been exceeded by the time I got home. Now, I get to listen. I look forward to seeing Julie and hearing about her day. This is the way life is supposed to be, I think. While I still feel terrible about no longer being allowed to help at the stations, I'm very happy that I get to try to move into a balanced life. I hope that my friends at Emmis get to continue to work toward the success we all know is possible there. The Fall Rating Book was great for both WIBC and The Fan, and hopefully the best is yet to come from a ratings and revenue perspective. What I genuinely hope for them is a little peace and balance. The last two-and-a-half years have been filled with changes that have put people there in a state of discomfort. We have said goodbye to a number of friends who were fired, quit, or died. And the work continues regardless. A talk radio station is a beast that requires feeding 24/7, and it never stops. That cycle makes balance hard for everyone involved. Shows are either being performed or prepared - all the time. Add the chaos of change, and the people in that building are uniquely passionate or they would have turned their backs on the medium years ago. Emmis is a passionate company that attracts passionate people. There is a life outside of radio. It's good out here, and the lessons I'm learning everyday out here will be helpful should I ever decide to get back in. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to kentsterling.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Happy Birthday, Ernie Banks

kentsterling — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:01:07 +0000

Mr. Cub turns 79 today, which is almost inconceivable to me. I'm just old enough to remember Ernie Banks playing. He hit a home run in the first Cubs game to which my Dad took me on April 12, 1968, and he became my favorite Cub. I grew up in Lake Bluff, Illinois - a suburb of Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan. It was a great place to grow up. The people were friendly and smart. The schools were excellent. The beach was within walking distance. White's had all of the baseball cards and candy a kid could ever want. And you could count the number of black who lived in Lake Bluff on no hands. There weren't any. My only exposure to blacks were via Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, and Gale Sayers. Today, that seems ludicrous. Then, it just was. Ernie was always smiling, signed autographs forever, and even at age 37, was really a good ballplayer. I think it was his attitude that won kids over. The only black person I saw in person on a regular basis was a guy named Alphonse who worked at the Janowitz grocery store in Lake Forest. He was an elderly gentleman who bagged groceries, and would always invite me to a meeting at the First National Bank . I always said I would be there. He would laugh, which confused me. Sure I was five, and didn't have any idea why a man would invite me to a bank meeting, but I always felt guilty when Dad refused to take me. That was the extent of my interracial connectivity - Ernie, Billy, Fergie, and Alphonse, with Ernie as the most important. Martin Luther King was killed a week prior to my first Cubs game, and I didn't understand it at all. Killing a man because he was like Ernie Banks sounded like the stupidest thing in the world to a five-year-old Cubs fan. A lot of people would say that my five-year-old notion of race relations was naïve. I would call it wise. Judging people based upon the color of the skin, and violently acting on that judgment is sheer idiocy. Chicago was thrown into turmoil, as Mayor Richard J. Daley gave the "shoot to kill" order during the riots that followed King's assassination. Later that summer, Daley was again in the middle of the trouble during the Democratic National Convention. The city was embroiled in more riots, although these weren't necessarily racially charged. In the middle of it all, Ernie Banks smiled and went about his business of leading the Cubs into first place, albeit briefly at the end of May. Dad always told me, "There are plenty of reasons to hate people before you get to their color." That's quite a statement. He said things for effect quite a bit, and this was the kind of comment that was right up Dad's alley. The thought he expressed had some validity, but the phasing brought an Archie Bunker type of wrong-headedness. Ernie Banks impact on the kids of Chicago underscores two very important truths about African-Americans in sports; kids can get a very positive first look at a group that otherwise existed on the fringes of their communities, and that athletes - whether Charles Barkley likes it or not - are role models. They can bitch about it privately all they like, but anyone who families invite into their homes either personally or through television or the computer is a role model. Ernie Banks was a great role model for me. I learned that when you smile at work, good things happen; and that color doesn't matter. With all of his home runs and heroism on the field in a Cubs uniform, his greatest legacy lies in the hearts of the thousands of Chicago kids who grew up not giving a damn about color because of Ernie Banks' behavior. Happy birthday, Ernie. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Monday, February 1, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:45:35 +0000

Harry on Sports - Monday, February 1, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:04:27 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry-122.mp3] Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

The Pro Bowl Sucks

kentsterling — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:08:52 +0000

by Kent Sterling It's time to put this event down - permanently. How can the NFL - a league whose popularity is so immense that it dwarfs the other sports combined - host a showcase event that is so uninteresting? In baseball, you can play an all-star game that resembles a real contest. The pitchers can throw 98-mile-an-hour heaters, and the hitter can jack it 440-feet. The NBA's All-Star Game is joke, but there are entertaining elements of the game - at least for children who lose their minds when they see a dunk. The NHL All-Star Game? Let's limit this discussion to major leagues. The NFL Pro Bowl collects players from all but the two best teams in the league for a weeklong party, followed by 60-minutes of what looks a little bit like action scenes from "The Replacements" with Gene Hackman and Keanu Reeves. You can't blame the players. They make millions of dollars each season - or soon will - and every play could be their last. They aren't going to risk turning that money pump off to win a totally meaningless game. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig tried to invoke artificial meaning in baseball's "classic" by awarding home-field advantage for the World Series to the team from the winning league. That idiocy aside, at least the game looks the same as the regular season games. NFL Commish Roger Goodell's twist this year was to host the game in the host city of the Super Bowl and stick it right in the middle of the two-week lapse between the conference championships and the Super Bowl. This effectively eliminated the players from the two best teams in the league - in this year's edition seven players from the Saints and Colts will forego playing, although the NFL requires that they attend. Reportedly, this is a one-year trial that has already been deemed a disaster. Next year, they go back to Hawaii the week after the Super Bowl. This year's departure from the norm, and from Hawaii, was hatched as a cost-cutting move. This is the most profitable major league sport in the history of the world at the pinnacle of its popularity trimming a couple-hundred thousand bucks. That's like me eating at McDonald's instead of Steak 'n' Shake. Are you kidding me? This year they have the QBs miked, so there is no doubt that nobody gives a shit who wins. The pass rush was more a series of lethargic dances by four pairs of enormous men. This was more like the famous Friday night dances at Folsom, except clipping was allowed at the dances. The Pro Bowl is a lot like its TV competition last night. The Grammy Awards are another of the wonderful circle-jerk, made-for-TV, aren't-we-cool-fests. Their businesses are so special, they hand themselves awards and sing the songs that are worthy of winning. The Pro Bowl has absolutely nothing to do with football and everything to do with the NFL and its players honoring themselves for being so cool. Speaking of the Grammy Awards, Simon Baker from CBS's "The Mentalist" presented Beyonce'. In "The Mentalist", he speaks with an American accent, but when presenting he came with his real accent, which betrayed him as an Australian. Hugh Laurie on "House" is British. Are there no qualified American actors for the love of God. Back to the Pro Bowl, (obviously I was clicking around a little bit, and don't apologize for a minute for not watching the entire damn game), a game during which I'm not sure any player initiated anything more than friendly contact. It's a party, and that's what they should call it. At least after the season, you get to see Manning take it all too seriously and give an honest effort. It's also the last NFL football we get to see for six months. Who won the game? I didn't see the end, and don't care enough to look at the crawl on ESPN to find out. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

All-Star Games Just Don't Work

Ryan Sterling — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:45:32 +0000

By: The Rainman This being my first of many opportunities to blog, I think it would be appropriate to give just a little bit of background on whom I am. I am a 21 year old college student-athlete (Men’s Basketball). What I am trying to do with this blog is to give the perspective of a college student athlete on sports and other related topics. Now to business: All-Star Games. With yesterday being the first try of the new Pro Bowl schedule I thought it would be appropriate to talk about every All-Star game and what is wrong them in general. Something needs to be done to fix All-Star games. I just don’t care about them anymore. The Pro Bowl was yesterday and instead of staying in my room to watch the game I went out to dinner and a movie. It turned out to be a really good decision (keep in mind that I am an athlete and love all sports). All I know about the game is that the AFC won 41-34 and Matt Schaub was the MVP. Matt Schaub!! I mean come on. He’s a really good quarterback, but not the household name that the NFL would want to be the face of the Pro Bowl. Every league is trying to fix their All-Star game. The MLB made it meaningful and the NFL has moved the game. What these fixes don’t address is the fact that the players really don’t care about the outcome. There is no fire or competitive edge that makes sports fun to watch. The NBA All-Star game is just running up and down the floor with no defense. The NBA really needs to fix the voting process. The fact that Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson got any votes is a travesty. The game isn’t the same. There are no more Larry Birds, Michael Jordans, or Magic Johnsons who had that killer instinct every time they hit the floor. Bottom line: the players don’t care so why should I? All-Star games undermine what it means to play sports. To be an athlete is to step on the field of play and give everything you’ve got for from beginning to end. Not to watch people run by you and shrug your shoulders. It’s not fun to play like that and it makes the games themselves unbearable to watch. What should be done about these games? Get rid of them! Keep the break and let the fans vote for their favorite players of the first half of the season, but lose the games. You know what? They could even keep the festivities. Keep the Home Run Derby, keep the 3-point and Slam Dunk contests, and skill competitions. Those are fun to watch because the players are trying to prove they are the best at a particular skill. That’s the competitive edge that makes sports fun. Not watching grown men play what amounts to a pick-up game.

Sports Digest - Tuesday, February 2, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:55:43 +0000

Here are the stories of interest today: Colts - Freeney and Colts Prepare for Worst http://www.indystar.com/article/20100202/SPORTS03/2020322/ Kravitz - Freeney's Value Can't Be Overstated http://www.indystar.com/article/20100202/SPORTS15/2020330 Colts Are in Falimiar Surroundings http://www.indystar.com/article/20100202/SPORTS03/2020317 Saints Using External Tools to Motivate http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/02/drew_brees_uses_motivational_b.html Weathern in South Florida is Wet http://www.indystar.com/article/20100202/SPORTS03/2020320 Boilers - Hoosiers Not at Same Level http://purdue.rivals.com/ Hoosiers - Glass Half Full Look http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100201/SPORTS/2010314/1002 Hoosiers Inconsistent Play Hurts http://www.jg.net/article/20100202/SPORTS0301/302029934/1089/SPORTS0301 Pacers to Stay Small http://www.indystar.com/article/20100202/SPORTS04/2020329/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-plan-to-rely-on-small-lineup Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, February 2, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:07:50 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry13.mp3]

Sports from the Couch

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:16:55 +0000

by Jeff Showalter

I heard Dwight Freeney messed up his ankle. I saw him hobbling near the end of the AFC Championship game so obviously it is injured, but does the media really know how sprained it is? This is the Colts we are dealing with. This is the same franchise that only last year made Peyton Manning’s knee seem like a matter of national security! We have a Ferris Bueller situation brewing in Miami. The media has Freeney out, in a cast, in a walking boot, a hyperbolic chamber and on crutches. Mark Schlereth just said there is no way Freeney can be effective. It reminds me of the kids gossiping over Ferris and his impending doom. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91oESPRinas] Orthopedists around the country are suddenly being interviewed like they are the Surgeon General. Kids everywhere are asking mom and dad what a 3rd degree sprain is and parents are probably saying “go look it up” because they have no idea. It is only Monday and we have another six days of 93’s ankle. Oh my goodness, I’m already past it and it is Monday evening. People will be waiting to get a peak at Freeney like Catholics wait for the smoke to change colors from the conclave of the Sistine Chapel. The funny thing about the media is that they will talk about, they will ask the obligatory questions, they write stories about the ankle, but everyone knows that NO ONE OUTSIDE OF THE COLTS MANAGEMENT KNOWS! The over/under on the people that know exactly where Dwight is in his recovery is 9. Freeney, Polian, Caldwell, John Teerlink, Larry Coyer and the team doctor know for sure. I’ll guess 3 more know for sure and that’s about it. All we are going to get from ESPN, local TV and SI.com is a guess. Since I have as good an idea of what will happen as the media does, I’ll play along and give my opinion. Freeney is going to play and I bet Coyer has some ideas about how to make him as effective as possible. My guess is he gets about 40 plays. I had a 3rd degree sprain when I was 15, andI spent 11 days on crutches and decided I had enough so I walked it into shape. Took me another 2 weeks and I was as good as I ever would be. (I get cramps in my ankle and it is arthritic, but I was 15!) If Freeney can’t put a lot of weight on that ankle, look for Coyer to move him around. Coyer did a really good job of moving players into different spots on the line in an effort to get to the QB as many ways as possible. My guess is Freeney and Mathis may even trade sides for some plays. That allows Freeney to push off the left ankle and be more effective with less pain. I don’t know how well he’ll play, but he will play. Can we talk about something else?

Freeney Will Be Fine; Oscar Nominations Announced

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:02:00 +0000

by Kent Sterling Sure, Dwight Freeney's ankle is leading ESPN, as it will through the next five days. Everyone is speculating on the recovery potential of the wheel, but the people who know aren't talking, which is no surprise. The Colts focus on what helps them win and ignore all else. Giving the media accurate information is not on the Colts radar, and that's fine. If there is even a tiny advantage they can gain from staying quiet, I'm in. Teams other than the Colts and the Patriots talk, but if the Colts win Sunday those two teams will have won half the Super Bowls this decade. I won't say why I believe Freeney will play at a high level Sunday, but he will. I've seen amazing ankle recoveries, and I have reason to think Freeney will experience one of those seemingly miraculous recoveries. Without being able to say why I believe this about Freeney, I am devoting the rest of this space to the Oscar Nominations which were just announced. The academy released the nominations for this year's Oscars, and as usual most of us didn't see many of the performances. The format for Best Picture has changed to ten nominees in an effort to involve more popular pictures. The list of nominees in the past has featured a roster of little seen independent and Miramax films. This year, the experiment seemed to work as both "Avatar" and "The Blind Side" scored. Both films made a lot of money, and might get people to watch the Oscars a little longer this year. Here is the complete list of nominees: Best Actress In A Supporting Role Penelope Cruz Vera Farmiga Maggie Gyllenhaal Anna Kendrick Mo'nique Best Actor In A Supporting Role Matt Damon Woody Harrelson Christopher Plummer Stanley Tucci Cristoph Waltz Best Actress In A Leading Role Sandra Bullock Helen Mirren Carey Mulligan Gabourey Sidibe Meryl Streep Best Actor In A Leading Jeff Bridges George Clooney Colin Firth Morgan Freeman Jeremy Renner Best Director James Cameron Kathryn Bigelow Quentin Tarantino Lee Daniels Jason Reitman Best Picture Avatar The Blind Side District 9 An Education The Hurt Locker Inglourious Basterds Precious A Serious Man Up Up in the Air Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Groundhog Day Ushers in Great Month of Sports

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:36:26 +0000

by Kent Sterling Spring isn't here, and it really isn't close, but this is the time that the sports seasons change. The Super Bowl is all that's left for the 2009 NFL season. The Colts and Saints both won their first 13 games, and were clearly the best two teams is the NFL. They meet this Sunday to decide it. The line is anywhere between Colts -4 and Colts -6, with an over/under in the upper-50s. This has a chance to be a Super Bowl for the ages. Both offenses are capable of running up a big score, and both defenses can create turnovers. The Saints secondary is porous at best. Without a healthy Dwight Freeney, the Colts could have some trouble getting to Drew Brees. More importantly, the Saints might not have to keep a tight end or back home to help keep Freeney from spinning and bull rushing into Brees' hip. The highest scoring Super Bowl of all-time was SB XXIX as the 49ers beat the Chargers 49-26. That 75 points could be in danger, especially if the Colts get off to an early lead and force Brees to go vertical. He has weapons aplenty, as does Manning. The game could also be in the low 20s. I can't remember a Super Bowl where so many outcomes were possible. *************** The Pacers host the Raptors tonight, and despite my belief that "Raptors" is the absolute worst nickname for a sports team in history, (what the hell do Raptors have to do with Toronto or basketball?), they are a much better team than the Pacers with a point guard who should be in a Pacers jersey. Jarrett Jack brought an emotional investment to the Pacers last year that is sorely lacking this year. For all the world, the Pacers look like a team that flat-out does not enjoy playing the game, and the 16-32 record bears that out. I'm waiting to love the Pacers again, and look in from time-to-time to see if their has been any change. I am always disappointed. They need to tank the rest of the season, move into the top five of the draft, and get a potential all-star. There are some pieces that fit. Brandon Rush has physical tools that are very unique. He's smooth and can get past the initial defender to cause some havoc. He's also a really good on-ball defender. Roy Hibbert can be very productive on the offensive end, and seems to be a guy who gives a shit. Foot speed is not easy to develop, but he's making incremental improvements. Maybe Dick Harter can take him into the alley just north of the Fieldhouse to have Roy chase chickens. The rest of the roster including Danny Granger are interchangeable. Granger is a good shooter, but what else do you get. The Pacers roster is filled with guys who settle for jump shots. They need someone who is willing and able to get to the rim. Time for whatever salary dump is possible. That obviously starts with T.J. Ford. Is there a chapter in the "NBA Guide to Being a General Manager in Indianapolis" that insists an expensive point guard needs to sit idle? If I were Herb Simon, I don't think I could even hold onto the pen as I signed Ford's paycheck. ***************** The Indiana Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers are going to play twice in the next 29 days, and while that matchup on paper looks to favor the Boilers in a big way, I'm looking forward to seeing IU play Purdue tough in the first game at Assembly Hall on Thursday. The Hoosiers kind of wobble between playing hard and not, but if there is one game where they are going to show up and stiffen their defense, this would be it. Purdue almost always brings great intensity, and after that ugly three-game stretch, they seem to have resumed their Bowery Boys tough-guy style of play (the Bowery Boys were a mob that appeared in movies back in the 1930s, for those of you under the age of 70 - I went for the Boys relate to try to appeal to the Purdue fanbase - most of whom were big Huntz Hall - one of the Bowery Boys - fans in their childhood). Speaking of Big Ten Basketball, if you are a fan, buy some tickets to the Big Ten Tournament. If they don't sell a gob of tickets for this year's tournament, look for the Big Ten to move the event back to Chicago, which would be a shame. Indy was built to host events like the Big Ten Tournament, and Chicago could care less. ****************** Spring Training opens this month. Cubs pitchers and catchers report to Mesa in a couple of weeks. Not to be a cynic, but the Cubs are going to have another mediocre year in 2010. Last year, prior to the season, I predicted the Cubs would win 83 games. They won exactly 83 games. There are two reasons the Cubs will struggle again this season - their players and their management. The players are old. They are incredibly weak up the middle - Geo Soto behind the plate, Ryan Theriot at short, Jeff Baker at second, and Marlon Byrd in center - rivaling the very worst teams in baseball. Byrd and Soto have both enjoyed one good year in their careers, and Baker and Theriot are both defensive liabilities who bring a very average offensive game to the lineup. On the corners, the Cubs are old and brittle. Pitching? Ted Lilly is likely on the shelf until the all-star break, and the rest of the rotation is very similar to the Cubs of the mid-1980s. That's not a good thing. The positive? I love Carlos Marmol. Despite his control issues, he is almost unhittable. To get a save, all he has to do is strikeout three before he walks or plunks four. I'm good with that. Lou Piniella is a disaster. Why Jim Hendry extended him to a fourth year is beyond my comprehension. At the Cubs Convention last month, Lou told fans and media that he moved Alfonso Soriano to the six-hole after getting his permission. Okay. That's a manager? His postgame press conferences are so riddled with errors that it's not clear whether Lou was conscious for the entire game. Either Lou is having fun at our expense by pretending to be a doddering old tool, or he is a doddering old tool. ************** The Winter Olympics start on February 12th, and I'm giddily counting down the days. Okay, that's not true. Other than Shawn White, I have no idea who any of the competitors are. Maybe it will be exciting. Who knows. There are always people who surprise us and overcome obstacles to win gold. The whole vibe is that we are somehow un-American if we don't watch, so we watch. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Indianapolis SB XLIV School Closing Update - IPS on Two-Hour Delay

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:59:57 +0000

Indianapolis Public Schools will operate on a two-hour delay on Monday, according to an announcement posted on the IPS website. Administrators expect that the delay will allow students and bus drivers to get a good night sleep after cheering for the Colts in Super Bowl 44. The dress code will be waived for the day, as teachers and student will be encouraged to wear their Colts gear to either celebrate the win or mourn the loss. The Catholic Archdiocese announce last week that its schools will be closed Monday. Carmel-Clay and Hamilton Southeastern Schools will be open at their normal times. Of course, this is madness. Schools have a responsibility to educate our children, and bus drivers have jobs. Don't show up for your job, there are thousands of people unemployed in Marion County who would be happy to drive a school filled with kids to and from school. The city has united behind the Colts, and that's great. This recession has foisted many unwanted changes upon families in Indianapolis. This run to the Super Bowl gives everyone a diversion from the jitters that occupy many of our thoughts, but there is still a corruption of ethics that allow a rescheduling to accomodate frivolous behavior. We need to continue to display the discilpine required for success, and to systemically enforce a relaxation of responsibilities to allow for watching football (and engaging in the kind of behavior that might cause bus drivers to correctly evaluate their ability to drive safely) is silly. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

UK's John Wall Says He Tries Not to Listen to Coach Calipari

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:46:59 +0000

by Kent Sterling Hard to believe that the kid who is the virtually unanimous choice as the first overall pick in the June NBA Draft would turn around and say that he tries not to listen to UK Head Coach John Calipari. A 19-year-old kid without fear of any consequence is going to display some strange and selfish behaviors, and Wall certainly qualifies. John Wall is immensely talented, and there is no doubt that he is deserving of being the number-one pick. He's fast and smart, with ball skills that are resplendent. Any NBA team would be thrilled to add Wall to their roster, and build around him. He plays like a cross between Dwayne Wade and Isiah Thomas. Kids with that kind of talent, unless they have been raised in a very disciplined home, have one other thing in common. They have been told thousands of times that they are great, and that many of life's rules don't apply to them. When enough people surrounding a future multi-millionaire enable immature and undisciplined behavior, the kid becomes immature and undisciplined. Here are some of the comments John Wall hears everyday: "Man, don't listen to Cal. You know how much money you're making that man?" "You do what you do. It isn't Cal going to the league to take care of his family." "Who does he think he talking to? You are John Wall...JOHN WALL!" "Cal can't win without you. My cat can coach UK and win a championship." "Talent win. Cal can drive the bus." You hear that stuff enough, and you believe it. In this case, it's absolutely true. There used to be a saying that a great coach could beat you with his, and then take yours and beat his. Calipari isn't that kind of coach. What he does best is bring together talent using whatever tools he might require. Then he sits on the bench and tries to look engaged and busy. John Wall is going to leave UK after this season and make his millions, as he should. Fans everywhere should enjoy watching this kid play before the culture of the NBA takes another bite out of his character. UK plays Ole Miss tonight on ESPN at 7p. If UK makes it to the Final Four, it's the NCAA's move. Twice before, Calipari has made the Final Four, but you won't find those appearances in the record books. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Wednesday, February 3, 20101

kentsterling — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:01:14 +0000

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, February 3, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:26:33 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry14.mp3]

Is the NFL Really Going to Screw This Labor Deal Pooch?

kentsterling — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:53:38 +0000

by Kent Sterling There is one very profound reason that the NFL is the most successful professional sports league in history - they have not had a moment of public labor/management unrest since 1987. The NFL Players Union was so thoroughly eviscerated by the players breaking ranks and crossing the picket line in 1987 that they couldn't even bluff a position of strength. The career of the average NFL player is so brief that the idea of forfeiting a game check is grotesque to the players, but even at that the ownership and NFLPA are talking about unrest that could cause the elimination of the 2012 season. ESPN's Mike and Mike spoke this morning with NFLPA head DeMorris Smith, and after the interview, Mike and Mike hit the issue right on the head. "This is seen as millionaires arguing with billionaires." That very succinctly articulates the disconnect and chasm between those on the inside of the game, and the fans who buy the tickets. No fan will begrudge Peyton Manning the cash he sees as a result of the monolithic contract extension he'll sign during the upcoming offseason. He will likely see a $40-million signing bonus, and then somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-million per year for the length of the deal. They will goof around with the numbers enough to allow the Colts to surround Peyton with some talent, but he is going to make money in a year than any 100 of us combined. That's cool because Peyton is the face of the NFL and the City of Indianapolis, and he genuinely looks like a guy who doesn't play for the cash. The owners are alright with fans because they took the risk in buying the team, and the owner gets the spoils. No resentment there. Jimmy Irsay deserves all that he gets. His stewardship of the Colts franchise has been the model for pro sports owners for the past 13 years. At the best franchises; the owners own, the GMs manage, the coaches coach, and the players play. No team embodies that dynamic better than the Colts. In the NBA, the players appear ungrateful and indifferent to the fans. There is an air of entitlement among the players, or at least that's the perspective of the fans, because the contracts are guaranteed for their duration. In the NFL, nothing is guaranteed but the signing bonus. They have to play their asses off, or they go to work for a living, and out here the checks don't have so many zeroes. In the NBA, once you sign the big contract, what the hell are you playing for until the next option year. Same thing with baseball except that players can't hide. If you half-ass it out in the field, at the plate, or on the mound, you are alone on that stage in front of 40,000 fans. You dog it, fans see it and they let you know about it. NBA players, if there is shared mediocrity, none are guilty because it all looks the same. Basketball is a rhythmic game. If everyone plays slowly, it still looks like basketball. In defense of the NBA, 82 basketball games over a five-and-a-half month period is a marathon. Players can't give everything in every game, or their bodies will break down. They need to pick their spots. If NFL players even take one play off, they get hurt. The love affair between fans and the players/teams/owners of the NFL depends upon perpetuating the myth that they are just like us. Players posturing about the injustice of a $310,000 minimum salary would resonate with very few people wealthy enough to afford season tickets, much less the rabble who throw on their Colts jersey to sit in front of the TV to sweat out every single play. We see Peyton all pissed off on the sidelines, and we feel empathy for him because we're pissed too. Never mind that he has bank beyond anyone's dreams. If either the NFLPA or the NFL owners want to take that link between the fans and players, pour gas on it, and set it ablaze, they can choose to do that. Five years ago, former owner of the Seattle Mariners Jeff Smulyan told me that his cat could run an NFL franchise and net $40-million a year. Is that not enough? Is a minimum of $310,000 not enough? The best way to kill a successful business is to try to milk that teat dry. Leave it be. Let the money roll in and be grateful. Allow the fans to continue to love their team and the game unencumbered by the image of greed entering their process. Look at baseball, basketball, and hockey. Avoid what has given the fans a reason to turn their backs on those sports. Get this deal done, so fans can concentrate on the games and not the business. Continue to be the smartest guys in the room. Leave the greed to the leagues that are in trouble. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Chicago Nun's Poem Shares Prediction for Super Bowl XLIV

kentsterling — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:33:59 +0000

Every year, Sister Jean Kenny of St. Francis Borgia Parish, releases a poem that predicts the winner of the Super Bowl. She only picks the winner - not the score or spread because she doesn't want to encourage gambling. The good sister is 18-6 over the past 24 Super Bowls. Good News for the Colts. "Manning's Miami Masterpiece" Welcome back fans to the Sunshine State See the galloping Colts sprint out of the gate Sean Payton's "Who Dat" team is dealt their bridesmaid fate While the BLUE Dat winners go on to celebrate I'm no nun, and I don't write like one, but here's a poem of my own about the Super Bowl: Against the spread this season, The Colts have given us a reason, To cash our ticket 13 times, And feather our nests with some extra dimes, In this game, it will be the same, And Gregg Williams will be to blame, QB Peyton Manning he chose to berate, The Saints will be thrashed 37-28. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

The Struggles (and Triumphs) of Being a Walk-On

Ryan Sterling — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:53:08 +0000

by The Rainman Being a walk-on myself I have a soft spot in my heart for these men and women who go out every day and work without even the thought that they will play or even get to practice full-time. Few people know the actual stories behind being a walk-on, but if you read this, and perhaps the others on the same topic that will come after it, you will get the point. In every college sport there are at least a few members of the team who sit at the end of the bench and look on as their teammates run onto the floor. These are the walk-ons and they are the people that make the team go. There is only one reason anyone who plays sports would want to become a walk-on: they love the game. In my case that’s basketball. Other than the people in my life, it is thing that I couldn’t live without. You want to see people play basketball or any sport with a passion, watch a walk-on play. Walk-ons don’t get the notoriety and fame that some of their compatriots receive, but that’s not the point. All walk-ons do is go to practice every day with a chip on their shoulder and a point to prove. Not that the scholarship players don’t do that, but walk-ons volunteer to do it. The university that I attend is full of non-scholarship athletes and you wouldn’t believe the amount of work they put into their respective sport. It really isn’t fair if you think about it, but that’s life and you wonder what it’s all for while you sit and watch game after game. I know I do and I know some people who would give anything to be on the field or court. And while being a very important aspect of playing college sports, that’s not what it’s all about though and it takes some time to realize this. When you understand that - it is bigger than sports. It’s life in a nutshell, and that’s all that matters. You might get to play. You might get to be an integral part of a championship team. You might have all of that pulled away from you in a heartbeat through no fault of your own. In the end it doesn’t come down to wins and losses or playing time. Those will be the memories that you will have, but what it comes down to is the lessons that you learn and the people that you meet in the process whom you will have in your life forever. All you can do is put your head down, grit your teeth and show up everyday knowing that nothing is given to you and that is never truer than as a walk-on. You have to earn everything you get and that’s the most rewarding part. It’s hard being a walk-on, but for me it was the best decision I have ever made. Not because of the sports, but because of the people I have met in the process. I love it and would never trade this experience for any other. The people I have met and what these people have taught me about myself, while being painful and sometimes nauseating, is honestly the best thing that’s ever happened to me. These people (one in particular) have tested my limits both on and off the floor and have made me a better person. That’s why I love being a walk-on. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Thursday, February 4, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:24:42 +0000

Harry on Sports - Thursday, February 4, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:32:28 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry15.mp3]

Super Bowl Shuffle Limps Back to Life; Colts Polar Opposite of 1985 Bears

kentsterling — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:52:59 +0000

Twenty-four years ago, the Chicago Bears played in the Super Bowl and brought a swagger that some saw as arrogance. The "Super Bowl Shuffle" was a big part of that. The ridiculous song and video was produced not immediately prior to the Super Bowl, but during the season - the day after the Bears lost to the Miami Dolphins in week 13. Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael refused to participate because they felt producing a video in December about the Super Bowl was arrogant, but it isn't arrogance if you can back it up and that's what the Bears did. The 1985 Bears, minus the 38-24 loss to the Dolphins, outscored their opponents 268-46 over the last ten games of the season, including a combined 91-10 in the playoffs. The 1985 Bears might have been the most polarizing team in NFL history. People either loved them or hated them. I loved them. There was a sense that you were watching something special every time they walked on the field. The was a palpable sense that the Bears were very aware of how special they were while they were on the field being special. Very rarely in sports does a man or team realize and acknowledge their greatness while it unfolds, but when it happens, boy do we remember them. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJNC3dgreaU] The 1985 Bears continue to cash sizeable checks based on their work during that special season. There are lot of '85 Bears coaching in the NFL, Dan Hampton does radio in Chicago, Jim McMahon gets paid for whatever appearances he chooses to make and is still every bit the prick (in a great way) he was when he played, and Coach Mike Ditka is on ESPN on the strength of the memory of 1985. Those Bears, now in their 50s (or really close) will reprise the shuffle during a first quarter commercial in this year's Super Bowl. You won't see the 2009 Indianapolis Colts do anything like this in 25 years. There hasn't been another team like them in the last quarter century, and the team least like them might be in Super Bowl XLIV. If the personality of the Bears mirrored the City of Chicago in 1985, the Indianapolis Colts mirror their city. They are hard-working, quiet to the point of anonymity, and trouble-free. When I moved to Indianapolis in 1993, I would tell friends in Chicago that if you took everything you either loved or hated out of Chicago, you would have Indianapolis. There was no traffic, little crime, decent schools, no real restaurants, theatre, or real pro sports. Things have changed since 1993. Indianapolis has become a bit of a destination, has great restaurants, sports teams, and a growing theatre presence. The traffic still moves well even during rush hour (a concept that still really doesn't exist). The Colts have given Indianapolis a very positive image among sports fans. While people either loved or hated the 1985 Bears, no one really seems to have any ill-will toward the Colts. Some dog Peyton Manning over his seemingly endless stream of endorsements. He is ubiquitous, and this Super Bowl appearance is unlikely to cause that to diminish at all. There are rumors of some crazy DMZ expose' on Manning that is being prepared, but that has been the rumor for better than a year, so I'm not sure whether it's true or not. Other than those whispers, this team is drama free. You want to know how good most of these guys on the Colts are? Middle Linebacker Gary Brackett is the defensive captain, and a great interview. Do you know what Brackett's demand for a weekly interview on The Fan was? It wasn't a new car, thousands of dollars, or some tailor-made suits. All he wanted was two movie tickets each week. We asked him what he likes to do, and Brackett said he and his wife like movies. We offered tickets, and Brackett was in. That is a great guy, at least from the perspective of a guy running a sportstalk radio station with a very limited budget. That is what the Colts do. There are some guys who have no interest in the local media, Manning chief among them, but overall the Colts are just really good guys who like finding a niche in the community. They are not a group with guys climbing over one another to get in the spotlight. They are like a group of proud construction workers who happen to play football for a living. The hard-hat Reggie Wayne wore to training camp in Terre Haute is right on the money. The Colts work with focus day after day after day. The 1985 Bears flashed through our lives like a beautiful comet, until they flew too close to the sun and disintegrated. The Colts are more like a planet. The found their home spinning at a safe distance where the only noticeable wonder is in their consistent ability to toil without drama. Sunday, the Colts will do what the Bears of the 1980s couldn't, play in their second Super Bowl. They make no boasts. Bragging doesn't help you win. The Colts are silent killers. None but Manning will make millions in communications, but the Colts aren't worried about that. Their work provides the reward, and their reward is the work.

In 49 States its just basketball, but...

The Truth — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:37:58 +0000

By The Truth What makes Indiana basketball so special? Maybe it’s the walk to Assembly Hall on a Thursday night after you just tanked your first exam of the second semester. Maybe it’s the five NCAA National Championship banners that hang from the rafters, the 17,000 screaming IU fans at each and every game, or players like Steve Alford, Alan Henderson, and Scott May. Maybe it’s because the “General” coached here. To me Indiana basketball is all of those things. Well, besides the part about failing the test. But one aspect of Indiana basketball that isn’t known by most outsiders doesn’t take place at the Hall, but rather right in the heart of campus—the HPER. For those that don’t know, the HPER used to be the venue of all home IU games, but is now a recreational student center. No matter what day of the week, the courts at the HPER are consistently filled with students playing basketball. The rules are simple. Games are played to fifteen points and teams must win by two. You win…you hold the court. You lose…and you might as well head home because the wait to get another game sometimes reaches an hour. Why do the students play? Why are the games so intense? Well, it’s Indiana. That’s why. The students aren’t playing in front of a crowd or for money, but for the love of the game Basketball is a game of common ground. HPER “athletes,” as I like to call them, come in all sizes and skill levels. They can be students that play five times a year or students, like my roommate and me, who play multiple times a week and have since we were able to tie our shoes. In fact, the games at the HPER are so important to us that once we return to our house from “hoopin” as we call it, we write our record for that day on a wall. Our entire wall is covered with dates and our corresponding records. Most basketball players love to watch the game just as much as they like to play it, which is why Assembly Hall is such a hostile environment. Imagine playing in front of 7,000 students that truly love the game of basketball. Imagine how intense the atmosphere at Assembly Hall must be. Even the beautiful women that attend Indiana University understand basketball. Just the other day a girl was talking to me about how she remembered Damon Bailey. I thought about asking her to marry me right then and there. Travel through any neighborhood and count how many driveways have basketball goals. Attend a sectional basketball game in Marian County (you might want to get there early if you wish to claim a seat). Come to an IU game and watch the student athletes play their absolute hardest to represent a state that eat, sleeps, and drinks basketball. The bottom line: “In 49 states it’s just basketball, but this is Indiana.”

Sports from the Couch - Mish-Mash Thursday

jshowal2 — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:44:44 +0000

by Jeff Showalter I was going to write about my memories of IU-PU but that made me depressed. As IU alum, I am saddened by the state of the IU athletics program. A football program that can only muster the 92^nd best recruiting class in the country and a basketball program that wasted funds this week recruiting a zero stars big guy in Fort Lauderdale instead of canvassing the state of Indiana and it's huge amount of talent. In fact, I'm more interested in watching Butler vs. Detroit (WNDY at 7am) than IU play PU. OK, I'm past that so let's go: Reggie Bush is getting it done. Reggie was out until 3:30 am with other Saints players. TMZ snapped a few shots. Nothing explains more why the Colts will win then this picture. I am willing to bet no Colts player was out until 3:30 am. reggie-bush-pre-games-on-south-beach The stock market is taking a beating today because of disastrous. I contend that Liberals in D.C and at the White House are pretty excited about the news since the Left believes the only solution will be more government. http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/04/news/economy/jobs_outlook/index.htm The Indiana Pacers have won 17 games this year, and I am going to assume (I know!) they tried to win them all. The Colts have won all 16 games they have tried to win. The implosion of the Pacers and the poor performance of the President of Basketball Operations, Larry Bird, may one day be as bad as what Isaiah Thomas did with the Knicks. White boy could hoop! He can't manage! Here is a tribute to the good old days. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULvo7__wwBU] I bought my second Apple computer last weekend, a 21.5 inch screen iMAC. I'm cynical by nature but every time you see one of those "silly" MAC vs PC commercials, you should check out the details behind them. They are true! I'll never buy another PC. You pay a premium but you never buy virus protection and you can not put a dollar value on the frustration of dealing with a PC. You can read this for the details: http://www.apple.com/getamac/whymac/ but watching these commercials is much more fun! http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/ I share this websites owner in the hatred of the University of Kentucky men's basketball program. I just wish they sucked! It's a matter of time before Calipari does something wrong. I'm as sure of that as I am that Kelvin Sampson is a cheat. Because of the Sampson catastrophe, he ends up at Milwaukee and IU basketball is still a mess. Since the Bucks franchise is owned by Herb Kohl, and he hired Sampson, I have boycotted all Kohl's stores. The wife doesn't like the boycott but there are other places to shop. OK, one more thing about IU. Please don't get to excited over a close game with Purdue! It doesn't mean they won't stink up the joint during the next game. Purdue 71 IU 65

Sports Digest - Friday, February 5, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:25:35 +0000

Harry on Sports - Friday, February 5, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:39:00 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry16.mp3]

The Colts Defense Will Win this Championship

kentsterling — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:48:51 +0000

Peyton Manning gets a lot of the attention. This week's Dwight Freeney ankle drama aside, Manning is the Indianapolis football beacon for the media, but it's the consistent aggression and gap management of the defense that is responsible for the Colts excellence this season. Missing are Marlin Jackson and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Bob Sanders, and unlike other years, no one notices. Jerraud Powers, Jacob Lacey, and Melvin Bullitt have been superior as replacements, so we don't really even think of Jackson and Sanders. This group is like some of the great NFL defenses of the past in that they are a group that is relatively unknown and [caption id="attachment_789" align="alignright" width="92" caption="Antonio Johnson"][/caption] unheralded. Go ahead, Colts fans, name the Colts starting left side linebacker and defensive tackles. They are Phillip Wheeler, Daniel Muir and Antonio Johnson - not exactly household names. Would Colts fans recognize any of those three guys on the corner of Washington and Illinois under the Arts Garden? Not likely. [caption id="attachment_790" align="alignleft" width="93" caption="Daniel Muir"][/caption] They aren't the Steel Curtain or the '85 Bears, but they sure have come up with a bundle of huge plays this season that allowed Manning and the offense to stage some of the most dramatic comebacks in the history of the NFL. The difference between a good season and this great one might have boiled down to the fourth-and-two stop against the Patriots. The Colts were so far out of that game at the beginning of the fourth quarter that fans who have been conditioned for a decade to expect great comebacks left Lucas Oil Stadium early. [caption id="attachment_791" align="alignright" width="110" caption="Phillip Wheeler"][/caption] As had happened so many times, the Colts defense got the stop, won, and wound up earning home field throughout the playoffs. Had the Pats gotten the first down, they win, and the momentum for both teams would have been altered for the rest of the season. I sit here writing trying to find a reason this game will be interesting once the Colts and Saints start cracking pads, and I come up empty. The Saints are okay. The New Orleans angle makes their appearance in Miami a nice story, but let's stop this madness about New Orleans deserving a championship. The people there live on the gulf, and hurricanes happen there. The city sits below sea level. For that, America roots for them? Indianapolis is the largest city in America without a navigable body of water. There are no beaches in Indianapolis, no commercial waterway, and has neither terrible weather nor great weather. It's cloudy in central Indiana from November 1 through the end of March. But Indianapolis has overcome a complete lack of good or bad stuff to become a completely mediocre city. That kind of averageness is worth no empathy from America? New Orleans is loved because it's a terrible choice as a place to live? Where's the logic? All that civic pride or malaise aside, I can't fathom why the spread continues to sit at Colts -5 1/2. There is no way the Colts fail to cover. If the Saints play their asses off, this is an 11-point game. That's the worst that can happen. "The Saints have weapons." "The Saints force turnovers." "The Saints are playing for their city." Show me a single tangible place other than a marginal advantage at tailback where the Saints have an advantage over the Colts. I just spent the last two hours writing comparisons at different positions, but it was the kind of nonsense you can find on every website and ESPN/Fox/NFL Network show. How the hell do you look at Clint Session and Scott Fujita and compare their contributions in a way that would show who's going to win? I abandoned that ship. Write what you know. Maybe Gil Brandt can talk about how Tracy Porter will either be exposed or stand tall for the Saints. I don't do that. I have seen enough of Porter at IU when he missed coverages and tackle in Bloomington to have a tough time believing that Manning won't carve him up, but what do I know? What I do know is vibe, and the Colts are just solid right now. They appear loose and ready. On Media Day, Manning was so relaxed that I can't imagine anything bad can happen once they get on the field Sunday night. Clint Session is the emotional driver of the defense and he seems totally ready. The Colts culture is to go to work, and that work keeps them grounded and ready to compete. Friday isn't two days away from the Super Bowl for the Colts, it's a day to prepare. They know how to get ready, and that is what they will be because that is what they do. It's who they are. What's next? That's what the Colts focus their attention on. The defense is the key. Get some pressure. The DBs need to keep the ball in front of them. Stay in your lanes. Nothing deep. The offense will take what they are given, and Gregg Williams is somewhere feeling the heat his own words [caption id="attachment_792" align="alignright" width="91" caption="Saints DC Gregg Williams"][/caption] provided. He'll try to stop Manning, rather than concentrating on letting his players do it. He's a loud-mouth and a mediocre defensive coordinator. He's going to scheme it up, blitz in ways maybe they haven't in the past, and that means they won't execute it as well. Manning will read the blitzes, and make the Saints pay. I'm more than a little excited about this game, and so my mind is working more quickly than my fingers. The Colts will win, and win big. That isn't science, and it barely qualifies as analysis, but it's all you need to know that the Colts are going to win this game before the clock goes to 00:00. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

13 Year-Old Commits to Play Football at USC?

Ryan Sterling — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:59:31 +0000

By: The Rainman If you had to double take at the title of this blog I don’t blame you, but it is correct. ESPN.com is reporting that David Sills a thirteen year-old QB from Bear, Delaware has committed to play football at USC. For those of you who are wondering what class he will be a part of that would be 2015. Yes 2015! Having gone through the recruiting process myself for basketball I know how crazy and difficult it is, but this blows my mind. Yes, he is 6 feet tall and according to Steve Clarkson, the man who coached both Jimmy Clausen and Matt Barkley, he possesses all the tools to be the next great quarterback. Yes, he is already breaking down NFL tape. But come on this kid is only thirteen. I was once thirteen, not that long ago, and David has some growing up to do. Some of the problems I have with this: 1. This kid is only thirteen years-old and while right now USC may be his dream school that could change as David grows up and matures. 2. He has barely even started high school. He has really never taken a meaningful snap. 3. The recruiting process is a valuable process, and he is completely missing out on it. 4. David might not have hair under his arms and he is going to play at USC? Watch the kid grow up for four or five years and then see if he has the mentality to play at the BCS Championship level. 5. Lane Kiffin has not proven himself as a coach and this kid is hitching his wagon to him? Makes no sense to me. Pete Carrol would’ve made at least a little sense from a coaching angle. I don’t like this. I don’t like it one bit. In no way does this make sense to me. What about future QBs who might want to go to USC? They see this kid has signed for the 2015 class and that quite possibly could scare away some potentially great QBs in the 2013 or 2014 classes. In Kiffin’s defense, if this risk does pay off, he is a genius and everyone must bow down to his recruiting prowess. However, this is a huge risk to take and taking risks at what has been a top 5 program in the country for about the last decade is unnecessary. Sorry if I seem redundant, but this is ridiculous. David Sills is not even close to becoming a man, not even that, he’s not even a young man yet. His skills for a thirteen year-old are out of this world, but I have known kids with out of this world talent and skills who stop growing and lose their physical edge. The playing field levels out as kids turn into teenagers and even more as teenagers turn into men. The one thing about Sills that I have no idea about is his work ethic. Will he work to hone the gifts that he has been blessed with? That remains to be seen. And while remians to be seen is okay for high school football, it has no place at a college program like USC. This kid very well could end up being the best QB who ever lived. Only time will tell, and I have nothing against the kid, but he needs to rethink his decision and just have fun playing high school football. If you want to see some film on this 13 year-old phenom here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUb8F8Ltru0&feature=related

Kelsey Barlow Makes Choke Sign at IU During Purdue Win

kentsterling — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:42:25 +0000

I saw it last night and winced, as Purdue Guard Kelsey Barlow and his teammates celebrated the first Boilermakers win in Assembly Hall since 1999. He put his hands to his throat while looking at Verdell Jones III. Jones nearly made Kelsey pay as he narrowly missed a prayer at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime, but Jones and [caption id="attachment_800" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Kelsey Barlow on ESPN"][/caption] the Hoosiers will have to wait until March 3rd for payback. That gesture is very familiar as I saw a couple of high school freshman do the same thing in the 2004 sectional game between Cathedral and Lawrence North High Schools. LN was loaded with Michael Conley, Greg Oden, Stephan Routt, and a gob of other very talented players. Cathedral starters included two freshman and Dartmouth bound Chuck Flynn. Cathedral got off to a 10-2 start, and one of the freshman, Stephen Thomas, gave the choke sign to the LN fans. Needless to say, the team with the two one-and-done kids prevailed. There's no doubt in my mind that Oden and Conley were unshaken by the presumptuous and brash moment of public hubris, and that regardless of his behavior, LN would have won. Kids are kids, and they behave like kids. There is a reason that most defense attorneys don't leave a courtroom before the closing arguments and make the choke sign to the D.A. It might make watching trials a spectator sport, but it certainly won't help the defense win. Kelsey made a mistake, and today I'm guessing that the lesson will be advanced by Matt Painter, a coach more interested in winning than showing up an opponent. I am a little more tolerant of Chris Kramer's stomping on the "I" after the game. He had never won at Assembly Hall (in fact, the last time the Boilers won in Bloomington, Kramer was a fifth grader), and I took that stomp as Kramer expressing his joy over getting that monkey off his back. Get your road win, shake hands, and get out quietly. I'm not even sure about the handshakes. The gesture is meaningless on all sides. It's not usually a heartfelt ritual, just something that is necessary because to stop doing it would be the equivalent of throwing in the towel on ever being decent sportsmen. The truth is, most aren't anyway. No kid is genuinely congratulating any other player for the way they competed. They shake hands because they are told to and because they always have. Kelsey played basketball on the same Cathedral High School team as my son, so I know him a little. He is a wonderful athlete, and always a quiet and inward focused kid. He would get mad, pout a little bit, and behave like a lot of 15-year-olds. That's why kids go to high school and college. The edges are trimmed a little bit, and the brash become humble. That is what is happening to Kelsey today. Mistakes are opportunities for growth. Jones took the gesture as a challenge and after the game said, "See, the great thing is that we've got to play them again. So we'll see him again. We'll see what he has to say when we play them again." That last thing anyone wants to face is an opponent focused upon proving something. I'm sure Jones would have preferred to prove his point last night, but waiting a month isn't so tough. As for Kelsey, he'll come to learn that quiet snipers live longer than loud gunfighters. That's what college teaches - most of the time. Some guys take a little longer to learn that arrogance is generally unrewarded, but it's almost impossible to live a life of hubris (there's that word again) without getting kicked in the ass. Thank God a lot of these athletes get a correction before they enter real life. Some don't, and we eventually read about them in sections of the newspaper not dealing with on-court exploits. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - Saturday, February 6, 2010

kentsterling — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:17:23 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry17.mp3]

Super Bowl Primer; Ten Tips for Getting Ready for the Game/Party

kentsterling — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:44:36 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Super Bowl is a tough-nut party night because it's on a Sunday. If you work or go to school Monday, getting excessive in the alcohol department has its punishment that can last through the week. That being said, this will serve as a guide for those looking to put the pedal to the floor and push the limits for a couple of hours before the game and then straight through to the postgame celebration. #10 For the love of Christ, do not tuck in your jersey. If you choose to wear one, and I usually do because it's both comfortable and has my Dad's name on the back, leave the tails out. It's a Clark jersey, and it might prompt Dad to pull some heavenly strings for the Colts. Nothing looks worse than one of these kooks who insist on the tuck. Usually its the elderly white guys who rock the tuck. The younger guys with their Reggie Wayne or Bob Sanders jersey tucked look like short bus riders. #9 Don't be a gourmet. If you insist on cooking or bringing food to a Super Bowl party, make it simple. Nobody cares about oregano being your secret ingredient. Food is fuel, a counter-irritant, and/or an alcohol absorbing device. Nothing more. Wasting your time dolling yourself up for the party is slightly less wasteful than slaving over the perfect no-bean chili. #8 Contrary to the previous tip, dolling yourself up for a bunch of guys watching a football game is ridiculous. Guys watching football are more aroused by a chick who drinks longnecks in a sweatshirt and gives a shit about the game. Nobody likes the over the top psycho broads who cheer for their team like a degenerate gambler, but a Suzy Kolber type who throws on a hoodie, grabs a Coors Light, and can throw down the occasional insult at the fans during the crowd shots is the most attractive girl in the room. Leave the fancy scarves and boas at home. #7 Put together a board. A poster board with a ten-by-ten grid helps everyone gamble a little bit and retain interest even in a blow-out. It's an easy process. Take the board, ruler, and a Sharpie; draw eleven vertical lines and eleven horizontal lines in a manner that creates 100 similarly sized squares. Invite people to throw in $1 per square. After the 100 squares are filled (people can but more than one), write the numerals 0-9 on slips of paper. Draw them out and write the number drawn next to each row of numbers both vertical and horizontal, and assign a team to each row. People will be able to see which numbers are theirs. If my box is in the rows where the Colts need a nine and the Saints need 3, I win if at the end of any quarter the Colts score ends in a nine and the Saints end in a three. The split is usually even among the first three quarters and then double for the final score. If the buy-in is $1 per square, you will split the $100 as $20 after the first three, and $40 for the final. The only other rule is that some broad who never pays any attention to the game always wins. #6 Your team might lose the game, but you don't have to lose the party. Hey, this is football, and while there are some lunatics out there who live and die with every snap, you don't have to be. The night can be fun regardless of the success or failure of your team. If you are a Colts fan and the blue and white gets down early, down leave early. With seven fourth quarter come from behind wins, the Colts are never out of it. Have fun, keep some perspective, and if the football doesn't go your way, have some fun at the expense of the other guests. Turn the house's thermostat up to 90. Reprogram someone's iPhone. Disassemble the host's toilet. Do anything to get your mind off the game #5 If you are going to a party in Indianapolis, root for the Colts. Leave your Saints jersey in the closet. There is a name for people who root against their hometown in the Super Bowl at a party in that town. The word is "Asshole". While no one should take football so seriously that they throw hands at a party, taunting someone during the game removes the societal shackles. Walk in the Blue Crew Bar wearing a Saints jersey at your own risk. Be happy you aren't in Pittsburgh, because that will get your ass kicked there. Do it is Oakland (as though they'll ever make another Super Bowl, and you lose a kidney. In 2007, I wore a Bears jackets to the Blue Crew. It was an old jacket that didn't fit anymore, so I walked into the tent party, and drew a bunch of icy stares. I kind of walked around like a boob, then ripped the jacket off my back, stomped on it, and threw it in the trash. The Bears were my team until I moved from Chicago virtually simultaneous to the hire of Dave Wannstedt, whom I loathe. I adopted the Colts immediately, and have never had a reason to look back. #4 If you indulge, don't drive. That's easy enough. This also falls under the category - don't be a dumbass. No one wants to get arrested after the Colts win the Super Bowl. We can also add, don't set your city on fire. Indianapolis is generally a cool-headed place, especially now that Jamaal Tinsley and his posse have relocated to Memphis. #3 Stay for halftime. The Who are the greatest rock band in the world, and they are bringing a collection of hits that will be the best halftime since Prince. The Colts enter the field to "We Won't Get Fooled Again", so they are kind of the Colts band. If you are too young to know how The Who are, go buy "Who's Next" or a greatest hits compilation. The Who is angry, literate, musically superior, and featured the best rhythm section in the history of rock. #2 If you are going to gamble, take the Colts -5.5. The over/under is 55.5, and that is a tough number. The game could be a shootout, or these defenses could make life tough for the over crowd. If you do gamble, use your gambling money. Leave the money you use to pay bills alone. And, if you gamble, and go to a party, be a guy and try not to lose your mind. You are better off just sitting at home. No one wants to hear how you just lost your mortgage payment or kid's college fund. Keep your idiocy to yourself. #1 Play tonight, don't sweat tomorrow. There are acceptable days to show up a little bleary-eyed. If you are in New Orleans, that's every Monday and Friday. In Indianapolis, it's the day after the Super Bowl. This is one reason Indianapolis has been virtually recession proof. People here work for a living. Go have fun. Be safe. Don't put yourself in a position to hurt anyone else. That's it. Having fun tomorrow is that easy. There are a lot of days that require effort in order to have fun. Super Bowl Sunday when your team is playing is not one of them. Let the fun happen, don't micromanage it.

Sports from the Couch---Super Bowl from the Couch

jshowal2 — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:51:54 +0000

By Jeff Showalter Am I the only person tired of all the hoopla and ready for some football? I could watch Oakland and Buffalo tomorrow if I had to. I just need a fix. Heck, I watched part of the Pro Bowl! Remember when Indiana was a basketball state. Those days are long gone. It's Super Bowl Eve and we are all like little kids waiting for Santa. While waiting, it is time for the SFTC Super Bowl prediction Blog. On Tuesday, I gave my impression of the Dwight Freeney ankle story. You can see it on the Web's number one site for the collection of the good, bad and ugly from the worlds of sports and new media, SI.com's Hot Clicks: Tuesday\'s Hot Clicks. My opinion stays the same. Freeney will play more plays then the experts think and defensive coordinator Larry Coyer will move him around so he can limit the strain on the ankle. Looking at this game, watching a little film and listening to the experts has led me to one conclusion; the game should be cancelled because Saints fans deserve happiness. I'm so freaking tired of hearing about Hurricane Katrina that I could scream. Sure it was a disaster and sure it was sad, but has no bearing on the outcome. If Katrina plays defense for the Saints, well that could make for an interesting twist. On to the game. Sometimes a sporting event really can be explained in very simplistic terms. In the case of Sunday's game, it is which QB plays the best. It really is that easy. Both are going to throw it all over. Both are going to use every weapon they have. Both will be pressured and will have to think fast. The winning team will be the QB that gets td's instead of field goals. That team will be the Colts. The Colts defense will be able to get to Brees and cause him issues. He may not be sacked, but the pressures and hits will eventually cause the Boilermaker to make a mistake. Look for Garry Brackett or Clint Sessions to have an MVP type performance, maybe even a fumble recovery or pick for six. No fourth quarter comebacks will be needed. Colts 34 Saints 24. Here's a tribute to the Defense.....Enjoy the game! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS5sIB_QRas]

Danica Patrick's Saves It in First ARCA Race; Finishes Sixth

kentsterling — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:58:30 +0000

by Kent Sterling Danica Patrick began her dalliance with NASCAR in earnest today as she brought her open wheel skills to the Daytona International Speedway, and was tested in every conceivable way. The race tested her patience during a red flag period that lasted for early a half-an-hour, and then later in the race Danica needed to drive her tiny ass off to save the car after a car closed in front of her and clipped her front right quarter panel. The save showed that Danica is ready to behave responsibly while guiding an expensive stock car around a challenging super speedway. It was clear from the beginning that Danica's goal throughout the race was to drive safe and steady. Steady is exactly what she was all the way through the 80 lap event that had some thrills, spills and bizarre decision-making, but none of that came from Danica. The only problems she seemed to have throughout was staying on the yellow line. She was shuffled out of the single-file line of leaders, and was forced to fight her way back into the lead group a couple of times, but she always managed to. This wasn't exactly racing against Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Mark Martin, but she certainly didn't look over-matched against these guys.

Purdue Escapes

The Truth — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:28:53 +0000

by The Truth Prior to Thursday, the last time the Purdue Boilermakers came to Assembly Hall and left victorious was 1999. Entering the game on Thursday night, Purdue was favored to beat Indiana by 12.5 points. All signs pointed to a Purdue blowout, but the game ended up closer than the experts predicted as Indiana gave Purdue everything they could’ve imagined and more. Until Thursday, IU had not yet shown any signs of resiliency this season. When opponents have made second half runs this season, IU has not been unable to counter with a run of their own. Against Purdue, however, down by five with roughly four minutes to go, IU did so by taking a three-point lead capped by a Jordan Hulls triple. Had it not been for a few too many missed free throws down the stretch, the Hoosiers may have shocked the country with an upset win. That being said, I must vent my frustrations… First and foremost, Purdue showed that being a highly ranked team is a foreign concept to them. Kelsey Barlow gave the choking sign to the Indiana students and players, and Chris Kramer stomped on the “IU” logo at center court. This Purdue team, ranked 7^th in the nation, might be the school’s best ever, and IU is two years removed from the Sampson debacle. Yet Purdue only won by three points. Kelsey… that is just plain embarrassing. I’m not even sure what to say about Chris Kramer besides that he is offensively retarded and an overrated defender. Second in my list of frustrations… free throws, free throw, free throws. Do we practice them? Mr. automatic, Jordan Hulls, missed the front end of a one-an-one. I wish Derek Elston would look at the rim before he shot his foul shots. Missing the front end of a one-an-one is equivalent to a turnover. Hulls, Elston, and Jones all managed to do so. Free throws have haunted the Hoosiers all year, but one bright note is the recent foul shooting of Jeremiah Rivers. He made two big free throws in the final minute of the Illinois game and went 4-4 against Purdue. Finally, could this have been a coming out party for Tom Pritchard? I’ll be the first to admit, no one upsets me more than Tom Pritchard. He always feels the need to dribble before exploding to the rim. He’s a liability on the boards and usually plays with no confidence. This game, for whatever reason, Tommy came to play. His day was highlighted by a dunk at the end of the first half that helped shift momentum back IU heading into the locker room. IU needs this production from Tom Pritchard each and every game. The argument arising within my group of friends is whether or not IU can crack the top 25 next year. I’ve been petitioning we’ll be in the top 25 at some point next year depending on their schedule. The Hoosiers are struggling to close out games, but lack of experience is a huge contributing factor. Overall, the future is bright. IU has built a foundation that will bring them back to prominence. As far as the game goes, I guess Hoosier fans are going to have to live with letting Purdue win a game at Assembly Hall once this decade. Northwestern game is tomorrow. Let’s Go Hoosiers!

Harry on Sports - Super Bowl Sunday Roundtable

kentsterling — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:42:49 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry18.mp3]

Finally, Super Bowl Sunday Is Here

kentsterling — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:05:16 +0000

by Kent Sterling The media blather is at a crescendo, and finally it's justified. Dwight Freeney's ankle, the almost constant silly live remotes from local Indianapolis media, and the barely informed examination of the game itself are nearly at an end. Finally, it's time for pads to crack, the goosebumps to settle, and points to go up on the scoreboard. Dan Dakich always says that 40-minutes is the perfect amount of time to determine which college basketball team is better. A week of hype and relentless media coverage is a great amount of time to get a sense of who can do the job in the media, and who has enthusiasm for bringing information back to town. The coverage I liked best was from Fox 59. I know that sounds odd, but the newspeople at Fox seem to enjoy themselves. To be honest, WRTV-6 could have absolutely kicked it in the ass, but it never occurs to me to watch WRTV-6. I'm not a big fan of WISH because they portray themselves as too cool for the room with their endless touting of exclusive interviews. As for WTHR, they rub me wrong with their relentless bad weather teases during prime time. "Heavy snow on the way? We'll tell whether the storm will hit central Indiana at 11," Chris Wright says. Wait until 11, and you find out that the storm will not hit central Indiana at all. That's cheesy and I never watch Leno, so I never see WTHR's news. One week soon, I'll break down the four TV news operations in town. Not today though. Today is for talking about the Super Bowl. My strong belief is that this won't be much of a game. If the Saints don't build a two-score lead by halftime, it's over - way over. If the Colts get off to a good start, this will be a Katrina-esque disaster for the City of New Orleans. The Colts were by far the better team the last time they played in the Super Bowl, and the only reason the Colts didn't thoroughly pummel the Bear was their first time jitters. This time, they seem so relaxed and focused that I think they are going to steamroll over the Saints. Peyton Manning held court on Media Day like the NFL elder statesman. Dwight Freeney answered questions about the diversion of the week - his ankle. And Clint Session danced. I love the way the Colts have so thoroughly manipulated the media in Miami. The Freeney ankle business was a great distraction, and allowed the Colts to completely manage their message for the entire week. Instead of being asked questions they might not have been prepared for, the Colts were presented with an avalanche of Freeney ankle queries that made life easy. Indianapolis sports franchises usually aren't too terribly adept at managing their stories quite so effectively, but whoever came up with this Freeney ankle deal is a damn genius. The media isn't too tough a group to outsmart, and the Colts got that job done all week. Congratulations to Bill Polian and Craig Kelley for a job really well done. If you don't have a strategy for media manipulation, the media will bite you in the ass. This week, big advantage Colts. The way the Colts dealt with the media is an excellent bell-weather for how they have prepared for the game. They are confident, complete, detailed, and experienced. Adversity doesn't affect them. They attack a game play-by-play, and process information with great agility. That is the reason the Colts will win today. Even if the worst-case scenario unfolds in the first half (other than the doomsday scenario - Manning suffering an injury), the Colts will find a plan that works in the second half and turn the game around. Given the disaster that is the Saints secondary, the Saints will bring crazy blitzes to try to keep Manning from getting the time to pick them apart. Those blitzes will open bigger holes, and the Colts will score early and often once they figure the packages out. There is another advantage for the Colts. Opponents with changes their routine to try to answer Manning. When you go away from what you do best in order to combat the excellence of an opponent's asset, you consciously choose to weaken yourself. The best chance the Saints have is to do what they do best, but they won't do that because Manning's very presence makes that an unpleasant choice. You'll see gamblers do it in Vegas. The gambler has a routine and plan, but the result sucks so the plan is abandoned. Things go from bad to worse. The Saints likely made that jump as Gregg Williams - the Saints defensive coordinator - game-planned. The Colts are better. The Saints know it. That will be enough, but I'm going to give the Saints the benefit of the doubt - Colts 37, Saints 22. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

The Who Is the Best Rock Band Ever - Super Bowl Halftime Show Will Rock

kentsterling — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:01:05 +0000

by Kent Sterling That's a strong statement, saying that The Who is the best band of all-time. That puts them ahead of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. The Who with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey is their 60s, for God's sake, are still the best rock band in the world. When they were in their 20s and 30s, no one came close. Keith Moon was the best drummer in the history of rock, and John Entwistle redefined the role of the bass player in rock. Both of those guys fell victim to their excesses, but the band still brings undeniable heat and energy to the angriest set list in the history of music. Rock is defined by angst and a youthful impatience with the status quo. The Who brought that, and still brings it. As in "The Seeker", one of Townshend's best songs, The Who seeks. Not sure why that song wasn't chosen as a CSI theme. There are those who tout The Beatles as history's best rock band. No band that threw songs like "Fool on the Hill", "Yesterday", and "Eleanor Rigby" on vinyl can be considered. Take all of the McCartney dreck out of The Beatles catalogue, and we can talk. "Taxman" is one of the best rock songs of any era. The Rolling Stones are a joke. They are to rock what cotton candy is to fine cuisine. Post 1970, name a decent Stones song. Charlie Watts is adequate at best, and Mick Jagger is a poseur. Led Zeppelin? Oh boy. That's close. Even their slower songs are great. "Going to California" is just a beautiful song. The more bluesy songs are all so sexual that they made John Lee Hooker blush. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham are just as dynamic a lineup as The Who at their peak. I give the edge to The Who because their songs are about frustration and reflect a very pissed off mentality. Zeppelin was not angry as much as they craved vaginal ports. Both are valid reasons to write a great rock song. It's close, but we get the see the best of the best play their best today. Later this year, The Who will release another CD of new material. It will be an angry (of course) examination of aging. Who's better to take us on that trip? Today, it will be about celebrating their totally unique and magnificent artistic past - and it will rock. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Indy Sports Online - Staff Predictions for Super Bowl XLIV

kentsterling — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:23:23 +0000

Okay - a little dissention among the troops as far as the Colts ability to cover, but everyone is on board with the Colts as the winners of today's tilt. The Rainman Colts 27, Saints 23 The difference in this game is easy to see. Manning will be too good for the Saints defense, plus the fact that Manning and 24 of these Colts were in the Super Bowl three years ago gives them a huge advantage. But Drew Brees will settle in after some first half jitters and get the Saints moving. In order for the Colts to win they will need grab an early lead and make the Saints one-dimensional. There is only one team in the NFL that can survive being one-dimensional and that's the Colts. Make this a throwing game and the Colts win on a late game turnover that stops a pivotal Saints drive. The Truth Colts 31, Saints 17

Maybe more of a defensive battle than most would think. I expect the game to be close in the first half, but the Colts seem to be a 2nd half team where they haven't given up a point. The Colts are too explosive on offense for the Saints secondary, however, I think a huge X-factor in this game will Joseph Addai. Addai will not only need to have a nice game rushing, but receptions out of the backfield will play a crucial role. The Saints pass offense will be shut down by an underrated defensive secondary with or without the likes of Jerraud Powers. Oh yeah, the Colts also have #18.

Jeff Showalter

Colts 34, Saints 24

Sometimes a sporting event really can be explained in very simplistic terms. In the case of Sunday's game, it is which QB plays the best. It really is that easy. Both are going to throw it all over. Both are going to use every weapon they have. Both will be pressured and will have to think fast. The winning team will be the QB that gets td's instead of field goals. That team will be the Colts. The Colts defense will be able to get to Brees and cause him issues. He may not be sacked, but the pressures and hits will eventually cause the Boilermaker to make a mistake. Look for Garry Brackett or Clint Sessions to have an MVP type performance, maybe even a fumble recovery or pick for six. No fourth quarter comebacks will be needed. Colts 34 Saints 24. Kent Sterling

Colts 37, Saints 22

Like all offenses who play against the Colts, the Saints will have to settle for scoring by threes. Drew Brees will get his yards, but Peyton Manning will put up sevens. You might think 37 Colts points is a reflection of four TDs and three FGs. It might be, but it could also be five TDs and a late safety. The Saints secondary sucks. They are a high risk/high reward group, and no one makes a group that likes risk pay quite as dearly as Manning. He's a football genius, and beating a football genius with a group like this is just not very likely.

Anything can happen with a ball that isn't round, but no matter how I look at this game, it comes up Colts - big.

Sports from the Couch--We Should Have Seen it Coming

jshowal2 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:14:35 +0000

by Jeff Showalter How did we not see it coming? We spent the week talking about Freeney's ankle. We talked up a Colts defense that ranked 18th in total yards like they were the 85 Bears. Manning had been christened the greatest of all time even though he had lost more big games then he had won. No one in Indianapolis even thought the Saints had a chance. The funny thing about hindsight is it is always 20/20. We missed this one big time. The Colts really hadn't played a great team all year and when they did they failed. The most important battle in the game was Sean Payton versus Larry Coyer and Payton dominated that match up. The Colts were manhandled, outsmarted, severely out coached and outplayed by the New Orleans Saints, 31-17. After going up 10-0 in the first half, the game was all New Orleans. They dominated in every aspect, even after the Colts valiant goal line stand in the second quarter, Payton managed the clock brilliantly and the Saints got a last second field goal to close the first half. In the second half, it was a coaching mismatch, Greg Williams array of blitzes kept Manning uncomfortable all night. Payton managed the offense brilliantly as the coach gave Brees play after play to execute and Brees did so flawlessly. Coyer didn't blitz at all and Freeney's ankle made it impossible for him to get constant pressure on the Purdue graduate. Receivers were wide open and the Colts tackling was poor. Manning again showed why he will always be known as the greatest REGULAR SEASON QB of all time. He constantly looked confused, threw passes into coverages where he shouldn't. Manning missed some reads, choosing receivers that were covered and not seeing open receivers. The Colts rarely went downfield as the Saints defense beat down the Colts offensive line as Manning often looked in the wrong direction of the single coverage. I couldn't help but remember what made Joe Montana so great as Tracy Porter ran the other way with a pick six. Montana would have scored the tying TD. Not only was it a bad pass and bad route, but Garcon was in single coverage on the other side and had been beating his man badly all night. So where do the Colts go from here? 2010 will be no different then the last few years. 12 wins and a playoff run. Can 18 carry the team to a second Super Bowl win? The jury is still out. A hot defense won Super Bowl 41 and Manning couldn't carry the team this night. The demons are alive and well in Naptown. They are stronger then ever.

Sports Digest - Monday, February 8, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:42:57 +0000

Here are the stories - mostly unpleasant - I found today. Post Super Bowl - Saints Win http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/02/super_bowl_updates_new_orleans.html http://www.nola.com/superbowl/index.ssf/2010/02/to_the_nfl_new_orleans_saints.html http://www.nola.com/superbowl/index.ssf/2010/02/super_bowl_mvp_drew_brees_ceme.html http://www.nola.com/superbowl/index.ssf/2010/02/new_orleans_saints_stamp_their.html http://www.indystar.com/article/20100208/SPORTS03/2080350/Drew-Brees-basks-in-the-win http://www.suntimes.com/sports/jensen/2035234,CST-SPT-sean08.article http://www.indystar.com/article/20100208/SPORTS03/2080356/Good-start-bad-finish-for-offense http://www.indystar.com/article/20100208/SPORTS03/2080359/Onside-kick-reverses-momentum http://www.indystar.com/article/20100208/SPORTS03/2080357/Colts-squander-opportunities http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2010-02-07-super-bowl_N.htm http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=10&tag=Super%20Bowl&limit=20 Colts Lose http://www.indystar.com/article/20100208/SPORTS03/2080361/ http://www.indystar.com/article/20100208/SPORTS15/2080358/Kravitz-Colts-left-with-nothing http://www.indystar.com/article/20100208/SPORTS03/2080360/Freeney-plays-with-ankle-injury http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/2035244,CST-SPT-sside08.article Story Behind Super Bowl Spot with Letterman and Leno http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/how-the-letterman-oprah-leno-super-bowl-ad-came-together/?hp

Harry on Sports - Monday, February 8, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:02:04 +0000

Here's Post-Super Bowl Harry live from South Beach for a Monday [audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry19.mp3]

Colts Lose a Super Bowl 31-17 They Should Have Won

kentsterling — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:07:14 +0000

by Kent Sterling The ball is shaped funny and because of that football games don't always end as they should. Remember Jackie Smith dropping the Roger Staubach pass in the 1970s in one of those delicious Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl losses? The guy plays 15 years - 14 with a terrible series of St. Louis Cardinals teams. He gets a shot to make a huge catch in the end zone for the Cowboys TD, and drops it. When you combine the shape of the irregular shape of the football with the odd emotional state of the players weird things happen, and those weird things did in the blue and white. The first bad thing was the Pierre Garcon drop in the second quarter. If Garcon hangs on, the drive continues, and maybe the Colts go up 17-3. At that point, the Saints start thinking that it's been a nice run. Bad thing number two immediately followed the best play of the game for the Colts. Right after the Colts stone the Saints on fourth-and-goal from the one, Peyton Manning and the offense run it three times and fail to get the first down. They got the ball back with just under two-minutes to play in the first half, and that is their bread and butter. They played it "smart" and decided that not attacking gave them the best chance at winning, and at that moment, the game changed. The Colts failed to get the first down, and gave the Saints excellent field position. The last play of the half was a Saints field goal to bring the score to 10-6, and the Saints had life. The third, and most obvious awful game-changing moment for the Colts happened on the very next play, right after the thoroughly excellent halftime performance by The Who. Sean Payton decided that he needed to reach into his bag of tricks to beat the Colts, and tried an onside kick. The kick was directly at the guy with the worst hands on the team - Hank Baskett. I would rather see Jeff Saturday in open space running under a Manning pass over the middle than Baskett. As you might expect, Baskett took the kick right off his face mask, and the Saints rolled from that point forward. The Saints never showed an ability to get to Manning, and minus a terrible throw to Wayne that IU grad Tracy Porter took back for the touchdown that iced it, he was locked and ready throughout the game. The reason the Colts pay Bill Polian a lot of cash is to put as much thought into the 53rd guy on the roster as he did when the Colts drafted #18 in 1998. I'm sure Baskett was the best player available when Anthony Gonzalez went down in the season opener, but it was the miscue of that 53rd guy that really turned the game around for the Saints. You never know in football. Sometimes, we think we know, but we don't. If you told me that Joseph Addai was going to run like a man possessed, and that Manning would be laser sharp, I would have bet everything that the Colts would pummel the Saints. It looked as though exactly that was going to happen when the score was 10-0. The sickening thing will be that Saints Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams will be asked the secret of the Saints defense stopping Manning and the Colts offense when they did nothing of the sort. Williams, who looks like Mike Martz's ugly daughter, did nothing but allow the Colts to march from one end of the field to the other. If not for the Garcon drop, the decision not to attack at the end of the half, and the late game drop by Reggie Wayne, the Colts would have basically been able to do whatever they liked. Gregg Williams is an oaf. In Super Bowl history, this game slots somewhere in the middle for excitement, but right toward the front in terms upsets. I know the line was 5.5 points, but the Colts showed tonight that if they had been able to make routine plays, they win by two touchdowns. That's life. The ball doesn't always bounce the right way. So many tipped Brees passes tonight, and not a single one landed near a Colts defender. It sucks that they need to wait an entire year for another shot. These chances don't come along very often. One note...I told you on Monday that Dwight Freeney would play and be very effective. He was. All of the nonsense during the week about the ankle keeping him out was just that. One media outlet reported that Freeney was fine, and that was 1070 The Fan. Who Dat Gonna Beat Dem Fan? Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Super Bowl Notes - Shirts, Betty White, and David Letterman

kentsterling — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:14:08 +0000

The Colts lost, and that sucks for the City of Indianapolis, but there were some bright points during the game coverage. Reebok is happy this morning as they churn out Saints championship tee-shirts. If the Colts won, the presses would have printed shirts only through tomorrow. Because the Saints won, the presses will roll around the clock for a week. At a rate of 7,000 shirts per hour, that's over a half-million shirts. The commercials were occasionally good. The bit with Betty White and Abe Vigoda was excellent. How about Betty White. She may be the funniest woman of all-time. She has been hilarious seemingly forever. That she is best remembered for her role on "The Golden Girls" is a shame. Her role as Sue Ann Nivens on the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" was smart and ribald - if you don't mind me using a great but obscure word. I was a student at Indiana University in 1983 when I had a long argument with my roommate about whether Abe Vigoda was dead. Vigoda was an elderly actor then, having starred in the sitcom "Barney Miller" and its spinoff "Fish". He was also violently killed in "The Godfather". He's going to be 89 later this month. Here's the video of the spot if you missed it. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxRUj0FkXC0] The story behind the Letterman/Oprah/Leno spot is pretty cool. Dave had the idea to do the spot, and made contact with Oprah and Leno, who both accepted immediately. NBC agreed to allow Leno to appear, and sent Leno to New York for the filming. Both Oprah and Leno were brought into the Ed Sullivan Theater during the taping of "The Late Show" a couple of Tuesdays ago. Leno wore a hoodie and fake moustache so people wouldn't recognize him. Both Oprah and Leno sat in a secret green room, and when the taping ended and the theater cleared they went into the balcony for the filming at a set built to look like a living room. Both Dave and Leno were friendly to one another. It took twenty minutes to film. I thought they might have used computer effects to insert Leno, but he actually flew in. As with the best spots, it was simple and the writing came from the talent. Middlemen tend to muck it up. I couldn't hear the thing because of the noise at the party, so here's another look. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L-dGdrCJYk] The best part about watching the Super Bowl at a loud party is that listening to Jim Nantz is impossible. The perpetual winner of the Sportscaster of the Year is resolutely bland, and his "Hello Friends" open is presumptuous, as he is not my friend, nor would I necessarily solicit him as such. Next year's Super Bowl is on Fox. That means IU grad (I think he graduated) Joe Buck and Troy Aikman the best analyst in broadcasting other than Dan Dakich. Hopefully, the Colts buck the odds and make it back.

Who Should Indianapolis Blame for the Super Bowl Loss?

kentsterling — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:56:13 +0000

by Kent Sterling Here's my process as a fan following a disappointing loss. I am immediately angry. Then I enter an emotional circumspection that is founded in a slightly more mature philosophy. After that period of bliss, I look for a scapegoat or scapegoats, and I am always very upset that I can't find just one. The outcome is almost always that the loss belongs to a team and not an individual. The only diversion from this system that allows me to more past my own personal hell after a loss is the Bartman interference play in Game Six of the 2003 NLCS. I may be the only Cubs fan who continues to harbor a deep resentment for Steve Bartman. His behavior directly led to the Cubs loss and I will argue that point to me death. Last night's game had a couple of potential goats, but the mistakes weren't really mental or due to a lack of effort, so how can you bash guys. Pierre Garcon dropped a critical pass in the second quarter. If caught, maybe the game is different. Reggie Wayne dropped the potential late game TD pass that would have allowed the Colts to maintain life. Hank Baskett allowed the Saints onside kick to start the second half to carom off his helmet. If I was especially vindictive, I believe Baskett would be the subject of my wrath. Singling out Baskett is unfair. The football is oblong and doesn't bounce straight very often. Normal schmoes like us wouldn't be able to catch a punt if we had ten tries, so it's hard to yell about Baskett. His marriage to Kendra aside, he seems to be a decent guy, and there is no way that facing a hateful and spiteful Indianapolis is going to make this situation better for anyone. The issue that totally sucks is that we are seven months from meaningful football again. It's unlikely with the crop of receivers wearing blue and white than we will see Baskett here next year, so let's treat him well here for the time he's in town. You'll know him because he'll be standing next to the giggling mound of tittage. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Three Shot in French Quarter Celebrations

kentsterling — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:13:48 +0000

by Kent Sterling The City of New Orleans emerged mostly unscathed after the celebrations that accompanied its first world championship in any sport. Three revelers were shot, but none were seriously injured after sustaining injuries to their shins and ankles. Glad the shooter aimed low when he or she fired last night around Midnight. There is nothing quite like a city filled with drunks cavorting through a metropolitan area during a time of great joy. Paulie Balst and I made a habit of heading to Division Street in Chicago after the first run of Bulls titles in the early 1990s. The night the Bulls won it all against the Lakers in 1991, we hopped in a cab immediately after the game in time to see fans flip a different cab onto its roof. Firecrackers - at least I think they were firecrackers - exploded almost constantly, and the night was nothing but fun until the police decided to try to move the thousands of partiers out of the Division Street area. If you want to take the temperature of the idiocy of Chicago police, this will be informative. The overall vibe of the crowd was happy and reasonable. Other than the cab being overturned, the biggest offenses being committed were the 20,000 simultaneous open container violations. A crazed reporter from WBBM-TV, Dawn Stensland, reported from the rooftops that the scene on Division Street was a riot. In truth, the "riot" was nothing more than a bunch of people standing around drinking beer and laughing at the upside down cab. The police, either because of a need to relive 1968 or as a response to Stenland's irresponsible characterization of the group of beer drinkers as a mob of criminals, decided that the crowd needed to go home. A line of cops on horseback began slowly moving the crowd to the east, which would have been only mildly stupid if the crowd had decided to all move at once. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The people in the back of the crowd didn't know they were supposed to move, so the crowd simply pressed into tighter quarters until there was panic. There is no time when people are pressed together shoulder to shoulder that people my age don't think about The Who concert in Cincinnati where 11 were killed because the promoters only allowed entry through one door. That is where my mind went, and I thought that if the cops didn't back off, people were going to fall and be trampled. Then, Stensland would have had her riot. Instead, the cops retreated a bit, but the message was clear, and we caught a cab back to Lincoln Park. Many others in the crowd exited Division Street to Michigan Avenue where they looted many of the trendy stores that line Chicago's retail boulevard. The cops thought they could end the party by kicking people out of the area where the party occurred. Someone should have asked, "Where are all of these rowdy drunks going to go?" Instead of containing the action to an easily controlled three block stretch, the cops purposely threw them into the rest of the city where all hell broke loose. The lesson, I guess, is that when people are very sad or very happy, some people are going to drink to excess and act like idiots. After 42 seasons, the Saint broke through and there will always be a dumbass who goes too far. In last night's revelry, three people took slugs to their lower extremities. The cops in New Orleans have the good sense to allow stupidity to remain in the French Quarter. The cops in Chicago were much more adept in 1992 when the Bulls took the Trailblazers to the woodshed. Lunkheaded partying was allowed on Division Street until people finally got tired and feel asleep. Thank God none of us live in Detroit where a change in the wind direction is met with city-wide arson. Indianapolis is a town where excitement is greeted with a smile and a wave. The only big city without riots following Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination, Indianapolis simply drinks a toast to champions and goes to bed because Monday's a workday, you know. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Hoosiers and Colts Fall on Sunday

The Truth — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:07:44 +0000

by The Truth What a disappointing Sunday… I arrived at Yogi’s around 1:00 eager to watch the Hoosiers face a beatable Northwestern team. However, IU was dominated from the tip, and Northwestern beat the Hoosiers in convincing fashion 78-61. After just seven minutes, IU found themselves down 18-4. The Hoosiers never came within nine points after that. This was just the start of my disappointing Sunday… The Hoosiers played with no sense of urgency and lacked focus throughout the entire contest. A play that sticks out in my mind came after a timeout in which Crean drew up a play that ended with a Watford bucket. IU came back on defense and had no idea what defense they were supposed to be in. Half of our team was playing man-to-man while the other half played a 1-3-1 zone. How in the world does this happen straight out of a timeout? A lack of focus and concentration is inexcusable at the collegiate level, and IU paid the price by giving up a triple on that particular defensive possession. That being said, Northwestern is an extremely tough team at home, where they have defeated both Purdue and Illinois. IU was coming off of an emotional loss to Purdue at home, but that doesn’t excuse them of their lackluster performance on Sunday. The growing pains of this season are beginning to hurt. IU has lost their last four, and their upcoming schedule is as follows: vs. Ohio State, at Wisconsin, and vs. Michigan State. How many of those games do you think we will win? I would say our best chance comes against Ohio State, but with Evan Turner they are going to be extremely tough to beat. IU is 1-4 on the road in the Big Ten, and Wisconsin just doesn’t lose at the Cole Center. Then Michigan State comes to Assembly Hall. That’s all I’m going to say about that one. IU is staring seven straight loses right in the face. To make things worse, the Indianapolis Colts lost the Super Bowl just a few hours later. How could this happen? We have the best quarterback, the most experience, and were up 10-0 in the first quarter. If we played the Saints ten times with a ten point lead in the first quarter we beat them nine times. The Colts are known as a second half team with seven fourth quarter comebacks this year alone. The blame must fall strongly on a few individuals, in my mind. First, Hank Baskett, who I wish we would have never signed. Second, Pierre Garcon, who dropped a critical third down pass that shifted the momentum in the first half. Finally, the Indianapolis secondary, who allowed Drew Brees to settle in and complete pass after pass after pass. Will someone please explain to Tim Jennings that you can’t give a receiver in this league a ten yard cushion? Those are just a few of my grievances from the game. The Colts were marching down the field late in the fourth quarter in attempt to tie the game at 24 when my very own Hoosier stabbed me square in the back with a razor sharp knife. Tracy Porter, a former Indiana cornerback, intercepted Peyton Manning’s pass and returned it for a touchdown virtually sealing the deal for the Saints. In retrospect, I guess if someone was going to intercept Peyton it might as well have been Tracy. This Sunday was a tough one. The exceptional season by the Colts was capped with a disappointing loss in the Super Bowl, and the Hoosiers are entering the latter half of their season struggling. Times are tough for Indiana sport teams, but as Harvey Dent says in The Dark Knight, “The night is darkest just before the dawn.”

Sports Digest - Tuesday, February 9, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:02:01 +0000

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, February 9, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:14:52 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry20.mp3]

College Basketball Was Well Served Last Night at Butler

kentsterling — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:59:37 +0000

by Kent Sterling Hanging around after the Butler vs. Loyola game last night, it was apparent that the kids who play for these two teams do it right. Butler won the game by 15 after a very competitive first half, but the real winners when the experience of playing basketball and getting a quality education are the student-athletes. There is a rather pervasive attitude among fans that college basketball is a cesspool filled with pimps, fools, and thieves. They are right at schools that serve as little more than athletic factories for the NBA. Those programs operate in an alternate universe where anything goes and the spoils go to the coaches who cheat the smartest. At Hinkle last night, there was talk of studying, completing assignments, and getting ready to student teach. Loyola is serious about their acadmeics. The had a couple of free hours yesterday, so Coach Whitesell scheduled a study table for the kids. Butler guard Zach Hahn came out of the locker room to say hello briefly because after burying a couple of threes against the Ramblers, he had to get back to his books. Zach is a great kid who is following in his parents footsteps and [caption id="attachment_925" align="alignleft" width="110" caption="Zach Hahn"][/caption] planning to become a teacher and basketball coach. He'll be excellent at both. Few kids have spent more time learning about basketball, and he has a great affinity for kids. Matt Howard is an outstanding student, who is good enough to earn a lot of money playing basketball. He's big, strong, and ambidextrous. Matt is also an academic All-American candidate majoring in finance - not exactly basket-weaving. [caption id="attachment_926" align="alignright" width="94" caption="Matt Howard"][/caption] Embarrassingly, I don't know the Ramblers kids as well as Zach and Matt, despite my son playing for them. My son assures me that the kids take their studies very seriously, and they need to. As with the vast majority of mid-major players, the NBA is not lining up to take a flyer on any of the Ramblers, and while several may choose to play professionally in Europe or Asia, the real win is through the academic opportunities available for them on the Rogers Park campus. People watch Kentucky and suspect trouble. You don't rebuild a program in six weeks, as John Calipari did last spring, and not dance close to the flame of NCAA violations. Just ask Tom Cream, who is taking roughly a year for every week it took Calipari. That tarnishes the image of the game so many of these kids play the right way. Most of the kids at this level concentrate on academics, and know that their ability to succeed is driven by the foundation they lay in school. I've banged on this drum many times before, but if you are the parent of a basketball player, and you want the kid to see a group who does it right, go watch Jim Whitesell's Loyola team in Chicago or Brad Stevens Butler team in Indianapolis. Great kids. Great students. Great basketball. Have your kid bring a ball to have the players sign. They enjoy talking to the kids, and have no problem taking the time to meet a child and sharing a little bit of themselves. Matt Howard is especially good about that. His family, who are always nearby after the Butler games, would have it no other way. For those who proffer the view that summer basketball is worthless and a waste of time, I can offer my experience last night as a compelling argument to the contrary. Last night, in addition to talking to the Hahns and Howards, two families with whom Ryan played summer ball, we saw Coach Tom O'Brien (coached the kids through their high school summers), Jordan Wiseman (current MMA fighter who played for two summers when the boys were little) and his Dad Rex, Skip Adams (Ty's Dad - Ryan and Ty played together for three years, and now Ty is playing baseball at Notre Dame). The friends Ryan made through playing summer ball are many, and still stay in touch. Even if basketball is not something the kids will excel at or play in high school, the friendships are long-lasting and make the experience beyond worthwhile. Last night at Butler brought back a lot of great memories, and reaffirmed my belief in college and summer basketball and all of the great kids who play it. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Indianapolis Colts - Current Needs Analysis

kentsterling — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:56:01 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Colts are 13-2 favorites to win the Super Bowl next year. They are going to evolves, as the Colts always do. There will be a core of players who return, and some disposable men who are told their services are no longer needed. Colts free agents included Gray Brackett, Hank Baskett, Marlin Jackson, Charlie Johnson, Hank Baskett, Tim Jennings, Antoine Bethea, Aaron Francisco, and T.J. Rushing. Melvin Bullitt and Antonio Johnson are restricted free agents. Even if all of them left in this upcoming season that will likely not feature a salary cap, the Colts could remain competitive. The losses of Bethea and Brackett would be painful, but not insurmountable. The salary cap is the engine that has driven the NFL to unprecedented profitability and popularity. It has insured that small market teams like the Colts can compete on a very close to even playing field. Without it, two things can happen - big market teams that generate tremendous revenue can overspend for talent, and small market teams can underspend. The cap is not the only limit affected by this uncapped year. There is also a minimum cap that mandates owners spend at least 85% of the cap. Without that provision, a team like the Colts can choose to go cheap and lower their salary number in order to increase profits. I can't see Jim Irsay going that route, but with the 2009 cap number of $128-million and the 85% limit of $109-million any sane owner would start to think about saving a couple of million bucks. Thinking in those terms is unreal for us, but if you told me I could put $2.5-million in my pocket by allowing Antoine Bethea to sign with the Packers, I would drive to Bethea's house and help him pack. That Bill Bidwell-esque short-sightedness is what the minimum cap is designed to prevent, but I like money and this year would mean a potential bonanza for an ass-hat owner like I would be. After all, in the Colts system, safeties are plugged in and unplugged with such regularity that they are seemingly valueless. Bob Sanders was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year. Melvin Bullitt made his absence this season irrelevant. How about Mike Doss and Idrees Bashir? They started for good Colts teams, and they were missed like my cousin the ticket mooch. Gary Brackett is a different deal. He is not only an underappreciated player who belonged in the Pro Bowl for the past three seasons, but a community pillar whose positive works in Indianapolis make it possible for Colts fans to overlook the dumbasses on the Colts who show up on the police blotter occasionally. He's more than a tackling machine (13 in Sunday's Super Bowl), he's a guy who belongs in the Colts Ring of Honor. There are some no-brainers - Hank Baskett is a goner. I feel bad for him, but with Anthony Gonzalez back, where is there room for a receiver with bad hands? The same is true for Tim Jennings. He's an adequate special teams player, but he may be the most picked on defensive back in football. During the Saints run of completions, Tim Jennings sure seemed to be the guy assigned to cover the receiver a whole lot. Jennings might be a great wing man as he is always near a completed pass, but as a guy Jim Irsay wants to pay out of pocket, probably a good bet for an exit. Marlin Jackson - I really like Marlin. He's another quality guy, but his injuries make him too risky for the kind of deal he would want. Jackson might also be a guy other teams are afraid of, so maybe the Colts keep him cheap. Healthy, he's one of the best corners in the NFL. Injured, he and I are going to make the same number of tackles. Charlie Johnson? You keep Johnson. His departure would leave the Colts with Tony Ugoh standing between Peyton Manning and a catastrophic injury. No way Jim Irsay and Bill Polian pull the trigger on the richest contract in NFL history and then protect him with Tony Ugoh. The Colts will draft late in the first round, and that is the best part of this whole winning all the time deal. The Colts never have to invest in a huge contract for an untested rookie. Bill Polian is such an adept judge of talent that the Colts are able to win with bargain players like Brackett, Bullitt, Robert Mathis, Raheem Brock, Johnson, Kyle DeVan, and others. Sign Brackett and Johnson. Bring Bethea if the price is reasonable. Let the rest go. Sign Manning for whatever number agent Tom Condon writes down. Or dump everyone and fill your pockets with cash. The NFL needs to be smart enough to avoid the greed that has been the ruin of every other league. Get the deal done. Avoid the capless wild west, and keep the cash flowing. Nothing puts off fans like business getting in the way of their fun ... except an owner who chooses to fill his pockets at the expense of the people buying the tickets. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Wednesday, February 10, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:11:19 +0000

Here are the big stories today - Boilers - Rare Road Win Over Michigan State Makes Mess Out of Big 10 Race http://www.indystar.com/article/20100210/SPORTS0602/2100345/1004/SPORTS/Boilers-win-yields-Big-Ten-jumble http://purdue.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1050520 Pacers - Loss to Bulls Last Game Before Break http://www.indystar.com/article/20100210/SPORTS04/2100344/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-go-into-break-on-a-real-downer http://www.suntimes.com/sports/basketball/bulls/2038972,CST-SPT-bull10.article Pacers - Hansbrough to Get Number Retired http://www.indystar.com/article/20100210/SPORTS04/2100341/1004/SPORTS/Hansbrough-gets-number-retired-tonight-at-UNC Hoosiers - Jeremiah Rivers Looking Forward to Guarding Evan Turner Tonight http://www.indystar.com/article/20100210/SPORTS0601/2100347/1004/SPORTS/IU-s-Rivers-prepares-for-challenge Hoosiers - Excellent Site for IU Blogs http://www.insidethehall.com/ IndyCar - Danica Brings Ratings Boost for Speed http://www.indystar.com/article/20100210/SPORTS0107/2100332/1004/SPORTS/Patrick-boosts-television-ratings-for-Speed Big Ten Tournament Tickets Go on Sale Monday http://www.indystar.com/article/20100210/SPORTS/2100333/1004/SPORTS/Big-Ten-tickets-on-sale-Monday Cubs - Wrigley to Host Three Concerts http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2038887,CST-NWS-wrigley10web.article Cubs - Minor Changes in Store for Wrigley http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0210-cubs-wrigley--20100209,0,2033853.story

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, February 10, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:25:12 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry21.mp3]

Basketball in the State (outside of Tippecanoe County and Hinkle) Leaves Fans Wanting

kentsterling — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:53:13 +0000

by Kent Sterling "In 49 states, it's just a game. In Indiana..." We hear it, see it, write it, and long for it to be true again. Hoosiers have had such a long and illustrious love affair with basketball that to have watched its decline has been excrutiating. The erosion in both the quality of the play and interest from the fans is like watching a pet dog fade toward death. The little guy who used to run like hell through the house and jump onto your lap looks sort of similar, but now he bumps into walls because of cataracts and gets lost in the closet. The Pacers used to be an energizing force in Indianapolis. Reggie, Mark, the Davis Boys, Smits, Mully and Smooth filled Conseco Fieldhouse and gave fans a reason to look forward to late April. The playoff runs bracketed the Month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and life was good. It's been ten years since the run to the NBA Finals, and the current group looks very content to keep cashing checks signed by Herb Simon. The Pacers pulse is faint locally, and undetectable nationally. The Indiana Hoosiers are in year two of a rebuilding plan that has no end date - similar to Coach Tom Crean's contract. When the Tampa Bay Bucs were a brand new NFL franchise in 1976, they hired John McKay, who said he would institute a five-year plan for success. Why five years, he was asked. "Because I have a five-year contract. If I had a three-year contract, I would have a three-year plan. Tom Crean is signed through 2018, so I would guess he is in year two of a ten-year plan. The level of talent is okay, but the disappointment for Hoosier fans seems to be the total confusion shown in defensive transition. I can't remember an Indiana team giving up this many easy baskets. Notre Dame is the same team every year. They battle for to finish somewhere around .500 in the Big East, go the NCAA tournament most of the time, and rarely make it beyond the first weekend. Luke Harangody is a helluva player, but Mike Brey is Mike Brey, and Notre Dame is always a middle of the road Big East team. They're never bad. They're never great. That's basketball in South Bend. Purdue has managed to turn it around. Matt Painter, from the moment he got the job of succeeding Gene Keady, locked in on the 2007 Indiana high school class and won commitments from Robbie Hummel, Scott Martin, JaJuan Johnson, and E'Twaun Moore. Martin bugged out, but the other three have been the core (along with 2006 recruit Chris Kramer) of a team that is selfless, relentless, and has learned how to win. Last night's win at Michigan State was huge, and the Boilers are in a spot where they can win the regular season Big Ten title. Painter in a short period has firmly established a personality and culture for the program with kids from Indiana. His lead over IU in the minds and hearts of upcoming high school basketball players is immense, and it's fair to wonder if Crean can ever close that gap. On 49th Street in Indianapolis, there is a place where basketball is played by hard-nosed kids who mostly went unrecruited by the big schools. And yet they win. They play in a fieldhouse built in the 1920s that looks mostly the same as it did when it opened. And yet they win. They play for a coach who looks as young as the players. And yet they win. The Horizon League is not the Big Ten, that's for sure. But the Butler Bulldogs welcome all comers during the non-conference season and win. They won the preseason NIT last season, and have a group of kids who are really good this year, and might be better next year. Thank God for Butler and Purdue because without them, I don't know what the hell those of us who love basketball would do. The disappointment surrounding the Pacers and Hoosiers seems to be so entrenched that there might be no escape. Jim O'Brien can't settle on a point guard or center, and even if he did, none are good enough to lead the Pacers to wins anyway. The Pacers are good enough to stay out of the cellar, and that means they can only get marginally better. The gunfire has stopped, and the Pacers have stayed out of the police blotter, but the on court effort has been marginal this year. The trade deadline is just over a week away, and if the Pacers are serious about improving in the long-term they will make the deals necessary to clear cap space for next year and tank as many of their remaining games as possible. The system rewards great failure and great success. It penalizes mediocrity. Don't be mediocre! They can't be great. That leaves sucking it ... hard. As for what passes for basketball in Bloomington, IU needs to find a collective personality. They play with a scatterbrainedness - if that is a word - that seems reflective of their coach. Tom Crean is so frenetic on the sidelines that I can't believe that he's completely in control of his thoughts. "A confident mind is a calm mind." "A calm coach leads a confident team." "Practice belongs to the coach. The game belongs to the players." We've all heard those little sayings so often writing a page of them would be as simple as typing them. No doubt Tom Crean is a different breed of cat, and that comparisons to great coaches are unfair. But for all of the well-publicized explosions, Bob Knight sat, watched, and adjusted. John Wooden rolled up his program, sat, and led confidently. Crean's constant movement and drinking seems to be the product of an unsettled brain. There is a turmoil within Tom Crean that I believe puts the kids in a place mentally that is far removed from confidence. Crean isn't alone. Thad Matta and Rick Pitino do the same things. If anything Matta is even more bizarre. I keep looking for reasons to invest emotionally in the Pacers and Hoosiers, and that search will continue. The winter is not nearly as much fun without looking forward to their games. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Dancing in 2011?

The Truth — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:33:18 +0000

by The Truth As I was undergoing a quick examination of my sprained right ankle today at the Bloomington Bone and Joint Clinic, my doctor, and uncle, purposed an interesting argument. He said that he believed Indiana would make the NCAA Tournament next year. Absurd? No way. After last night’s contest between Michigan State and Purdue, the Big Ten sees an unfamiliar team at the top of the conference. Illinois now shares the lead with Michigan State—the same Illinois team that the Hoosiers had on the ropes at both Assembly Halls. IU also let Purdue escape the Hall just last Thursday, and they are atop the conference as well. So why is it unrealistic to believe that IU could make the tournament next year? First and foremost, I’m sure we have all speculated what this year could have been with a healthy Mo Creek. Arguably, the Hoosiers could have already won at least two or three more Big Ten games with Creek this year. Creek’s return will boost the offensive production because he has the ability to create shots not just for himself, but for others. Plus, excepting Jordan Hulls, Creek is IU’s best foul shooter. Hoosiers fans know how that has haunted us all year. Second, the vast improvement of Verdell Jones is inspiring as a Hoosier fan. He gained 25 pounds this past summer which has elevated his game immensely. How much better would Christian Watford be with 25 additional pounds of muscle? Watford has a terrific skill set, my favorite being his face up 16-footer that is going to make him a silent assassin especially if he can add the ability to get to the rim. Watkinson, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, needs to lock both Verdell and Watford in the weight room this offseason. Thirdly, Tom Crean. I question his offensive sets and out of bound plays, but he demands effort on both ends of the floor. Crean reminds me of the Energizer Bunny the way he strenuously paces the sidelines. How could you not play hard for a coach that exerts that much enthusiasm and energy? I gripe about his offensive sets, especially after timeouts, but I do understand that he may not have the talent to execute what he truly wants to do. Lastly, IU will add another group of prized freshman next year. At the moment, IU has signed Will Sheehay and high-flyer Victor Oladipo. And though it’s probably wishful thinking, I can only imagine how good Josh Selby would look wearing cream and crimson. On the contrary, the current season is not over. IU needs the support of Hoosier nation now more than ever as we enter a tough three game stretch. I expect a solid performance from the Hoosiers tonight against Ohio State after the dreadful showing at Northwestern last Sunday.

The Lessons of Sport

Ryan Sterling — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:21:34 +0000

by The Rainman I am a sportsman. I love sports. There is nothing about sports I dislike. Even the things that frustrate me about sports are things that I love, but what makes sports so remarkable? Sports are a microcosm for life in general. They are a crash course in frustration and failure. Sports are the only thing I know that you work and work and work at, but fail because someone else put in more work. Everything in sports is earned. There are no handouts or freebees available. The mightiest team can be struck down by the lowliest on any given night. Every night a team steps on the field of play, they are vulnerable. I love that. It gives me goose bumps just to think about it. There is a certain perspective on life that can only be achieved through participation in sports. People who play sports know what I am talking about. People who don’t play sports think they might have an idea of that perspective, but sorry - it’s for sportsmen only. You lose, you fail. You miss a shot, you fail. You swing and miss, you fail. Nowhere in life do you fail more than in sports. Nowhere in life do you learn how to deal with that failure than in sports, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what sports can teach. Respect. One word that can change the way people look at you and can change the way you look at yourself. Sports teaches a valuable lesson when it comes to respect. And that is like anything in sports (or life); it must be earned. A freshman must earn respect from his teammates. A coach must earn respect from his players. From the lowest to the highest - respect must be earned. There’s only one way to earn it and that’s to show up every day and do work. You get hit, you better get back up. Miss a shot, you better take the next one. Its how you handle the failure that gets you respect. Anyone can handle success, but what do you do in the face of adversity? That’s what earns respect and sports are the only place where adversity happens regularly. Sports and life are one and the same. The lessons you learn on the field of play every day can be translated into real life. This is why I love sports. The fact that I can learn some of the most valuable life has to offer while doing something I love is perhaps the best possible scenario anyone can ask for. Sports lovers everywhere can attest to that.

Sports from the Couch--My Winter Olympics

jshowal2 — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:24:15 +0000

By Jeff Showalter Somebody said the Winter Olympics start this week and since I am sick of talking about Super Bowl losses I thought it was time to begin a grass roots effort to promote an event that should be considered as future of the Winter Olympics . Snowball Fights--How can snowball fights not be an event? You could have single player, doubles and team events. Think about the possibilities? Set up a court and a pile of snow on each side. You have to make your own snowballs and can go up to a line and throw. Maybe you get more points for strikes to the face or blood. Look at all the collegiate athletes you could choose from: UW-Madison: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=javVhDNzB4U] ECU [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-m-xcvlFBo] The Germans do it: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkD45UjX3wE] Donald Duck does it with foreign translation: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxpDEEVmIh8] England does it. (And do I mean does it!) [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAo3Y4tz81o] Yes, the snowball fight is as old as snow itself. Vancouver may not be the right location Winter Olympic weather? but the snowball fight needs it's rightful place among other stirring events as: well they all kind of suck. Maybe the Olympics could move to DC? DC Blizzard? Hell, nothing gets done there anyway. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri3LoJJpkOU]

Sports from the Couch--Dear Tom Crean

jshowal2 — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:35:37 +0000

By Jeff Showalter Dear Mr. Crean, I am currently watching my alma mater's basketball team, the team you are responsible for, play Ohio State University. I must say that I can only use the word "play" in the vaguest sense of the term. The first half has been nothing less than an embarrassment. You currently trail by 14 points and this is coming off of another embarrassing performance against Northwestern. IU has one of the most intelligent basketball fan bases in the US. I consider my basketball knowledge to be pretty high. With that, I must ask the following questions? 1) How is it possible that you bitch about your guards not rebounding and then play a 3 guard lineup and a 2-3 zone. When did zone defenses have strong defensive rebounding principles? 2) If that isn't bad enough, why is it that V.JonesIII playing underneath while J. Rivers who is much more athletic and stronger is defending 20 feet from the goal? If you are so concerned with rebounding, then why don't you do something about it? 3) how many times does OSU have to dunk the basketball before you go man to man? 4) You are a genius on out of bounds plays. Why is the offense composed of zero movement, incessant dribbling, including dribbling into triple teams. 5) Have you ever tried to fix Rivers shot? I'm not sure I can watch another half, but I'm going to try? And No, even if IU comes back, I still believe we have enough tape to see a trend.....

Sports Digest - Thursday, February 11, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:22:26 +0000

Here are the online sports stories of interest for today: Hoosiers Sucked Last Night http://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1050924 http://www.indystar.com/article/20100211/SPORTS0601/2110415/1004/SPORTS/Buckeyes-thump-dispirited-Hoosiers http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100211/SPORTS/2110311/1002 http://btop.courierpress.com/news/2010/feb/11/hoosiers-fall-apart-again-during-loss-to-ohio/ http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=73648 Hoosiers - Buford Misses Dunk, and That's About It http://www.indystar.com/article/20100211/SPORTS0601/2110438/1004/SPORTS/Buford-doesn-t-hit-them-all Boilers - E'Twaun Moore Loves Hostile Crowds http://www.indystar.com/article/20100211/SPORTS0602/2110437/1004/SPORTS/Purdue-s-Moore-again-thrives-on-hostile-crowd IndyCar - Delta Wing Chassis Debuts in Chicago http://www.indystar.com/article/20100211/SPORTS0107/2110450/1004/SPORTS/DeltaWing-s-concept-car-raises-eyebrows-questions Butler - Are Hayward and Mack Tired? http://www.indystar.com/article/20100211/SPORTS0605/2110434/1004/SPORTS/Fatigue-or-fluke-for-Butler-pair Pacers - NBA - Danny Granger and Eric Gordon Make Cut for Team USA http://www.indystar.com/article/20100211/SPORTS04/2110439/1004/SPORTS/Gordon-Granger-make-first-cut-in-U.S.-program Baseball - Ken Griffey Sr. Lift s More Weightsa at 59 Than He Did as a Player http://www.indystar.com/article/20100211/SPORTS18/2110436/1004/SPORTS/Ex-Tribesman-Griffey-sees-value-of-weights Cubs - Fukudome and Theriot Likely to Hit One-Two http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0211-cubs-chicago--20100210,0,7702096.story

Harry on Sports - Thursday, February 11, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:36:09 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry22.mp3]

New Larry King USA Today (type) Column

kentsterling — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:38:44 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Larry King weekly column that used to appear in the Life Section of the USA Today was one of the most disposable piece of piffle ever set in ink. It was relentlessly positive and nothing more than a stroke forum for Larry to earn free dinners from his celebrity friends. That an editor for the USA Today thought this was a reasonable use of valuable editorial space in a national newspaper speaks volumes as to why newspapers are in huge financial trouble. All that aside, I never failed to read it. Larry's column was the favorite part of my lunch. Life could get no better when I was in college than to sit in the Indiana Memorial Union on the Indiana University Campus in Bloomington with a sandwich and Larry King's latest masterwork. In an effort to make your lunches (or mine) each Thursday more enjoyable, we are presenting a brand new Larry King column, although this seems significantly more sarcastic and mean-spirited than the old Larry columns. Maybe his suspenders cut off the air supply to his brain. This is the first of hopefully many new efforts from Larry: I hate tennis great Andy Roddick. First he loses in the Wimbledon Final, and now his wife Brooklyn Decker is on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. Me so horny! Is it my imagination or is Northwestern Basketball player Luka Mirkovic is dead ringer for Indianapolis CPA and former Indiana University menace Ray Witt? Oh boy! Former eye candy and Today Show Co-host Meredith Vieira is no longer fit for my high-definition television. The creases surrounding her eyes remind me of the wrinkled sack that bumps my inner thigh when I shower. Why I spend time examining that region as a shower is none of your business. Shame on you for wondering. Is longtime NCAA Basketball Official Ed Hightower the college game's version of Benjamin Button? The older he gets, the younger he looks, AND the more hair he has. Whatever he's eating, give me some! If not for the creek in their respective canyons going dry, make me the meat in a Julie Andrews/Florence Henderson sandwich! Chicago Cubs honcho Jim Hendry is not satisfied in his role as the ruination of the Cubs. He has taken to hanging around the Indianapolis Colts and bringing them terrible fortune. Hendry visited Colts games at least eight times during this NFL season, including last Sunday's Super Bowl. Hey Celine Dion! Why the long face? The American trade deficit with Japan is evening as a Texas company is filling an order this week for millions of ribbons of shame - all addressed to Toyota, who is unveiling their newest model - the Pintolla - at the Chicago beginning Friday. Buckle your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

IU Basketball - Where Is It Headed? Is This What It Is?

kentsterling — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:34:31 +0000

I want so badly to enjoy watching Indiana University's basketball team. For years and years, the IU schedule dictated my social planning. There was a precision and effort to the basketball that IU played that was so consistent and even empowering that I refused to miss a single game. Sure, Bob Knight was crazy and did things behind closed doors that eventually were leaked either socially or to the media, but that only led to the admiration that surrounded the kids who we knew went through that bizarre version of hell. IU fans also understood that the players got their share of perks - like the best looking broads on campus, lifelong adulation, flag football with Mellencamp, and a job with Mr. Cook if they liked. The fun was in learning about basketball by watching kids who knew how to play it right because they were being coached by a man who understood the game well enough to beat you with his, and then could turn around and beat his with yours. Knight lost interest in recruiting and hired a group of assistants who didn't understand Indiana basketball well enough to bring in kids who could adapt to either Knight's style of play or his personality. Let's leap over the 2001-2008 era, with only a mention of the fun that is was to know that from February 22 through the end of the season, the program was being run by a man who both knew basketball and understood what IU basketball stands for as far as student behavior. Dan Dakich brought with him a wonderful return to what IU meant to many through the years. The punks were shown the door, and then Dan was as well - solidifying in my mind that Rick Greenspan is exactly the oaf that John Feinstein claims he is. What Greenspan did next is bring in Marquette's Tom Crean, a coach who without Dwayne Wade on his roster, never lost less than 10 games in a season. Crean's Marquette team did make it to one Final Four in 2003, the year after Kelvin Sampson took Oklahoma to his only Final Four. Warn down by the mediocrity (in both character and quality of play) of the Mike Davis and Kelvin Sampson regimes, IU fans embraced Crean. He worked his ass off to be everywhere and meet everyone right from the start, like some deranged insurance salesman trying to build a client base. There was nothing he wouldn't do for the media, and no group he wouldn't talk to. For two years now, we have watched his team defend without a clue. Last night's debacle against Ohio State was the latest and perhaps worst exhibition of basketball ignorance yet. The nonexistent defensive rotation to stop the ball is beyond unacceptable for a fan base that was raised in basketball by watching team after team play helpside at a very high level. How many drives to the rack went unchallenged last night after the offensive player broke down the initial defender? Enough that I had to change channels. The silliest and maybe most excusable basketball no-no was Bobby Capobianco turning his back to the ball as Jeremiah Rivers tried to save it under the Ohio State bucket. Rivers passed it into Capobianco's back. The angry look from Rivers mirrored the look on the faces of thousands of fans, and Crean pulled Capobianco from the game. At some point, responsibility for the current state of the Indiana program has to evolve into Crean's tanned and well-hydrated lap. When a school achieves poor scores on standardized tests, do you hold the kids liable for not learning, or the teachers for not teaching? In the case of Indiana basketball, Crean inherited a blank slate. Kyle Taber and Brett Finkelmeier were the only holdovers once the first season started. That was both good and bad - bad because the talent cupboard was bare, and good because it allowed Crean the immediate ability to create a culture. Crean could fill the roster with any kind of players - smart, long, athletic, excellent shooters, lockdown defenders, great students, or all of the above. The choice he made was? I don't know. They don't seem to do anything great, or really do anything consistently but really on the dribble to move the ball and defend with indifference. Not a good environment for fans who are still longing for a quick passing offense, and tenacity from defenders. So what is this? Do we need to wait for Crean to get lucky with a kid like Josh Selby, so IU can win with talent, as he did at Marquette with Wade? The nightmare of the Rick Greenspan era continues. Maybe we should blame him. Sure as hell, we can rip him for giving Crean a two-year extension prior to his coaching a single game. That is just an idiot move. At some point this deal hits critical mass, and we'll see what Fred Glass is made of.

Kent Sterling Fired From The Fan and WIBC as Program Director - Part Four

kentsterling — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:32:29 +0000

Oddly, the phrase, "Kent Sterling Fired" is still showing up as a source from Google to generate traffic to this website. As long as there is some twisted need for people to check on my unfortunate professional turn of fortune, I will let people know how I'm doing. I am the world's foremost expert on my own life, and although I don't find it too fascinating, I can fart a 500 word post on my own life. I am curious whether people google "Kent Sterling Fired" because they hope that I have been, or heard that I was fired and wonder why. I'm hoping that the split is 50/50. I met with an accountant this week about taxes, and he told me that there is a burgeoning group of a similarly displaced workforce out there determined to work for themselves. The corporate mentality just doesn't seem as attractive when you spend a lot of time busting your ass to bring wealth to others, and then get your walking papers. My accountant is great guy and taxman-to-the-stars Kirk Fosnaugh, and he came with some information about self-employment and small business ownership that was interesting and a little subduing. It's seems the government wants more than their share of the money we make, and when you are just starting something and the message the government wants to convey first is that for every buck you make Uncle Sam is going to take roughly half. Ouch. For what? The interstate highway system? I'm good with that. That doesn't cost half of my money though. Medicare? Social Security? $2-billion bombers? Keep 'em. Let me fuel the economy with my own reckless spending. Rob Nichols, another Emmis expatriate and I, are starting a business where we will serve as partners in an initial small effort to help high school sophomores and junior student/athletes find a college home where they can find a home for both sets of talents. Do what you love, is my mantra as it always has been. Helping kids was tremendous fun when my son was in high school, and I think Rob and I can help. This website is endless fun, and I added three writers last week to bring some more heft to the process of sharing unique perspective. The more this site is updated, the better the audience is served. And that will free me up to go out and talk to people. I like interviewing folks, so that will be the next step for the site. As time goes on, I'll figure out how to sell it too. The third thing I'm doing is writing a book about fatherhood. I'm into the fourth chapter, and that's alternately fun and difficult. The good memories and times when I was a really good dad make it fun. Recounting those instances when my choices were a little bit selfish make for tough writing. That's life I guess. Good times. Bad times. What I want is an honest account of being my Dad's kid and my kid's Dad. Dad was a great character, and Ryan is an incredibly fine young man. I always wanted to do these things, so that's what I'm doing. I'm feeling really good. Not worrying about two radio stations 24/7 is a very positive step toward sanity. If I ever go back to radio, I'll do it in a much smarter way. Delegation is key, and I always maintained enough responsibility of the day-to-day process of running the stations that it drove me unwittingly crazy. The thing I loved the most is helping the talent, and hearing them get better at what they do. That's what I'll do next time - if I choose to do it again. My wife is happy. I'm happy. Being off the radio career hamster wheel is an excellent psychological salve. There are so many extensions of the lessons taught to me during my 17 years at Emmis and three years at WGN and WMAQ in Chicago that I feel like it was an excellent training ground for what's next - whether that next thing is managing these three enterprises, or having something else find me. This will be a fun time that allows me to eat what I kill, and continue to work on being a better human being. To those with whom I've worked, keep calling anytime. I'm not at Emmis anymore, but I count you as friends. Keep the faith. Newstalk and Sportstalk Radio are formats that can create great results for clients, and as long as that is the case, producing informative, entertaining and unique content will be critical. If the powers that be decide that you don't fit, don't sweat that. The world is bigger than radio, and you are all very talented people. In the first paragraph, I wrote that I could fart a 500-word post on myself. I was wrong. I can fart an 816-word post on myself. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Friday, February 12, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:29:51 +0000

Harry on Sports - Friday, February 12, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:43:58 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry23.mp3]

Delusional Jim Hendry Expects Better Season for Cubs

kentsterling — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:47:59 +0000

by Kent Sterling It's not quite time for the annual look at my exclusive Chicago Cubs Preview, but with pitchers and catchers reporting in five days and some recent optimistic and baffling comments by GM Jim Hendry, there is no time like the present to vent a little and clear my head prior to the weekend. No one wants to suffer through a holiday weekend with this kind of angst burdening my soul. As many know, my preview last year predicted exactly that the Cubs would win 83 games, which may have been luck or evidence of my prescience. Chicago Cubs General Manager told the Chicago Tribune that he expects the Cubs to be improved because the current crop of players will play better. That logic works for any sports team or business. We need the current staff to improve their performance belies the lack of leadership that Hendry so fearlessly and so often exudes. "We may do one more thing before camp or during, but we knew a couple of years ago this would be a year a lot the [caption id="attachment_1022" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Head Dolt Jim Hendry"][/caption] contracts we did would restrict us," Hendry said. "But I feel good about the guys we've brought in. And, as I've said since the end of last season, we need a lot of the guys who didn't play well last year to play better." "It's not like we had a lot of room for new bodies," Hendry said. "We just needed to get a couple of pieces, and we really think Byrd and Nady are going to help us in a lot of areas, especially offensively. And I'm optimistic some of the people that didn't hit last year will. Rudy (Jamarillo, the new batting coach) is going to help us. I think we're quite a bit better." Doing the same thing with the same people and expecting a different result is moronic. Again and again, the Cubs rely on players recovering from injuries as well as free agents signed following an option year statistical explosion. Xavier Nady is recovering from Tommy John surgery (his second). Ted Lilly is rehabbing his shoulder and isn't expected to be full strength until just before the All-Star Break. Marlon Byrd hit 20 of his 60 career home runs last season (in eight seasons). Ryan Dempster had a career year in 2008, driving his price way up for the contract he signed prior to the 2009 season. I could go on. Where is any reasonable expectation for improvement justified. The defense up the middle is pitiful. Lou Piniella is losing his mind, and has evolved from being an angry tyrant to a forgetful and grandfatherly player's manager. He allows players like Alfonso Soriano the freedom to veto a move in the lineup, or at least claims to have gotten Soriano's approval for the drop from leadoff to the six spot. Even more absurd was Piniella's insistence last season that Soriano hitting leadoff was only an issue once per game because he would likely only leadoff once. I guess inheriting an out during virtually every other plate appearance because of the pitcher immediately preceding him is meaningless. Ryan Theriot is a problem. His lack of range at shortstop, mediocre arm, and soft bat make him a virtual replica of Glenn Beckert. Beckert was a second baseman, the position Theriot is only somewhat suited for. Cubs fans look at Theriot as one of the younger Cubs, yet he turned 30 in December. Just so we are on the same page, here are the ages of the likely starters and other key players for the 2010 Cubs at the end of this season: Geovany Soto, 27 Derrek Lee, 35 Mike Fontenot, 30 Jeff Baker, 29 Ryan Theriot, 30 Aramis Ramirez, 32 Kosuke Fukudome, 33 Marlon Byrd, 33 Alfonso Soriano, 34 Xavier Nady, 31 Ted Lilly, 34 Carlos Zambrano, 29 Ryan Dempster, 33 Randy Wells, 28 Carlos Marmol, 27 These guys are not at the point in their career, barring chemical additives, that baseball players get better or are injured less. This team is old, and expecting improvement is irrational. Hendry has built a team that cannot win, and is so hamstrung by terrible contracts that they have no ability to improve. The Ricketts Family will write massive checks totalling more than $102 of their roughly $135-million payroll for Derrek Lee, Ted Lilly, Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, Kosuke Fukudome, Aramis Ramirez, and Ryan Dempster. The four position players on that list averaged 40 missed games. Hendry is never going to come out and say that the Cubs will suck because that would mean his job, but to say that he expects improvement is asinine. Hendry fans/apologists point to the six winning seasons since 2003 as reason to believe in Hendry's ability to build a team. With a $135-million payroll, Ronnie Woo-Woo could put together an 83-win roster. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Frank Thomas Retires; Tiger's Madame Talks; Olympics Open Tonight

kentsterling — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:57:13 +0000

by Kent Sterling Former Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Oakland A's slugger Frank Thomas announced his retirement today, 17 months after he played his last game. The White Sox have announced they will retire his number. I was all ready to write that Thomas doesn't belong in Cooperstown, even as a tourist. The more I looked at his career body of work, the more my mind changed. His career numbers are very similar to Fred McGriff and Jeff Bagwell, but unlike those two Thomas had a seven-year period of his career where he was the best hitter in baseball. From 1991-to-1997, Thomas was crazy good, leading the majors in runs created, OPS, offensive win percentage, and adjusted batting wins. Thomas' gifts were almost completely offensive, which is a big hit against his resume' and will likely keep him from being a first ballot guy. In an era when people swing at everything they can reach, Thomas knew the strike zone and forced pitchers to throw him strikes. That hurt his career home run total of 521 (tying him with Ted Williams and Willie McCovey). He was never linked to performance enhancement drug, and he enjoyed the ocasional cold beer. A strong case could be made for Thomas as the best hitter in baseball during the 1990s, and one of the best 20 hitters ever. Now I'm talking myself into Thomas being a first ballot guy. **************** According to woman running a stable of whores, Tiger Woods spent better than a quarter-million over the past couple of years. Good for him. If he was picking them up $10 at a time, it would have cost him much less but his johnson would look like one of those earthworms that slithers on the sidewalk all fat and happy until the sun comes out. If you have the cash and the need, better to spend it on quality hookers than the scabby $10 skanks that wander the night under street lamps like Jodie Foster's character in "Taxi Driver" ***************** Has there ever been a less relevant Olympics than this one scheduled to begin in Vancouver tonight? Other than X-Games vet Shaun White and skier Lindsey Vonn, I couldn't tell you a single person in any event. Maybe there are some hockey players I would know. The Blackhawks Patrick Kane might be an Olympian. I usually know a few of them, but the days of Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, and Eric Heiden seem to be over. I blame (or credit depending upon your perspective) the wild proliferation of sports programming on TV. You can watch virtually any Division One college basketball game, replays of NFL games almost around the clock, and cable networks for almost every professional team. That means that an unfocused and weird show like ABC's Wide World of Sports can no longer exist. On Wide World of Sports, you were almost forced to watch Frank Gifford and Bob Beatty call the downhill from Kitzbuhel. Franz Klammer was a star before his thrilling run in Innsbrook in 1976. Where I grew up, the only TV choices on a weekend afternoon were WW of S and "It's Academic" - a trivia contest among high school teams. I clicked (not with a remote, but by getting up and changing the channel by hand with a dial attached to the TV), and then adjusted the antenna to get the ABC station clearly. They profiled cross country skiing, barrel jumping, and curling champions, so that by the time the Olympics rolled around, everyone knew the players. Now, no one knows anything. Hey, I just remembered Apolo Anton Ohno! We don't watch - much. NBC is more concerned in building the story line for events before they occur, so we never get to discover them ourselves. Can't blame them. As a general rule, you can't beat, "American TV viewers are morons." How else was "Arrested Development" cancelled? So those morons are pandered to. The rest of us wait for the Olympics to end so we can watch "The Office" again. Go America!

Indianapolis GMs Need to Take Some Responsibility for Teams' Performance

kentsterling — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:24:36 +0000

Let's take these two franchises one at a time. With the Colts, whose only meaningful losses of their last 29 games have been to the San Diego Chargers in the playoffs and the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl, it's a little tough to be too critical. They win - a lot - and Bill Polian is the architect of that success. He is, by measure that counts most - wins, the best executive in sports. Polian has won everywhere he has been. The Buffalo Bills did three consecutive times what no team has done since, lost the Super Bowl and returned the following year. His Carolina Panthers made it to the NFC Championship game in their second year of existence, which might be the most amazing feat ever accomplished by a franchise executive. So this really isn't an indictment of Polian the manager. His resume' makes him fairly bulletproof. This is what his post-Super Bowl public comments have included. "Our offensive line, by our standards, did not have a good game," Polian told NFL.com. "They were outplayed by the Saints' defensive line. Our special teams, in terms of handing the ball -- both in the return game and on the onside kick -- were outplayed by the Saints. Therein lies the result. It had nothing to do with strategy or preparedness or toughness or effort." I would like the first comments from the guy running the show for a team that comes up on the losing end of a contest to claim some responsibility for the result. Charlie Weis blamed everyone but himself for many of the Notre Dame losses this year, including his freshman kicker. A quality follow-up to Weis' throwing his kicker under the bus would have been, "Why is this kid your kicker? Did you not choose him? Do you not recruit him?" Heads of programs or teams can't only point to the players who do their jobs and take credit. They must take blame for the negative results too. Polian might look at Hank Baskett and wonder why he didn't catch the onside kick. He might also look at Hank Baskett and wonder why he ever thought he might catch on onside kick. Did he catch anything while in a Colts uniform? Was he absolutely the best player available when Anthony Gonzalez went down? The offensive line was built to protect the franchise - Peyton Manning, not push defensive tackles all over the field to open holes for Joseph Addai, Donald Brown, and Mike Hart. Expecting them to do the job on third-and-one from the Colts 10 was illogical. If the team has been built to move the ball through the air and you absolutely need success, why would a coach trust the least trustworthy aspect of their team at the time success was most crucial? Even if none of that is true, how about standing in front of the microphone and telling the world he'll do a better job, and the holes that were so obvious in the Super Bowl would be filled. Take responsibility for failure. Publicly accept the challenge of improving the franchise, and move forward. I'm certain Polian has done that privately because he is way too successful to be a guy who doesn't look in the mirror. Players are paid to play. GMs are paid to gather players who can play better than the other guy's players. Polian should go get players who will play better, and stop kicking the current group for their failures. Those failures ultimately belong to him. That brings us to Larry Bird and the comatose Indiana Pacers. The Pacers are thoroughly mediocre, losing roughly twice as many as they win. The difference between Bird and Polian is that we have no idea whether Bird knows what the hell he's doing. He's never built a winning team, never shown an adeptness at evaluation, never instilled a culture of excellence. The job is much more difficult in the NBA than for Polian in the NFL because of guaranteed contracts and the salary cap. If Bird makes a mistake with a first round pick, he stays with the team for years regardless. Singing bonuses are applied to the NFL cap, but the stain of a mistake is much less damning. Bird and the Pacers began the rebuilding process in which they are currently mired in January, 2006, when they dealt Ron Artest to Sacramento. That was four long years ago. So what did Bird have to say about this expedition through relentless mediocrity?

"We knew that we had to clean it out and rebuild it, and we knew we were going to go through some tough times," Bird told The Associated Press this week. "Nobody likes to lose, and everybody wants to be a part of a winner. We think we're on the right track to get there." "The one thing Jimmy (O'Brien) bought into when he came here was that we were going to rebuild, and we were going to struggle at times," Bird said. "I always say the losses are on me because I want him to work these guys hard, develop the young guys we have and keep moving forward with what we have." "Even if we were healthy all year, I thought we could win 36 to 41 games with this team," he said. "In a rebuilding phase, which I think we're on track with, we'll just have to go forward with it." "The one thing about this team is that we stand too much and we settle way too much for the outside shot," he said. "If we get to the hole and put the pressure on the defense, we're a lot better. When we stand and just take outside shots, we have a tendency to struggle." That he accepts responsibility for the losses is laudable. Saying that a rebuilding process that has taken longer than it did to put Japan and Germany back together after World War II is "on track" is preposterous. One needs to look no further than the elite teams of the NBA to know exactly what excellence requires - a future hall of famer, or a couple. You don't draft hall of famers 13th. The players with the potential to enjoy that level of transcendent career is usually gone in the top five unless good luck and poor evaluation intervene. There are a few exceptions, but most teams have to get very bad to get very good. Very good teams, despite drafting late, are able to remain very good because free agents want to play there. Who wants to play for the Pacers? Bueller? Bueller? God bless Herb Simon for remaining patient with Larry Bird. If I paid a guy a shitload of money to run a franchise that was bleeding millions a year, and was told that after four years of mediocrity, we are still two years away from being good, I would throw him out of the building and set fire to his desk. Bird earns his money by watching his team struggle, but he needs to admit that rebuilding for six years (we are four years in with two to go) is just silly. Admitting fallibility is not a sign of weakness, but this week Polian and Bird haven't shown they know it. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - Saturday, February 13, 2010

kentsterling — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:33:38 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry-24.mp3]

Sports from the Couch--The Jury is Still Out on Butler

jshowal2 — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:22:45 +0000

by Jeff Showalter Since my alma mater, Indiana University, no longer participates in high level college basketball, I have moved my energies to following the Butler Bulldogs. I have a very small vested interest, my Godmother is Matt Howard's grandmother and Matt's dad is my parent's mailman. I have known portions of the Howard family my whole life (no I can't name all Matt's siblings). Watching Butler is fun because I don't really have an emotional (or delusional?) interest in their performance. However, I spent a lot of last year, like many, amazed at how good a team with three freshmen starters, no seniors, and no superstars could play (attention Tom Crean). Last year's team made another appearance in the NCAA tournament, losing to a good LSU team. On periodic appearances on "The Drive with JMV", I predicted that 2009/2010's Butler team could make a serious run at the Final Four. What a story that would make. The hometown team and mid major playing in their own back yard. Well, 2009 started and the Butler team loaded up the non-conference schedule with the likes of Xavier, Ohio State, Georgetown and 3 games in California against what turned out to be Minnesota, UCLA and Clemson. The idea was to build up the RPI and make sure they would receive an at-large birth to the Big Dance, even if they lost the Horizon Tourney. It was a good idea and has worked out, but the Bulldogs didn't exactly set the college hoops world on it's ear. Butler struggled at times, losing winnable games versus Minnesota and Clemson. They also played poorly against Georgetown and lost at UAB. None of the loses are embarrassing on paper, but the Bulldogs didn't play the smooth type of ball, people have been used to. As expected, Butler ran thru the Horizon and are 15-0 in the league. Again, on paper, this looks pretty good but the play of the team, in my opinion, has not been at the high level people expected. Butler has had some shaky performances, especially in the first halves of Horizon games. Struggling in any league game can be expected, but Butler has also struggled at home, which is surprising. Butler is going to make the tourney, and probably seeded somewhere from a four to a six seed, but the question for me is:"Can this team make a run?" Right now I don't think so. Butler hasn't shown they can play the high level of ball that can compete with the Nations's best. I see the following issues that wcould prevent such a run: They turn the ball over way too much. It drives me nuts when this team tries to split defenders with the dribble. Sometimes they try to split three defenders. Howard and Hayward also try to get to the hoop instead of pulling up at 8-10 feet for short jumpers (see item 3) Howard has not shown he can stay out of foul trouble. For a kid as smart as Matt, he makes some of the silliest fouls I have ever seen. Matt has to figure out how to play 32 minutes a game. Howard still has shown no face up game, which is the cause for some of the foul problems as he gets a lot of charges and over the back fouls. His game has not evolved from his freshmen year. I'd like to see Matt spend some time with a big man coach that could help with that. He shoots a pretty soft ball so Matt should be able to adapt to a face up game. That will also help with taller, more athletic players (like G'town). Defenses are now playing the drive 100% so it is harder for Matt to score. Hayward goes periods of the game without being involved in the offense. This may be the one issue that must be fixed come March. Hayward has to get touches in the offense. He doesn't have to be a volume shooter, but he has to be a threat. Nothing will free up Howard, Mack and Hahn more then Gordon touching the ball more. More Hahn, less Nored. Move Mack to the point and play Hahn more. It opens up the floor for everybody. Mack was good enough to play the point for the U19 team, so I'm pretty sure he can play the point now. Zach is one of the best shooters in college hoops. He has yet to make a three while sitting on the pine. Intensity! Maybe it is me, but this team doesn't have the "gouge your eyes out' intensity that prior teams have. Guys like Brandon Miller and Joel Cornette would do anything they had to do to win. Dive for loose balls, take charges, throw an elbow even bleed when necessary. I'm not sure the current team has that kind of toughness. I'll keep watching and analyzing, hoping this year's Bulldogs get hot at the right time. For this team, it may not be the number of points that decides how far they can go. It's the intangibles that may decide if the Bulldogs can make a run. A run to play back home.

Happy Valentine's Day - Let's Spend it Talking About and Watching Sports

kentsterling — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:34:49 +0000

Valentine's Day was created by sadists who want men miserable. I think Nancy Meyers, the director of "It's Complicated" and a dozens other insipid and sappy movies women force men to go see, had something to do with it. Thank God it falls on during the week between the Super Bowl and pitchers and catchers reporting. It is on the day of the Daytona 500 this year, which sucks for NASCAR fans, but as I hate parades - my schedule is unaffected. There is the final round of the former Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, which is one of the few golf events that continues to have its head on straight. This is golf, after all, and supposed to be fun. The Crosby involves pros and amateurs, even on Sunday. Pebble Beach is the second best known course on the planet, and watching people laugh while enjoying the experience of playing is excellent. Too often, golf on TV is dominated by humorless metronomes who take themselves and the game way too seriously. Thankfully, yesterday is over for IU hoops fans. The Hoosiers got walloped yesterday, lending credence to the increasingly loud rumors that Tom Crean has worn out his team both physically and emotionally. There is an evil bit of corporate mythology that says the people who work the hardest and the longest always win. It's not true. If you wake up, fall asleep, and spend every moment in between thinking about how to win, you will have great short-term success, but if you try to force those you manage to think likewise (especially if they are 19-year-old college students), you are screwed. The human body is an odd instrument that has good days and bad. If you wear it down, it does not always bounce back stronger. The mind does the same thing, especially when there is not a goal within reach. Mediocre coaches give in to the gravity of meeting failure with torturous work. Sometimes the kids need a mental and physical breather. Crean seems to have answered the challenges this season has presented by smothering work. Bob Knight and Denny Crum were exceptionally successful coaches for decades, and always seemed to get the most out of their teams in February and March. They both scaled back practice times as the bodies and minds of their kids wore down. I hope Crean hasn't pushed the kids so hard that they can't rebound a little before the Big Ten Tournament because that's all they have left. That and the game at West Lafayette. Purdue seems to have come out the other side of their malaise. After losing three in a row, they seemed to find their legs again. Yesterday's win against Iowa was a clinic in how to put away a mediocre opponent at home. The Boilers are rolling, and my prediction that they would win the Big Ten regular season looks reasonably safe. Ohio State is really good because of Evan Turner - maybe the best player in college basketball - and should give the Boilers a good run this Wednesday in Columbus (the Boilers match-up well against OSU despite their loss to the Buckeyes last month), but the conference is likely to boil down to the matchup at West Lafayette against Michigan State two weeks from today. Pitchers and catchers for the Cubs report to Mesa in three days, but the report in Chicago is that there are already 40 Cubs in camp trying to coax a little more productivity out of the aging bodies. The Cubs are starting to look like the group Randy Hundley assembles each year for the fantasy camps he invented a quarter-century ago, but it can be a long summer without caring about the Cubs, so I'm swearing off speaking negatively about them and pompous Cubs GM Jim Hendry. Okay, I'll start again. Nothing negative beginning...now! This paragraph will interest few, but I enjoyed the Loyola Ramblers win last night against UIC in the Gentile Center of the increasingly beautiful Rogers Park Campus of Loyola University. The Ramblers won by 17, and executed pretty well. They ran their offense, got some hard-earned buckets, and stopped this Kreps kid for UIC with some tenacious defense. My son got to play 12 minutes during periods when the game still hung in the balance. It was great to see him play enough to relax a little bit and look like the player he is. Ryan can get a little ramped up if he thinks he's in for two possessions, but when he plays at the speed of the game, he functions really well. He knocked down a three and played some good defense. Parents always believe their kid can play. Last night, it was fun to have Ryan prove us right. The Ramblers could be a pain in the ass during the Horizon League Tournament. They aren't worn down, unlike the Hoosiers, and have a group that played Butler very tough for three halves this season. Now that Butler has sewn up home court advantage for the Horizon League tournament, how much fun will March be in Indianapolis? That tournament, the Women's and Men's Big Ten Tourneys, and then the Final Four. If the weather cooperates, it should be magical, and the dirty looks we get today from our wives or girlfriends for watching Daytona, the Winter Olympics, or the Old Clambake will be long since forgotten. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

The Perspective of an IU Student

The Truth — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:31:43 +0000

by The Truth For credibility reasons I feel that I should tell the readers how I came to write on indysportsonline.com… I am currently a junior at Indiana University pursuing a degree in Journalism with a Business minor. I grew up an avid Hoosier fan in Indianapolis and have many relatives living in the Bloomington area. My father is a former high school basketball coach and has been teaching me about the game of basketball my whole life. I was blessed to have the opportunity to play AAU basketball for the Spiece Central Stars and high school ball at Lawrence Central. My friends and I are also responsible for organizing the Indiana student section known as the Crimson Guard. When Kent Sterling e-mailed me and asked me to write blogs concerning Indiana athletics from a unique perspective for his new website I was ecstatic. I have basically decided to discuss Indiana athletics from the perspective of an average student here at Indiana University. As a freshman in 2007, I lived in Briscoe dormitory and had an exceptional view of both Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium. That year Indiana football was lead by James Hardy, Kellen Lewis, and recent Super Bowl hero Tracy Porter and went 7-6 with an invitation to the Insight Bowl where they lost to Oklahoma State, but for IU football that is a successful season. That same year, the basketball program was lead by a two-headed monster in D.J. White and Eric Gordon with a solid supporting cast that consisted of Armon Bassett and DeMarcus Ellis. The Hoosiers were ranked 9^th in the country after beating both Michigan State and Purdue at home. Times were good for Hoosiers fans. Then things took a turn for the worse. Kelvin Sampson was accused of committing several NCAA violations and was forced to resign which all but dismantled a team that many thought was a Final Four contender. As an IU student I curse the name Kelvin Sampson for ruining the reputation of our historically proud basketball program. Now, just two years later, our football team went 4-8 and our basketball team still seems to be in the beginning stages of a tough rebuilding process. In both major sports we are at the bottom of the Big Ten. At the moment, times are bad for Hoosiers. To say the least, my athletic experience here has been a bit of a roller coaster. However, I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. A coach leaving an up and coming Marquette basketball program “Because it’s Indiana” says a lot about our basketball program and Tom Crean. It ensures that he will work his absolute hardest to restore this basketball program. The Bloomington community and the IU faithful need to understand that this won’t happen overnight. I consider this year the first year of the rebuilding process because last year we struggled just to field a competitive team. Sitting in the student section at Assembly Hall is remarkable. The spirit that fills that arena is incredible and is filled with 17,000 fans that truly appreciate the game of basketball. We ARE the best fans in the nation and will continue to be, and once our program returns to the national ranks we can all say that we stood behind IU and represented the University even when times were rough. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Daytona 500 Highlights Deadly Dull Day of Sports

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:40:08 +0000

by Kent Sterling Every sports widow in America had her prayers answered today when the asphalt on the track at Daytona eroded and the surface turned into a potholed mess. We deal with potholes in the midwest every year at about this time, but our car don't hit them at 185 miles per hour. The relentless series of stoppages for track repairs turned what has been for years a dull parade of cars all going the same speed into a race as tedious as rush hour traffic. In the middle of rush hour traffic, I get bored. Watching it on TV is unbearable. The Daytona 500 used to be the wildest shootout in of sports. The duels between Richard Petty and David Pearson were legendary and thrilling. The fight between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison gave the race an MMA feel. Anything could happen and it usually did. Indy was king back then, and you didn't see people kicking ass and getting sideways in that race, so people migrated to NASCAR, and they continue to. At this point, that movement toward stock cars is unjustified. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXbHQtZH8dE] What NASCAR has that IndyCar does not are stars. Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Mark Martin, and Casey Kahne run stock cars. IndyCar has Danica and Helio. Stock cars are pretty and distictive. IndyCars are almost impossible to distinguish from one another. The Penske cars are separated by so little that after three or four beers, they are impossible to tell one from another. The racing in IndyCar is superior, but since when did content win? As I'm writing this, it's 7:23p, and the race is continuing after hours and hours and hours. The yellow just came out again, and they will try the green, white, checkers again. The Daytona 500 may never end. If this was the Indianapolis 500, race fans and Robin Miller (the two are mutually exclusive) would scream about the ignorance and mismanagement of the IMS and the regime there not taking care of the track, totally screwing around with the format to manufacture drama, and the immaturity and comparative incompetence of the drivers. Jeff Gordon punted Casey Kahne, and so now we wait for another restart. And yet, here I sit watching this disaster. It finally ended, and Jamie McMurray wins. Dale Jr. came from nowhere to finish second, and brought a little bit of drama. The Daytona 500 isn't so much a race, but a prelude to spring. When racing starts, warmth is soon to follow. Okay, I was done, but for the love of God, will McMurray stop crying? Can you imagine Petty or Foyt crying while they babble like this about winning a race? Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - President's Day

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:59:44 +0000

Here are today's big stories, minus anything on the Daytona 500, the most irrelevent iconic event on the American sports calendar. Colts - Kravitz - Past Does Matter http://www.indystar.com/article/20100214/SPORTS15/2140359/1058/SPORTS03/Colts-past-does-matter-and-that-s-a-good-thing Colts - Polian Proud http://www.indystar.com/article/20100213/SPORTS03/2130359/1058/SPORTS03/Polian-proud-of-his-team-s-very-very-memorable-season Winter Olympics - Weather Too Good http://www.suntimes.com/sports/morrissey/2048447,CST-SPT-morrissey15.article Hoosiers - Has IU Hit the Wall? http://www.indystar.com/article/20100213/SPORTS0601/2130350/1069/SPORTS0601/Have-Hoosiers-hit-wall-They-say-they-just-need-to-toughen-up-play-together Hoosiers - Losing Streak Reaches Record Length - Again http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=73727 Cubs - Rudy Jaramillo Is Biggest Signing of the offseason http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2048276,CST-SPT-cub15.article Cubs - Jamarillo Talks About Soriano, Soto, Ramirez, Byrd, and Bradleys http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/-1,g021510cubg.photogallery?index=4 Cubs - Piniella Begins Year Five Unsure of Future http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0215-cubs-piniella-chicago--20100214,0,7323695.story Drew Storen - Getting Ready for First MLB Season? http://www.indystar.com/article/20100215/SPORTS/2150329/1004/SPORTS/Storen-looks-to-continue-ascent-with-Nationals

Harry on Sports - February 15, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:19:46 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry25.mp3]

Five Reasons to Be Optimistic About the Indiana Basketball Rebuilding Process

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:41:17 +0000

by Kent Sterling It's easy to respond to a six-game Big Ten losing streak with cynicism. Until the past two seasons, the Hoosiers haven't suffered a six-game conference losing streak since World War II. That kind of systemic failure is usually met with skepticism at the minimum and usually an amount of horror. IU fans have shown a great deal of patience in a day and age when people are all about winning - NOW! Good for them, and good for the kids who continue to play hard and fight. Will the optimism be rewarded by Tom Crean and the kids wearing candy-striped warm-up britches? It will, and I'll give you five good reasons: 5 - Matt Roth will be back next year. Roth is a pure shooter, and not only do pure shooters make shots - they open up the floor for everyone else because defenders leave them to help at their own peril. For obvious reasons, the kind of dribble penetration offense Crean prefers can't be very successful with help coming from the wings. Opponents choosing to help from Roth's side of the floor will pay. 4 - The athletic department is finally being manned by professionals. Fred Glass is an IU guy, but more than that he's a very, very smart IU guy who not only brings passion to the job, but a level of experience in sports administration. The cabal of boobs who hired Rick Greenspan instead of Jack Swarbrick got the job done right when they installed Glass. He's a relatively young guy, and will do what needs to be done to bring IU back. He was instrumental in laying the groundwork to bring the Super Bowl to Indianapolis in 2012. You know how hard it is to get people used to South Beach, New Orleans, and Tempe to see Indy as a destination for the signature event of the most successful sports league in the history of the world? Glass led the team who got that done. 3 - The group who will be sophomores next year has a chance to be outstanding. Matt Roth, Jordan Hulls, Christian Watford, Maurice Creek, Derek Elston, Bobby Capobianco, and Bawa Muniru will play three more years in Bloomington. Jeremiah Rivers and Verdell Jones III will be back - Rivers for one more year, and Jones for two. We don't know how good these kids are going to get, but if the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores, Indiana fans should enjoy this group next year. 2 - Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey are reportedly two solid recruits. We've all seen video of these two kids, but I can tell you that it isn't hard to put together highlight videos that make kids look unstoppable. Austin Etherington and Matt Carlino are a year behind those two. All four are ranked in the top 150, and while that doesn't automatically convey greatness, there is virtually no difference between a kid ranked 112 by Rivals and the kid ranked 30. High school player rankings is not just an inexact science, it's virtual guesswork. Getting more excited about number 30 than number 120 is silly. Maurice Creek was ranked 56th in the rivals database. Do you believe there were 55 better high school seniors last year than Creek? Maybe Josh Selby comes to Bloomington, maybe not. 1 - The IU Basketball Development Center. There is nothing more important to parents of recruits than the ability for their kids to reach their potential, and the current facilities just don't even come close to competing with other schools. Kentucky and Florida State have incredible practice facilities, and IU's new complex will be their equal. When parents visit Indiana, I guarantee they ask, "Okay, Assembly Hall is great, but where do you practice? Where can my Johnny work on his game?" "Where do the girls practice?" "Okay, if the girls are practicing, where can Johnny get up 500 shots?" As soon as the coach answers "The HPER", the game is over. With this new beautiful facility, IU can compete for the talents of the kids who want to work like hell. This is a game changer for families considering Indiana. The only thing I'm sure of about Tom Crean is that he is a tireless worker. What he knows or doesn't know about basketball and managing kids is a complete unknown. With Dwayne Wade, he was a hell of a coach. Without him, he lost a minimum of 10 games per year. In the Big East, life is tough. Recruiting kids to play in Milwaukee is tough - really tough. Crean and Indiana could use a breakthrough recruit, but what they need more is a pipeline from Bloomington South, North Central, and the other Indianapolis high schools that produce an average of one NBA player per year. With Creek and Roth healthy, another year of building strength, and the opening of the Basketball Development Center, I think we've seen the last six-game Big Ten losing streak for a few years. It's darkest before the dawn, and it's sure as hell pretty dark. The dawn must be coming. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports From the Couch--Five Reasons to be Pessimistic About the IU Hoop Rebuilding Process

jshowal2 — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:21:35 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I love a good point/counter point discussion. It is even more fun when discussing something you have (or had) a great passion for. With that, I have five reasons why IU hoop is in big trouble. 1) Talent: There is a definite talent void in Bloomington. Everyone knew that would be an issue, but is the core group at IU talented enough to make a move up the Big 10 ladder and into the NCAA tournament? 2) Improvement: If you believe the talent exists, do you see the evolution of that talent into a competitive basketball team? Rivers hasn't improved since he left Georgetown. Pritchard's best games were the first four or five of his college career. Dumes still takes bad shots, Elston is a human walking violation. Vernell Jones III is the one player who's game has improved. In Jones' case, his biggest leap was in his freshmen year. His improvement in year two has not been as great. Creek may be great but lowing out a knee means he is a big question mark. There's a difference between consistency and improvement. While this team lacks consistency, they also lack the improvement needed to become good enough to win big games. 3) Fred Glass: As head of the Capitol Improvement Board Glass made Jim Irsay even richer by negotiating a sweetheart deal for the Colts owner by building Lucas Oil Stadium. When the city discovered there was a serious crisis ahead because funds to run the stadium were not budgeted, Glass was already enjoying a "new beginning" as the AD at IU. As AD, Glass has spent plenty of money, says all the right things on the radio, in print and on TV, but as of this moment IU has nothing yet to show for Glass' short reign in Bloomington. He gave Crean two more years before Crean coached his first game. He gave Lynch a big vote of confidence which was rewarded with one of the lowest graded recruiting classes in D1 college football. Neither of those decisions have made much sense. 4) Recruiting: Of the four players signed for 2010 and 2011, only one is a four star recruit. IU isn't going to beat Butler, let alone win the Big 10, with mediocre talent. I thought Mike Davis did a poor job of recruiting Indiana, but Crean hasn't done any better. Hulls and Carlino would have come to IU to play for me while Elston was willing to play for the criminal that had the job before Crean so I don't think it can be said that Crean is making great strides in the home state. Crean could reduce his recruiting budget and get better players by getting in a car and recruiting the home state. 5) Tom Crean: Other then Fred Glass, every other issue IU has is a direct result of the performance of the current IU coach. Whether you take either side of the talent argument, most people I have talked to believe this team has not shown much improvement. Silly mistakes, bad decision making and a lack of execution have marred Crean's second year in Bloomington. It is hard to understand what Crean's style of play is. They scored more points in the first half against Purdue then they did in 40 minutes at home versus Iowa. They play a 2-3 zone with Jones on the baseline and a taller, bigger, more athletic Rivers at the top and then bitches about the rebounding on the defensive end. Even more pathetic is his team quits and Crean doesn't put their asses on the bench. Players brains are connected to their asses and sitting on the pine sends a signal that players understand. What is the worse thing that could happen with sitting starters? Lose by 35 instead of 25? What the hell is the difference? Crean has Dwayne Wade to thank for his success. The IU coach has won exactly ONE NCAA tournament game without Wade. What has the coach done since DWade left, not to mention his time at IU, to make us think his tourney performance will get any better? Not much! Not much at all.

Overview of IU vs. MSU Tomorrow Night at Assembly Hall

The Truth — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:18:27 +0000

By the Truth Last year Michigan State waltzed into Assembly Hall expecting an easy victory, but IU had a different plan. Michigan State lead the Hoosiers by 13 with roughly nine minutes to go, but the Hoosiers rallied to cut that lead to just two points before Ramar Morgan tip-dunked a missed three to virtually bury the Hoosiers. Now, just one year later, IU will receive another opportunity to upset the Spartans behind a raucous crowd at Assembly Hall tomorrow night. There are five keys to the game if IU is to have any chance of beating the Spartans:

Rebound, Rebound, Rebound—Michigan State is notorious for cleaning the glass, and this year is no different as they lead the Big Ten in rebounding averaging roughly 40 boards a game resulting in an average rebound margin of 8.8 a game. IU averages 32.5 rebounds a game. If IU can’t compete on the glass then the other four keys to this game are irrelevant.
Commit good turnovers—the Spartans pride themselves on relentless defensive pressure whether it’s on the ball or in the passing lanes. A good turnover is a turnover where the ball must be taken out of bounds, which will allow IU to set their defense. IU cannot allow fast break dunks like they surrendered to William Bufford in the Ohio State game. Committing turnovers that lead to easy buckets is such a momentum killer. Michigan State’s bread-and-butter is their defense and pushing the ball up the court whenever possible. Limiting their fast break points is essential for a victory.
Christian Watford—He will most likely be matched up with Delvon Roe or Raymar Morgan. Both of these players have underachieved at Michigan State. Offensively, Watford’s range can give both of these players’ difficulties, but defensively Watford must match their physicality. Again, rebounding is crucial, so Watford better man up and put his ass into someone. You can believe I’ll be yelling at him from section G row 45.
Assembly Hall atmosphere—The Hoosiers, undeniably, play with a much greater sense of urgency at home. Against Ohio State, the crowd provided zero energy, and, in turn, the team played with zero energy. Come 7:00 tomorrow, IU needs to prove why Assembly Hall is one of the toughest places to play, not just in the Big Ten, but in the nation.
X-factor—Last year Brent Finkelmeier was the X-factor blanketing Kalin Lucas as IU made their run at the end of the game. I look for Derek Elston to be the X-factor of this game. He must play with confidence—something we haven’t seen this year—and stretch the defense. He displayed signs of knocking down the triple early in the year, but his lack of confidence has caused him to digress in that respect. Whether Elston or Finkelmeier is this game’s X-factor, at least one Hoosier outside of the starting lineup will have to accept the challenge and elevate his game if the Hoosiers want a chance of upsetting the Spartans.

As I said, rebounding is critical in this game, but the other four factors will play a large role in deciding the outcome of the game as well. While analysts and individuals that call themselves basketball gurus seem to believe Michigan State is a Final Four contender, the Spartans have yet to impress me. They haven’t shown the ability to slam the door closed on teams or establish an inside scoring presence. I am emotionally invested in the Hoosiers and want these young players to experience a bit of success before this year concludes. In order to achieve success one must BELIEVE that it is possible. These last six games have seemed to crush the spirits of these young players. Tomorrow night IU must truly BELIEVE they can win if they want any shot at all.

Sports Digest for Tuesday, February 16, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:18:28 +0000

Here are the decent stories I found for today: Hoosiers - No Big Men Yet http://www.indystar.com/article/20100216/SPORTS0601/2160345/1004/SPORTS/Help-inside-for-IU-Not-yet Hoosiers - Look to End Losing Streak Against Michigan State http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=73761 Hoosiers - Need to Overcome Internal Woes http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=73753 Hoosiers - Selby Says No http://www.indystar.com/article/20100216/SPORTS0601/2160341/1004/SPORTS/Standout-recruit-Selby-says-no-to-Hoosiers Pacers - No Trade Yets; Just Talk http://www.indystar.com/article/20100216/SPORTS04/2160343/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-just-talking-for-now-as-trade-deadline-nears IndyCar - Lola to Unveil Its Chassis Entry for 2012 http://www.indystar.com/article/20100216/SPORTS0107/2160346/1004/SPORTS/Lola-final-company-to-unveil-its-proposed-Indy-car Cubs - Samardzija Ready to Roll http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100215&content_id=8077656&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc Cubs - Myth-Busting http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2050208,CST-SPT-cub16.article Cubs - Looking Forward to a Quiet Camp http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0216-cubs-chicago--20100215,0,7894113.story

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, February 16, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:35:08 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry26.mp3]

Kravitz & Eddie Keep Getting It Done

kentsterling — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:36:19 +0000

by Kent Sterling Building The Fan was endless fun and presented a series of challenges that were as puzzling as they were predictable. Anytime a radio station automates even a single daypart - for those who are radio neophytes, automation means a computer is in charge of the audio - there is a huge risk of double-audio, dead air (silence when there is supposed to be noise), and occasionally a show from another station popping on. Not being averse to placing hurdles between myself and success if the success can be bigger because of the hurdles, I hired two complete broadcasting novices to be the signature talents for the brand. When looking for talent, I wanted three things - unquestionable work ethic, a unique and honest perspective, and an ability to listen. Kravitz and Eddie both fit that bill perfectly. You can disagree with Bob Kravitz, but if you ever doubt that he believes everything he says or writes, you are wrong. I worked with Bob for over two years, and I never saw him care more about the response of friends, family, co-workers, or anyone else to make the effort to lie or try to manipulate. Eddie is a different cat. No one out works Eddie. He prepares like a fiend, and can't wait to get into the studio for the show. He repeats what I've always said the show should represent, "the best three hours of his day" with a mocking tone, but I truly believe he loves doing it. He will do anything he's asked, once the need for that thing is explained. He is eager, well-informed, and as you know if you have ever listened to the show, knows everyone. People listening to the show always accuse Eddie of being pompous. He isn't. He is so far on the other side of pompous that he can't see it from the part of his brain where he lives. Eddie is focused, and if you don't engage his focus, you are not interesting to him. That is true of many very successful people. Show me a person who will listen attentively as others blather on and on about nothing, and I'll show you an ambitionless and unchallenged soul. That's not Eddie. Putting these two guys together was a huge risk, but I trusted that they would find each other interesting and they fit what I wanted the station to be - smart and challenging. They work hard and they trust each other. They still don't know a damn thing about radio, but with Michael Grady's help the radio part of the equation is being handled. Did I mention Michael. He is one of those guys who I believed instantly would be an enormous success. Successful people are talented, but more importantly do what it takes to be successful. There is no challenge that Michael ever rejected or duty too ponderous for his time. Show me a person who achieves and I'll show you someone who says yes reflexively. Michael says yes, and then delivers better than what was asked. There are things about doing talk radio that are transparent to the listener, but are hugely important. It's one thing to be able to talk about sports for three hours. It's another to build a daily three-hour show. Shows have structure - repeatable parts that air at the same time everyday. Without them, three hours is a really long time - both for the talent and listeners. Kravitz and Eddie were uniformly trusting and participatory in the process as we put together the "Five O'Clock Fight" with the help of Steve Reynolds, consultant to some of the best radio shows in the world. They continue working without me, and I don't miss them because the show sounds just fine six weeks after my demise. The only reason I would miss the work would be if somehow the show got screwed up and I felt I could help. It's not. Kravitz & Eddie is what it has been, a really, really good radio show that happens to be about sports. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Evan Bayh Is My New Favorite Senator

kentsterling — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:06:48 +0000

by Kent Sterling Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) announced yesterday that he will not seek a third term this year, and then today in an interview on MSNBC challenged the American voters to expel incumbents as they head to the ballot box. [caption id="attachment_1121" align="alignright" width="296" caption="The usually dull Evan Bayh has started saying some very exciting things now that he has no election to win."][/caption] Bayh criticized the status quo in Washington, "There's just too much brain-dead partisanship," He said the public will continue to harbor hostile feelings toward Congress "until we change this town." Bayh is a centrist who advocates taking a half-loaf of bread when a full loaf is unavailable. Conciliators are not popular on either side, and to both sides discredit, they are trying to poke holes in Bayh's motivation in escaping from the senate prior to this mid-term election. I'm no political scientist, but I do know that I don't trust the men who try to wrestle political advantage rather than talk about what might be good for the American people. Politics is a shitty business, and those mopes who try to turn government into a sports of winners and losers are creating a country where nothing is possible, and everything is at risk. There is such animosity between republicans and democrats, and I'm sure it has existed for decades, that if one party finds a great solution for one of the huge problems of our time, the other party will oppose and kill it because the passage of a positive bill will give that party an advantage. As the republicans became known for being the fiscally responsible party, the democrats tried to out-thrifty them. Bill Clinton attacked the budget deficit with verve. The republicans listened to critics who claimed their responsibility in fighting the deficit was evidence of heartlessness and started spending money quicker than the democrats had ever dreamed. This new group of democrats refuse to be outspent be the republicans, so they have turned the spicket even further - beyond irresponsibility toward psychosis. They are like Don Ameche's character in "Cocoon". Ameche knows he's going into space, so he withdraws all of his savings, hands out $100-bills to strangers, and throws the rest into the air. But those who govern us are really withdrawing our grandchildren's cash, and no one gets to go to space with Tahnee Welch and Brian Dennehy. Bayh said this morning what I have done since 1992, vote against every incumbant. Membership in the U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate, or statehouses and senates should be reserved for those who are willing to govern and then be replaced if the electorate doesn't much care for the way the government does their business. By "their" business, I mean the business of the people who elected them. To treat a term in congress as a two-year long job interview with the only goal being to be hired is a misuse of the office. When I was a kid during the Carter Administration, my family had dinner with a couple in New Albany, Indiana - Ty and Peggy Noe. Mr. Noe could bit a golf ball about 320 back in the days before titanium when nobody knocked it that far. That was all the credential needed to get my attention at dinner, and I recall Mr. Noe saying that America needs a revolution. I remember thinking that we get the chance at one every two years. Throw them out. Throw them all out. Evan Bayh said it today, and he's right. Bayh is still boring, but imbued with the freedom bailing provides, he got my attention today without knocking the hell out of a drive at Crooked Stick. We get the government we deserve, and that reflection upon us is horrifying. Let's move past antipathy toward those who view the world differently, and find some common ground. Stop trying to get elected, and focus on our business. If that doesn't happen, next person up. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

IU Fights and Loses to #11 Michigan State

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:02:57 +0000

by Kent Sterling There are some things freshman just cannot do, and one of them is fighting through screens set by big seniors like Michigan State's Raymar Morgan. The result of getting caught in the wash created by those screens was a series of open jumpers by Michigan State that they knocked down in the first half like they were at a shootaround. Really good Indiana teams of the past got some decent production out of freshmen, but overall the heavy lifting was done by seniors, juniors, and sophs. Freshmen rarely were difference makers. Indiana leads the Big Ten in minutes played by freshmen by a large margin. I feel better after tonight's loss than I have at any point this season. Michigan State provides a tough test for a young team. Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo is an almost flawless tactician who relentlessly scratches and picks at the weaknesses of opponents. Jordan Hulls is going to be a tenacious pain in the ass in two years. Today, he has some trouble moving around or through those screens. Christian Watford has trouble clearing enough space to get that 12-footer he likes so well. Next year, with an extra 15 pounds of muscle, he'll clear plenty of space. Derek Elston looks a little like Eric Anderson with that #32 on his back, and maybe we'll play like Anderson at some point. Bobby Capobianco is a big kid for a freshman, but this is his first trip through the Big Ten too, and the lessons he learns this year will help him defend without fouling. Any one of these freshmen would be a good complimentary player surrounded by upperclassmen, but they are surrounded by each other and a couple of sophomores. The senior leadership on this team is lacking with Jobe, whose play tonight was frenetic and awkward, and Devan Dumes, who seems to be on a different page from the rest of the Hoosiers most of the time. Dumes' page works when he gets hot, but when the shot doesn't fall it can be a long night watching Devan jack it up. The kids all say the right things about hard work and sticking together, you hope it's happening because if they can maintain a positive outlook toward the future, the Hoosiers can get back to raising some hell in two years. If it's possible to use Verdell Jones III's improvement from his freshman year to today as a guide for the current frosh, and add back both Matt Roth and Maurice Creek, Hoosier fans may not need to wait two years. There is a definite lack of size on this season's roster and in the current make-up of the next two recruiting classes, but in losing only Jobe and Dumes, and adding a year of seasoning and muscle will help the Hoosiers bridge the gap with the upper echelon of the Big Ten. You know, I haven't had a lot of good things to say about Dumes, but over the past few games, he has done some good things for IU. He isn't so trigger happy as he was earlier in the season, and he drew a charge tonight, so the kid isn't the pariah I have made him out to be. I'm starting to warm to Tom Crean as well. His theatrical behavior on the bench notwithstanding, the Hoosiers had little reason to show up tonight after the ass-kicking they suffered in Madison on Saturday, they could pack it in, but they played with energy tonight. The game didn't really get out of hand until the consecutive triples with six-minutes left. Still, the Hoosiers competed. IU is not going to be able to go get the top five kids in a high school class like Kentucky because another NCAA violation might bring about the death penalty from the NCAA. IU is now the Delta House of Men's Basketball, and Tom Crean is not going to throw a toga party and let Jordan Hulls play the role of Pinto and bang President McRobbie's daughter. Crean is going to recruit within the rules, and unfortunately that will put IU behind programs with rogue coaches who can migrate from place to place without serious repercussions or have a system well-established for boosters to funnel cash, trinkets, and baubles to recruits. Nights like this are the price Indiana fans pay for what's coming, and while that may not be a return to biannual Big Ten Championships and Final Four appearances every five years, it's sure going to beat this. Brighter skies are ahead. Have faith, and if you can't find faith within you, head to Nick's. They fill buckets with faith at Nick's. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Thursday, February 17, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:40:43 +0000

Here are today's big stories: Hoosiers Lose to Michigan State - Kravitz - http://www.indystar.com/article/20100217/SPORTS15/2170363/1004/SPORTS/Road-to-respectability-filled-with-potholes http://www.indystar.com/article/20100217/SPORTS0601/2170362/1004/SPORTS/Hoosiers-discover-2s-count-more-than-1s http://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1053021 http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=73800 http://www.jg.net/article/20100217/SPORTS0301/302179992/1089/SPORTS0301 http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=73792 http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=73793 Hoosiers - Crean's rebuilding a work in progress - http://www.greenandwhite.com/article/20100216/GW0201/100216001 Colts - Saints flag flying outside Governor Daniels office - http://www.indystar.com/article/20100217/SPORTS03/2170390/1004/SPORTS/Saints-flag-posted-outside-Daniels-office Boilers - Can Purdue stop Ohio State's Evan Turner - http://www.indystar.com/article/20100217/SPORTS0602/2170343/1004/SPORTS/Can-Purdue-s-stars-thwart-Ohio-State-s-Turner Pacers - Working to fix silly errors - http://www.indystar.com/article/20100217/SPORTS04/2170324/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-work-on-fixing-silly-errors Cubs - Time for the Cubs Inquisition- http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2052397,CST-SPT-cub17.article Cubs - Pre-sale surcharge risks alienating fans - http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/2053001,CST-NWS-brown17.article Cubs - Ten things to watch during spring training - http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0217-cubs-10-things-chicago--20100216,0,1703599.story Cubs - Soto's second chance - http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0217-cubs-bits-chicago--20100216,0,5002373.story

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, February 17, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:14:39 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry27.mp3]

All Sports Parents Are the Same - Crazy

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:31:23 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1142" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="An angry parent whom I do not know"][/caption] by Kent Sterling Watching sports parents at every level is the same. It doesn't matter whether the kid is in college, the NBA, high school, or a fifth grader. They are all sure the coach just doesn't see their kid as the person and player he is. The officials are boobs and single their kid. And they try their best to appear as though they care about all the kids equally. Not all of them make the effort to care about other kids, or be perceived as though they do. Some are just unrepentant assholes, and they aren't afraid to tell you all about how their kid is the best player in the school, on the team, or in the world. Over the past two years, I've seen them all. Almost exactly two years ago, I sat immediately in front of Armon Bassett's Dad at the IU vs. Ohio State game in Assembly Hall. I had a feeling it was Bassett's Dad because he was wearing a fancy sweatsuit and was an African-American. That meant it was either a player's dad or former IU President Adam Herbert. I've seen Herbert, so I could eliminate him. I know Eric Gordon's Dad a very little bit, so he was eliminated. Then, Bassett made a shot. Instead of cheering, this guy told everyone that Armon doesn't do that enough and how the system at IU was holding him back. I took that to mean that the guy thought Armon was as good or better than Eric Gordon. Only a dad could think something that silly. I made it a point to tell my friend Paulie Balst, with whom I sat, how good a shooter Armon is. Unfortunately, my habit of being confused by name pronunciations reared its ugly head. (I have met John Feinstein, have read most of the books he's written, and heard him on the radio and TV dozens of times, but ask me whether his last name is pronounced "FINE-steen" or "FINE-stine" and I have precisely a 50% chance of getting it right.) I called Armon Bassett, "ARM-on". Keep in mind that I was effusive in my praise. Bassett's Dad snapped around and chastised my inability to pronounce his kid's name as though it was preposterous that anyone in the state would not have his kid's bio committed to memory. He then said it was a good thing arm-ON's Mother didn't hear me because "she would tear your head off". Conversely, I had a party last year, and Jennifer McRoberts came. The Pacers were playing, and she was riveted as she watched to see if Josh would get into the game. Her behavior was exactly how I would have expected a mom of a high school kid to act as she watched a road game she couldn't attend. She was passionate and when Josh got into the game, her focus was complete. I always thought that NBA parents would enjoy basketball without all the stress because of the millions of dollars the kid was able to stuff into his bank account. Nope. They are just the same. My nephew Tate played in a tournament last weekend, and my family and I caught one of the games. Tate is nine or ten, and is a really good player. His parents - my sister and brother-in-law - are sane and realistic people. They are very aware that winning and losing for kids is irrelevant. They know that Tate being a great kid is more important than his skill as a ballplayer. They also yell and scream at officials like it's their job. In the interest of full-disclosure, my Dad was an absolute lunatic with umpires and referees when he was a fan. I sat next to him at the 1981 Seymour Regional game between New Albany and Floyd Central when Dad threw an unlit cigar at a ref because of a call he felt went against New Albany. Because Dad had a good arm, even a 51, he hit the official square in the back. So my sister acquired her ill-temper honestly. Of course, I did the same thing. Injustice toward my kin requires my loud attention. My son plays college basketball at Loyola of Chicago. I sit among the parents, as I will tonight at the Ramblers play Valpo. The parents - one in particular - is vociferous in the extreme toward the officials. He gets angry to the point he will get out of his seat and walk toward the court screaming. I find it hilarious because I've done the same thing, but not quite with equal anger. This makes that dad crazier than I am, and I take great solace in that. I get to tell my wife, "I may be nuts, but look at that guy. Aren't you lucky?" If you are a sports parent, do yourself a favor and forgive yourself for all of your passionate outbursts toward coaches and officials. You aren't alone, and you are likely no crazier than anyone else. If you are a coach, forgive all the parents for being passionate ambassadors for their children. Parents are easily the worst thing about coaching kids, but that comes with the territory. When my son was in the fourth thru seventh grade, he was fortunate enough to be coached by a really good guy and coach who was also the coach of a successful high school team. At the end of the first year, I asked him what he wants from parents. He told me, "A handshake and a thank you at the end of the season." At the end of every game, give your kid a hug and kiss. Make sure they are having fun. If they walk away from the game with a smile, drive home happy. Then, make sure and thank your coach and shake his hand at the end of the season. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Baseball Season is Almost upon Us

Ryan Sterling — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:32:39 +0000

by The Rainman My favorite season of the year is almost here, baseball season. Yeah it’s nearly two months until the actual start of the regular season, but pitchers and catchers report to spring training this week and within the next week full workouts begin. I cannot help but get excited even though the team which I have loved for as long as I can remember is the Chicago Cubs. To me there is nothing better than hopping on the L, getting off at Addison, scalping some tickets and enjoying a game at the greatest ballpark in the world. Wrigley Field is something sacred to me and countless others across the country, but what will these games be like? Will I go to enjoy some good company or will I go to see a team looking to win the pennant? (Either way I will still be attending more than a few games) With a few off-season moves and some up and coming prospects the Cubs look to be better than average . They still have no leadoff man. They still lack a left-handed bat in the middle of the lineup. They still lack the defensive prowess to make up for their inability to put runs across. And I still don’t see the speed on the base paths to create runs. However, it’s not all gloom and doom. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. No World Baseball Classic this year. That means Carlos Marmol and Giovanny Soto had a whole winter to dedicate entirely to the Cubs. Soto has reportedly lost more than 30 pounds and if he can be the player he was in ’08 this Cubs team has a chance to be good offensively. Two other keys are the health of Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee. To have a chance in the National League Central the Cubs will need minimum 145 games apiece from these two injury prone players. The off-season acquisitions of Marlon Byrd and Xavier Nady in the outfield and what appears to be addition by subtraction in the trade of Milton Bradley make the Cubs, in my opinion, a better team off the field. The departure of Rich Harden is hard to swallow. Kevin Gregg being gone is something to cheer about. This team will not be a frustrating as last year’s team, and that will make it more enjoyable to sit in the stands. If the Cubs are not in contention heading into the All-Star break look for whole sale trades to take place. Prospects and draft picks are what the Cubs need to rebuild what should have been a great team over the last 5 years. If I’m the Ricketts family and Jim Hendry I give this team until July to prove they are contenders. If not, good-bye to Soriano, good-bye to Zambrano, good-bye to Lee, and start over. I cannot really get a good gage on this season for the Cubs. They have the potential to be really good, but they still need a leadoff man. Maybe Theriot can be the answer. There are question marks all over this team, but I think that all Cubs fans can agree on one thing: this summer at Wrigley will be one to remember and whether or not the Cubs are winning it will not dampen the mood of Wrigleyville. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Dan Dakich - Rollin' on 1070-The Fan

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:45:37 +0000

by Kent Sterling Listeners look for a couple of different things in a talk host, but the overall skill set for a great talk host is an ability to [caption id="attachment_1148" align="alignright" width="93" caption="Peerless Radio Host Dan Dakich"][/caption] present unique information and perspective in a compelling and fun way. That is as close a description of what you get with the Dan Dakich Show as any I can think of. I'll give you an example. Today, Dan previewed the huge game tonight in Columbus between Purdue and Ohio State. Dan told me and everyone else listening to watch for the Buckeyes use of flat ball screens to free up Evan Turner. He then explained the difference between a flat ball screen (the screener's back is to the bucket) and a side screen (back to the sideline). Ohio State uses the flat screen to spring Turner free of his defender as he moves directly toward the basket. Ohio State also uses a 1-3-1 zone to defend. This zone allows Thad Matta to rest his guys a little on defense and use a six-man rotation. Nobody brings both the knowledge of X's and O's and the ability to explain them to neophytes like Dan Dakich. Most of what I know about basketball I learn from watching thousands of games and listening to Dan explain the game. We had a lot of meetings that ended with ten-minutes of Dan diagramming plays on my legal pad. It's easy to see why Dan was such an outstanding coach. If he can teach me how flex works, he would have no problem with people who actually run it. Dan does much more than that. He watches tape like a coach. DVR is a great tool for dipshits like me and for radio hosts to record games and then watch later in the season, as Dan did last night with the first OSU vs. Purdue game. You know what most radio hosts do when they get home? They sleep, grab some dinner, watch sitcoms, and try to get aways from the stress of performing for three or four hours everyday. Dan? He's watching tape so he knows what the hell he's talking about. Dan talks about sports not in some distant academic way. He brings passion and humor to his performance, and as unpleasant as it might be for hosts to admit, it is every bit the performance as a singer at Conseco Fieldhouse or a comedian at Cracker's. There isn't a live audience, but that makes it even more difficult for the host. There is a sense in the studio for a host that he is just talking to himself. Without some kind of feedback, it's tough to have confidence that what you are saying has importance to anyone. Dan walked into the studio prepared to talk for three hours on day one, and he's still bringing that energy and work ethic. Denny Smith, a friend and host of "Investing Sense" on WIBC told me something last week in reference to my recent reversal of fortune, "A successful person, when presented with a catastrophic loss, will be successful again in two years." Dan Dakich was replaced as head coach at Indiana University on or close to April 1, 2008. That puts him six weeks away from that two-year mark. Dan's current gig at The Fan and his analyst role on the Big Ten Network is making Denny look like the very smart man he is. Dan's show airs from 10a-1p each weekday on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis, and if you want to spend a fruitful three hours listening to a smart and funny guy talk about sports, check out the show. If you don't live in the area, go to www.1070thefan.com and click to listen. It's the best show of its kind in the country. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Tiger Woods Statement Transcript

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:20:03 +0000

by Kent Sterling Because of connections within the Tiger Woods camp, we have received what is reported to be an early copy of the statement Tiger Woods will read Friday morning at 11:30a in Ponte Vedra: "Thank you for coming. I want you to know how deeply sorry I am for the behavior that caused so much turmoil and pain for my family and fans. First, I would like to publicly apologize to my lovely wife Elin whose curiosity, temper, strength, and financial shrewdness I underestimated. My life would have been much easier if I had simply said no to the dozens if not hundreds of waitresses, bartenders, prostitutes, hotel maids, strippers, blackjack dealers, WalMart cashiers, sandwich artists, pedestrians, professional shoppers, and dog groomers who asked if my Escalade was comfortable with the seat down. "I would also like to apologize to golf fans everywhere for letting them down. You counted on me to either be true to Elin (deliberately and with emphasis) - the most beautiful and supportive woman in the world - or at the minimum, use my fame and fortune to score with better than the waitress from Perkin's, who looks eerily similar to the Meredith character on "The Office". "As you can see, my physical scars have healed. My emotional scars were attended to at a facility in Mississippi. My financial scars? The bleeding continues. My marriage will be strong again as the trust with Elin (deliberately and with emphasis) - the most beautiful and supportive woman in the world - is rebuilt through my one-day-at-a-time approach to my addiction which led to so many thrilling yet ultimately unpleasant interludes in the Escalade, with the exception of those with the waitress from Perkin's. Those cannot be explained other than to say they were unpleasant from start to finish and if anything should reaffirm in the mind of my wife Elin (deliberately and with emphasis) - the most beautiful and supportive woman in the world - and the collective mind of America that I am a sex addict, it is my repeated dalliances with her. "Please allow my family to continue healing without further intrusion. I will return to competition at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Invitational. Please respect my privacy. Please respect the privacy of my wife Elin (deliberately and with emphasis) - the most beautiful and supportive woman in the world. And for those of you who may have enjoyed a respectable payday from time-to-time at the expense of my addiction, please do not wait on me, deal to me, dance for me, clean for me, or approach me while wearing fishnet stockings and a short leather skirt. "Thank you" Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Jordan Hulls: A Bright Spot in a Dark Season

The Truth — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:41:56 +0000

by The Truth He’s not the fastest, quickest, strongest, or tallest player on the floor, but Jordan Hulls is my favorite Hoosier to watch play. His uncanny ability to get to the rim and finish where Tom Pritchard can’t simply baffles me. He’s a dead-eye from three-point range, and on a consistent basis Hulls is the most intelligent basketball player on the court. A lot of talk surrounds Mo Creek and Christian Watford when talk about freshman arises, but an uplifting sign for the Hoosiers this season has been the development of Bloomington native Jordan Hulls. In his senior year of high school, Hulls was named Mr. Basketball over players such as D.J Byrd, Derek Elston and Stephen Van Treese. My expectations were low when Hulls signed with the Hoosiers because of his lack of athleticism, but he has developed a way to compensate—he uses his brain. He rarely attempts an ill-advised shot or makes an unforced turnover. He sees the floor well and is exceptional—maybe too often—at making the extra pass. Unfortunately, last night Hulls struggled shooting going just two for seven, totaling five points, on shots that came back to back early in the game. He went one for five from behind the arch, but five threes ought to be the bare minimum for Hulls in a game. IU needs him to start firing with no conscience imitating the play of former IU great point guard Tom Coverdale. Hulls hasn’t developed that moxie that Coverdale played with but will as he matures. Should Rivers or Hulls start? Is this even a question anymore? A few times this year Crean has started both Hulls and Rivers, which I am not opposed to, but Hulls should start at the point. My former AAU coach, Jim O’Brien, used to stress the fact that if you can’t shoot, you can’t play. Hulls brings this dimension to the game where as Rivers does not. Yes, Rivers may be a better defender and more athletic, but Hulls is smarter with the basketball and is a crafty finisher who can shoot free throws. His shooting ability allows the Hoosiers to stretch the floor, which is missing with Rivers in the ball game. This year Hulls may not fill the stat sheet, but his effectiveness on the floor has been great all year. He has a knack for finding the open player, understands team defense and isn’t afraid to step in and take a charge. These plays aren’t a surprise to me because I played against Bloomington South in high school, and I know J.R. Holmes, head basketball coach at Bloomington South, stresses the importance of these plays. The most important characteristic Hulls can develop is leadership. IU has lacked leadership for two years, and that responsibility falls on the point guard. With my dad being a former coach, I understand the importance of a coach having a player he can trust on the floor. Granted, it’s difficult to lead as a freshman, but no other player has filled that void. Despite what has been a disappointing season so far, a bright spot for the Hoosiers has been the play of Jordan Hulls. I look forward to watching his game develop as he matures and expect him to be a huge contributor his entire career here at Indiana University.

Sports Digest - Thursday, February 18, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:25:43 +0000

Boilers - Big Win at Ohio State http://www.indystar.com/article/20100218/SPORTS0602/2180460/1004/SPORTS/Purdue-keeps-pace-in-Big-Ten-race-with-win http://purdue.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1053413 Pacers - Kravitz - Must Lose Now to Win Later http://www.indystar.com/article/20100218/SPORTS15/2180457/1004/SPORTS/To-win-the-Pacers-must-lose Pacers - Spurs Beat Pacers in Close One http://www.indystar.com/article/20100218/SPORTS04/2180449/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-allow-Spurs-too-many-2nd-shots Pacers Unlikely to Make Day - Trade Deadline Today at http://www.indystar.com/article/20100218/SPORTS04/2180455/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-unlikely-to-make-a-deal Colts - Bullitt Gives Ring to Dad; Doesn't Want to See It http://www.indystar.com/article/20100218/SPORTS03/2180461/1004/SPORTS/Bullitt-gives-AFC-title-ring-to-father Butler Holds Court Against Lowly UIC http://www.indystar.com/article/20100218/SPORTS0605/2180450/1004/SPORTS/Butler-keeps-its-cool-despite-icy-start Franklin Central Basketball Player Struggles with Quick Brain Tumor http://www.indystar.com/article/20100218/SPORTS0203/2180451/1004/SPORTS/Brain-tumor-quickly-strikes-sophomore-player Hoosiers - Crean Seeks Small Victories as Hoosiers Rebuild http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/paul_daugherty/02/17/crean/ Cubs - Begin Run for Redemption http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100217&content_id=8087898&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc Cubs - Lilly Hoping to Be Back by Opening Day http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100217&content_id=8085178&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc Cubs - Piniella's Cubs Blues http://www.suntimes.com/sports/deluca/2055771,CST-SPT-deluca18.article Cubs - Optimism Abounds in Mesa http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0218-cubs-chicago--20100217,0,3170924.story

Harry on Sports - Thursday, February 18, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:45:39 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry-28.mp3]

Franklin Central Boy's Fight Brings Perspective

kentsterling — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:42:01 +0000

by Kent Sterling Perspective sucks. It's earned through pain. Every sport parent suffers through the ignorance of taking each game a little too seriously. We think that the coach is an idiot because he doesn't put our kid in the position where he can best succeed. We think that our kids need to get grittier. We think the officials are boobs because they call a charge on our kid instead of a block on the opposing kid. We leave games feeling good or bad based on our kid's performance, until we are reminded that none of it means a damn thing. Michael Pointer in this morning's Indianapolis Star reports Kevin Massey, a sophomore at Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis who plays basketball is fighting for his life this morning at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital with a brain tumor. Two weeks ago Kevin told teammates he had a sore calf. The sore calf turned into numbness and that prompted a visit to the doctor, who recommended a trip to see a neurologist. Before the appointment, Kevin's condition declined and he was rushed to the hospital, where the doctors found a bleed in his brain stem. The bleeding has stopped, they believe, and that will allow Kevin to begin radiation treatments soon. Two weeks ago, Kevin's parents might have hoped that FC Coach Mark James would see wisdom in choosing to dress Kevin for a varsity game. Today, they keep a vigil at Kevin's bedside praying that God allows him to walk out of the hospital. In deep, dark places parents don't even like to admit exist, they know that life is fleeting and that children's hospital are filled with sons and daughters of parents just like them, and that those kids are sometimes called to God. (I'm not a tremendously or even passingly religious man, but I cannot use the "D" word when talking about the worst case scenario for those kids. I hope you'll excuse my using God's name/image/etc... for my own fear-based purpose, but I can't think of a more apt phrase despite my own reluctance to believe in a deity that looks after us - ironically because so many kids are taken too soon.) We might rage at officials and coaches to prove to ourselves that our children are immortal and not subject to the frailty we witness in Kevin. Denial is a wonderful tool, without which we might not make it. Last night, I watched my son play a couple of minutes for Loyola against Valparaiso. He turned it over once, grabbed a rebound, and missed a three, and I could not have given a shit less. My kid was doing what he loved, at a time when most have tucked away childish things. He continues to work with faith and diligence, and the reward for that is not measured in minutes or points. The reward is the continued faith itself. He is a magnificent person, and I thank God or life or whatever manifestation of a higher power I can conjure, for the opportunity to watch him express that faith on the basketball court. We aren't allowed to watch him in the classroom, so the court will have to suffice. We think good thoughts for Kevin and his family, and hope for his complete recovery. We hope that Mark James finds the words to help the rest of his players through this tough time, and make this a time where they gain the wisdom that will make them good adults, parents, and perhaps coaches themselves. We also are thankful that it hasn't happened to us. Love can make you stupid, but it can also bring you grace. Being a parent allows us to run the gamut from being blissfully ignorant and idiotic, as well as vulnerable, fragile, and compassionate. Please take a moment to think about Kevin and his family. Maybe you have the means to write a check to help offset the enormous cost of Kevin's medical cost (Mutual Savings Bank, 5630 S. Franklin Road, Indianapolis, Ind. 46239). Before you do any of that though, grab your kid tonight, hug and kiss him or her, and be thankful you have the opportunity to do it. If you are fortunate enough to have a kid in sports, theater, choir, or any other extracurricular activity, watch minus the pride, anxiety, and fear of judgement and failure. Just watch your kid do his of her thing and enjoy it for what it is - an expression of faith, love, and joy. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports from the Couch--Wednesday was a good night

jshowal2 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 01:56:32 +0000

by Jeff Showalter With football season ending and IU's beleaguered program on a season ending collapse, it's hard to get to excited about winter in Indiana. Last night made me believe basketball season isn't a complete waste as I flipped back and forth between a great college basketball game and a really good basketball team. Purdue and Ohio State played their second "knock down drag out" last night. Purdue went up big, and held on thru a desperate Buckeye rally to hold on after John Diebler's 3 pointer clanged off the back iron. Both teams are pretty good, but completely different in composition. Purdue is really balanced, with 3 juniors in Johnson, Hummel and Moore that can go for 20 plus any night. OSU runs their whole offense thru Evan Turner and he runs pick and roll or a 1-4 spread and finds his own shot or passes out of the double team for open looks from Diebler or David Lighty. Both teams are so different, but in a lot of ways the same. Both play an aggressive, physical defense. Purdue plays mostly man-to-man while OSU mixes it up with a zone, a zone trap and man-to-man. Both are tenacious rebounding teams from multiple positons on the floor. Turner leads the Big 10 in rebounding from a guard position. Turner is the real deal and is going to make a lot of money next year in the NBA. What made this game great was that you wanted to see more. The teams have played twice with both teams winning on the oppositions floor. In a way it is like a really good NBA playoff series expecting both teams to win on either court. I'd watch a best of seven between these two teams. It had the feel of the great match ups of the "good old days". IU/PU, Michigan/Illinois, IU/OSU were all rivalries in the late 80's that were wars. Battles of great athletes that were coached well and played hard. We can only hope they have one more game at the Big 10 Tourney here in Indy. Hell a fourth game at Lucas Oil would be ok for me. At commercials and halftime, I flipped to watch Butler continue on their undefeated Horizon League run. The game wasn't close after the first 15 minutes, but Butler is still fun to watch. They aren't the Butler teams of the past few years. They make a lot of mistakes with the ball and they don't shoot it as well as teams past; (Gordon-plesae quit floating on your jumper. There is a reason your percentage has gone from 45% last year to 30% this year from behind the arc) but this team plays just as hard as Purdue and OSU. I still don't know if Butler can make a run in the NCAA's but if they can get a 4 or 5 seed and luck into playing a 12 and 13 in the first two rounds, this team can spring board the confidence to a final eight. Either way, it was a good night for college hoops.

Sports Digest - Friday, February 19, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:11:49 +0000

Here are the stories of interest for today. Remember the Tiger statement at 11a. Boilers - Worthy of #1 Seed? http://www.indystar.com/article/20100219/SPORTS0602/2190329/1004/SPORTS/Road-wins-put-Purdue-in-position-for-a-No.-1-seed Pacers Stand Pat and Watch Trade Deadline Roll Past http://www.indystar.com/article/20100219/SPORTS04/2190332/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-talks-with-Bobcats-don-t-result-in-deal Hoosiers - Great Story About Historic Sign from Old Assembly Hall http://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1053745 Hoosiers Have Size Problems http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=73873 Cubs - "New" Zambrano in '10 http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2058019,CST-SPT-cub19.article http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0219-cubs-chicago-spring-training-20100218,0,2502657.story Cubs - Arbitration and Leadoff - Two Theriot Debates http://www.suntimes.com/sports/deluca/2057740,CST-SPT-deluca19.article Cubs - Lilly, Guzman, Nady Hurt; Hope to Recover for Season http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2057842,CST-SPT-cubnt19.article

Harry on Sports - Friday, February 19, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:31:46 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry28.mp3]

Tiger Will Try to Control Message - a Mistake

kentsterling — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:26:54 +0000

by Kent Sterling Tiger Woods is like all young men who have never been denied anything. He believes he can overcome any problem [caption id="attachment_1199" align="alignright" width="117" caption="Will Tiger Cry? No Way."][/caption] through the sheer force of his own will. After establishing himself as the world's best golfer, he completely rebuilt his swing so he would be better. In the 2008 U.S. Open, Tiger battled through torn knee ligaments to not only compete, but win. When his first professional caddie, Mike "Fluff" Cowan stopped kneeling at Tiger's alter, he was promptly replaced with Stevie Williams, who clearly knows better. Tiger gets what Tiger wants, or at least he has for the past fifteen years as a golf icon. That included the physical pleasures of porn stars, strippers, and Perkin's waitresses. Now, he is being held accountable by his wife Elin and the public who helped make Tiger one of the most popular and effective endorsers in the world. Tiger has tried like hell to manage the situation over the past almost three months. He entered rehab in Mississippi, tried to rebuild trust with Elin, and hoped that time away would dim America's curiosity and need to witness an open act of honest contrition. No such luck. America didn't really move on so much as hit the pause button on their desire to see the fallen hero admit the error of his ways and beg for forgiveness. Tiger is going to take another swipe at controlling his story and image again today. If he was smart, he would sit down alongside Elin with Steve Kroft for an hour, apologize, cry, and show that he is keenly aware that he is a fallible man. What he will do today is try to give America and the world just enough to be able to get people to forget this awful business where his body sought solace with virtually every port in a storm. America has an infallible barometer for genuine apology. We rejected Mark McGwire and Pete Rose. Rose in particular was dismissed as a charlatan more interested in selling his book than honestly telling us that he screwed up and regrets it. He was sorry that he got caught, but still doesn't understand the big deal. Timing can be everything, and McGwire's apology was a hollow act to diffuse the unpleasantness that surrounded his return to baseball. MLB Commissioner certainly didn't want to spend his summer asking whether he felt that an unrepentant steroid abuser serving as a hitting coach was a problem for the game, so he sat a tearful McGwire in front of Bob Costas. McGwire didn't help his cause by saying that he refused to be honest with Congress because they wouldn't grant him immunity. Honesty which is also convenient rings hollow. Honesty with risk is respected. America didn't respect Rose or McGwire for their apologies, and it's very likely that Tiger will offer nothing but similar platitudes. Eddie White on 1070 - The Fan speculated that Tiger is being prompted by Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne and the membership there to put all of this madness behind him so that when he comes to Augusta in April for The Masters, the press doesn't descend upon Magnolia Lane like a plague of locusts. Eddie sometimes says things that people think are a little nutty, and then what he says comes to pass. That is because he knows people, and if Eddie says that Payne and the cabal Augusta elders who rule the most sacred 365 acres in golf need Tiger to apologize and play a tourney prior to The Masters, that is what has happened. That makes this a convenient apology, and America doesn't like those. Tiger needs to pay, and America needs to see it. Egomaniacs, and there is no way a man as successful in golf and business isn't an egomaniac - at least by the standards of those of us who work hard for his tip money, do not cede power to others easily, like control. Tiger excluding himself from the pain of being questioned by a bunch of rabble with microphones is trying to exert as much control as he can. What he doesn't realize is that he likely has one shot at redemption. If Tiger's contrition isn't complete and awkward to the point where he engages America's need to mother, he will never get another chance. All subsequent bites at this apple will be seen as an incremental act to inch closer to the line where his life can return to normal because his previous acts didn't get the job done. Eventually he will sit with Steve Kroft because that will do the job. How do we know it will? Because that's what Bill Clinton did, and Bill Clinton is the smartest and most successful manipulator of the American public in recent history. Tiger should wear a "WWBD" bracelet. Clinton was a sex addict who used the Oval Office, the most hallowed governmental 600 square feet in the world, as his private sex hideaway. Clinton made it through, and so can Tiger if he follows Clinton's example. Today's performance will not serve Tiger well because it will be seen as an effort to manipulate us. It will be another amusing step toward his ultimate mea culpa. This is not the final act of his run to hitting bottom. This will bring the curtain down on the first act. There will be more, much more. Then America will forgive.

Tiger Woods Apology Seems Sincere

kentsterling — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:53:00 +0000

by Kent Sterling Tiger Woods in his 15 minute statement appeared to be sincere, decent, and humble. I'm sort of ashamed to say I [caption id="attachment_1202" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Tiger expresses remorse"][/caption] bought it. I enjoy thinking myself a good judge of honesty, and I thought Tiger came with a nice dose of honesty in admitting his rampant series of indiscretions with a series of random women. Facing the fire would have been nice, but he seemed to be genuinely contrite. His praise of Elin seemed to be rooted in admiration rather than manipulation. Tiger's anger toward the media was contained to specifics and poor behavior in relation to his family. He seemed to understand that whatever happens to him has been earned through his poor choices, but asked that those who did nothing to earn this focus be spared humiliation. Tiger looked like a guy who has learned some things about life - the first of which is that we are all responsible for our actions regardless of the cause. Money and fame doesn't excuse the bad behavior that is available around every corner. People make decisions. We decide who we are. To allow money and fame to corrupt our core beliefs reflects an immorality no less profound than that exhibited by the less financially blessed. The kids who idolize him were mentioned again and again, and that was appropriate. There are so many families that are broken - so many kids without a steady and present male role model that those who have achieved excellence in sports are relied upon to convey what is acceptable - that a man like Tiger owes those kids benefitted by his foundation more than the resources it provides. He owes them a positive example, and he seems to understand that. Honest contrition is what he seemed to bring, and that's tough for a guy to do on his own. Usually, that kind of disclosure requires the skill of an interviewer. Good for Tiger for making himself so emotionally available for 13 minutes. There will undoubtedly be cynics who believe Tiger is simply trying to make this go away, and that his performance, while splendid, was contrived. I looked for a reason to be one of those guys. Frankly, it's a little more fun to poke holes at arrogance than congratulate and admire contrition, but I saw no evidence of theatricality or insincerity. The moment at which we become adults is when we understand that we will never have nearly as many answers as there are questions, and that discovery is where the joy of life lies. Tiger looks like a man who understands that. No man can simply steamroll over life's challenges and control all he surveys, and the guy at the podium today seems to be on the road toward living a life more in keeping with that reality. The irony is that excellence in sports is generally enjoyed by narcissistic bastards who indeed believe that they completely control their environment. Tiger may be on the road to a Bobby Jones level of sanity that will make excellence on the golf course seem irrelevant. What is the karmic importance of hitting a dimpled ball far and straight or rolling putts true? Will he return to the course with urgency, or will he come to the realization that life is about more than Green Jackets. Tiger mentioned Buddhism and his need to embrace it as his life's philosophy. Here are the four Noble Truths of Buddhism (finally my East Asian Studies course at Indiana University pays off!): 1) Everyone suffers, (2) we are the cause of our own suffering, (3) to end our suffering, we must stop doing what causes it, and (4) when suffering is ended we are on the path to enlightenment. If Tiger assigns any of the blame for his suffering to golf, Phil Mickleson might win a half-dozen more majors. The acquisition of wisdom can become a full-time vocation. How many truly wise men do you find on the range banging 500 balls a day?

Harry on Sports Saturday Spectacular - February 20, 2010

kentsterling — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:37:37 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry-29.mp3]

Great Day of Basketball Ahead - Purdue/Illinois & UK/Vanderbilt

kentsterling — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:03:46 +0000

by Kent Sterling Oh my. What an afternoon of hooping we have in store for today. You know March is getting close when the important games pile up like this. At 4p, the #4 Purdue Boilermakers host Illinois in a game that might not be a trap game, but with the conference race likely to be decided by the Purdue vs. Michigan State game at Mackey a week from Sunday, Purdue might take a peek ahead. The real trap game is next Wednesday in St. Paul against Minnesota. Wisconsin found this week how hard it is to win up there. I can remember a Big Ten season when Minnesota went 0-9 on the road and 9-0 at home. That is a home court advantage (or a road disadvantage). Illinois is potentially very tough because of Dmitri McCamey, who is a beast. He has that thing shared by great players. McCamey believes he should win every game because he can make it so. He is not quite Eric Gordon, but has the same mentality. His summer team - the Illinois Wolves - was entirely driven by McCamey's will to will. He was so strong, just like Eric, that he was almost impossible to stop. It will be interesting to see how he plays as Illinois fights for its Big Ten life. Purdue is back to playing like Purdue. Excellent offensive execution and tenacious defense with JaJuan Johnson lurking near the basket to turn away mistakes. The defensive play of the guards on the summer team for which JaJuan played was enabled by JJ standing near the bucket swatting away shots. That gave the guards some security and allowed them to take a few chances. If a kid for the summer team gave up baseline, JJ rotated and swatted it away. It's a lot more difficult on the Big Ten, big a long and tall kids underneath sure helps. At 6p, the Kentucky Wildcats get a stiff test in Nashville as they take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in a huge test for the once-beaten UK squad. Regardless of the speed with which this group was assembled or the means taken to get that done, this group of kids can flat play. As some programs take years to build a team, John Calipari did the job in six weeks. That aside for a moment, these guys can flat play. I had a conversation about the virtues of recruiting different types of kids, and I mentioned two who played on the same high school team - Errick Peck and Kelsey Barlow. I knew Peck better because I got to pseudo-coach him in a couple of games at the Fishers Fieldhouse. Peck looked me in the eye when I told him something and then went a did it. He can flat shoot and is a fierce competitor. Barlow always looked a little disinterested to me when he played at Cathedral, and occasionally got down on himself regretting something he did rather than thinking about what was next. He's a really good kid, but I always question the motivation of a player who indulges in regret. Both kids are spectacular athletes, although Barlow has a slight edge there. Kelsey is playing a gob for the Boilers, and Errick is coming off the bench for Cornell. As I explained why I would have rated Barlow and Peck even, and would likely have recruited Peck ahead of Barlow, Dan gave me a look that let me know that I was making points against myself somehow. "Oh, I'm talking about recruiting kids I would prefer to coach rather than getting the best player," I admitted. Dan nodded and said that recruiting kids because you like them is death for a coach. Kentucky has a kid I just don't like. John Wall is a phenomenally gifted player. He is incredibly fast with the ball, a great on ball defender, and a kid who isn't looking for his own shots as much as he wants Kentucky to score. So what's not to like? Maybe I'm an old dope before my time in my 40s, but I like kids who don't pose and chest thump. Wall portrays himself as a badass on the floor, especially late in the game. I would rather he just do his business, line-up and shake hands, and then go home. After my talk with Dan, would I recruit Wall ahead of every other kid in college basketball? Yep. I don't know what the hell Vandy has, but they are ranked, and a ranked team at home in late February is going to be ready to play hard. UK saw it in Starkville, Mississippi, the other night, and they'll get another dose today at 6p. At 8p, IU travels to Minnesota for a game Minnesota has to win to retain any chance of getting to the big dance next month. Minnesota is a tough place to steal a win when you are playing well. Indiana is not exactly brimming with confidence, but you never know with this group. They are capable of playing well on occasion., Maybe tonight will be one of those. Mmm. Maybe I'll take a quick nap, and be ready for a great afternoon and night of hoopin' starting at 4p. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Tales from the Counter - Customer Service Nightmares

kentsterling — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:39:58 +0000

by Kent Sterling Only an unfocused kook would take the time and effort to write a post about customer service on what people have come to tolerate as a sports blog. The idea in building a media outlet is to service a specific community, and deliver to them everyday. With this post, that business model is cast asunder. I fancy myself quite the secret shopper. You've seen the ads for people who are contracted by companies to go spend money at stores and restaurants and then report their experiences. I am a rogue secret shopper without any affiliation or compensatory relationship, but I still react with a very critical eye. Having worked extensively in the service industry as a youth, I believe I might be the best qualified and hyper-intolerant customer currently putting himself through multiple stops on a daily basis at outlets staffed by minimum wage staffers. Friday, my first stop was at the US Post Office in Fishers, Indiana. This used to be a visit to the absolute nadir of customer service. Over the past decade, though, the tide has turned. The employees are now rather friendly and competent. Until now. I needed one first class stamp to mail a check for $2.50 to a friend. The brain trust now determining how the post office services customers has removed all of the vending machines that accept cash, and the current debit card machines force us to buy a minimum of 20 stamps. I won't use 20 stamps in five years, so I hopped in line with my $1 bill and waited. The people in line were mailing bulky packages, so it took some time to get toward the front. I was behind one lady when the clerk to the side of the main counter finished with his business, and I hopped over and said, "Hey, can I hop in and get one stamp for this dollar?" The clerk looked at me like I was nuts. "You not next. She next," he said. I said argued. "Come on. Here's a buck. Give me a stamp." "Naw. Even if you just need a smile, you wait in line like everyone else." I said, "Thanks, Newman," and hopped back in line. From there it got worse. The man behind the counter gave me a look when I reached the front of the line that let me know there might be trouble. I got my stamp, and gave the clerk my dollar. As he used a calculator to subtract 44-cents from $1, another clerk stepped up to ask him a question and stood immediately in front of the cash drawer. I smelled a rat, and walked away. The clerk yelled, "Your change, sir." I waved and kept walking. The fun wasn't quite over, or even close. Lunch at Arby's sounded good, but the cashier couldn't find the button for the Roast Turkey, Ranch, and Bacon, so rather than wait for her to get the manager who did know how the system worked, I left. Off to The Ram where I stood at the hostess station for three minutes while members of the wait staff walked past and stared at me. Bye-Bye. Here's where I went a little off the reservation, even by my own standards. I place my order for a smoothy and sandwich. The person who makes the sandwiches was being trained by a manager who is generally not concerned with the welfare of the customers, which I find stupid and therefore annoying. I finish my smoothy (which usually takes longer to make than my sandwich), and bag of chips. Still, no sandwich. It bears mentioning that the poor service that results in my bolting does not cause anger anymore. I just refuse to patronize stores, restaurants, etc... that don't make customer service the primary goal. If I recognize a set of priorities that betrays a disdain for the customers, I am gone but not pissed. Why get angry and stressed because people are too self-absorbed to focus their attention on the people with cash in their hands? It's counter-productive. That doesn't mean I need to reward it with my patronage. As you might guess, I left Big Apple Bagels prior to my sandwich's arrival. The server yelled my name as I was leaving, but I was already pot-committed. There is no turning back once the move to the door has been initiated. You might see a man leaving food that he paid for as idiotic or at least wasteful. I see it as principled, yet immature. My days aren't always filled with so much drama because there are some good businesspeople. My "Mona" Award for the week goes to Pancho's at 96th and Allisonville in Fishers. The staff there is relentlessly pleasant and accommodating. The award itself is named for the finest representation in customer service of all-time, and men's wear aid at Carson's in Indianapolis. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports from the Couch--Weekend Update

jshowal2 — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:49:59 +0000

By Jeff Showalter What do we do on Sundays? There's no National Football League. No ESPN Sunday Countdown to watch. No reason to see what is going on at Ogochocinco with the Bengals wide receiver. The wife, a football widow, is sitting downstairs with me right now, playing on her notebook. In the words of the immortal Vince Lombardi....ah hell, I'll let Vince tell you himself:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocV5bGHdYag]. We have more snow in Indianapolis then the home of the Winter Olympics, Vancouver. I'm all about Indianapolis having really hot weather woman as you can see below. But I'd rather they talk about nice weather. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3dU2Gqi3uE] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uSgziUBIqE] I watched Butler win because, of all things, Matt Howard got a really stupid 4th foul and went to the bench. Butler went absolutely nuts as soon as Matt sat down and blew out a good Sienna team in the BracketBuster on ESPN2. Coach Brad Stevens has some decision making to do as it seems as though Howard, last years Horizon League MVP can't stop stop making silly fouls and Matt's game has become so confined to five feet and in that Butler plays much better when Howard is an assistant coach instead of clogging up the lane. Matt really needs to do some work this summer on a face up game because he brings Butler's offensive flow to a screeching halt. If you have read my analysis of Butler last week, you know I believe Zach Hahn needs more minutes. The left handed assassin hit two three pointers in consecutive trips to begin the second half blowout. The kid from New Castle can be one of those players in tournament play that gets hot and makes some really big buckets in tight games. Purdue looked out of sync in a win over Illinois at Mackey Arena. A lot of people think JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel are the key to that team, but I disagree. E'Twaun Moore and Keaton Grant are the key to the Boilers making a serious run to Lucas Oil Stadium. Moore and Grant can get their own shot when needed and in tightly called tournament games, the players that can get their own shot are often the key to a teams success in those grinders. Hummel doesn't shoot it off the dribble as well as he does off the pass and Johnson would rather brick 18 footers then play in the post where his long arms and soft touch around the rim make him hard to stop. The Hoosiers...well, I can't watch something so painful so I watched some Winter Olympics and HGTV. I stand by my belief that Tom Crean can thank Dwayne Wade for all his income. One tournament win without Dwayne Wade. Enough said. What in the hell is Larry Bird and Jim O'Brien trying to accomplish? I watched the second half of the Pacers/Rockets game last night and the Pacers looked like a REAL NBA team. Problem is they have T.J. Ford to thank for that as he was brilliant at the point guard spot. O'Brien hates T.J. Ford! Ford spent over a month with DNP-Coaches decision games so why is he playing now? The Pacers have no idea what they want to do. If they want to win games then why did Ford sit for so long? Even when he stinks, he's still their best point guard and is a top-15 point guard in the league. I don't understand why you play A.J. Price (who did well for a rookie) all those minutes and then sit him. Then you bring Ford back, for what? So you can't get a high draft pick? I'm just lost on how incoherent the Pacers are. Vince Lombardi is too! Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Big Ten Winding Down, but Heating Up

jimjohnsonpbm — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:03:22 +0000

by Jim Johnson It’s like March is already here – over a week early. The top five teams in the Big Ten (Purdue, Michigan St., Ohio State, Illinois, and Wisconsin) continue to jump around amongst themselves as the season comes to a close. It’s obvious that Purdue’s 60-57 win over Ohio State in Columbus was huge – a game that I thought Ohio State would win. And their 75-65 win over Illinois was just as big. But how big? Big enough that Purdue couldn’t afford to lose it. Ten days ago, I thought the fight for the No. 1 position in the Big Ten would come down to Purdue and Michigan St. I thought the winner of the Purdue-Michigan St. game next Sunday would determine the winner of the No. 1 spot. It’s still going to come down to that game – for Purdue anyway. But it isn’t Michigan St. that’s their problem – it’s Ohio St. On Sunday, Michigan St. dropped a game to Ohio State, 74-67. That outcome put Purdue on top at 11-3 and now Michigan St. and Ohio State are tied for second. Wisconsin almost dropped their game to Northwestern, but pulled it off, 70-63. Let’s take a look at the rest of the season with Purdue in first (11-3), Michigan St. and Ohio State tied for second (11-4), Wisconsin in fourth (10-5) and Illinois in fifth (9-5). Illinois will travel to Michigan on Wednesday and will probably win – meaning they would be tied for fourth with Wisconsin. But here’s the hard thing about predicting Illinois games: They recently lost to Ohio State at home, but beat Wisconsin on the road. Back in January they lost to Purdue at home and also lost to Northwestern. They’re simply not consistent and hard to predict. On Thursday, Ohio State will beat Penn State and Purdue will most likely beat Minnesota, although I do have a question mark next to that game because Minnesota has been causing problems. They beat Wisconsin and Ohio State at home (their game against Purdue will be at home). They’re on a two-game winning streak of beating Wisconsin and Indiana to give them that “outside-looking-in” position of the top five teams. But with an Ohio State and Purdue win on Thursday, Purdue will still sit on top at 12-3 and Ohio State at 12-4. There’s simply no room for error on Purdue’s part. On Saturday, Ohio State will host Michigan and will win. That would put the Buckeyes at 13-4 and on top of the Big Ten standings. The following day Purdue will have the chance to regain the No. 1 spot in the conference, but only if they beat Michigan State. If Purdue wins, they’re back on top at 13-3, with Ohio State at 13-4 and then Michigan St. at 11-5 (notice Michigan St. doesn’t have a game until Sunday with the Boilermakers, meaning they have a week to rest and prepare). Should Michigan State win, the tables are turned. Ohio State stays on top at No. 1 and 13-4. Purdue would slide to 12-4, and Michigan St. would improve to 12-4, tied with Purdue for second and one game behind Ohio State. I knew the Big Ten would be close, but I didn’t realize it would be this close. The rest of the regular season doesn’t have as big of games as what is being played this weekend. Purdue will beat Penn State and they will beat Indiana. Michigan State could get beat my Michigan on March 6 and Ohio State could get beat by Illinois on March 2, but this weekend’s game against Purdue and Michigan St. will paint the picture for the final Big Ten standings. And then, of course, it’s time for the Big Ten Tournament. Now that’s going to be a blood bath and a riot alone. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Monday, February 22, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:36:44 +0000

Here are today's big sports stories: Hoosiers - IU Hoops Center Named After the Cooks http://www.indystar.com/article/20100222/SPORTS0601/2230301/IU-basketball-center-to-be-named-for-couple Boilers - Kravitz - Winning the Right Way http://www.indystar.com/article/20100221/SPORTS15/2210338/1034/SPORTS15/Hard-working-Boilers-winning-the-right-way Pacers - Offense Finally Clicking http://www.indystar.com/article/20100222/SPORTS04/2220337/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-get-a-spark-on-offense Colts - Team & Breackett Continue Talks http://www.indystar.com/article/20100220/SPORTS03/2200338/1058/SPORTS03/Colts-Brackett-continue-to-talk Cubs - Leadoff Spot Still Open Because Piniella Is an Idiot http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2062195,CST-SPT-cubnt22.article Cubs - Guzman Disatracted by Shooting http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2062197,CST-SPT-cub22.article

Harry on Sports - Monday, February 22, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:44:59 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry-30.mp3]

Thirty Years Ago Today - the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team Became Heroes

kentsterling — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:46:02 +0000

by Kent Sterling I remember February 22, 1980, for two reasons. The least important is that it was my 18th birthday. America remembers it because that was the day the U.S. Olympic Hockey team defied overwhelming odds to beat the best hockey team in the world 4-3. No one under the age of 35 remembers it, but it was a day that America awakened from a malaise that began with Watergate and ended with the election of Ronald Reagan as the country's 40th president. Unemployment, inflation, the Iran hostage crisis, and out of control interest rates has the country feeling less than proud of itself, and in need of something positive to buoy the collective mood. For a reason I have never been exactly sure of the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team built momentum and popularity prior to the game against the Soviets. This was an anonymous but exciting and physical team that seemed to have a palpable collective spirit that made them compelling. It wasn't like America suddenly discovered this time an hour prior to this game. There was enormous hype prior to the game - not like today with seven-hour pregames - but sportsfans knew this was going on. Because of all of the issues listed above, Americans were tired of being ambivalent about their country. There had been so little about which to be proud. There was a sense that this group of kids didn't take any crap, and we were tired of taking crap ourselves so we latched onto them. Mike Eruzione, Dave Silk, Mark Johnson, Neal Broten, Jim Craig, and the rest of the team selected and led by Coach Herb Brooks gave us a legitimate reason to cheer "U-S-A" and sing The Star Spangled Banned" out loud for the first time in years. Earlier I wrote that the internal malaise began with Watergate, but it was probably the Vietnam War that started that queasy feeling that America was no longer the carrier of the lantern that illuminated all that is best about humanity. The hockey team reflected America as we dreamed we might be again. At least that's the way I saw it in 1980. Why is it that 30 years later, many (including me) still tear-up when we see the highlights of the game against the Soviets? Why would millions go to the theater in 2004 to see "Miracle" the film based up the team's adventures? Why does NBC devote so much time to the recollections of Al Michaels, who should drop to his knees every morning to thank God for putting him in the booth that night for one of the great signature calls in the history of broadcasting, during a Olympiad 30-year after the fact? Because more than any sporting event in history, the game and team were purely and innocently joyous. There aren't many displays of pure collective joy that any of us witness in our lives. The birth of our children qualifies, but that joy isn't shared. When Eruzione waves his teammates onto the podium built for one, and they miraculously (there's that word again) fit perfectly, clinging to each other as though if one fell, they all would, it is impossible not to be moved. When Brooks throws his fist in the air and then leaves the arena to allow the players to enjoy their moment, he set an example more coaches should follow and gives us a glimpse behind the stoic curtain surrounding his soul. When Craig, draped in the American flag, searches the stands for his Dad so they can share the moment and remember his late Mother, we see the perfect moment between a father and son. The whole Soviet team stands watching the Americans celebrate as they must have wished they would have before they became the world's greatest hockey machine, for whom winning was as routine as breathing, gave us a glimpse into their sense of wonder and loss. The crowd that had dared to believe because the team obviously did, went crazy. It wasn't in a effort to be outrageous or be shown on Sportscenter, but just because they had no choice because their joy was so complete. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbiB7ZZc8XI&NR=1] Herb Brooks dared to believe, and when he expressed it, his team dared to believe, and when we watched them, we dared too. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwpTj_Z9v-c] Sports is rarely perfect, as life is rarely perfect. It's messy and filled with selfishness and so many impossible to script spontaneous moments that allowing ourselves to believe in pure motives and goodness is almost impossible. The 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team gave us a reason to believe and then delivered on their promise. I hope everyone under the age of 35 gets to see that happen just once. Then they'll get it, not because of some old farts telling tales or a movie, but because they felt it resonate in the core of their souls like we did 30 years ago today. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Kent Sterling Fired - Chapter Five; Happy Birthday to Me

kentsterling — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:17:08 +0000

by Kent Sterling There is a great scene at the end of the film "Charlie Wilson's War" where Phillip Seymour Hoffman explains to Tom Hanks how good and bad fortune isn't always good and bad. There aren't many of us who want to be fired. I sure as hell didn't. Both of the radio stations for which I was responsible were succeeding by every metric available. I was working my ass off, and so were the two staffs. Good right? No. My wife was miserable. I was too concerned with work to know it. There were issues at work that caused doubt in the staff, and so my work had more to do with circumventing internal issues as we tried to maintain positive momentum in all departments, so my focus was on trying to patch the emotional holes so our ship could keep moving. All of that work kept me from listening to my wife when I got home. I got fired. Bad, right? No. That's no way to live life, and definitely not a course for long-term success in marriage. Okay, that's the backstory for those who haven't seen the first four installments of my post-Emmis life. It is much more interesting and rewarding to build from scratch than it is to try to manage by committee. I'm not against authority necessarily unless they are difficult to convince when I know that I'm right. Here as I write, there is no one to convince of anything. Rob Nichols is a very reasonable and smart man, so the business we are starting to help kids find the right college is fun and will be ultimately profitable. This blog is nothing but fun. Readership is three times greater this month that last, and with a little wind behind us we should exceed a threshold beyond which we will likely have to rent our own server space - a nice problem to have. Distance from talk radio has provided perspective that I will either use in trying to correct the current evolution of a still very effective medium in conveying a client's message, or utilize in building my own brands. The internet is such an immediate and easily accessed conveyance of ideas that the parallels between it and talk radio are many and obvious. The challenge with both is in aggregation of eyes and ears, and the solutions are very similar. One of the interesting elements of the support I continue to get from people in radio and at Emmis is a continued expression of pity for my situation, as though getting fired is ultimately bad. If I were less secure, I would be insulted. There are a million little clichés about how life isn't about getting knocked down, but how you get up. To me, it's much simpler than that. You can't be knocked down if you don't fall. Take the passion and intellect employed where you worked for others, and apply it to something else. I'm not in the office anymore, but I'm out here working at something I'm proud of and enjoying life. Not only am I not dead, sad, morose, emotionally paralyzed, filled with self-loathing and hate for those who made this change; I'm happy, challenged, and as emotionally right as I've been in 15 years. Keep the faith. Believe in your talents, and support those around you. Know that you define your workplace - your job does not define you. Treat people well. Have some fun everyday. Today is my birthday, and that's a pretty good day to be reflective as a friend suggested this morning. This birthday, I feel better about life than I have in many birthdays. I'm wiser, more supportive and emotionally available. Last year to the day I was in Mexico with two friends. I was laughing - really laughing - for the first time in so long I couldn't remember the last time I laughed. This year, I can remember the last time I laughed. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Family Support Makes Sports Special

Ryan Sterling — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:38:38 +0000

by The Rainman Playing sports is difficult. Playing any sport at the collegiate level is nearly impossible. There is a little bit of luck and an unimaginable amount of work required to make that dream come true. Once you are at that level it is no picnic to stay on top of your game. The most important thing that people must know when attempting to pursue that dream is that it is not the effort of one person, but a collective effort of a family to make it happen. I was fortunate enough to have a Mom and Dad who were with me every step of the way. The amount of hours that I put into the game of basketball was out of this world. The fact that I had my parents there to help and sometimes give me a nudge in the right direction was the most important factor in my becoming a college basketball player. The countless hours spent in the gym shooting would not have been possible without my dad rebounding for me and my mom throwing beautiful passes. The best part is that I was never pushed into my work or forced to play. My Dad let me decide to do the work and, yes, there were some times that I needed a little nudge in the right direction. But I was the only one who made the decisions. Parents today push their kids so hard that they lose their love for the game, but that was never the case with me and the reason, without a doubt in my mind, was my Mom and Dad. I still love the game of basketball and the work ethic that my family instilled in me is still there. Family is not only important in order to accomplish the work needed, but makes the recruiting process somewhat bearable. My Dad helped put together tapes and a recruiting list that allowed me to take control of my recruiting. All the calls that needed to be made were made by me, any calls that came for me were returned by me and all of the letters and questionnaires were filled out by me. The recruiting process is a tough and angry one, but it was one of the more rewarding experiences I have had in my life. And my Dad doing work and forcing me to take on the responsibility made that possible. Today you see many of the parents taking control of the recruiting process, and that is unbelievable to me. These parents are taking away from the athlete and make the process less personal. Basketball is one the most important things in my life. It has taught me many lessons about living the right way and has led me to where I am now and I could not be happier. I owe all of this to my parents. Without them, I would not have worked nearly as hard and would not have gone through many of the rewarding and challenging experiences in my life. To any parent who wants their kid to be an athlete, let them decide like my parents did. You will never regret it and most importantly they will love you for it. I want to thank my parents for letting me make the decision and doing everything in their power to help along the way. They have no idea how much it means to me to have them by my side. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Indiana is Still Printed on Your Jersey

The Truth — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:05:54 +0000

By The Truth Saturday night I attended my girlfriend’s philanthropy in Dayton, Ohio, so I missed the first half of the Minnesota game. I repeatedly checked the score on my phone and it appeared nothing had changed from the last seven games. I cannot speak of a lack of effort, or criticize the coaching, or point out individuals who played poorly, however, what I can speak of is the remainder of the season and the message I would like to relay to the team: “You still have Indiana printed across your chest.” Indiana basketball has never been this horrific. Lately it has been tough to just watch a game in its entirety let alone expect a win. Losers of eight straight, IU concludes their horrendous season with home games against Wisconsin and Northwestern, and away game against Iowa and Purdue. Realistically, the Hoosiers have a shot at winning two more games, which would close the season on a positive note. I doubt the Hoosiers will win two of their remaining games, in fact, I would be shocked if they won one more game the way they are currently competing. I tuned into the IU game with roughly 16 minutes remaining in the second half against Minnesota, and to no surprise IU was down 20 points. I was furious to say the least. I understand we are young and inexperienced, but this season has become an embarrassment. I am tired of being dominated straight from the tip and losing by fifteen points or more. Indiana has always represented basketball. Take a drive into any neighborhood and count the number of basketball goals in driveways. Basketball is not just a game here, it is a heritage. Nine of the countries ten largest gyms are located in Indiana, the largest being New Castle’s gymnasium home of Indiana great Steve Alford—and I must give some love to Zach Hahn, who was my AAU teammate from New Castle who won a state championship there also. Indiana basketball is the cornerstone that represents all of this and currently they are doing a poor job. I played basketball for a team called the Indy Wolves from fourth grade till eighth grade and each year we attended the BCI National Championship tournament. The first year we reached the final game and lost to the Arkansas Hawks, a team that we had beaten earlier in pool play. To understand Indiana basketball understand that the next two years in a tournament that consisted of over eighty teams, we made it to the championship game against another Indiana team named the Wabash Valley Red Devils. Two years in a row we faced each other in the championship game of a national tournament. That is what Indiana basketball represents. I will be writing an article about this intense rivalry soon. These next four games will test the character of this team. It won’t matter if they win or lose, but the effort they are currently displaying is unacceptable. I expect more from the players, coaches, and even the crowd these next four games. There are hundreds of kids that dream of wearing an Indiana uniform, but the current players are the select few that actually receive that opportunity. The players that are playing here at IU need to understand that they just don’t represent the University, but they represent the fourth graders that dream to wear that uniform. I will utter a quote that is familiar with all Hoosiers: “In 49 states it’s just basketball, but this is Indiana.” So start playing like it. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports From the Couch--I Miss Marisa Miller

jshowal2 — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:42:51 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I understad that the absolute truth in competition is that there are winners and losers. I also know that my favorite teams lose ALOT! The Bengals, Reds, IU hoop and football and the Pacers all have lost their fair share of games. Hell, when I root for the Colts, they lose the Super Bowl. Yet there are times when you just can't get past the loss. Times like these make you do something important. For me, I miss Marisa Miller in the SI Swimsuit Issue. I was at my parent's house last weekend. My dad gets Sports Illustrated and I pick them up when I visit for reading at home. This weekend, I looked thru the SI Swimsuit Issue. Sure it was great as always. Beautiful women in bikinis, body paint and other various states of (un)dress. As always, it is the most popular issue of the year. I'm sure 2010 will be no different. The best website on the planet "Hot Clicks" by Jimmy Traina for SI.com keeps his faithful readers updated on all the new models and the pics that don't make the magazine including my favorite. For me though, there is an emptiness. Someone is missing that, for me, is one of the hottest women on the planet. From 2002 thru 2008, Marisa Miller graced the swimsuit issue but 2008 was her last year. For the second straight year, Marisa is no where to be found. I'm not "up" on why Marisa is MIA. Maybe she was tired of doing it. Maybe is was monetary. The only thing I do know is it wasn't because of performance because she is still smokin'! In an effort to help the public (that's what I do...) get thru this difficult time. I felt like it was my duty to step up and add a couple of links as a reminder. For me, Marisa is an all-american hottie. I hope you think so too! Marisa Miller Pics [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM4DGT7GTVo]

Sports Digest - Tuesday, February 23, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:38:39 +0000

Sports stories for today: Pacers Lose to Mavs 91-82 - http://www.indystar.com/article/20100223/SPORTS04/2230323/1004/SPORTS/Cold-shooting-dooms-Pacers Pacers - Granger Gone - http://www.indystar.com/article/20100223/SPORTS04/2230347/1004/SPORTS/Loss-of-Granger-tough-on-Pacers Boilers - Move Up to #3 in Polls - http://www.indystar.com/article/20100223/SPORTS0602/2230327/1004/SPORTS/Boilers-closing-in-on-No.-1 Boilers - Moore Named Academic All-American - http://purdue.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1055283 Cubs - Soriano's Knee Still a Problem - http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2064283,CST-SPT-cub23.article http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0223-cubs-soriano-chicago--20100222,0,2521191.story Cubs Miss on Chan Ho Park - http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2064216,CST-SPT-cubnt23.article Cubs - Wells Gets Glasses; Castro, Lee, Ramirez Last to Report - Expected Today - http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0223-cubs-bits--20100222,0,2976607.story Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, February 23, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:55:08 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry-31.mp3]

Larry Bird - Confidently Standing Pat or Simply Stubborn?

kentsterling — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:23:17 +0000

by Kent Sterling This guy is something. Pacer's GM Larry Bird doesn't go all in very often, if ever. As the head of Indianapolis' NBA franchise, Bird has dumped some questionable characters, and other than that has waited for the offseason when he will have cap room to build a team that can compete for a spot in the playoffs - the summer of 2011 - still 16 months away. Pacers fans continue to buy tickets to see the team today, or not. The games I've attended this season have not been well-played or well-attended, but the team continues to talk about winning now and expresses disappointment in losing. This happens while they do nothing to improve themselves. They aren't even losing enough to get better. To compete for a championship, a team needs a great player. They don't grow on trees, and they aren't available (generally) outside of the top six in the draft. The Pacers will have $41-million under the cap, unless the cap collapses upon itself because NBA franchises that are losing cash are losing an average of $20-million each, according to David Stern's state of the league address during the All-Star Weekend. Bird has shown a rare resilience in his absolute refusal to make a deal that will corrupt his plan of building for the 2011-2012 season. Roy Hibbert, Brandon Rush, and Danny Granger are a big part of the core that Bird wants to survive the evolution, and he won't give them away. He won't give away T.J. Ford or Troy Murphy either. That's great. It's good to have a strategy, and it's even better to stick to it through years and years of mediocrity because you know that you're right. Good for Larry, but if I were Pacers Owner Herb Simon, I would have some misgivings about pouring $20-million each year straight into the toilet. Wait, no toilet could flush that amount of cash - even in those fancy $1,000 bills Monty Hall used to hand out on "Let's Make a Deal". Let's instead talk about the Bedford limestone quarries Simon is filling to the brim with cash each year waiting for Larry's plan to bear fruit. Life for sportsfans is a lot more fun when the Pacers are good, so we hope they can turn it around in two seasons. But just as Simon is having financial troubles, so are the season ticket holders who continue to invest in seats to watch a very suspect product that Larry admits is sub-standard. They have not compromised the future of the franchise in order to force false hope into our mushy heads. Larry takes responsibility for the product, and continues to stand by Jim O'Brien as his guy to lead his players on the floor. Either Larry is a genius and he knows exactly what he's doing, or he is a middle manager from hell who cannot admit mistakes and will continue to hope for a different result with the same players and coaches. I hope that either the losses or wins come in bunches for this team. What we can't have is more mediocrity. Either play like crap or play great. In the middle lies disaster. If any of you feels like they have read this before, what else can a guy write about the Pacers? They are among the least compelling major league sports franchises in history. There is nothing to thrill, anger, frustrate or ennoble. They are nice guys, it seems. They are not bums. They aren't great ambassadors either. They are cashing many zeroed checks signed by a man who deserves better for being not so good. There is a compulsion within me that demands I periodically write about the Pacers because they are one of two major league teams in Indianapolis. I do it regardless of the fact that I know that no one will read it. I write about the Hoosiers, Boilers, Colts, Cubs, or my bad experiences at the post office, and people come. Write about the Pacers? Crickets. It kills me because I really like Herb Simon and Jim Morris. I've never met Larry Bird, but how do you not admire Bird as a basketball guy. He doesn't need the money or the aggravation, but he lives in this place where you can't play golf today. There is a lot of like at Conseco Fieldhouse. I wish more of it was on the floor. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Bob Knight Lost His Mind 25 Years Ago Today

kentsterling — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:07:07 +0000

by Kent Sterling Today might be the day that the tidal shift in Bob Knight's popularity began. When he had the dust-up with the Puerto Rican policeman at the Pan Am Games, there was no video so we believed that nothing really untoward happened, or that the guy might have deserved what he got. The stories about Knight tossing an LSU fan into a trash can in Philadelphia at the 1981 Final Four were rampant, but again no video and people from Baton Rouge can be idiots, so what the hell. When Bob Knight threw the chair across the floor after what he felt were a series of questionable calls as Purdue guard Steve Reid waited to shoot a series of free throws resulting from the three technical fouls that Knight accumulated after an initial foul call. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvRO2GE4x4M] With every anniversary, Knight is defended by many and excoriated by many more. The tenth anniversary of his firing is coming September 10th of this year, so get your pro and/or con arguments for the most polarizing figure in the history of Indiana if not American sports polished and ready. This is a bit of a warm-up for those who would use former Illinois Coach Lou Henson's "classic bully" verbiage to describe Knight. I was a student in 1985 living the high life at Walnut Knolls apartments when the Bobber started flinging furniture around Assembly Hall. This was not a particularly good season for the Hoosiers, as I recall. Usually, the excitement of an Indiana game was enough to hold our attention, but in 1985 some friends had adopted novelty rules for doing shots of schnapps during the game. The shots were a mixture of apple and cinnamon schnapps that we called apple pie. The rules were written in indelible ink on the living room wall of apartment D-30. Rub a little sandpaper on the many layers of paint used to cover it, and you would see; Dan Dakich scores, Magnus Pelkowski Dunk, Steve Alford three-pointer, and many other more exotic layers of bizarre basketball related statistical irrelevance that caused us imbibe. This day was warm for February - really warm. The high reached the low 70s, and that was the only excuse we needed to head to the courtyard for one of those great Bloomington days. It's like the campus erupts on the first day of warmth after a long winter. The stereo speakers are turned to the open windows, and the whole town turns into a party. Bob Knight added to the warmth with his dramatic but harmless gesture, but that did nothing to erode the student body's respect or love for him. At that point the sheer tonnage of Knight's antics had not reached a level where anyone questioned him. The internet was unknown at that point and the wild momentum created on message boards was impossible to gather. Basketball was still about results, and the results we expected at IU were that the basketball players were not only the hardest working in college hoops, but that they played well off the court too. They were great guys at parties, and always a lot of fun. They dated the best looking girls, and were the kings of campus. That status, in our minds, was earned through all of the crap they took from Knight. In 1985, the crap from Knight was substantial. After a run of excellent results and opportunities, the well finally went dry. A strong case could be made that with health and a little luck, Indiana might have won the previous four NCAA championships (1984 was a beautifully strange year, and IU did well to get to the point they did but the game against Virginia could have been had). As it happened, the 1985 team didn't make it to the NCAAs at all - losing in the final of the NIT to Reggie Miller and UCLA. Here's some audio from a different era we've all heard a few times, but I have no doubt it is a fine representation of the kind of enjoyable dissertations heard often by the 1984-1985 team. To say it is quite profane is to test the limits of the term: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh7CPyzZj18] As time moved on, and the stories of Bob Knight's erratic behavior mounted, and his desire to recruit lessened, Indiana's status on the national scene began to erode. Bob Knight, minus the NCAA banners every five years and Big Ten titles every two, became a punch line. IU instituted zero-tolerance, and six-months after that, we said goodbye to the guy who brought IU fans everything - glory, embarrassment, national prominence, and the kind of infamy that may outlast the sport itself. Buzz Aldrin referred to the beauty of the lunar landscape as "magnificent desolation". Bob Knight's behavior deserves a similarly contrary moniker. On February 23, 1985, Bob Knight was hilariously distressing. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Wednesday, February 24, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:18:15 +0000

Top Stories for Today are: Olympics - Kravitz Craves New Wave of Xenophobia http://www.indystar.com/article/20100224/SPORTS15/2240347/1004/SPORTS/All-we-re-missing-now-is-a-good-Cold-War Coach's Blunder Costs Dutch Speed Skater Gold Medal http://www.suntimes.com/sports/olympics/2066974,CST-SPT-olyrdup24.stng Pacers - Slow Starts Hard to Overcome http://www.indystar.com/article/20100224/SPORTS04/2240350/1004/SPORTS/Slow-starts-are-too-much-for-Pacers-to-overcome Boilers - Grant Smiling Again http://www.indystar.com/article/20100224/SPORTS0602/2240354/1004/SPORTS/Purdue-s-Grant-has-reason-to-smile-again Boilers - Big Game in the Barn http://purdue.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1055820 Ball State - 33-Year-Old Grad Looks to Draft for Chance http://www.indystar.com/article/20100224/SPORTS03/2240348/1004/SPORTS/An-NFL-long-shot-Ball-State-s-Crawford-has-heard-it-all-before IndyCar - Graham Rahal Looks for Gig http://www.indystar.com/article/20100224/SPORTS0107/2240351/1004/SPORTS/No-job-so-Rahal-considers-NASCAR Carmel Basketball Bullying http://www.indystar.com/article/20100224/LOCAL0101/2240365/1004/SPORTS/Carmel-officials-to-discuss-bullying-incident Cubs - Soriano Offers to Return to Leadoff Spot http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2066756,CST-SPT-cub24.article Cubs - Ricketts, Castro, Lee, Ramirez Ready to Go http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2066719,CST-SPT-cubnt24.article http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0224-cubs-chicago-spring-training-20100223,0,147954.story Cubs - Fontenot to Get Shot at Short http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0224-cubs-bits-chicago-spring-trai20100223,0,292835.story Cubs - Derrek Lee in Last Season as Cub? http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=4938389

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, February 24, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:43:06 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry32.mp3]

Carmel Bullying Story Shows What Is Wrong with Kids and the Media - UPDATE

kentsterling — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:16:15 +0000

by Kent Sterling The totality of what we know is that three senior basketball players for Carmel High School in north suburban Indianapolis did something to one or more freshman on a bus meant only for freshmen on the way back to the school from a road basketball game. Four coaches were on the bus. One of the kids visited a hospital as the result of an injury that occurred during what is being called bullying. The three seniors were reportedly suspended for five days and not allowed to participate in Carmel's last game. The rest is rumor and innuendo. Yet this story leads the news every night. We don't know what happened to the freshmen, who they are, who the attackers are, whether this was the kind of harmless abuse that goes on in every school bus on the planet, or whether this was a truly horrifying attack. Was this attack a matter of what we used to call a "grundy" or my wife calls a "Chinese Laundromat"? The result of which was the overreaction of the victims and their parents. Or was this attack truly a violation the likes of which we see in movies about maximum security prisons? We don't know because the media isn't telling us, which is completely appropriate. Broadcasting the potentially humiliating injuries suffered by 15-year-olds could cause more harm that the actual attack. It's none of our business what the specific injuries were or what the act itself was, so stop showing the pixellated highlights of Carmel basketball games and leading newscasts with vague noninformation. Let the Carmel School District figure out what happened, punish the offenders, discipline the four coaches on the bus if necessary, and then report the details. This is the worst kind of journalism driven by the fear of other news outlets owning a story so prurient that people can't help themselves. This morning at 10a, the Carmel Police and Carmel Schools officials will hold a press conference where they will likely say nothing of substance, and the story will roll forward for another 24-hours. The sole focus for the principal is to make the story go away, and he is naïve enough to believe that feeding the media monster a little bit will sate its hunger. That isn't the way it works. If you put out information for the media, it had better at least appear to be all of the relevant information, or the questions will keep coming and there is nothing to do to stop it. We all hope that this story will be resolved as the overreaction of some parents and kids who were frightened more than anything else. Seniors step over the line at high schools all over the world. If this was an act of deliberate abuse, God help the seniors because the media will get the story and there will be intense pressure of the principal, school board, and police to meet this episode with every punitive measure available. The media should be in the business of reporting facts, not satisfying the rabid curiosity of an audience that happily draws its own version of the story based upon the very sketchy details and demands the provision of color from the likes of reporters more determined to build a resume' tape than responsibly serve the public. The fifteen-minute press conference was a charade, exactly as anyone who has covered this kind of story would predict. The superintendent of Carmel Clay Schools, the Carmel High School Principal, and the police chief of Carmel did their song and dance about appropriate behavior, thorough investigations, and the importance of process yielded no specific answers to any questions. They shielded themselves with a student privacy law which correctly keeps us from knowing what is going on in the lives of minors, but they refused to answer any questions about anything. So now that the supposed leaders of Carmel have done their little dance to try to protect their jobs by explaining their thorough process which seems designed to yield no results nor information, as is the case with most public comments made by bureaucrats, the media will seek out information elsewhere. That is what they do. Just as hungry diners don't simply go home after a restaurant they visit is closed, the media will find its quarry elsewhere. They will talk to teachers, kids, parents, cops and everyone else who might hold a piece of the puzzle. The administrators spoke of thorough investigations of inappropriate behavior. How long does it take to get the kids and coaches who were on a school bus to crack and spill the truth? I'll guarantee you that if this happened at Attucks or Tech, someone would have been in a holding cell awaiting a hearing within hours. In Carmel, the focus is on making the problem disappear. For the superintedent of schools to stand in front of the media and talk about how his system of discussing appropriate behavior leads to excellence is preposterous. Neophytes in dealing with the media often make the mistake of assuming people will simply believe what they say just because they said it. To claim a system works when someone was injured by someone else while four coaches were present on the same bus is insulting. Now instead of being disappointed in the media for its work in this story, I am more hopeful that the media will do its job in uncovering the truth, and exposing these bureaucrats as the buffoons they are. Send them all packing - the sanctimonious superintendent in particular. To claim all is well, and that the system is working a month after the incident when questions still abound is preposterous. Holding this press conference as a salve for the school districts wounds was an act of arrogance that will only increase the volume of the demands for information and a proportionate disciplinary response. Throughout the questioning and absurd opening statement, the principal and superintendant spoke of the students as the sole concern. The evasion of the relevant questions did nothing but fuel the fire that will keep this horrible story rolling. Someone needs to tell the truth, for the sake of the kids who attend the school. Until that happens, Fox 59's Kim King will be parked in front of Carmel High School eager to talk to anyone willing to talk. Russ McQuade in his funny hat may join her. The perpetual and predictable evasion serves no one but the bureaucrats who just want this to stop. God bless the Indianapolis media who won't let that happen. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

What Lessons Can Be Learned from the Carmel High School Bullying Story?

kentsterling — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:34:57 +0000

by Kent Sterling A comment on the last post about the Carmel High School Bullying Story that is currently dominating the news in Indianapolis brought back memories of high school. Here is the full comment: "They were swiping freshman asses with credit cards…It is serious, but in regards to everything going on, this should be a minor story. Actions are necessary but they do not need to be publicized. You’re right Kent." The part that caught my attention is, "...in regards to everything going on, this should be a minor story." When I was in high school, there was an endless supply of bizarre incidents that parents, teachers, administrators, and media of which they were either ignorant or more comfortable not acknowledging. But if the kids threatened a walk out to protest the layoffs of several popular teachers, everyone went bananas. My interpretation of the comment is that there are things going on at Carmel (and likely every other high school in America) that would make parents cringe at the minimum, and likely march with torches in search of someone to be held accountable. Adults know about this thing, and so we are waving our arms all over the place and shrieking about the injustice of freshmen being abused by seniors. For the kids inside the halls of high schools, we look like complete idiots. We are giving authority figures the bad name we deserve. When I was in high school, it was kids and drugs. Students were heading to their cars by the hundreds and getting high during lunch. The school responded by hiring a security guard. He was five-foot nothing and weighed a metric ton. He wore a uniform for a couple of weeks, and the kids adjusted their schedule a little. The guard then began wearing tie-dyed shirts to try to fit in. A 38-year-old cannonball in a tie-dyed shirt was more obviously out-of-place than a cop. Our response was, "Really? Are you people this damn stupid?" The kids who enjoyed getting stoned continued to sit behind the tinted windows of their cars and do what they had done forever because they understood what we all knew - if we kept everything quiet, the people in charge would let the students get away with anything. There are 4,000 students at Carmel High School. It's not easy to control 4,000 kids who have not learned anything about real-life consequences yet. It's all done with smoke and mirrors, and the more the kids get to see behind the curtain, the less control the administrators have. Parents want to trust that they made the right choice in sending their kid to a school. That is our end of the bargain. Without it, we want someone's head. The kids and the administrators form an unspoken alliance to keep the parents in the dark. Everyone gets to do what they like, and the parents are none the wiser. If principals look hard enough for kids engaging in evil, they will surely find it. Then what? With 4,000 kids, God knows how many complications you might find. Better to control it - keep it under wraps, than spend the rest of your life suspending kids and meeting with parents. These kids aren't tools. Above all else, they get the push and pull of authority. When I was a senior, some kids threatened the walk-out I mentioned a few paragraphs ago. The principle problem was the layoff of the athletic trainer - a good guy named Rex Sharp. The athletes had gotten to know Rex, and wanted to show their support for him. The principal of the school called several of us into the office the morning of the walkout, and asked what we knew and what could be done to stop it. I was the only true subversive in the group, so I spoke up, "You don't have anything to worry about. There won't be any walkout." Mr. Renshaw looked at me with some doubt. I said, "There isn't going to be any organized walkout. If there are ten guys, I would be surprised. I can't stop ten guys from running out the back door to the football field." By letting him think that I would stop it, I earned some grace. Later in the year, I needed him to look the other way, and he obliged. That's the way high school works. Help the principal look good, and he'll give you a pass when you need it. Nice little allegory for dealing with authority in the real world too. Maybe I'm a vigilante, but if my son had been one of the abused freshmen, my first visit would not have been to the principal, and it wouldn't have taken me a month to get some justice.

Calling Out All Hoosier Fans

The Truth — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:13:41 +0000

by The Truth According to dictionary.com, “passion” is defined as any powerful outburst of emotion or feeling, such as love or hate. IU fans are the most passionate fans in America. Assembly Hall is packed to the rafters nearly every game with rambunctious fans patiently waiting to erupt. In my last article, I voiced my disproval of how the season was winding down and said that this season has become an embarrassment. Perhaps that was a little harsh, but with four games remaining on the schedule, it’s time for the Hoosiers to step up their level of play. I couldn’t possibly stay upset with these guys. But I do want to see a more consistent effort and I want us to display signs of improvement every time we take the floor. Rather than bash the team again, I am placing blame on the Crimson Guard—IU’s new student section—and IU fans in general. The team’s effort and energy has been minimal these last few games, but the fans ought to take some responsibility for this lack of energy as well. Students need to arrive much earlier, as most don’t arrive until at least five minutes into the game. The students should be in their seats ten minutes prior to tip-off and make their presence known. It is pretty pathetic when the student section is only half full when the game starts. We claim to be the best fans in the country. Please. That’s a joke. Just the other night my friends and I watched a replay of the IU – Wisconsin game from 2008 in its entirety. We reminisced about how loud the games used to be and how there were no empty seats. Hell, these days, at halftime—and I’m saying this from experience—people sitting in the balcony can sneak down to the lower level and sit in the tenth row. As great as that may be for those who get to upgrade their view for free, it’s an embarrassment to the program. Get to your seats early, dress head-to-toe in Hoosiers gear, and make for passion for IU basketball known. As for the alumni, my message is short: “If you are sitting around the court, get up and cheer.” There are plenty of students, including myself, who believe the seats around the court should be ours. Show that you care as much as we do and that you deserve those seats because you care, not because you can write a check. Assembly Hall needs to be a tough, hostile environment for opposing teams to come and play. Fans can influence a game by providing the team with an extra spark of energy. Losing eight in a row is not something I am accustomed to. Ever since the Purdue game, a game in which I believe the fans were a key factor in keeping as close as it was, the crowds at Assembly Hall have been an embarrassment. Wisconsin is beatable. They aren’t particularly athletic, which arguably brings us the most problems, but they are super disciplined and play tough defense. Purdue had a tough defense and we hung 75 points on them. I used to believe that Hoosiers fans were not only the most passionate in the country, but the most loyal. From what I’ve seen at Assembly Hall this year, that couldn’t be further from the truth. If we want to remind college basketball fans around the nation, those who show up late and leave early, and anyone else who doesn’t stand for what IU basketball is about what Hoosier Hysteria is supposed to be, something needs to change. Show up early. Cheer your hearts out. Help make the Assembly Hall atmosphere what that it used to be, and can be again—an atmosphere that opponents feared and that Hoosiers players knew would help guide them to victory night in and night out.

Sports Digest - Thursday, February 25, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:38:54 +0000

Stories for a Thursday. Purdue Wins at Minnesota Despite Hummel's Injury http://purdue.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1056209 http://www.indystar.com/article/20100225/SPORTS0602/2250475/1004/SPORTS/Purdue-bests-Minnesota-after-losing-Hummel Pacers Lose at Chicago http://www.indystar.com/article/20100225/SPORTS04/2250484/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-stick-to-formula-big-deficit-comeback-loss Pacers - Granger Back; Dunleavy Out http://www.indystar.com/article/20100225/SPORTS04/2250455/1004/SPORTS/Granger-returns-just-as-Dunleavy-leaves Hoosiers - Hulls Role Increases http://www.indystar.com/article/20100225/SPORTS0601/2250487/1004/SPORTS/Role-of-IU-s-Hulls-increases-with-his-confidence Hoosiers - Battle Slow-paced Wisconsin Tonight http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74055 http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100224/SPORTS/2240323/1002 http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/feb/24/iu-battling-to-stay-out-of-cellar/ http://host.madison.com/sports/columnists/rob_schultz/article_29e87d10-e320-5145-87b1-34911feb4154.html Hoosiers - Rebuilding Takes Time http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74068 Cubs - Fontenot Taking Grounders at Short http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100224&content_id=8131338&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc Cubs - Lee Want Jamarillo to Help Good Start http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100224&content_id=8131620&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc Cubs - Byrd Is the Anti-Bradley http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2069300,CST-SPT-cub25.article Cubs - Great Opportunity for Silva http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0225-cubs-chicago-spring-training-20100224,0,2769396.story

Harry on Sports - Thursday, February 25, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:48:16 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry-33.mp3]

Carmel Bullying Story Keeps Rolling Along

kentsterling — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:28:43 +0000

by Kent Sterling Kim King at Fox-59 is a bit of a wingnut. She was a strange weekend weatherlady who had great difficulty saying the word "tomorrow". Kim would say "tomow" much to the delight of my wife and I. We never missed her Sunday night cast, and wish we still had the constitution to allow us to turn Kim's "tomow" into a drinking game. Alas, our Sunday night drinking days are over, if they ever started. Kim might have been a comical weathercaster, but her work as a reporter is not comical. She is a bulldog who keeps getting interviews her competition misses. Last night, Kim spoke to the father of one of the freshman on the school bus where the alleged bullying took place. While the other reporters covering the story did their tidy little recap of the ludicrous little dog and pony show with the superintendent, principal, and police chief, Kim's piece showed a clearly troubled parent from behind with his voice altered. The parent called the principal a liar for saying kids were not threatened with expulsion if they spoke to the media about the incident, and described the bullying as putting fingers in the rear ends of two of the freshmen. As troubling as the account of the parent was, what story are you going to watch. Kim is not very well liked by the public information officers of local agencies because she tends to ignore them, but what she is doing better than anyone else is getting compelling video of stories the other reporters in town are working like they are tightening lugnuts on an assembly line. She is outworking the rest of the market, and while others in media may snicker at her, she is going about the business of kicking their asses. One of the few pieces of real information shared by the three-headed no-comment machine yesterday was that the principal planned to speak with the players and parents of the basketball team last night in a meeting. If Carmel parents are anything, they are involved in their kids' athletic lives, so I'm sure the meeting was contentious and offered a fascinating look at how the hierarchy plans to try to make this ugliness disappear, but provide justice for the three seniors accused of assaulting the freshmen. This story is a great piece by which to judge reporters. Some allow the administrators to call the game because to do otherwise might anger them, and this is a small town after all. Not sure how that serves the viewer, but some people just hate being disliked. Others just don't care. Whatever the motivation, they rock this thing forward and try to get to the truth, or at least the most interesting video possible. Maybe those people are trying to get a job in a big market or win an award, but by God they will run through a burning building to get the story. I'll tell you one guy who isn't complaining about Kim King. That's Lee Rosenthal, Kim's boss. He'll take a half-dozen Kim Kings all day long and kick everyone's ass. The story itself will conclude with the kids being expelled and charges being filed. I can't imagine a trial. There is no way that Carmel parents showing up on TV and talking about digital anal rape doesn't result in expulsion and charges. If this were a "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" episode, and it may be one day, one of the kids would roll over on the others in exchange for consideration. As the noose begins to tighten, the parents will get so nervous for their kid, some kind of deal will be cut. I was in trouble a bit in high school for a much less serious deal - vandalizing a rival school during sectional week. In fact, the 30th anniversary of that indiscretion will be celebrated next week. The story was in the paper everyday, and there were so much bizarre rumors flying around the school that the buzz was almost unbearable. Teachers lectured classes about how the perpetrators should be expelled and a reward was offered for the names of those responsible. Everyone knew I was one of the guys who did it, and I was getting advice from all corners of the school and community. At the time, I was a bit of an attention whore, so if anyone could have made it through unscathed, it was me. But the noise just kept getting louder in the school, and the two buffoons who also participated were not reliable accomplices, so I was hanging out there alone. It was unbearable. For the seniors involved in this deal to not be absolutely shaken to their core would require an almost sociopathic ability to distance themselves from any moral culpability. My guess is that this is not the first incident, and that the kids being gassed for what they did on the bus will roll over on everyone else who ever participated in this kind of grotesque behavior (and don't call it hazing because that allows it to be dismissed as some kind of prank). Or, the victims of previous assaults will start to throw stones. If that is true, it won't just be the kids who are held responsible. This will roll to the coach and principal. Kim King will be there to talk to everyone.

Sports From the Couch--Can Purdue Regroup

jshowal2 — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:41:13 +0000

by Jeff Showalter I'm sure everyone has heard that Purdue forward Robbie Hummel suffered a serious knee injury last night in the first half versus Minnesota. Without being a doctor, I can't be certain on the damage done, but my guess is Hummel is done for the year. That's bad news for any kid and most teams, but especially bad for a Purdue team with Final Four aspirations. Hey, I'm not here to write about things everyone already knows, so I'm going to let you know the reasons why Purdue can still make a run to Lucas Oil Stadium. 1) Matt Painter can flat out coach. I hate having to admit that but it's true. Your favorite team's coaches are alot like your local hospital. Everyone bitches about their local hospital and talks about how good the other hospitals are. That is until you talk to someone that went to "the other hospital" and they bitch about theirs in the same fashion. Purdue fans have a great coach. He understands x's and o's, he's an Indiana guy that gets the hoosier hysteria, he can recruit and makes good adjustments ingame. Painter will make the necessary adjustments, Purdue is going to have to wear people down with pressure defense and try to run a little more on offense. Teams will zone so PU will need to work on the Zone offense, but Painter will have them prepared. Don't hate on the coach. He's pretty good. 2) E'Twaun Morre is the best player in the Big 10 not named Evan Turner. The issue with Moore is he needs to understand that he is that good. Moore can get his own shot, he can get to the lane, he can offensive rebound and shoot the three (except last night). Moore has to become "The Man". He can do that now with Hummel gone. Sometimes their is an amount of addition by subtraction that happens with Hummel out. I'm not saying PU doesn't miss Hummel, but I do believe Moore can can get some of those shots, he is going to be a big time scorer the rest of the way. 3) JuJuan Johnson needs to "Boiler Up". Matt painter needs to draw a semi-circle 12 feet from the rim and tell JJ that he can only shoot from inside the 12 foot radius. Purdue has enough jump shooters they don't need JJ to be Matt Bullard, they need JJ to be more like Matt Howard (sans the really dumb fouls). That is also going to free up shooters and open up the lane when teams have to double team JuJuan. 4) Keaton Grant needs to turn back the clock. I believe Grant's issue is one strike against Painter. I thought Grant was going to be an all-american when he first hit the campus. He could shoot, defend and handle the ball. When the current junior class came in, Grant began to defer more and more. Not sure why because he has the ability to score in bunches. He got in such a rut that he couldn't shake it for a long time. Guess what? Grant has been playing better and he may be the one person who will benefit the most from Hummel going down. I expect big things from Grant the rest of the season. 5) Purdue is still one of the deepest teams in America. The one and done travesty has killed depth on alot of the top teams. That is not the case at Purdue. Johnson, Moore, Grant, Barlow, Kramer, Jackson, Hart, Bade and Smith. That's not a bad nine player rotation. A lot of teams would trade. There you go. The five reasons why Purdue may still punch a ticket to Indianapolis and the final Four. Not saying they will, but if they do, you saw it here first.

Boilers Will Have to Survive Without Hummel

kentsterling — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:17:05 +0000

by Kent Sterling The problem won't be replacing Robbie Hummel's points, if the conclusions about his injuries are correct and he is out for the remainder of the season. Hummel is a good scorer as Thad Matta can tell you, but the offensive games of the E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson can help bridge that gap. The problem will be defense and rebounding. I interviewed former Indiana State Coach Bill Hodges in 1980 - the year after Larry Bird graduated. I asked him what the Sycamores missed most about Larry Bird. I expected him to say leadership and knowledge of the game. Hodges said "Rebounding". At that point, I knew Hodges was an idiot, but it did put in my mind the need to evaluate a player's absence based upon the asset that is most difficult to replace. Robbie Hummel is tall and long, but quick and tough enough to get out on the floor and defend. He also rebounds very effectively. Whoever Matt Painter rotates in to replace Hummel, he is not going to be able to defend and rebound like Hummel. Offense can come from any of the five kids on the floor, but defense comes from the collective efforts of all five. Hiding a weak offensive player is easier than hiding a defensively deficient kid. This injury, if it is season-ending for Hummel, doesn't doom the Boilers. It just means the guys left behind need to step-up. It means that the Boilers need to do what they do best - guard their own man with tenacity and block out every shot. Hummel is a really good college basketball player on a team that embodies the team-first attitude missing from so many programs. If any team is built to hold up under this type of adversity, it's Purdue. The problem won't be as pronounced in the NCAAs as it will be in the Big Ten Tournament. If the Boilers make it to the championship game and don't completely go to hell during the end of the regular season to totally screw up their seeding, that will be their third game in three days and the effort Moore and Johnson need to expend to compensate for the loss of Hummel's points will be costly. One game at a time, the Boilers will be able to compete at a high level. In back-to-back-to-back games, the void will become increasingly problematic. Bob Kravitz said today of Kravitz & Eddie on 1070 The Fan that Purdue is a team that even IU fans can enjoy watching. He's right, and that should extend to all basketball fans. It will be fun to watch the other kids step up to compensate for the loss they have suffered. One interesting sidelight and unintended consequence of the injury is that if Purdue can't play well without Hummel and takes a bath in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, and IU can't get a win, Indianapolis will again have a tough time selling seats to the tournament, and could lose the event permanently to Chicago. All because of a great kid's knee ligament.

Sports Digest - Friday, February 26, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:34:06 +0000

Here are today's big stories: Boilers - Hummel Tears ACL - Out for Season http://www.indystar.com/article/20100226/SPORTS0602/2260325/1004/SPORTS/No.-3-Purdue-must-overcome-the-loss-of-Robbie-Hummel-to-torn-knee-ligament http://purdue.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1056485 Boilers - Kravitz - Chance for Final Four Out the Window http://www.indystar.com/article/20100226/SPORTS15/2260327/1034/SPORTS15/Kravitz-Chance-for-Final-Four-disappears Hoosiers - Bad Loss to Badgers; Crean Tossed http://www.indystar.com/article/20100226/SPORTS0601/2260326/1004/SPORTS/Hoosiers-routed-Crean-tossed http://www.post-trib.com/sports/2071304,bkc-iu-0226.article http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74102 http://www.jg.net/article/20100226/SPORTS0301/302269938/1089/SPORTS0301 Bultler - Perfection Awaits Tonight http://www.indystar.com/article/20100226/SPORTS0605/2260324/1004/SPORTS/Bulldogs-1-win-from-perfection-in-Horizon Colts - O-Line Will See Changes http://www.indystar.com/article/20100226/SPORTS03/2260329/1004/SPORTS/Colts-to-make-O-line-changes Pacers Go Small and Lose Tight One http://www.indystar.com/article/20100226/SPORTS04/2260330/1004/SPORTS/Rally-falls-short-when-Pacers-can-t-rebound-missed-FT Cubs - Castro Is the Real Deal http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2071153,CST-SPT-cub26.article Cubs - If It's Baseball Season, Guzman Must Be Hurt http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2070958,CST-SPT-cubnt26.article Cubs - Millar Closer to Making Cubs http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0226-cubs-chicago-spring-training-20100225,0,5390838.story Cubs - Zambrano Expected to Start Opener http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100225&content_id=8139354&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

Harry on Sports - Friday, February 26, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:40:58 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry33.mp3]

Carmel Bullying Story Just Keeps Getting Worse

kentsterling — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:33:14 +0000

by Kent Sterling And the sinkhole expands. Another day, another allegation. A Carmel student has come forward saying he was assaulted in the locker room by a fourth senior basketball player. This makes identifying the four kids accused of wrongdoing a little bit easier, as there is now only one senior remaining on the team for Senior Night tonight against Brebeuf. The noise grows louder both inside and outside the halls of Carmel High School for the people close to this mess. Parents calling for justice are happily talking to the media, and Principal Williams is hiding under his desk. I had a boss back in the 1990s at WIBC who when confronted by corporate examination of his budget, dove under the conference table and shrieked, "Are they gone yet! Are they gone!" If Williams isn't doing that, he would certainly like to. Senior Night is a great tradition where parents get to accompany their children onto the floor for a pregame ceremony. The decent kids take the opportunity to thank parents for their help. Four of the five senior families won't get that opportunity because of the hysteria surrounding their idiotic and abusive behavior. The seniors traditionally start the game, and play extensively. I would assume that will be the case for the one senior player who either chose correctly not to participate in these incidents or simply hasn't been implicated that will taint Carmel High School and its basketball program for a generation. I would hope there is one lone guy with a conscience and brain who would say no to the peer pressure involved in getting kids to participate in continuing what is said to be a tradition in the basketball program. If that is the case, it makes us wonder how far back this goes and what kind of systemic ignorance would allow it. Was this gutless and violent abuse done with a wink and nod from the coaches? Or were they so removed from the behavior of their players that they were ignorant to it? Either way, the four coaches who were reportedly on the bus at the time of the attack must go. The coach at my high school was fired very quickly when reports surfaced that New Albany players were getting high in the back of the bus on the way home from games. When a window is deployed correctly, kids smoking pot is easily hidden. Hard to can a guy for that, but the coach is responsible for kids' behavior on a bus just as in a classroom. That didn't involve an anal assault, as is alleged to have taken place here. Whatever happens, tonight will be an exceptionally sad one at Carmel High School. It will be the last home game for the lone senior participating, and might be the last for a whole bunch of others. The execution of this investigation has been protracted and ridiculous, and those responsible need to be held accountable. These aren't hardened criminals who have taken an omertà. Getting kids to tell the truth is almost as easy as asking them. It's one thing not to rat on a kid who breaks a balloon filled with paint over Headmaster Trask's car, as Charlie Simms did in "Scent of a Woman". It's quite another to keep quiet about this level of assault. The quicker and more complete the sweep of the broom, the sooner Carmel gets back to the business of teaching the kids. That job is difficult with Fox-59's Kim King hiding in the shadows waiting for kids and parents to submit to an interview. That was the most difficult portion of the side show of a press conference held two mornings ago. The only concrete statement made by anyone expressed concern for the kids. Really? If it's about the kids, end this moronic drama. Find out who did what, and expel them. Find out who allowed what or was complicit, and fire them. If you can't do that without lawsuit abatement being foremost in your mind, you are not educators. You are bureaucrats. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Tom Crean Ejected from IU - Wisconsin Tilt

kentsterling — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:35:26 +0000

by Kent Sterling It had to happen eventually. How long could IU fans expect the frenetic and constantly-hydrating Tom Crean to [caption id="attachment_1346" align="alignright" width="293" caption="Tom Crean leaves Branch McCracken Court after being tossed during last night's game"][/caption] take that kind of abuse? It's been a long time between W's for Crean and the Hoosiers, and fan were beginning to question Crean emotional health with loss after loss greeted by incessant clapping and bizarrely incongruous encouragement. Crean had no choice but to support his guys. They aren't playing with anything resembling precision and seem overmatched in most games, but they are still showing up and hopefully they are taking steps to improve. This lost and dreadful season is more about taking positive steps for next year than the results we have to swallow now. Crean needs to demand improvement, but if the kids aren't capable because they are too young and inexperienced, it does no good to publicly excoriate them. At the same time, fans (and the team) need to know Crean is committed enough to display more than cheerleading prowess. Last night, Crean finally blew to let the team and fans know that he has some fight in him and he is willing to lose his shit to show it. I'm almost never a fan of emotional outbursts because an emotional mind no longer processes information and only reacts to what happened in the past. That doesn't do anyone any good. There are rare people, like Bob Knight, who could do both. Angry outbursts came so easily to Knight that he could scream at Tom Rucker while simultaneously formulating strategy, or at least he made IU fans believe that's what he was doing. The fans that were left in Assembly Hall were treated to a reward for remaining as the game was long over at the point of the ejection. It was a late game, so many of the kids had gotten a head start toward Kirkwood for a [caption id="attachment_1347" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="IU fans decare their intentions for post game fun"][/caption] Thursday night of binge drinking and mayhem. Thursdays were always the best nights of the week socially. Everyone was ready to rock on Thursdays, so it's not surprising that the kids bailed prior to the game's end at 11p. Crean earned some love last night for his well-timed tirade, and gave fans a glimpse into his passion for the program, as that was what the outburst was designed to do. He said during his postgame press conference that he will never apologize for his passion. No one should, He also shouldn't apologize for the display of passion to be a little bit too well-timed to have not been contrived to convey they passion to the fans and his players. With Bob Knight (will the comparisons to of the current IU coach and Knight ever stop), fans were never sure if he was crazy and out-of-control or a genius for his behaviors. What they were sure about was that Knight was great at getting five minutes of righteous whistles when he went off - unless Ted Valentine was on the floor to make sure Knight knew who he thought was running the game). Knight held everyone around him responsible for a level of conduct, and his hysterics seemed to make that clear. Not sure what Crean what edict Crean was trying to enforce last night other than steering the postgame conversation away from the losing streak, but what the hell, it brought some drama to a game that held none on the floor from the opening tip. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Carmel Bullying Story Sparks Media Debate

kentsterling — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:44:37 +0000

by Kent Sterling Listening to the noon hour of the Dan Dakich Show on 1070 - The Fan today, I heard a caller thank Dan for being classy enough to avoid the Carmel Basketball Bullying story until someone knew something. I agree with Dan's decision to avoid the story if the subject is uncomfortable. The trouble with dealing in unknowns in talk radio - particularly on a sports show that deals with mostly frivolous topics - is that maintaining control over the content presented by the callers is exceptionally difficult. No one needs to have a Stephen Hawking-esque intellect to know which seniors have been disciplined by the school for the multiple assaults. People know, but until the are charged and over 18, the media generally does the right thing and omits the names of the accused. To keep callers from coming with the names and rumors of the bad alleged acts is tough, and there is nothing like a discussion about abuse to take the wind out of a fun show like Dan's. The media, though, plays a huge role in the execution of democracy and justice. That's why freedom of the press is guaranteed in the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution, the press is allowed to be present during all trials (unless there are circumstances that require the courtroom to be closed), an open door law that requires the public posting of meetings of government agencies, and a Freedom of Information Act. The media forces the people's business to be conducted in the light of day. You can bet that without the media, Carmel officials would have happily swept this under the rug and doled out information they saw fit for the parents and citizens of Carmel to know. They are still hiding behind a student privacy act, as they continue to cower in their offices grasping for options that might release the pressure brought about by the media scrutiny. We don't always like the message the media brings, but without it bureaucrats and administrators could run amok manipulating and orchestrating. The noise in the heads of the principal of Carmel High School and superintendent of Carmel Clay Schools isn't being caused by the media. It's from their conscience. It's the knowledge that they have sat idly by as assaults upon students have been committed on school property in the presence of adult representatives of the school. Their institutional inattention is at the root of what certainly sounds like a problem that doesn't start and end with these two alleged incidents. At this point, the stories of a series of assaults going back years at Carmel are coming to light because of the media scrutiny that has surrounded these two isolated cases. Kim King of Fox-59 claims to have hundreds of emails from kids and parents detailing these assaults as well as those the last few years. She has received almost as many phone calls. At some point several of these parents and kids are going to go on the record, and then the story will finally move toward a conclusion. Justice will eventually be served, and an honest accounting and reckoning will be heard. In this case, it will be because of the constant light shown upon this story by the media that some choose to blame for the news, rather than those who allegedly committed these atrocious acts. The media isn't simply out there trying to raise hell and expose prurient acts for the purpose of getting ratings. Most of them are hard-working and honest people who want to tell stories and occasionally speak for those who otherwise would be forced to stand silent. Being in the media isn't always a high-minded pursuit. As a TV photographer in another life, I often felt like an interloper. Shooting B-roll of funerals was especially galling and finally caused me to leave that job. But there are times when the media can be proud of their work, and this story is one of those. Don't blame the media. Thank it. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Carmel Senior Night Mostly Without Drama

kentsterling — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:14:52 +0000

by Kent Sterling Not much really happened, which is not what I thought would be the case. When I was in high school, if this kind of thing ever happened to a school we were playing, I would have made sure we chanted some entirely inappropriate things. Brebeuf, Carmel's opponent for tonight's senior night game, is a school filled with clever kids. I thought they might be as immature and classless as I was. No such luck. The nicest moment of the night was the ovation Alex Payne got when the remaining senior was introduced as part of Carmel's starting lineup. I like that. I am assuming that there won't be anything in coming days to sully this kid, and it occurred to me that it must have been very hard for him tonight. I assume that he grew up playing with the four seniors who've been dismissed from the team, and that their senior year would be a time of celebration and tests to see how good they had become. With all that out the window and him the lone representative of his class, he must have felt a little alone. The other part of the scenario, and I'm taking some liberty in drawing these lines and coloring inside them to suit me need for a narrative, is that as the other seniors were allegedly abusing freshman, Alex refused to participate. His refusal, I hope, is because he saw what was going on as wrong and wanted no part of it. Saying no to friends who try to prod you into a bad act is not easy, and Alex might have done just that. Saying no to friends can sequester a kid into a very isolated place. Most 18-year-olds don't know that it's better to be alone and right than popular and an idiot. That kind of maturity isn't always grasped by 40-year-olds. If Alex did that, good for him. He's on his way to being a quality adult, who might lead some kids one day toward making a similarly smart decision. He's also a pretty damn good ballplayer. When I left the game, he had ten-points and showed a lot of ability to get to the rim. The only borderline moment was when Fox-59's Kim King walked into the gym. I didn't see her until she was in front of the scorer's table. You have to love this woman, unless you're a Carmel student as you'll read in a minute. She is aggressively pursuing a story that is not going to lead to a pretty end for the high school in whose gym she is walking, but she doesn't slip in the back door. Nope, Kim walks right down to the floor during halftime and crosses in front of the scorer's table and then the Carmel bench. She stands in the corner with a person I'm guessing is her producer, and the crowd became a little quiet and started pointing. Then there was a bit of huddling, followed by the chant "Go home, Kim! Go home, Kim!" Some of the parents laughed, which I thought was absurd because it was neither clever nor funny. If Carmel is a school filled with as many smart kids as they claim, they should have come up with something witty. The other issue is that Kim is actually busting her ass to force some accountability into this situation. In the end, that will help the kids enjoy a high school experience where they don't have to worry about finger buggering. The night should have been to celebrate high school basketball and the work of a senior class that had worked hard for years to be Carmel Greyhounds. It wasn't, but that didn't keep those who went to the game from enjoying Alex Payne as a kid and player. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Carmel High School Bullying Recap

kentsterling — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:30:50 +0000

by Kent Sterling A friend from Chicago called tonight, and asked what the hell is going on at Carmel? He's been reading here about the story, but for the sake of brevity I have recapped the story for every post. Here is the recap On January 22, on the way back to Carmel from a game against Terre Haute South, it is alleged that three seniors assaulted two freshman in the back of the school bus. The report is that the two freshmen were subjected to the insertion of fingers into their rear ends. The seniors were suspended for five days, and then returned to school. There was another suspension this week because of a report of a similar assault in the boys locker room at Carmel High School. There has been a conspiratorial silence from the Carmel High School administrators who cite a student privacy law as their justification. The Carmel chief of police is investigating the incidents "thoroughly" and with turn over the results to the Hamilton County prosecutor. This story really grew legs this week, and keeps rolling as the lead story of every newscast. There is a reporter for Fox-59, Kim King, who has staked a claim on this story and is being contacted by hundreds of Carmel students and parents with similar stories of assaults disguised as initiations and hazing. If the number of assaults equals the number of emails Kim holds up for the camera during every stand-up, the Hamilton County prosecutor will be very busy for the next five years. My friend also thought it might be worthwhile to open this up for your participation. What are your thoughts? If you go to Carmel or any school where this kind of thing has taken place, take a minute to tell us what you think of the media coverage, the acts themselves, and the response or lack thereof by the administration at Carmel. No names necessary. Please be honest and respectful. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Official 2010 Chicago Cubs Preview - Cubs Have Fallen Into Mediocrity

kentsterling — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:03:45 +0000

by Kent Sterling They never were an elite team despite their elite payroll, but today as the Cubs prepare for the 2010 season they are just good enough to not blow up. Position by position, the Cubs are long in the tooth, short on health, and bereft of leadership. If you grade the Cubs position players on a five-point scale on defensive range, arm strength, speed, power, and OBP, you would see a whole bunch of threes. Nothing is so glaring that Jim Hendry thinks that he absolutely has to make a change, but given the totality of the mediocrity, there is no chance for this team to contend for a championship against a team like the Cardinals. Writing that makes me physically ill, but how do you look at Theriot, Baker, Soto, Fukudome, and Soriano and think anything else. Catcher - Geovany Soto, 27 Soto had a disastrous sophomore season after being the consensus National League Rookie of the Year in 2008. He was overweight, tested positive during the worlds for pot, and looked lost without his mentor, Henry Blanco. Now Soto has lost 40 pounds, and says he's a new man. Does that mean he'll be better? Who knows, but he can't be worse. Hitting .211 in 102 games isn't too high a hurdle to clear. Another year like that, and Soto joins Jerome Walton as colossal ROY busts. First Base - Derrek Lee, 35 on September 6 Lee is one of the few Cubs to whom a five would be awarded. He is one of the best defensive first basemen in baseball. Unfortunately, Lee is getting older and the sore neck that seems to be a perpetual bother is not going to improve as Lee ages. The Cubs can't hope for better than what Lee gave last year - which was a substantial amount. He hit .306 with 35 dingers, and 111 RBIs. If he can go to the plate 608 times in 2010, those numbers are repeatable. He slugged .579, and Jim Hendry will kneel down at the feet of the statue of Ernie Banks in front of the main entrance of Wrigley Field and thank the ghost of Frank "Wildfire" Schulte. Second Base - Jeff Baker, 29 on June 21/Mike Fontenot, 30 on June 9 Neither are terribly adept defensive second basemen. Fontenot was an offensive disaster last season swinging a bat as big as he is. Coupling his .236 average with his weak arm and limited range, and you might question what he's doing on the roster at all, much less battling for the starting job. Baker is worth a look. He's a young kid with a quick bat. He hit .305 with some gap power. Like most of his teammates, projected over the course of a full season, he strikes out almost 25% of the time and rarely walks. When I played in Little League baseball, there was a manager for another team who told his kids, "Swing at pitches you can reach." I thought that was curious advice. Why not swing at strikes? Or swing at what you can hit hard? I thought that advice probably doomed him from coaching at a higher level. Little did I know that Lou Piniella subscribed to that same school of thought. Third Base - Aramis Ramirez, 32 on June 25 Ramirez is the other player for the Cubs who would rate a five at anything. Ramirez has consistent and rare power. He says that his shoulder is healed and that he is 100%. The Cubs better hope that's true, because if Ramirez goes down, it's next man up. The Cubs are likely to trim Chad Tracy and Kevin Millar before they break camp, so that mean Baker at third and Fontenot at second. Yikes! The Cubs are having Fontenot take ground balls at short, so maybe they are looking at keeping Millar and dumping Andres Blanco. Playing 82 games, Ramirez hit .317 with 15 HRs and 65 RBIs. He can hit, and he is a relatively adept third baseman. If his back, shoulder, or knees flare up, it's all over on the north side. Shortstop - Ryan Theriot, 30 This is the place where the Cubs wave the white flag. If Ryan Theriot is your starting shortstop, you cannot win a World Series. Nothing against Theriot. He's going to take home a truckload of cash this season with physical attributes that should have had him playing hookey from a real job to sit in the bleachers for the home opener at Wrigley. Good for him. All of those niceties aside, his defensive skills are better hidden at second base. Lou Piniella in his seemingly limitless lack of wisdom continues to beat the drum for Theriot to bat leadoff. As a second baseman in the eight hole, Theriot is an asset. At short, hitting one, he guarantees team mediocrity. His OBP of .348 sucks, and his 93 Ks are worse - for a leadoff hitter. Starlin Castro is the shortstop in waiting. He reminds people of Hanley Ramirez, and that is a good thing. He'll turn 20 in March, and his ascendance reminds me of the wait for Shawon Dunston. Larry Bowa was the shortstop as the rifle-armed Dunston rolled through the farm system. The aging Bowa was not unlike Theriot. He gave the Cubs not so much in every measurable. You have to trust that somebody in the Cubs front office knows what they're doing, so I'll trust them to get it right. You can bet though that the Cubs will break camp without Castro because they will want to start the clock on his arbitration eligibility. That means he will come up in late May, if things go well in Iowa. Theriot was plunked in the wrist during live BP this week by hard-throwing Rafael Dolis. You hate to hope for lingering soreness, but... Right Field - Kosuke Fukudome, 33 on April 26 Criminy, as Harry Carey would say. One of the few moves by Jim Hendry of the past three years worthy of applause has resulted in a lot of jersey sales, but little else. The other candidate for the leadoff spot struck out 112 times (not good), but works deep counts and drew 93 walks. His OBP was .375. In limited time in the leadoff spot, his OBP was higher. Defensively, Fukudome is really good. Great range. Great angles to the ball. And I've never seen him miss a cutoff man. Hendry had good reason to expect better than .259, 11, and 54 with six steals and 10 times caught stealing. Maybe the third hitting coach in the last year, Rudy Jamarillo, newly crowned successor to Charlie Lau as a genius, can get Fukudome to stop corkscrewing himself into the ground. Center Field - Marlon Byrd, 33 on August 30 You have to excuse my skepticism regarding Byrd, but when a guy puts up career numbers after turning 30 while in his option year, I get curious. In his career,Byrd has hit 60 home runs. Twenty of them came last year. He is reportedly a good clubhouse guy who is not prone to emotional peaks and valley like the last Texas Ranger Hendry brought in to bolster the lineup. I don't mention his name because he is an asshat. This week, Byrd told reporters that the asshat is a good guy, and that everyone should go to dinner with him before they judge. You know, Hitler was a hell of a dinner guest. Not much with jokes, but a great listeners. Very curious guy. Genghis Khan? Helluva nice guy to drink Mongolian ale with. Everyone is a great guy at dinner. How is he under pressure? Bad enough that the Cubs paid him to stay home for the last couple of weeks of the season and traded him for a batting practice pitcher. Hitler and Khan - not so good under pressure either. He is said to be a middle of the pack center fielder. Byrd had 98 K's and an OBP of .329, so he fits the mold of the guys Hendry loves to target. Again, if you can reach it, SWING! Left Field - Alfonso Soriano, 34 Never has so much been paid for so little. The seed chipper loves to swing the bat regardless of whether he can reach the pitch. Hitting a good slider is supposed to be among the toughest feats in sports. Hitting a bad slider three-feet outside the strike is impossible as Soriano proves a couple of times every game. Insanity is defined as doing the same thing again and again while expecting a different result. Soriano should be in Sector C of "Shutter Island" with the adult version of the kid who played Moocher in "Breaking Away". He swings a giraffe's leg at the plate that he can't stop once he starts his swing, and as an outfielder, he's twice as nuts. Soriano jumps as he catches routine flyballs. He has a surprising accurate arm for a guy who throws sidearm. Overpaid at one-third his price tag, the good news about Alfonso is that we only have five more years of committing so much money to Soriano that Hendry can't play at the big boy free agent/trade table. Bullpen - Here, we are okay. I love Carlos Marmol, 27, and could not care less how many guys he walks because hitters are helpless against him. He has to walk four before he gets three K's to lose a one-run lead. I'll take my chances. The set-up guys are okay, although I have to question why Piniella would say that he was counting on Angel Guzman, 29, to be the chief set-up guy. Guzman has a glass shoulder. Healthy, he's really good, but he's rarely pitched healthy for any stretch. The guy I really like is Esmailin Caridad, 26, which I believe means, "send the package by next-day air". Caridad was one of the guys you wake up to in a meaningless September game. You shake your head, watch a couple of pitches, and get excited. "Julie, am I crazy, or can this guy really throw?" Julie mumbles something from the kitchen I can't hear, but know is derogatory. Starting Rotation Who even knows? Carlos Zambrano is young in years, 29 on June 1, but looks to have an old arm. He's in better shape, but as with Soto, what does that mean. Rick Reuschel and Mickey Lolich were fat guys, and they got everybody out for a long time. Z is coming off a season where he only threw 169 innings, and that is not the load that Hendry is paying for. He threw out his back and strained a hammy while hitting, so hopefully his pinch-hitting days are over. Ryan Dempster, 33 on May 3, was okay at 11-9, 3.65. Randy Wells, 28 on August 28, was a huge surprise going 12-10, 3.05. Ted Lilly, 34, is on the shelf still recovering from shoulder surgery. Oh, he also tweaked a knee, and has the flu. Great. If Ted Lilly is your #3 guy, you have a hell of a staff. If he is your ace, uh-oh. Lilly will open the season on the shelf, so that leaves Larry Rothschild busy conducting an open casting call. Carlos Silva, 31 on April 23, is a train wreck, and if the Cubs had committed to building Jeff Samardzija, 25, into a quality starter instead of shuttling him between Chicago and Des Moines again and again, he might be ready. He might be ready anyway. Management - Either Lou Piniella pretends he is a doddering old wingnut exceptionally well, or he is a doddering old wingnut. He talks about allowing the players to make decisions as to where they will hit and when they will play. He is not a fan of hitting and running, but that might be because his players can't do it. When he does sacrifice bunt, it doesn't go well. Has anyone seen a successful sac bunt by the Cubs with runner at first and second? You may as well hand your opponent an out and keep the runners at first and second. The Cubs are free swingers to a fault, so they beat the hell out of bad pitching, but can't create runs against quality starters. That's a great recipe for a nine-game losing streak in the postseason. The Cubs made a huge mistake in not hiring Joe Girardi when they had the chance. Lou needs to wake-up, learn his players names, and put the damn notebook down. The Cubs will finish third in the NL Central behind the Cardinals and the Reds with a record of 84-78. I bounce around a little in my mind with a potential win total anywhere between 78 and 85. Because I am an eternal optimist, I grabbed one of the Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - Saturday Spectacular, February 27, 2010

kentsterling — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:23:08 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/harry35.mp3]

Sports From the Couch--I Need to Thank Some People

jshowal2 — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:37:35 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I remember a time when February and March were filled with Basketball. I schedule my downtime around the Pacers and the Hoosiers, but now, there is no reason to pay as much attention. Both teams suck so bad, that 1)they are no fun to watch and 2) they are too painful to watch. Neither team's performance is going to be the standard for a basketball study on excellence, and yet I have this need to thank them as my evenings and weekends are now filled with movies, trips to the gym, catching up with family and friends and writing a blog. So why not go ahead and try to show my appreciation: I want to thank Donnie Walsh. Donnie brought in Larry Bird and started a path to retirement. Donnie really built this franchise from the ground up, drafting Chuck Person, Reggie Miller and Rik Smits, but father time caught up to all of them. When he tried to replace them with Austin Croshere, Jonathon Bender and Al Harrington, it didn't work out so well. After "The Brawl", he decided he had to remake the team on the run but it didn't work out so well. We really may never know why Donnie had to leave and keep Larry in charge but he got to go home to run the Knicks and may have LeBron James playing in the Garden next year. Not a bad retirement for Mr. Walsh. I know I can thank Larry Bird. Larry has made some tremendous decisions. The Pacers President decided that becoming the whitest team since the George Mikan Minnesota Lakers was exactly what was needed to kick start the Pacers back to the playoffs. Sarunus J., Dunleavy, Murphy, Foster, Deiner, Hansbrough and McRoberts have played in as many playoff games as I have in a Pacers uniform. Larry isn't prejudice, he is a bad a judge of talent regardless of race. TJ Ford, Brandon Rush, James White, Earl Watson and Solomon Jones are just as bad. I realized Larry hasn't just saved me time, but Larry has saved me money. I haven't been to a Pacers game since they played Minnesota and KEVIN GARNETT! Thanks Larry! I want to thank Tom Crean. I realized, four minutes into the Wisconsin game that Coach Crean's problem is he can not TEACH the game. Twice in the four minute span, two illegal screens were called on the IU offense. The thing to remember about these fouls is they were both on the pick and roll. Both calls were because the dribbler (Rivers and Jones) took off before the screener could get set. Crean has had both guards for basically 2 years now and has yet to teach them one of the most fundamental aspects of offensive basketball. There is no pick and roll without the pick. I went to bed knowing the game was over. I had no idea IU would drop the game by 30 plus, but a loss is a loss and I picked up an extra hour of sleep. I'm a firm believer that Tom Crean will never take IU back to the glory of yesteryear but I thought I'd look at some of his DWade-less teams to confirm. Remenber Dominic James? IU fans were pissed that Mike Davis didn't go after him. I watched him a lot in high school and kind of thought he was overrated but was surprised he went to Marquette and not a different Big 10 school. James best year at Marquette was his freshmen year. Here are his stats: James’ Career Stats Year GP GS Min Avg FG-FGA Pct 3FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Ast TO Stl Pts Avg 2005-06 31 31 1006 32.5 174-404 43.1 41-136 30.1 84-131 64.1 167 87 50 473 15.3 2006-07 34 34 1130 33.2 171-445 38.4 50-184 27.2 114-175 65.1 167 89 5 64 506 14.9 2007-08 35 34 1060 30.3 159-399 39.8 45-145 31.0 89-134 66.4 154 75 62 452 12.9 James shooting percentage and scoring went down all 3 years. Basically James became a volume shooter. Never the top priority of a good point guard, but obviously ok with Coach Crean. In the last three years of Crean's reign at Marquette, his teams were extremely guard oriented. James, Wes Matthews jr. and Jermel McNeal were the three main ball handlers and offensive weapons. One would think that a team, whose best three players were guards would take good care of the ball. Well, guess again. MU's turnover to assist ratio was 1.1, 1.0 and 1.1. Compare that with Purdue, who's biggest problem has been consistent point guard play, averaged 1.3, 1.3 and 1.0 over Painter's last three years. The point is, that Crean's teams don't improve. There is nothing in Crean's coaching history that makes anyone believe his players get better. Crean is not a teacher and that spells disaster at IU. Last, I want to thank Rick Greenspan and the people absolute morons on the IU board at the time. Anyone that thought Greenspan was worthy of a Big 10 job should not be decision makers. All you have to do is google Rick Greenspan and John Feinstein together to understand how truly incompetent this guy was at Army. Ah Hell, I'll do it for you. Greenspan and Feinstein Thanks guys. Time to go enjoy myself.

Getting Set for Purdue-Michigan St.

jimjohnsonpbm — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:14:10 +0000

by Jim Johnson This game has been anticipated for awhile - especially now that it was announced Purdue forward Robbie Hummel will be out for the rest of the season. Today's game won't only pretty much lock Purdue in for a No. 1 finish in the Big Ten, it will paint a picture for the rest of the world as to how the Boilermakers will adjust to life without Hummel. Hummel isn't completely gone though. After warm-ups, Hummel joined his team in the huddle and said a few words. We don't know what those words are obviously since Hummel isn't allowed to talk to the media. When I asked the SID today when he would be available for comment, he replied, "not int he foreseeable future." Hummel saw me walking up to him when he was coming through the tunnel, and he didn't look at me. I shook is hand and said, "hang in there." He replied, "Oh, I will." That's the most any media member will be able to get out of him. We'll see what happens. It comes down to todays game.

U.S. Hockey Skates to Silver in Best Game Ever

kentsterling — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:37:43 +0000

by Kent Sterling What the hell was I supposed to watch today? The gold medal game in a sport where I have only passing interest between the Americans and the Team Canada, or the Purdue vs. Michigan State tilt? I wore out the previous channel button and watched both. Hockey can be incredibly exciting when the players appear to care deeply about the result. That's tough in the NHL. Just as with the NBA, it's tough to bring your "A" game night in and night out. The olympics are different. This is an NHL All-Star tournament where national pride is on the line. For all good reasons, that brings the best out in these players. They fought like hell at both ends, and the game went to overtime tied at 2-2 after an American goal in the last half-minute of regulation. The NHL, run by hacks, will blow this temporary boost in popularity, but for this glorious day the game was back in the forefront of the American consciousness. I loved watching hockey in the early-1970s. The league was filled with stars that had names that rolled easily off the tongue. Hull, Orr, Howe, Esposito (both Phil and Tony), Clarke, Richard, Beliveau, and Park were the best players in the world, and I knew the numbers of every Chicago Blackhawks player. Watching on a 19-inch black-and-white TV was just as exciting as on a 46-inch HDTV. Today was like that. My Mom and Dad would get ribs at Little Red for all of the Hawks road games that were on TV, and it was a great family event when the Hawks played, except when the traveled to Los Angeles to play the Kings. That meant a 9 p.m. start time, and the puck dropped just is a finished brushing my teeth. Meanwhile Purdue was fighting for a Big Ten Championship in Mackey Arena against Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans. Games like this aren't pretty but they are exciting. You can see all out effort in every possession. Without Robbie Hummel there was no room for error, and Michigan State grinded and grinded with a few more weapons as the second half would down, building a multiple possession lead. The Americans did all they could in the four-on-four to hang with Canada, but as had been the case through the entire game the Canadians were just a tad more aggressive than the US team. Sid the Kid ended one of the most exciting games in history with a shot five-hole shot. Purdue just couldn't solve the Spartans defense as the Michigan State lead built toward the end. E'Twaun Moore had a second half where the ball was all but through the net, but wouldn't fall. It happens to the best shooters in the world, and today was Moore's turn in the barrel. The Michigan State win turned the Big Ten into an enormous mess. Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue all have four losses. The Buckeyes have an extra win, and one home game left against Illinois. Purdue has Indiana at Mackey and finish at Penn State. The Spartans are home against Penn State and Michigan. All that means that there will be a three-way tie at the top a week from today. What a fantastic Big Ten Tourney to look forward to. Illinois and Wisconsin are also capable of winning the tourney and automatic berth in the NCAAs. Minnesota looks to be rallying as well. Michigan, Indiana, Penn State, and Iowa? Maybe next year. For hockey, it's back to the shadows for America's least favorite major league sport. I'll watch the Hawks when the play the Red Wings, but why would I have any interest at all in the Coyotes playing the Avalanche. I couldn't tell you anything about either team unless Joe Sakic is still in Colooooooooooooooooooooooooooorado. Sorry, I nodded off with my finger on the o button. I swear to you, no more hockey talk. Not so fast with a prohibition of talk about the Boilers. I love them, and root for them. They play hard, smart, and move the ball like nobody's counting shots.

Sports Digest - Monday, March 1, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:28:57 +0000

March has begun - madness, spring training, curling ends. Boilers - Kravitz - Life Ater Hummel Is Not Pretty http://www.indystar.com/article/20100301/SPORTS15/3010320/1004/SPORTS/Here-s-what-we-ve-learned-Life-after-Hummel-isn-t-pretty http://www.indystar.com/article/20100301/SPORTS0602/3010321/1004/SPORTS/Boilermakers-can-t-find-their-way Boilers Could Still Win Big Ten, According to Kramer http://www.indystar.com/article/20100301/SPORTS0602/3010359/1004/SPORTS/Kramer-says-Boilers-still-have-shot-at-title Hoosiers Lose Tenth Straight http://www.indystar.com/article/20100301/SPORTS0601/3010311/1004/SPORTS/10-straight-losses-feel-awful-to-IU Hoosiers - Turnovers Costly http://www.indystar.com/article/20100301/SPORTS0601/3010310/1004/SPORTS/Turnovers-costly-to-young-IU-team Hoosiers Own Worst Enemy http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74138 Colts - Caldwell Unsure About Staff http://www.indystar.com/article/20100301/SPORTS03/3010312/1004/SPORTS/Colts-Caldwell-optimistic-about-2010-season Pacers - Reggie Miller Still Cares About Old Team http://www.indystar.com/article/20100301/SPORTS04/3010304/1004/SPORTS/Reggie-Miller-still-cares-about-the-Pacers Cubs - Guzman's Shoulder Better http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2075804,CST-SPT-cubnt01.article Cubs - D-Lee Wants to Retire a Cub http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0301-cubs-chicago--20100228,0,423008.story

Harry on Sports - Monday, March 1, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:45:34 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry36.mp3]

Kent Sterling Fired - Final Chapter

kentsterling — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:43:45 +0000

by Kent Sterling The number of times people Google "Kent Sterling Fired" leads me to believe that my timely demise as program director from Emmis Indianapolis reflects a level of interest that mirrors my own - none. The quality of my life is so much better that it's hard to describe. My energy is much better. My health is better. My marriage is better. My friendships are better. People seem to be happier with me. That's nice. For the first time in years, I'm relaxed. While driving, I'm happy to just drift along at the speed of traffic (or at least not shout obscenities at every car or truck who pulls in front of me). I don't judge people quite as quickly, but I still have some work to do there. The primary obstacle in my way is that I believe I am a very effective judge of people and systems. It's very difficult for me to hand money to slack-jawed boobs who are indifferent to my patronage. Yesterday, I left two Arby's before ordering. At the first, all of the workers were way in the back of the store when I walked in. The store appeared abandoned. At the second, as I ordered a lady walked up, and interrupted my order by asking for two bags. The man taking my order turned from me without a word and fulfilled the lady's request. Next stop, Burger King, where the lady taking my order nearly incurred my wrath by responding to my distinct request for a "Whopper sandwich" with the typical and annoying "sandwich or combo". I told her that I asked specifically for a sandwich, so my inference were I her would be that I want a sandwich. She gave me a look that forced me to keep an eye on her to see whether she might defile my food or signal the cook to do so. Clearly, I have some work to do. February might have been the first month since I reached driving age that I haven't used the car horn at all. Baby steps. The two businesses with which I am involved are moving in the right direction. This website now has four writers other than me, and the page views more than tripled from the January (10,032) to February (32,105). Part of that is due to a couple of posts being picked up at "Extra Mustard" at the Sports Illustrated website, but page views are page views. In April, we will migrate this site to wordpress.org, which will allow us to sell some panel ads and start generating some cash. It's nice to make changes without writing a 30-page dossier designed to convince management of the need to make the change. We have formed an S Corp called Moops Media to be prepared for the financial success that is inevitable. The college search company Rob Nichols and I have started is moving along nicely with a beta test to be completed this month. Then, we'll be ready for customers. Rob and I will be looking for a half-dozen high school sophomores or juniors this spring who are interested in participating in sports in college. We will build the collateral materials helpful in making that dream a reality. Both Rob and I enjoy helping kids, and that's really the motivator for launching the business. I'm roughly 50 pages into writing a book on dads. That's going a little slow going because I get a little emotional thinking about my dad or my son. It's kind of a five-page at a time ordeal. I also send unsolicited radio tips to an email database of industry bigwigs. It's addressed from Sterling Media, as though I'm some kind of high-falutin' consultant. Of course, I'm not, but I have learned a shitload about radio over the years that I simply don't hear on even the best stations in the country, so maybe I can help a little with a little perspective. Maybe not. Regardless, it makes me laugh to sit in my living room and write tips on how to better manage programming at sports and news talk radio stations when I was asked to not do that anymore at the place where I learned most of what I know. Being presumptuous is fun when it brings no consequence. Anyway, this is the last time I'm going to write about being fired because for that episode to be defined as an end of something is inaccurate. January 4 was the beginning of three very enjoyable vocations, and a course toward being a saner and more attentive person. Warren Buffett always says that rule #1 for gathering wealth is to never lose money. He says that rule #2 is to never forget rule #1. Being happy exposes a very similar dynamic. Rule #1 is to avoid things that make you unhappy or bring stress. If you only do what you love, you'll never have a bad day. Sounds simple. It is simple. I'll write more about what I'm doing, but not in terms of being fired. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Thoughts on the Indiana vs. Iowa Game

The Truth — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:09:39 +0000

by The Truth The first ten minutes of Sunday’s game might quite possibly have been the most pathetic display of basketball I have ever witnessed. However, despite those first ten minutes and a handful of other mishaps the rest of the way, Hoosiers players were able to demonstrate improvement not only from respective individual standpoints, but, more importantly, as an entire team. Iowa led from beginning to end impeding any Hoosier run which mirrored the game earlier this season when Iowa won by 15 at Assembly Hall. IU committed 20 turnovers, many of which were unforced, against Iowa who is not distinctively known for its overpowering ability to defend. Three-point shooting was nonexistent, to say the least. IU attempted only eight of them, and the one they got to fall was converted by an unlikely candidate in Capobianco. A common mistake I see the Hoosiers making involves the use of the dribble. Every single time an IU player catches the ball outside of the lane the ball is immediately put on the deck. Why not hold the ball for an extra second and look for the quick reversal or a dump into the post? Dribbling with a purpose is a critical segment of offense because it allows the offensive player to attack the defense. Penetrating gaps can lead to drive-and-kicks for open three’s, it allows teams to get to the foul line, and one can get an easy basket by getting all the way to the hoop. Immediately putting the ball down and dribbling just to dribble makes a player one-dimensional and leads to a stagnant offense. IU recorded a measly four assists the entire game. Currently, Coach Crean’s club does not understand the importance of moving without the ball and passing because they rely on the dribble too much. Three individual players that impressed me today and gave me hope for the future were Christian Watford, Bobby Capobianco and Derek Elston. At the end of the first half, Watford hit a tough, 17-foot pull up jump-shot as time expired. Then, following halftime, it appeared that Coach Crean may have emphasized getting Watford the ball as he was quickly able to get two consecutive buckets. He end the game with 13 points and 7 rebounds and also got to the foul line ten times, sinking seven. He is continuing his impressive freshman year as he leads Big Ten freshman in scoring. Capobianco displayed his range once again knocking down just his fifth triple on the year, which means he has made 5-11 triples on the year. He battled hard on the boards and his ability to knock down shots will enable the Hoosiers to stretch the floor. Derek Elston usually frustrates me when he enters the game mainly due to his lack of confidence. Early in the year he had a “swagger” to his game, but that swag left once the Big Ten season began. In this game he provided a lift off the bench as he played with an elevated amount of energy. He committed zero turnovers, grabbed four boards, and blocked a shot in just 11 minutes of action. Another positive to take away from this game was definitely the free-throw shooting. The Hoosiers shot 25 free throws, which is a lot for this ball club, and converted 80% (20/25). Verdell Jones III hit all eight of his free throws, Jeremiah Rivers, who has seemed to turn around his foul shooting since hitting two clutch free-throws late in the game at Illinois, hit a pair, and, as I mentioned earlier, Christian Watford hit seven out of ten. Overall, IU has two big games left; one against in-state rival Purdue—it would be more than lovely to be able to knock them out of the conference championship hunt—and the other against Northwestern, where 6’9” big-man recruit Moses Abraham will be in attendance. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Izzo: 'Don't kid yourself, they missed him and they missed him a lot'

jimjohnsonpbm — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:31:22 +0000

by Jim Johnson Sunday's Purdue game against Michigan St. was the biggest game of the season for the Boilermakers thus far. They needed to win to lock in the No. 1 spot in the Big Ten. Just as importantly, they needed a win to prove to the world they can continue on without Robbie Hummel. "Late in the game when they needed a basket, that's Hummel time," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "He wasn't there." "We can't expect him to be there anymore," Purdue senior Chris Kramer said after the game. "When Rob went down, our back went up against the wall." And indeed they were. They were up against the wall the entire game too. When they needed a rebound, they didn't get it and ended up getting outrebounded by Michigan St., 46-20. Purdue had only six offensive boards. When they needed a basket, they obviously didn't get it. What's worse, most of their shots were just 2-point field goals. One six points were scored from beyond the arc. E'Twaun Moore can shoot and had two, 3-point attempts go in-and-out - one was late in the game when a trey would have shifted the momentum of the game to Purdue and cut the deficit down to just a two possession game. I thought Sunday's game would paint a picture for the rest of the season for Purdue. If that is the picture they painted, they're in trouble. Purdue will simply need to reevaluate some things. In all fairness, they only had three days to put together a game plan without Hummel. And in all fairness you have to play games to figure out which rotation is going to work. Unfortunately, it's late in the season and there's only two regular season games left until the start of the Big Ten Tournament. "We still control our own destiny," Kramer said. That certainly is true and it would help if JaJuan Johnson didn't attempt anymore treys or toss up a hook shot when down eight points. Purdue will finish the season with two teams at the bottom of the Big Ten standings - Indiana and Penn State. They can play without Hummel. At least on the offensive end. Against Ohio St. he only had four points. Three times this season he didn't reach double figures in scoring. Five games this season he only had 11 points. But he can rebound, averaging 6.9 rebounds per game. There aren't very many people who follows their shot like him. He is also a solid defensive player and is great when it comes to dribble penetration. I have complete confidence that Purdue will be okay and will be able to make a solid run on the NCAA Tournament. Even if they do have a four guard line-up now.

Sports Digest - Tuesday, March 2, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:03:48 +0000

Here are the big stories for today: High School Basketball is in Trouble - Kravitz http://www.indystar.com/article/20100302/SPORTS15/3020329/1004/SPORTS/At-100-high-school-basketball-tourney-is-ailing Butler - Undefeated Season Brings Rewards http://www.indystar.com/article/20100302/SPORTS0605/3020316/1004/SPORTS/Undefeated-Horizon-record-yields-honors-for-Butler-top-player-coach-defender Boilers - Moore and Johnson Staying http://www.indystar.com/article/20100302/SPORTS0602/3020317/1004/SPORTS/Moore-Johnson-say-they-ll-stay-at-Purdue Hoosiers - Moriarity Joins Hoosiers Staff http://www.indystar.com/article/20100302/SPORTS0202/3020323/1004/SPORTS/Mo-Moriarity-leaving-Carmel-football-team-for-job-at-IU Cubs - Sizinbg Up Marlon Byrd's Defense http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2077756,CST-SPT-cub02.article Cubs - Piniella Says All Pitchers Are in the Hunt for Jobs http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2077887,CST-SPT-cubnt02.article Cubs - Playing Castro No Crazy Notion to Lou http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-0302-haugh-column--20100301,0,5543950.column

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, March 2, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:15:53 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry37.mp3]

Single Class Basketball Is Gone Forever

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:24:34 +0000

by Kent Sterling Sectional play starts at most sites today, and many Indiana high school basketball fans pine for the days before the tournament went to four-classes almost 15 years ago. Indiana had the best basketball tournament in the world, and decided that four tourneys were better than one. The arguments for splitting the tournament are testimony to the mediocracy of America. The more winners, the better. Good grief. Really? Four champions are better than one? For who? Name one of the four teams that won last year. I'll wait. The truth is that the IHSAA is a member organization, much like the NCAA. They can't run too far afield from the wishes of the school administrators, or there will be a mutiny against the IHSAA. Over the course of the last 25 years, the population of those power wielding administrators has ebbed from a men's club toward a women's club. And women do not like anything resembling inequity among the sexes. The boys basketball tournament was too popular for the liking of the female administrators, so they purposely corrupted the tournament to close the gender gap. It sounds preposterous, but I've spoken to two female high school principals who say that they championed the split because it was the only way to bring the boy's tournament down to a level where it didn't completely dominate the other sports. So that's one of the reasons why the change was made. Others are that the small schools wanted a chance to compete for a championship. Unfortunately, their ignorance of the tournament robbed their kids of the real joy of the tournament - winning a sectional against the bigger schools. I watched in awe and horror in 1979 as Clarksville's Chuck Franz poured in 53 in a sectional championship effort over New Albany. Do you think Franz would be as thrilled to beat Paoli or Brownstown Central in their sectional as New Albany? People are bound and determined every now and then to try and fix what isn't broken. A whiny minority feels slighted and all of a sudden systems that had run well for almost 90 years are scuttled. The punch line to the joke is that the tournament is no less popular today than it was immediately before the four class tournament was installed. Sectional 10 with North Central, Lawrence North, Lawrence Central, and Cathedral is a monster. Carmel, Noblesville, HSE, and Zionsville is a beast. Those gyms will be packed, as will regional and semistate sites. The downside of the multi-class system is the traveling necessary for some of the schools. New Albany, Jeffersonville, and Floyd Central need to drive 50 miles north up I-65 to Seymour, which is ridiculous. Jeff and Floyd Central might play three times, which means hundreds of fans are forced to drive 300+ miles per car to watch their teams play through the end of the tourney. For the regional? Back to Seymour. Let's do some math. Floyd Central wins their first round game to earn the right to play New Albany, who drew a bye. Either team wins that game to advance to the final. Jeff runs their two games to get to the final in the other half of the bracket. Lets say for the purpose of our argument that the three big schools average 2,000 fans travelling to Seymour per game, and the travel in threes. So 2,000 (667 cars) Jeff fans drive a total of 300 extra miles. At 20 miles-per-gallon, that is 15 gallons of gas times 667, equalling 10,000 gallons of gas times $2.57 per gallon for a total hit to the Jeff fans of $25,700. It's slightly worse for N.A. and Floyd Central because F.C. will travel for two games, as will N.A. So the overall cost for fans to drive north is in the neighborhood of $60,000. Start factoring the value of time, and the actuarial tables that determine number of miles driven per fatality, and the cost is far beyond cash. A couple of years ago, there was a movement to change the tournament to a two-class affair because it would reduce unnecessary travel like the nightmare scenario in Sectional 15 described above. That would be a step in the right direction. Despite having a great experience in the 1980 tournament as a New Albany student, I'm an agnostic regarding the number of classes involved. My son played in four sectionals for Cathedral (three were academic as Michael Conley and Greg Oden played for Lawrence North). He had a terrible time in the tournament because his team lost each year to a couple of kids who were ready to play in the NBA then, but likely would have had no better a time had there been one, two, four, or 18 classes. The one-class tournament does force us to recall a time when men and women in positions of power in school systems where many kids don't graduate spent their time trying to figure out how to make their schools better instead of making an extracurricular basketball tournament less popular/more fair. Whatever your belief about the multiclass tournament, go buy a ticket and watch young men compete at a high level. The kids are having a great time, and you will too - for only $5. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

High School Basketball vs. Summer Basketball

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:18:18 +0000

by Kent Sterling In Bob Kravitz column in today's Indianapolis Star, the proliferation of summer teams was cited as a reason that the high school basketball tournament has lost popularity. In some instances, kids are more devoted to their summer teams than high school. Summer play allows much more access to seeing kids play than high school games. The kids get to decide for whom they are going to play. Bob calls it the "wild west of basketball". I call it basketball built for the kids. High school coaches hate summer teams because it lessens the kids' focus from their programs and gives kids the ability to circumvent the coach in making contact with colleges. When a college coach can watch a kid play eight games in a weekend where a kid will play 200 minutes or more against a variety of teams, why would he fly or drive in to watch him play 26 minutes? The college coaches fly in anyway, but because of NCAA regulations they can't watch as many. The truth about summer basketball is that it gives families a little more power in the recruiting of their kids, and an ability to help the kid improve as a player outside of the monarchy of the high school program. While there are some good and devoted high school coaches, there are some incompetents out there who ruin kids. Because of the IHSAA's rules regarding transferring for athletic reasons - rules I totally support - a kid can be locked into a terrible environment for the duration of his high school career and never come close to reaching his potential. Without summer ball, that kid is hosed. The high school coach doesn't like picking up the phone and touting a kid? Without summer exposure, his career ends in high school. There is no question that high school basketball is fun for kids, and provide a much more structured version of the game. At some programs, coaches scout opponents and build gameplans. They have much more practice time with their team than do the summer teams. High school games allow the kids to play in front of people and enjoy a small measure of fleeting fame. That's fun and good, but without a dedicated coach the experience can be hollow. Summer ball allows a happy medium between regimented high school play and untethered street ball play. The coaching can be reasonably good, although it's impossible to scout every opponent. That's not all bad though. Summer coaches tend to sit and enjoy watching the kids play rather than call out plays each offensive possession. The kids learn a little bit about reading defenses and calling their own plays. Access to college coaches depends upon the success of the team, but every team has access to the dozens of coaches who flock to the open summer tournaments. The real benefit of summer teams is that they are fun. Kids who know how to play well can find their way toward each other and play together. Friendships can grow. Summer teams that travel a little bit (or a lot) can really get to know each other. While the amount of basketball can be a little exhausting with up to four games in a day, that leaves a lot of down time at the hotel. Downtime is where friendships are made. It's tough to send kids to summer camp in this era. There is great expense in extended camps, and that excludes a bunch of families from the summer camp game. These basketball teams can serve as traveling summer camps for the kids. The summer team for whom my son played was coached by Pat Mullin and Tom O'Brien. Pat was exceptionally smart in building a team of like-minded kids who were dedicated to basketball. Matt Howard (Butler), JaJuan Johnson (Purdue), Nate Blank (Gardner-Webb then UIndy), John Ashworth (IUPUI), Joe Hughes (Xavier), Zach Hahn (Butler), Ben Botts (IPFW), Kyle Miller, Stevie Hedrick (Eastern Washington), Terron Bibbs, Stephen Thomas (Dayton then IUPUI), Kyle McFadden, Adrian Moss and Craig Heinz (playing baseball at Southern Indiana) played for Pat at various times. That these kids were incredibly successful on a national basis was secondary. The best part of the experience was the friendships that they built. They loved playing together, and they loved hanging out together. While the summer teams are surely an annoyance to high school coaches, they allow the kids and families a measure of control over their futures and play that is simple unavailable on their high school team. Yeah, it's a little wild west. Kids jump from team to team from week to week, but why shouldn't they. School should be about school. Get an education, and then play some ball. The summer should allow the kids to do whatever they want. Play. What's wrong with playing? Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Carmel Bullying Story - What's Next?

kentsterling — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:36:18 +0000

by Kent Sterling This is the time when journalists have to do a little work. The initial surge of the story has passed, and people are just a little tired of hearing about basketball players shoving fingers into freshman orafi. Act One of the play is over, and the audience needs an intermission before convening for the next act, which will include the firing of school officials and the expulsion of the students who allegedly digitally buggered the freshmen. There is nothing easy about getting to the truth that will cause the second act's narrative. It takes work, and it also takes a lull in the news cycle. As long as there are family murder/suicides, crashing cars after high-speed chases, and ice fishing on Geist as the temperature nears 40-degrees, Kim King and her brothers and sisters aren't going to have time to find what's next. This provides a short breather for the families of the alleged perps, but you can bet that right at the very top of the assignment list each day is the Carmel story. As breaking news occurs, the list is retooled to accommodate it. That doesn't mean it's been forgotten. It's just on hold. It may take the filing of charges to heat this back up. If things are slow, reporters will ask to speak to a representative of the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office. That will get all the other stations moving because they don't want to fall behind as the other stations grab ownership of the second act. Eventually, someone will talk to either one of the victims or the victims' parents. Then, we return to our seats from the bar. The sheer volume of stories regarding system abuse of students at Carmel is so disturbing, there is no chance this story goes away without finding a way to its very public conclusion. Those involved might be hoping that this quiet will continue, but that is what a former boss of mine used to call living in hope and dying in desperation. The third act will be the trials of the four seniors involved in the two assaults. This will be an ugly affair that will require the victims to testify. There is a chance that those charged will take a plea bargain to make all of this go away. It might not be quite as easy because there will be a loud chorus of Carmel parents and others who will want the accused to spend some time behind bars. The kids and parents of the accused will choose to see this as a youthful indiscretion - like a hazing ritual - and will ask that the court see it as such. No chance of that happening. My son played on a team in a rec league for a good guy who knew basketball and came from the mean streets of Gary. I was the assistant coach because I could keep track of who had played and for how long. Our opponent on a beautiful spring Saturday was a team of kids from our school district coached by a very affluent dad who lived in a huge house near Hamilton Proper. Our kids got very hot and knocked down a seemingly endless number of threes. The opposing coach was irate that our coach was running up the score - which he was. He was on a mission to get to 100 points at the expense of this rich guy who embodied all that our coach resented. The opposing coach yelled, "You have no class!" He might as well have recited the value of Pi out to 1,000 digits for all our coach cared about his assessment of our guy's class. Our coach softly and confidently replied, "All your money isn't going to buy your way of this ass-whoopin.'" There is a perception in Hamilton County that justice is reserved for the wealthy, especially in Hamilton County. You can bet that there will be a great deal of focus on whether that is true. The prosecutors and Carmel School Board will feel the heat those eyes will bring to all the proceedings. The administrators and prosecutors will bend over backwards to make sure the perception is disproved by their actions. While everyone waits for the next Kim King heel to drop, we are left to do nothing but speculate. This story has been told many times before, and will almost undoubtedly play out as described here. The meat will be in the ugly details. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports From the Couch--The NCAA Tourney Must Expand

jshowal2 — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:36:41 +0000

by Jeff Showalter By the title, you would assume that I would like to see the Men's NCAA Tournament to expand. Well to be honest, I don't like it at all. Letting teams 65 thru whatever in with abysmal league records because the played cupcakes is ridiculous and unnecessary. The problem is that the NCAA continues to do that. When the committee picks an 8th or 9th Big East team instead of a third Missouri Valley team, it shows that the major conferences still have all the clout. The only way for the mid-major to get in is to increase the field. I hate Joe Lunardi. Lunardi is the king of Bracketology and even teaches a course on it at St Joseph's of Pa. Lunardi is right like 99% of the time. He's the dork that get's all the answers right and screws up the curve for everyone. In fact, why does the NCAA even have a selection committee? Just let Joe do it. I was looking at the latest Bracketology on ESPN.com and this years seedings will prove why an increase in teams is necessary. Marquette, Miss. State, Virginia Tech, UConn, Florida State, Cal, Illinois, Florida and Clemson are all 9 seeds or lower. Hell, UConn is Butler's first round matchup as a 5/12 game. A bunch of these major conference schools are taking the place of teams from the Atlantic 10, the Colonial or the Big West. Old Dominion beat Georgetown; William and Mary beat Maryland. Charlotte, Rhode Island and Dayton could easily win a game or two in the big dance. The only way these teams have a shot is to win their conference tournament or increase the field. That just doesn't seem fair. My idea would be to have more play-in games, but instead of two conference champs, make it between the last eight major conference teams to get in as at-large teams. That way you get entertaining games that people will watch, you allow a second place team from a mid-major play in the tournament as they deserve and you place a premium on winning games in conference. A Tuesday filled with Marquette/Miss. St. Florida/Florida St UConn/Cal and Illinois/Clemson makes for a good day of hoops. In fact, Illinois versus Clemson was a great game in season's Big Ten/ACC Challenge. You can even make the losers the top four seeds of the NIT. They play more games and get more practice time. This plan is a win for everyone. Especially the little guy.

Sports Digest - Wednesday, March 3, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:26:46 +0000

Big Stories for today. Pacers - Four-minute Stretch Dooms Effort Against Lakers http://www.indystar.com/article/20100303/SPORTS04/3030353/3rd-quarter-dooms-Pacers-in-122-99-loss-to-Lakers Pacers - Dunleavy Out of Sorts http://www.indystar.com/article/20100303/SPORTS04/3030327/1004/SPORTS/Dunleavy-feels-out-of-sorts-on-court Boilers - Grant and Kramer "Remember the Titans" http://www.indystar.com/article/20100303/SPORTS0602/3030325/1004/SPORTS/Purdue-seniors-Grant-Kramer-gain-inspiration-from-Titans-characters Hoosiers - Tough Battle Ahead to Avoid 20th Loss http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100303/SPORTS0301/303039947/1085/SPORTS03 http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74188 http://boilerstation.jconline.com/article/20100303/SPORTS02010201/3030344/1122/boiler Cubs - Millar Wants to Break This Curse Too http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2080195,CST-SPT-cub03.article Cubs - Lou will Start Vets Tomorrow http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2079900,CST-SPT-cubnt03.article Cubs - Grabow Old Man of the 'Pen http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0303-cubs-bits-chicago-spring-trai20100302,0,3049944.story Cubs - Maddux Doing a Bit of Everything in New Role http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-100228-chicago-cubs-greg-maddux,0,5805402.story?obref=obinsite

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, March 3, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:36:14 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry38.mp3]

Five Reasons Purdue Will Win the Big Ten Tournament

kentsterling — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:49:01 +0000

by Kent Sterling Without Robbie Hummel, the Purdue Boilermakers struggled to compete against Michigan State last Sunday, but that doesn't mean they can't beat Michigan State if they meet again in the Big Ten Tournament. I mistakenly thought and wrote last week, that the biggest void for the Boilers to fill given Hummel's absence would be on the glass, and I was right. However, I also believed that the offense would be fine because there were plenty of guys who can score, and Hummel had off nights scoring without the Boilers going in the tank, but I failed to take into account the effect that a dangerous three-point shooter has in holding defenders away from the lane to give the guards a lane to the bucket. Hummel's presence, even when he doesn't touch the ball, on the wing or in the corner gives the other players opportunities. Here are the five reasons Purdue will not only compete well but win the Big Ten Tournament: 5. Matt Painter gets consistent effort from his team. With the exception of the three-game losing streak earlier in the season, Purdue has worked their asses off consistently. Hard work is a habit, and when tournament time comes, teams that haven't put up consistent effort will either work at their regular season level or lose their rhythm. Matt Painter is the best coach in the Big Ten, and he will find a way to get this team right 4. John Hart. He's rested, ready, and able. He's averaged 9.6 minutes per game, and that means he's good to go. Over the course of a season, teams don't get stronger. The advantage goes to the team that weakens least. Hart is ready to play against kids who are ready to shut it down because they are exhausted. 3. JaJuan Johnson has a unique set of skills and physical attributes that make him absolutely unique in the Big Ten. He has great hands, can step out and knock down shots, and gives fits to guards who like to drive. JaJuan has an affinity for playing big games at the right time. 2. E'Twaun Moore wins. He's never played for a losing team. He's smart, athletic, and those two threes that rimmed out Sunday are going to pay dividends the next time Purdue plays Michigan State. Good shooters shoot, and Moore is a really good shooter, 1. Matt Painter is the best coach in the Big Ten, and he will find a way to get this team right. The level of coaching is better top to bottom than any conference in the country - by far - and Painter has two warm-up games against cellar dwelling teams to put together a game plan that will get the Boilers prepared. I know it's impossible to accept that an IU guy can really enjoy watching Purdue, but I do, and while I'm under the median age of the Purdue fans at Mackey by more than a quarter century, I will be at Conseco rooting for the Boilers. I'm still Hoosier enough to not let a nice opportunity for a cheap shot pass. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Howard Stern Is Not Coming to American Idol

kentsterling — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:49:48 +0000

by Kent Sterling Howard Stern may be a repulsive and obscene with little or no moral compass, but no one can deny that he is a very smart manipulator of the media. Stern needs a little publicity, so he attaches himself to the most popular audience aggregation machine of the past decade. Suddenly, he's on every Fox newscast in the country for several news cycles - plus Entertainment Tonight and all of the other ET-esque shows. Simon Cowell claims that this will be his final American Idol season, so the speculation begins as to who will be the replacement. Stern offers himself. Bam! He's on the news. Smart. Really smart. Stern never makes the mistake of overestimating the media. They report what brings an immediate visceral reaction. Stern is either loved or loathed (mostly loathed) by the people who know who he is, but his game is to be out there as much as possible so that the small percentage who love him doesn't matter. If 100-million people know who you are, and only two-percent love you while 98% hate, you will make more money than you or your great-grandchildren will ever spend. Most people in the media don't have the stomach for that kind of polarity. Being hated by strangers can be unpleasant, and therein lies the problem with fame. Stern does not possess the gene that keeps normal people from engaging in socially repulsive acts. You combine that with a dead-on instinct for how to structure a radio show, and he cashes giant checks. People tend to dismiss Stern as a "shock-jock", and ascribe his popularity simply to a willingness to talk about what others won't. That is as accurate as saying that Rush Limbaugh is popular because he is a staunch conservative. Limbaugh and Stern produce exactly the same product, but with a completely different focus. Limbaugh is the best solo act in the history of radio. He knows his customers and gives them what they want in a very innovative and consistent way. Which of the two am I talking about? Both. The producers of American Idol might as well hire five-million thugs with baseball bats to break into American homes to beat senseless the viewers of their show as hire Stern. The mass appeal machine that is Idol would implode instantly with Stern's insertion into the panel as a judge. The producers are way too smart not to know that. Stern is also way too smart not to know that too, but he wouldn't care. It would be an unbelievably effective way for him to develop an even higher level of penetration into the American psyche. Sirius has been wonderful for padding Stern's bank account, but it has been awful for his national profile. If Stern did become a judge, which he won't, he would be bored senseless by the drudgery of the job, and frustrated by the lack of control he had over the product. There are two things that guide Howard Stern and the execution of his career - his extreme ADD (an almost indispensible trait for a radio host) and his complete and total belief in his infallibility. He absolutely believes he is right and people who disagree with him are buffoons. That's another great trait for radio hosts, if indeed they are right most of the time. American Idol is a collaborative, and that would never work for Stern or the show. Stern calls himself the "King of All Media". That's a bit much, he is genuinely the "puppetmaster of All Media". He makes a crazy statement. We hear it. Who will replace Cowell? God knows. He won't be as honest, crass, funny, and abrupt. And the show won't be as good. I get the feeling that Cowell is jumping off at the right time, but saying that is like saying that WalMart has peaked. He has all of the money in the world and he earned it. The producers did a good job of replacing Paula with Kara, so it's likely they'll get this right too. If you like this, click to link to the left to subscribe to the site's RSS feed.

High School Basketball vs. AAU

kentsterling — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:02:39 +0000

[Bob Kravitz wrote a column earlier in the week about the decline in popularity of high school basketball. Coaches like Doug Mitchell implied that the summer tournaments have has something to do with that erosion. I asked the Rainman, who played both at the highest levels to offer his thoughts.] by The Rainman Has high school basketball lost some of its flare due to the rising popularity of the AAU circuit? My answer is simple - no it has not. Not to the people to whom basketball really matters. It might not be the place to go see the best talent in the country play, but that does not mean that high school basketball has lost anything. AAU and high school basketball are not in my mind linked in any way. They are two very different types of basketball and having participated in both for multiple years I can say without a doubt in my mind that the high school has not suffered due to AAU basketball. I would equate playing AAU at the highest level is more like being a part of a rock band. It is a show for many of the teams, a showcase of talent driven solely to advance to the mainstream and reach an audience that can give you what you want: a college scholarship. Playing high school basketball is like being in a local garage band. You may not be as talented, but you play for the love of the game and for pride in your school. You play for the students and the fans that come to watch basketball at maybe its purest form. Not that one is better than the other, but the two serve entirely different purposes for the players. For the fans of AAU basketball it is about being able to see some of the best basketball talents in the country converge in your hometown for one weekend. When I played, if you wanted to see Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Eric Gordon, Derrick Rose, and Daequan Cook play on the same floor? There was only one place to do it - at an AAU tournament. Want to see Kevin Love, OJ Mayo, Brandon Jennings, Taylor King, and Bill Walker play on the same floor? Again, only one place to do it, at an AAU tournament. So yes, more people may go to watch AAU basketball, but that is because there are matchups of future great players in their teens. A person can say, “Yeah, I saw those two play against each other at an AAU tournament before”. You cannot do that anywhere else. For the fans of high school basketball there is more loyalty involved. It is more about the pride of being associated with a certain school, not about dream matchups. Students go to these games to watch their friends play and to cheer their team on to victory. Alumni go to remember the glory days when they either played in the game or cheered. It is more nostalgic to go to a high school gym and watch a game. There is more passion involved for the crowd. When is the last time you heard a roar from an AAU crowd? These two brands of basketball are different in almost every aspect. From the style of the game, to the reasons to watch the game they are different. Don’t get me wrong they both serve their purpose and are both rewarding to participate in. I have friends and memories from AAU basketball that I could never have hoped to have from high school alone and the same goes for high school basketball. It’s not that the high school game has become less popular, it’s that the game is evolving and with that comes a new brand of player and fan.

Purdue Handles Indiana Easily on Senior Night 74-55

kentsterling — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:36:45 +0000

by Kent Sterling As an Indiana guy, I have some expectations for Indiana University Basketball, and none are being met. I'm not worried about results. Wins are nice, but growth is really the measure. IU would likely have a couple more wins if Maurice Creek was healthy, but would the Hoosiers be defending more intelligently if he Creek was still playing? I've never seen defense like this. No one is in a stance. The guys are slow to help, and slower to recover. Offensively, the Hoosiers are stagnant. They stand around, dribble without purpose, and almost never screen away. If I dwelled on the negative for IU, I could write all night, but there were some positives. Derek Elston played like he wants to compete. I like Bobby Capobianco more and more. Devan Dumes will be a Hoosier for no more than another week-and-a-half. Plenty of positives. For the Boilers, there was a lot to enjoy. Chris Kramer couldn't miss. E'Twaun Moore played like E'Twaun Moore. Of all the kids in my son's class, I wish I had gotten to know that kid at all. We saw him play once in a while and played against him once or twice a year, but not nearly enough to get to know him. He seems like a great kid who probably would have fit very well into the fabric of our team. JaJuan Johnson redirected, smacked, or discouraged shots all night. Best of all, the Boilers looked fresh and relaxed. The score stayed just outside of the place where Matt Painter might have started to get a little nervous. Anytime IU cut it to a dozen, Purdue ran it back up to 16-20. Indiana is in an unenviable position. Tom Crean has been working the Hoosiers hard and without any reward for all that work, kids start to lose their edge. That's being kind. They stop caring. Some of the Indiana kids look like they can't wait for the season to end. Crean's job will quickly become giving the Hoosiers a reason to believe that next year will be different. For Purdue, there is a lot of work to be done yet this season. Overcoming the loss of Robbie Hummel is not going to be easy, but watching the Boilers gives fans reason to hope that this gritty bunch might raise some hell next weekend in Indianapolis and beyond. Unfortunately, this Purdue team reminds me a great deal of the Indiana team of 1983. IU very easily could have competed for a spot in the Final Four, but were beaten by Kentucky in front of some hungover juniors who enjoyed the surprisingly vibrant Knoxville nightlife for two days prior to the game. IU lost Ted Kitchel for the season with a back injury, much as Purdue has lost Hummel. Not sure if a righteous comparison for JaJuan Johnson and Uwe Blab exists (JaJuan has a better jumper; Uwe was better at calculus), but I think Randy Wittman and E'Twaun Moore are pretty close. This game was a train wreck from the opening tip. The Hoosiers, minus Elston and Capobianco, looked alternately disinterested and frustrated. Dumas did something I absolutely can't tolerate when he stiffed Jordan Hulls as Hulls offered his hand. If you give a shit about a teammate - or even more to the point - if you give a shit about something and someone other than yourself, you slap every hand extended. You don't stiff your own guy unless you just gakked on your own hand. I hope Indiana's kids watch the tape of this game and dedicate their offseason trying to build themselves into what Matt Painter has made of this Boilermaker program. Purdue plays Indiana basketball, or at least the kind of basketball enjoyed in Monroe County prior to 2000. They play hard, really hard. They play smart, really smart. They execute relentlessly. Indiana does none of that. Painter is recruiting the hell out of Indiana. Crean needs to. How he closes that gap will determine how quickly the Indiana program competes with Purdue. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Thursday, March 4, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:02:38 +0000

Here are the big stories for today. Boilers Say Goodbye to Chris Kramer http://www.indystar.com/article/20100304/SPORTS15/3040370/1004/SPORTS/Boilermakers-are-going-to-miss-Chris-Kramer Boilers Beat Hoosiers 74-55 http://www.indystar.com/article/20100304/SPORTS0602/3040381/1004/SPORTS/Kramer-Grant-become-winningest-Boilers-by-routing-rivals http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100304/SPORTS/3040313/1002 http://www.jg.net/article/20100304/SPORTS0301/303049954/1089/SPORTS0301 http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74252 http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74247 http://www.indystar.com/article/20100304/SPORTS0601/3040380/1004/SPORTS/Hoosiers-haunted-by-their-own-mistakes Colts - Manning Has Minor Surgery http://www.indystar.com/article/20100304/SPORTS03/3040386/1004/SPORTS/Manning-has-procedure-to-relieve-neck-pain Colts - Brackett Decision Today http://www.indystar.com/article/20100304/SPORTS03/3040391/1004/SPORTS/Brackett-faces-decision-today Pacers Lose to Blazers - Young Guys Need to Step Up http://www.indystar.com/article/20100304/SPORTS04/3040393/1004/SPORTS/Granger-can-t-make-Pacers-winners http://www.indystar.com/article/20100304/SPORTS04/3040392/1004/SPORTS/Young-Pacers-must-earn-time Cubs Wells Not Satisfied Being Good http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2082976,CST-SPT-cub04.article Cubs - Soriano Optimistic...Again http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0304-haugh-alfonso-soriano-cubs-ch20100303,0,3214349.column

Harry on Sports - Thursday, March 4, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:10:59 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry-38.mp3]

Gary Brackett Will Be Resigned Today by Colts

kentsterling — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:22:48 +0000

by Kent Sterling Indianapolis Colts middle linebacker Gary Brackett will become a free agent just after midnight tonight if not resigned by then. There is no one more adept at determining the value of a player as he becomes able to test the waters and make the big bucks he deserves than Colts President Bill Polian. The Colts draft linebackers in mid-to-late rounds or sign them as undrafted free agents. Then, Polian lets them leave to make major bucks elsewhere. Cato June, David Thornton, and Marcus Washington are three of the guys he has recently allowed to leave for greener (in terms of money) pastures. Polian is so good at finding linebackers to plug-in that the Colts never miss a beat as they shuttle a new guy in almost every year. At some point though, you are going to let the wrong guys leave. Maybe one of the reasons those other linebackers have been so easily replaced is the Brackett has been there to tutor the new guys like Phillip Wheeler and Clint Session to make sure they are ready to be productive. But Gary Brackett is so much more than what he brings to his position. He is a superb middle linebacker who should have been named all-pro several times at this point in his career. He is quick to the gap, and can cover a little bit too. Brackett is the unquestioned leader of the defense willing to do what's necessary to get the job done. If he weren't that kind of guy, there's no way he would ever have made the team as an undrafted rookie out of Rutgers. There is no way he would have been named the starting middle linebacker in his third year. There is no way he would have found himself with 99+ tackles in each of the past five seasons. And there is no way he would have started the Impact Foundation. The Mission of Gary Brackett's IMPACT Foundation is to promote health, to advance education, and to relieve the poor, distressed and underprivileged by providing resources and opportunities to children, including children who are mentally challenged, physically challenged, socially disadvantaged, or economically disadvantaged. He is far beyond a figure-head. He is there at meetings, in the hospitals, and driving the work of the foundation. He saw a need in the community, and he figured out a way to attack it. Brackett is more than an excellent player for the best Indianapolis Colts teams we are likely to see. He is a community leader, the kind of citizen that gives a good name to a league in need of positive role models. He makes Indianapolis a better place to live at a time when the people in Indy have tired of the idiots and cowards who believe that fame is best used firing guns, mistreating women, and making it rain at strip clubs. What does Gary want to do in his spare time? He likes to take his girlfriend to the movies. When 1070 - The Fan asked Gary to join Kravitz & Eddie once a week during the season to talk football, he asked for nothing more than two tickets to the theater nearest his house. We did better than that, but by the standards of what agents will ask for, he was poorly compensated. Brackett is not driven by greed. He is driven by good. Do yourself a favor, take a look at Brackett's stats at http://www.nfl.com/players/garybrackett/profile?id=BRA070078. Then, look through the website dedicated to Gary Brackett's Impact Foundation at http://garybrackett.org. After seeing both, tell me there is a linebacker in the world that looks better in blue and white. In some measure, that selflessness requires a reward, and the Colts know that.

Tom Crean Gives Reason for Optimism

kentsterling — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:49:41 +0000

by Kent Sterling Maybe I'm getting soft. Cynicism just isn't interesting to me anymore. My response a few years ago to IU Coach Tom Crean's postgame comments after last night's embarrassing loss at Purdue would have been profane and derogatory, but as a newly enlightened positive person I liked what I heard. It gave me reason to believe that brighter days are ahead for Indiana basketball. I have no idea whether Crean can teach kids even the most rudimentary and fundamental basketball skills, but I do know that he is a guy who spends his energy trying to build for tomorrow rather than live in defeat and regret. That's a good place to start. After four consecutive humiliating defeats and 11 straight losses overall, it's not rocket science to list the Hoosiers weaknesses. Putting strengths on paper would be a much better test of intellect. Crean doesn't alibi or whine. He assigns and shares blame correctly, and articulates the challenges ahead with honesty. He is clearly frustrated. If he weren't, I would call for a saliva test to determine his species. Crean last night implied twice that either the current group would improve in the many areas of weakness, or he would find kids who possess the skills, toughness, and basketball IQ necessary to succeed. Whatever happens at IU, it's clear the Crean is not interested in suffering through another year of this train wreck. Gone will be the kids who can't stay in front of their men. Gone will be the kids who don't set good screens. Gone will be those who aren't committed to building the strength necessary to compete. With every embarrassing season, the clock starts to tick more loudly on the man in charge, but from his demeanor and comments in every postgame press availability, Crean lets everyone know that the clock in his own head is ticking much more loudly than in our's. The problems with the Hoosiers are owned by Crean, and he doesn't often use the past as an excuse, but Hoosier fans are suffering because of the arrogance and lack of moral compass of Kelvin Sampson, but the arrogance and stupidity of Mike Davis. By the time Sampson landed in Bloomington, the recruiting was basically over for 2007 Indiana kids like Robbie Hummel, Scott Martin, JaJuan Johnson, and E'Twaun Moore. It was over for Chris Kramer. Before Sampson could run up a respectable phone bill (he and assistant douche-nozzle Rob Senderoff tried), he was gone, and Crean was left to build relationships for Indiana with kids and high school coaches who had been treated poorly by Indiana for more than a decade. The recruiting process starts when kids are eighth and ninth graders. That means the kids who were targeted by Crean as soon as he came to town are now sophs and juniors in high school. Those kids are another four years away from being productive for the Hoosiers. Crean does have a couple of big assets weighing in his favor - potential scholarships and playing time, and the Cook Center. Crean's comments last night about the current group improving or finding kids who possess the qualities he is looking for served notice not only to the team as it stands today but to the late kids - the seniors who have yet to make a decision about their college choice. Indiana is a place where you can play right away if you are strong, tough, and smart. The Cook Center is as good a place to get strong and build skills as any in the country. You can bet that when the season ends after IU loses in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament a week from today that offers will be made and if accepted, current kids will be asked to transfer. Scholarships are one-year tenders, and can be revoked at the end of any school year. Some of the IU players will be replaced if Crean and his staff can upgrade. That sucks for the kids asked to leave, but this isn't high school and no one has a right to have their college education paid for if the coach isn't going to get out of the kid the value of the scholarship. The last thing IU fans want in the guy leading the program when faced with this kind of unfocused and fundamentally poor play is patience, and it's the last thing Crean is going to give. There will be a time for fans to decide whether Crean can coach. There are reasons to suspect he can't - like the last four losses where most of the Hoosiers looked like they would rather be playing "Call of Duty II" on their PS3 than competing in the Big Ten - but there is an equally obvious canon of evidence suggesting that at least he's as pissed off as the rest of us. There is nothing to do but wait, unless we want to jump ship and start rooting for the in-state program that has already rebuilt.

Carmel Bullying Comment Helps Frame Story

kentsterling — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:53:21 +0000

by Kent Sterling It seems most of the people in Carmel would like this story to go away so life could continue as it had for years when thoughts of kids rectally violating freshman on the supposedly safe harbor of a school bus were as far from Carmel as a knock-off Coach purse. Everyone is claiming to take this seriously while doing nothing. Jeff Carter, a member of the Carmel-Clay School said yesterday, "This really, really has weighed heavily on all the board members' minds and we are going to get into it, we are in it, and we will resolve this issue," Carter told Fox59 News. Well, are you going to get "into it", or are you "in it". He claims to be awaiting the results of the police investigators. Carter also said he believes that this is "an isolated incident". The police have assigned five cops to pursue this case full-time. How long do you figure it would take five cops to figure out what happened on a school bus? Fifteen minutes. I hope this was isolated, but given the voluminous reports of abuse that have been spread, this appears to be an institutional problem. I received this comment to a post this morning, "Not credit card swiped across the ass. I was on the bus. I am a student and freshman bb player . They tried to shove cell phones up our asses. and tried 2 do other things to me . I have been told by Carmel bb coach to keep my mouth shut. This is a problem that the family needs to take care of and if I ever want to make varsity i need to keep my mouth shut. The police do not believe what I have told them due to the fact that if something like that "REALLY HAPPENED" why did nobody tell the coach and the coach did not hear anything." This is troubling, and yes I know I'm making a small leap of faith in accepting that this is actually from a kid who was on the bus. No way to verify the source, but he really doesn't say anything that would make me suspect an agenda is being advanced. It just sounds like a frustrated kid who would rather be shooting baskets than worrying about people not trusting him. The bottom line of this atrocity or series of atrocities is that kids need to be safe, and those who are unable to provide that safe environment - whether at Carmel or Crispus Attucks - must pay the price for not implementing systems that would allow a kid to ride home on a bus from a game without worrying about a cell phone being shoved into his ass. If coaches on the bus didn't hear it, fire them. If this was commonplace, fire the head coach and the AD. If this kind of thing was a school wide problem, fire the principal and superintendent. Kids and their parents need to know that safety is a priority. Parents know that kids will always have good and bad teachers. The high school experience won't be perfect. It must be safe though. Coaches, according to this kid, tried to quiet the kids by threatening that with their potential varsity spots on the team. There is plenty of time in life to learn that some people are pieces of shit who work harder at evading the consequences of their actions than accepting the challenge of changing the behaviors that cause the problems. This lesson doesn't need to be instilled in 15-year-olds. People who are so frivolous in their commitment to education that they would encourage kids to avoid anything resembling the truth should be fired. Education is more than just the three Rs. It's also about behavior. If the Carmel basketball coaches are so lacking in morality, decency, and honor that they would threaten honesty with the forfeiture of an athletic dream, that is not only reason for termination, it shows an appalling lack of humanity. Someone, and obviously it needs to be the police and Hamilton County prosecutor's office, needs to confirm that adults in authority are not all amoral stooges, or we are going to get nothing from this drama but another generation of stooges who believe the ends justify the means. Someone at Carmel needs to stand up and accept accountability for these sexual assaults. How do they sleep? At what point is enough is enough. The nightmares for these families can stop, but it will take one brave person to stand up and admit wrongdoing. Be adults, and tell the truth rather than threaten children to avoid it.

Sports From the Couch--We Live in a Football World

jshowal2 — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:08:26 +0000

By Jeff Showalter It's the first week of March and as a lifelong Hoosier, I used to be excited about March Madness. The high school tournament got started, IU just played Purdue, Duke lost (always good), Notre Dame is playing their way into the tournament and Butler can make a serious run. Spring training has started and opening day is less then a month away. Welllllll, the IHSAA has destroyed the greatest 4 weeks in high school sports worldwide and IU sucks with no return to decency in the horizon. Major League Baseball has lost it's luster for me. The Reds stink and the inequality of the franchises has made baseball little more then the "have's and have not's". Years ago, this would be a real bummer, but with the electronic age in full warp speed, we can follow football 24/7. Today is the first day of free agency, last week was the combine and the draft is in a few weeks. College football is in spring recruiting mode and spring football is coming soon. This microwave society has turned football into a 365 day season. We live in a football world and I love it. So far today, Adam Schefter has tweeted that: Sproles is staying in San Diego; Randle-El was cut from Washington; the Jets have severed ties with Lito Shepherd. Joe Reedy from the Cincinnati Enquirer is a tremendous tweeter. He said the Bengals' Laveraneus Coles was cut (thank God) and both tight ends were given their walking papers. Is this world awesome or what? I used to get the USA Today, years ago, just to read the transactions page on days like this. Now we know it as soon as the player finds out. The only thing better would be if we knew ahead of time what the outcome was going to be (like we do when IU plays!!!). We are going to find out which teams are bringing in your favorite players for workouts. We will know if there are any draft surprises or rumors. We can read about spring practices from your favorite school and who didn't show up for NFL workouts. We can argue who the Colts should draft with people all over the world and we can all hate New England over the computer superhighway. This weekend we can spend the day outside in some sunny weather (yes, the 50's)! We can come home and see if the Colts sign Randle -El (they need a return guy) or who's going to take a chance on T.O.. Sure does make the basketball season palpable. Well, that and some Pepto. I miss good local hoops, but football sure does help ease the pain.

Sports Digest - Friday, March 5, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:41:13 +0000

Here are the big stories for today: Colts - Brackett Talks Continue Deep Into the Night http://www.indystar.com/article/20100305/SPORTS03/3050332/1004/SPORTS/Colts-Brackett-talk-deep-into-night Hoosiers End Regular Season Against Northwestern http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74270 Tijan Jobe Era Ends in Bloomington http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74269 Cubs - Top 50 All-Time Cubs http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2084758,50-best-cubs-05.photogalleryCubs Bradley Blames Cubs and Chicago http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2084851,CST-SPT-cub05.article Cubs - Byrd Helping Pitchers and Hitters http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2084834,CST-SPT-cubnt05.article Cubs - New Attitude Shows in Win http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0305-cubs-chicago-spring-training-20100304,0,147954.story

Harry on Sports - Friday, March 5, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:53:56 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry39.mp3]

Horizon League Tournament Preview

kentsterling — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:12:30 +0000

by The Rainman The Big Ten Tournament is not the only conference tournament that will be held in Indianapolis, the Horizon League Tournament is also taking place and I will be taking an insider’s look at just what will happen this weekend. Quarterfinals: Green Bay vs. Detroit These two teams have two different styles of basketball. Detroit pushes tempo. They play the passing lanes harder than anyone in the league and they can afford to with the league’s leading shot blocker and rebounder in Eli Holman. This game will come down to whether Green Bay can control the tempo. If they can make this a smash mouth game where the score is on the 50s then they have a great chance to win. I think Detroit pushes the tempo and takes Green Bay out of their comfort zone. This will be a close game and should come down to the last-minute, but the backcourt of Green Bay will carry the game and push the Phoenix into the semifinals. Milwaukee vs. Cleveland State This quarterfinal match up features two of the more questionable teams in the Horizon League. Cleveland plays an in your face style of defense that can make life hard on an offense that has no true leader on the floor. Milwaukee has that leader in Ricky Franklin. He has just the mentality that the Panthers need to get past Cleveland State. As long as Franklin stays out of foul trouble Milwaukee will have a chance to win this game. In the end, the inside presence that Cleveland State has coupled with their backcourt will make this game difficult for Milwaukee to win and with the game being played on a neutral site this makes the game swing even more in Cleveland’s favor. Cleveland wins, but only because of the inside presence of Aaron Pogue and the all around scoring ability of Norris Cole. Wright State The number two seed in the tournament has one of the least impressive records of the teams remaining. They were a game out of fourth and two games from finishing fifth. The difference between the two seed and the seven seed Detroit is very small. While Wright State has a good team, I do not think that they are capable of making a challenge to Butler for the tournament crown. They lack the inside game to compete in a tournament. Vaughn Duggins and Todd Brown give the Raiders a one-two punch in the backcourt. Both have experience and can score, but with a player like Ronnie Thomas patrolling the middle it is hard for me to believe that they can compete with a team like Detroit or Green Bay. I think that Wright State gets beat by the winner of that game, because they neither have the backcourt that can shoot with Green Bay or the frontcourt that can handle Eli Holman or Xavier Keeling. Butler This is the class of the Horizon League. 18-0 in conference. They seem to be untouchable. With three All-Horizon League players and the best big man, Matt Howard, guard, Shelvin Mack, and forward Gordon Hayward, Butler has the best players at every position. The only chance that a team has of beating Butler is getting Howard and Hayward in foul trouble and forcing other players to beat them. The team that has the chops to pound it inside and the smarts to keep turnovers to a minimum will have the best chance of beating them. Unfortunately, Butler gets to play at Hinkle where they are virtually unbeatable in the league. Results Butler wins in walk. They are the best team in the league, and not by a little. They are easily the best team in the league. Everyone else is in a lower class. The only team that has a chance is Detroit. And even they would need a near perfect performance to beat Butler. The quarterfinals will all be great games to watch. From the two seed to the seven seed there is little difference and the result of that will be great basketball. But the team to beat is Butler. There is no team that has the personnel and coaching that Butler has and that will make for a pretty uneventful final game. I would suggest to anyone that wants to watch great basketball to go to Hinkle tonight and see the quarterfinals. Two very even games will be played by four teams with virtually no difference. The tournament and the automatic bid however will go to Butler without much fight.

Ass-hat Milton Bradley Just Can't Let It Go

kentsterling — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:38:53 +0000

by Kent Sterling Dan Dakich is a smart guy. He told me that you can't simply recruit the kids you [caption id="attachment_1504" align="alignright" width="235" caption="Milton Bradley smiles about making more than $61K per game for being an antisocial mope"][/caption] want to coach. For me, I want justice. If a kid works his ass off and shows an ability to win and inspire, I not only want that kid to succeed - I want to be a part of that success. Conversely, I want idiots to lose. Low character selfish guys deserve a ticket out of the sport. Never has the ratio between money made to low-rent character been more galling that with Milton Bradley. This cancerous clown was signed to a three-year, $30-million deal by Jim Hendry, a man unencumbered by a desire to reward good character or bring in personalities that can form a true team. Bradley is now wearing a Seattle Mariners jersey, which the Mariners will soon regret. They were able to dump the portly and ineffective Carlos Silva, but welcome a man they will soon grow to loathe. Here is a portion of what Bradley recently told the New York Times: "Two years ago, I played and I was good. I go to Chicago, not good. I've been good my whole career. So, obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me. "Just no communication," he said. "I never hit more than 22 homers in my career, and all of a sudden I get to Chicago and they expect me to hit 30. It doesn't make sense. History tells you I'm not going to hit that many. Just a lot of things that try to make me a player I'm not. "Any time I've had a problem anywhere, it's because I've been disrespected, and I will not be disrespected by anyone." Oh boy. Any time a guy starts talking about the need for respect and no tolerance for a lack of respect, you can anticipate trouble because what the guy means is that he doesn't like to hear anything negative. Criticism equates to disrespect, and whether it's honest of not, it is accepted as an attack. If you are around sports long enough, you get to know guys like that. There are kids you can kick in the ass, and then there are guys who wear their asses as a hat. What kind of a manager of a man making $61,728.40 per game would sit quietly as Bradley tosses a ball he caught for the second out as though it was the third out. How about the fan who each paid $2 of their ticket price to pay Bradley to play that day? They are going to sit on their hands watching this idiot continue to screw things up? People say it's not about the money, and that the money should not inform our opinions of the players. That might have been the case when box seats cost $3.50 and a ticket to the bleachers was a buck. If I spend $100 for a seat to a play, I want acting that knocks me on my ass. I want Brian Dennehy as Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman". If I get some hack who goes up on lines, I'm throwing my Playbill, and then running across the street to the White Hen during the intermission to buy tomatoes to fling at the oaf who is giving me an experience worth $2. The same holds true with Bradley, or anyone else. Except Mike Fontenot. My expectations for Fontenot are low enough that he could go to the plate without a bat and I would just shrug. People who lack the gene that creates the part of a brain where the conscience lies should never be rewarded for their work to the tune of $30-million. EVER! How does Jim Hendry alibi the rationale that led him to agree to spend that kind of cake on a whiny sociopath misanthrope like Bradley? Cubs fans everywhere can rejoice that baseball's chief ass-hat has moved to a team that is as far from Chicago as any. The lesson of Milton Bradley is that people will pay for talent. All of the talk about character, decency, attitude, and reason is hollow. Kids, act like an ass, and cash your checks. If you have talent, there will be some boob who will pay you lots of money to not give a damn about anyone but yourself. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

The Value of the Last Man on the Bench

The Truth — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:29:33 +0000

by The Truth “It doesn’t matter if you play all 40 minutes or five seconds, you win as a team.” Sadly, this concept took me until my junior year of college to truly understand its significance. After my eighth grade year I joined an AAU team named the Spiece Central Stars, coached by Pat Mullin and Jim O’Brien and remained on that team for four years until the summer before my junior year of high school. Exceptional players such as Zach Hahn (Butler), Ben Botts (IPFW), Jujuan Johnson (Purdue), Matt Howard (Butler), Nate Blank (University of Indianapolis), Ryan Sterling (Loyola-Chicago), and John Ashworth (IUPUI) to name a few. For four summers, I had the opportunity to practice with these individuals, but my playing time was scarce. Each summer before AAU began, I contemplated quitting, but the only aspect that kept me coming back was the friendships that I had created. On many occasions, we would win a tournament and I would feel like I didn’t even deserve a medal. Unfortunately, it took me until my junior year, during intramural season, to truly understand that it does take every individual player on your roster to be successful. My intramural team, Forecasted Showers, is in the Sweet 16 of 152 in Men’s Division II teams here at IU. Our team consists of ten players—quite large for an intramural team—with eight of the players, including myself, playing a large portion of the game. My role on this team is completely reversed from what it was on Spiece, and because of this I finally understood the value of a complete team. Two of my buddies, Rashad Vinh and Bill Seward, don’t necessarily play a ton of minutes, but their contribution to the team is just as important as mine. Their attitude on the bench carries over to the players on the court. They cheer for every basket, heckle the opposing players, offer insights on what they see needs improvement, and motivate us all from the sidelines. They are disappointed when we lose and ecstatic when we win, even if they don’t see the floor. Without a doubt that support from the bench has helped guide us to this point in the tournament and will have to continue if we are to go any further. On a collegiate level or any other level that conducts practice, the last man on the bench plays even a greater role. This is IU’s main problem. Pat Mullin always stated while practicing, “The best team you want to play against is the five other guys in practice.” Meaning practice competition needs to be high in order to compete in actual games. IU currently doesn’t have ten guys that can compete at the necessary intensity level it takes to win games. An example, if IU placed their starting five of Capobianco, Watford, Jones, Rivers, and Hulls on one team during practice, then the other team would consist of Pritchard, Elston, Dumes, Moore, and maybe Barnett. The latter five, outside of Elston, can’t compete at a Big Ten level and, therefore, IU’s starters suffer during games due to the elevated intensity that other teams play with. Depth is critical to a team’s success. The last man on the bench is just as important as the leading scorer. Regrettably, I wish I would have fully understood that seven years ago and supported my team more positively because it truly does make a difference in the outcome of the game.

Colts Sign Brackett to Five-Year, $33-Million Deal

kentsterling — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:16:24 +0000

by Kent Sterling Sometimes doing the right thing is also doing the smart thing. Writing Gary Brackett a check for his $12-million signing bonus is the kind of expense that wouldn't make my hand shake. It's a ton of money for a 5'9" middle linebacker, but at least you know that the money isn't going to pass through Brackett's hands into the pockets of idiots. I wrote earlier today about how a guy like Milton Bradley should never be paid real money regardless of his talent because he is an ungrateful ass-hat. Brackett is the opposite. He deserves whatever he gets because he's not just good at what he does. He's just plain good. The IMPACT Foundation that Brackett established helps sick kids and their families in a very grass-roots, hands-on way. When you meet Brackett, it's not as though you are meeting a guy who believes the hype. He is a thoroughly normal person with the extraordinary to get up after being knocked down. Brackett was not offered a scholarship to play football, so he walked-on at Rutgers. When no one drafted him in the 2003 NFL Draft, we signed with the Colts as an undrafted free agent. Two years later, Brackett was a starter and defensive captain. Every team needs a quality leader, and the Colts are very fortunate to have one on each side of the ball. Peyton Manning and Brackett are hard-worker, high quality guys who demand hard work and focus on the field, and quality community service off it. Colts fans are past the middle of one of the greatest eras in the history of the NFL. For their first 25 years, the Colts Ring of Honor welcomed some strange and marginal entries. Bill Brooks, Jim Harbaugh (played here for four years, for goodness sake), Chris Hinton, Bob Irsay, the 12th Man, and Ted Marchibroda are the greats of the franchise. The players who've toiled for the Colts over the past decade who will be in the ring - Manning, Brackett, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison, Jeff Saturday, Dwight Freeney, and Dallas Clark. Tarik Glenn, Tony Dungy, and Bill Polian will also make it. At some point, a couple of the current members may have to be relegated to a sub-ring. Until there is a diminishing of skill and ability, you don't let a guy like Brackett walk out the door. Maybe more to the point, Brackett is to the Colts what Andy Sipowicz was to "NYPD Blue". The character played by Dennis Franz was the heart of the show. David Caruso left after the first season. Jimmy Smits entered. Smits leaves, and Ricky Schroeder is in. He leaves and the kid from "Saved By the Bell" joins the cast. Another dozen characters came and left, but Sipowicz was front and center through every season. Good for the Polians for recognizing that, and good for Jim Irsay for compensating it. This is what makes the Colts the Colts. Do the right things. Work hard. You are part of the family. Great teams are champions on and off the field. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Ode to Tim Jennings

kentsterling — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:28:59 +0000

by Kent Sterling By far, my least favorite Colts player of the last half decade is gone from the Colts. He was a terrible cornerback who played so far off receivers that it seem inconceivable that he could ever be beaten deep. Tim Jennings departure has inspired my to do the thing I do least well - write poetry. So long Tim Jennings, Indy bids you a fond adieu, Much maligned you for your eight-yard cushion, Facing a third- and-two. Now you're off to another team, To a far greener pasture, Where you'll defend wide-receivers, Of a much taller stature. You made it so easy for us in the crowd, To watch the game unfold before us, Knowing QBs would pick on your man. Because your coverage was so pourous. The Colts wish you good fortune, As you continue your mission, How I hope you get a job, As a corner in the Colts division. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports From the Couch--Bad Dairy Queen Service

jshowal2 — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:57:09 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I understand that the kids working in retail aren't there because they like it. I also understand that these kids, with nose rings, tattoos and greasy hair, are not working there because their internship with NASA didn't come thru. I get it. I worked at Marsh, in Bloomington, 6 days a week so I could get thru IU and pay for a lot of whiskey drinking. Today, at the Dairy Queen on German Church Road, I had the most surreal experience that I decided the rest of the viewing public (especially the Boss, who disdains poor service even more then I) must read what I dealt with. At this DQ, from 2pm to 4pm, weekdays, you can get drinks for half price. At 3:50 today, I pulled into the German Church DQ to take them up on this offer on my way home. I was the 3rd car in line. A white Pontiac Grand Am ordered and moved ahead. Next was a green Taurus with 2 adults in the front and 3 kids in the back. When you are waiting in line at DQ, the menu is visible from 2 cars away. Doesn't matter to this group of dipsticks as they took SEVEN MINUTES to decide on what to get. By then I was stuck in line and had no way out except to try to get other vehicles to move. Think Drew Brees in the Sportscenter commercial. When I got to the ordering area, the clock read 4:02. When I asked for the half price special, I was told that it ended at 4pm. When I pointed out that I was in line at 3:50 and it isn't my fault you let some idiot take 7 minutes to order, I was told the register is computerized and would no longer take the discount after 4pm on the dot. So I again, without raising my voice pointed out that "because some dumb car in front of me can't order, It cost me money", I was told "yes". When I said I may take my time now like the car ahead of me, they threatened to call the Cumberland Police! As I pulled away, I decided that I had to go in and talk to the manager. I couldn't help myself. The manger in charge, was a female, early 20's, sporting 2 nose rings. I know if I owned a business, I would want someone that looked like that in charge of my business???? So I asked her to go out of the way of the other people to discuss this privately and not disturb the other patrons who were enjoying their half price refreshments and not hold up the line. She agreed and I discussed with her the issue. I was told the very same things as I was told thru the "squak box". She pointed out that I should have come inside, to which I countered with, "what if there is a line inside?". She said 4pm is 4pm and that there was nothing I could do about it. At that time some bearded jimmy hat in his early 20's decided to come over and shake a small sign advertising the special in front of me, and said "see 2 to 4". I told him "I was not speaking to you, please do not interrupt our conversation. He countered with"you called my friends stupid so it is my business". I said I didn't do that and even if I did, it still isn't his business. The manager in charge, did not ask him to leave. I was amazed. I again asked why don't they use common courtesy to tell people, at 4pm, they are no longer able to get the deal. She said she didn't have someone available to do that because they are busy. I pointed out that the jimmy hat isn't busy because he keeps interrupting us. She said nothing. I asked for the owners name and number. She gave that to me. His name is Taylor Napier and his number is 894-1111. I leave, call the number and, it is the freaking nose ringed freak that was there. The girl, gave me the store number, knowing he isn't there! Un-freaking-believable. I came home, called DQ national headquarters and filed an official complaint. I will let everyone know what happens next.

Jim Johnson on Big Ten College Basketball

jimjohnsonpbm — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:40:47 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/3-5-10-audio-blog1.mp3]

Harry on Sports - Saturday Spectacular with Ron Santo - March 6, 2010

kentsterling — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:30:50 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry40.mp3]

Indiana Wins Home Finale Over Northwestern 88-80 in OT

kentsterling — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:23:09 +0000

by Kent Sterling After 11-straight Big Ten losses, the opponent is irrelevant. Northwestern, Northschmestern. A win is a win. The descendants of Harry C. Good were almost off the hook for the second straight year, as the Hoosiers stood on the cliff of their longest losing streak in the program's history. Goode remains tied with the past two Tom Crean squads with 11 straight wins. Another streak was snapped today as the Hoosiers broke Northwestern's three game winning streak against IU - the longest streak of wins since the Wildcats notched five straight at the same time Johnny Wooden led the Purdue Boilermakers to a mythical national champions. The Hoosiers used good ball movement and quick feet in a 2-3 zone that was exceptionally effective throughout the game. Attacking a 2-3 zone requires getting the ball into the middle, and the Wildcats weren't able to do that often enough to be successful. My favorite statistic in basketball is the assist. It hard to lose when you tally a bunch of assists. They show two things - willingness to move the ball by passing which (go figure) is quicker and more effective than dribbling, and a lack of defensive intensity. Teams who come out on the wings and frustrate ball movement don't usually allow many assists. Indiana really dodged a big bullet midway through the second half as Bill Carmody's Wildcats pressed. The Hoosiers promptly turned it over twice and were able to keep Northwestern from scoring. The lead for the Wildcats could have grown from four points to eight, but instead was two after a pair of Christian Watford foul shots. Jordan Hulls did his best Steve Alford impression - not an easy trick given that Alford retired from playing prior to Hulls' birth - tallying 24 points on eight triples. Two of those threes came during a 14-2 run that gave Indiana a nine-point lead that Northwestern took back to a tie late in the game. The last two minutes were a nightmare for Indiana, filled with bad decisions and turnovers, and that gave the Indiana faithful five bonus minutes of drama to enjoy. Freshmen and sophomores riding an 11-game losing streak aren't likely to play with a ton of poise as they try to hold on to a lead, but it's not as if these kids have never won a game at any level. The key against a zone is quick ball movement, and that requires confidence that evidently the Hoosiers do not possess. Catching and waiting for a trap is a silly offensive strategy, and as much as you would like to run clock late, this team is obviously not built to beat teams intellectually. They need to attack, and that was shown during the overtime as the Hoosiers asserted themselves quickly with a 7-0 run. Either of the past two seasons have been the worst in Indiana University basketball history, so this is certainly the worst two-year stretch ever. Back-to-back 20 losses season for a problem that had never seen 20 losses in a season has made this a tough stretch of road for Hoosier faithful. Making it even more difficult has been the resurgence of Purdue, who has been led back to consistently solid play by Matt Painter and his outstanding class of Indiana 2007 high school grads. Hopefully, the payoff for the four seniors on the Hoosiers roster, for whom today was a celebration of their sacrifice on behalf of the Indiana, is that no Hoosier player will ever have to go through a stretch of failure similar to the past two years. Indiana will get better because getting worse is virtually out of the question. Players generally get better as they age, and the Hoosiers who are graduating were mostly invisible - at least during games - so the future has to be brighter than the present. At the end of the game, IU had four freshman and one sophomore on the floor. The Hoosiers are two years away from a Senior Day that represents a qualitative loss. Sometimes, teams learn from losses, and sometimes they learn from wins. Today, the Hoosier got to learn in the way that is much more fun. There are plenty of weaknesses on this Indiana team and some can't be addressed by the kids currently on the roster, but why focus on those today. The only Indiana fans not thrilled with the result and temporarily willing to forgive and forget - at least until next Thursday - are the grandchildren of Harry C. Good, whose Papaw is still the obscure answer to a trivia question that hopefully Indiana fans never have the need to ask again. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - Apology for Insensitive Remarks About Diabetes

kentsterling — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:05:54 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry-apol.mp3]

Sports From the Couch-- Roethlisberger and Carmel Stories Treated a Lot Alike

jshowal2 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:35:44 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I'm not a professional journalist. I'm not trying to be one. There are many writers that are terrible, Jemele Hill comes to mind, and get paid to be journalists. I'm never going to get paid for my opinions but I have come up with one belief that amazes me concerning an ongoing investigation that Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger possibly sexually assaulted a woman in Georgia. After Ben Roethlisberger's second disturbing issue with possible sexual misconduct is that the media is not pursuing this nearly hard enough. If Big Ben was a two time Super Bowl winning quarterback, with obvious issues with common sense, poor judgement (motorcycle wreck without helmet anyone???), 2 sexual misconduct investigations in the last 12 months AND was African American, the media would be covering this with such fervor that it would be the first story on ESPN and would be the lead story on every sports web site. I'm a white guy, and about as conservative in beliefs as one can be. I believe that the media is as left wing as the sitting President and I still believe the Steeler QB is getting it easy by the media because he is white. Of the top of my head, I can give you a list of African American athletes, some more famous, some not, that have had run ins with law enforcement that have covered quite more ferociously then the story of Big Ben's sexual assault story in Georgia. I'm not saying the black athletes below weren't guilty, I just believe the media was much more aggressive in their coverage. Tiger Woods hitting a tree James Worthy hooker story in Houston anything Charles Barkley has done Michael Jordan gambling Michael Vick Kobe Bryant Donte Stallworth Now Stallworth killed a guy and was drunk, but the guy walked in front of him and if Stallworth was dead sober he would have hit the guy. Stallworth was treated like he was some kind of monster and many people were obsessed with the case as well as the very small amount of time behind bars. Kobe's case started out with 24/7 media coverage and didn't stop until the case was closed. Tiger hit a tree which was s really irrelevant from a law side. The fact that he works like a porn star isn't illegal, just questionable judgement. Point is that all three of those cases were met with ferocious media coverage. Vick's crimes were terrible but his poor judgement, obvious disdain for law enforcement as well as the nations love of dog's made the case the top story for months. Roethlisberger's case at this moment is a side story on ESPN.COM and it is not the top story on ESPNNEWS. At this moment, the story is not on the main page of SI.COM and only a side story on the Pittsburgh Post Gazette PPG. How in the world is this possible? Other then the animal cruelty, Ben's story isn't much different from Vick's. Bot guys are obviously stupid enough to put themselves in unbelievably bad situations. Both men have believe 1) they are indestructible and 2)believe they are (or were in Vick's case) above the law. The first few days of the Vick Drama were met with an unstoppable media blitz. Ben's has only been met with a trickle of info. I can't think of any other reason but the color of their skin. Here in Indy, we have a case study happening right in front of our eyes. The Carmel investigation of seniors of the boy's basketball team assaulting, possibly sexually, of freshmen boys has been nothing more then numerous attempted coverups by coaches, then administrators and now police and the prosecutors office. Carmel has become one large armadillo, hiding in the glass house that covers a town of mostly "lilly white skinned well to do's" that believe that hiding a crime against kids, by kids is better the flushing out the immoral behavior that should force citizens to re-examine the hypocrisy of it's leadership inside the schools and in the city's government. The local media in Indianapolis has turned it's face away from investigating the crime. Investigative journalism, in print and on television has taken a back seat to easy stories like filling potholes and mini-marathon training. I have to believe if freshmen boys were abused at local, predominantly black Indianapolis Public Schools, the coverup would have never occurred and the media would have camped out at Arlington or Tech, waiting for heads to roll. Roethlisberger and Carmel; national media and local media; not much difference to me.

Noblesville Tops Westfield 47-41 in Thrilling Sectional Final

kentsterling — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:06:22 +0000

by Kent Sterling Every now and again a guy in Indiana has to go to a high school basketball game, and tonight was that night. I'm not a fan of the schools who consistently excellent and think a state championship is a reasonable goal every year, so I skipped the Lawrence North vs. North Central sectional final. I'm still a little bitter about Sectional 10 as the Dad of a kid who played for a team other than Lawrence North between 2004-2007. Noblesville has not won a sectional since the multiclass tournament unhappily came into our lives in 1998. Westfield has never won a sectional, so regardless of the outcome of the final of the Carmel Sectional, someone was going to be really happy. I like watching kids accomplish something they believe to be special, so Julie and I headed to Carmel. The only disappointment was that the Westfield crowd was a little bit thin for people who had never had a better chance to win a sectional. Half of Noblesville made it into Carmel's gym. By the way, it was finally nice to go to Carmel and not be overwhelmed by the thought of freshmen being buggered by senior basketball players. No Kim King. No oddly temperamental behavior toward Kim. No wire-framed glasses wearing middle-aged guys roaming around slapping each other on the back. Local eye doctor, Dr. Ossip must do a hell of a business in Carmel. Every adult male in town wears wire-framed glasses. Anyway, the game was excellent. Noblesville was clearly the deeper, more aggressive team, but Westfield clawed their way back from a ten-point halftime deficit to get possession down three with a half-minute left. They turned it over and lost by six, but it was still a hell of a game that celebrated all that's right about high school basketball. Jeff Howard led Westfie3ld with 17 points. Most came early in the game from a kid who has been overlooked by a lot of schools. He's 6'8", strong, runs the floor, and has nice hands. He doesn't want the ball as often as he should get it, but that kind of nice-guy-first attitude can be coached out of him. Howard could be a real asset for a team in the MAC. He's a little like Joe Reitz, a kid (not anymore) from Hamilton Southeastern who was a huge presence for Western Michigan for all four years he was there. Howard doesn't have Reitz's mean streak, but he can develop that too. Noblesville was led by Leland Brown, a 6'4 wing, who not only scored 17 points (could have gotten it up to 19 after a foul with one-second yet, I'm not sure as we ran from the gym to beat the traffic), but spent a good portion of the night defending Howard despite being four-inches shorter. Brown is being recruited by teams like Wright State, Ball State, Belmont, and Western Michigan, and is a strong athlete. Noblesville played tenacious defense, and made life very unpleasant for the Westfield backcourt. From the opening tip, Noblesville bodied the ballhandler and extended on the wings. Watching defense played with that level of enthusiasm made the $5 tickets a great investment in our evening's entertainment. Coach Dave McCullough has had Noblesville playing like that for years, and it was fun to see that's still a big part of the Noblesville culture. Don't sleep on Noblesville in the Regional. Defense wins tournament games and Noblesville is strong, quick, and dedicated. Do yourselves a favor next weekend. Go to one of the regional games throughout the state. Where else can you see kids experiencing some of the biggest moments in their lives for $5? Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Jim Johnson on Post-Season College Basketball Rules

jimjohnsonpbm — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:08:59 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/3-6-10-audio-blog.mp3]

Blueprint for Crean's Success Is Two-Hours North

kentsterling — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:13:46 +0000

by Kent Sterling Purdue Coach Matt Painter is a smart and diligent guy. After Gene Keady led the Boilermakers to three losing Big Ten records in four years, Painter was brought in as the heir apparent to rebuild the foundering program. In Painter's first year/Keady's last, the Boilers tallied a 7-21 record. In Painter's first season without Keady, the Boilers went 9-19. Sound familiar? In the four years since that low point for Purdue basketball - a two-year period where the Boilers won a combined 16 games - Painter has led them to a 100-35 record. In Tom Crean's first two years in Bloomington, Indiana has notched 16 wins after the Northwestern game yesterday. Sound familiar? In Painter's third year, Purdue went 9-7 in the Big Ten. Crean would sell his soul for a guarantee of nine wins next year. Painter moved the Boilermaker program forward by recruiting a signature class in 2007 that included four Indiana All-Stars, all ranked in the top 100 nationally. Robbie Hummel, Scott Martin, JaJuan Johnson, and E'Twaun Moore came to West Lafayette with barely a whimper of competition from IU because Mike Davis didn't see the wisdom of recruiting homegrown talent, and never invested the time early on to build enthusiasm in those kids for the Indiana program. By the time Sampson came to Bloomington, the four beautiful ships had promised to dock at Purdue's campus. Indiana is exiting year two of the Tom Crean era, and the time is coming for a Purdue-esque third year. Crean has yet bring in a signature recruiting class, or a big man like Johnson, but the parallels between Purdue's '05 and '06 seasons and the Hoosiers '09 and '10 are clear enough. Painter's big class came to school for Painter's fourth year at Purdue. That would be Crean's 2011 recruiting class. The circumstances surrounding Crean's arrival in Bloomington could not be more dissimilar that Painter's, whose predecessor was publicly gracious and welcoming toward his own forced retirement. In Bloomington Davis was reviled as a coach totally ignorant and disdainful of the traditions of the Indiana program, and arrogant enough to believe he ran the show. Sampson followed, and was equally arrogant, although in an entirely new way. (If somehow you could combine Davis and Sampson, you would have a coach so thoroughly repellent to the Indiana faithful and to decency in general that the town of Bloomington would collapse upon itself if Coach Melvin Davisampson ever set foot in Assembly Hall.) Crean walked into Bloomington with NCAA sanctions, and half a team, after Dan Dakich ran cleaned out the rabble unfit to represent IU. The rest of the kids (Bassett, Holman, Thomas), he couldn't talk into staying - minus Kyle Taber and Brett Finkelmeier, so the cupboard was bare. Painter's roster was filled with kids who couldn't play great, but at least they had a pulse, and he could compete with other programs on an equal footing in visits and phone calls. Ironically, the biggest hurdle for Crean is Painter. Purdue's head start in building relationships with kids and coaches in Indiana keeps Crean from putting together the kind of class he needs to get things back on track in Bloomington. That is going to be a tall hill to climb because from the moment Matt Painter's plane landed in West Lafayette, he has been working his ass off and he hasn't stopped. As hard as Crean might work, bridging that gap is going to be tough. There is a nice nucleus of kids - Maurice Creek, Christian Watford, Jordan Hulls, Bobby Capobianco, Derek Elston (all freshmen), Matt Roth (who will be a sophomore in eligibility next year), Verdell Jones III and Tom Pritchard are sophomores. With another year of strength and maturity, that group can win games. You also can't underestimate the good that the Cook Center will do for the kids currently in the program and those recruits interested in it. Even at the level my son was recruited, access to the equipment and facilities needed to improve was exceptionally important. We walked away from schools who couldn't promise an open basket and a Gun (rebounding machine) available 24/7. The Cook Center is a game-changer. As we keep saying, Indiana isn't going to get worse because it would be difficult to crawl below that bar. It is going to get better next year, because that is the timetable we witnessed at Purdue. Maybe I'm nuts, but I think IU can get to a point next year where a goal of a .500 record in the Big Ten is reasonable, and 18 wins overall is within reach. The 2011-2012 season can bring the Hoosiers back to the NCAAs. The 2012 class needs to bring some haymakers to Bloomington if the program is going to get back to elite status - a place Indiana hasn't been since 1994 if we want to be honest. And Indiana will have to beat Purdue at its own game to do it. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

What a Terrific Saturday as IU defeats Northwestern 88-80 in OT

The Truth — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:38:13 +0000

By Kyle Miller “No senior should ever lose on his Senior Night,” said Coach Tom Crean following Indiana’s upset of Northwestern on Saturday. The last time IU played Northwestern on Senior Night was 2005 when they defeated the Wildcats 77-55. In fact, the Hoosiers have won five of their last six Senior Night games, with their only loss coming last year against national champion runner-up, Michigan State. Saturday may have provided the Hoosiers with arguably their biggest victory in two years. In front of a sold-out crowd at Assembly Hall, Indiana ended the regular season with an exceptional performance to propel the team into the conference tournament with some momentum and into the upcoming off season with hope. I think there are five things Hoosier fans undoubtedly have to be excited about heading into next year:

Derek Elston and Christian Watford: Elston has scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in total over the last two games. Confidence issues seemed to haunt Elston all year, but one play in particular sticks out from lasts night’s game in which Elston caught the ball in transition and, with no hesitation, stepped into a three-pointer and sank it. In regard to Watford, he has impressed me all year. He played over 40 minutes in yesterday’s game and when Northwestern went to their 2-2-1 press, he was terrific in his ability to help break it from the middle. Next year both of these players have the capability of averaging a double-double.
Jordan Hulls: The dead-eye shooter played 44 minutes and drained eight threes, ending the game with a career high in both three-pointers made, 8, and points scored, 24. I recall one play from Saturday when the shot clock was expiring and Hulls made one of the most intelligent plays of the game as a result. Trapped along the sideline, he had the awareness to throw a shot up toward the rim which provided Capobianco the opportunity to rebound the miss over a smaller Nash and get an old-fashioned three-point play.
Overtime lineup: Hulls-Jones-Watford-Elston-Capobianco. How can you not be excited about this lineup? This lineup outhustled Northwester and, more importantly, outscored the Wildcats 19-11 in OT. What excites me the most about this particular group is that not only might they be next year’s starting lineup, but they have the potential to “gel” and build continuity being that Jones is only a sophomore and the other four are freshman.
Battling Through Adversity: Northwestern overcame a nine-point deficit with roughly six minutes to go to send the game into overtime. Typically, the team that sends the game into overtime carries the momentum and beats the opposing team. A great example came yesterday when West Virginia rallied against Villanova in regulation and was able to defeat the Wildcats in the extra session. Contrarily, IU weathered the storm, came together, and found a way to escape with the victory. The lineup mentioned earlier demonstrated the Hoosiers’ potential which is impressive for a team that has lost 11 games in a row.
The best fans in the nation: This speaks for itself. An 11-game losing streak heading into Senior Night—a Senior Night that featured four seniors who play relatively meaningless minutes except for Devin Dumes—and Assembly Hall was still sold out. Purdue fans are less than mediocre when compared to IU fans. The attendance at Assembly Hall yesterday was 17,277, and Purdue’s crowd in their last home game against Indiana was only 14,123.

After a fairly disappointing season, Saturday’s game was just what the doctor ordered. Heading into the tournament the Hoosiers will most likely face Michigan, a team that they beat earlier this season. Ending the year positively will jump-start the off-season which may be one of the most important off-seasons in IU history.

Sports Digest - Monday, March 8, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:22:32 +0000

Here are the huge stories for today...well, at least interesting Indiana Fires Assistant Coach http://www.indystar.com/article/20100308/SPORTS0601/3080321/1004/SPORTS/Crean-fires-IU-assistant-McLeod http://hoosierhoopla.blogspot.com/2010/03/roshown-mcleod-out-at-iu.html Pacers - Kravitz (from Sunday) - O'Brien Must Go Now http://www.indystar.com/article/20100307/SPORTS15/3070387/1034/SPORTS15/O-Brien-must-go-for-the-good-of-the-bad-Pacers Pacers - Losing Now Helps Pacers Wion Later http://www.indystar.com/article/20100308/SPORTS04/3080314/1004/SPORTS/Losing-now-can-help-Pacers-later Butler - Deffense Key to Postseason Run http://www.indystar.com/article/20100308/SPORTS0605/3080359/1004/SPORTS/Defense-driving-Bulldogs Cubs - Guzman Considers "Risky" Surgery http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2088760,guzman-cubs-surgery-shoulder-recover-030710.article Cubs/Sox - Phil Rogers Looks at Spring Training http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/ct-spt-0308-rogers-column-chicago--20100307,0,6493445.column Cubs - Despite Blanco Injury, Castro Still to Start Season in Iowa http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0308-cubs-chicago--20100307,0,3301996.story

Harry on Sports - Monday, March 8, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:40:21 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry41.mp3]

Plane Crash Kills Frank Granato; Reminds Us of Our Fragility

kentsterling — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:51:46 +0000

by Kent Sterling A couple of healthy guys get in a plane in Grennwood, Indiana, on their way to Pennsylvania. Something goes wrong, and both die. Frank Granato from Carmel, Indiana, is the dad of 1070 - The Fan producer Michael Granato. Michael is 23, and that's too young to deal with that kind of sudden loss. Michael is a diligent and hard-working kid, and I'm sure his father was very proud of him. As is always the case, the measure of a man is how he responds to challenges and this is a big one for Mike. Losing a dad is tough. Really tough. Even given the chance to prepare a bit, it's miserable. My Dad's heart problems, and my acceptance of his mortality, began 30 years before he finally died. From 1972 until 2002, I imagined what that call would be like. Even with that prolonged amount of time, it was brutal. For Michael, the suddenness must make this unbearable. When the emotional dust clears - there is no clock on the adjustment to a life without the most compelling presence in any man's life - there are lessons that can be learned for all of us. When my Dad died, and throughout his illness, the lesson was that we get out of our bodies what we put into it. The lesson late in his life was that it's never too late to start moving in a direction. Dad started a successful business when in his mid-60s after being dissatisfied with what he had done for 20 years. For Mike and the rest of us, the lesson from the tragic plane crash that took his father is that taking any of our days for granted is foolish. The clock ticks for all of us, and because of that there is an urgency that is demanded as we make our choices. We need to constantly ask, what is important and then respond with actions to the answer. We need to prioritize, and live our lives according to those priorities. I had a boss who liked to say that there is a beer truck with each one of our names on it, and we work like hell to avoid it every day. It would be irresponsible to live each day as though it was our last. There would be lines at every bar, dancing at unprecedented levels, wild spending that would make a billionaire blush, and every 40-year-old would scour the streets for a lonely looking 20-year-old. That's the romantic version of the last day. What would you really do? Most of us would find those we love and try to spend as much time as possible with them. I think of that couple in Kosovo who died in each other's arms after being shot by rebels. I think of Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day". He went completely off the rails, but when faced with the emptiness of daily hedonism, he figured out what was important and won the love of the woman for whom he felt the most. Hug your kids. Hug your parents. Tell them honestly how you feel about them. Laugh with them. My son is coming home from college today for six days. Because of basketball, he is never home for more than a week, so this is a nice long visit. We'll play catch because it's spring, and in the spring you get your arm in shape. What we will do with our in-shape arms is anyone's guess. We'll watch "Seinfeld" and laugh because that's what we always do. We have a neighbor who we really don't know (actually, I barely know any of our neighbors despite living in the same house for almost 13 years) who works at the Crate and Barrel. Julie and I bought a table there a couple of years ago, and she looked at me funny - not unusual - and said "You're the Dad who walks around the neighborhood throwing a football with his son. I liked that was the image this lady had of Ryan and I - still do. We had nothing better to do than throw a football and still don't. I wish for Mike to find the strength to get through this tough time, and help his family deal with this unexpected loss. He should know that the hope every dad has for his son is that the lessons of his life somehow inform the life of his son. That he wasn't able to see more of Mike's life is tragic, but in no way diminishes the meaning of the relationship or his pride. There are a lot of people who've been through this. The alternative is a dad's worst nightmare. You are going to be offered a lot of help. Accept it all, and take your time in dealing with this. It takes time, and short circuiting it does nothing but make it harder.

Carmel Bullying Goes to the School Board

kentsterling — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:57:54 +0000

by Kent Sterling This is all they need. Nothing like bureaucrats throwing themselves at a problem to grind the wheels of justice to a screeching halt. I'm normally not a fan of meeting held behind closed doors, but in this case it will limit the pompous posturing both by those who might try to use the meeting to fortify their political careers or save their jobs as administrators and coaches. If there has been any good news for the people sweating this out - the kids, Principal Williams, Coach Galloway, and the rest of those trying to dodge culpability in this fiasco, it's that a bunch of do-gooders with enough free time to sit in tedious and mostly meaningless meetings are going to gather information so they can misinterpret and distort it. The Hamilton County Prosecutors Office continues its protracted investigation, designed to extend the story beyond the public's ability to care. The problem is that the four seniors don't look like the kids the public typically associate with bad things. When a black kid with braids assaults someone, that kid gets locked up ASAP. When a white kid with a nice haircut does something as unspeakably cruel and vicious as allegedly trying to stuff a cell phone in a younger and weaker kid's rectum, we don't believe it because then we have to acknowledge that our kids might do that too. This is the depth of the denial and ignorance of adults. One of the seniors that has been accused was named a senior mentor responsible for helping the freshmen. He was singled out by whoever determines those who mentor as a kid who could be trusted. Then, that kid allegedly takes part in the anal deflowering of one of the kids he was charged with leading through the uncertainty of being a newbie in a huge high school. That's really not on point, but if there is a horror in this story, it's that someone thought enough of this kid to elevate him into an endorsed position of trust, and he repaid that trust with a betrayal this severe and callous. The meeting tonight will be a waste of time run by people completely unequipped to understand the answers to the questions they will ask of the people whose responses will be designed to save their positions rather than illuminate. The threats and unpleasantness toward those who know what happened will continue, and the evasiveness of those responsible will also continue. Lawyers are everywhere, and advice is flowing like hazardous waste in the White River. The shame is that there are lessons within this brutality that could help the kids at Carmel who are watching this series of travesties. Among them: Bad acts require a consequence Honesty is not a romantic concept And, sometimes adults are worthy of respect But what they will learn is that survival is the only goal of crisis management, Nixon was right, and at the first and last sign of trouble you keep your mouth shut and hire a lawyer. The truth be damned. Tonight's closed-door charade will be another step in the reinforcement of those messages. What the kids allegedly did was callous, hurtful, illegal, and violent. What the adults are doing is worse because it continues the evolution of our society toward deceit. The kids allegedly acted impulsively. The adults acted consciously after reflecting upon all their options. Shame on them all. The only people operating with any honor are some of the Carmel parents who are coming forward with stories of continued systemic abuse, and the media. Who gets jeered and booed by kids and parents? The media. I would work three jobs to send my kid to Cathedral or Guerin.

Sports Digest - Tuesday, March 9, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:13:48 +0000

Here are the stories that caught my eye today: Colts - Lilja Released http://www.indystar.com/article/20100309/SPORTS03/3090365/1004/SPORTS/Colts-release-Lilja Colts - Jackson, Sorgi, Lilja, Sanders Questions Answered http://blogs.indystar.com/coltsinsider/archives/2010/03/whats-up-with-j.html Boilers - Kramer Named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year; Painter Coach of the Year http://www.indystar.com/article/20100309/SPORTS0602/3090367/1004/SPORTS/All-Big-Ten-teams-have-Purdue-flavor Butler - Goes for 20th in a Row Tonight http://www.indystar.com/article/20100309/SPORTS0605/3090366/1004/SPORTS/Butler-goes-for-20th-straight-win Pacers - Talking Smack for their Colleges http://www.indystar.com/article/20100309/SPORTS04/3090378/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-talking-trash-for-their-college-teams Cubs - Dempster Solid; He Better Be http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2091057,CST-SPT-cubnt09.article Cubs Hammer A's 10-3 http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2091781,CST-SPT-ccap09.article Cubs - 'Pen Two Arms Short http://www.suntimes.com/sports/slezak/2091259,CST-SPT-carol09.article http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-chicago-cubs-mar08,0,5622688.story Cubs - Samardzija Goes Two Scoreless in Win http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-chicago-cubs-bits-mar08,0,808632.story

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, March 9, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:31:30 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry-42.mp3]

Pacers Need to Keep Losing

kentsterling — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:32:41 +0000

by Kent Sterling With 19-games to go, the Pacers are in the drivers seat for the fourth worst overall record in the NBA. Going into tonight's home tilt against the Philadelphia 76ers, the blue and gold are 20-43, and are two-and-a-half back from Golden State's lowly 17-45 mark. On the other end of the spectrum, Sacramento is one game out of fourth worst, the Knicks one-and-a-half back, Detroit is two back, Washington is two-and-a-half back, and the Sixers are three-and-a-half out. If the Pacers get hot, they could easily fall to the ninth worst record in the NBA and guarantee themselves continued institutional mediocrity. Bob Kravitz is writing crazy columns about firing coach Jim O'Brien. That's all we need, some new guy to light a fire under these uninspired and well-paid kids who have come very close to mathematically eliminating themselves from any chance at the postseason with a quarter of the season left. The Pacers would almost undoubtedly play harder for Larry Bird, and what possible good can that do. With each loss, the Pacers claw closer to Cole Aldrich and farther from DeMarcus Cousins. No offense to giant white men, but the Pacers have the market cornered on players similar to Aldrich. Cousins is a beast. Aldrich is a future very intimidating accountant. Cousins might be the next Dwight Howard. Do the Pacers really want to win their way out of Cousins and into Aldrich? Nineteen games of malaise, and the Pacers get a real player - a potential all-star. Get hot, another very tall white guy moves into Carmel. With Hibbert, Cousins, Granger, Rush, and a point guard to be acquired later, the Pacers could get good, really good for the 2011-2012 season. If they finish with the fourth worst record, they will have an 11.9% chance of winning the John Wall sweepstakes. Then they need a good four, but there are plenty of decent fours. Either way, winner winner, chicken dinner. Fortunately, Larry Bird doesn't often follow Bob's advice. The Pacers look listless, and barring some bizarre and unexpected resurgence, they will welcome a guy who can really play. Dahntay Jones and Tyler Hansbrough coming off the bench would give them some energy and defense. Honestly, the Pacers are generating so little passion right now, there is nothing left to talk about or debate. Do we get really bad, and root for losses, or hope for late season wins and a virtual guarantee of continued 30-52 seasons? I want losses, followed by an immediate change of culture. Next year, the Pacers have a chance to be better. With a top five pick, they stand little chance of repeating this terrible season that would be forgettable if there had been anything fans initially remembered. I like Jim O'Brien. He made fun of me at the dinner following the Noble of Indiana Golf Outing. It was funny, and I deserved it. We tend to equate a coach being fired to our being fired. If any of us made O'Brien-esque money for a year, we would only work if we wanted to for the rest of our lives, so I'm not going to feel guilty saying that he needs to go - after this season. Bird is a smart guy, and when he was the head coach back during the salad days of the franchise, he said that he would leave after three years because that was the point at which players stopped listening and responding. O'Brien is an emotional guy, so that curve is probably a little more acute. This is O'Brien's third year, and it's clear that Bird should listen to his own advice - advice he was smart enough to heed when he was the coach. Being a coach is a rough life. It is migratory and requires crazy long hours away from family. Fortunately, at O'Brien's level, the rewards are substantial. I'm sure he has a 401K. He'll be fine, but he needs to be fine somewhere else. The Pacers need to graduate to a functional level of play and worthy of interest from fans. With every year (maybe month), Indianapolis becomes more a Colts/football town and less a Pacers/basketball town, but they can get it back. The time is now, and 19 straight losses would be a great start. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Carmel Bullying Meeting Brings Predictable Twit-like Posturing

kentsterling — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:59:03 +0000

by Kent Sterling This would be funny if it didn't involve the lost rectal virginity of Carmel freshmen at the hands and cell phones of senior sociopathic basketball players. Here are the quotes from Carmel Superintendent Jeff Swensson and board memebr Jeff Carter during the portion of last night's school board meeting that were available to the public. Swensson "We'll double-check that we provide clarity of follow-through concerning safety and appropriate behavior." Really, Jeff. I'm sure that will be a huge relief to those who trusted you and your administrators two months ago to do the same thing. Just what the hell is "clarity of follow-through". Swensson is a man I never knew of before this horrifying story became public, but I have known plenty of guys who use phrases like "clarity of follow-through". They are generally very adept at impressing panels of idiots who bestow bureaucratic positions upon those who can talk for hours while saying nothing. You can almost see the school members nodding their agreement and muttering, "clarity of follow-through, very impressive". If I were a parent of one of the kids, I would ask where the clarity of follow-through was in the organization when three coaches sat on a bus while my son was sodomized with a cell phone right before I held him physically responsible for spewing such useless pablum. Carter "Nobody wants this to end any faster than we do, but we are not going to do anything to jeopardize the police investigation." Really, Jeff. Nobody? I'll bet there are plenty of people who want his to end faster. How about the freshman who were attacked. They probably want this behind them faster. How about the witnesses who have been threatened by coaches and peers for opening their mouths? Even the kids who perpetrated this terror and their families want this over faster than you do. So how about foregoing all of the posturing and idiotic empty rants about how well you boobs are doing your jobs, and a little action and compassion toward the victims and threatened witnesses. Carter "By the end of the first day, school administrators had met with those kids in question and been in contact with the parents. They moved very quickly, and I was pleased to see that." That's wonderful. When presented with evidence nearly four weeks after kids were brutalized in the back of a school bus with coaches present, the administrators met with the kids and had contacted parents. Principal Williams must have been very proud that day. Job well done. Lightning speed by a man charged with keeping the school safe. His systems allowed four weeks to pass before his sudden action, but lets concentrate on his ability to interview students and call parents. When the bar for excellence is that low, it's hard to imagine how the kind of institutional neglect that would allow rampant assaults among students could have taken place. Swensson "While we continue to abide by federal law regarding student privacy, I can assure everyone that where the evidence points us, the most serious possible disciplinary recommendations will result." He hides behind this federal law as though that is his chief responsibility. Clearly, what Carmel doesn't want is for the perpetrators of the incidents we have yet to hear about to be charged one-by-one, day-after-day. They want to sweep clean all at once. That's the only part of this that makes any sense. But how long does this take? The time has come for some kind of action. There are rumors that the four senior basketball players have already received their diplomas from Carmel, and are no longer students there. It's unclear whether the kids were expelled, but with enough credits, or whether they were simply graduated. Swensson "I want to emphasize, in addition, that we are investigating, with the same high degree of thoroughness and professionalism, staff action in regard to this matter." This must be reassuring to parents and athletes. They are employing the same degree of thoroughness and professionalism. Dare to dream! Just what the hell is that? More nodding from the school board members, "Hmm, professionalism and thoroughness, yes, yes." Can the Carmel parents allow this twit to continue in his position? Speaking of twits, here's some video of last summer's Carmel School board retreat. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRBkgshj8Cw] Swensson said steps to eliminate hazing will include a review of handbooks for students and staff and an analysis of professional development that takes place before each sports season with coaches and the athletic director. That's just fabulous. Clearly, those handbooks have been a source of great wisdom and guidance. Dust them off, and leaf through. Pay extra close attention to the chapter about not allowing seniors to ram cell phones up the asses of freshmen. Are you kidding? Review a handbook? Talk about decisive action! If the mope who uttered that phrase is allowed to continue in his position, Carmel High School should be empty next year. If I had a kid at Carmel, I would grab a torch and club, and march to his office. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Wednesday, March 10, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:14:34 +0000

Here are the sports stories that caught my eye this morning. Butler - Domination of Wright State Wins Tourney http://www.indystar.com/article/20100310/SPORTS0605/3100338/1004/SPORTS/Butler-beats-back-former-nemesis-Wright-State Butler - Kravitz; Deserving of a Good Seed http://www.indystar.com/article/20100310/SPORTS15/3100334/1034/SPORTS15/Butler-deserves-a-good-seed-in-tournament Hoosiers - Hope to Make Deep Run in Big Ten Tourney http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100310/SPORTS/3100318 Pacers - Win Against 76ers Just What the Doctor Didn't Order http://www.indystar.com/article/20100310/SPORTS04/3100331/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-try-teamwork-in-Granger-s-absence Pacers - Granger Suspended for One Game 'http://www.indystar.com/article/20100310/SPORTS04/3100330/1004/SPORTS/Granger-suspended-1-game Colts - Sorgi Signs with Giants http://www.indystar.com/article/20100310/SPORTS03/3100328/1004/SPORTS/Former-Colts-backup-QB-Sorgi-signs-with-Giants Cubs - Lilly Getting Stronger; Throws Off Mound http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2093649,CST-SPT-cub10.article Cubs - Fontenot Sharp at Short http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2093614,CST-SPT-cubnt10.article Cubs Daily Recap http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2094686,CST-SPT-ccap10.article Cubs - Bradley Calls Out Piniella Again http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, March 10, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:29:06 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry43.mp3]

Ron Artest Is Nothing But a Knucklehead - an Honest Knucklehead

kentsterling — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:31:16 +0000

by Kent Sterling I love Ron Artest. He's one of my favorite athletes, not because he has incredibly unique athletic skills, but because he's just a normal guy. He's wacky for sure, but he's also very real. Artest had the word for defense in Hindu, Hebrew, and Japanese colored into his hair over the weekend, and then when the Lakers lost, he shaved it. The media and fans are constantly clamoring for athletes to just be themselves and do what they do. Stop being so image conscious. At least I clamor for that. Artest does it and everyone loses their minds. Here is a series of Artest stories told to me by those who have spent time with Artest that I find them both illuminating and amusing: A TV reporter in Indianapolis was assigned the task of interviewing Artest at his house on the northside of town. The reporter arrived at the house before Artest, so when he pressed the button at the gate there was no answer. There was a security keypad, above which was the street address of the house. The reporter told the photog who was driving to punch in the number of the address. The gate opened. Ron's code was his address. Most have heard this story, but it bears repeating. During his first year in Chicago, Artest heard that employees got a great discount at a local electronics store. He applied for a job so he would qualify. The Bulls management strongly encouraged Artest to abandon his dream of hawking overpriced stereo equipment and TVs. After Artest came to the Pacers, GM Donnie Walsh, Artest, and Artest's agent met to discuss a new deal. Artest wanted one immediately. Both his agent and Walsh begged Artest to wait two years because he would qualify under NBA rules for a much bigger deal. Artest replied, "$45-million". More begging. "$45-million. Artest's family came from the projects of Brooklyn, and whether it was a contract for $45-million or $68 -million, Artest's family and friends would never have to work or worry again. Artest signed the deal for the lesser amount of money. The TV reporter mentioned a couple of paragraphs above spent a little time in Artest's home. There were a bunch of people in there, and also some dogs. Dogs, as they do, had pooped all over the carpeting - many times. Artest apologized, explaining that the men who replace the carpeting every month would be in this next week. Instead of cleaning the poop, Artest had the carpeting replaced. It sounds crazy, but who wouldn't like to have the money to replace carpeting rather than clean dog crap? Given a choice of picking up poop, he calls the carpeting people. Who's crazy? Artest was in the studio at WIBC during the Radiothon to Benefit The Salvation Army, and Vince Welch talked to him about the brawl and the resulting hubbub. Everything went well through the interview until Vince asked Artest about some comments Magic Johnson made about him. Artest went from being this really nice guy to being really angry, and let us see how the guy who was so disarming, funny, and friendly could suddenly become a person who would leap into the stands in Detroit and throw haymakers at drunks. You could also see why Donnie Walsh could invest so much time and energy into trying to help Artest find his way. If America wants real, Ron Artest is real. He isn't putting on a happy face for anyone, and he doesn't pose. He isn't trying to fit a niche or earn street cred. He plays basketball as hard and as well as he can, and takes care of his family and friends. If you don't like that, he could care less and I don't either - which may be the only thing I have in common with Ron Artest.

Big Ten Tourney Preview

kentsterling — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:39:08 +0000

by Kent Sterling This tournament is a battle of the haves - Purdue, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin and the have nots - Illinois and Minnesota. The rest are there to pick up a gift bag and head home Friday. This is the top-heaviest Big Ten I can remember with the biggest chasm between those who can win it and those who have no chance. Ohio State - The Buckeyes have a lot of assets. Evan Turner is the Big Ten Player of the Year, and it wasn't close. He can do everything, and is projected as a top five pick in every NBA mock draft I can find. Add the that the rebounding of Dallas Lauderdale and sharps-shooting of Jon Diebler, and that is a team that can run the table and with the tournament. I don't like Thad Matta. He's a hyperactive used car salesman about whom I was told a story by a friend. I won't relate the story because I have no concrete evidence of its validity, and without that the publication of the story would certainly get me sued. Suffice it to say, I do not believe Matta to be a man of high character. For that reason, I hope their bus crashes on the way to the Fieldhouse. Purdue - They seem to have found a little rhythm after losing Robbie Hummel for the season. They still have Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Chris Kramer, first-teamer E'Twaun Moore, and second team JaJuan Johnson, so the Boilers are not without talent and firepower. They should be able to get to the semifinals without much challenge as they will play either Indiana or Northwestern on Friday in the quarters. Once there, anything can happen. Michigan State will be tough in the semis, if they can get past Minnesota. This is a hard group not to like. They play really hard and smart. It's not in my DNA to root for Purdue, but I look at it as a challenge similar to to hitting a curve ball. The first couple of dozen times, you want to listen to the fear as the pitch starts at your face, but you learn to trust the break and get your bat on the ball. Michigan State is a below the radar team in the Big Ten for a co-champion. They have weapons, a good coach, and a March pedigree that is undeniable. All-Big Ten First Team Point Guard Kalin Lucas seems to be healthy again after spending one game on the shelf and two more out of the starting lineup. Raymar Morgan and Draymond Green are athletic beasts, and the team plays really solid defense. Chris Allen has a great stroke and almost limitless range. Michigan State is hard to root against because Tom Izzo seems like a hell of a good guy, but I'll make the effort especially if they play Indiana or Purdue. Wisconsin had road losses against Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan State, and Minnesota, and a home loss to Illinois, their foe in the 3p Friday game. Their scoring and rebounding is balanced, and everyone is capable of knocking down threes. They defend with tenacity, and are truly one of the those groups that play for the name on the front of the jersey. Coach Bo Ryan is one of the best in the conference, and he generally get a consistent effort out of his kids. I'm rooting against the Badgers as always because golfer and golf analyst Andy North - a Wisconsin devotee' - refused to walk 10-feet in 1070 The Fan's studio at Conseco to talk to Kravitz & Eddie last year as he wandered through the concourse. Illinois is in free fall, and that is the way I like it. The Illini are squarely on the bubble and need a win against Wisconsin to get into the NCAAs. They have lost five of six coming into the tournament, and only one of those five losses was by a single-digit margin. Bruce Weber and Dmitri McCamey had a dust-up that both claim has blown over, but I don't buy that for a minute. A player purposely chucks a shoulder into his coach as he passes, and that is a sign of emotional instability. McCamey is the bedrock of the Illini, and if he's getting physical with Weber, that shows this team has oozed from Weber's control. I look forward to watching Illinois bow out in the opener. Minnesota always wins a gob at home, and loses a gob on the road. This may as well be a road game. The opener is a cake walk against Penn State (Ed DeChellis, we hardly knew ye). The Gophers played in seven Big Ten games that were either decided by two or fewer points or went to overtime. They were 2-5 in those games, so their 9-9 Big Ten record is a little deceiving. The Gophers are about ten points away from being 14-4. Don't sleep on the Gophers against Michigan State - Tom Izzo won't. Northwestern is a nice story. A bunch of good students who play basketball at the highest level of any Northwestern team ever, the Wildcats likely would be headed to the Big Dance for the first time in the program's lackluster history if Kevin Coble hadn't been lost for the season. Bill Carmody is a really good coach, and what do you want to bet Jordan Hulls was a point of emphasis when he broke down film of the IU game this week. Hulls had better be ready to run his ass off around a dozen screens to get the ball. He won't make eight this time. He won't get eight shots this time. That is a good thing though, as Northwestern won't be eager to help off Hulls. That will open the floor a little bit for Verdell Jones to penetrate. This should be a very entertaining close game. Michigan? I don't care about the Michigan vs. Iowa game at all. The Iowa fans are generally nice people, and Michigan has been a program mired in sleeze for years - not necessarily under Beilein, but Fisher and Frieder ran renegade operations so I am always on the side of whoever plays against the maize and gold. Iowa is terrible. Todd Lickliter's career record coaching against former Lawrence Central High School Coach Mike Miller is 0-2. Iowa should have hired Mike. Indiana is in an interesting place going into the Big Ten Tournament. They appeared to be dead going into the Northwestern game last Saturday. The Hoosiers had stopped responding to Tom Crean, or so it seemed. Against Northwestern, all of sudden the gas gauge came off the empty peg, and they showed heart and an ability to play hard for an extended period. Was that a one-game wonder - a showing buoyed by a raucous Senior Day crowd - or was it real? We'll find out tomorrow at roughly 4:45p. If IU gets past Northwestern, it sets up a third meeting with Purdue. Fun. Penn State. The final four will fall according to seed, with the possible exception of Minnesota. They can beat Michigan State. I don't believe they will, but that is the one upset that could throw the train off the track. I like Wisconsin to beat Ohio State and Purdue to find a way to grind into the finals over either Michigan State or Minnesota. Wisconsin wins over Purdue. Without Hummel, Moore, JJ, and Grant need to step up their games, and Kramer going hell-bent for Sunday on three straight days is going to be more than Painter can ask. I'll root for the Boilers, but the Badgers win it. This should be a hell of a four-day show. Tickets are still available, and if you have a kid or some free time, I don't think you can beat the fun of this thing. The bars will be packed through Saturday, so the fun downtown will be plentiful. If you live near Indy and haven't been a part of the party, make sure and take some of this in. It could not be more fun. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports From the Couch--Butler Must Leave Horizon

jshowal2 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:36:16 +0000

By Jeff Showalter Butler has a credibility issue with the tournament committee and this season has proven there is only two things to do about it. Play the toughest non conference schedule in the nation, every year or leave the Horizon League ASAP. Butler could schedule Duke, Georgetown, UCLA, Xavier, Ohio State, the Celtics and the Lakers. They could travel all over North America, because they can't get home and home's with most teams, wear themselves out and hope for a .500 record. Then they have to go 20-0 EVERY YEAR, in the conference,and hope for a 4 seed. The second option is much easier. Butler has to leave the Horizon and move up to a better conference. I'd vote for option two. Butler has to move up the power conference ladder and they definitely could have some invitations. The Horizon League is always going to be classified as a one team conference and a men's basketball conference. If not for Butler's history of losing conference tournaments, there is never a time that the Horizon would have a second team invited to the Big Dance. Brad Stevens' crew is head and shoulders above the rest of the conference and while there is an occasional Cleveland State or UWM that adds some vitality, the undeniable truth is that Butler is the big "DAWG" and the rest are at a level or more below. There is no other money making sport to keep Butler so there should be no expectation for Butler to stay for economic reasons. In fact, Butler will do much better financially in a bigger conference. Butler is called the "new Gonzaga" but the two schools have very little in common when comparing the viability of each program. Gonzaga is the best basketball school in a multiple state region. Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Northern California, the Dakota's and Utah all have D1 schools but fail to match Gonzaga's basketball credentials. Within 200 miles of Indianapolis are plenty of capable basketball schools. UK, Louisville, Purdue, Ohio State, Xavier, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Illinois and Michigan State. One may even believe that someday Tom Crean will turn IU around but I'm not going to bet the mortgage on it. Gonzaga has no opportunities to leave. There is nowhere else for them to go because bigger conferences on the west coast, all play big time football. They can't join the Pac 10 or the Mountain West. Butler could go to the Missouri Valley, the Atlantic 10, even Conference USA. All would help Butler's standing in the NCAA's eyes and makes each of those conferences better. Butler should follow Xavier's and Evansville's decisions to leave the old Midwestern Collegiate Conference. It hasn't done much for the Aces, but Xavier has become a perennial top 20 basketball school by moving to the A-10. Another fact that could impact Butler and make their decision even easier. Expansion of the Big Ten, football changes in the Big East or a move by Notre Dame could all have an impact. The Big Ten adding Rutgers or Pitt could cause the Big East basketball only schools to revolt and form their own conference. A school like Xavier, UMass or Georg Washington may get an invite and open up a hole for Butler. Notre Dame may want to leave the Big East and they are arrogant enough to try to put together their own conference. ND, DePaul, Marquette, St. Louis, Loyola Chicago, Valpo and Xavier could start the "Catholic School Conference". That opens up holes as well. Butler may even want to propose a new conference that would include a mix of Notre Dame, the A-10 and Big East schools that are located in the midwest. Butler could sit still and have many opportunities as expansion and changes are coming and Barry Collier's phone is sure to ring to gage Butler's interest. Any way Butler goes, they can't stay where they are. Not now, not ever again. A six seed for this team is unreasonable and unacceptable. Not only for the team but for the other tournament teams. Could you imagine being a three seed and know you may have to face the 11th ranked team in the second round? That's ridiculous but it was only 3 years ago that Butler had to play Tennessee in round two and Bruce Pearl was pissed. Pearl, coached in the Horizon and he knew Butler was under seeded. If you called Pearl right now, he'd tell you Butler is a top 12 team and at worse case a 4 seed. But Pearl doesn't do the seeding. The only way for Butler to move up the basketball ladder is going to be moving to another conference. One thing I'd like to know is: what would have happened if Butler was undefeated? If Butler was 30-0, would they be a one seed? Someone call Jerry Palm or Joe Lunardi and find out? I doubt wins over Clemson, Minnesota, Georgetown and UAB would be enough to get them to the top line. Just my guess but if Butler can't run the table and get a one seed, how can they ever get a 3 or 4 for a tremendous season? They can't. That is why they have to move.

Ranking the Big Ten Coaches

The Truth — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:12:38 +0000

By Kyle Miller Which conference features better coaches than the Big Ten? From Tom Izzo at Michigan State to Bill Carmody at Northwestern, the Big Ten is loaded with successful coaches. Ranking these coaches was tough, but here goes nothing: 1) Tom Izzo (Michigan State)- Unanimous #1. Last year’s Final Four run, Izzo displayed his basketball genius as they trounced the power of the Big East in Connecticut and Louisville convincingly in back to back games. Every player who has played for Izzo for four years has reached the NCAA Final Four. In 15 years at Michigan State, Izzo has recorded a 2000 NCAA National Championship, five Final Fours, and six Big Ten Championships. 2) Bo Ryan (Wisconsin)- Year after year Bo Ryan turns mediocre talent into a top 20 team. Before losing to Illinois this year, Wisconsin was 51-0 at the Kohl Center verses unranked teams. In his nine year tenure at Wisconsin, he has never finished worse than fourth in the Big Ten. In fact, in Big Ten conference play, Ryan has the highest conference winning percentage at .707. 3) Tubby Smith (Minnesota)- Averaged 26 wins per season at Kentucky, but Kentucky decided to give Tubby the boot in favor of Billy Gillispie. “Tubbyball” is ideal for the Big Ten and one day I hope Tubby makes a return trip to Rupp Arena to smash his former team. When Tubby won the NCAA National Championship in 1998, he did so without a first-team All-American or a future NBA lottery pick. 4) Matt Painter (Purdue)- I don’t like him, but he can coach and recruit. Painter took over for notorious- at least in my eyes- Gene Keady. In 2007 he hit the jack-pot when he recruited three Indiana players, JaJuan Johnson, E’Twaun Moore, and Robbie Hummel who has lead Purdue to a 78-23 record over the past three years. 5) Thad Matta (Ohio State)- Terrific recruiter, but coaching ability is still uncertain. Matta made a name for himself when he recruited the “Thad Five” that featured Lawrence North players Mike Conley and Greg Oden (Cook, Lighty, Hunter the other three). At Ohio State, Matta is 151-53 overall. He also had a pretty good player this year in Evan Turner, who is most likely the number two pick in this year’s NBA Draft. 6) Tom Crean (Indiana)- A bit of a bias opinion possibly as Crean is unproven in the Big Ten, but his reputation is strong. Appeared in the NCAA Final Four with phenom Dwayne Wade leading the way. He had built a program at Marquette, but left to come to IU simply because “It’s Indiana.” Even with an overall conference record at Indiana of 16-45, Crean still holds a career record of 205-141. 7) Bill Carmody (Northwestern)- On the brink of making a run at their first NCAA tournament bid in school history, Northwestern was plagued by a critical injury when leading scorer and rebounder, Kevin Coble suffered a season ending knee injury. Carmody is considered a guru of the Princeton offense, which he has implemented at Northwestern. His record is misleading as he is only 135-156 at Northwestern, but recruiting at such a prestigious academic school must be tough. 8) Ed DeChellis (Penn State)- Dechellis has never made the NCAA tournament at Penn State, but was crowned NIT Champions last year. Penn State this year lost their first 12 games in the conference this year. He was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year last year, as well. 9) Bruce Weber (Illinois)- This ranking could be due to my hatred for the man. He’s a whiner that tasted success early in his career at Illinois with players that he didn’t even recruit. He has an overall record of 169-67. 10) John Beilein (Michigan)- If I could choose one coach to play for, Beilein would be high on my list. I thoroughly enjoyed his West Virginia team that featured Gansey and Pittsnogle as they beat Chris Paul and company at Wake Forest in the NCAA Tournament. Like Crean, Beilein is new to the Big Ten, but had a fairly disappointing year with Michigan this past year. 11) Todd Lickliter (Iowa)- A former Butler coach, similar to Matta, Lickliter has one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten this year. He became the head coach at Iowa in 2007 and has recorded a record of 38-56 over the past three years. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Thursday, March 11, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:55:13 +0000

The Big Ten Tourney starts today - and other news: Hoosiers - Creek likes IU's Future http://www.indystar.com/article/20100311/SPORTS0601/3110383/1069/SPORTS0601/IU-basketball-Injured-freshman-Creek-likes-what-he-sees-in-Hoosiers-future Hoosiers - IU Stars Fresh in Tournament http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74418 Pacers - Hibbert Shows Passing Skills http://www.indystar.com/article/20100311/SPORTS04/3110386/1004/SPORTS/Hibbert-gets-chance-to-show-passing-skills Pacers - Rush Is Improving http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/web_100310.html Colts - Jackson Signs with Eagles http://www.indystar.com/article/20100311/SPORTS03/3110381/1004/SPORTS/Defensive-back-Jackson-who-spent-first-5-seasons-with-Colts-signs-free-agent-deal-with-Eagles IndyCar - Franchitti Ready to Defend Title http://www.indystar.com/article/20100311/SPORTS0107/3110375/1004/SPORTS/Franchitti-ready-to-defend-IndyCar-title IndyCar - Rahal Signs with Fisher to Drive Two Races http://www.indystar.com/article/20100311/SPORTS0107/3110379/1004/SPORTS/Rahal-teams-with-Fisher-for-2-races Cubs - Rick Morrissey - Bradley Forgets that He Stunk http://www.suntimes.com/sports/morrissey/2096572,CST-SPT-morrissey11.article Cubs - Hendry Tells Bradley to "Look in the Mirror" http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2096478,CST-SPT-cub11.article Cubs - Zambrano Lit Up in Third; Cubs Lose to Giants http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2096764,CST-SPT-ccap11.article

Harry on Sports - Thursday, March 11, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:16:49 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/memo.mp3]

NCAA Tournament Expansion Is Another Money Grab by Power Drunk Fools

kentsterling — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:17:32 +0000

by Kent Sterling Somewhere in a quiet conference room, a group of greedy men discuss how they can further exploit 18-to-22 year old men to feather the nests of their member institutions. The players work their asses off to stay on an academic track that will allow them to graduate because the coaches know that their programs will lose scholarships - the lifeblood without which coaching careers collapse. They work at basketball everyday 12-months a year, either on their own, in organized sessions, or in open gyms. The vast majority of the players in NCAA Division One basketball will never cash a meaningful check for playing basketball. They play because they love the game. Even most who have a chance to go to the NBA, play because they love the game. This isn't the worst life. Some of the travel is enjoyable, although you have to question the Summit League's decision to hold the league tourney in Sioux City, Iowa. The players in the Horizon League have probably seen enough of Youngstown, Ohio, but at some point enough is enough. The only advocate the players have in this system is the NCAA, and they are compromised because it is a member institution, and the members have no interest in empowering the students. While I believe Brandon Jennings was misguided in his decision to play in Italy rather than attend Arizona, I also like that he told the powers that be to stick it. He wasn't going to play for free when he could get paid - as should be his right. Because the NBA has no interest in starting the max money clock a year early when a player really isn't ready to compete in the NBA, and if the NCAA can get the John Wall's, Derrick Rose's, and Greg Oden's to stick around for a year, that's a bonus for them too. What do the kids get? A year of basketball instruction, maturity, and at least a semester of something resembling education. The athletic directors and coaches? They get paid. So the NCAA keeps working at ways to allow schools to make more money, and expanding the tournament to 96 games is yet another step toward that end. Does anyone really think that teams 66 through 96 have any chance to win the tournament? Anyone want to bet me that I will pick the national champion correctly if I get 16 guesses? I'll bet you all the money you and ten friends can gather, and I'll do it every year until I die. I will never lose. I like the 32-team tournament. No muss. No fuss. Very few superfluous games, but we still have the charm of the occasional upset. I even like 64 teams, but not as much as 32. The point of that extra game is the TV revenue and gate for that extra game. Anyone in a position of power who says otherwise is a liar, and anyone not in a position of power who says it is a fool. Kids are chumps who don't know any better than to do something they enjoy because they enjoy it. They need representation to help them do the smart thing. In no way am I recommending the NCAA/universities agree to pay players - even a stipend, but they don't own these kids, and if they can't make money through the NBA at least someone could get the NCAA to stop turning the cash spicket. Limit the number of games. Keep the tournament as it is. Schedule games to suit the schedules of the student-athletes, not ESPN. I don't often try to sound like Bob Knight, unless I miss a three-foot putt with a $20 skin on the line, but these 9p games are absolutely ridiculous. Don't tell me you give a shit about the kids' education when you gleefully agree to schedule games that will end at 11p, get the kids to the airport at 12:30p, and home at 3a when they have an 8a class the following morning. Be responsible adults, and stop acting like a Michael Hutchence/David Carradine hybrid, so eager for the thrill of a lifetime that you take a bad idea too far and kill the golden goose. Okay, a comparison of the NCAA, conferences, and schools to men who died of self-asphyxiation during sex might be a stretch, but not by much. You want us to believe these kids are really student-athletes, treat them like student-athletes. If a kid has no interest in playing college basketball, let him go to the NBA. The NBA's rule for entry into the draft is draconian and absurd. There is no way an organization can enforce an arbitrary age limit for employment, but no kid has the time to wage a legal war against the NBA because he will be eligible long before the case is ever close to being heard. Basketball needs an 18-year-old Curt Flood, but there aren't too many 18-year-olds with that sense of conviction. The kids will continue to do their year in basketball purgatories like Lexington, Kentucky, playing for pimps who will continue to cash huge checks earned because instead of whores laying on their backs, the players can brush a dime off the top of the backboard and put the ball in the hole from downtown. It would be nice if those who are charged with being advocates for the student-athletes would make one decision that will validate that position.

Carmel School Board Wants Help in Passing $12-million Referendum

kentsterling — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:07:23 +0000

by Kent Sterling Below is an email that was sent to the families of Carmel students. Hopefully, the irony of a school system asking for voters to authorize $12-million while serving daily notice that they can't keep their students safe from cell-phone sodomy is lost on no one. This isn't irony as much as it is sheer stupidity and arrogance. If a book is ever written about this ongoing fiasco, it will be titled "Stupidity and Arrogance; the Story of a School System on Autopilot". Enjoy the email as parent received it this morning: Dear Parents,On May 4th, 2010, the residents of Carmel will be voting on the 2010 General Fund Referendum asking for $12 Million for our schools. In a effort to publize (sp) the need for this Referendum, the District has several ways to show your support: Buttons Buttons will be available at the school as of this Friday morning. Please feel free to pick one up when you are at school. If you will not be at the school, but would like a button, or 2, please send me your request, along with your child's name and teacher and I will make sure one is sent home with your child.datbat@sbcglobal.net. Yard Signs The District will also have yard signs available for those who would like them. These will not be ready for several weeks, however, I would appreciate knowing if you would be interested in having a yard sign so I can more accurately estimate how many to request for West Clay. Volunteers I am also looking for volunteers to help with distribution of materials, assisting at phone banks, and working on May 4th to hand out materials outside the polling sites. I appreciate your support of these efforts. If you want a button, sign, or to volunteer, or just have questions regarding the Referendum, please contact me at Thank you! Beth Anne Thompson This is quite a bold initiative. No one in this area in their right mind would wear a button supporting Carmel schools. A trip to the grocery store would be met with stares and jokes. Maybe the $12-million is for the publication of an addendum to the student handbook's section on bullying that will cover shoving electronic devices up the rectums of freshman. Maybe there will be additional information for coaches on how to make sure their athletes - seated 20-feet away aren't being sodomized. How about producing some "Keep Your F**king Hands Off My Son" buttons? Maybe, ""Use Your Cell Phones for Texting, Not Raping!" Why would a town trust people with $12-million of their money to augment an educational system that has proven itself incapable of doing the absolute base level work needed to keep kids safe, or find a way to hold accountable those who failed to protect them. The responses that have been given to parents through the media have been ludicrously sanctimonious and arrogant. Superintendent Jeff Swensson may be certain that he is the smartest guy in the room, but he should know that opinion is not shared by anyone else - other than those who should be punished for his hiring in the first place. The victims in this hideous miscarriage of all that should be expected from honorable educators are the kids - not just those who were attacked or those who may have been perpetuating a perverted tradition with the Carmel athletic system, but every student and family that has to deal with the fear and loathing this episode has unleashed upon them. To think it can be made right without quickly and completely admitting wrong-doing and terminating those whose indifference caused the attacks and resulting mealy-mouthed posturing is an insult to the citizens of Carmel and the kids whose pride in attending Carmel has flown out the windows of Carmel High along with the innocence of all of those victims - not only of the attacks that have been heavily publicized, but all of those that occurred in the past. The time has come for someone to stand up and tell the truth, but it won't be Swensson or Principal Williams. They have proven themselves more interested in survival than honesty. Someone needs to accept responsibility. You can start by not wearing these crazy buttons and posting yard signs. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports From the Couch--IU season Ends: Crean's Incompetence Continues

jshowal2 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:07:55 +0000

By Jeff Showalter IU's season came to a thankful end early this evening after losing to a pathetic Northwestern team. The loss is completely due to the continued incompetence of IU head coach Tom Crean. For the last two weeks, Crean has had the opportunity to coach his team on beating the half court 2-1-2 zone trap. For two consecutive games, IU has failed to solve it. It's not the players fault. They set up their offense exactly as they were suppose to. The whole concept Crean set up was incompetent and incorrect. 1) You do not let the zone set up on possessions in which Northwestern does not score. Numerous times, Hulls, Rivers, and Jones III waited at half court, allowing the NU defense to set up. Why? Indiana needed to keep NU on their heals, use your stength, guard speed and Watford's athleticism to get into the defense. Not Crean, he waited. 2) Setting up a 2-1-2 OFFENSE to beat the 2-1-2 defense is incorrect. The idea is not to mirror the defense. The concepts in beating the defense is really pretty simple, you place people in the spots that the defense does not occupy. It's similar to a stalemate on a tic-tac-toe board. You draw a cross from the free throw line and thru the center of the floor. The holes in the 2-1-2 are the elbows extended. You speed dribble (instead of waiting on the double team) and make the center of the zone collapse to the ball, then you pass to the elbow extended and you can slide someone from the middle to the hoop, you can shoot the three or you can go crosscourt to the opposite elbow where you now have a 2 on 1. I never saw it happen once. Instead you get three or four lobs over the top then you had Watford or Rivers POSTING UP the middle defender some 25 to 30 feet from the hoop. What in the name of Bob Knight is that! 3) You have to make the defenders risk giving up points by giving your best shooter a chance to shoot. Jordan Hulls spent the entire game 40 freaking feet from the goal. How many Elbow threes could he have shot? 15? 20? It was open the whole game. Instead Crean kept people in all four corners so NU could defend seven on five with the help of the out of bounds and 10 second lines. Folks, that is absolute coaching incompetence. We are talking, high school, junior high, 1965 women's high school coach bad. If you have a coach that can't set up a zone buster offense with 2 weeks of prep, then you have a coach that is incapable of getting this program turned around. If you watched the game today, and you are a 4-star recruit, would you want to play that style of offense? Hell no. Now let's talk IU defense. Is there a team that is worse at playing a 2-3 then IU? I haven't seen it. The only reason NU didn't score 100 is because they missed wide open shots. Once Thompson got going, that game was toast. Of course Crean waited until Thompson hit 3 of them before he figured out there was a problem brewing at Conseco. Again, incompetence. Add to that the failure of Crean to successfully recruit and you have a failure no worse then that of that cheat, Kelvin Sampson. Sampson is a bum, but he could coach. Crean is well respected but he can't coach. Both scenarios are bad for the Hoosier faithful. I hate to admit it, but IU may never again be the premiere basketball school in this state. Not to mention the Big 10. Every day Crean is in Florida recruiting no name big guys, Matt Painter strengthens his grip on recruiting the state of Indiana. Crean's free pass has to be over now. I don't care what Dakich says, or Izzo, or Vitale, or anybody else that thinks Crean is the right guy. THEY ARE ALL WRONG! Tom Crean has accomplished ZERO as a head basketball coach without the services of Dwayne Wade. ZIP, NADA, NOTHING! Without Wade, Crean has one more NCAA game then the writers on this site. He has taken numerous Marquette teams that were suppose to be very good and made the very average. His players at Marquette never got better. Where's Dominic James these days? There is no reason for anybody to believe IU will ever approach a top 10 program ever again. By the way, how's New Mexico doing this year?

A Select Few Should Never Return to the Big Ten Tournament

jimjohnsonpbm — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:37:00 +0000

by Jim Johnson There certainly wasn't anything exciting happening at the first day of the Big Ten Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse. At least now we know Ohio State is going take on Michigan, Purdue is going to face Northwestern, and Michigan State will play Minnesota - and that Iowa's Todd Lickliter probably coached his last game for Iowa. I would think Penn State's Ed DeChellis would be forced to move on as well after seven seasons with a program that hasn't been very impressive in years past - but it's been seven years and a 95-123 in seven seasons, so that doesn't seem to be much of a priority to the Penn State crowd. But two out of the three coaches who lost on Thursday, I feel should move on, should be fired, should try it again, but with different program and a different group of players. Tom Crean, on the other hand, I feel should stay at Indiana because he is going to be the man to bring the Indiana program back to life. I'm not sure when it will be, but he's the man who's going to do it. I would also suggest Northwestern coach Bill Carmody be fired as well. If I'm part of the Northwestern family, I want a guy who's actually going to coach. If I didn't know who Bill Carmody was before Thursday's game, I wouldn't have known who was coaching the Northwestern team. He was sitting in his chair. Only once during the entire game did I even hear his voice. Indiana jumped up on Northwestern at the beginning of the game, 8-0, and Carmody continued to sit and continued to keep his mouth shut. Seeing his lack of coaching is really what made me realize why Crean was the man for Indiana. Crean was up off the bench, talking, yelling, and walking from one end of the coach's box to the other - he was actually coaching. The first day of the Big Ten Tournament normally isn't very exciting, but on Thursday, it was flat-out boring. The highlights of the day? Minnesota's impressive second half surge against Penn State and Indiana's overall performance against Northwestern. I would say that was by far one of Indiana's best games of the season. Indiana is certainly showing signs of life. Friday's games should be fun. No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Purdue, and No. 3 Michigan State are all in action. So is No. 4 Wisconsin and they're even a fun team to watch. People have been saying that this is a hard tournament to pick out a specific favorite. At this point, Ohio State is the favorite. It will be tough because Michigan State is still good - although they're not making as much noise as before. Purdue is still good - although they took a shot to the gut when Robbie Hummel went down with his ACL injury. And Wisconsin is good - the Big Ten team that I consider the sleeping monster. Possibly the brewing storm. The top four seeds will all win today with the slight chance that Illinois could beat Wisconsin and the slight chance that Northwestern could beat Purdue.

Follow Jim Johnson on Twitter during the Big Ten Tournament at Twitter.com/JJSportsFreak or email him at jim@johnsonmediapbm.com

Sports Digest - Friday, March 12, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:13:39 +0000

The Hoosiers season ends, and other stories that shape today in sports: Hoosiers - Season Ends After Collapse at Big 10 Tournament http://www.indystar.com/article/20100312/SPORTS0601/3120367/1004/SPORTS/Indiana-s-season-ends-in-first-round http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100312/SPORTS/3120318/1002 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ga-hoosiers031110&prov=yhoo&type=lgns Hoosiers - Turnovers Doom IU http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74449 Hoosiers - Kravitz - Improvement Will Be Slow But Steady http://www.indystar.com/article/20100312/SPORTS15/3120368/1034/SPORTS15/Forward-thinking-Hoosiers-would-rather-forget-this-season Boilers - Still Playing for One-Seed http://www.indystar.com/article/20100312/SPORTS0602/3120366/1004/SPORTS/Purdue-still-playing-for-No.-1-seed Pacers - Rush Showing Signs of Becoming Special http://www.indystar.com/article/20100312/SPORTS04/3120372/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-Rush-delivers-another-late-push Big Ten Tourney - Ingracious Winner, Carmody Hates the Rims at Conseco http://www.indystar.com/article/20100312/SPORTS/3120373/1004/SPORTS/Rims-fail-to-thwart-a-Wildcats-victory IndyCar Wants Chassis Competition http://www.indystar.com/article/20100312/SPORTS0107/3120371/1004/SPORTS/IRL-wants-chassis-competition-but-at-what-cost IndyCar - New CEO Attacking Challanges http://www.indystar.com/article/20100312/SPORTS0107/3120370/1004/SPORTS/New-IRL-CEO-set-to-go-on-the-offensive Cubs - Change Is on the Way for Wrigley and Complex in Arizona http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2098282,CST-SPT-cub12.article Cubs - No New Deal for Lou Yet; Silva Shows Improvement http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2098304,CST-SPT-cubnt12.article Cubs - Castro Making Decision Tough for Cubs http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0312-bits-cubs-chicago-spring-trai20100311,0,4819416.story

Harry on Sports - Friday, March 12, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:35:51 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/memo1.mp3]

Indiana Basketball - Three Ways to Get There from Here

kentsterling — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:56:35 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Indiana Hoosiers wrapped up a disappointing season yesterday with a 15-point loss at the hands of Bill Carmody's Northwestern Wildcats. When Carmody extended his 1-3-1 defense to trap the guards, Indiana stopped having possessions with any chance of a positive end. The Hoosiers collapse, as Carmody extended his 1-3-1 to expose the weaknesses of Indiana's freshmen, is a recurring theme as we look back on this disappointing season. There is reason for hope, but there is also reason for a little pessimism. How Indiana chooses to get there depends upon where there is. If Indiana fans are hoping for another era that sees repeated trips to the Final Four, that is a topic for a different time. That destination is Mars, and the Hoosiers need to get to the Moon first. Let's say the Moon is being competitive in the Big Ten, and going to the NCAA Tournament almost every year. Part of the work is done as the Cook Center will open later this month. That building will make a huge difference in the perception recruits take away from their visits. Assembly Hall is a quaint place with aging banners that display the excellence of a different era. If you went to IU in the 1970s or early 1980s, remember looking at that 1953 National Championship banner and thinking, "Damn, that was forever ago." That 1987 banner was hung before any of players on next year's team were born. The Cook Center shows a commitment to the basketball program that is very meaningful for families of kids who all believe they have a chance to play in the NBA. Here are the five other steps needed for the Indiana program to get to the Moon (the Mars Program is on hold until a base camp is established on the lunar surface): 3 - Jordan Hulls must get stronger and smarter. Hulls reminds me a great deal of Butler guard Zach Hahn. They are roughly the same height and length, and have the same skill set. Both are great shooters and relentless competitors. Both also are short-armed and not exactly springy in the vertical sense. When Hahn was a freshman at Butler, coach Brad Stevens put him in during the NCAA game against Tennessee. Because Tennessee Coach didn't just fall off a turnip truck, the Vols two comparatively gigantic guards trapped Hahn in the backcourt. Uh-oh. Stevens pulled Hahn immediately because he was going to turn it over every time he touched it. That's what freshmen do. They aren't strong or smart enough to know how to overcome those shortcomings to avoid traps. Hulls is in the same spot. When Northwestern extended their 1-3-1 and started to trap Hulls, he went into survival mode. That is a 180-degree different place from attack mode. You don't survive a 1-3-1. You attack it. Hulls skill set is that of a two, but his body is more suited to the point, so he is going to have to figure out how to handle those situations. Hulls is a winner, who has successfully adjusted because of adversity before. Six-foot tall white kids who can't jump need to run through wall after wall to get where Hulls is. That's nothing new to him. He learned a lot this year, and we'll see a slightly different Jordan Hulls next year. More poise and more muscle. Hopefully the same shot. 2 - Two of the three 6'8" kids must step up and show that they belong at Indiana. Derek Elston, Bobby Capobianco, and Tom Pritchard have all shown some ability, but the Hoosiers need two of them to take the step to the next level. Elston really made a move over the past two weeks of the season. He has the best developed outside game of the three, and is the most prototypical Indiana four of the three. Right now, he's a bit of a poor man's Eric Anderson. I'm not sure whether someone recommended he wear #32 because his game is similar to Anderson's, but he sure reminds me of him. He's not their yet, but he has the potential to be a very good Indiana player. I really like Capobianco. He plays hard and physical. He's not shown the ability to be a scorer, but he appears to be into games, and a good teammate. He needs to get stronger and develop into a bruising defender because I don't see a lot of desire to be a scorer. This team, with a healthy Creek and Roth, doesn't need more shooters. If Capobianco can keep opponents off the boards and set bruising screens, he can help this team a bunch. As for Pritchard, I didn't notice him enough to know what he needs to do. That's not a good thing. 3 - The incoming freshmen need to be good enough to make practices competitive. There are two problems with a lack of depth. The first is that the guys who can play are given extended minutes, and they can wear down over a season. The second is that the starters are so much better than the scout team that practices are useless. Will Sheehey (6'5" - 190 lbs.) and Victor Oladipo (6'4" - 180 lbs.) are committed, and Crean is beating the bushes looking for a big guy. Sheehey and Oladipo are ranked just outside of the top 100, but that is totally meaningless. The difference between a three-star kid and a four-star kid is negligible. Go watch a game featuring the #30 kid and the #110 kid, and try to tell one from the other. Indiana is deep at the wing, and both of these kids are wings. That's not a bad thing. Being deep at the wing will help all of them improve. Getting Maurice Creek, Christian Watford, Matt Roth, Verdell Jones III, and these two freshmen operating at a high level will help IU get competitive quick. If Crean has too much talent at the wing, go small and get your best players on the floor. IU needs to continue their progress. Next year, they should win 16, and try to get to .500 in the Big Ten. That would be a great step toward landing on the Moon and getting IU to a point in the program's development where a top ten big man might consider developing his game in Bloomington. In the interim, fans will need to excite themselves with this group of four-year kids who seemed to rally around each other late in the season. If I'm wrong about that vibe and a bunch of kids transfer, take this post and destroy it. All bets will be off. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

WIBC and The Fan Changes Due Today

kentsterling — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:26:09 +0000

by Kent Sterling There are few things I can discuss with total confidence that I know at least as much as anyone else in the world. WIBC and 1070 The Fan are two. I programmed both radio stations, and proposed many of the changes being made. Programming a radio station isn't rocket science, so it's not surprising these changes will be made. The first and most important is for Steve Simpson to move into the primary host position on the WIBC Morning News. He will orchestrate the flow of information, and that's a plus. Terri Stacy, Joe Staysniak, Joe Ulery, and Nikki Reed will join Stever and give WIBC one of the biggest and best radio morning news shows in the country. Steve is the senior news editor, or some other title that means he runs the newsroom. Steve has been invaluable as a jack of all trades for WIBC as he patiently waited for the chance to head up the Morning News. He's host the afternoon show on WIBC for just over a year after replacing Dave "the King" Wilson. Prior to that, Steve hosted evenings. When he was a jock on WKLR, I looked at the ratings for his shows because the PD there would bounce him all over the schedule. Every time Steve changed dayparts, the ratings went up two points. He knows radio and performance and will do an outstanding job. Terri Stacy will do the thing at which she is best - be a friendly person who brings the best out of those she talks to. Terri has a way of making people feel comfortable on-air, and an uncanny knack for being able to turn a two-minute segment into something entertaining. My guess is that she'll be out of the studio for a short segment every half-hour much like Tree Boy of Channel 13 or Sherman on Fox-59. She's capable of doing much more than that, but this is the role at which she is a special and unique talent. There are people who view Terri as a dumb blonde. That is an ill-informed perspective. She is smart - really smart - but is more devoted to being liked than impressing people with her intellect. Terri is absolutely a major market talent, and Indianapolis is lucky she wants to stay close to home. Joe Staysniak will do sports on the show, and I hope he's allowed to do it live. Joe's chief attribute is that he is an authentic guy people immediately like. That doesn't come across easily in a recorded sportscast. The downside to a live cast is that it's very hard to keep guys close to being on-time. A two-minute sportscast becomes three-minutes, and then four and five. All of a sudden, you have to cut a news segment because the sportscast is long. Nikki and Joe will do a great job as they always have in providing traffic and new. Both are young and talented, and both are also very capable of being utilized by Steve as likeable cohorts. Do you get the feeling that over the years WIBC has made the attribute of likability a priority? You would be right. The afternoon show (3p-7p) job will be entrusted to Ed Wank. Ed is a broadcaster, and a really good one. The Wank & O'Brien Show on Hank 97.1 FM has long been thought of at Emmis as a great potential news/talk show. Not sure what caused the split, but I'm sure Ed will do a great job. He's smart. The only worry is that Ed hasn't hosted a four-hour talk show before, and that fourth hour can be a bitch. Try this. Sit alone in a room for four hours. Talk nonstop for five minutes. Take a three-minute break. Repeat that 30 times. You will be absolutely exhausted if you finish, and I doubt you will. The good thing is that radio has finally wised up to the way it is used by listeners. The days of people under age 70 listening all day long are over. The average time spent with WIBC, according to Arbitron's diary method of audience measurement, is roughly 32 minutes. That will be cut in half if not more when the personal people meter debuts this summer. The key to good ratings is to play the hits. If Ed does something great at 4:15p, he will almost certainly be encouraged to repeat it (and by "encouraged", I mean emphatically told, although I doubt Ed would argue). Currently, audience measurement is done through the completion of listener diaries. Listeners are trusted to fill out a weekly diary and then mail it back for tabulation. To say that method is imperfect is a grotesque understatement. The Personal People Meter is a pager-size device that clips on the belt of people who agree to wear them. The PPM has a sensor that is activated by a unique tone that is broadcast by each station and is not audible by humans. It precisely records when the person wearing the device is listening to a given station. The trend in other markets has shown that many more people actually listen to news/talk radio, but they less for a much shorter amount of time. In another week, Denny Smith (the host of "Investing Sense" on WIBC - Saturdays 1p-3p) will begin hosting from 7p-9p. Denny is a great guy who loves radio, and knows money. I look forward to hearing what the show will sound like. Denny is a common sense guy who has some many wonderful axioms for living a productive life that I'm sure it will be both instructive and entertaining. My current favorite Denny-sim is , "When faced with a reversal of fortune, a successful person will be successful again in two years." I'm currently 22 months away if you're counting. On The Fan, Joe Staysniak will host from 10a-12p starting at some point in April. The Colts are now a 12-month a year focus for thousands of fans, so Big Joe will do a great job of filling that niche. Dan Dakich slides to 12p-3p, which will give Kravitz & Eddie a hell of a lead in. Dan is great at what he does. He brings a unique perspective to everything he discusses, and has that most elusive quality in a radio talent - listeners feel they know him within five-minute of hearing the show. More important, they like him. Some get a little bent out of shape when he dresses down a caller, but when you listen to Dan, you get Dan. He's unfiltered, unrepentant, and absolutely real. Kravitz & Eddie round out the day. Rumors persist about the potential demise of that show, but it was number three in the Men 25-54 demographic in the most recent ratings book, so that would be hard to believe. To go from not existing at all to #3 in a competitive daypart in two years is a phenomenal performance. Kravitz & Eddie started as two energetic and uniquely informed guy, and have become two very smart radio communicators who know how to build a show. Eddie does an amazing job for clients, as do Joe and Dan. Both stations will be in a great position to thrive in ratings and revenue in a very tough economy. They both produce great results for advertisers, and during an economy that has seen marketing budgets trimmed, WIBC and The Fan continue to be excellent investments. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Coaching College Basketball - What does a Good Coach Look Like?

kentsterling — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:28:50 +0000

by Kent Sterling Jim Johnson is a writer who posts three times per week to www.kentsterling.com, and he's a very smart sports observer. He's also too young to remember much of what defined the behavior of college basketball coaches outside the past decade. He wrote a piece yesterday morning about the Big Ten Tournament, and made a recommendation I thought was fascinating: "I would also suggest Northwestern coach Bill Carmody be fired as well. If I'm part of the Northwestern family, I want a guy who's actually going to coach. If I didn't know who Bill Carmody was before Thursday's game, I wouldn't have known who was coaching the Northwestern team. "He was sitting in his chair. Only once during the entire game did I even hear his voice. Indiana jumped up on Northwestern at the beginning of the game, 8-0, and Carmody continued to sit and continued to keep his mouth shut. "Seeing his lack of coaching is really what made me realize why Crean was the man for Indiana. Crean was up off the bench, talking, yelling, and walking from one end of the coach's box to the other - he was actually coaching." So because Carmody was sitting quietly, he's not a good coach. Jim equates activity with leading. Back in the day when John Wooden, Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Denny Crum, and Ray Meyer coached college basketball, the norm was for the coaches to sit and watch the game. occasionally, the coaches would get up and talk to the refs or players, but the majority of the game was spent watching and talking to assistants. I've always been a fan of the axiom that observers learn. They see and hear things that people who spend their lives incessantly doing and talking can't. They are wiser for it, and the teaching they do is well-informed and meaningful. Bill Carmody is a bit of a throwback in that sense. He teaches during practice, and lets the kids play during the game. Wooden always said, "The practices belong to me. The games belong to the players." According to Jim, Crean (whose team lost) is a good coach worth keeping, while Carmody (whose team made IU look silly and ill-prepared during the second half) should be fired. This is such a great metaphor for what is going on in business today. The managers who have lengthy and meaningless meetings where they are the only speakers are rewarded because of their activity, regardless of their results. The people who take input, allow for ownership of the product and systems, and try to instill a culture are replaced by the self-absorbed managers. Businesses go down the tubes, and no one can figure out why. A coach who does his job well gets his team ready to play, and teaches his players to answer challenges. Good coaches know that the team's success is about the players, just as the success of a business is about the work the staff does. It's about the people who touch the product, or ball in the case of sports. A good manager or coach finds a way to get the best performance out of the players. Bad managers believe success depends upon their ideas and micromanagement. A good way to look at it is, are you willing to bet the success or failure of your team or business on your own intellect, or would you like to energize and utilize the collective intellect and ability of your team or staff? Tell a guard to run a play, and you get a play run. Teach a guard to think and react, and get good decisions forever. At some point, the coaches decided they were the show, and that activity itself indicated leadership. There are still some holdouts like Carmody, Coach K, Roy Williams, Bill Self, Tubby Smith, Mike Brey, and Jim Boeheim who sit, trust, and observe. Rick Pitino, Thad Matta, and Tom Crean are the most notable peripatetics in coaching. A notable football coach who moved wildly and often was Lee Corso. I'm not saying those guys are bad coaches, with the exception of Corso who was atrocious at IU, but guys like Matta and Crean in particular seem to be as interested in creating the perception of their work ethic as they are in teaching their kids. There is another kind of coach, and there is only one example of this that I know of. The coach at Wagner is a guy named Mike Deane, who I saw coach many games when he was a Marquette. Deane was constantly struggling with the positioning of his penis. He grabbed, rubbed, and scratched relentlessly during Marquette games. Every time he stood, Deane made some kind of manual contact with his penis. Not sure what effect this has on his ability to lead a team, but it was disconcerting for the fans watching the Golden Eagles. This odd crotch grab habit may have been health related and temporary, so going to a Wagner game to see Deane's handy work may be a waste of time. Deane is a bit of a nut, and certainly is as active on the sidelines as almost any coach. In 2008, Deane took an unusual step to curtail his grabbing and moving. See the story below, and maybe forward it to Crean [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyx6-Ln6B3g] Teach, trust, and correct. That's the kind of coach I would have liked to play for, and the kind who seems to get the most out of his players. That's the kind of manager who gets the most out of his employees. If you are a youth basketball coach, please emulate Wooden rather than Matta. And if you find it hard to keep your ass on the chair, go to the auto salvage yard like Mike Deane did. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Illinois Collapses, Surges, and Collapses Again Against Ohio State

kentsterling — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:36:38 +0000

by Kent Sterling How does the Big Ten Tournament not sell out every session? The basketball has been relentlessly exciting throughout the first three days of play, with one game left today. Ohio State's Evan Turner removed all doubt yesterday as to who the best player in the conference is as he knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat Michigan. Today, he answered the bell again against the Fighting Illini in the semifinals. This was a game defined by runs and toughness. The team that was toughest last was destined to win, and Ohio State found a way in the second overtime to survive 88-81. The game looked to be salted away with 12-minutes left, the Illini ahead 50-39 and a layup on the way to extend their lead to 13. The lay-up bounced out, and Ohio State ratcheted up the pressure and started knocking down shots from everywhere to go on a 20-0 run over the following seven-minutes. But Illinois wasn't done, as they went on a 12-3 run to tie it at 62. A couple of minutes later, Evan Turner hit a cute little shot from underneath after a smooth baseline to send it to overtime. Evan Turner is the best player in the Big Ten by such a wide margin, it's unbelievable. He had 31 points, 10 rebounds, and an unfortunate 10 turnovers - not the kind of triple-double you want, but Buckeyes coach Thad Matta will take it. Turner had 10 points in each of the two halves, and then 11 in the OTs before fouling out. He played 13 minutes with four fouls. The result is a shame for the Big Ten and the City of Indianapolis because the Illinois fans travel and spend better than do the Ohio State faithful. The dream final for attendance and tourist dollars was Illinois and Purdue, but Ohio State and Purdue would be okay. Ohio State vs. Minnesota would be a disaster. There might be 150 Minnesota basketball fans in town, including the players' parents. The Purdue fans might be a little long in the tooth, but at least they are in Indianapolis. This has been a fantastic tournament so far, as it is most years. Every game but the Iowa vs. Michigan has been a near classic, or no-doubt classic. One game after another have been thrilling. 1070 - The Fan host Dan Dakich always says that college basketball games are the perfect length because it usually takes 40 minutes to determine the best team. That's true with the exception of the Big Ten Tournament where fans are treated to extra basketball almost as often as not. The two Ohio State games have been incredible, and the Minnesota vs. Michigan State was equally exciting. I can't wait for the start of the Purdue vs. Minnesota tilt, and then tomorrow is always a bit of a let-down. With the elimination of teams, the city gets quieter and quieter. In summer youth tournaments, making the finals was always great but lonely. What a spectacular weekend of hoops, and it's just a warm-up for April 3rd and 5th when the Final Four comes to Indianapolis.

Sports From the Couch--Purdue Fans Worse then Team Today

jshowal2 — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:18:16 +0000

by Jeff Showalter Hey Purdue fan, the one with the chip on the shoulder the size of a cement block. You know who you are! You bitch every year because IU gets more publicity. You've really bitched the last few years because IU is terrible, Purdue is in the top ten, yet you still feel disrespected. You hate IU's banners, you brag that your football program is much better even though no one is disagreeing. You're pissed because Grand Prix weekend will never be the premiere college weekend that Little 500 weekend is. You bitched because Keady isn't Knight. You are the epitome of the lover scorned, the little brother, the Napolean complex, and Judge Elihu Smails to IU's Al Czervik. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdVBhPvQ9_g] Today, your team went to battle against a fired up Minnesota team trying to get in the big dance. The Boilers laid a big time egg (44-22 with 12 minutes to go). Moore was terrible, Johnson was dominated by Ralph Sampson's kid and no one else showed up. But the biggest disappointment is Boilermaker fan. Boilermaker fan didn't pick up his team. They sat on their hands. This game, 45 minutes from West Lafayette, sounds like a Minnesotan home game. Forget after the game was out of reach, but from the beginning, Gopher fans were yelling, trying to fake the Boilers with the phony shot clock chant and cheerleaders that never stopped. Boilermaker fan, you with the inferiority complex, you are a disgrace. "Boiler Up" my ass. You guys sucked way worse then your team. It's amazing, to me how bad Purdue fans are. They don't travel well. They try each year to get a game at Conseco. No idea why because they can't fill the place. They even try filling the gym by having additional teams come in as a guise to cover up the pathetic fan base. They call it the "Wooden Tradition", but the only tradition is the half filled Fieldhouse. Considering that IU used to play a 2 day tournament with 3 cupcakes and would fill the place both days, tells you how big a difference their is in the fan bases. IU had the second highest home attendance in the Big 10/11 and, as I have stated before, are poorly coached and pitiful. If by chance, Crean does get IU to a competitive status, IU will again claim their position as the dominant story in this state not called the Indianapolis Colts. It's too bad really. Purdue fans should have rallied around this team after Hummel went down. I still think the talent is enough to make a run to the sweet sixteen or elite 8. Johnson needs to become a man and Moore needs to get hot but it's possible. One thing for sure, they have to do it by themselves. They get no support from their fans.

Purdue Falls Apart Against Minnesota - 69-42

kentsterling — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:38:13 +0000

by Kent Sterling Watching the first half of the Purdue vs. Minnesota game, you had to keep thinking that it couldn't get worse. Then it took a JaJuan Johnson bucket at the buzzer to get the Boilermakers into double-digits as Minnesota went to the locker room with a 37-11 lead. CBS threw up a graphic showing the previous halftime low for the Boilers since 1950 was 13 points in the early-1980s. Purdue is (was) fighting for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they score 11 points in a half? This game reminded me of the sweet sixteen game between Indiana and Kansas. Kansas led at one point 33-3, and all I could think was - please make it stop. It never did. This didn't either The nightmare for Boilermakers fans never stopped. Although Purdue briefly cut into the lead in the second half, 26-points is a big deficit to overcome against an NAIA school, let alone a well-coached group like Tubby Smith's Golden Gophers. Urgency and desperation are big assets, and Minnesota had no chance to make the NCAAs without getting to the finals of the Big Ten Tourney, and still may not get in without a win tomorrow, although they lost five Big Ten games settled by two or fewer points or in overtime. Purdue fighting for a seed is not quite as big a deal as the Golden Gophers trying get in. You have to wonder what the committee saw today on TV in their palatial suites at the Westin Hotel in downtown Indy. Could Purdue have played themselves out of a #1, #2, or #3? It's hard to justify the theory that Purdue as it's currently constituted could be one of the top 12 teams in the country - not after playing like this today. To not even be competitive, or in the same area code as competitive as the team with the sixth best record of the conference, is damning. Up until this point, Purdue had handled the loss of Robbie Hummel with poise and faith. Today, the train flew off the track, fell into a ravine, and exploded leaving no trace of survivors. Matt Painter need to rebuild belief in his group, and that effort has already started. He'll build them back up, and challenge them to compete. You can bet that the effort shown today won't be in evidence when the Boilers open in the NCAAs. What a shame that Hummel was injured on February 24. Purdue was rolling. They had all the momentum in the world after rebounding from their three-game losing streak in January. All the pistons were firing, and then Hummel's knee gave way on a drive to the middle against these same Golden Gophers. It's hard to imagine that they wouldn't have beaten Michigan State, and come into the Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as the tourney favorite and a likely #1 seed. Health is a huge key to success and Hummel's loss couldn't have come at a worse time. To make matters worse, E'Twaun Moore tweaked an ankle, and Lewis Jackson was also injured. For a team that is already missing assets, any further loss of productive minutes is most unwelcome. This may have been an anomaly. It may have been one of those days. We may see the old Purdue next week. If not, this team will go down in the annals of college basketball's great opportunities lost. Tomorrow's game between Minnesota and Ohio State won't be nearly as much fun to watch as Purdue vs. Illinois would have been, but unfortunately we don't get to choose those things.

Kent Sterling's Life as a Radio Guest

kentsterling — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:04:04 +0000

by Kent Sterling Somehow, hilariously I have become an occasionally sought after guest on radio talk shows. Super Bowl week, I was a semi-regular on a news-talk in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Today, I did an hour on Maureen Anderson's Career Clinic, which is heard in Spokane, Portland, Fargo, and a town in Illinois. I am not pursuing these odd opportunities. People find this website and smell a guy with a lot of free time, I guess. I do my guess to be concise and enthusiastic, while refraining from the obscene and completely inappropriate. There is nothing for me to gain by participating in these interviews, but I've been on the other end of booking guests and because of that I can't see myself refusing a request. There is a reflex that makes me eager to ask just what they believe I am going to bring to a show, but that's their decision. I'm not knocking on their doors begging for a chance. Being a guest is fun - much more fun that hosting. Generally, the questions are about me or something I know very well. That makes the process a little more self-indulgent than makes me comfortable, but I'm able to access the small part of my brain that is thrilled by my own self-indulgent rantings. No host wants a guest who doesn't find himself interesting, so I pretend. Today's interview with Maureen Anderson's Career Clinic was about being fired and embarking on something new and risky. Maureen is a good host, and she handles the formattics well. My energy was split between critiquing her and responding to her questions, which could have made things difficult. Every once in a while I slid off the point, and had to ramble on until I recalled my original point. I can see why guests think that being a host is easy and something they might want to pursue. Being on the radio is enjoyable. The only tough part of hosting is talking about things about which you have little depth of knowledge and less interest. The easy answer to that is, don't talk about those things, but there are PDs who demand the talent be more versatile than they are capable. That's when hosts get uncomfortable and stop enjoying their performance. The only tough part of being a guest is making sure your phone works. The hosts are the people who do the heavy lifting. Their job is to hit marks and ask you questions that make the guest sound interesting. The guest just responds, hopefully concisely with a unique perspective. I can't imagine booking a complete stranger for an hour and trusting that I could make him or her interesting. Fortunately, I have only hosted shows a couple of dozen times, and that means very few restless nights worrying about my inability to find anyone interesting for more than 32-minutes. By the way, that 32-minutes is not an arbitrary number. I had lunch with John Griffin two weeks ago, one of the best salespeople with whom I've worked, and a guy who has become a friend over the past year after 14 years of working together in an environment of polite (mostly) tolerance. John told me that in meetings, I was good for 32-minutes. If someone wanted my attention and energy, they need to get cracking within that time frame, or they will get nothing but sarcasm, mockery, and/or indifference. When he said that, I was surprised I had matured to the point where I could make it 32-minutes. Honestly, if John F. Kennedy came back from the dead, and I had the opportunity to interview him, I doubt it would run more than 30-minutes. Marilyn Monroe, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and finding out whether the story of the PT-109 was a bunch of crap. That's about it. How long would that take? Maureen spoke to me for an hour. I had no fancy stories about banging starlets, saving the world from nuclear war or inviting a life of backpain by rescuing shipmates, but I got an hour to tell my story. Not sure whether my days as a minor AM Radio celebrity in Spokane, Portland, Fargo, a small town in Illinois, and any other place with a microphone and a stick are over, but I highly recommend it if you have an hour to kill. There are activities that are less fun. I would dedicate myself to becoming the world's greatest radio guest, but there is no money in it, and I don't need another hobby. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Bubble Teams? Who Cares About Bubble Teams?

kentsterling — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:03:56 +0000

by Kent Sterling As Minnesota tries to play their way off the bubble this afternoon in the Big Ten Tournament Championship, and every talking head in sports babbles about the last four in and first four out, I have to ask how this amounts to a big deal. The NCAA Tournament provides wonderful theater, as do the conference tournaments so instrumental in determining who will qualify for the field of 60 (let's be honest - teams 61-65 are the equivalent of the Ethiopian Army on horseback armed with rifles, taking on the German Army with Tiger tanks in World War II). When the Final Four comes to Indianapolis in three weeks, there will likely be at least two #1 seeds, and the other two will be no lower than a #4. The NCAA Tournament is an eight-team tournament with some magic thrown in. We love to watch the #13s throw in a dream shot to take down a #4, but we know that a #13 has no chance to get to Indy. George Mason did the nearly impossible by making the Final Four as an 11 a couple of years ago, but the likelihood of that happening is almost zero. Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke are the three best teams in the country, and at least two will come to Lucas Oil Stadium. The national champion will almost certainly be one of those three teams, so what is the big deal about who gets the last #12 seed? In Indianapolis, there is a lot of talk about where the Butler Bulldogs will be seeded. They won their last 20 games, went undefeated in conference play. They are 28-4 with losses to Georgetown, Minnesota, UAB, and Clemson. They should have lost in Chicago to Loyola, beat Xavier by one and Ohio State by eight. Butler fans want a #3. Unfortunately, that's ridiculous. There is no way Butler is one of the best 12 teams in the country, and as wonderful a story it would be for them to play in a Final Four 52 blocks south of their campus, they have no chance to beat three top 20 teams in a row to get there. I'll root for them because the kids I know who play for Butler are wonderful student-athletes from great families, and Brad Stevens is one of the few current coaches I know who does things absolutely the right way. How about Purdue? Yesterday, the Boilers suffered one of the worst losses in the history of the program to the sixth seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers. With Robbie Hummel, Purdue had a chance to get to Indy. Without him, they need to play a nearly perfect game to beat a top 50 team. Can the selection committee in good conscience invest a one of the top 16 spots to a team about which they should have grave doubts. Given their performance yesterday, it's borderline impossible to see them advancing to the sweet sixteen. I'm a Purdue guy this year because the core of that group is filled with solid kids and a coach who coaches and recruits just like he played - with all he has. A friend of mine who went to Purdue called him "The Waterbug" when he played. To Indiana fans, Painter was a pesky annoyance when he played against the Hoosiers. As a coach, they are getting tired of Painter kicking their asses up and down the Ruel W. Steele Memorial Highway. How good is Kentucky? They have four kids who are going to be drafted in the first round, and two of them are likely to go in the top five. They will go to the Final Four. Despite a tournament history of rejecting freshman laden squads like the Fab Five of Michigan and the Oden/Conley/Cook Ohio State squad of 2007, I believe Kentucky wins this thing. The question is with his history of leading programs to the Final Four only to have those appearances stricken from the NCAA record book, will the third time be the charm for John Calipari? He's currently two-for-two in Final Four Appearances vacated, the all-time leader. What Steve Alford was to three-point shooting, Calipari is to NCAA using white-out on its Final Four record book. The question with Kentucky isn't whether there was wrong-doing in building the team, it's whether the NCAA will discover it. That's a post for another day though. For the time being, let's just enjoy watching John Wall, Patrick Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe play together. They are incredible fast, skilled, and physically gifted. Because of them, Kentucky is the most uniquely gifted team I've seen. So let Joe Lunardi earn his money trying to decide whether the committee will favor Illinois, Florida, Bill & Mary, and/or Utah State. The games that matter will be played in 20 days, and the coaches and players for those four teams will be watching along with the rest of us. At 6p, we'll get all the irrelevant information we are dying for. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Purdue Has a Chance to Make a Run

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:11:09 +0000

by Kent Sterling The good news is better than the bad news is bad. Purdue gets to dance in the South Region, which I think is the worst of the three regionals. The bad news is that Purdue will travel 1,907 miles to play its first two games. That's a helluva drive for students who want to go to the game. On the arcane plus side, Purdue shooter Ryne Smith, whom I presume is named after former Chicago Cubs Hall-of-Famer Second Baseman Ryne Sandberg might enjoy a tour of his namesake's boyhood home (Sandberg is from Spokane). Maybe there will be some Ryne Mojo at work next weekend. Okay, the Boilers looked terrible Saturday against Minnesota, but Clark Kellogg made a point during the Big Ten Championship game that was telling. He said that a Minnesota assistant coach told him that Purdue attempted 24 shots in the first half of the game during which the Boilers scored 11 points. Of those 24 shots, Minnesota either contested or deflected 17, leaving Purdue with only seven open looks. That's how a team scores 11 points. That means that either Minnesota's defensive effort was incredible, or that Purdue was sloppy and lethargic in executing its offense. It was probably a combination of both. Purdue is usually more disciplined than to become selfish when a game goes south, but there was a bit of that too. Inside every one of these kids is a switch that tells them when a team needs them. When that switch is flipped, the kids put extra weight on their own shoulders as they try to lift their team. The result, unless the kids is a superior talent, is that the offense stops running correctly, and the kid forces shots. Evan Turner can get away with that. John Wall can too. Painter has been very smart in the way he has recruited. E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson are not players who will abandon the offense for their own glory. They trust the team concept, and will behave as they are coached. Moore is almost always good for 16-18 points, and when you look at the scoresheet, you say, "Really? Moore had 18? I would have guessed 12." JaJuan is a noisier scorer because of the dunks and hook shots. People rag him a bit because he shoots out to 18 or 19 feet, and people don't like bigs who rotate out and fire away. JaJuan has exceptional hand-eye coordination and can knock those down. Chris Kramer doesn't need to score at all to be happy and challenged on the basketball floor. Because of that, the Minnesota game will be a speed bump. It wasn't representative of the effort the Boilers normally put out, and Siena should be a game the Boilers can Purdue ran into a perfect storm Saturday, and Matt Painter will prepare his group for a stiff challenge from Siena. From there, they get either Texas A&M or Utah State. Purdue can beat either. After that, how about Duke? Duke is not freakishly athletic, but they execute and shoot exceptionally well. They won the ACC's regular season and tournament championships. They are a very mature group, and will be a stiff test for anyone they play. That doesn't mean the Boilers can't get them though. How? Shit if I knew that, I wouldn't be writing about the game, I'd be coaching it. But can it be done? Of course it can. Purdue is a good enough team to go on a roll, and teams that go on rolls win in this tournament. Johnson and Moore are A-level players, and while it's better to have more, it can be enough if the other three guys know their roles. Purdue has great role players in Keaton Grant and Kramer. Kelsey Barlow, John Hart and Lewis Jackson are adequate, but need to be a little more than that for Purdue to get to the Sweet Sixteen. Rebounding is not a strength for Purdue, but what they do is operate their offense very productively. They run the offense and usually to the point where they get an open shot. They create problems with their defense and create turnovers. It would be great if they were an outstanding rebounding team, but they are and they won't be - especially without Hummel - so they'll have to do what they do well a whole lot, and limit their mistakes. I'm picking Purdue to go to the Sweet Sixteen because it's almost impossible for a mid-major like Siena to prepare to play against a kid as strong as Kramer or as long as JaJuan. They haven't seen this before, and by the time they figure out how to deal with it, the game will be over. Against Texas A&M, I have the Boilers winning because A&M is driven by Donald Jones a 6'3" guard who averages over 18 points per game. He shoots it a lot, more than 200 times more than anyone else on the team. Derrick Roland is the Aggies best defender, and he broke his leg in December. The Aggies also boast four players of their top eight who shoot less than 60% from the line, and have lost some close games as a result. It sucks that Purdue has to travel to Spokane and play a team that has won it's first-round game during each of the past two tourneys, but those are the breaks. I think Painter will lead the Boilers to the second weekend anyway. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports Digest - Monday, March 15, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:48:08 +0000

Harry on Sports - Monday, March 15, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:52:51 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry-45.mp3]

Five Tips to Help You Win Your Office NCAA Tourney Pool

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:53:32 +0000

by Kent Sterling It might be presumptuous of a guy who has never won a damn dime in any pool since I started holding them in 1978 as a teenage degenerate gambler to offer advice on how to fill out a bracket, but if nothing else I'm brash. 5 - Stay away from upsets. The NCAA Selection Committee studies these teams for weeks. What kind of yo-yo believes he knows so much better than a committee of smart people who have spent so much time breaking down these teams. Here's an example - take a look at the Texas A&M vs. Utah State game in the South Region. If you are a reasonable astute basketball fan, you know absolutely nothing about either team. You also know that because you have been entering pools for 15 years that it seems the fifth-seed/12-seed games always produce upsets, so you pick Utah State (I would have written "the Aggies", but both teams' nicknames are the Aggies). Who has time to study the tendencies and match-ups? Pick the favorites in the first round. If you want to split the #8/#9 games, go right ahead. The #9 has actually won 54% of the games against the #8 seed, so expect mild upsets. Conversely, the #16 seed has never beaten a #1. It may happen one day, but it is not worth the risk. The #15 seed has beaten the #2 only four out of 100 times. Play the odds:

The #1 seed has beaten the #16 seed all 100 times (100%).

The #2 seed has beaten the #15 seed 96 times (96%).

The #3 seed has beaten the #14 seed 85 times (85%).

The #4 seed has beaten the #13 seed 79 times (79%).

The #5 seed has beaten the #12 seed 66 times (66%).

The #6 seed has beaten the #11 seed 69 times (69%).

The #7 seed has beaten the #10 seed 61 times (61%).

The #8 seed has beaten the #9 seed 46 times (46%).

4 - Number one seeds have met in the finals only six times since the expansion of the tournament 25 years ago. While it's much less likely that two #4s play one another, you might as well pick your finals participants from among the top 16 teams in the tournament. As good as Kentucky and Kansas are, winning three games against really good opponents to get to the Final Four is tough. It's likely that two #1s will get to the Final Four, so pick at least two, but don't necessarily stick two #1s in the finals. 3 - The Final Four almost never has an #8 or higher seed. George Mason was a once in a generation aberration as an 11. Pick #1s, #2s, #3s, and #4s. Anything higher, and you decrease your chance of winning to just above zero. I almost always try to pick two #1s, one #2 and one #3 or #4. Of course, I've never won. 2 - Teams who have won know how to win, and have the stuff to continue winning. Duke, Kansas, and Kentucky have won a lot of games. Teams with 19 or 20 wins, regardless of the caliber of their conference will lose. Teams with 27 or 28 wins will win. The difference between the good players on the teams that came in third in the big conferences and the good players on the teams that won the smaller conference tournaments is negligible. There are some singular talents, like the starting five for Kentucky - a team that according to every mock draft I can find - has three kids who will be selected in the top ten of the NBA Draft this June. Overall though, the guards are very similar throughout the tournament. Pick the teams that have shown an ability to win. 1 - Cheating is encouraged. Go to ESPN, if you care whether you win, and copy Joe Lunardi's bracket. Lunardi's entire job is to break down the tournament. ESPN pays him relatively well as a "bracketologist". This is what he does. Why trust yourself when you can trust Lunardi. Also, listen to Dan Dakich on 1070 - The Fan in Indianapolis. He knows more about basketball than anyone, and Emmis pays him to share that wisdom. Okay, so now you know where to get the information, and can even just copy the bracket of one of the world's most knowledgeable experts, but what the hell is the fun of that. Grab a bracket. Fill it out with your best guesses. If you're a Purdue fan, pick them to go to the Final Four. What the hell!. Be a guy! Even if you're a girl - be a guy! Go with your gut. No one gets them all right. Have fun. Peel a $5-bill off that stack of cash you carry, and have some fun. Thank God this isn't about winning because March would be my least favorite month instead of my favorite. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Carmel Bullying Case Continue to Simmer One Month Later

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:32:52 +0000

by Kent Sterling The outrage is waning, and the media has all but gone home. The work isn't done, but the media seems to be a little too preoccupied with pit bull attacks, anniversaries of fires, and meth labs that the Carmel story of high school senior basketball players being accused by freshmen of forcing cell phones into their rectums has been allowed to slip to the back of the paper and newscasts. Yesterday, the Star had a broad story covering hazing in high schools. Late last week, Fox-59's Kim King spoke at length with Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp about the Carmel incidents. Below is the link to the video of King's conversation with Leerkamp. I understand her reluctance to discuss the issue as whatever she might say could be used by defense attorneys as a lever for all kinds of bothersome arguments and motions, but I would like for charges to be brought without any consideration to professional fallout. http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-carmel-hazing-prosecutor-interview-031110,0,7785264.story The Star story was a rather academic look at hazing with little that was terribly interesting or enlightening. To say that hazing is bad and widespread is hardly worth the ink used to print the story. There was a quote at the very end of the story that I found entertaining. Carmel Superintendent Jeff Swensson said about the district's response to the story, "We've demonstrated that we are always looking at improvement." That is the kind of idiotic quote that reporters take at face value and let slide by without a follow-up question. In what way has Swensson demonstrated that? Does it take an incident like the reported cell phone sodomy to prompt the recognition that improvement is required? What kind of improvement would that be? Over and over again, we hear about the handbook and the need for systems to educate and discourage this kind of behavior, as though that is where the flaw is. Writing a pithy paragraph about the avoiding this kind of physical violence is not the issue. Having teachers and coaches attend a symposium on hazing is not the answer. Coddling the criminals who attacked the freshmen will not discourage future attacks. This is about nothing more than bad kids committing a crime, and victims dealing with the furor of their honesty in reporting the crime. There is that word "honesty" again. If you want to stop bad acts, the answer is honesty. Someone treats you criminally, you talk to the police. Maybe you would choose to deal directly and immediately with the instigator. Have we gone so far to try to remove the instinct for self-preservation and self-defense that kids would rather grab their ankles than start swinging at their attackers? If the parents around the state and country had any stones at all, this issue would never, ever land at the desk of a professional self-congratulatory bureaucrat like Swensson. This whole deal would have been handled within hours if not minutes of the initial incident. Either the victims would have been taught to defend themselves and done so, or the fathers would have made it their business to get that done. There is such an aversion to physical fights that kids find school administrators less tolerant of that than this kind of assault. And really, in the Star's piece, I wish they would have referred to this Carmel High School series of incidents as assaults rather than hazing or bullying. Just because this seemed to be a team oriented activity, it does not reduce this criminal behavior to that of mischief. And the fact that these are kids from Carmel who are the most visible representatives of the school's student body does not make this any more palatable than goth students clad in black with a dozen tattoos engaging in antisocial behavior or black kids in braids doing the same thing. Let's stop running from this investigation and bring justice to the side of the victims, or at the minimum, let's move to a place where Swensson stops using this story to extol his own administrative virtues or claim this incident as some kind of victory rather than the obvious sign that all is not well at Carmel High School. Any organization that allows coaches to continue their employment after being feet away while freshmen are buggered is corrupt to its core, and any argument to the contrary is an outrage.

NCAA East Region Breakdown

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:51:30 +0000

by The Rainman It’s the middle of March and we all know what that means…March Madness! Over the next four days I will be doing an analysis of each of the four regions. Starting with what I believe is the toughest region in the tournament the East. Best team – Kentucky This is pretty easy. The Wildcats are the best team in this region, but may not have the experience that is needed to win a championship. However, this team has the talent to overcome their lack of experience. John Wall and Eric Bledsoe make up what could be the best back court in the tournament. Couple that with Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins and you have a team that not only can make it to the Final Four, but can do it with ease. Unfortunately, they have the toughest road to the Final Four of any of the four number one seeds and in the end this could be the reason they get knocked off before most people think. Best First Round Match-up – Temple v. Cornell This is the most intriguing of the 1^st round games because of the contrasts of styles. Cornell has the ability to keep themselves in any game with their 3 point shooting (the nation’s best percentage) while Temple relies much more on getting points in the paint. Five vs. 12 games are ripe for upset picks, but in this case I don’t think that Cornell should be considered as much of an underdog. Both teams have impressive resumes, but the team that dictates the pace and style of the game will end up winning. I believe Cornell with its ability to shoot the three will win, but barely. Biggest Question Mark – What Texas team will show up? Will we see the team that went 17-0 to start the season and beat UNC (when they were playing well), Michigan State and Pitt? Or will we see the team that finished 7-9 and lost to Oklahoma and Baylor three times? The answer to this question will go a long way in determining what happens in this bracket. Texas has the talent to beat Kentucky and make a deep run in this tournament. With players like Dexter Pittman and Damion James there is no reason the Longhorns cannot get to the Elite Eight. If they continue to play like they finished the season a very early exit will be what waits for Texas. Low Seed that Can Make Sweet 16 Run – Cornell Three-point shooting is the great equalizer in college basketball. A team that can shoot the three is very, very dangerous and there is no team in the country that shoots it better than the Big Red. The country’s leading three-point shooting team has two very favorable matchups in the first and second round. Temple is another mid-major that relies heavily on their inside game and Wisconsin wants to slow it down and play in the half court. Both styles play heavily into being upset by a team that can shoot it from deep. And don’t forget about Jeff Foote. The seven-footer is very capable in the post on both ends of the floor. Look for Ryan Wittman and Foote to lead the Big Red into the Sweet 16. The Best Clutch Player – Da’Sean Butler He may not be the best overall player in this region, but he is the most clutch. Game winning shots in both the semis and championship games in the Big East Tournament have carried the Mountaineers to a two-seed. With the game on the line everyone knows who will be getting the ball and with teams being evenly matched late in the tournament - the games will be close. The question for the teams in the East bracket facing the Mountaineers isn’t who will get the ball, it’s can you stop him? No one so far has been able to. Best Player – John Wall No question the best player in this bracket if not the whole tournament. He is a game changer and as we saw in the SEC Championship, he’s pretty clutch himself. Wall controls the offense of the Wildcats and as Wall goes so goes Kentucky. So far he has been as good as advertised and this tournament will only give him the opportunity to take his game to the next level, as scary as that sounds. Final Four team from the East – West Virginia They are not the best team in the region, but they have an easier road to the Elite Eight than Kentucky. A potential second-round game against Clemson is not scary and the Sweet 16 game against New Mexico or Marquette is not one that should be too difficult for WVU. Kentucky has to play a Texas team that matches up well with them and if Texas shows up the Wildcats will be in for a fight. Pair that with the potential for a sweet 16 game with either Wisconsin or Cornell and that is a very tough road for Kentucky. Ultimately, I believe that the difficulty of the road and the inexperience of Kentucky will be their ruin. West Virginia will be the team to represent the East in the Final Four.

Bob Kravitz Leaves 1070 - The Fan

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:59:07 +0000

by Kent Sterling Over two years ago, I sat in the Ram Restaurant in Fishers with Indianapolis Star Columnist Bob Kravitz and hammered out the deal to bring him to Emmis as we planned the launch of 1070 - The Fan. Bob had always been a little insulted that no one asked him to do radio before (other than a brief stint in Denver when he was a columnist there), and he was pleased that his brand would allow him to add some income for doing what amounted to an audio version of his work for the paper. Getting Bob on board was crucial for a couple of reasons. Eddie White was likely to be the other host of the afternoon show at that time, and we needed a strong and well-informed partner for Eddie. Bob was really the only candidate that had all of the attributes needed to fit with Eddie. Bob knows his shit, is the strongest personality in Indianapolis sports journalism, and has the respect of everyone in town - including Eddie. Bob is also a very good listener. Listening is the key to being a good co-host. Oddly, being a good host is more dependent upon how well a person listens than how well he speaks. Preparation is important, and if a host can't listen, he can't learn. If a show is going to be host by two people and the hosts spend more time thinking about what they are going to say next than focusing upon what their partner is saying, the show will be a disjointed conflagration of blathering over the top of one another like the opening segment of "The View" (if I wanted to listen to a bunch of broads yapping over the top of one another, I would spend more time at my wife's office!). To make sure Kravitz & Eddie could get along as well as I thought they would, I put them in a studio and told them to talk about sports. They spent the first 15 minutes trying to sound like they were doing a radio show, and the result was not so hot. Then, I asked them to just talk. All of a sudden, the chemistry was good, and the show flowed. The less Kravitz & Eddie tried to do radio, the better they were. Over the course of the next year, the work was to get the guys to relinquish the radio host role - stop hosting and start behaving. Being slick radio guys would never be the strength of the show, so we abandoned that position entirely, and tried to get the guys to bring energy and unique perspective everyday while honestly having fun. In two years, Kravitz & Eddie became the most popular sportstalk show in Indianapolis radio history with a six-share and a #3 ranking in the key Men 25-54 demographic. When we launched the 1070 - The Fan on January 7, 2008, everyone in the business told us it would take two-years to establish enough brand recall traction to get meaningful ratings. They were exactly right. Kravitz & Eddie worked hard together to get the show to what it became. They listened, responded, performed, and made 3p-6p the best hours of the day for a lot of people. They made it possible for The Fan to hire Dan Dakich because Dan is such a strong personality with such depth of knowledge that without a really strong pairing in afternoons, Dan would dominate the station and that would probably do more harm than good to the brand. Bob had a bit of a reputation as a prima donna when we hired him, and I found that to be absolutely false. Through the two years I worked with him, he was a pleasure. There were things he couldn't do, and he liked making an extra buck for this and that, but who doesn't. He was a team-first guy who always did the work to know what the hell he was talking about. You might have heard Bob make the announcement a few minutes ago that he was leaving, so you know what the rationale was. Radio in Indianapolis became a little bit less interesting today, and that's a shame because radio isn't at a point where it can afford to be less interesting. Bob went out with the class that many of his predecessors avoided in leaving radio. Bob will continue to contribute on occasion, but not as often as Indianapolis radio listeners deserve. Eddie will soldier on, working his ass off to make that show as special as he can everyday. He'll do a great job, and find a way to make it fun and bring Indiana sports fans the perspective they deserve. He'll miss Bob, and so will we.

Want to Be a Writer? Enter American Sportswriter Idol Today!

kentsterling — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:43:04 +0000

You love sports. You have unique perspectives. Maybe you have access to athletes willing to share information. And you think you can write. You want to prove you can do it, but can't get the chance. How about earning the right to prove your mettle on a growing source of perspective and information. Maybe you work for a college newspaper or would like to, but the damn editor sends you out to write recaps of Men's Cross Country meets instead of letting you vent your spleen about those events you find interesting. Maybe you work for a living, but spend the day thinking about sports. You think Bob Kravitz gets it wrong everyday, but haven't got a place to share your thoughts. Now is your chance to earn a spot on the staff of www.indysportsonline.com. We are going to add five writers to the staff to help build the site into a more vibrant place where information and perspective is updated throughout the day. Here is what you need to do - Write a 600-800 word piece on any sports related story you like. E-Mail it to me at kentsterling11@yahoo.com. I will post it on the website, and ask for feedback from my panel of experts (readers). The field will be narrowed to five, and you will be asked to write a second column. Based upon those pieces, five writer will be named to the staff. The level of work is a minimum of three columns per week. The choice of topic is entirely yours. If you want to post an audio interview, you can do that too once you are on staff. If you have any questions, email me. If you know someone who wants to write but doesn't visit this site, forward this to him or her.

Scott Hicks Resigns as Hoops Coach at Cathedral

kentsterling — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:22:11 +0000

by Kent Sterling The coach who taught my son a lot about the game of basketball for four years at Cathedral High School stepped down today as the head basketball coach. Hicks is a good man who the kids liked very much. During a time when coaches rant, rave, and lose their minds at the kids, officials or anything else that catches their eye, Hicks led quietly and effectively. He trusted the kids to play. He trusted my son to make shots as a freshman, and he had a hell of a time doing it. On the other end, things didn't go quite as smoothly, but Hicks never blasted him for not being able to stay in front of everyone he guarded. Under Hicks, the Irish won four straight City Championships from '06-'09, but never had much luck in March. Sectional 10 is a beast with LN, LC, Arlington, Cathedral, North Central, and Broad Ripple. That makes winning the sectional the toughest part of the state tournament most years. In '06-'07, the Irish were ranked number 1 in the state for a month after winning the Hall of Fame Classic - beating Robbie Hummel and Scott Martin's Valpo team in the afternoon session on a great shot over Hummel by a great kid. The overtime was scoreless with the exception of that shot. The Valpo fans were furious that Ryan ran to their student section to celebrate. They thought he purposely ran their to taunt them. In truth, Ryan was just deathly afraid of being piled on, and ran away from the bench. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob7fvXTUTtQ] In the nightcap, Cathedral beat host New Castle for the championship. Hicks became the first person to win the Hall of Fame Classic as both a player and coach. Scott Hicks is a person in whom I trusted my son's basketball dreams. Most of them he attained. There was one thing about Scott that was beyond doubt. He cared about the kids first. His own glory was not terribly important to him. The kids were. Thanks to Scott for his years of dedication to Cathedral's basketball program and for helping my son become the player and young man that he is. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, March 16, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:14:12 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry46.mp3]

Sports Digest - Tuesday, March 16, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:16:02 +0000

Here are the big stories for a Tuesday before St. Patrick's Day! Butler - Former Fan Now Coaches First Round Foe http://www.indystar.com/article/20100316/SPORTS0605/3160319/1004/SPORTS/Schoolboy-fan-of-Butler-now-out-to-beat-them Boilers Open Against Hot Team in Siena http://www.indystar.com/article/20100316/SPORTS0602/3160320/1004/SPORTS/Boilers-open-against-team-that-s-on-roll-in-Siena IU - Will Moses Part the Mighty Jordan River for IU? http://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1063385 NCAA - Parity in College Hoops? Nope - UK and KU in Finals http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/2104484,CST-SPT-herb16.article Pacers - Stephen Jackson Wishes Fan Would Remember Good Things http://www.indystar.com/article/20100316/SPORTS04/3160318/1004/SPORTS/Ex-Pacer-Jackson-wishes-fans-would-remember-good-things Cubs - Hot Theriot to Leadoff http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2104151,CST-SPT-cub16.article http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0316-cubs-chicago--20100315,0,1794666.story Cubs - Lilly to Throw Live BP Thursday http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2104408,CST-SPT-cubnt16.article Cubs - Piniella Would Like to Keep Bobth Millar and Tracy http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0315-cubs-chicago--20100314,0,156264.story Iowa - Former Butler Coach, Lickliter Fired http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/2104179,CST-SPT-cage16.article

Five Things Indiana Can Do Get Back to the NCAA Tournament

kentsterling — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:25:44 +0000

by Kent Sterling This is the fourth time in the last seven years that Indiana Hoosiers basketball fans have that empty feeling of having no one to root for during a time that used to be like a three-week Christmas. All Hoosiers know what led to this - Bob Knight's aversion to recruiting followed by the terrible reflexive decision to replace Knight with the ill-equipped Mike Davis which was followed by the morally bankrupt call to hire Kelvin Sampson by an athletic director too arrogant to understand Indiana's tradition of winning while paying a little attention to the NCAA rules. Once we got to that point, Indiana was in free fall, and like Old Lady Fleener says in "Hoosiers", "The sun don't shine on the same dog's ass everyday, but you ain't seen a ray of light since you got here." Tom Crean is now trusted with the rebuilding process that is now entering year three. Crean tweeted yesterday that IU needs to take back the state. He wants fans to wear red and white to the state high school basketball tournament games the next two weekends. Not sure what the red and white will do, but hey it can't hurt. At the minimum, Crean has recognized that recruiting Indiana is the key to success for the Hoosiers. That is route number one to success in Bloomington, and it's also the most challenging. 5 - Make the most of the Cook Center. This place needs to be the temple of basketball in the state that loves basketball best. Spare no expense to make this a functional showplace for the heritage and future of IU hoops. When a recruit walks into that building, it should scream to him that he is an idiot if he doesn't commit to IU immediately. There should be an instant compulsion to come to Bloomington to be a part of the resurrection of this great tradition of winning at IU. 4 - Recruit kids who are committed to winning and will do whatever it takes to get a W. That kid for Purdue was Chris Kramer. When he walked into Mackey Arena as a freshman, the culture changed. Matt Painter had the guy through which he could communicate his message of tenacity and intolerance for working at less than 100%. Indiana needs to find it's Kramer - the tone setter for practices as well as games. I don't see a guy on the current roster that looks willing to throw down if the work gets sloppy. The returning players seem like nice kids who are eager to get along. We need one gritty pain in the ass who will crawl over broken glass to get the job done. 3 - Crean needs to get lucky recruiting a great in-state class. If there is an AAU team that is playing very well at a national level, offer scholarships to their best five. There is equity among recruits in being able to continue to play together. There is also the plus of those kids having already played 200 games together, travelling together, and already having fostered a winning culture. Purdue got that done with Robbie Hummel, E'Twaun Moore, and Scott Martin. Ohio State did it with Greg Oden, Michael Conley, and Daequan Cook. Indiana needs to find that group. The team on which my son played with Matt Howard, JaJuan Johnson, and several other Indiana All-Stars would have taken very seriously any offer to remain together. 2 - Don't be afraid to shoot a hostage. If Crean has a kid who is even mildly disruptive or disturbs his ability to build and reinforce a culture, the kid needs to go regardless of the consequence. My guess is that Indiana had a kid like that this year - someone who might have been a little late, a little lazy, and generally a little less present than Crean would have liked. Kids like this define the level of acceptable effort, and cripple any chance for success. This happens in business all the time. If a boss wants to get the attention of a staff, take the person who is helping least, and fire him or her. Watch the rest of the staff snap to attention. You want kids to work harder? Fire the kid who isn't. 1 - IU needs to become the first choice for kids in Indiana. We aren't the only state that produces really good basketball players, but we are the only state that produces great players who would potentially will be thrilled to call Assembly Hall home. Indiana can get five-star kids from Indiana. Kids from New York, Florida, and California are not going to get goose bumps when they visit Bloomington. There is an evolution in Indiana toward becoming more fertile for football, but the best athletes still play basketball first. Right now, Indiana is behind Purdue and even with Butler as a destination for excellent in-state high school players. If that doesn't change, Indiana will never get back to the top of the heap in Indiana, much less in the country. I think Crean is on top of most this. I would have liked to see him run out a kid who he would have liked to, but felt couldn't because of the point system the NCAA uses to penalize schools who lose or don't keep kids on track to graduate. To hell with that. Clean out the losers. He's working Indiana hard, but hasn't yet developed the relationships needed to get to where Indiana gets first pick of the best kids. All it takes is one class, so there is hope. He knows who the important people are, and he's tireless in working them. The first time I saw Crean work a room was at the Eric Gordon presser to announce he was entering the NBA draft. The Jewish Community Center was filled with the guys who play a big part in determining who goes where. Crean knew all of them, and spoke with each privately. He was impressive that day. Two things we know about Tom Crean - he works hard, and he's miserable. Those two attributes can work well together to get Indiana over the hump to respectability. The kids IU has are going to improve. The Hoosiers lose nothing. Brighter days have to be ahead, but how bright? Fifteen wins, 20? A trip to the tournament, a run to the Sweet Sixteen? Time and hard work will tell. Crean has both with eight years left on his contract. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports From the Couch--I'm Optimistic or Crazy. Hoosier State does Well at NCAA's

jshowal2 — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:33:52 +0000

by Jeff Showalter I'm a glass half-empty kind of guy. I always have been. When I played sports, I never thought I was good enough because it convinced me to try harder. I wish I could do that now, but I'm too lazy. That is why I haven't dropped the 40 pounds I promised myself to drop this year. I've lost 5, but going to the gym when I can stay home and watch an hour of "Two and a Half Men" is sometimes a difficult decision. Last night on the treadmill, I was mulling over the cases of the three Indiana schools for tournament runs beginning this week (ND really shouldn't count because they believe they are their own state but that is another blog). I felt optimistic. Wasn't sure why until I realized that all of them have a glass that is not filled to the top. They can either give up or try like hell to overcome it. I believe all three will overcome big issues and do rather well. Purdue has become the bastard child of the tournament. Hummel is out and the disaster that was the Minnesota game last week has soured all the experts on the Boilers chances. A couple weeks ago, I thought PU could still get to the elite 8. well, I'm hedging a little on that now, but I do believe Purdue will make it to the sweet 16. I have Louisville beating Duke and Purdue to go to the final 8. I think Purdue beats Siena. I don't care what people think, did you see Butler crush Siena? Howard got in foul trouble, Butler went small and cruised in the second half. Purdue will do the same. Four guards and Johnson is more then enough for a duble figure win. Purdue will squeak by Texas A&M in round two as Moore and Kramer will pose problems for A&M. Overall, a good showing for a team thought to be on life support. Louisville will get to the final eight where they will lose to Notre Dame. Yeah, I know Mike Brey is still the coach, and I know ND hasn't made a serious run since I was a kid. Have you watched ND play the last few weeks? They have blown out Georgetown, won two games in the Big East tourney and had the ball down two versus WVU with 10 seconds to go. Unlike Purdue who has struggled with Hummel going down, the Irish turned there season around when Harongody got hurt. They pass better, move better and play better defense. Harongody is now the sixth man in an effort to keep the offense and defense flowing better. ND opens with Old "Onion" and then plays Baylor. One of my theories about this season is the Big 12 is over rated. Kansas State, Baylor and A&M all rode Kansas' shirttails up the RPI and the committee seeded them higher then they deserved. Last time Baylor played in the Big Dance, Scott Drew's team was embarrassed in the first round. No reason to think they can match up with the Irish who may be the most tournament tested team in the field as they have been on the bubble for 3 months. ND moves on to play Villanova. I've always had a special place in my heart for 'Nova. The 85 final was one of the great achievements in sports. The Wildcats have a capable bunch, but this past month has not been as kind to the Wildcats as the selection committee has been. Villanova is a weak number 2 seed and the Irish pull the upset to get to the elite 8 where..they play Big East nemisis Louisville. Notre Dame should have beat Pitino's group a few weeks back in Freedom Hall, falling in OT. Harangody makes the difference this time as he missed the last game. ND's miracle run leads them to Indianapolis where they will lose to Kentucky. This run will excite the Irish faithful but will also shut up the Brey haters for a while. ND has a Mike Davis situation because Davis stayed 3 years too long by making the 2002 Championship game. ND has been the definition of "bubble team" ever since Brey got to South Bend. The coach is always talking in therms of "well if we get hot" or "if we can split the last 4 games", That drives fans nuts. Why can't you win the last 4 games. Brey is too "wishy-washy" and the ND faithful get irritated. If ND makes a long run, those fans will have to be quiet and the people who may have contacted a certain coach in New Mexico about his interest in coming home will be disappointed. Looks like Brey may be safe for a while. I'm tired of Butler being the prognosticated 5/12 upset. That is crap. UTEP? are you serious? Ok, UTEP has two big guys, Caracter (6'7/275) and Moultrie (6'11/235) who are suppose to cause Butler matchup problems. Well, who in the hell are these two guys going to guard? Caracter isn't quick enough to guard Hayward or Howard. Gordon is more then capable of guarding Caracter because his arms are so freaking long that Butler's star doesn't have to body the UTEP power forward. He can play off him and still block his shot. Nored shuts down UTEP's leading score Culpepper and it is on to the second round for the Bulldogs who win by 10. I think Butler matches up with Murray State or Vandy in round two pretty well. If they play Vandy, Mack or Hahn has a big game as Vandy will have difficulty with Butler's movement. Howard and Hayward have big games if it is against Murry State. I may be stretching Butler's run a little but I think they upset Syracuse and play either Pitt or Xavier in the elite 8. Pitt lost to IU for crying out loud and Kansas State seems alittle too out of control for a long tourney run. Butler beats the 'Cuse and Xavier. They come home to the Final Four and lose to Kansas. Hey, I didn't say I wasn't crazy, did you not read the title. I have a good feeling about the Hoosier state. We'll all watch and I'll either be a genius, a dipstick or a little of both. My glass is never full.

NCAA Tournament Rundown #2 – West Region

kentsterling — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:59:44 +0000

by The Rainman Best Team – Syracuse The Orange have the best team in this region, but not by much. Kansas State boasts the best backcourt in the West. In the end it’s the front court that will win you championships and while they might not have the best inside they are the most balanced team. The personnel that Coach Boeheim has assembled to run his vaunted 2-3 zone is near perfect. The only team that has a decent chance of derailing the Orange is Kansas State and the problem Syracuse faces is the knee injury to Arinze Onuaku. With a healthy Onuaku, Syracuse might be the toughest out in the tournament. Best Potential Matchup – Kansas State v. Syracuse I know this game won’t happen till the Elite Eight, but this is the best possible game that this bracket could serve up. These two teams rebound well, shoot well, and defend well. They are both extremely well coached. Kansas State has the backcourt to make this a game, but will their frontcourt be able to handle the physical play of Syracuse? The answer to that question will ultimately decide the game. These are two very evenly matched teams that have both struggled at times this year. With Onuaku healthy this game becomes even better for the Orange. Look for Syracuse to push the tempo and make this a high scoring game. If they can do that they will win and advance to the Final Four. Biggest Question Mark – Arinze Onuaku’s knee The loss in the Big East Quarterfinals was devastating for Syracuse, not only because it brings them into the tournament with a two-game losing streak, but the fact that they lost their big man to a knee injury late in the contest. Onuaku will most likely miss the first round game against Vermont (the same team that knocked them out of the 2004 tournament in the first round..déjà vu anyone?), but that shouldn’t be a problem. Even the second round matchup with either FSU or Gonzaga really isn’t scary without him. Get to the Sweet 16 and face Vanderbilt then it might become a need for concern. With Onuaku in the lineup and semi-healthy this Syracuse team will be in Indianapolis. Sleeper Team – Xavier After getting beat in the A-10 semi finals the Musketeers find themselves as a six-seed and facing a team that as of a week ago was not in the tournament. Xavier has two big men that can battle down low with anyone in Jason Love and Kenny Frease. They have a dynamic guard in Jordan Crawford. This makes the Musketeers a dangerous team in this region. Add to this a matchup with Pittsburgh in the second round and Xavier very easily could find themselves in the Sweet 16 facing Kansas St. The run should end there for the Musketeers, but you never know. Story of the East – High Powered Offenses The East bracket boasts some the best offenses in the country with 4 of the top scoring offenses in the country. BYU ranks second in the country, Syracuse is sixth, Xavier sits at number 10, and Kansas State scores the fourteenth most ppg in the country. With all this offense this bracket is ripe for upsets. Offense can win games, but in the end defense wins championships. And the team that is willing to sit down and guard for the full forty minutes is the one that will be heading to Indianapolis. Final Four Team from the West – Syracuse This is the best team in the region and unlike Kentucky in the East, they have a much easier road to the Final Four with the exception of Kansas State in the Elite Eight. Again the biggest road block facing Syracuse is the knee injury to Arinze Onuaku. Will he be ready to play and if so, will he be effective? If the answer is yes then punch Syracuse’s ticket to the Final Four. If not, then get ready for what could be the most competitive bracket in the tournament and don’t be surprised if Kansas State comes out the victor.

Tiger's Coming Back to Augusta

kentsterling — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:05:36 +0000

by Kent Sterling It makes sense. Credentialing at Augusta is tight. TMZ won't be anywhere near the press tent. I doubt Billy Payne, the Chairman of Augusta National, is thrilled that a side show is coming in three weeks, but better a side-show than a no-show. Tiger Woods is coming back to golf at the tournament he is most passionate about winning, and it remains to be seen what the havoc the psychological tinkering of the counselors at the Pine Grove place he kicked strange poonani. Has Tiger's newly found sanity, empathy, and selflessness corrupted his ability to win? After all, for the sane, the ability to be the best in the world at knocking a dimpled white ball into a tiny hole might seem a bit insignificant. It's no different from being able to throw a Frisbee into a chimney. Without the context of competition, the strength and skill required to to play golf is of no use. If the therapists entrusted with rewiring Tiger's noodle so that Perkins waitresses can walk by his Escalade without their velvet meat wallets (okay, I went to the online slang dictionary and maybe sharing a bit of immaturity, but I can't help it - "velvet meat wallet" is at once poetic and incredibly demeaning) quivering have probed too far, he might decide golf is for idiots, and while being the best at something is nice, there are more important things to do with his energy. Not sure what else he might do, but he couldn't possibly spend all the interest on the money he already has, so if he sat on his boat with a line in the water, drinking Meister Brau all day who could question him. Would he be a better off as a U.S. Senator than an itinerant beer-soaked fisherman? In his statement announcing his return at The Masters, Tiger said that he has a lot of work yet to do in his personal life. Where do we sign up to embark on the journey for enlightenment where the reward is Elin, giant boats, and an all-access key to everywhere? Tiger didn't commit a crime. No laws were broken. Vows were broken, and that's not good. Guys should be able to stay true to their wives, or they shouldn't get married. If you can't keep your johnson shackled, don't get married. Know your weakness, and make a choice. Successful people want it all, and they believe they can get it. For Tiger, that meant Elin, two guys, a massive house and boat, porn actresses, bartenders, servers, four Green Jackets, unlimited credit at casinos, and a childish need to court his harem via electronic means Jack Bauer could decipher in seconds. Tiger's moral errors were numerous and difficult to reconcile - come on, Perkins waitress who looks like Meredith on "The Office" vs. Elin (why did "Celebrity Deathmatch" cease production)? His technical boobery is forever unforgivable. When I went to Mexico a year ago, my constant travel companion, Pauly Balst, gave me a great piece of advice - "Never be photographed. Never give your last name. Never give an email address." It's not that we did anything screwy. It's that the appearance of screwy is negative and a complication. Vacation friends that you meet at a resort are friends for precisely the length of your stay. Wheels up! Who were those people? What people? It's tough for Tiger. Everyone knows who he is. That's the price of fame. But for the love of God, you don't give some crazy piece of cooz your cell number of email! Who knows whether Tiger is now more discreet, or cured of his compulsion for strange. Frankly, who cares. Hit the ball far, and putt it straight. What he does in his personal life is his business. Can he win in his first event? Of course, he can. HE'S TIGER FREAKING WOODS! This is what he does. Would I bet on anyone else to shake off the rust of a five-month layoff to win at one of the toughest tests of golf? No, but this is the best golfer of all time. He's never played a major without a tune-up, but that doesn't mean he can't succeed. We've never seen him do it, but we've never seen him not do it either. I like Tiger. I'll root for him. Will he be a distraction from the golf. Hell, yes. And he should be. Who the hell would screw himself down for four hours of watching Steve Stricker and Vijay Singh playing precise golf? Go Tiger. Grind away, and keep it out of the rough.

Interview with Xavier University & Cathedral High's Big Joe Hughes

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:05:28 +0000

Joe Hughes is a forward for Xavier University's hoops team who will play the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday at 12:25p in Milwaukee. An Indianapolis Cathedral grad, Joe is one of the great all-time kids and has been a friend of the family for years, and was kind enough to carve some time to talk about the upcoming game, as well as the resignation of Cathedral's Head Coach Scott Hicks. [audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/memo_11.mp3]

Sports Digest - Wednesday, March 17, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:17:02 +0000

Big Stories on a St. Patrick's Day: Boilers - Lew Jack Expected to Play http://www.indystar.com/article/20100317/SPORTS0602/3170330/1004/SPORTS/Jackson-expected-to-play-for-Boilers Butler - Hayward Planned to Focus on Tennis http://www.indystar.com/article/20100317/SPORTS0605/3170328/1004/SPORTS/Hayward-gives-up-tennis-to-become-ace-for-Butler Hoosiers - Moses Coming to Bloomington for Visit http://hoosierhoopla.blogspot.com/2010/03/will-abraham-visit-equal-recruiting.html http://www.indystar.com/article/20100317/SPORTS0601/3170329/1004/SPORTS/Abraham-to-make-recruit-visit-to-IU Pacers - Pacers Beat Charlotte; In Danger of Dropping Draft Position http://www.indystar.com/article/20100317/SPORTS04/3170381/1004/SPORTS/Pacers-get-a-win-but-lose-Granger Pacers - Price Playing Hard Despite Irrelevance of Games http://www.indystar.com/article/20100317/SPORTS04/3170382/1004/SPORTS/Price-still-playing-like-his-future-is-in-doubt Cubs - Jaramillo Beat Cancer; Now He's Beating the Cubs into Shape http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2106856,CST-SPT-cub17.article Cubs - Silva's Mom Gets Visa; Pitcher Responds http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2106715,CST-SPT-cubnt17.article Cubs - Giant Billboard for Left Field Bleachers? http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2107095,CST-NWS-wrigleysign17web.article

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, March 17, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:37:08 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/memo2.mp3]

Replay, Go Away, Don’t Come Back Some Other Day

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:38:35 +0000

by Kevin Cole I hate instant replay. There, I said it. I’ve wrestled with this debate in my head for a couple of years, but now I’ve picked a side. I not only watch sports, but have worked at sporting events where I’m paid to watch (and talk about) the game from very close up. I’ve seen replay at work, and I’ll admit I’ve seen plenty of times where it wasn’t a distraction; it served its purpose, and corrected a bad call. My problem with replay isn’t that I think it ruins or slows down a sporting event. My problem is that just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should. I’ve heard so many arguments about how the players and the game (in all sports) have gotten so fast that the referees and umpires just can’t keep up. I’ve heard that technology has advanced to the point where we never have to have a game decided by a bad call. I’ve heard “if we can use technology to get the call right – why shouldn’t we?” Those all sound like good reasons, until you really examine the other side of the coin. Competitive sports have captured our attention and our imagination for over 100 years. Close calls, missed calls, and controversial calls have been a part of the game since the beginning. They are as much a part of the beauty of the game as anything else. I’ll give you an example using something every guy can relate to – hot women. Think of your list of 5 women. (You know what I’m talking about, and don’t pretend you don’t) Do they all perfectly fit the definition of “beauty” in every detail? No. Your list is probably a lot like mine – different hair colors, different heights, different builds, and different personalities. We’re not attracted to Barbie Dolls. We’re attracted to that dark-skinned beauty with the slight overbite and the larger than average hips, or the skinny blonde with the dimples and the enormous chest. It’s the little quirks that make each girl special. It’s also the little side-stories and controversies that make sports special. If there were never bad calls, missed calls, or controversial calls – the games just wouldn’t be as fun to watch. The athletes have gotten faster, but the referees and umpires are in better physical condition than they’ve ever been. There are always the exceptions, but even at 136 years old, I would take Dick Bavetta as my basketball referee over some of those lard-butts that were working games 40-50 years ago. The truth is that the majority of basketball referees, baseball umpires, and hockey referees and linesmen keep themselves in great shape. I’ll agree that the technology exists to allow us to fix bad calls, and maybe even prevent them in the first place, but why would we want to take the human element out of a game that is all about the human struggle. Isn’t a possible missed call just as important to the overall product as a possible missed free throw? We have robot hitting and pitching machines now, but no one debates suiting them up so we take the “errors” out of the game. The fact that our favorite pitcher might throw a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth to let the winning run score is why we watch. The fact that the #1 seed in the NCAA tournament might throw up nothing but bricks and lose to the #9 seed in the second round is why we watch the game. In my opinion, the same can be said for the referees. No matter which team you root for, wasn’t the famous “Tuck Rule” game between the Patriots and the Raiders more interesting? Finally, let me just warn all you replay proponents to be careful what you wish for. I’m guessing there’s a pretty big overlap between people who complain about the refs a lot and people who really want replay. When no calls can be missed anymore because of replay, how will you deal with a loss by your favorite team? You might finally have to stop your whining and admit that they were just outplayed.

NCAAs Ready to Start Tomorrow; Get Ready for CBS's Unthrilling Coverage

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:18:29 +0000

by Kent Sterling The four-season calendar is useless. The intellectual elitist astronomers who threw that together didn't anticipate the sports viewing habits of Americans. Here is a more useful seasonal calendar: Summer - First game of the NCAA Tournament through the end of the World Series. Winter - Week Eight of the NFL Season through the Super Bowl That's it. The gap between the Super Bowl through St. Patrick's Day is a period of rest, which is the worst part of the year. It is a six-week period of boredom, interrupted by occasional bursts of brilliance - like the conference basketball tournaments last weekend. The year was worse than normal - as it always is every four years - with the endless curling in the Winter Olympics. For the love of God, stop curling, the nordic combined, and the biathlon. Please, no more Winter Olympics, especially not at a site where the temperature never drops below freezing. Doesn't the International Olympic Committee have a staff meteorologist of an internet connect where they can Google the average temperature for Vancouver during February? The first round of the NCAAs starts tomorrow at 12:20p when Florida and BYU tipoff in Oklahoma City. From then, the action continues almost nonstop through Midnight. Tickets will be punched and dreams ended. For one team, the NCAAs provide "One Shining Moment". For the other 63, the season ends with what-ifs and broken dreams. In the NCAA tourney, we get to watch the equivalent of 63 games sevens. Every team in every game is two-hours from the end of the line. During the first weekend, we get nonstop hoops for four days where the drama is unending. The NCAAs get us to Masters Week and Opening Day, and then were off. Trips to Chicago and Cincinnati to see the Cubs, golf outings, and almost endless fun ensues until November 1 when the only fun comes on the weekends with college and pro football. It's way too early in the year to think about that. The NCAA Tournament isn't without its annoyances, but it is as close to a perfect sporting event as there is. Chief among those things that piss me off every March is the predictable news story that every half-assed TV newscast in the country produces where the amount of lost workplace productivity is estimated in the billions of dollars. This no doubt prompts the less intellectually gifted bosses to try to monitor their employees and make sure they aren't filling out online brackets and monitoring the games on Thursday and Friday. Life is about more than getting things done. Embrace March Madness. Encourage employees to watch the games and fill-out brackets. Businesses should have their own contests. Grade employees on productivity, not whether they are busily shuffling papers. No wonder the U.S. economy is in the crapper. Give people two half-days of fun. The talk of expansion of the tournament to 96 teams is moronic. The conference tournaments are great theater in both the small conferences where at-large bids are impossible to get, and in the major conferences where teams need a run to earn a spot. Minnesota and Illinois both needed a run last weekend in the Big Ten Tournament to get in. Minnesota got it done. Illinois didn't. If you put 32 more teams in this event, the drama would be diminished greatly. The goal of any tournament is to determine who is best. Thirty-two more teams won't help get that done. The Onion Sports Network reports on expansion below: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxyPeME9TbI] The 16-seeds have no chance to win a game. In 100 games between #16s and #1s, the #1 seeds have won 100 games. That makes the odds zero. Do we really need #24 seeds? I'm sure the teams added would be the major conference teams that finish in the middle of the pack, but the regular season and conference tourneys need to count for something. The CBS coverage of the tournament is so hackneyed and old. The image of the network is old and stodgy, and it's no wonder. With the world's youngest 80-year-old, Jim Nantz, as the primary play-by-play voice; and the world's least hip black man, Greg Gumbel, handling the anchor desk as the two most visible faces, there is no way for America to see CBS in any other way. It's a shame that there are college students that never saw ESPN do the first two rounds and get it exactly right. They toggled from game-to-game with excellent timing, and gave us the fun that this tournament embodies. CBS does the opposite. They cover the tourney as though it's a political convention. You want to know what's wrong with CBS? Watch the NFL Today promos during their game coverage. They have all of their talent laughing and flipping a football to one another. They are pretending to enjoy themselves, just as CBS pretends to be light and fun with their NCAA Tournament coverage. It's nauseating. That kind of monotonous supposed spontaneity is what's wrong with media. Bill Cowher, Boomer Esiason and his humungous head, and Dan Marino cracking up at nothing while they flip a football is hackneyed, ridiculous, and bereft of sincerity. It makes me cringe, and reaffirms in my mind that creative minds are not anywhere to be found at CBS. No one takes the culture of sports as seriously as they do at CBS, and that is why they continually get it wrong. People watch sports as an escape. They drink beer, cheer, and forget about their routinely dull and stressful lives as they watch. Nobody truly gives a rat's ass what Dan Marino thinks about the Cardinals chances against the Colts. The only people serious about sports are the gamblers, but do you think there is some guy out there betting dimes on the Bears because Boomer thinks Jay Cutler is ready to have a breakout performance? CBS did the right thing in dumping Billy Packer, who provided such a dearth of legitimate insight, even when he was a coherent partner of Al McGuire's that he more precisely defined uselessness than anyone in the history of sports coverage on TV. They also dumped the annoying and self-impressed Brent Musberger in 1990, which showed a brief glimmer of understanding. CBS also continues to give us the raw enthusiasm of Bill Raftery and informed cleverness of Clark Kellogg, so there are moments of bliss as we watch. For the foreseeable future, we will have to tolerate CBS cutting away from good games at the wrong time to give us more Greg Gumbel and Seth Davis musings. As long as CBS is willing to pay more than any other network, this will be what it will be - mediocre and milquetoast. It's still my favorite two-and-a-half weeks of the year, but 96 teams and the continued pablum thrown at us by CBS will try my patience.

Leave Perfection Alone - the NCAAs Are Perfect at 64 Teams

kentsterling — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:47:37 +0000

by Justin Whitaker If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Simple as that. All this talk about the NCAA tournament expanding from 65 to 96 teams is downright silly, there is no reason to do so. No one talks about Scarlett Johannson saying, “Well if she had this done then, she might look better.” No! You do not tamper with perfection! Johannson and the NCAA tournament are perfect just the way they are. Expanding the field to 96 teams waters down the competition and prestige of making the tournament. Sure the process would be great for the coaches who would have a better shot of making the Big Dance, but outside of the universities who wants this? The only people really upset about the University of Rhode Island not making the tournament are the 3,000 students who attend the school and the other 500 people in the state. There needs to be some exclusivity to the tournament to keep it special, to make the month of March magical as it is now. There’s a reason that Stephen Baldwin does not attend the Oscars. Would he love to? You bet he would, but letting him in is like letting Illinois in the tournament. They both have no business being there. Maybe the Fighting Illini would have been in the tournament, if they did not lose five of their last six games or have more than three quality wins. But the same could be said for the youngest Baldwin brother. Maybe if he had turned in a better performance in Bio-Dome then he would have been nominated for an Oscar. Opening up the floodgates to 96 teams just brings in more mediocrity and more subpar teams. Without any byes or play in games, the No. 1 seed would play the No. 24 seed and the closest seeded matchup would be the No. 12 and No. 13 seeds playing each other in the opening round. This year that would mean No. 12 UTEP against No. 13 Murray State. Too bad that matchup sounds like the play-in game compared to it’s equivalent of No. 8 Gonzaga against No. 9 Florida State. With the expansion, North Carolina would never miss the tournament in any year. Even in a down year, with the Tar Heels hovering right around .500, they would make the field of 96 this year. The NCAA tournament is about rewarding accomplishments and impressive resumes, not .500 records. This isn’t the NBA’s Eastern Conference where multiple teams right at and below .500 make the postseason annually. This is the NCAA tournament, the most exciting and thrilling of all of the sports’ postseasons. The only excitement that could come close to matching the men’s tournament would be a NCAA football tournament. But that is a different argument for a different day. One of the best things about the Big Dance is filling out the brackets. Comparing your “expert” bracket to friends, family, neighbors or anyone who will look is part of the madness of March. Everyone wants to be looked upon as a genius, being able to show off is part of the fun. Getting in pools with your friends and co-workers enables bonding and friendly rivalry. But, rooting for a team that you have never heard of to beat one of your friend’s Final Four picks is a euphoria like none other. One of the biggest problems of an expansion to 96 teams though, is how do you fit that bracket on a piece of paper? Already it’s tough enough to squeeze Tennessee or Washington on the line, but at 96 teams, even Duke and BYU would be tough to scribble down. One of the best sporting events in all of sports does not need anything altered. Nothing rivals the drama, excitement and intensity of this hallowed tournament. The passion that these student athletes have for their teams and colleges is never more evident than in the tournament. We all are lucky enough to observe this Mona Lisa of a postseason every March. Don’t give her a moustache or bigger boobs.

NCAA Tournament Breakdown – Midwest Region

kentsterling — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:47:24 +0000

by The Rainman Tournament Breakdown #3 – Midwest Before we get this started I would like to wish all the Irish reading this a very happy St. Patrick’s Day! And here we go! Best Team – Kansas This is starting a trend of number one seeds as my best team in every region, but then again that’s why they are number one seeds. Kansas as a team has the whole package. They have an experienced point guard in Sherron Collins and an experienced big man in Cole Aldrich. Both of these players were on the 2008 National Championship. Throw in Xavier Henry and Marcus Morris and you have the makings of the best team not only in the region, but in the entire tournament. This is the best team in the country. Kansas can run and play in the half court. They have the fifth best scoring offense in the country along with the eighth best rebounding team. This is the most well rounded team in the tournament and the team to beat in this region. Best Potential Matchup – Ohio State v. Georgetown I love this matchup. These two teams have very similar styles of play and two of the best players in the country. It doesn’t get much better than that. Evan Turner is a candidate for player of the year and Greg Monroe is one of the most skilled big men in the country. The talent around Monroe is better, but Turner is able to put his team on his back and carry them to victory. The question of this game becomes will the overall talent of Georgetown prevail over the Evan Turner? Not to say that Turner doesn’t have good players around him, but they aren’t the caliber as Austin Freeman and Chris Wright. This will be one the best games of the tournament and we won’t have to wait for the Final Four to see it. Team to Lookout for – Michigan State They are a five seed, but at one point during the year they were in the top 5 in the country and if they hit their stride they can be a tough out for anyone in the tournament. We all saw what they did last year in their national championship game run and any Tom Izzo coached team is dangerous, no matter the seed. They have tournament experience that can rival Kansas with Kalin Lucas and Raymar Morgan. They are a hard-nosed, gritty team that can jump out of nowhere and surprise a lot of people. If they can get by the second round game against Maryland they will pose a very tough threat to Kansas in the Midwest. Biggest Question Mark – What Tennessee team will we see? Tennessee has had a bumpy road this year, much like the Texas Longhorns in the East region, but not as high and certainly not as low. They have beaten both Kansas and Kentucky this year and have the talent to make it as far as they want. Bruce Pearl is not the best coach by far in this region, but he will have his team ready to play and with Wayne Chism and Scotty Hopson they certainly can make a run at the Elite Eight. Player that Can Carry His Team to Indy – Evan Turner Ohio State’s Evan Turner is probably the best player in the country and he is the one player that has his team’s hopes on his shoulders. If he has a stellar tournament there is no reason to believe that the Buckeyes cannot make it to Indianapolis. Sometimes it only takes one player to get hot in order for a team to make a run at the National Championship. He is Ohio State. If he gets hurt or plays subpar, there is a good chance that the Buckeyes will be knocked out early. He plays up to his ability, Ohio State has great opportunity to make some noise in the tournament. Final Four Team from the Midwest – Kansas This is the best team in the tournament and my pick to win the whole thing. They rebound, they score, and they can defend, these are all the makings of a championship team. It will take a phenomenal effort by any team in this tournament to knock them off. The three teams capable are Michigan State, Tennessee, and Georgetown. Kansas will only have to face two of these teams and we will see them in Indianapolis in the beginning of April.

Sports Digest - Thursday, March 18, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:04:42 +0000

Harry on Sports - Thursday, March 18, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:18:41 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/memo3.mp3]

Great Wall of Hoop Signals the Beginning of March Madness

kentsterling — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:20:50 +0000

by Kent Sterling Since 1982, the Great Wall of Hoop has risen each March. Regardless of the fortunes of the teams I follow, the GW of H is a tradition in the Sterling household that has endured through college when I was an idiot with a lot of free time, to a married idiot with a lot of free time, to a father and husband without any free time, finally to a husband with a son in college and an Indiana Ice player staying with us who refuses to let this last great link to an enthusiastic youth pass. The GW of H is constructed of poster board cut by hand, hand-lettered, and hung with care. This is quite like putting up the Christmas tree sometime after Thanksgiving. The time required for building the GW of H has been trimmed to roughly five hours start to finish. My Mom and Grandmother used to tell stories of my Great Uncle Charlie who used to hang tinsel on his Christmas tree one strand at a time. It took hours, but the tree looked beautiful. It take the same care, but the result is something far removed from an iconic symbol of a religious holy day. For the Sterlings, the NCAA Tournament is a holiday-like festival, and the GW of H is the centerpiece of that celebration. In 1997, when we were looking at houses, the feature of the place we bought and currently live in that really caught my eye was the wall beneath the cathedral ceiling in the living room. It would perfectly accommodate the March shrine to my ability to waste time in the name of a silly game. For the first time, I am opening the curtain behind the construction of the GW of H. The process is neither mystical nor surprising, but my wife decided to chronicle the process in all its 12 megapixel glory. [caption id="attachment_1830" align="alignleft" width="420" caption="The 2" X 11" placards are cut and then the teams and seeds are scrawled across with an old-school thick magic marker - black. The poster board is a bright orange, not because of any allegiance to Syracuse or Tennessee, but because it is neutral to all of the Indiana teams in the tourney. I'm no front-runner or booster. The hand-lettering is old school because this is the way it has always been done. This is like the traditional hand-lettering of religious scrolls by Benedictine monks in 18th Century monasteries"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1831" align="alignleft" width="420" caption="The placards are affixed to the wall with two loops of masking tape. The area of the wall used by the GW of H is 144" X 84", so the 64 first round placards (I do not acknowledge the play-in game, as it is useless and a waste of time for all but the players' families who enjoy watching their kids play - much like high school intramural basketball. The 20-foot extension ladder gets a rare workout in March. The leveling is done by eye. After nearly 30-years, I have grown adept at this otherwise untapped skill."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1833" align="alignleft" width="419" caption="As the GW of H starts to take shape, my wife Julie wipes tears from her face (from endless hysterical laughter) and snaps another picture. As the games go final, I handwrite the winner's school in the placard for the next round. I feel like a librarian on one of those fancy ladders that roll along the shelves, except that I do it by hand and serve no useful purpose."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1834" align="alignleft" width="420" caption="The Great Wall of Hoop is Complete in record time - just under five hours. In my 20s, this seemed like a good idea. Now, it's clearly ridiculous, but a tradition is a tradition, damn it. Now all that we need are some games, and the GW of H will start to payoff in its utility - I will be able to see exactly what's going on simply by looking up from the couch. Of course, it's a monument to madness, but this is March, and madness is allowed - at least by my wife...this year."][/caption] I read a quote the other day that was similar to, "Spend your money foolishly as you can always get more, but spend your time wisely because when it's gone, it's gone." The tab for the GW of H was $16. I'm not sure whether I heeded the advice of that quote or totally discarded it on both ends. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Carmel Assault Story Is Going on the Road

kentsterling — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:55:23 +0000

by Kent Sterling As Hamilton County prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp mulls over the evidence being gathered by her investigators and weighs the merits of filing charges against the Carmel students accused of assaulting at least two freshmen basketball players on a bus returning from a game in Terre Haute, evidence has been sent to the Hendricks County Prosecutor's Office because that is where the alleged crime was committed. They might want a piece of this judicial pie as well, or at least can help deflect some of the glare from Leerkamp's office. The charges are likely a week away from being filed in Hamilton County Court against the senior basketball players and others who may have been discovered to have committed similar crimes, according to Leerkamp. How many people will be held professionally accountable for this disaster? Who are the men and women who have enabled a culture of abuse in Carmel athletics? Will the coaches who were on the bus with the seniors and freshmen as cell phone(s) were used in the rape of these freshmen be dismissed? By the way, I am not interested in the legal definition of rape. If you put something in a below the belt orifice, regardless of what it is, rape is the word to describe that. What about the people who oversee the basketball program, and the men who have expended a great deal of energy, not just to save their jobs, but to actually use this horrifying episode to extol their virtues as administrators. The absurd conflagration of twits who have presided over the internal investigation at Carmel High School have done nothing but hide behind a law meant to protect students from overzealous and loose-lipped educators who can't wait to tell stories about kids. The rumors of threats against kids who talk to the media or the prosecutor and cops, if true, are nearly as repugnant as the act itself. Trying to handle this disaster in-house presupposes that the clowns who looked the other way as this culture of abuse grew deep roots are capable of developing the conscience and energy to stop it. There is now a panel including parents, school board members, and administrators that will discuss measures moving forward that may rebuild the culture so kids see the harm they cause through physical battery and sexual abuse. Or they might just sit around a table and bitch about how the media has blown this out of proportion. They might dedicate themselves to making the schools in Carmel safer. Or they might force the kids to recite a pledge they don't understand, and call it a day. This group needs to take responsibility for affecting change and making the changes in policy needed to hold coaches, teachers, administrators and anyone else who is in contact with kids accountable for abuse. Because they are now in a position of power, they need to be held accountable themselves. We can all sit and point fingers from the comfort of our homes, but who is willing to stand up and do some good? It's interesting that drug and alcohol use is somehow easier to deal with for the schools than kids shoving cell phones into another child's rectum. All the way back in the mid-1980s, the basketball coach at my high school was fired because players smoked pot in the back of the team bus. He was a successful and respected coach. Word got out about the kids getting high, and BOOM, the coach was gone - publicly gone. That crime had no victim. Somehow, this assault doesn't measure up to that standard of poor supervision. Granted, these are two different school districts, and maybe the people in New Albany were just a little more passionate about holding educators accountable for the level of supervision provided to children. Society has devolved to a point where owning up to mistakes, honestly acknowledging poor behavior, and accepting consequences is seen as weak, stupid, and a fool's errand. The example set by parents and adults in positions of power is so miserable that it's no wonder we are stuck talking about this Carmel business for nearly two months after the assault occurred. We reap what we sew, and what we've sewn is a community where the truth is only revealed when there is a benefit in doing so. This sad and sorry episode is not only horrifying for the victims and students who are attending school in fear, it has unfortunately revealed the lack of character of all involved. Honesty can be immediately painful, but is ultimately cleansing and necessary to live a good life, but we don't care enough about that anymore. Shame on all the kids who have robbed children of their innocence, but the real damning shame lies with those mopes and turds who run for cover and support those who do so.

Tournament Rundown - South Region

kentsterling — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:45:18 +0000

by The Rainman Best Team – Duke? This is not a strong bracket and of the four teams that I have picked as my Best Team, Duke is the weakest. Honestly, they might not even be a two seed in any of the other brackets. They have a great team and a Hall of Fame coach, but this is not the level of Duke team we normally see. Having said that, they do have some of the pieces to make deep tournament run. As far as scoring goes, they have three players; Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, and Nolan Smith. All three are averaging over 17-ppg, but after that no one on this Duke squad is averaging 6-ppg. The difference between Duke and the other three number one seeds is this balance. Kentucky has six players averaging more than 6-ppg, Syracuse has eight players averaging more, and Kansas has six. These three teams are much more balanced on the offensive end of the floor and gives them better chances to make this tournament run. I wish there was another team I could put here. Early One Seed Upset Alert – Louisville v. Duke Louisville has the players and the coaching to beat Duke in the second round and from there their road to the Final Four is not difficult. Louisville plays a style that can give Duke trouble. Coach Pitino will have his players fired up and ready to make this a high scoring game. When Duke gives up more than 70 points they were 2-5 during the regular season. Get the ball up and down the floor and speed up the pace like Georgetown was able to do and Duke becomes a very mediocre team. Louisville has this type of team, but before they get a shot at Duke they need to beat an under the radar Cal team. If they beat Cal look for the Cardinals to give Duke all they can handle. Biggest Question Mark – The Fighting Irish On the outside looking in going into the last few games of the regular season and without one of the nation’s leading scorers, what do they do? They win six in a row and put themselves solidly in the tournament. Add to this that over their last thirteen games Notre Dame was 8-5 with all five of those losses coming by a total of nine points. A shot here and a loose ball there and they are 13-0 in those games and looking to be in the Big East Championship Game. Nine points was all that separated Notre Dame and the number two seed in the Big East. That being said they did lose to Rutgers and St. John’s, but they also beat Georgetown, Connecticut, Marquette, and Pitt (twice). They are more balanced after the injury to Luke Harangody and if they show up like they did to finish the season they can be very tough to handle. Story of the South – Upsets, baby, Upsets This being the weakest of the four regions we could see upsets galore on the first weekend. Of the eight higher seeds only Duke, Villanova, and Baylor can play an off game and still win. The other teams need to be on their games to keep from being upset. Even Baylor should be very careful with Sam Houston State. Purdue just played their worst game all year and have struggled without Hummel. Utah State is a dangerous five seed and has the players to make life difficult for A&M. If Notre Dame slips back into their old ways Old Dominion will take advantage in a huge way. Saint Mary’s has a team that could possibly beat Villanova in the second round and should handle business against Richmond. The last of the upsets is Louisville topping Cal, but an 8-9 matchup really is a toss-up. There is no reason why we can’t see four upsets in the first round in this region. Final Four Team from the South – Villanova This was the most difficult of the four regions to pick. Villanova is not the best team in this region, but then again they aren’t many great teams in the South. They can beat Baylor and should be able to handle Duke. They score over 80-ppg and that really is what puts them in position to win this region. Scottie Reynolds is the best guard and probably the best player that the South region has. He will be able to give his team a little extra push that the other teams don’t have. There are five teams in this region that have a legitimate chance to go to Indianapolis (Duke, Villanova, Balyor, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and Louisville), but look for Villanova to represent the South region in the Final Four. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted.

Sports From the Couch--Butler Runs and Hides while Notre Dame Just Hides

jshowal2 — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:19:49 +0000

By Jeff Showalter Somewhere in San Jose, California, the UTEP Miners are wondering what happened in the last 20 minutes of their game against Butler. Who can blame them. When UTEP walked off the Court with a six point lead, they had out muscled and out quicked the Bulldogs for the entire first half. Something happened at halftime that can only be explained with one word "WOW"! Butler played their best half of basketball of the year and completely decimated the Miners. It was "blowout city" as Shelvin Mack went Reggie Miller on the Miners. I called a buddy as Mack hit his 3rd trifecta to take a lead and told him this game is over. You could just see it in Butler's eyes and UTEP's faces. It was like a hurricane came through. Butler still has some issues to work on as well. Hayward is shooting the ball like he is trying to make a 20 foot teardrop. Almost like a game of 'horse' when you call all net so you put a little extra loft on the ball. Gordon's shot is the same way. He needs to change his release point. I doubt Brad Stevens will be calling but if you look at the tape from last year and today, you can see a small difference. Butler also has to prioritize ball security for round 2. The passing was a bit sloppy in the first half. Those two issues can keep Butler from a trip to the sweet 16 as they go up against a red hot Murray State Racer team on Saturday. South Bend, we have a problem! I was dumb enough to think Mike Brey had finally figured out how to get this team to perform. Damn, I am dumb. It's one thing to slow down a team in the Big East. Especially since most of the league teams are up tempo and stacked with first class athletes while you are playing with a thin bench and are not going to win a Superstars competition any time soon. It's another idea to play a slow down game with an Old Dominion team that can play that style of game. I really can't explain Brey's ineptitude in big games. He get out coached. It's kind of like Ron Zook at Illinois. He looks the part, gets some good players and talks a good game but when the whistle blows, they get out coached. There will be hot rumors flying around about Brey's demise. Jack Swarbrick has promised the Irish faithful that all Irish athletic teams are expected to be successful. In football, that is suppose to mean National Championship level teams (even though ND football will NEVER be a perennial national power again!). My sources at ND believe the high expectations also part of the men's basketball program. Brey is not very popular with the alumni and this loss will not help. Look for the Steve Alford to Notre Dame rumors to begin flying around the college basketball world. Especially if Alford's New Mexico team makes some noise in the tourney. I love a good Alford rumor. Maybe the guys over at Peegs can get the flight details up on the message boards for the ND jets. God knows IU fans need something fun to talk about. Fun thing about Alford rumors is deciphering truth from rumor. Before Sampson was hired, IU nation was in a feeding frenzy, both pro and con, over Alford coming to IU. That was a lot of fun. There are very few that know the truth on the Alford to IU rumors and I am just glad I was one of the ones in the know. That's why if Brey goes, I won't be surprised if ND calls New Mexico.

Sports Digest - Friday, March 19, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:59:55 +0000

Harry on Sports - Friday, March 19, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:17:22 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry49.mp3]

NCAA Tourney Brings Back Memories of a Championship Celebration

kentsterling — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:33:59 +0000

by Kent Sterling There is nothing like the NCAA Tournament. It's the perfect TV event, at least for the first four days. There is such an enormous number of games and potential drama that for 12-hours each day from Thursday-through-Sunday, the fun is almost unending. The upsets are the defining moments of the first weekends, just as the winner defines the Final Four. Whether it was yesterday's buzzer-beater for Murray State or Bryce Drew's triple at the buzzer or Mouse McFadden going off for Cleveland State, the NCAAs are filled with thrills earned through lifetimes of hard work. Former IU guard Armon Bassett went for 30 last night as the 14-seed Ohio Bobcats (I think they are the Bobcats) routed mighty Georgetown. Bassett is a tool, as is his sweatsuit-clad, rabbit-eared Dad. But yesterday, Bassett flung it in from everywhere. Some favorites narrowly escaped an early exit as second-seeded Villanova needed OT to punch its ticket to the second-round over #15 seed Bob Morris. Indy product Dallas Green got the block that sent the game to overtime. I always enjoyed the tournament, but fell in love with it in 1981. Most of my memories regarding the NCAAs circle around Indiana University. My freshman year at IU, Landon Turner finally got aggressive and Bob Knight learned to trust Isiah Thomas just in time for IU to finish the Big Ten season strong and go into the NCAAs on a major roll. The Hoosiers never won by less than double-digits as they rolled to the second championship of the Bob Knight era. The post-championship celebration was sheer madness. I was standing next to the lead cop at Showalter Fountain when he opened the mike on his radio and said, "The situation is completely out of control. I'm pulling my men back. The cops left the fountain and the throng of students dismantled all the water-spewing fish in minutes. They were found scattered around campus over the next week and reassembled. From Showalter Fountain, the group headed to the Square, and en route, unrooted as many trees as they could. It was surreal to see dozens of groups of 15-20 guys surrounding trees trying to knock them over. When they succeeded, there was a huge cheer and they would move to the next tree. If they failed, they moved to a slightly smaller tree. Students stood on the marquis of the Towne Theater (which would burn down less than a month later), and throw empty beer bottles high into the air just to watch them explode when they smashed against the pavement, or occasionally against the bodies of the crowd below. You couldn't walk without stepping on broken glass. Every five minutes or so, a pickup truck driven by a townie would pull up and unload a group of students. Another group would replace them, and off they would go to do doughnuts in the front lawns of the frats on North Jordan. The townies weren't being nice to the students - they needed the ballast in the bed to dig giant troughs with their rear tires. I went on one trip, and it was the thrill ride of thrill rides. There were fifteen people in the back of the truck, and we careened untethered around the back of the bed as the truck slid in circles. That was the cause of the only fatality of the night, and I was both stupid enough and smart enough to only go once. I've never seen anything like it. This was a night when there was craziness in such bulk that the police abandoned any effort to control the chaos and allowed chaos to reign. There were no consequences for anyone doing anything. The joyously destructive was so pervasive that it was impossible not to be overwhelmed by the sheer repetition of madness. Every time there is a riot on election day in Haiti and people say, "It must be awful to be in Port au Prince today," I remember Bloomington in 1981, and think it was actually a lot of fun. We thought this was the first of what would become an annual ritual. Isiah and Jim Thomas, Ted Kitchel, and Randy Wittman were sophomores, Landon Turner was a junior, and we were losing Ray Tolbert, Steve Risley, Glen Grunwald, and Phil Isenbarger. There might have been another senior, but you get the idea. Other than Big Ray, the Hoosiers were bring back the hubs of a team that dominated everyone in its path through the tournament. Then, Isiah went pro, and Landon decided to head to King's Island that summer and was paralyzed in a car wreck. What should have been wasn't, and we are left with the memories of one night of riotous mayhem. Just as well. One riot is innocent fun.

Great wall of Hoop Taking Shape

kentsterling — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:10:03 +0000

Upsets and plenty of them marked the first day of play in the NCAA Tourney. Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne's familiar refrain, "Hey, they're on scholarship too," kept ringing in my head throughout the day as Bob Morris, Murray State, Ohio U, Sam Houston State, Montana, and Lehigh gave everything to hang in, and some did. Ohio, in particular, made itself seen as something other than the #9 in the MAC Tournament last week. [caption id="attachment_1868" align="alignleft" width="420" caption="Midwest Region - KU, Northern Iowa, Tennessee, and Ohio win in the first round "][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1869" align="alignleft" width="420" caption="West Region - Butler, Murray State, BYU, and Kansas State move on"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1870" align="alignleft" width="420" caption="East Region - UK, Wake, Washington, and the New Mexico Alfords a game away from the Sweet Sixteen"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1871" align="alignleft" width="420" caption="South Region - Old Dominion, Baylor, St. Mary's, and Nova (barely) squeeze through"][/caption]

Eddie White Doing Just Fine as a Solo Act

kentsterling — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:33:28 +0000

by Kent Sterling When Bob Kravitz left the Kravitz & Eddie show on 1070-The Fan, Indianapolis sports fans wondered what Eddie would sound like as THE host. If the first three days of The Eddie White Show are any indication, afternoons on The Fan will give Indianapolis exactly what they have come to expect over the past two-plus years. Bob was a huge part of the show. He provided great insight and humor, and was an excellent counter to Eddie's somewhat manic, Diet Pepsi-fueled wildness. Without Bob, Eddie is a little more like the guy I came to know and like very much. There isn't quite as much yelling, and that works for me. Eddie is still Eddie. In fact, he's more like Eddie. Bob isn't a showman. By his own admission, he's a little quiet. That put Eddie in a spot where he tried to counter Bob's energy with some wildness. After all, The Fan couldn't have a sports version of Morton Kondrake and Fred Barnes. Frank Gifford would have been out of broadcasting in 1974 without Howard Cosell. Because Bob was Frank, Eddie became Howard.' Without Frank (Bob), Howard (Eddie) has become Eddie. There is stress to being the guy in Eddie's spot. Because Bob wasn't enthusiastic about being the ringmaster, Eddie became the guy who determined the rhythm of the show and executed most of the formatic elements. For a guy who is a neophyte to broadcasting to do what Eddie was asked to as well as he did was incredible. This was like asking a guy who has just taken his first violin lesson to conduct an orchestra. Bob is a really good player, but he knew that he wasn't a conductor. I agreed, so Eddie became that guy. Talk Radio sound easy, but trying to hit the clock, get ready for live spots, make sure your partner is happy, that the guests enjoy being on the show (or they won't come back) and that the show flows correctly is a lot to ask of a guy who is also trying to inform and entertain as he does all the rest. Bob's absence has removed a great element of the show, but has allowed Eddie to think only about his performance. During interviews, there were times that Eddie and Bob would interview a guest - both examining different elements of that guest's expertise. That frustrated both Bob and Eddie. Without Bob, Eddie can make the interview what he believes it should be. That lessens the stress considerably. Eddie is now the sole pilot of the show, and it can move as Eddie desires. That's not to say that Bob ever got in the way, it was a great show with Bob. It's just a little less stressful for Eddie to be able to pilot the show with both hands on the wheel rather than sharing the wheel. Listening over the last few days, I like the tone of the show, and still find it entertaining. Eddie sounds like the guy in the office. I think Indianapolis listeners will like this incarnation of Eddie. It's hard for me to believe that the #3 show in Indianapolis PM Drive radio has been scuttled, but I'm glad Eddie has this opportunity to show people who he is and what he does. I have no idea what is going to happen over the next several months. There are all kinds of rumors about hosts coming to The Fan, and if decisions were made before my departure in early January, I was not made aware of them. There have been comments to the earlier posts on the high quality of the guests on Kravitz & Eddie. Some of the credit was allocated to The Fan's affiliation with ESPN. I wish it were as easy as calling ESPN to get those guys on. The first time they come on, some of the ESPN talent were booked because of ESPN making the request. Subsequent times, the credit went to the guys who made the interview enjoyable. The ESPN people really enjoy being on Kravitz & Eddie. The credit for many of the interviews goes to Eddie, who knows so many people in sports he needs three Rolodexes.

Purdue Survives Siena Comeback 72-64

kentsterling — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:16:26 +0000

by Kent Sterling There was a four-minute stretch toward the end of the game where they went cold - [caption id="attachment_1883" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Purdue Moves to the round of 32 on the 2010 Great Wall of Hoop"][/caption] really cold - ice cold. Siena, once down 15 trimmed the lead to three. Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than good, as my good used to say, and Lewis Jackson was lucky as he wedge the front end of a one-and-one between the rim bracket and the backboard. The ball rolled off the bracket into the basket to move the lead to four, and then canned the second the old fashioned way to help seal the game. If Lew Jack hadn't gotten that fortuitous roll, I might be writing "Siena" on the placard of the Great Wall of Hoop in the round of 32. But he didn't miss it, and that's basketball and now the Boilers get to tee it up Sunday against the Aggies of either Utah State or Texas A&M. It would have been a long ride home for Matt Painter and his aging Purdue team. Three years ago when Scott Martin, Robbie Hummel, JaJuan Johnson, and E'Twaun Moore were expected to lead the Boilers back to prominence, I'm not sure fans thought they would have to wait until they were seniors to make a run deep into March. With Martin gone to Notre Dame, and high school teammate Hummel out with a surgically repaired knee, the Boilers are manning up - doing the best they can under less than perfect circumstances. They have a good chance to beat whichever group of Aggies move ahead, and then it will be either Duke, Cal, or Louisville (sorry, Arkansas-Pine Bluff alums). None of those teams is too scary. Certainly Purdue would be favored against all but Duke, and they match-up fairly well against the Blue Devils. This region is a crap-shoot at best, and will go to the team that catches breaks, like Purdue did today when Jackson's errant foul shot missed by just enough to be a make. Villanova damn near got beat by Bob Morris yesterday. You don't think this tournament is wacky? One of the best players for the fighting Bobs is a kid named Dallas Green who bounced around Indianapolis High Schools for a long time and never really played much. Fans would watch the 6'8" Green in warm-ups and think, "Cripes, who the hell is that kid. We have to play against him?" Not usually. At both Northwest and Ritter, Green sat. His Dad is a very nice guy who was the first person I ever saw wear a Bluetooth. He was always talking to somebody, and I thought he was a kook with a hearing aid. Someone told me that it was a phone, we talked and I always found him to be a good guy. Anyway, with favorite winning as often as losing, this tournament is completely up for grabs. Winning four-in-a-row to get to Indianapolis isn't possible without winning the first, and Purdue got that done against a scrappy team. Does Purdue compare to Duke as well as Siena compared to Purdue. Sure they do. Purdue can get hot, and Johnson can keep Duke from penetrating. That's if Cal or Louisville doesn't send Duke back to their pompous little enclave in Raleigh first. That's the great thing about the NCAA Tournament. The variables are so vast it's impossible to sound like anything but a lunatic for discussing two rounds ahead. Jeff Sagarin is the best numbers guy in sports, and he can't hazard any better than a guess that might give him a three-percent advantage over a chimpanzee flipping a coin, (if Chimps can flip coins - I assume because of their opposing thumbs they can). In tournaments, you can't do better than survive, and that's exactly what Purdue did.

Can a Relationship Survive March?

kentsterling — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:50:50 +0000

by Chad Bouslog “Are you ready to go to the antique show?” my girlfriend asked on Sunday. I replied with, “The antique show? Right now? Ohio State and Minnesota are playing.” I should have probably stopped there, but I had to get another shot in at the perceived demographics of an antique show. “Maybe my grandma will go with you.” Of course, I would have replied the exact same way if I were watching a TBS replay of The Truman Show for the 18^th time, but that’s beside the point. After dragging her to the IHSAA Regional at Hinkle Fieldhouse the night before, and spending every Friday night this winter broadcasting Pike basketball games, I owed her a trip to the Antique Show; she deserved that. Whether or not the thought of looking at ships in a bottle or coins from the Civil War gave me anxiety, I lost sight of the big picture: The NCAA Tournament was right around the corner. Sunday was the day to do whatever your wife or girlfriend wanted to do (as long as you got it in before the Selection Show at 6pm). Nothing should have been off limits, including trips to a consignment shop, The Loft, Von Maur, Marsh, TJ Maxx, a nursery, or in my case the antique show. Rain or shine, I’ll be fully invested in the tournament. If it’s 72 degrees and sunny outside, I won’t think twice about staying inside and watching hoops for the next two weekends. If anything, I can just open up the blinds. I have been building up for this point in March with my girlfriend since the beginning of the season in November. I was hoping that Pike would still be playing at this time of year, but even with them out, the NCAA Tournament was the clear grand finale. I tried to drive that point home at any opportunity I had. The problem is, unless your wife or girlfriend loves sports at the same alarming rate that you do, they have a tough time understanding how you could sit on your couch from Noon until Midnight on the opening two days of the tournament. Women tend to get cabin fever and like to be productive. A trip to Qdoba in the break between the afternoon and night ballgames doesn’t quite cut it. That’s why this past Sunday was so crucial. She looked at the antique show as her version of the 12:25 game on Thursday. The 12:25 games aren’t usually among the best games, but you definitely like to be in front of the TV to catch them. She wasn’t going to buy anything at the show, but it was something she wanted to do. My love of sports is the one area of my life where I tend to get tunnel vision. I don’t pretend to watch every game, or even throw remotes at TV screens, but I get selfish if it’s a ballgame I really want to see. The Minnesota-Ohio State game wasn’t necessarily one of those games. During college football season, I learned to pick my spots (meaning watch all IU games and then some big match-ups here and there). With the NCAA Tournament, I don’t plan on picking spots. Opening weekend calls for an all out binge. There’s more down time as the teams dwindle down from 65 to 16 and so on, so I don’t think my long-term goal of watching every game possible has been totally compromised. I just can’t say with a straight face that I won’t be walking along the Canal this Saturday during the first afternoon ballgames. I also better check the Home & Antique Show schedules for April, as it may be a long month! As she said to me when I chose to watch the Big Ten Championship, “You know Ohio State is going to win.” She was right. As usual.

NCAA First Round Shows Event's Perfection

kentsterling — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:01:03 +0000

by Kent Sterling With apologies to the William Forrester character in "Finding Forrester", March is truly the season of faith's perfection. Anything can happen and it almost always does. Fans from a school like Ohio, good enough to finish ninth in the quickly deteriorating MAC, have reason for hope as we head into the weekend because guard play wins games. Guard play other than in truly special players like John Wall, is damn near equal in college basketball. There are guards playing D2 hoops who could play and succeed in this tournament. The difference is in the bigs. You don't need a bunch of athletic bigs to win one game, but you sure as hell need a couple to win six in a row. A team can easily lose one game with a great big, but you can't win six without one. I love Cornell. They can shoot, rebound, and play very smart basketball. They match up with Wisconsin in a game that should go right down to the wire tomorrow. That's my favorite second-round match-up, and regardless of who wins that game - assuming Kentucky bests Wake, I can't wait for the battle in the Sweet Sixteen between UK and Wis./Cornell. There were a lot of people who picked Murray State to beat Vanderbilt, but to pick Murray to earn a spot in the Sweet Sixteen by beating Butler is foolish. Butler will never take an opponent lightly. The Bulldogs only weakness is Matt Howard's moustache. They need a superlative second-half performance by Shelvin Mack to get past UTEP, but today should be a little easier. The seeds held like they should. The 8/9 games should split, and they did. Over the past 25 years since the tourney expanded to 64 team, the nine seed holds a slight 54-46 edge. The 7/10 games will a little odd with three winners for the 10s (St.Mary's, Ga. Tech, and Missouri posted mild upsets; BYU was the only #7 to survive). The 6/11s are where there is a gap for the favorite, but this year they split. Over the years, the 5/12s have been celebrated as the home of great upsets. Usually, the last at-large teams fall to the 12-seed. The only 12-seed to move on was Ivy League Champ Cornell. One 13 (Murray State) and 14 (Ohio) survived, which is roughly correct statistically. Purdue is still dancing having barely survived Siena on the strength of a solid 15-minutes at the start of the second half and a very fortuitous roll on the front end of a one-and-one from Lewis Jackson with just under a minute left, which proved that if you shoot it far enough and on-line, you have a chance. Purdue is good to go against Texas A&M because JaJuan Johnson knows he's playing on a national stage, and when he's being watched, JJ plays with great energy. In AAU ball, JJ was almost deferential during the first year-and-a-half, but when the bell rang for the all important summer before his senior year, JaJuan went off. He went from being a highly functional part of a team to being a total monster. I look for JaJuan to have another big game against Texas A&M and beyond. JaJuan will get big and wide down low, and finish with passion. He's playing for millions, knows it, and will answer that bell. Butler is one of those teams filled with role players who have a wonderful sense of shared belief. They are strong, defend with passion, and if teams don't close quickly on their shooters, they better hope the Bulldogs are cold. It happens sometimes, but not often. They have two gifted players in Shelvin Mack and Gordon Hayward, who combines guard skills with a 6'9" frame. Mid-majors don't have kids like that. He would be a great fit at Duke, but he's at Butler. Matt Howard is a rugged kid willing to do what it takes to compete and win. He is a tenacious defender who has learned very well how to get position, fall straight backward after any contact, and get the charge. The officials weren't so kind to Matt against Derrick Caracter, and rewarded Matt less often than he deserved. Sometimes, Matt gets a call he shouldn't. Don't sleep on him around the bucket. Matt is very adept with both hands, and is an underrated shooter. Another to watch is Zach Hahn. Zach is a big game shooter, and can get nine-points in a minute to bust a game open, or with the game hanging on the brink of being in Butler's pocket, Zach will bring it up himself and jack up the dagger. If Butler has a 13-point lead with four-minutes left and Zach has the ball, it's going up and he'll make more than he misses. Give Zach a chance to end it, and he will. My love for this event is reaffirmed each year as kids who go to class and play for the love of the game send home a bunch of dipshit kids who have a sense of entitlement about basketball, and are playing college basketball for a reason other than love of the game. There comes a justice for student-athletes who are more athlete than students - sometimes. At least that possibility exists, and that is all I need for a happy March. Go Bulldogs, Boilers, and whatever the hell the mascot of Cornell is. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Carmel Assault Story Gets Worse

kentsterling — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:51:02 +0000

by Kent Sterling At some point, without someone willing to stand up and say definitively what happened, the ugliness of what happened on the bus and after is difficult to impart. The aftermath is equally awful, according to well-founded second-person reports. Second-person reports are rumors, and given the sensitivity of the information, it may be irresponsible to report. But without people having a reasonable idea of what occurred, for what will the public hold Carmel Schools administrators, students, and coaches accountable? Without using names, here is what I've been told by more than one source. Three senior Carmel Basketball players assaulted two freshmen basketball players in the back of a school bus on the way back from a basketball game in Terre Haute. They pulled down the pants of the students and attempted to insert a cell phone into the rectums of the students. One of the student went to the hospital with rectal bleeding. The hospital informed Carmel Schools, but the student would not reveal the cause of the injury until his parent became the subject of suspicion. In the interim, one of the senior kids who abused the freshmen offered to write a check to keep the whole mess quiet. Rumors spread throughout the school, but it wasn't until the family of the second freshman came forward that school officials thought to do anything. That was either on or just prior to February 16, when the three seniors were suspended for five days, and the media caught wind of the story. There are still parents and administrators who feel that the media has blown this story out of proportion, and that the fault lies with them. Never mind that a freshman had his rectum torn by a cell phone shoved by a group of seniors - two of whom had been entrusted with a position of trust as a freshman mentor. Never mind that there were coaches on the bus, feet away from the assault as it took place. Never mind that it took more than three weeks for the high school administrators to figure out what the hell happened and hand down a slap on the wrist. A student gets caught drunk at a high school event, and he or she can be expelled. Shove a cell phone up another kid's ass, and get a five-day rip? The media was built for this kind of mess. The media helps uncover inconvenient truths and hold accountable those who abuse their power. The powerless must be defended, and that is why the Freedom of the Press is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. The truth isn't always pretty, and it's not always easy, but it is always what parents need to know as they evaluate the environment in which their children exist for many hours a day. Carmel administrators and teachers need to be very wary of the lessons Carmel students take from their experience at that behemoth of a school. The ends justify the means. If you hide under your desk, ill winds will blow over. Career health trumps students health. Absolute authority corrupts authority absolutely. Money counts more than right and wrong. Boat rockers sink boats. You want to graduate 800 kids every year that have learned that? Coaches, according to freshman basketball players, have threatened kids with being cut if they don't keep their mouths shut. Administrators have all but forbidden kids from talking to the media. Those kids and families need to ask themselves why. It's because that would be inconvenient for the administrators. Here's an irrefutable truth of check-cashers like the Carmel administrators - anything that gets in the way of the check-cashing will not be tolerated. Covering their own asses will always be more important than what has been stuck in yours (or your son's). What is in the best interest of the administrator will always prompt their actions. That is true with politicians as well, although I have nothing but respect for Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp. I would have a tough time believing that Leerkamp is behaving with anything but concern for justice and the victims welfare. The media needs to continue to act with zeal in continuing to cover this story. Find people willing to talk. Continue to hold coaches and administrators accountable for building a culture where anal rape qualifies as a rite of passage. Make it impossible for superintendent Jeff Swensson and Principal Williams to hide. What about Coach Mark Galloway? To what extent is he responsible? Did he actually threaten kids who talk about the assault? Shining a bright light on ugliness makes people wince and wretch, but without that light, the ugliness is allowed to continue and it will not stop corrupting Carmel students until it is cast out. Somebody needs to stand up and cry out. Don't leave it to the boobs who were complicit in causing this culture of abuse to grow until it mutated into rape to figure a way out of it. They have nothing to gain from any outcome but for this noise to quiet and for life to return to "normal". Oncologists don't hope for a tumor to dissolve. They attack it. Parents should do the same. Don't leave it to the media. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Sports From the Couch--Butler Plays Poorly, Survives.

jshowal2 — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:07:35 +0000

By Jeff Showalter The beauty of March Madness is that the scoreboard settles all arguments. Some teams play great but lose (Robert Morris) some teams play way over their heads and win (Ohio). A team can play poorly, win and then play just as badly in round 2 and lose (Villanova). Last, a team can play one good half in two games and make it to the sweet 16. Ladies and gentlemen I give you, the Butler Bulldogs. Brad Stevens' team was as bad as I've seen them this year, but the scoreboard is the great equalizer and Butler beat a hard working Murray State team 54-52. The game was an absolute see saw battle the whole 40 minutes. Butler went on another run only to let MSU answer and go up 26-22 at halftime. Butler got The second alf was no different with Butler charging out of the gate and taking a leadup 12-3 and then let the Racers charge back as Matt Howard had 3 fouls in one possession and MSU went ahead. As was the case in the Siena game, Howard's trip to the bench allowed the Butler go to 4 guards and Gordon Hayward who plays like a 2 guard. Butler got what they wanted offensively and Butler got up to an eight point lead. MSU wouldn't quit. They hit a couple of 3's and went up 50-47 with 2:21 left. Butler, in maybe their most difficult spot, struggled but maintained poise. Hayward and Howard both missed layups and Mack made a really dumb foul, but they hit a basket and four out of 6 from the line to go up 54-52. Hayward made a great play on defense when he stayed above the three point line when MSU wanted to run a pick and roll for a three. Gordon then collapsed on the ball and forced a bad pass. MSU never got a shot. Butler survived and advanced. Butler has some work to do before next week when they play the winner of the Syracuse-Gonzaga game. Somebody please tell Hayward to look at tape of last year and look at the release on his shot then as opposed to now! It is not the same. Butler can win if Gordon shoots well because he may be the most difficult match up in the tournament. He should be five tooled (shoot, dribble, rebound, pass and block shots) but right now he can't shoot. Also, Butler has to draw up some movement that gets Zach Hahn and Shelvin Mack some good looks. Butler's second half was as well as Butler had played all year and a lot of that is due to Hahn and Mack getting good looks. But, what the hell, they won, the plane ride back is going to be great and the student body will be rockin'. Jim Valvano got it right when he originated 'survive and advanced' and Butler did so today. They are going to have to play much better next week if they want to enjoy that felling one more time.

Former IU Players Shine in the Spotlight

kentsterling — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:18:07 +0000

by Justin Whitaker After watching the two greatest days in sports, the first round of the NCAA tournament, it was hard not to notice two players who used to wear cream and crimson carry their teams to victories. Former Indiana University players, Ohio University’s Armon Bassett and Xavier University’s Jordan Crawford, led each of their respective teams to big victories in the first round in big ways. That sound of weeping is not from the Georgetown Hoyas or Minnesota Golden Gophers . Try Indiana University head coach Tom Crean who had a chance with both players. In the 2007-2008 season, the guards were part of a promising Indiana team that featured freshman Eric Gordon and senior D.J. White. Turmoil filled the end of the season as then head coach Kelvin Sampson resigned five games before the Big Ten tournament after multiple recruiting violations. The Hoosiers finished 25-8, but lost four of their last five games, including an 86-72 first round loss in the NCAA tournament against the No. 9 seed Arkansas Razorbacks. That year, Bassett made the Third Team All-Big Ten as a sophomore and Crawford averaged 9.7 points per game as a freshman. The futures for both players were looking bright, but the Sampson era was crumbling Indiana faster than the length of a Kristie Alley diet. Sampson’s bad decisions had affected not only the pocketbooks of the university (a $750,000 buyout), but also the tremendously loyal players on the team. Interim coach Dan Dakich dismissed Bassett for off the court trouble early in the offseason and Crawford was gone from Bloomington soon after the Crean era began. Indiana’s basketball team was in complete disarray, without two of their top players. Bassett promptly joined the man who recruited him to Indiana, Mike Davis, at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. But his stay there was quick, as he left the school for personal reasons in December 2008. Soon after, Bassett joined his third team in two years in Ohio. Crawford transferred to Xavier and is averaging nearly 20 points per game in his first season. The 6’4” sophomore led the Atlantic-10 conference in scoring and Xavier to a 25-8 record. Thankfully the roller coaster collegiate career of Bassett seems to be settling down as he has found a home with the Bobcats. He averaged 30.3 ppg in the Mid-American Conference tournament along with being named MVP. Bassett then led his No. 14 seeded Bobcats to an upset victory over third-seeded Georgetown. The former Indiana guard showcased why Hoosier Nation was so distraught in losing him. He led the ninth team in the MAC with 32 points, shooting 9-of-17 from the field in the 97-83 beat down of Georgetown. Not to be out done by his former teammate, Crawford led the sixth-seeded Musketeers to a victory over No. 11 seeded Minnesota 65-54, on the back of his 28 points. Both of these former IU players have showed why Indiana fans would love to have both or either of them still in Bloomington. With the Hoosier program still rebuilding from the Sampson rubble, these superb players would help the young team IU has now. What is intriguing about the performance of these two is not the fact that their teams have won, but because of Bassett and Crawford is why these teams won their first round games. Each player was hitting critical shots, during important stretches of the game. In Ohio’s victory, Bassett hit five 3-pointers and made 9-of-10 free throws. Crawford had 17 of his 28 points in the second half to hold off the Golden Gophers. Without Bassett’s shooting and ball control, Ohio does not stand a chance against Georgetown. Without Crawford scoring the ball, Xavier lacks a player who can score from anywhere on the court. Both players have had difficult starts to their collegiate careers, but hopefully this success is a starting point for some consistency for each player. While both spent time as a Hoosier, their careers will now be measured by the opportunities they have received outside of Bloomington. Kudos to Bassett and Crawford for rebounding from their past misfortunes, as hopefully the new success continues for both in the future. Indiana or no Indiana.

NCAA First Round Reflections

kentsterling — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:39:37 +0000

by Greg Adams So what did we learn from the NCAA Tournament’s First Round? For starters, picking the first round is a crapshoot. Case in point: not including the (idiotic) “play-in” game, I nailed 22 out of 32 picks. Not showing off, not falling behind. I watch an average amount of college basketball during the year. Pretty much North Carolina (my absolute favorite), Indiana, Purdue, and Butler—when I can actually catch Butler. My buddies at work, who fashion themselves as “aficionados” (and I might add, really do seem to know some obscure fact about every single team in the tournament)—each tallied 23 correct picks. My wife, conversely, hasn’t watched a second of any college basketball game this season. How did she fare? Um, she also hit 22-for-32. Yep. Total crapshoot. I’ll use a couple of simple math equations to illustrate my next point about this year’s opening round. Day One = awesome. Day Two = anti-climactic. Murray State’s buzzer beater, Ohio’s inconceivable Hoya-destroyin’, and Robert Morris’ oh-so-close overtime loss to Villianova were just a few of the highlights during the first day. If you like drama, Thursday would have been the day to come down with something. Additionally, we once again learned that the sexiest upset picks by the “experts” will ultimately go down in flames. Roughly an hour after both the Butler-UTEP and Purdue-Siena matchups were announced on CBS, I knew both would make it through to the Round of 32. There was no question. Why? Seth Davis on CBS, combined with the panel of “experts” on ESPN, started crowing about “upset alerts” and zeroed in specifically on these two matchups. And when they did this, both UTEP and Siena were done. Finito. Kaput. I can oversimplify the two major reasons we have upsets. One, an NBA-level talent or a really good guard tandem attending the smaller school absolutely goes off in the opening round (see Stephon Curry, 2008, and Murray State, 2010). Second, the favorite takes the little guy too lightly (see Georgetown, 2010). In many cases, it's a combination of the two. Like I said, these are oversimplifications. By announcing the “upset alert” on Sunday evening immediately after the selection show, how do you think Butler and Purdue reacted? They’d been put on “upset alert”, after all. I’m sure Brad Stevens and Matt Painter were talking to their teams saying, “Golly, gee whiz, guys, we’re on ‘upset alert.’ Maybe we should just stay home.” Coaches are always on notice. Announcing “upset alert” only serves to put the favorite’s players on notice. I’m guessing that John Thompson III is wishing Seth Davis had put his team on “upset alert.” We also learned that this tournament is P-E-R-F-E-C-T in its present format, save the all-unimportant “play-in” game (seriously, I watched the NIT instead). I won’t get carried away with my thoughts about going to 96 teams. People far more intelligent and eloquent than I have already made pointed arguments against this insanity. I just want to point out that you’re not going to find a national champion among the 32 additional teams. Which is the whole point of the tournament (sorry NCAA—it’s not all about revenue). I’m a diehard Carolina fan, as I stated earlier. And I have watched every second of both NIT games thus far. But there’s no way this group, the way they played over the course of the season, deserved an NCAA Tourney invite. Same with Illinois, Mississippi State, and Minnesota. What??? Minnesota was an 11 seed? Well, I’ll be… And it was also difficult not to notice Kelvin “Speed Dial” Sampson’s influence on the first round of this tournament. First of all, his magic fingers set the Hoosiers so far back that they still look to be at least two years away from sniffing the Field of 65. Secondly, Xavier’s Jordan Crawford, Saint Mary’s Ben Allen, and Ohio’s Armon Bassett—who all wore cream and crimson—were each major contributors in their respective teams’ opening round wins. Finally, I learned the food that goes best with the opening round is buffalo wings. I gained eight pounds over two days eating a steady diet of breaded chicken smothered in buffalo sauce. I ate at three different sports bars. It was even better than pizza. Who knew? Here’s hoping the second round is as fun as the first.

Ali Farokhmanesh Does What Shooters Should

kentsterling — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:53:54 +0000

by Kent Sterling "David reached into his bag and slung one of his stones at Goliath's head. Finding a hole in the armor, the stone sank into the giant's forehead and he fell face down on the ground." With 35-seconds left and Northern Iowa barely holding on to a slim lead, a kidnone us had heard of before yesterday pulled up and thrust a dagger into the heart of the Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas was pressing hard against Northern Iowa, and the Panthers were bleeding. They had been up seven with 1:10 left, and in half that time cut the lead to one. The shooter did what shooters do - he shot. Having gone 0-6 in the second half from deep, he measured and pulled the trigger. Game over. Pundits have been squawking about how this was a great shot, but that the percentage play would have been to run clock. Anyone want to take Northern Iowa if the kid dribbles for another four seconds before being fouled, or before the smothering traps moved from the back to the frontcourt? Anyone? If you have a wide-open look from deep that will salt away the game, you take it. Teams don't back into wins against the top-seed in the tournament. You attack and pray that the shots fall. And you do it with shooters. Shooters are a strange breed. With the game on the line, they have such complete belief in themselves that they can stand 21-feet out and launch without conscience. If a coach doesn't want a shooter to shoot, he should sit him. Shooter aren't built to milk the clock. They believe that a four-point lead is better than a one-point lead. Coaches and fans either love or hate shooters. They win games, and they lose games, but they never back away from the challenge of carrying that weight. Farokhmanesh isn't the only shooter in this tournament, but yesterday he hit the shot that will be remembered as the signature moment from the first weekend. Mickey McConnell for St. Mary's is a shooter. The arc at 20'9" is not of anyconsequence to McConnell. He catches open inside 30-feet, the ball is going up, and 51.8% of the time they dropped this season. He's 16-29 during the last five games. Another shooter who wins games for his team is Butler's Zach Hahn. Hahn only averages 5.4 points per game, but it's when he scores that counts. You look at him and think, what is he doing getting minutes for a Top 20 team. He's short, his wingspan is short, and he doesn't jump well. There is more to basketball than what those attributes bring. Zach is tenacious, and there is no one in the gym who believes in his abilities more than Zach Hahn. With five-minutes left and Butler nursing a 10-point lead, Hahn will run the ball up and jack from 22-feet. Bam. Looks like a meaningless bucket, and the box score shows Hahn with three points. The difference between coming back from a 13-point deficit as opposed to a 10 is massive. Hahn knows he can end it with a triple, and more often than not he does. People watch shooters like Farokhmanesh, McConnell, and Hahn, and wonder how they have the stones to stand out there and put all that weight on their shoulders. You know how they earn that self-confidence? When you wake up for work at 6:30a, they have already been shooting for a half-hour. I asked Hahn once about shooting, and he said he earns the right to fire at will by working harder at it than anyone on the floor. Even for teams not still playing in the NCAA Tournament, didn't make any tournament, or are still in high school hoping to make the tournament one day, there are kids in the gym right now working on their shots. They work alone everyday, and know that when the game is on the line all those hours of work give them the green light to win the game for his team. "If you can't shoot, you can't play," is a basketball axiom that is a little simplistic, but it's absolutely true. The trouble can come from kids who believe they are good shooters, but aren't. There are many more of those than there are good shooters. The biggest nightmare for a team is when a bad shooter knocks down his first shot because he thinks that by virtue of that first make, he's got the hot hand. Next thing you know, the kid is one-for-ten and your team has lost by 15 to a bunch of scrubs. Here's how you can tell if you're a shooter. As you read this, have you already shot 300 triples today? No? You're not a shooter. If you have a young son who has great hand-eye coordination, but you don't know a lot about shooting and want to help, go to www.swish22.com. The site is run by a guy named Tom Nordland, who is as good a shot doctor as there is. Watch the St. Mary's kids. They shoot exactly how Nordland teaches. Shooters win sometimes and they lose sometimes. Yesterday they won, but they earned the win by investing hours and hours in the gym when their peers are screwing around. Stop screwing around, and earn your moment. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Indiana Is Very Well Represented in Sweet Sixteen

kentsterling — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:00:10 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Sweet Sixteen is set, and two of the three Indiana teams that made the Big Dance have moved through the first two rounds, and those two schools have a whole lot of Indiana high school players on their rosters. There are other Indiana kids alive in the tournament as well in Joe Hughes of Xavier and Errick Peck of Cornell. The AAU team for which my son played has four kids left - Hughes, Matt Howard and Zach Hahn of Butler, and JaJuan Johnson of Purdue. Ryan's high school team has three in Hughes and Peck, and Kelsey Barlow of Purdue. With the Final Four in Indianapolis, it's only appropriate that kids from here would succeed at this wacky rate. This has been the most exciting first weekend of tournament play I can remember in the last 35 years. So many last second buckets to win games, and great upsets have given basketball fans a Sweet Sixteen with so much potential drama that I wish the games could begin tomorrow. Kentucky vs. Cornell - Oh my. If ever there has been an opponent that UK might look beyond, it's Cornell. Not only doesn't Cornell pay their players, they don't even award scholarships. They are also mostly white, and if you don't think teams of mostly black basketball players don't look down on teams that are mostly white, you are crazy. That's all well and good. The stereotypes perpetuated by both black and white players (as well as fans) is that white kids are either centers or shooters but not athletic, and blacks are very athletic but not too bright. Both of course are completely ludicrous. Tell E'Twaun Moore he's not a good shooter, and Chris Kramer he's not athletic. UK has three kids who will be taken in the top-10 of this June's NBA Draft, and Cornell has 14 kids who will be fighting to represent them in a few years. Can Cornell shoot well enough to keep pace with UK's incredible speed? Can John Calipari prepare the Wildcats for the constantly changing defensive looks and offensive precision? People will look at this game as a "Hoosiers" type game for the new millenium, but that both casts this game as a racial test and gives Cornell less than the credit it deserves as an outstanding basketball team. Duke vs. Purdue - Mighty Duke is trying to claw its way back to the top of the heap after a half-decade of comparative mediocrity. Of course, they have been outstanding, but America expects Final Fours every other year from the Blue Devils. Coach K hasn't taken his team to the Final Four since 2004. Purdue is squeaking by with grit and tenacity. A healthy Robbie Hummel would make the Boilers a tough out in any round. Purdue compensate with defense and hope. Chris Kramer was the offensive sparkplug today as the Boilers beat Texas A&M in OT, but does he have the game to continue the run to Indy? Butler vs. Syracuse - The Bulldogs are the media cinderella year after year as though the team is filled with choirboys who are a throwback to the 1950s identity of this quaint group that time forgot. They play in the most quaint fieldhouse in college hoops, but winning 22 games in a row is not accomplished through innocence and wonder. Matt Howard is a goofy kid and great student, but he is an absolutely fierce competitor. Underestimating his ability to score and cleverly draw charges is underestimated at the risk of the opponent. Syracuse is really good. Wesley Johnson is a monster, and Butler will have to play perfectly to beat Syracuse, but when you win 22 games in a row good habits are formed and a core collective belief is tattooed on the psyche of a team. St. Mary's and Northern Iowa are both wonderful stories, and both could upset their opponents. Michigan State has found a little rhythm, but Northern Iowa can shoot and a team of shooters can win against anyone. St. Mary's is in the same boat. Great shooters unafraid to jack it up from way beyond the arc against a Baylor team that has flown so far under the radar that most fans don't know the team colors. Ohio State vs. Tennessee - this is a real opportunity for one of two things to happen. Buckeye Evan Turner needs a breakout game or two to vault into the national consciousness as a leading candidate for the Naismith Award. He is an outstanding player, but lacks a signature performance. Tennessee is a team that has slayed dragons, but not often enough to prove itself worthy of discussion as a contender for the national championship. If Tennessee gets to Indy, Bruce Pearl will never shut the hell up. The Big Ten is the last conference with three teams alive. The Big East has two, as do the SEC and Big 12. The PAC 10 and ACC are tied with the Horizon League, MVC, Ivy League, A-10, and whatever conference St. Mary's belongs to. After next weekend, there will be four left. It could be - to the total horror of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and CBS - St. Mary's, Cornell, Northern Iowa, and Butler. You would be able to get a hotel in Downtown Indy for $29 a night. It could also be a group of marquis teams like Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, and either Ohio State or Michigan State. The Goo-Goo Dolls might play a concert for 600 people or 25,000. My hopes ride with Howard, Hahn, Barlow, Johnson, Hughes, and Peck. When you know kids on the rosters, you root for the names on the backs of the jerseys, not the front. If none of those kids get there, I'll settle for a Kentucky loss as a moral victory for a program that embodies all that is immoral about college basketball. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Sports Digest - Monday, March 22, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:08:04 +0000

Sweet 16 Set; Opening Day Closer Boilers - Kravitz - Overcoming Odds the Sweetest Thing Boilers - Kramer's Layup Pushes Purdue to Sweet Sixteen Boilers - Gold and Black Report on Purdue Win (with audio) Boilers - No Stopping Kramer Butler - Stevens Says Syracuse as Good as Anyone Pacers - Hurt Draft Position with Another Meaningless Win Pacers - Slowing Durant Key to Win Colts - Tom Moore to Return in Lesser Role Hoosier - Fans Buying Into Recruiting Debacle Cubs - Switching Positions Good for Everyone Cubs - Silva Pulled with "Cramp" Cubs - Byrd and Silva Are Hits in Clubhouse

Harry on Sports - Monday, March 22, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:32:31 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry50.mp3]

Tiger Woods Interview Reveals Just Enough

kentsterling — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:29:37 +0000

by Kent Sterling Tiger is finally opening up and allowing an interview or two. He spoke with Tom Rinaldi of ESPN and seems to be both contrite and guarded. That's a requirement if he plans to make things work with Elin. When Tiger is asked to discuss his infidelities and the night of the car wreck, the answers wouldn't just disclose embarrassing information about Tiger, but Elin as well. If you want to make a wife mad, air your dirty laundry to friends. If you want to turn her homicidal, air it to millions on national TV. Interviewers want full and complete answers, but that would have been suicidal. As we wait to see Tiger at Augusta National in a couple of weeks, this is likely all we'll get as far as answers. Below is a transcript of the interview with commentary: Rinaldi: What's the difference between the man who left Augusta national a year ago and the one who is about to return. Woods: A lot has transpired in my life. A lot of ugly things have happened. Things that.....I've done some pretty bad things in my life. And uh, all came to a head. But now, after treatment, going for inpatient treatment for 45 days and more outpatient treatment, I'm getting back to my old roots. Nice question and a good piece of honesty from Tiger. Success reaffirms a lot of bizarre and negative behaviors. For a little primer, watch "Celebrity Rehab" or "Sober House" on VH1. Those people are batshit crazy - not because of their addictions, but because they have been allowed to get away with all kinds of stupid, thoughtless, and remarkably selfish behaviors. Rinaldi: For a lot of people, the spark of those bad things is Nov. 27. Early that day, what happened? Woods: Well, it's all in the police report. Beyond that, everything's between Elin and myself and that's private. Good for Tiger. It's none of Tiger's business what I did that pissed off my wife yesterday, and it's none of my business whether or not Elin took a lob wedge to Tiger's jaw. The job of asking the unpleasant questions is rotten. I remember shooting news video at a funeral, and never felt worse or more awkward. I kept thinking, "You are a piece of shit for being here. What kind of job would require you to act so callously." Needless to say, my career as a news photographer was brief. Rinaldi: Why did you lose control of the car? Woods: As I said ... that's between Elin and myself. Ditto the previous response. Rinaldi: If it's a private matter, why issue a public apology? Woods: Well, I owe a lot of people an apology. I hurt a lot of people. Not just my wife. My friends, my colleagues, the public, kids who looked up to me. There were a lot of people that thought I was a different person and my actions were not according to that. That's why I had to apologize. I was so sorry for what I had done. Contrition can feel good briefly, but I wonder for how long Tiger will look sympathetically into the eyes of an interview and honestly convey regret. At some point, it becomes monotonous as hell (yes, I have had reasons to apologize to multiple people on multiple occasions). Doing it on camera more than once would render me bitter. Rinaldi: You've said you've made transgressions. How would you, in your own words, describe the depth of your infidelity? Woods: Well, just one is, is enough. And obviously that wasn't the case, and I've made my mistakes. And as I've said, I've hurt so many people, and so many people I have to make an amends to, and that's living a life of amends. This is a nice answer to a thinly veiled probe for specifics. Tiger is a clever follow to appear forthcoming while revealing nothing but vague regret. Rinaldi: You said you were in treatment. The simple question is, for what? Woods: That's a private matter as well. But I can tell you what, it was tough, it was really tough to look at yourself in a light that you never want to look at yourself, that's pretty brutal. I would never ask this question, and that's why Tom is doing the interview. Treatment is a private matter to the point of encouraging anonymity. I feel creepy watching the Dr. Drew shows on VH1 because of that. Fortunately for VH1, watching self-immersed tools try to adapt to a world where someone might say no to them is more enjoyable and instructive than it is voyeuristic and creepy. Rinaldi: What'd you see? Woods: I saw a person that I never thought I would ever become. Rinaldi: Who was that? Woods: Well, I had gotten away from my core values as I said earlier. I'd gotten away from my Buddhism. And I quit meditating. I quit doing all the things that my mom and dad had taught me. And as I said earlier in my statement, I felt entitled, and that is not how I was raised. Wow. What a smart guy. Rinaldi says that the first time Tiger heard the questions was before the camera. If that's true, Tiger is either brilliant or he rehearsed for this in much the same way he prepares for a major. Rinaldi: Why not seek treatment before all of this came out? Woods: Well, I didn't know I was that bad. I didn't know that I was that bad. This question is a stark reminder that an interview isn't a conversation. Interviews are designed to get the subject to respond. The frustration coaches and players feel when being quizzed by the press stems from a lack of understanding of the process. It's not the media's job to ask smart questions (and this certainly wasn't a smart question if tom and Tiger were sitting in a bar), but to get the subject to reveal. The answer is brief, but definitely gives us a glimpse into how character is both built and eradicated - one bit at a time. Either a person is honest to his core and makes the sacrifices that show he cares about others more than he indulges himself, or he makes concessions to his own selfish desires. Eventually, you become a man you can be proud of, or a man of which you are ashamed. Neither happens overnight. Rinaldi: How did you learn that? How did you learn it? Woods: Stripping away denial, rationalization. You strip all that away and you find the truth. Rinaldi: How do you reconcile your behavior with your view of marriage? Woods: That's living a life of amends and that's just working at it each and every day. More wonderfully vague but apologetic responses. He's so smart. Rinaldi: Given all that's happened, what's your measure of success at Augusta? Woods: Well, playing is one thing. I'm excited to get back and play. I'm excited to get to see the guys again. I really miss a lot of my friends out there. I miss competing. But still, I still have a lot more treatment to do, and just because I'm playing, doesn't mean I'm gonna stop going to treatment. Rinaldi: What reception are you expecting from fans? Woods: I don't know. I don't know. I'm a little nervous about that to be honest with you. That's another great answer. Tiger is telling us that our response to him is meaningful, and there is no better way to win fans back than to tell them that he gives a damn what they think. Rinaldi: How much do you care? Woods: It would be nice to hear a couple claps here and there. But also hope they clap for birdies, too. Rinaldi: Eleven months ago, here at Isleworth, I asked you, 'How well does the world know you?' What's your answer to that now? Woods: A lot better now. I was living a life of a lie. I really was. And I was doing a lot of things, like I said, that hurt a lot of people. And stripping away denial and rationalization you start coming to the truth of who you really are and that can be very ugly. But then again, when you face it and you start conquering it and you start living up to it. The strength that I feel now, I've never felt that type of strength. Rinaldi: In the last four months, Tiger, what's been the low point? Woods: I've had a lot of low points. Just when I didn't think it could get any lower, it got lower. Rinaldi: An example? Woods: When I was in treatment, out of treatment, before I went in, there were so many different low points. People I had to talk and face like my wife, like my mom. Another great asshole question. The key to any interview is specifics. Who would have cared last month if John Mayer had said, "Jessica Simpson and I had several very positive physical encounters." We want specifics, and that why, "How did it feel?" while being trite, often times gets great answers. Remember, it's not about the questions. It's about the responses. Rinaldi: What was that moment like, either one? Woods: They both have been brutal. They've both been very tough. Because I hurt them the most. Those are the two people in my life who I'm closest to and to say the things that I've done, truthfully to them, is ... honestly ... was ... very painful. Another probe for specificity, and as forthcoming an answer as we got. This makes me believe that Tiger is more than willing to publicly throw himself on the sword, but won't give us any glimpse at Elin. Good for him. Screw the public. We have no right to a peek inside his life. Tiger understands something very important - talking to the media is not a conversation. Every question is designed to elicit a response, not convey friendship. If you ever have need talk to the press, make sure you reveal what you choose. Rinaldi: What was your wife's reaction when you sat down and had that first conversation? Woods: She was hurt, she was hurt. Very hurt. Shocked. Angry. And, you know, she had every right to be and I'm as disappointed as everyone else in my own behavior because I can't believe I actually did that to the people I loved. Rinaldi: I ask this question respectfully, but of course at a distance from your family life. When you look at it now, why did you get married? Woods: Why? Because I loved her. I loved Elin with everything I have. And that's something that makes me feel even worse, that I did this to someone I loved that much. Rinaldi: How do you reconcile what you've done with that love. Woods: We work at it. If a person sat down with a list of questions and plotted his responses, he couldn't have performed better. Tiger is as smart as he is long off the tee. He reads interviewers like six-foot birdie putts. He certainly wants the noise to stop, and the interview yesterday moved the needle toward less-noisy. Nice job by Tom in a tough situation where his performance would be judged almost as closely as Tiger's. Too rough and he's a blood-thirsty ass more interested in the salacious than the substantive. Too soft and he's a sycophant trying to buddy up like Ahmad Rashad with Michael Jordan or Stephen A. Smith with anyone. Below is the entire video: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7T8I_Sjads]

Time to Play Golf, Tiger

The Truth — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:09:54 +0000

by Kyle Miller ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi interviewed Tiger Woods on Sunday for the first time since Tiger’s now infamous accident last November. The interview was perhaps best summarized when Tiger said, “I’ve done some pretty bad things in my life.” As the nation awaits the return of arguably the greatest athlete of all time, the expectations for Tiger at Augusta have not changed. I expect him to play, and I expect him to win. Tiger wins roughly 30% of the tournaments he enters which is absolutely ridiculous. On the first tee of Augusta National, what do you think the reaction of the crowd will be? Will they boo or will they cheer? My guess is a mixture of both, but in my eyes the crowd ought to do nothing. No applause, no booing…just silence. Tiger’s first tee shot in the first round of the Masters on April 8^th will be the most watched swing in golf history. Quite honestly, I can’t wait for his return to golf. I have not watched a golf tournament since November 27^th, and, frankly, outside of Tiger news, I haven’t heard much about golf. Golf needs Tiger just as much as Tiger needs golf. When Tiger viciously strikes a 7-iron 220-yards within 10-feet of the cup I usually just shake my head in disbelief. Tiger will enter the Masters in attempt to capture his fifth green jacket. That should be his focus—not how the crowd reacts, not the flashing cameras. His focus should be winning. This past decade Tiger has dominated golf and established himself as one of, if not the, most dominant athlete of all time. He has lost one time when teeing-off with the lead on Sunday. If Tiger is in the hunt come Sunday, I will watch all 18 holes. And if not, I might watch a few holes, but I will lose interest quickly. Tiger will play golf for the first time in years without secrets. He surely feels a sense of relief in that aspect. The façade which Tiger portrayed to the public has diminished. Golf is the most mentally challenging game, so how could Tiger concentrate with that guilt in the back of his mind? Now that the guilt and troubles have subsided a bit I expect Tiger to be better than ever. His conscience is clear, and he can now focus on pars and birdies which will make him more deadly than ever. Tiger’s return to the Masters is the first step in subduing the attention that revolves around his infidelity, and the media will refocus their attention toward his exceptional golfing abilities. I’m tired of hearing about his infidelity. Similar to Farve returning to football (the first time, the second time, the third time…), the media has overplayed Tiger’s affair. My prediction for Tiger at the Masters is still a bit undecided. I think he will play well, but most likely not win the tournament. I don’t want to see him get cut, but I don’t think he deserves to win. Whether he deserves to win or not, he still has to be the favorite. I’m rooting for Tiger at the Masters and hope he provides the thrills that he always has.

Indiana's Absence Makes for Another Difficult March

kentsterling — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:56:34 +0000

by Kent Sterling It's great that two teams from the State of Indiana have survived the first weekend of basketball in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. There are 16-teams, all of whom are 2-0 and are another two wins away from a trip to the Final Four. Butler is a wonderful story - as always. Purdue went from being a potential #1 seed to earning a #4 because of their play once Robbie Hummel went down. The 11-point first half against Minnesota sealed that #4. But the Big Ten Tournament isn't the NCAA Tournament. In the Big Ten, you play on consecutive days, and the loss of a player like Hummel is magnified. Even as we watch Purdue and Butler, and root for them, it's impossible to not think about who isn't in the tournament. Nowhere in the bracket do we see Indiana, North Carolina, and UCLA. UNC has had enough success lately that college basketball fans won't cry too much for Roy Williams or Tarheels fans. As for UCLA, they won enough from 1964 to 1975 to last a few lifetimes. But Indiana. My goodness. They have been to the NCAAs only three times in the last seven years. There is a great way to evaluate a decision - results. Despite the brief resurgence of fortune in 2002, the moment the worm turned for Indiana was on September 10, 2000, the moment that IU President Miles Brand pulled the trigger. It can be argued that the moment Brand instituted the "zero tolerance policy", he moved the IU program front the front pages of college basketball to the agate. It had been awhile since the Hoosiers had made a deep run in the NCAAs, and the forecast wasn't great at the time he left, but Knight so embodied basketball in Indiana that he absence created a vacuum in Bloomington that has yet to be filled. Tom Crean is trying to build a foundation so that Indiana can get back on the radar for the 2011 and 2012 high school seniors so that IU can start putting some consistently talented players on the floor, but that doesn't make the 2010 tournament any easier to watch without IU in it. Watching teams coached by such boobs as Steve Fisher and Tom Penders (who resigned today), and amoral oafs like John Calipari, Bob Huggins, and Thad Matta, is galling for Indiana fans. By all accounts, Matt Painter and Brad Stevens do it right, but for the Indiana program to be in this advanced state of disrepair casts an unholy pall over the entire operation. Those who can be held accountable are all gone. One week ago today, Indiana fans will allow the fourth anniversary of the Rick Greenspan announcement of the hire of Kelvin Sampson pass without any recognition. I was in a meeting early that afternoon with Tim Fitzpatrick - one of Greenspan's assistants. He walked into the conference room and said, "We've got our man." I asked who. "Kelvin Sampson!" For about three seconds I looked at him stunned. Even I knew that Sampson was in trouble at Oklahoma. He was staring at sanctions against the program, and what the hell did he ever win a OU. His only trip to the Final Four was ended by the idiot the Hoosiers had just fired. I wiped the look of total confusion off my face and offered a transparently insincere congratulations. Two years later, Sampson's intractable arrogance proved his undoing and he was fired. Dan Dakich took the reins and for a glorious month, it felt like Indiana Basketball again. Unfortunately, the kids weren't ready for a return to Indiana values and either cut bait or were cut. Now, Hoosiers fans are in a place where faith is being tested. Sixteen wins over the past two years for a team that has been barely competitive have made watching IU a lot like having what passes for sex on your 50th wedding anniversary. If you squint and take a valium, you can see your wife as she once was and if you concentrate hard, really hard, you can climax before realizing that the only thing that remains from the glory days is the candy-striped pants (on the IU players, not the elderly object of nostalgic affection). So tomorrow, Moses Abraham will come to Bloomington to take a look around and see if he would like to spend the next four years in Bloomington instead of Washington DC. He's 6'9", 237 lbs., and Indiana is due to hit on one of these African kids. We can look forward to the renewed health of Matt Roth and Maurice Creek. Derek Elston, Bobby Capobianco, and Jordan Hulls will be making fewer sophomore mistakes, and Verdell Jones III will be a little stronger and more consistent. How much will any of that mean when the author of a season of vacated wins at Memphis (the appeal was rejected today) can use street agents and AAU coaches to entice a new crop of five-star kids to Laxington every year? It does matter because Indiana will win the right way. When another banner goes up in Bloomington (I'm ready to macrame' one for the next .500 season), we will know that there were no shortcuts or skirting of recruiting rules. "Happy" from "Blue Chips" isn't going to give the next Neon Bordeaux a new Lexus, because anyone can cheat and win. At Indiana, we revel in shoving it up the asses of those who need to cheat. What Tom Crean is selling, I'm going to buy because the alternative is to lose faith that next March or the March after might be better. If Saint Mary's and Cornell can make the Sweet 16, the Indiana Hoosiers sure as hell can. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Sports Digest - Tuesday, March 23, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:05:35 +0000

Two Days Until the Sweet Sixteen Begins, and Other Stories of Interest: Butler - Stevens Reminds Some of Boeheim? Boilers - Purdue Adapts Without Hummel Colts - Losing Smith and Reid Brings Two Draft Picks Pacers - Hibbert Gets More Playing Time Indy Car - Conquest Adds Second Car Hoosiers - Crean Trying to Close Deal for Abraham NCAAs - Keep March Mad with 65-Team Field Cubs- Soriano Still Trying to Prove Worth Cubs - Soriano and Soto Both Working to Get Back Form Cubs - Lilly Pushing Envelope Cubs - Samardzija and Marshall Likely Headed for Bullpen

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, March 23, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:22:30 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry-51.mp3]

Story of the Tournament – Confidence

kentsterling — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:23:19 +0000

by The Rainman The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament should have taught all of us a very important lesson: confidence is the driving force behind winning. There were four instances on Saturday that proved that confidence wins out in the end. These four games were St. Mary’s beating Villanova, Michigan State’s last second win against Maryland, Northern Iowa’s upset of Kansas, and Purdue’s overtime victory over Texas A&M. All of these teams showed the confidence necessary to win at the crucial moment and they all won. St. Mary’s College has never won more than one game in the NCAA tournament and Saturday they went up against a team that many thought would make the Final Four, Villanova. Two shots defined the entire game. Matthew Dellavedova, a freshman, brought the ball up the right side and was hounded by a quicker, faster defender. He lost his footing, and at this moment he showed the win or nothing attitude that gets the job done. Somehow he keeps his feet, gathers his balance and no sooner had he regained his balance he had launched a three. Nothing but the bottom of the net. A few minutes after that Mickey McConnell brought the ball up the left side and with the game tied and 75 seconds left he decides to make a play. He takes a step back 25-footer, off the glass and in. At that point the game is over. Those two showed you the character on this Gaels’ team. They don’t want to put up a good fight. They are here to win and they have the confidence to make the plays that other teams refuse to make in order to do it. Tom Izzo is one of the best coaches in the country and on Sunday he showed us all why. He stopped coaching. There are just over six seconds left in what could be the last game of the year for Michigan State and who is bringing the ball up the floor, Draymond Green? Really? And what does Tom Izzo do? He lets his 6’6”, 235 lb. power forward run the ball up the floor. He has a timeout, but he has the confidence in his players to win the game. Because in the end, let’s face it coaches don’t win games, players win games. Izzo allowed his power forward to bring up the ball and pass to his backup point guard. You show that kind of confidence in your players and good things will happen. What happened? Lucious knocks down a game winner and Michigan State is moving on to the Sweet 16. Northern Iowa had no business being in a game with Kansas that was going down the stretch. This was the best team in the tournament, the top seed overall, but here we are with 35 seconds and the Panthers holding on to a one point lead. Just one problem, I don’t think anyone told Ali Farokhmanesh what you are supposed to do with a lead like that. Perhaps he knew what you should do, but he did what he knows how to do, and that’s shoot. Five seconds into the shot clock and he is wide open on the right wing. Most people are thinking, “okay pull it back, run some clock and maybe get fouled”. He decides it’s time to nut up and go win. He knocks down the biggest shot of his career and maybe Northern Iowa history. It was winning time and he did what it took and that takes the kind of confidence that no one has. The Purdue Boilermakers are not the team they were a month ago. The loss of Robbie Hummel has hurt them beyond belief and even President Obama had them bowing out in the first round to Siena. The people who had total confidence that they would make it to the Sweet 16 were the Boilermakers themselves. On Sunday they faced the type of team that would have given them trouble even with Hummel in the lineup in Texas A&M. One player stepped up in a big way and it was the player on a defensive minded team known only for his defense. Chris Kramer was not the man that we all thought would play the game that lifted Purdue into the Sweet 16. With a tied game in overtime the ball was put into Kramer’s hands and he delivered in a big way. I have not seen him make that move at any point this season, but he knew he could make it and even more importantly, his teammates believed he could do it. The story of this tournament has been having the confidence to make a play that wins a game. The team that wins this tournament will not hold on in the last minute. They will have to take it from the other team. These four teams have proven they have what it takes to snatch victory away from their opponents. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

What the Hell Do the Indiana Pacers Think They're Doing?

kentsterling — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:41:51 +0000

by Kent Sterling I'm not saying the Indiana Pacers should dump games. There needs to be a base-level measure of integrity in professional sports. People are paying hard-earned money to watch competitive games, and that is as true in March and April when teams have been eliminated from the playoffs just as it is in November when the remains a measure of hope for even the lowliest of NBA franchises. After a run of consecutive wins, the Pacers have risen from the fourth worst record in the league to the eighth worst. Hard to argue with wins, unless you are trying to build for the future, which of course is exactly what the Pacers are doing. With the fourth worst record, the Pacers are guaranteed no worse than the seventh overall pick in the June Draft. With the eight worst record, and don't look now, but the Pacers are one game behind the Knicks and two behind the Clippers. A couple of wins, and the Pacers will be in familiar territory - at the tail end of the lottery evaluating projects. The good news is that the Pacers are just one-half game away of the sixth worst record and one game away from fifth. The game tonight is against the team they are "chasing" for that fifth spot - Detroit. The Pacers have only 12 games left (including tonight), so these games are very important. The game tomorrow night is against the Washington Wizards - who lurk two back of the Pacers. A couple of losses over the next 36 hours would put the Pacers right back in the drivers seat for a high-end pick. This is the time to look at the kids and build for the future - at least that would be the knee jerk reaction. Taking a look at the plus-minus numbers (the pointdifferential while individual players are on the floor), it might make more sense to play the vets. Troy Murphy (-327), Dahntay Jones (-274), Brandon Rush (-221), T.J. Ford (173), and Earl Watson (-172) are the bottom five. A.J. Price (+38), Luther Head (+7), Roy Hibbert (-5), Danny Granger (-70), and Mike Dunleavy (-82) are the top five healthy players still on the roster. Plus-Minus is an imperfect stat because it counts mop up minutes just as it does those in the first quarter when the game is still on the line. Price is not playing against the starters with the game on the line as often as Earl Watson, so the comparison between the two players' score is not apples to apples, but lets get some guys out on the floor in a combination that will be more likely to give Larry Bill, David Morway, and Jim O'Brien a great look at what they have, rather than notch meaningless late season wins. Is there any gain in exposing Danny Granger to a greater threat of injury by playing him 35-minutes? Obviously not. To build for the future, the focus needs to be on the future. With a little luck, Bird will have his choice of Evan Turner, DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors, and Greg Monroe. Go crazy and win half of the remaining 12 games, and you get your choice of Cole Aldrich, Hassan Whiteside, and Al-Farouq Aminu. From which group do you want to choose? If the Pacers wind up with Aldrich, they will start next season with a white-American roster to rival any since the NBA was desegregated. In the second round, a couple of mock drafts have Luke Harangody in the Pacers neighborhood. They would never take both Aldrich and Harangody, but can you imagine a Pacers layup line with Dunleavy, Murphy, Jeff Foster, Josh McRoberts, Tyler Hansbrough, Aldrich, and Harangody. The Pacers would have the best industrial league team in the history of basketball. [caption id="attachment_1961" align="alignleft" width="69" caption="Aldrich"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1962" align="alignleft" width="73" caption="Harangody"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1963" align="alignleft" width="106" caption="Hansbrough"][/caption] The Pacers needs are pretty easily assessed by eliminating their strength. They have all the wings they will ever need. That leaves everything else. Roy Hibbert has a chance to be a good starting center, but the voids at the point and at the four are huge. Unfortunately, the only point guard in the top 20 of every mock draft I've seen is John Wall, and barring an injury, he's going #1. If the Pacers go strong to the tank, they will have an 11.9% chance of drafting Wall. If the Pacers get hot and finish eighth worst, they will have a 2.8% chance. To give you a better look at the difference between finishing fourth worst and eighth worst, here are the chances of where the Pacers would draft for both positions. At fourth worst, the Pacers would have the following chances of drafting at the following spots: 1st - 11.9%; 2nd - 12.6%, 3rd - 13.3%; 4th - 9.9%; 5th - 35.1%; 6th - 16%; 7th - 1.2% At eighth worst, the Pacers would have the following chances of drafting at the following spots: 1st - 2.8%, 2nd - 3.3%; 3rd - 3.9%; 8th - 72.4%, 9th - 16.8, 10th - 0.8% The math is simple. The path is obvious. Compete hard, but fail - at least for 12 more games. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

The New York Mets vs. the New York Mutts

kentsterling — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:55:00 +0000

by Mark Cline Spring has finally sprung. And with it comes the age-old questions of when will the rains stop, when will the flowers bloom, and most importantly, how will the New York Mets disappoint their fans this year? After suffering through a worst-case scenario last season in which the hated cross-town Yankees defeated the equally hated Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series, the loveable losers are back and as unimpressive as ever. To the chagrin of many a Met fan, the 2010 squad is filled with questions all over the diamond, and the chances of finding the right answers are rough. The first challenge the Mets need to overcome is their starting rotation. Before this season, Johan Santana was a sure thing. However, after missing the end of last season to have bone chips removed from his throwing elbow, even Mr. Met doesn’t know how Santana will perform this year. Mike Pelfrey is the classic example of hot and cold pitching that causes Pepto-Bismol’s stock to soar. One outing he is a doctor like Jekyll, the next he is as wild as Mr. Hyde. John Maine has the potential to do great things, but more often than not Met fans are happy when he leaves in the sixth inning with a 6-5 lead. With his three-year $36 million contract, Oliver Perez is making No. 2 starter money, but gives Double-A type performances. Both Jonathan Niese and Femando Nieve have a great curve ball, but lack the hard heat to be more than a fourth or fifth starter. Who will be there to catch them this season? Good question. The Mets front office is so unsure that they have four different catchers in camp right now--Omar Santos, Josh Thole, Henry Blanco and Chris Coste. All four would make a decent back up, none is the type you want anchoring your infield. While on the subject, it was not long ago that the left side of the Mets infield was manned by two guys who struck fear in the hearts of opposing teams. Coming off a 2009 season in which he never seemed comfortable in the Mets new stadium Citi Field, David Wright has to regain his power from seasons past if New York is to have any chance this year. Shortstop Jose Reyes missed most of the 2009 season with a hamstring injury that needed surgery to correct. But in typical Met fashion, Jose won’t be available until late April at the earliest thanks to a hyperactive thyroid condition. Journeyman Alex Cora will handle most of the shortstop duties until Reyes can return. Second basemen Luis Castillo ended last season with the highest batting average on the team hitting .302, this is not a good thing. Also, the fact that Castillo and Cora have a combined age of 72 this season is less than reassuring. First base will be patrolled by Daniel Murphy. Murph came up as a super sub in 2008 during the Mets second historic September collapse is as many years, but struggled to fill the shoes of injured starter Carlos Delgado in 2009. All of this leads to one conclusion. The only thing guaranteed to produce for the Mets infield this season is Jose Reyes’ thyroid. The one area the Mets front office tried to make improvements during the offseason is in the outfield. Jeff Francoeur came to New York in a late season trade from Atlanta last year, and hopes to maintain the same stroke he found at the end of the season. Left field brings the fresh face of Jason Bay to the Big Apple. By far the biggest offseason acquisition for the Mets, Bay should bring some much-needed power to the lineup. Holding down center field is Carlos Beltran; at least that is how the sentence should have read. Instead, Beltran opted for knee surgery just over a month ago without team consent, and won’t see a single pitch until May. To try to bandage the wound in center field, the Mets signed Gary Matthews Jr. who has not done much in the league since he was connected to the purchase of HGH in 2007. Eat your heart out NL East for the Mets are ready to play…maybe. So what if the team with Major League Baseball’s second highest payroll needs about a dozen best-case scenarios for them to be competitive in 2010. Who cares if the best thing seen at Citi Field this year will be the outfield grass patterns? Oh that’s right, I do.

Meet the Staff

kentsterling — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:59:01 +0000

Meet the Staff Kent Sterling - Kent is the boss, and posts at least two pieces per day. He is the former director of news and programming for WIBC Radio in Indianapolis and the founder of 1070 - The Fan - Indiana's top-rated sportstalk radio station. Kent brings two decade of sports journalism experience to indysportsonline.com. Kent was the editor for the Twisted Gazette for three years prior to entering the radio business. Kyle Miller - "The Truth" is a basketball expert who writes primarily about Indiana University hoops action. He covers all games for indysportsonline.com, and uses his extensive background in basketball to provide thoroughly unique perspective. "The Rainman" - "The Rainman" is a division one basketball player who writes from a well-informed and unique perspective about both basketball from the inside of one of the NCAA's most storied programs, and baseball. Jeff Showalter - The author of the three-times-per-week, "Sports from the Couch" column is a local radio personality and thoughtful observer of all things sports. Mark Cline - Mark is from New Jersey, moved to Indy three years ago and has never met a sporting event he didn't like. He's in college to finish a sports journalism degree, but considers himself a writer first. Travis Duncan - Travis is the editor of digitalsportsdaily.com, and a contributor to indysportsonline.com. Justin Whitaker - Justin is a current sports journalism major at IUPUI who was born and raised in central Indiana. He brings a wonderful command of language and youthful spirit to his columns that are filled with sports and mixed with pop culture. Greg Adams - Greg Adams - Greg is an Indianapolis sports journalist who has been covering the Colts, Pacers, IU, and Purdue for decades. His passion for sports and flair for dramatic language have made him a favorite here for a generation.

Keep it in your Pants CBS

kentsterling — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:03:37 +0000

by Mark Cline Let’s be clear on one thing. We don’t tune in to watch Tiger play; we tune in to watch Tiger win. The notion that the world’s greatest golfer returning to competitive action will have all of America captivated come April 11 is nothing more than hyperbole--produced only to kill time until Tiger Wood’s tee time. The people that are ready to declare the second weekend in April a national holiday are the same people who would benefit the most from a big TV draw. CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus recently said, "I think the first tournament Tiger Woods plays again, wherever it is, will be the biggest media event other than the Obama inauguration in the past 10 or 15 years." "It is hard to overestimate how much interest there will be," McManus said. "Tiger Woods is the most famous, most recognized, most accomplished athlete in the world, and his celebrity and prominence is even larger than it was. When you look at the fact that he gave a very simple press statement with no questions and every broadcast and cable news network in America carried it with great interest, I think that is an indication that whatever he does has enormous interest. And whatever he does on the golf course for the first time since Thanksgiving will be of interest to almost every man and women in this country." While it is clear that Tiger brings in the masses, there is no way the numbers will be anywhere near President Obama’s inauguration. In the 13+ years that Eldrick Woods has been playing professionally, he has never drawn more than the 16 million viewers who watched him win his first major at the 1997 Masters. In comparison, Obama’s swearing in drew 37.8 million TV viewers and countless others via the Internet. Granted, Woods has never entered a major after a four-month self-imposed sabbatical in which his dirty secrets were aired out for the entire world to see. Nevertheless, just because interest in Woods is at an all-time high does not mean another 22 million Americans are going to start watching golf. We are a fast-food nation whose collective attention span is shortening by the second. We want everything packaged in simple self-contained, self-descriptive moments. Only true golf fans are going to invest an entire afternoon in early April watching others enjoy the beautiful outdoors. If it is longer than a normal YouTube clip most of America isn’t interested. Sure casual fans the world over will tune in for a minute or two. But as soon as they realize that Tiger is not on screen--and that they have no idea how the hell the game of golf is played--they’re gone. Casual sports fans, both male and female, who might sit through a football, basketball or even a baseball game every now and then won’t be able to hang. For at least in those sports there is head-to-head action with a purpose of beating an opponent. Golf is just man against grass to the untrained eye. Of course, all of this is assuming that Tiger even makes it to the weekend. While not the same, the best measuring stick we can use to gauge Tiger’s chances of making the cut at Augusta would be the 2006 U.S. Open. This was the first major Woods participated in after his father’s death. One of the most unflappable athletes of all time was flapped. Tiger shot back-to-back 76s, marking the first time he missed the cut at a major. No, this is not the same as 2006 when Tiger was trying to come to terms with losing the most influential person in his life. But finding a new balance between the two entities he loves most,--his family and golf--while trying to avoid the scorn of a disapproving public must be a close second. The only people guaranteed to enjoy Tiger’s return are ESPN. They are broadcasting the first two days of the Masters were Tiger will definitely play, after that let the chips fall where they may. So let McManus and the rest of the media machine apply the Field of Dreams approach, “if you build it--the hype--they will come.” However, don’t be surprised when the ratings come out and show that the only people who tuned in to watch Tiger post-sexual revelation are the same folks who would have tuned in pre-sexual revelation. McManus and the rest of CBS should head out to Amen Corner, say a few Our Fathers and pray for a Tiger Hail Mary.

Sports From the Couch--A Perfect Tournament Run?

jshowal2 — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:43:30 +0000

By Jeff Showalter Everyone does a bracket. It's like the Super Bowl, in that everyone gets involved. Now there are people like me, that think about it, study it and completely get it wrong. I picked Kansa to win everything. I did pick Purdue and Butler to make the sweet 16 and Butler to go to the final four. You have the person that does multiple brackets. That person is irritating because he can say "I got that one right", but that's because that person has picked 20 brackets. You also have the "no nothing" that picks because the nickname is cool or the coach is good looking. Last you have Alex Herrmann. All Alex has done is go 48-0 on his cbssports.com bracket. That's right, ZERO WRONG! UNI over Kansas; got it. Cornell winning two games; check. Purdue winning without Robbie Hummel; absolutely. The odds of this of someone going perfect through the first two rounds is astronomical. The fact that Alex has done this is beyond comprehension. It would be like winning the lottery, getting struck by lightning and the Pacers making the playoffs all in one day. The kicker of it all? Alex Herrman is autistic. When you click the link you will read the story and click on the video link you will hear a snippet of Alex talking. You can tell that the 17 year old is autistic, but you can also see how much he likes the games. He put into his brain every score, every opinion and every game played. Alex let his mind do the analysis and wrote down what he felt was going to happen. Alex is a savant when it comes to basketball games. Some savants play piano, some understand math. For Alex, it's basketball. How he did it is as good a guess as anybody, but if coaches could figure it out, Alex may have a bright basketball future in front of him. Bill James has made a living off baseball stats and analysis, but I guarantee he doesn't get all the division winners right 48 straight times. Maybe Alex sees something no one else sees. Savants are capable of doing some amazing things. Maybe Alex's gift is hoops. People in West Lafayette better hope Alex is perfect. Alex picked Purdue to win it all. Boiler fans have 48 reasons to believe he's right.

Back to the Future with Mike Davis

kentsterling — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:42:48 +0000

by Greg Adams The University of Alabama-Birmingham hosted North Carolina in the NIT quarterfinals last night. While preparing to watch the game, I couldn’t help but think of UAB’s current head coach, Mike Davis, formerly of Indiana University. I met Coach Davis the morning of IU's 2002 National Championship matchup versus Maryland. I bumped into him during his morning jog. He thought I was just another crazy journalist with an angle. But he didn’t know I was from the future. What follows is a transcript of our interview. GA: Hey there, Coach. Greg Adams, indysportsonline.com. MD: Dot com, huh? What is that, like a website? I never heard of it. When did you start? GA: 2010. MD: Are you some kind of crack-smoking website? GA: Not all, man. I’m from the future. Just wanna chat, Coach. MD: I can tell you’re going to “chat” no matter what I do. GA: That’s why you shouldn’t run alone, Coach. That’s on you. MD: Yeah, well let me ask you something first: we gonna win tonight? GA: You know I can’t tell you that, Coach. But try to keep Lonnie Baxter off the boards. All I’m sayin’. MD: Fair enough. So why are you here? GA: Well, you’re actually coaching in the quarterfinals of the NIT on March 23, 2010. MD: Aw, man, tell me it ain’t so…who we playin’? GA: The North Carolina Tar Heels. MD: Wow! Really? They still in the toilet? GA: Well, actually, they won the 2005 and 2009 national titles. MD: Oh. So Matty’s turned it around. GA: Actually, Roy Williams is coaching there now. MD: No way! He left Kansas? GA: Yep. Cursed at a reporter and everything on the way out of town. Bill Self coaches Kansas now. MD: Wow. So…I’m struggling at IU, huh? GA: Yeah, about that…you struggled at IU…before you got canned. MD: Well, I knew that was too good to last. When did that happen? GA: 2006. MD: Who’d they get to replace me? Had to be someone legendary. I mean Carolina gets Roy Williams. IU probably replaced me with— GA: —Kelvin Sampson. MD: What the…Mr. Blue Shirt? GA: Yeah. MD: But he’s a… GA: Yeah. He was fired. For cheating. Probation and everything. MD: Speed dial? GA: Apparently it’s not even a secret in 2002! MD: When did he get the axe? GA: 2008. February. MD: Ouch. Mid-season? GA: Total disaster. Hindenburg. MD: So did anyone say they missed me? GA: Um, well, no offense, but I think at that point everyone was kind of trying to figure out why running Coach Knight out of town was such a priority. Actually, you’re coaching in Alabama now. MD: All right! Roll Tide, baby! GA: At UAB. MD: Oh my…wow. That’s depressing. So what’s Coach up to now? GA: Well, he had a pretty decent stint at Texas Tech. Yeah, I know. But then he quit and turned the program over to his son Pat. Now he’s an analyst for ESPN. MD: Bob Knight’s a member of the media? Does he hate himself now? GA: That’s funny, but he’s really pretty good. MD: So who’s coaching IU now? GA: Tom Crean. MD: Marquette. Yeah, he’s good. GA: Yeah, he is. Has his work cut out for him right now. Hey, listen, I don’t mean to change the subject, Mike, but you know, it’s really great what you’re doing with these kids and for IU right now. You need to try to enjoy this. It’s going to be a long time before anything like this happens for this school and for these fans again. These are great fans and this state loves basketball and they deserve so much more than the garbage they’ve had to endure the past few seasons. I mean, you guys knocked off Duke at the height of its power and, ironically, Oklahoma, and the guy who will in a few short years be viewed as the devil. So no matter what happens four or eight years from now, this was a great run. Incredible. And you should be proud. MD: Thanks, man. The whole thing’s been overwhelming. Are you sure you can’t tell me how tonight’s game comes out? GA: Let me ask you this, Coach. Do you think that if you won tonight, you’d be getting canned four years from now? Like I said earlier. Lonnie Baxter. Get a body on him.

Sports Digest - Wednesday

kentsterling — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:33:43 +0000

One day to go until more NCAA action; and the Cubs get ready for the season. Here are the big stories for today: Hoosiers - Tom Crean Still Highest Paid State Employee Hoosiers - Moses Abraham Visit News Butler - Mack Quietly Effective Boilers - Eager for Redux Versus Duke Pacers - Beat Pistons, Take Backward Step in Draft Order Pacers- Winning Four-of-Five - O'Brien Refuses to Tank IndyCar - Decision on New Chassis to Come in June Cubs - Bullpen Help to Come from Within Cubs - Ramirez Back in Lineup, But Can't Yet Throw

Tips for Youth Sports Parents and Coaches

kentsterling — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:44:57 +0000

by Kent Sterling With the upcoming end of high school basketball tournaments, it will be only a week or two until summer basketball gets started in earnest. That means two things, the only people watching the games will be the parents of the players, and that most of the coaches will be living out their own dreams while on the bench. It can mean so much more, but because the parents are more interested in immediate results rather than the overall character and friendship building that can occur. Parents see the best in their kids, and want to see it over and over again. If a kid can take the ball to the rack once, he should be able to do it again and again and again. There are very few parents I've known who didn't tell their kids they don't shoot enough. We had a parent who was a great guy and always asked kids in jest, "You know when to shoot the ball?" He would wait a beat and answer his own question, "When you have the ball." Here are five ways for parents to help their kids have a productive and happy summer basketball season (these lessons can be applied to other sports very easily): 5 - Do not talk about basketball in the car after a game. It's all you'll want to talk about, and your wife will want to talk about it. Your kid might even want to talk about it. Don't do it. Once that door is open, the conversation almost always devolves into a cacophony of coach and teammate bashing. I have never met a parent who had anything good to say about his kid's coach - ever. Now and again there will be some grudging praise, but only after a guilt-producing venting of grievances. No parent ever believes their kid plays enough. I know a pair of parents who would gripe about their kid's minutes after he played 28-of-32 possible minutes. In the car immediately after a game, emotions are raw and parents feel a need to either defend or advise. Let the cauldron of your parental pride cool to a simmer before you talk about the game. 4 - Allow kids to find their niche on a team. There can't be more than one alpha male on a team, and if your kid is one of ten on a team, he is likely to be one of the 90% who doesn't always get to take the big shots and handle the ball all the time. Help the kid improve. Find him tools. Don't be satisfied, but parents are much better at helping a kid by building self-worth than forcing him to work harder so he can be as good as the current stud. 3 - Manage your expectations. In Indiana this year, there are roughly 2,000 high school senior basketball players. One of them will be Mr. Basketball, and 12-14 will play on the Indiana All-Stars. Your kid can be really good, make a gob of friends, have a great time, and learn a lot about himself through the experience of playing basketball without being Mr. Basketball. If his goal is to be Mr. Basketball, cool, but remember your goal for him is irrelevant. Your goal in basketball for your son should be the same as your goal for him as a person - to be challenged and productive. Encourage him to be what he wants to be. 2 - Try to enjoy the games. This may be impossible. There are moments of grace and bliss surrounded by nerves and misery, but if you can find a way to let go for a few minutes and allow yourself to enjoy a couple of minutes of your boy's fun, you and he will be so much better off. It's hard - really hard - but basketball is supposed to be fun and you work and sacrifice too much to sit in the bleachers dying with every turnover and missed shot. To travel on your own nickel to Vegas for a basketball tournament and then wince and moan for five days, you are as big a tool as the rest of us were. 1 - Take the time to get to know the other kids and parents. The very best thing I got out of my son's experience in summer basketball (and baseball for that matter) is the friendship with the kids with whom my son played and their parents. I love going to the Loyola vs. Butler games at Hinkle so I get a chance to talk to the Howards and Hahns. Every Xavier game on TV, I watch Joe Hughes and think of the earnest 11-year-old who played so hard. I see Matt Howard's cheesy mustache and tease him about it. I remember JaJuan Johnson agreeing to an interview at a summer tournament and being honest with the interviewer. I sat the whole team down and told them how the media works. Now, I see JJ so articulate and how he says things that seem complete, but are evasive at the same time. That makes me proud. I talk to Kyle Miller, and still hear the love of basketball that fueled a very successful high school career. John Ashworth, now at IUPUI, used to sit in airport terminals and constantly entertain us with card tricks. His Dad Bob made us laugh in Vegas by pressing his ear to the slot machine he seemed chained to for four days because he said he could hear a winner before he saw it. If those friendships are the only thing you and your kid take from youth sports, you are way ahead of the game. Enjoy the ride. It ends too soon. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, March 24, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:46:07 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry-53.mp3]

American Idol - Worst Season Ever

kentsterling — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:37:00 +0000

by Kent Sterling The genius of American Idol is that it puts performance in a competitive environment. It attracts the artsy and sportsfans. Americans like to judge, and watch those who put themselves out there to be judged. It's not surprising that Idol is the most popular TV show of this generation. Most years, we see the final 12 and there might be a standout or two, but overall we deal in shades of gray in guessing who should be voted off. This season is different. This group is awful. The only standout is Crystal Bowersox, the hippie girl from Ohio. She sang "Me and Bobby McGee" last night. She and her less-dingy-than-before teeth owned the stage as she always does. She is good, but that she is clearly the best speaks to the overall dearth of talent in this year's group. The problem with tonight's results show is that America can't get rid of nine of the contestants, and move this craziness straight to the finale between Siobhan and Crystal. Of the other nine, six cannot sing. That's not good in a singing contest. By the way, for people who believe Simon Cowell's critiques are cruel - this is a TV show, not therapy. Here's a breakdown of the Final 11 - from worst to first. Those Who Flat Suck Tim Urban - Every lame Idol contestant somehow loves "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". It is the least ambitious non-Ringo Starr vocal in rock history, which is odd because Freddie Mercury was an uber-ambitious singer. Urban's hair is annoying and his voice is worse. Hopefully, he goes. It takes balls to get up on that stage week-after-week and force 30-million Americans to suffer through mediocrity. If only Urban were good enough to be mediocre. Paige Miles - Oh boy. Another singer whose departure will be a siren call for those who insist that the Idol voters are a bunch of racist WalMart shoppers. But if she can perform, this broad hasn't shown it. To perform well, you have to have a little bit of chutzpah. Paige has broken the chutzpah meter off against the zero peg. Andrew Garcia - What possessed anyone to put him on that stage? It's cruel both to put this kid out there and to force us to watch him. The neck tattoo makes Garcia unemployable anywhere but as a singer or in a body shop, and singer is completely out. "Heard It Through the Grapevine" isn't a big messy song, but he butchered it all to hell. That it might take two more weeks for him to sink to the bottom speaks loudly about the void of talent this season. Didi Benami -She is one of those immediately forgettable performers. I saw The Bangles live in 1986. We were that bored. The guitarist, Debbie Peterson, was good-looking enough, but every time I looked away, I couldn't remember what the hell she looked like. She had no defining features. Didi is in the same boat. I liked that she tried to perform a little bit last night, but her voice is just very mediocre. Her "You're No Good" wasn't. Those Who Can't Possibly Win and Wouldn't Make the Top 12 in Any Other Year, But Got There this Year Because the Quality of the Field this Year Is Pitiful Aaron Kelly - He may go deeper than the next five weeks, but only because the voters are racist WalMart shoppers. Ryan Seacrest compared him to two season ago's David Archuleta, which is apt only because Aaron is a tiny young kid. He has no charisma, but at least he can sing a little. He sang Aerosmith's "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing", which was a good choice for him. It kills me that singers select songs because "I like that song", rather than picking one in their wheelhouse. Separating the person from the performance is key for anyone who gets paid to do anything publicly. Casey James - If not for his physical appeal, this guy would never have gotten to Hollywood. It helps to be good-looking, but you need to sing too. And you need to sing good songs. There is a reason why Huey Lewis and the News tours very seldom now - songs like "The Power of Love" are hated by everyone who heard it when it was released. Michael Lynche - The cocky off-stage demeanor is very cloying. Just who does he think he is? Contestants have not earned fame, and they are not justified in behaving as though they have. The moms who got a c-note from Monty Hall for having a Q-Tip in their purses on "Let's Make a Deal" didn't leave the studio expecting to be fawned over, and neither should Lynche. Who was the Idol entrant who finished sixth last year? He can sing though. Not like Percy Sledge, but his "When a Man Loves a Woman" wasn't horrible. Katie Stevens - Katie Stevens sand the Fergie hit, "Big Girls Don't Cry". Her voice is thin and can be sharp. My wife hates her. She is neither great nor bad, and again has nothing special to make you feel that she could sell tickets or records. Lee Dewyze - This guy's name reminds me of the character on "The Beverly Hillbillies" - Little Doozie. That alone makes me laugh. As bizarre, infantile, and improbably as the Hillbillies were, it always makes me laugh. Every episode. Every character. Always. This guy ins't a bad singer, but there seems to be someone who sounds just like him in every season. He unapologetically doesn't perform. He just sings. And he will keep singing - first on the Idol tour, and then at county fairs. The two finalists because who the hell else is even remotely talented enough? Siobhan Magnus - I'm sick of the screaming at the end of songs, but she got huge praise the first time, so why not. Keep doing what you are great at until someone says "STOP!" I'm saying stop. "Superstition" is such a great rock song, and everything was mediocre until the screaming. Mediocre and perfect pitch will get Magnus to the finals. What the hell is the deal with the glasses. She's like "Superwoman". By day, a mousey librarian-esque troll. On stage, she goes nuts with the makeup and the hair. Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes" video was the Siobhan Magnus story. Crystal Bowersox - Cool name. Matted hair. Improving teeth. If she wins Idol, her first stop will be a dentist for a set of Lumineers. She can sing and perform, and most years, that puts her in the final six. This year, she'll come in second because the best performers always do. Adam Lambert and David Archuleta being the last two irrefutable examples of America's dumbassedness (but at least they almost got it right). Bowersox doesn't hit you over the head with her Janis Joplin voice or vibe, but there is a nice hippie thing with her. She seems disinterested in being a processed, formulaic performer, which makes her all the more compelling. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

A Renewed Chance--My New Final Four

The Truth — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:11:40 +0000

by Kyle Miller What are the odds of an individual having a perfect bracket in this year’s tournament? I think Alex Herrman needs to go buy a lottery ticket, fast! According to SportsCenter last night, there were zero perfect brackets submitted out of roughly 4.7 million entries. In fact, only a handful of individuals correctly guessed 15 of the Sweet 16 teams. Unlike those individuals, my bracket was similar to most in that it is now worthy of being shredded and recycled. Astutely, intelligently I picked Kansas to lose before the Final Four, but like a dim-witted idiot I had them losing to Georgetown. Jimmer Fredette and BYU didn’t upset Kansas State like Doug Gottlieb insightfully predicted, but why I ever listen to him is beyond me. With all that being said I want a chance to redeem myself, so I have decided to predict this year’s Final Four now that the tournament has arrived at the Sweet 16. How the West Region was won. This region will be won by the most experienced, talented, and explosive team left in the tournament, Syracuse. They are coached by a legend, Jim Boeheim and play an extended, lengthy zone that is only defeated from the inside-out, not the other way around. Butler shoots the three well, but will be unable to compete for forty minutes. I’ll be cheering like hell for the Bulldogs, but they lack the firepower to defeat the Orange. In the later match up both Kansas State and Xavier have a terrific backcourt. Jordan Crawford is the MVP of the tournament thus far and I look for him to keep rolling as Xavier defeats Kansas State. The most difficult region left to predict is the East. Two scorching hot teams, Cornell and Washington, peaking at the right moment square off with a Big East Tournament champion and a SEC regular season and tournament champion. The most intriguing matchup of the Sweet 16 must be between Cornell and Kentucky. Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale lead a bunch of intellectual, fundamental, sharp shooters against a group of extremely talented brutes (besides John Wall who is just plain terrific) and a corrupt coach. Go Big Red, but John Wall will penetrate into the paint too much creating opportunities for himself and teammates and Kentucky will flex their muscles and move on. While writing this I was informed that Darryl Bryant suffered a broken bone in his foot, so I changed my winner of this region to Kentucky. Bryant is second in assists on the team and shoots the triple better than Mazzulla who hasn’t even seen the ball go through the net from three this entire season (0-5 on the year). Ohio State rolls through the Midwest Region. With Kalin Lucas out with a torn Achilles, a Big Ten match up in the Elite 8 will still happen. Tom Izzo is an exceptional coach especially in the tournament. Michigan State will hammer the boards and play that tough Big Ten defense. However, Michigan State will wither away against Ohio State just as they did in the regular season. Tennessee will present a challenge to Ohio State with their athleticism and full court pressure taking the ball out of Turner’s hand, but Ohio State is too talented especially if Jon Diebler shoots 50% from behind the arc like he did last weekend. Ohio State must stay out of foul trouble because they are not deep, but the Midwest Region is theirs to lose. Duke players are like a fine wine. They get better as they age. Scheyer, Zoubek, Thomas are seniors and Smith and Singler are juniors. Duke, the most disciplined team in the NCAA, appears to be making a quiet run through the tournament. Barring a complete meltdown, Duke should make quick work of Purdue (if Hummel was healthy this would be a different story and outcome). They would then encounter either Baylor or Saint Mary’s. I would love a Baylor-Duke matchup. Tweety Carter—Nolen Smith; John Scheyer—LaceDarius Dunn. Fans seem to be high on Baylor coming out of this region, but I like the Dukies to make their first Final Four since they lost to LSU in ’05. Therefore, my new Final Four is Syracuse, Kentucky, Ohio State, and Duke. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Tournament Will Expand to 96 Teams

jimjohnsonpbm — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:17:38 +0000

by Jim Johnson I'm like most other people. I don't want the tournament to change. I absolutely love the way the NCAA Tournament is each year. What I look forward to more than the actually games is the selection show after the Big Ten Championship game and it's already been said that adding an additional 32 teams to the tournament will ruin the selection show. It will be meaningless. I can't say anything new to try to persuade people to one side or the other. I am obviously for keeping the Tournament the way it is. It's a challenge to get in and it means something to get into the Tournament. But I can't say anything new to bring more insight to the situation, except, it's time we all get used to the fact that there will be 96 teams in the NCAA Tournament. I look at a lot of things from a business standpoint and a money-making standpoint. When I go to work each and every day my mindset is based around the strategy of making the businesses I work for more money and making myself more money. So when I look at extending the tournament to 96 teams, I see more money. More money for the NCAA and more money for the conferences who host each round of the tournament and the cities that host the tournaments. It certainly is a money-making strategy for everyone involved, except for the fans who will be spending all of the money and watching, what they call, a "watered down" tournament. Who will benefit the most? The NCAA and the hosting cities like Indianapolis, who hosts the Final Four this year, and the Big Ten, who will host first and second round games in Chicago in 2011. People flock to those cities even if they're not buying tickets for tournament games. I can guarantee that I'll be in downtown Indianapolis next weekend when the Final Four is in town. I was downtown the last time the Final Four was in Indianapolis and I spent a lot of money. It's a way to make more money. The economy is crap right now and in the eyes of any businessman, dollar signs block all other perspectives. So, basketball fans, it's time to get used to a 96 team NCAA Tournament, because its going to happen. It certainly isn't the right thing to do, but who can say no to a few extra bucks? I hope it's worth watching meaningless basketball.

Sports Digest - Thursday, March 25, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:16:46 +0000

NCAA Back in Action Tonight, and Other Big Stories for Today: Butler - Barry Collier Lead the Bulldogs Athletic Department to Success Butler - Win Tonight Could Launch Bulldogs Into National Spotlight Butler - Dogs Will Face Orange 2-3 Zone Boilers - Byrd and Smith Contribute Pacers Win Fourth in a Row; Screwing Up Draft Position with Each Pacers - Hibbert Sits with Sprained Jaw Colts - Irsay Talks to Chap Colts - Eddie White Podcasts with Jim Irsay, Bill Polian, and Chris Polian Cubs Will Keep Colvin If They Can Get Him Some Starts Cubs - Fontenot Short in Stature, Slightly Less Short in Talent

Harry on Sports - Thursday, March 25, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:46:30 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry541.mp3]

University of Kentucky Basketball Recruiting - Success at What Cost?

kentsterling — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:55:59 +0000

by Kent Sterling The game tonight against Cornell could make the question of how Kentucky and John Calipari rebuilt a sinking basketball program in less than eight weeks when it takes other schools years. The Big Red might be able to pull of one of the biggest David vs. Goliath sports stories in history as a team filled with kids whose families all pay their own way to attend an Ivy League school square off against a team with as much raw talent and speed as any in history. Cornell has very little chance to keep this game tight, but they did it against Kansas early in the year, so anything can happen, but the question remains, how did Calipari get John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe to commit to UK immediately after being hired as basketball coach last April? Rumors are rampant about the use of Worldwide Wes, street agent to the stars, as a conduit for the kind of assistance needed to attract this level of recruit. There are questions about the former agent who served as John Wall's AAU coach. There is no question about the talent of the kids playing at Kentucky. They are lightning fast and very unselfish with the ball. Calipari has had two bites at the Final Four apple during his career, but don't look for either in the record books. The NCAA has stricken both appearances from the record books for different violations. At UMass, Marcus Camby received cash from a booster at least a couple of levels away from Calipari. Derrick Rose had an emissary take his SAT for him, according to the NCAA, and that caused Memphis to vacate all 38-wins, including a trip to the NCAA Finals, from its 2007-2008 season. Will there be a similar reckoning for the 2009-2010 Kentucky basketball team? I'm torn between enjoying the way this team plays and the way this team was assembled. Calipari signed an eight-year, $31.65 million dollar contract on April 1, 2009. DeMarcus Cousins commits April 8. Eric Bledsoe commits May 6. John Wall commits May 19. All three players will be chosen in the first-round of the NBA Draft - with Wall and Cousins likely to go in the top three (Wall is a consensus #1). There are rumors everywhere that ESPN, Yahoo, and the New York Times are investigating a money and real estate trail between "friends" of Calipari and the three recruits. One thing is for sure - cheaters get exposed. Even if the NCAA has so few investigators that the role of the prosecution is often played by the media, there is generally a consequence for breaking rules. That's especially true with a coach who is guilty by association so often. The NCAA has never found that Calipari personally violated any rules, and it is conjecture to assume that just because he consistently lives in a house that stinks that he bought the rancid food. One thing that I know is that Tom Crean is busting his ass trying to recruit three-and-four star kids to Indiana, which was in a state of morbidity after Kelvin Sampson arrogantly cheated in an easily proven manner by participating in phone calls forbidden by the NCAA. (Why he didn't buy a satchel full of disposable cell phones is anyone's guess - when my son was being recruited he got calls far more often from the same schools than is allowed, but the numbers were never the same.) Is Crean such a virulently uncharming guy that Calipari can get commitments in a matter of six weeks from kids many levels removed from the kids Crean has to beg to visit? There are AAU programs where the coaches are in it only to get paid. They have become the de facto gate-keepers for the players. Many of the kids being recruited are from single-parent families, and the coaches slide into the position of trusted male role model. Those coaches might have the best of intentions, but they also get paid because of those relationships. Who is there to watch or stop a "friend of the program" from handing an AAU coach an envelope filled with cash, or more likely to someone the AAU coach knows to give to the AAU coach? The AAU coach gives the kid 20% of the cash to help put food on the table for his family. The coach then counsels the family that a particular school is the right fit for the player. Is that hard to imagine? Not if you spend 10-seconds with most AAU coaches or the boosters who will do anything to attach themselves to their alma mater. Some AAU programs do it right. It's also hard to blame the coach , who is providing a service to the family not unlike the agent of a pro athlete. What about the family of the player? Look into the eyes of a hungry kid. If that was your child, tell me you wouldn't accept cash in order to put food on the table. There was a particularly awful scene in the Oliver Stone film "Wall Street", where Gordon Gekko says, "The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind." Greed also causes the rampant corruption that poisons college basketball. The crazy $3-million a year contracts are the carrots that cause coaches to push the envelope into this amoral wild west that requires immediate attention. Kentucky is nowhere near the only program where there is rampant speculation of wrong-doing, but it is the most obvious target of an organization that needs to make an example of somebody. It's hard to blame anyone for responding to outrageous rewards by continuing to employ the devices that provided the success, and it's hard not to leverage an asset (like a kid's talent at basketball) to improve your family's life. But it is against the rules, and there are reasons those rules exist. Ironically, should tonight's game be won by Cornell, it might take the spotlight off Calipari and his Kentucky program, and stave off the hounds who are rooting around for the next big story. A third trip to the Final Four may cause Calipari's downfall. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Sports From the Couch--The Butler Did it?

jshowal2 — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:54:44 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I can get on here, write 500 words about all the things Butler must do to beat Syracuse. I could go over beating the Orange zone, rebounding, turnovers, fouls and loose balls. But I'm not. This game is bigger then that. This is a defining moment of the Butler Way. Can the Butler Way knock off Goliath? I do not know the prose needed to define this moment so I'll let the experts do it. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDiUG52ZyHQ&feature=related] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w8BfH1Q_zM&feature=related] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwpTj_Z9v-c&feature=related] And we must never forget: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3E3bEH1Ov8] Hahn and Mack go wild from three point land. Hayward finishes them off. Butler 77 Syracuse 74

Butler Basketball Posts Biggest Win in Half-Century

kentsterling — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:35:45 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Butler Bulldogs are going to the Elite Eight and are 40-minutes away from coming home for the Final Four on the strength of a 63-59 win over the top-seeded Orange of Syracuse University. Brad Stevens, who wasn't born when Orange Head Coach Jim Boeheim accepted the job he has held since, led the Bulldogs to the upset by playing much better defense than the Bulldogs get credit for. When Matt Howard picked up his fourth foul on a block with just over eight-minutes left that could easily have been called a charge, things looked a little bleak. Stevens earned his pay for the year by bringing Howard back to play the last five-minutes. The Bulldogs were on the brink of losing contact with Syracuse - down four - but hit a couple of big shots, including a Willie Veasley three that got friendly with the rim a couple of times before slamming off the glass and caroming in. Butler will play the winner of the Kansas State vs. Xavier game set to begin in a half-hour. If things fall correctly, the Bulldogs will play Xavier and Ohio State in the next two games - those are teams that Stevens is familiar with and has been successful against this season. Butler beat the Buckeyes 74-66 on December 12 and narrowly won against Xavier the following weekend 69-68. Both were at Hinkle, but if they play Ohio State in the National Semifinals, that will be a return game in Indy. Syracuse looked disinterested in the first half, and might have taken Butler lightly - letting them build a 35-25 halftime lead. The Orange first half turnovers were sloppy, and the vaunted 2-3 zone did little to keep Butler from scoring as they liked. Matt Howard is one of the most adept passers in college basketball out of the middle of a 2-3 zone, and it took Boeheim 20-minutes to figure that out. So on Saturday, it will be Butler Bulldogs and either Xavier or Kansas State battling for a trip to the Final Four. Who but Bulldogs fans, who have now watched these kids battle their way to a 23-game winning streak, would have thought? The only downside to this incredible run is that if Stevens leads Butler back here for a 52-block bus ride from campus to Lucas Oil Stadium a week from Saturday, some big burly BCS school with a football program that brings millions and millions to their athletic department's coffers will force Butler AD Barry Collier to hold nonstop dance marathons and a perpetual telethon on Butler's public TV station to keep their coach. The scary thing is that the Bulldogs didn't shoot it or rebound well. They have yet to play a complete game. If they do that in 48-hours, their ticket will be punched, and Indianapolis tourist-driven businesses will weep as there are only 408 Butler fans outside of easy driving distance from downtown Indianapolis and will all sleep in their own beds and drink their own beer before hopping on fan buses for the ten minute drive to the stadium. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Sports Digest - Friday, March 26, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:11:04 +0000

Butler goes to Elite Eight; Purdue Works for It Tonight; Cubs Win and other Big Stories Butler - Kravitz - Dogs Are No Little Engine that Could Butler Beats Syracuse 63-59 Butler - Stevens on DePaul's Radar Butler - Dogs Shock Cuse Mack's Mom Sees Shelvin Go Cold Purdue - Boilers Take on Country's Top Scoring Trio Purdue - Hummel Travels with Team Hoosiers - Double Dose of Bad News for Crean Hoosiers - Abraham Commits to Georgetown Hoosiers - Crean Needs to Land In-State Kids Pacers - Heading Wrong Way withLate Season Wins Cubs - Fresh Start for Silva Cubs - Fontenot Helps Options Cubs - Lee's Chair Collapses - Tweaks Back Cubs - Gorzelanny Appears Locked Into Rotation

Harry on Sports - Friday, March 26, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:33:06 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry-56.mp3]

Butler Basketball - Where Will Brad Stevens Coach Next Year?

kentsterling — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:36:46 +0000

by Kent Sterling There are a lot of college coaching jobs open, and with Butler playing tomorrow for a shot to go to the Final Four, Brad Stevens will no doubt be rumored to be considered for many of the [caption id="attachment_2055" align="alignright" width="116" caption="Why is Brad Stevens smiling?"][/caption] openings. What offers will he entertain, and where will he be next year? Here are the openings that would seem to fit a 33-year-old guy with a career coaching record of 87-14, and a trip to the Final Four only 40-minutes away. He is signed through 2016, but coaches bolt in the middle of their deals all the time. I don't know what the buyout number is, but well-funded schools take care of that kind of thing all the time. Stevens might be in that niche between being able to get a better paying gig at a school he would have no interest in and not quite being able to get the job at the kind of school he would have to seriously consider who would pay him A LOT of money. The first kind of school where there are jobs available would be Central Florida, Charlotte, and UTEP. He's not leaving Butler to go to any of those places. Wright State's Brad Brownell might, but Stevens would be crazy to leave for any of those jobs. The major conference schools currently looking are: DePaul - No way. Stevens would be nuts to attach his rising star to the major conference program most associated with failure. The arena is 15 miles northwest of campus. The athletic department hasn't made a decent hire since Dave Leitao [a point of clarification here - Leitao in the end proved to not be a great hire, but at the time the decision was made, he looked, smelled, and behaved like the right guy; in hindsight, not even a good hire.], and the cupboard is bare for the team that has won a single Big East game in the past two seasons. To leave a perennial Top 20 program to go to Lincoln Park and build a program without any real success in a quarter-century would be insane regardless of the money. Houston - Tom Penders resigned after getting the Cougars to the NCAAs this season. Again, why leave Butler for a purgatory with a rich history that came to a screeching halt in the mid-1980s? Iowa - Can you imagine being the AD at Iowa and trying to get the fan base to rally about a briefly successful Butler coach as the man to lead a resurgence in Iowa City? Students would pelt Gary Barta with rocks and garbage before ransacking his office and tearing his home apart with their bare hands. The sting of Todd Lickliter will be felt for years at Iowa. Stevens would be a much better choice than Lickliter was, but that isn't enough. Oregon - There are some guys with major conference success lining up for this gig, and if Oregon wanted to dip into the mid-major pool, they would be more likely to tap Mark Few who already has built great relationships in that part of the country and could recruit well from jump street. Eugene is a great college town, but being the campus where "Animal House" was filmed would only attract a boob like me. Seton Hall - The DePaul of New Jersey. St. John's - Why hire a guy to recruit NYC who has never lived outside of a 45-mile radius outside of Indianapolis? The Wagner job is open, but Stevens would have to work overtime to replace the groin-grabbing charisma of former head coach Mike Deane. No one will want the Wagner job, but it's always fun to mock Deane. Other jobs will inevitably open, but other than Notre Dame, I can't imagine any where there might be a mutual attraction. Mike Brey has had the Irish in position to take a jump forward in the national consciousness, but has them perpetually mired in that 19-23 win area. He's been to the NCAA six times in 10-seasons, but hasn't been to the Sweet Sixteen since 2003. ND AD should have a pretty good handle on the potential of the Irish program under Brey. Ten years is a good run. Is institutional mediocrity enough on a campus that revolves around football? Maybe. If not, and if Swarbrick can find his guy, maybe Brey goes. Jack's guy might be Stevens. My guess is that Stevens stays. None of the jobs will be the right one, and he's got Butler rolling. The core of the team is back next year, and there is no reason Butler can't roll through another 30-win season. Brad Stevens is going to be successful wherever he goes because he works his ass off, relates well to kids, and understands recruiting to a culture. He and his wife love Indianapolis. Living comfortably in Indy doesn't require millions. You barely need thousands. As Todd Lickliter found out, special isn't necessarily where you hang your hat. Butler is special, and attracts special kids. Timing is everything, and the timing is right for Stevens to stay right here for another year or two. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Sweet Insomnia

kentsterling — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:07:23 +0000

by Greg Adams I had an awful night’s sleep last night. I knew I was going to have a hard time catching any shuteye right about the time the Butler Bulldogs polished off Syracuse 63-59 in Salt Lake City. I didn’t drink coffee. I didn’t do a Dew. And I didn’t run to my local major league baseball clubhouse to pop a few greenies. Just pure adrenaline, baby. Like many Indiana natives, I’ve adopted Butler during this tournament. I’m really pulling for the Bulldogs. For several reasons. First off, I live in East Central Indiana and Matt Howard is from Connersville, IN. Pure class. My father-in-law knows Matt’s father. Really great family. Quality people. We don’t have much to cheer about around here right now with the economy in the tank and few job prospects. So it’s a big deal for the locals that Matt’s doing such a great job at Butler. Love watching that guy play. He’s got talent but he also plays really hard. If you like rooting for good guys, root for Matt Howard. Then there's Gordon Hayward from Brownsburg, IN. My wife and I used to live in Plainfield. I still keep track of all the schools out that way and it’s great that he’s turned out become such a skilled player. He’s so smooth. He had 17 really quiet points. I didn’t even know until after the game. Did a double-take when looking over the box score. He's not really flashy. Doesn’t necessarily need to shoot to be effective. Makes the extra pass. Big talent but doesn’t play with a lot of ego. However, he needs a new nickname. That "Baby-Faced Assassin" nonsense has got to go. Maybe "Silent Killer." On second thought, let's nix that one, too. For obvious reasons... What about Ronald Nored? How many times have we called his name the past two games? He saved Butler’s cookies against Murray State, then follows that up with a great effort against the Orange that included five steals—the last one leading to Willie Veasley’s three-point dagger. Butler’s never been to the Elite Eight before. So this is a major milestone. And yes, I’m understating it. Then there’s Brad Stevens. The man can flat out coach (I think I just channeled Dick Vitale, baby!). As much as I hate to write it, I don’t know how much longer we’ll see Brad Stevens walking Butler’s sideline. He’s done a fantastic job. Schools like Butler are used to having a decent year where they maybe make the tournament—usually with a senior-studded lineup—then endure two or three really mediocre years as they retool to hopefully make another run with another senior-studded lineup. I really thought the Bulldogs were heading that direction after they almost upset Florida in 2007. Oops. All they’ve done is won 87 games in the past three years. They're becoming a tournament staple. As if the Butler game weren’t enough to get my blood pumping, Xavier and Kansas State just kept punching each other in the mouth through two overtimes. K-State eventually outlasted Xavier 101-96. As stated earlier, I live in East Central Indiana, so in addition to cheering for all the Indiana teams, I also try to follow Dayton and Cincinnati-area sports. Xavier’s about an hour-and-a-half away from me. I’m always amazed they are so competitive nearly every year. Xavier's become a head-coach feeder system for major D-I programs. Once again, former Hoosier Jordan Crawford was just sensational. He didn’t have a great shooting night, but poured in 32 points. But Kansas State showed so much toughness. Every time Xavier countered to tie, K-State would regain the lead. I’m pretty sure I would have benefited from a brown paper bag. You know, to help with the hyperventilating. Now I only have to make it through Friday. And I’m hoping the Boilers give me another reason not to sleep tonight.

Kentucky Basketball Will Win NCAAs on the Strength of Three Assets

kentsterling — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:20:14 +0000

by Kent Sterling We saw all three reasons last night, and Cornell will have nightmares for weeks about all three. Sure I was rooting for the underdog Big Red of Cornell. So was America, but what basketball fans saw was how valuable raw speed is in the game of basketball. Kentucky point guard Eric Bledsoe was faster while dribbling in transition than the Cornell guard who chased him at a full sprint. Cornell got out to a 10-2 lead, but that was gone in the blink of an eye as the Wildcats scored 12 straight points to take a lead they never lost. The Big Red fought to the end and kept the game respectable, managing to keep the game within nine or ten until the last two minutes. Kentucky will hoist the trophy in Lucas Oil Stadium for these reasons: 1 - Speed 2 - Length 3 - John Wall's unselfishness Kentucky, for better or worse, is going to win this tournament because they are soooo fast - unbelievably fast. Not only can no one come close to matching UK's speed, and you can't prepare for it. They are also really long, and you can't prepare for that either. If Kentucky shows up excited about playing defense, they game is over. John Wall is the best point guard in America - by far. Kentucky is a team with some very compelling kids and loads of rumors about improprieties, so I have watched since November. I sit and hope that Wall will do something that will reveal a lack of character, selfishness, or anything that will make me dislike him. So far, nothing. He puts his hand over his heart during the National Anthem. He applauded the Cornell point guard who fouled out late in last night's game. He plays the same way whether he has scored 20 or zero. Wall isn't always totally engaged defensively, but he's a freshman, and no freshman plays every possession. Every defensive rebound Wall grabs leads to a fast-break. Missed shots are truly like turnovers. Wall is the second fastest guard in the country, right being his running mate Eric Bledsoe. Teams tend to mirror the personality of their point guard - and Wall's almost annoying willingness to share the ball gives UK the best collective personality in college basketball. If your best player (also the best player in college basketball) is willing to subvert his own interests for the team, what teammate will have the plums to pout because he isn't getting touches? This team embodies Wall's personality, and that means trouble for the next three teams UK beats. It also means trouble in three years when Wall blossoms into the best pure NBA point guard since Isiah Thomas. Watch this highlight tape against Florida. The guards run right by multiple Gators and get to the rack for uncontested lay-ups. This isn't Rider they are running by. These are SEC kids at a school known for athleticism. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMhXAMaF04Q] Four Wildcats (Wall, Cousins, Patterson, and Bledsoe) average between 8.5 and 11.7 shots per game, and those same four average between 11.4 and 16.6 points per game. Wall has more assists than made buckets. You want size? Good grief. DeMarcus Cousin is a beast, and Patrick Patterson is a very smooth beast. He can shoot threes and rebound. All of the Cats have great length and eat space on both ends. They don't have to figure out what will work on either end. They decide what of several strategies will work slightly better than the rest. They can man you, 2-3, or how about a fun 1-3-1 trapping gambit? You think they would force turnovers? They turn it over a little bit, but Wall's assist to turnover ratio is nearly 2-1. Bledsoe has a few more TOs than assists, but that is a very small wart on a very large and impressive body of work. People keep mentioning John Calipari as the coach of the year. How? You could coach these guys to 30-wins. They could play any defense and strangle the life out of any defense. They move the ball quickly and precisely on offense, and can beat anyone no matter what they do. Basketball is a funny game and anything can happen, but when this Kentucky team is operating even at 70% efficiency, they can beat anyone left. If these kids stayed together next year, no one would touch them. I don't know how these players were assembled, but in a few years, whether or not the wins stay in the books or whether the NCAA compliance people drive to Lexington to recover the 2010 NCAA Championship Trophy, this will be a team that people will remember for a long time. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Moses Abraham Makes Decision as Another Recruit De-commits

The Truth — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 01:11:07 +0000

by Kyle Miller Sports highlights of the day: Butler advances to the Elite 8, Purdue plays tonight for the chance to join them, and two Indiana recruits decide Indiana may not be the right place for them to play their collegiate basketball. Tough news for a Hoosier fan. Moses Abraham, a 6-9 power forward, made his official decision to play basketball at Georgetown University and Matt Carlino from Bloomington South has reopened his recruitment. Moses Abraham at one point leaned heavily towards Georgetown until Crean stepped in. Abraham visited Indiana University last Tuesday and announced Thursday that he would play collegiate ball for John Thompson III. Ironically, before announcing his decision, Abraham told his family that he would be a Hoosier. However, that was not the case. Matt Carlino committed to Indiana in August of 2008 and seemed like a lock to play basketball at Indiana. He already plays high school ball for J.R. Holmes at Bloomington South, but the 6-3 guard has withdrawn his verbal commitment. Carlino moved to Bloomington South for his junior season in May of 2009 from Highland in Gilbert, Arizona. Guessing from his past recruitment, Carlino is most likely going to land in Tempe, Arizona with Arizona State. I wouldn’t be surprised if newly acquired coach Sean Miller stabs at Carlino in an attempt to snatch the three-star recruit for his own. A major concern with his revocation involves another IU-bound recruit in Austin Etherington who is buddy-buddy with Carlino. A new target for Crean has emerged in John Wilkins. John Wilkins is by all accounts extremely athletic for his size accompanied by a nice skill set. I firmly doubt he is the answer to our big man problem. Also, Will Yeguete, who I sighted at the Senior Night when IU beat Northwestern, is critical to this year’s recruiting class. He is a 6-7, 210 pound forward. Landing both of these players is critical to next year’s success. The message is laid out. We need to win and we need to win next year. Players want to win and sixteen wins over two seasons is frankly not enough. Crean faces the toughest offseason of his coaching career as fans are expecting results next year. Are we expecting a Sweet 16? No. Are we expecting an NCAA birth? Probably not. I do, however, expect the Hoosiers to be competitive on a nightly basis eliminating blow out loses such as to Ohio State or Iowa at home. The Hoosiers improved drastically from the 2008-2009 season to this past season. Next year’s realistic goals should be 15 wins including roughly seven or eight Big Ten W’s. Coach Crean has poured his heart into Indiana and better times are on the brink with or without Carlino and Moses.

Purdue Boilermaker Basketball: The Bitter and the Sweet (Sixteen)

Greg Adams — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 14:43:41 +0000

by Greg Adams The Purdue Boilermakers brought their hardhats and lunch pails to Houston on Friday night. The team played with its signature grit and determination. But they were one Robbie Hummel away from beating Duke. To some degree, the ultimate retrospective of the 2009-10 Purdue Boilermakers may not be complete until after the 2010-11 season comes to an end. For all the garbage that goes on in college athletics, one enjoyable aspect is that time is delineated in short stretches of years. For Florida Gator fans, 2006 and 2007 will be forever linked with guys like Joakim Noah and Al Horford. For IU, perhaps one thinks of the Steve Alford or Calbert Cheaney era. Purdue fans affectionately remember the period of time Todd Mitchell or Glenn Robinson graced the court at Mackey. As humans, we have difficulty moving beyond our present situation to clearly envision how this present season in our life fits within a greater tapestry of our life. There’s always an anguish that accompanies defeat. There’s a finality. The knowledge that this has ended. But it’s only ended for now. Because every year November rolls around again and the excitement over college basketball hangs in the air. At the time we’re not sure how the basketballs are going to bounce or what shots will go in—or which will come up short—but we do know that just about anything can happen on the hardwood over the next six months. Matt Painter has demonstrated the ability to recruit in-state talent. For IU fans who have complained about Tom Crean’s ability to recruit native Hoosiers to play for the Indiana Hoosiers, I have a theory. I think the way Purdue transitioned from Gene Keady to Matt Painter was calculated, flawlessly executed, and is now paying big dividends on the recruiting trail. Painter didn’t come to West Lafayette and assume all the responsibilities of building the program from Day One. He worked beneath Keady and he did the recruiting, creating those inroads that are so important in getting talent to attend a particular school. The problem for IU is that as great as the state’s basketball talent is, elite or Big Ten-level talent is still finite. While Crean’s working on building those relationships that are so important in bringing big-time talent to the basketball program, Painter’s already done it. Purdue set him up for success. And that’s why Purdue is moving up toward the head of the class in the Big Ten. If someone had told me at the beginning of the season that the Sweet 16 is where Purdue’s road to the Final Four would come to a halt, I’d say that was a disappointment. However, if you’d told me they won two tournament games without Robbie Hummel, I’d say, “Wow. Nice job, guys.” Because that’s what I’m saying now. Next year’s version of Purdue basketball will miss Chris Kramer's and Keaton Grant’s toughness and experience; however, they return a (hopefully) healthy Robbie Hummel and the more than capable duo of E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson. And maybe someday Boilermaker fans will recall with affection this era of Purdue basketball. But it’s not over yet.

Butler Basketball Is Ready to Out-Sane Kansas State

kentsterling — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 15:45:21 +0000

by Kent Sterling Kansas State is crazy, frenetic, and emotional. Butler is controlled, precise, and industrious. If basketball like boxing is all about match-ups, this one represents a different of approach to putting the ball in the basket and keeping the other guys from doing the same thing is is borderline historic. On one bench, there is a coach who looks like either he currently plays on the team or justgraduated and is a junior accountant for a firm with three names on the door and three dozen of him - all toiling away to make a lot of money for the guys whose names are on the door. In his real life, Brad Stevens was a marketing staffer at Eli Lilly before decided his love for basketball was worth more than his need to cash a big paycheck. At age 33, his love of the game is what nets him a bigger check than he could ever have earned at Lilly. His is quiet, reserved, and a thinking man's coach. The kids listen to him, and understand what he wants them to do. On the other bench is a pit boss - a guy who looks like he has taken his fair share of card-counters into the back alley behind the Horseshoe and smashed his fingers with a hammer. In his real life, Frank Martin was a change boy in a pool hall before becoming a high school coach and catching the eye of Bob Huggins - another guy who could easily step into the shoes of the Alec Baldwin character in the film "The Cooler". He became an assistant for Huggy, and when he bolted for West Virginia, Martin got the gig. His team, much like Huggins' teams are combative, argumentative, and volatile. The teams could not be further from one another in style or appearance, but both play hard and can usually win. Butler has won 23 games in a row, and Kansas State is a not-gaudy 29-7, but three of those losses came at the hands of top-ranked Kansas, so those seven losses become four. Kansas State has had five different kids lead them in scoring this season and have two kids who shoot without conscience. Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente combine to fire away from deep 14.5 times per game. They send everyone to the glass, and rotate eight kids. Clemente is yak-strong, and a good matchup for Shelvin Mack. Curtis Kelly is a very quick-footed big leading Kansas State in rebounding, who might seem to have a favorable matchup against Matt Howard. Butler does what they always do, out fundamental their opponents, but don't sleep on their athleticism and ability. Matt Howard can appear a little clumsy and awkward, but I'm convinced a lot of that is an act. He's a well-coordinated kid who can finish with either hand and has a very strong care. He is a difficult kid to move and a very adept rebounder. Howard has been playing against big guys who thought he was just a floppy-haired goofball from Connersville for years, and has won 90% of those match-ups. Matt is a defensive gambler, and it costs Butler now and again. He tries to draw charges often and is quite good at it, but combined with how aggressively he challenges shots, it can get him into foul trouble. I know it's crazy to cite a D-2 kid as the absolute expert in anything related to basketball, but the University of Indianapolis' Nate Blank has been unbelievably good at it since early in high school. Blank and Howard played AAU ball together, and Blank taught Howard everything he knows about getting position and pulling the offensive player down straight on top of him. Butler shot six-of-24 from beyond the arc, and Mack accounted for 1-for-10 of that total against Syracuse, and the Bulldogs still won. With a good shooting night against Syracuse, there wouldn't have been any drama to the game. Watch Zach Hahn today. Zach was 0-3 shooting triples Thursday. He is a very talented big game shooter, and if Zach has a chance to knock one down late, my money is on him to cash it. My key to Butler's success is that Ronald Nored does not shoot the ball from outside 15-feet. Not only doesn't he make many (18.2%) - he doesn't hit the inside of the rim too often. He is to shooting what relief pitchers are to hitting. Not only aren't they productive, they look awful in the process. Nored is a wonderful defender and a key today on that end, but can't let that make late in the game against the Orange give him the notion that he should go bombs away today. Nored leads Butler in assists, and that is where his offensive focus should lie. If he takes his first three and makes it, he should stop shooting altogether. Nored has not made more than one three-pointer in a game this season. We haven't mentioned Butler's most unique player yet. Gordon Hayward is the Horizon League player of the year, leads the Bulldogs in rebounding, and is very productive offensively. He averages 1.55 points per shot, and that is a gaudy number. He's surprisingly not so good from beyond the arc, but he is very good at getting fouled. Both teams are very well-balanced, play without regard for personal glory, and compete like the game means everything. Butler continues to be overlooked by dolts like Digger Phelps, and if this were a game whose result could be predicted by how the teams look during warm-ups, they wouldn't even throw the ball up at 4:30p. But that's not how games are decided, and Butler hasn't lost in over three months, and they seem to play with a poise that comes from that level of relentless success. I like the Bulldogs this afternoon by seven - 72-65. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Sports From the Couch-Weekend Observations

jshowal2 — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 16:24:44 +0000

By Jeff Showalter As we all get ready for a big day of basketball, I thought it was time for some quick hits on numerous topics. I can't believe this is the last season of "24". I didn't start watching it until I spent a winter weekend, some years ago, renting seasons one thru three. The best part of renting is that there are no commercials so you can get thru a season in a couple days. Jack Bauer is one of the all time great characters, even if it is partially due to the fact that no one can do in one day what he does. I have mixed feelings about Purdue. Every team should hope to play as hard as the Boilers did in the three tournament games. They defended, rebounded and outworked their opponents but I just can't understand how this team, even without Hummel, was so bad offensively. I think Painter needs to tighten up the offensive efficiency because there is no reason to believe a team with that much talent can get in the 60's against a slow Duke team. Baylor? I knew people said they were good, and I'm not spending a lot of time staying up late to watch the late Big 12 games on ESPN but they are pretty good. Long, athletic and can shoot it. I think Baylor runs away from Duke Sunday. I don't see how Duke keeps up athletically. Tennessee beating The Ohio State University was not surprising. Tennessee goes nine deep and OSU plays six or seven. Thad Matta lost that game in November when he decided not to build some depth. Bruce Pearl is nuts, but he can coach. His teams play just off the brink of "out of control", but they defend, the turn people over and they can run. They could beat Michigan State very easily. Speaking of the Spartans, Tom Izzo is the first coach since Bob Knight that the quote "he can take his team and beat your team and then take your team and beat his team" applies to. The guy does amazing things with his teams. It really is strange because he doesn't go all over the country to get players. Some of the big time recruits he gets, don't always play like world beaters. He gets guys that may not be great players and gets them to play over their heads. MSU plays so hard it is ridiculous. Sparty never looks good in November or December, they lose games in conference that they shouldn't. They go into the tournament with seven eight, nine losses and next thing you know they are making a tournament run. Izzo teams play so hard that they create ways to win. Why do the Pacers wait until March to look like a real NBA team? Jeez, what time to play well. Nothing like playing your way into the 10th pick in the draft! DeJuan Blair, 71 games played. Tyler Hansbrough, 29 games played. There is nothing more irritating to discuss then religion or politics. I left those arguments back with my heavy drinking college days, but every Catholic in the world should be embarrassed that their church has allowed pedophiles to be responsible for parishes for so long and basically done nothing. Why the NCAA doesn't move the women's tournament back two weeks so that it can have it's own spotlight, is one of the dumbest business decisions in all of sports. St. John's should go after Geno Auriemma as their head coach. Geno has nothing left to prove at UConn and he could coach men. Tom Crean lost out on another recruit. This time to Georgetown. Anyone outside of Indiana, that watches the Hoosiers play, would not want to go there either. Tom Crean, you live in Indiana. They have a ton of division one players located inside its borders. Going to Florida, New Jersey or Washington D.C . for players is not really necessary. Mike Davis is at UAB because he recruited Alabama harder then Indiana. Pay attention! Ok now for the big games. First the late game. West Virginia versus the Evil Empire. Talk bout the lesser of two evils! Bob Huggins is not what you would consider as a sympathetic figure, but compared to UK and Calipari, Huggins is a saint. I really think WVU could irritate UK because they defend are as athletic. I still don't think it's enough because John Wall is too good. The Evil Empire advances by 7. Butler versus K-State. Kansas State is bigger, faster, jump higher, longer and stronger. Butler is smarter and can shoot better. Hayward and Howard absolutely have to stay out of foul trouble. Everyone says Kansas State has better guards. I diasgree. They have DIFFERENT guards. Both shoot it and both play fast, but I don't necessarily thing they are better. KSU gave up a bunch of points to Xavier because their guards didn't defend. I think Nored can shut down either guard Stevens puts him on. If Mack shoots for 40 minutes like he did for the first 20 versus the 'Cuse, then the guards cancel each other out. Today is Gordon Haywards defining moment. If he can shoot it and be difficult to guard, he can get to the line and make hay. I think today is the day Hayward becomes a legitimate big time player. 20 to 25 points and Butler wins by 5. Tom Crean: you reading this?

Sports From the Couch--Special Edition

jshowal2 — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:48:36 +0000

By Jeff Showalter

BUTLER WINS

UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE

P.S. I HAD THAT CONGRATS BULLDOGS. IT IS YOUR WORLD WE ARE SIMPLY LIVING IN IT

Butler Basketball to Final Four Opus from a Great Butler Fan

kentsterling — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 02:01:50 +0000

by Kent Sterling I wish I had written this, but I grabbed it from the email sent from a good friend who decided to wax rhapsodic tonight. Enjoy. Move over Bobby Plump and Milan. Make room Oscar, Damon and Larry. Rick Mount, can you move a bit to the left. Thank you. Slick, Keith Smart, Coach Wooden, Digger, Reggie and yes, you too Coach Knight. Please make some room. Coach Hinkle? Stay right where you are! You see, we’ve added another piece to the tapestry that is Basketball in the great state of Indiana. What a moment for the entire state of Indiana. What a moment for those of us lucky to live in central Indiana. What a moment for the city of Indianapolis. What a moment for Butler University and its alumni. What a moment for Butler head coach Brad Stevens. But, mostly, what a moment for those kids! Butler is coming AND going. Coming home and going to the Final Four! Using a basketball IQ that is unequaled in this tournament and utilizing talent as good as anyone in this year’s edition of March Madness, Brad Stevens and his kids have captured America’s heart and earned a spot in the Final Four. In Indianapolis. It is safe to say that next Saturday in the heart of Basketball Country, downtown Indianapolis, at a place called Lucas Oil Stadium; Butler will enjoy the GREATEST home court advantage EVER in the history of the NCAA tournament. Never has a team played “at home” in front of so many. Even the casual fan; the corporate guy from Florida or the accountant who comes every year from LA, will be pulling for Tony Hinkle’s old school. We’ve been blessed with so many wonderful basketball stories in our state. Plump’s Milan story was good enough to inspire one of the greatest sports movies of all time. Oscar and Crispus Attucks. Damon Bailey and the dome. Larry Legend and the Sycamores. Digger and the Irish snapping UCLA’s 88 game winning streak IN our state. Smart’s golden shot. Mount and his points. Knight and his titles. “REG-GIE” moments at MSA. So many. Too many to list here. But the story now is Butler. The Bulldogs did what they had to do in the 63-56 win over Kansas State. That’s two wins in three days. And I guess we should mention that the teams Butler beat just happen to be the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the West Regional. That’s all! Gordon Hayward stepped up again. He led ALL scorers with 22 points, with eight rebounds (three offensive) and a very important 6 of 6 at the line! Shelvin Mack, carrying this team in the post season, tied Hayward for top honors in rebounds with 8 and added 16 points. Matt Howard, saddled early with foul trouble, had 8 points but was a very disappointing 4 of 8 from the foul line. Butler incredibly shot better from beyond the three point circle (46.7) then it did overall (45.7). Also the Bulldogs were 14 of 20 from the charity stripe – a few of those misses being key 1 and 1s. Butler incredibly won the battle of the boards, outrebounding KSU, 34-29. The Bulldogs, who had done such a wonderful job all year keeping their turnover total down, exploded Saturday for 19 turnovers! But still, BU found a way to win. The Butler Way. Butler’s defense, as it has been ALL season long, was spectacular. They held Kansas State to 38.6 shooting from the floor. Incredibly the Wildcats did NOT have a MADE three point shot (0-2) or a MADE free throw (0-4) in the first half! In the first half alone KSU had scoreless time periods of 3:15, 3:07 and an incredible 5:00!! The Wildcats ONLY led in the whole game for: 28. Curtis Kelly (14), Jacob Pullen (14) and Denis Clemente (18) combined for 46 of the team’s 56 points! I would NOT have wanted to be in that locker room after the game when Coach Frank Martin walked in. (And coach: what’s with all the lapel pins? You like a four-star general!). So, Butler is IN. IN the Final Four. IN Indianapolis. INcredible!

Kentucky Basketball Loses to West Virginia and America Wins

kentsterling — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 03:01:08 +0000

by Kent Sterling I can't believe it. That Kentucky lost is incredible to me. They were obviously the more talented team, and certainly the best team remaining in the tournament. The Wildcats possessed all the attributes every college basketball recruits to. They were long, fast, smart, and unselfish. And now they are going home to Lexington two games shy of a chance to play for their goal. Kentucky fans who made travel arrangements for next weekend in Indianapolis are scrambling to dump tickets and cancel reservations. For basketball fans, it's a shame we won't get to see this group play again, but for fans of all the is good and right, this would be seen as a just result if not for the coach who sat across from him tonight in Syracuse. While UK's John Calipari is universally seen as a man who has figured out a system for gathering players in ways that others either can't or won't, Bob Huggins managed to coach at Cincinnati for 16 years without graduating a single player (according to the methods used by the NCAA). Moral purists can't really rejoice tonight because of the outcome of the regional final that will send the renegade West Virginia Mountaineers to Indianapolis next weekend. There is one thing I know about the other team that advanced to the Final Four today - neither the coaches nor boosters arranged for any incentives for the current group of Bulldogs to convene at Hinkle Fieldhouse for the privilege of playing basketball. The excellent education and the opportunity to represent a unique program was enough. Butler is the anti-Kentucky, and they will be playing 52 blocks south of their homes, apartments and dorm rooms next weekend. Kentucky took the road most decided not to travel in hiring Coach Calipari, and they reaped the reward, but not that which they most covet - a trip back into the national spotlight. They assembled a great group - four of whom will be drafted in the first round by very lucky NBA teams, (three in the Top Ten), but in basketball - that level of physical excellence doesn't guarantee success. Anything can happen in basketball, and it happened tonight to the Wildcats. There is a question of Kentucky's strategy that baffles me - with West Virginia looking like it wanted nothing more than to turn the ball over, why did Kentucky insist upon fouling? Down seven with 1:30 left, they didn't need to foul, but they just kept doing it. I thought the last two minutes would be a lot like the last minute of the Kansas/Northern Iowa game with a smothering press against a team that was just trying to run out the clock and had no interest in attacking. But UK kept hacking, and sending West Virginia to the line. The Mountaineers missed a bunch of foul shots and allowed UK to close the gap to four, but the Wildcats had to go the length of the floor for every offensive opportunity following the free throws. Generate a backcourt turnover, and they could get a shot up in seconds against a defense that isn't ready. The rest of the tournament, an event in which I'm sure the Kentucky faithful have lost interest, looks good for the Butler Bulldogs. The quaint little team from 49th Street in Indianapolis will play the winner of the Michigan State vs. Tennessee game tomorrow. Michigan State, without Kalin Lucas is still a great group. The Volunteers are an inconsistent athletic freak show. Butler can beat either team. Then they would play West Virginia, Duke, or Baylor. The team that just beat Syracuse and Kansas State surely has a chance to beat either of those teams. People might belive this is some freak occurrence, as though Butler is a quaint group of earnest kids - an underdogs like the Milan 1954 team that was honored in the film "Hoosiers". CBS will undoubtedly ask Brad Steven to stand under the basket at Lucas Oil Stadium with a tape measure. Zach Hahn will hop on Matt Howard's shoulders, and Brad will say, "10-feet, just like at Hinkle Fieldhouse." That a group of outstanding basketball players who didn't need a sack filled with cash to report for their first practice and excel in the classroom might be viewed as freakish is ridiculous. Every coach who is tempted to go all Pete Bell and start paying kids should take a look at Butler and Brad Stevens. Define you culture and recruit to it. Sounds hard? It is hard. But the road leads to what Brad and his kids will experience next weekend while the best teams money can buy will be going through individual workouts with their agents. Thirty-years ago, a group of kids went to Lake Placid with a little talent and a dream. They beat the Soviets, and branded themselves forever in our memories as a team that did it right and got what their collective faith earned. Over the next decade, America learned that those kids weren't just a bunch of fresh-faced wonderful kids, but very talented hockey players who made millions playing in the National Hockey League. These Butler Bulldogs may do exactly the same thing. This isn't a lucky run by 11th seeded George Mason a couple of years ago. These kids can flat play, and Brad Stevens can flat coach this kind of team better than anyone. For the Kentucky Wildcats, I'm sure most will make millions playing in the NBA. I wish we could watch them learn from tonight and get it together for next year. They are a special group of kids. Calipari will find a new group of kids willing to show up in Lexington for more than the honor of wearing Blue and White with the fancy designs on the backs of the white jerseys. Butler will return everyone, and we'll see if they can repeat whatever the result from next weekend. Greed isn't always good. Sometimes you both lose and feel dirty.

Final Four Is Set; The Indianapolis Welcome Wagon Set for Michigan State, Butler, West Virginia, and Duke

kentsterling — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:43:08 +0000

by Kent Sterling Talk about parity. Picking a minimum of two #1 seeds was a always a must to maintain a respectable bracket, but no longer. All of the teams either flying or rolling out of bed to make it to Indianapolis next weekend were seeded in the Top 20, but the Best Damn Mediocre City in the World will welcome a #1, #2, and two #5s. That's amazing, and other than Michigan State, no one has any idea how the fanbases will travel. West Virginia played in the Final Four once before in its history - in 1959 (no one I know in Louisville remembers anything about that event, much less how many Mountaineer enthusiasts came to the 'Ville either by horseback or Hudson). Duke hasn't sniffed a Final Four since 2004, and has only 12,000 students (grad and undergrad), but all have daddy's debit card to pop for hotel rooms and rounds of drinks. Butler has never been to the Final Four, but we can be sure that Bulldogs fans will travel the rigorous 15-minutes downtown to partake in the revelry. Michigan State fans enjoy the Final Four as a biennial celebration of their school. Tom Izzo has taken the Spartans to an incredible six final fours in the last 12 years. Still, when people talk about the historically great programs, Michigan State might be mentioned 15th, and that is mostly due to Magic Johnson, Greg Kelser and Jay Vincent's group winning the National Championship in 1979. Butler is the fifth university in Indiana to earn a ticket to the Final Four. Indiana (1940, 1953, 1973, 1976, 1981, 1987, 1992, and 2002), Notre Dame (1978), Indiana State (1979), Purdue (1969, 1980), and now the Bulldog. This is the second trip for the current members of the Horizon League. Loyola - Chicago won the whole damn thing in 1963. I can tell you a little bit about that group because they are honored during a home game every season as I sit waiting to watch my son play. Michigan State fans remember Indy well as they won the tournament the last time they played here in 2000. The Great Wall of Hoop does not lie, and it shows four teams I never thought would advance. I had Butler beating UTEP and Vanderbilt before falling to the 'Cuse. Duke I picked to lose to Louisville before watching Pitino's Cardinals play like they were in it for the per diem cash. Because I believe Bob Huggins to be a low-rent character who uses ball players and then launches them into the world without degrees or life skills, I picked West Virginia to lose to Morgan State in the first round (this personal vendetta against Huggy has cost my money in pools many times over the years). Michigan State? They were a second-round loser against what I thought was an underrated Maryland team. Not strong. What is strong is college basketball. With the proliferation of training facilities - there are six academies and four full-time trainers that I know in Indianapolis alone. There are buildings with six gyms apiece all over Indiana, the sports performance business has never been more brisk, and the methods for building strength and agility never more advanced. That has resulted in kids everywhere being able to work on their shooting without being the son of a coach who has the keys to the only gym in town. So four teams will come to Indiana - not the birthplace, but certainly the home of basketball - to play for the NCAA Championship. The odds-on favorite is Duke - the last remaining #1 seed - is a group that all right thinking Americans love to hate (everything about the campus shrieks pretentious). The team that knows its way best to the Final Four is five hours north in East Lansing. West Virginia, from a state that has made great strides in adult literacy - now ranking very near the middle of the pack (on Friday's Oprah, they showed some of the people from America's fattest city - Huntington, West Virginia - where breakfast for the grade school kids in pizza. Recess is sedentary yet sweaty). And Butler - the kids who do it right. Great players, great students, nice neighborhood. They will be America's team, cast in the role of underdog when they are really anything but. The Bulldogs will play another #5 in the semis - Michigan State, whose coach is a master - the best coach in college basketball. Nothing to do next weekend, come to Indy and enjoy yourself. Everything is walking distance from the downtown hotels, and the city loves this party that comes to town every four or five years.

Sports Digest - Monday, March 29, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 12:20:51 +0000

Final Four Is Set and Other Big Stories Butler Is More Than Just Cute Butler Can Be the Champion Final Four Is About Survival, Not Seeding NCAA Threatening to Mess With Perfection Duke and Butler Favored to Meet for the Title Michigan State Earns Yet Another Final Four Trip Spartans Know Lucas Oil Best Duke Ends Six-Year Absence Hoosiers Roth and Creek Getting Healthy Hoosiers Rebuilding Timeline Might Mirror Baylor's Pacers - Finally They Show Some Smarts and Lose IndyCar Race Postponed Until Today Milton Bradley's Shadow Continues to Loom Over Cubs Tyler Colvin Makes Cubs Roster - One Spot Left for Millar or Tracy

Harry on Sports - Monday March 29, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 12:50:44 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry56.mp3]

Indianapolis Visitors Guide for Final Four Weekend

kentsterling — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:35:51 +0000

by Kent Sterling There are a lot of people who view Indy as this dull type of city very similar in Kansas City, Nashville, or Cincinnati - big enough for an NFL franchise, but not much else. And you are right. If you took everything either great or terrible out of Chicago, you would have Indianapolis. Rarely is anything crowded, but rarely is there a reason for a crowd. People in Indy complain about traffic that would by the lightest day in a major city since the advent of the Interstate Highway System. And crime - not too much. The first thing you need to know is that the weather forecast is said to be as good as it gets here through Sunday. Sunny everyday until Saturday when it starts clouding up a bit with a high in the 70s from Wednesday through Sunday. If you are so impressed with the weather, you think of moving here, that would be incredibly unwise. This kind of pleasant stretch in early April is historic. The first year I moved here, I set my watch by the daily severe weather warnings that were released by the National Weather Service at 2:10 p.m. Until June, the weather is flaky at best. This year, it's playing in our favor. But during a Final Four weekend, Indianapolis springs to life and offers a pretty damn fun experience. Cabs? Don't need one if your hotels is downtown. You will be no more than a mile from everywhere you want to go - unless you want to go to Iaria's - a family owned Italian joint where you will no doubt see Rick Majerus, Tom Izzo, and every other coach who wants to get off the beaten path to eat in peace. Indianapolis isn't known for fun like New Orleans, but it does a fair imitation of a place where a good time can be had - a least during big event weekends. Here is a list of things to do if you are coming to our town: Best Non-Chain Restaurant - Lunch or dinner at Iaria's - 317 South College Ave. This is really the one restaurant in the downtown area that is not part of either and upscale or downscale chain. The recipes have been in the family for years, and the place has an ambiance that most Indy restaurants don't even try to fake. The tourists don't know this place, but the big hitters do. Best Italian in the city. The rumor is that the restaurant was opened by a connected guy from Chicago who was sent packing by Al Capone with enough cash to start a business and no need to return to the Windy City. This is a mile from downtown, but worth the cab fare. Steak Restaurants - There is the usual array of Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Capitol Grille, and Fogo de Chao type places downtown where you can get a great steak, and people always talk about the St. Elmo's shrimp cocktail (which is so hot, it's painful), but the best steak in Indy is at Mo's - the Place for Steaks at 47 S. Pennsylvania. This is easy walking distance from any downtown hotel. Normally, there isn't much need for a reservation in Indianapolis, but this weekend, you'll want to call ahead today to get a table. Cigar Bar - I'm not a cigar guy at all, but there is still something very cool about Nicky Blaine's - immediately south of Monument Circle on the west side of Meridian Street. It's dark with velvet wall treatments, and sofas throughout. This is a place where they know your name and call you a cab if you stumble in more than once. Nicky's isn't a kid's Naty Light bar. There are plenty of those south a couple of blocks. This is a place where the well-heeled booster go to get loaded, pick up a tab, and fall down. Again - easy walking distance. Music - Normally, the only downtown music that is worth anything is at the Slippery Noodle, the oldest bar in town, and the place where Hal (the owner) books the best blues acts willing to come to Indy. This weekend though, there is great music for free at the Lawn at White River State Park (one mile west of downtown on Washington Street. Friday night, Stone Temple Pilots. Saturday - Daughtry and Darius Rucker. Sunday - LL Cool J and the Goo Goo Dolls. Switchfoot and One Republic will play a tent party downtown (corner of Jackson and Meridian) Friday night at 7p. The only way in is to win tickets from a local radio station owned by a company for whom I have never worked. Jet will play at a tent party at the Slippery Noodle - doors open at 6p. There will be big screens in the tent, so you can watch the games and listen to Jet. Sounds confusing, but Jet is featured in so many commercials that it might be like watching at home. Tickets at the door are $10. Children's Spot - If you are coming to Indy for the weekend and bringing kids, the Indianapolis Children's Museum is a nice place to kill some time. It's straight up Illinois about three miles from downtown. Do not walk it. There is an admission price, but not too steep. Museum - You want to squeeze some culture into your visit, hit the Indiana State Museum - straight west on Washington a mile from downtown (right next to the Lawn at White River State Park. They currently have a robust collection of Lincoln Memorabilia on display. If you are into Abe Lincoln, this is your place. It's actually a cool place even if you could care less about the history of Indiana. President Benjamin Harrison's home is north of downtown for those of you who have heard of our 23rd president. He's the one squeezed between the two terms of Grover Cleveland (our only head of state to serve two non-consecutive terms). That Harrison is known best for that speaks to the level of interest many have in Harrison, the Jimmy Carter of the 19th Century. Sports Bars - Back in the day, friends and I would go to the Final Four without any tickets just for the fun. We watched games in sports bars (except when in Seattle, where there were no sports bars in 1995. In Indy, there are a lot of sports bars. Scottie's, Chammp's, Kilroy's, Jillian's, The Pub, BW3s, and many more right in the middle of downtown. Kid Bars - It's been awhile, but there seem to be several on South Meridian - Tiki Bob's, Angry Beaver, and others. Slipping around on puke isn't my idea of [caption id="attachment_2144" align="alignright" width="130" caption="With broads who look like that and guys sporting the Moe Howard hairdo, every slapdick from East Lansing to Morgantown has a chance for fun at Tiki Bob's"][/caption] fun, plus the kids don't go out until I'm already in bed, so while you might see me downtown - I won't be surrounded by children guzzling a gallon of cherry kool-aid and vodka through two dozen straws out of a martini-shaped trough. Late Bar for Adults Looking to Find a Horny Divorcee - Ike and Jonesy's (17 West Jackson - five blocks south of Monument Circle). This place is a privately owned and dimly lit funhouse that plays oldies worth dancing to. This place is like a college floor party for the 30+ crowd. In this place, every man has a chance, and after 12-beers and some squinting, you might find something worth taking back to your hotel room. Of course, you remember the mornings after the floor parties, don't you? Are your teeth still sharp enough to gnaw off your own arm? If you are a guy, but aren't looking for women, (not that there is anything wrong with that), there is a great place to watch the game. It has the look and feel of a private home, but is actually a nice joint. Ed Kink's (formerly "Balls! A Sports Bar - and MORE!) at 5352 N. New Jersey (not too far from the Butler Campus) will have the game on, and then as good a Karaoke night is there is in town. Kink's decor is similar to an actual home, but what's on the inside is not so domestic! Indy offers something for everyone, and this weekend, there is a lot of it. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Say a Prayer Today for Don Hauser

kentsterling — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:47:27 +0000

by Kent Sterling Don Hauser had a heart attack Saturday night. He was in a bar playing video bowling, felt ill, started sweating, and was rushed to St. Francis Hospital. He initially refused to sign a consent form for an emergency angioplasty because that's Don's way. He doesn't like change, especially when it involves equipment being lodged in his heart. He finally relented, and things went well. Don had double-bypass open heart surgery this morning, and I hope he's feeling okay. Don is a producer at WIBC Radio in Indianapolis. He has run the board for Dave "The King" Wilson, Steve Simpson, and Ed Wank during his 20 years with the company. When I was in charge of hiring and firing producers at WIBC, I made the very unfortunate and pragmatic decision to fire Don. There is a little valve in my brain that releases stress when I do something right. I thought long and hard about whether I should fire Don. We needed to populate the staff with versatile players, and Don was simply a very good board-op. He also was (and is) one of the most passionate people about radio I've known. Pragmatism won over my personal desire to keep Don, and I told him he was gone. He accepted it with grace, and then asked if he could remain as a weekend board-op. I told him I would love that. As Don walked out of my office, that little valve didn't release, and I knew that I had screwed up - not only Don's life but WIBC as well. Driving home that night...going to bed...driving into work...while eating lunch, I couldn't get Don out of my head. I began to concoct scenarios that would allow me to bring Don back. It wasn't out of guilt. There is always a little guilt when someone is fired, especially when it's someone that you hired. There is a sense as a boss that something more could have been done to get the right result, but in the end - it's just goodbye because the employee wasn't the right fit and I wasn't smart enough to make the hole the right size. Finally, after a year of Don busting his ass on the weekends with the same passion he had always brought, I got to rehire him to a full-time slot. There are good days and bad days as a boss. That was a very good day. Here was a guy who never felt sorry for himself, never let my bad decision taint his determination, and never behaved for a minute like anything but the diligent and friendly guy everyone called "Hairball" because of his variety of strange and ill-conceived hairstyle choices. When people are fired, most prove you right. They had no business being trusted to enhance the radio station. Some, like Don, prove you wrong in ways that grind at your soul. There is room for pragmatism in running a business, but when a boss loses sight of the unique value of passion, he or she becomes part of the problem, not the solution. I will be forever thankful to Don for allowing me the chance to make right my mistake. His passion and generosity of spirit makes Emmis a better place to work and make WIBC a better radio station. No radio manager is smart enough to implement plans that can compensate for an ambivalent staff. I was a buffoon for not recognizing that. So Don lays in a hospital today hoping that his sternum heals quickly so he can feel normal again. Yesterday, he spoke of work and how hard it will be to not work as he recovers. That's Don. WIBC and Emmis will be a little less special until he's back behind the board for Ed. So say a prayer today that a truly good man who has devoted himself to WKLR, WNAP, and WIBC will regain the strength to quickly return to his vocation. Also pray that radio managers can avoid making shortsighted decisions like mine to fire the Hairball. Radio needs more Hairballs and less pragmatists. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Sports From the Couch--Butler Dumped Cinderella Last Year

jshowal2 — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:44:43 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I am tired of hearing about glass slippers, party crashers, unbelievable rides, miracle run and shocking events. I'm sick of improbable, historic and unprecedented. Butler dumped Cinderella last year. Dropped her like a pass to Hank Baskett (or onside kick) gets dropped. Butler kicked that girl to the curb a long time ago. Problem is that too many people ignored it. Hardly anybody paid attention to what was going on over on the North Side of Indianapolis. I, for one, didn't ignore it and now we need to talk why. I was blessed with the opportunity to spend some time on Fridays, giving some opinion and being the butt of jokes on "the Drive with JMV". One of the many items we would discuss was Butler basketball. For anyone that would listen, I tried to explain that Butler, not Purdue, had the best chance of making it to the Final Four in their own backyard. Most people scoffed, but I could tell that something pretty good was brewing over there. Something a little different then the Cinderella variety of mid major. For the first time, Butler had true horses, they weren't a bunch of specialists marvelously put together to form a cohsive unit. This team had athletes, that had run, jump, and defend in their DNA. When marvelously assembled this time, Butler dumped Cinderella and had a team that could match up with the major conferences and win. It takes a little luck to get any team built that can get to a Final Four and this group is no different. Matt Howard was a top 75 recruit that liked the small town feel of Butler comapred to a Big Ten size school. Ronald Nored was set to go to Western Kentucky, but when Darin Horn left for South Carolina, Nored went to Butler. Last, the major conferences missed on not one, but two, big time players. Shelvin Mack and Gordon Hayward are both legitimate NBA type players. Hayward's stock is on an Apple like run up the NBA draftboards and Mack, with his Joe Dumars/Jeff Hornachek type game is beginning to get some attention himself. It's not often that two players go under the radar and end up on the same team. It happened here. Last year, the Bulldogs, blew by everyone's expectations and found their way back to the tournament. In losing to LSU, you could see that this team had the potential to be very good next year. You don't start three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior and not expect some growing pains. But for Butler, these pains only became noticible at the Horizon League Chanpionship loss to Cleveland State and the NCAA loss. If you can go that long without major issues, then when the team matures, both physically and mentally, you have yourself a pretty strong team coming back. Last summer, Haward and Mack played on the Under 19 USA team that won the world championship. Hayward made the all tournament team and wowed the coaches and scouts with his all around game. Mack, who was not an original invitee, ended up being a captain and logged major minutes at both guard spots. Jamie Dixson coached the team and commented that the one thing he knew for sure from the experience is that he didn't want to play Butler! People! When one of the games most respected coaches tells the world something like that, please pay attention! The list of major media people that thought Butler could go to the Final Four at the beginning of the season consisted of one writer. Pat Forde of ESPN.com and former writer for the Louisville Courier Journal had the Bulldogs in the Final Four. Sadly, Pat did not have the Dawgs reaching Indy at tourney prediction time. Pat has always been really good about returning e-mails from me and he has been chastised for dropping the Dawgs. However, the forever brilliant Andy Staples from si.com immortalized himself by correctly picking the Dawgs to play for a championship in Lucas Oil Stadium. He figured out what Pat had thought, what I believed and Butler expected: Cinderella needs a different date to the ball. Butler dumped her a long time ago.

NIT Tournament--the Other Final Four

The Truth — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:11:14 +0000

By Kyle Miller As talk surrounds the NCAA Tournament and Butler’s magnificent run to Indianapolis, another Final Four begins tomorrow, March 30th, at Madison Square Garden. As the anticipation for this coming weekend wanes, I need something to pass the time. While I normally rely on watching my Pacers when the evening’s college matchups don’t excite me, the NIT takes precedence this week. Dayton squares of with Mississippi in the opening game and then a surging North Carolina team will face Rhode Island immediately after. No number one seeds remain, as two number two seeds, a three seed, and a four seed will fight for the NIT Championship. Mississippi, a two seed, is a familiar foe to Hoosier fans. The Rebels ran Indiana off the court in the Puerto Rico Tipoff by a score of 89-71. Finishing fourth in the SEC behind Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee, Ole Miss lacked a marquee win against any top team in their conference which ultimately denied them an NCAA Tournament berth. Their junior guard, Chris Warren, leads the team in points at 17.3 a game. Mississippi defeated Pat Knight and the Red Raiders in the quarterfinal in an epic, double OT affair in which Warren clocked 47 minutes. As mentioned, they face Dayton for the rights to play for the championship. [caption id="attachment_2180" align="alignleft" width="87" caption="Chris Wright"][/caption] I have adopted the Dayton Flyers this year because my girlfriend attends school there, and I visit a couple times a month as a result. I believe Dayton would be in the NCAA Tournament if they hadn’t blown a 15-point lead against Xavier in the Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament. The player to watch on this team is all-conference, first-team forward, Chris Wright, who averages 13.8 points and 7.1 boards a game. Dayton did not lose a game by more than eight points this entire year. Should the A10 be considered a mid-major? Xavier has appeared in the Sweet 16 three years in a row, Temple and Richmond both appeared in the NCAA tournament, and Rhode Island faces North Carolina in the other NIT Final Four contest. I think Dayton beats Mississippi in a fun game to watch as both teams look to push the tempo.

The later game features two baby blue squads. Rhode Island ended their regular season losing five of their last seven games. They advanced to the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship but lost to the Temple Owls. If it weren’t for their late season collapse, Rhode Island would have also made a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Rhode Island knocked off my pick to win the NIT, Virginia Tech, and will face another ACC team in the semifinals in North Carolina.

[caption id="attachment_2179" align="alignleft" width="119" caption="Deon Thompson #21 and Ed Davis"][/caption] North Carolina is peaking at the right time, but because they underperformed all year long, they’re doing so in the NIT and not the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels have seemed to find their grove recently. The defending National Champions played an extremely tough schedule, especially in the beginning of the year. They defeated Ohio State and Michigan State and lost to Kentucky by two in Lexington to start what appeared was going to be a promising season for the young Tar Heels. But following a quick start, until now, UNC was horrendous, especially in conference play. Their season was capped by getting blown out to arch rival Duke, 82-50. In my mind, they are the most talented team left in the NIT, and behind Ed Davis and Deon Thompson I expect them to overpower and knock of Rhode Island. The Final Four in Indy is approaching quickly, but not fast enough. The NIT obviously does not compare to the NCAA tournament, but I fiend for college basketball and the more I can watch the better.

Kravitz & Eddie Minus Kravy - Eddie White Interview

kentsterling — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:15:36 +0000

by Justin Whitaker [audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/whitaker-white-interview.mp3] [Editor's Note: I believe this is the first time Eddie has spoken about the seperation of Kravitz & Eddie. My two cents is that Eddie is doing a great job of keeping the show moving and working hard to make the show unique everyday. No doubt, the chemistry between Kravitz & Eddie was a big reason for the success of the show, but Eddie seems a little more relaxed doing the show, and the interviews are excellent. He has Dick Vitale tomorrow, and the fun will be to hear if Eddie can get Vitale to shut up after he asks the first question. If you haven't listened to the show in a while, take some time for it. Eddie is giving central Indiana a great look at the most exciting Final Four ever to come to Indianapolis. KS]

Has This Been Tom Izzo’s Greatest Coaching Job?

Greg Adams — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 02:48:47 +0000

by Greg Adams Michigan State’s in the Final Four. Again. Yawn. Sigh. If it feels like the Spartans survive and advance to college basketball’s penultimate weekend every other year, it’s because they do. Sort of. No doubt by now that you’ve heard Tom Izzo has led a group of fighters, clawers, and scrappers to the Final Four for the sixth time in twelve years. It seems like every year he does this we ask the question, “Is this Izzo’s best coaching job yet?” So…is it? In 2009, many thought Izzo did his best job of milking the most out of his talent when he led that team to the NCAA Championship game. He upset Louisville in the Midwest Regional Final and Connecticut in the National Semifinal to earn a date with eventual national champion North Carolina. But that group earned a No. 2 seed in a far deeper NCAA field. This year’s Spartans were seeded fifth in a considerably weaker field. I’ll grant you that Izzo didn’t have to lead Michigan State through as difficult a road as last year. The Spartans defeated the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks, the Cardinals, and the Huskies along the way. Let’s be honest. Maryland, Northern Iowa, and Tennessee lack the same pedigree as last year’s victims. But to do most of your heavy tournament lifting without your best player? Even with a weaker tournament field, conventional wisdom says you need all your horses. Just ask Purdue. Or Syracuse. And that’s why this tournament run has been especially noteworthy. When Kalin Lucas went down in the first half against Maryland, to say State incurred a huge loss is a tremendous understatement. The six-foot junior led the Spartans in points, minutes, assists, and field goals made and attempted this season. How do you replace that type of production, let alone leadership? With limited options on the bench while facing the likes of Greivis Vasquez in the second half of its second round matchup versus the Terps, I thought the Spartans were done. How many times have we thought the Spartans were done over the years? Or even this season? There was a three-game stretch in February that is largely responsible for Michigan State being seeded fifth. Back-to-back-to-back losses to Wisconsin, Illinois, and Purdue by an average of almost 12 points per game left the Spartans reeling, their fans perplexed, and Izzo reaching for the Maalox. However, by the end of the Big Ten regular season, they had finished in a three-way tie for first with a 14-4 conference record. After losing to Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, State was relegated to a five-seed. The result of the seeding meant a potential second round matchup with Maryland and, in all probability, a Sweet 16 matchup with Bill Self’s Jayhawk basketball machine. But Korie Lucious—a speedy sophomore with a penchant for erratic play—nailed the game-winner to put Sparty in the Sweet 16. Then Northern Iowa notched the upset of the tournament by dispatching Kansas. Instead of having to match the Jayhawks’ firepower with Lucas unavailable, they could more comfortably grind it out and play their own style against the feisty Panthers. Right now Izzo is relying on supersized/undertall center Draymond Green, super-quick but carefree Lucious, and the super-enigmatic Raymar Morgan. The group is typically relentless on the boards and gets into its opponent defensively. Tremendously athletic but not overly skilled. And they just keep winning. The irony is that this is all lost on us just a year after Izzo’s Spartans were the media darlings of the 2009 Final Four. There’s a new darling in town, one who’s not only playing in its home state, but its own city. They have a young coach, a young star, and an historic gym. And while it’s understandable that many throughout the country are falling in love with Butler after meeting them for the first time, the man who right now just might be the best coach in college basketball has space and time to toil, teach, and scheme. I have a feeling Sparty’s bringing his hardhat to Indy this weekend. Because Tom Izzo will be roaming the sideline. Yes, indeed. Michigan State’s in the Final Four. Again.

Sports Digest - Tuesday, March 30, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:02:19 +0000

Here are the stories that are moving the sports world in Indiana: Butler - Hiring Stevens Pays Off Butler - Early Practices Make Life Easy for Students Bulter - Ticket Dispersal to Students Causes a Mess Butler - Statement on Student Ticket Process Butler - Sagarin Simulates Tourney One-Billion Times; Butler Wins 196,220,808 Butler - WSJ Article on Bulldogs Final Four - "Truck" Bryant Wants to Play for Mountaineers Pacers - Math Ends Pacers Playoff Chances - Time to Lose Hoosiers - July 20 Trial Date for Todd Leary IndyCar - Power Makes It Two in a Row at St. Pete Cubs - Colvin Pushing Starters for Job Cubs - Clubhouse Has a Different Vibe this Spring Cubs - Spotlight Is on Carlos Marmol

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, March 30, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:33:03 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/harry57.mp3]

Should Brad Stevens Be the New Head Coach for Indiana University Basketball?

kentsterling — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:35:47 +0000

by Kent Sterling There is some discontent in Bloomington. The Hoosiers have posted 16-wins over the past two seasons, and that isn't going to get it. The recruiting class that is supposed to prove that last year's top ten class was no fluke currently consists of two kids at positions where Indiana already has depth. Moses Abraham, one of the best big men who didn't sign a letter of intent in the fall, chose Georgetown over IU despite a heavy late push from Tom Crean. So people wonder if Tom Crean is the right guy for the job. They wonder if the Crean hire was just another blind stab in the dark by Rick Greenspan, the man who did very little to stop IU's athletic evolution toward the bottom of the Big Ten. As Butler prepares to go make the 15-minute drive from Hinkle Fieldhouse to Lucas Oil Stadium, Hoosier fans are wondering if Brad Stevens might not be the right guy to lead IU out of this eight-season funk that has reduced the once proud best in-state program, and one of the top-five nationally respected basketball schools to no better than the fourth best in Indiana. Stevens story will be told thousands of times this week. He accepted an unpaid position at Butler in 2000, leaving a nice gig at Eli Lilly to follow his dream to coach collegiate basketball. Butler was in the middle of its rise from obscurity to a nationally respected mid-major, and launched coaches to big-time gigs. Barry Collier went to Nebraska. Thad Matta jumped to Xavier and then Ohio State. Todd Lickliter bounced out to Iowa. The Bulldogs administration liked the momentum and decided to hire an internal guy each time. That allowed Steven to ascend at comparative light speed - taking the head job at 30. Three years later, Butler is a combined 88-14 under Stevens. He didn't build this culture of winning on 49th Street, but he has refined it, and while some will say that the kids like Jukes, Howard, and Hahn were Lickliter's, Stevens had a major hand in recruiting all of them and was the guy in getting Howard to commit to Butler - their first Top 100 kid ever. He followed that up by getting Shelvin Mack, Gordon Hayward, and Ronald Nored. A lot of people say, "If you can't shoot, you can't play." Steven's ignored that axiom with Nored - an 18% stoker from deep - and his defense has been instrumental in getting the Bulldogs a couple (we hope) extra home games. Would he fit in Bloomington? Stevens has proven himself exceptionally adept at operating what amounts to a small business, but can his culture be successful at what amounts to General Motors - a former giant that is lumbering along praying for a light at the end of a very dark tunnel it has dug for itself? Or, is he just great at being where he is? If not for Crean - if the job was open - would Brad Stevens be the absolute best coach available? Is Crean the guy to do the job. Two years in, there are questions - serious questions about that. At Butler, Stevens answers to Barry Collier. At Indiana, Crean answers to damn near anyone who has ever worn downed a pint at Nick's. Brad can wander Indianapolis in anonymity. In Bloomington, Crean is the most recognizable guy in town. This brings up another question - would Stevens be willing to accept a job that would mean a hike in profile that would be life-changing when he doesn't have to? Remember that Stevens' Dad was a red-shirt freshman on IU's Rose Bowl team, and the the two of them drove to Assembly Hall countless times to watch the Hoosiers play in the '80s and 90s. These are two very different questions. My guess, knowing Stevens work-ethic and personality a little is that he would adapt grudgingly to the lifestyle, but would thrive in the position in Bloomington. He is a very skilled young man who delegates well, and delegation is the key to operating a big clunky business like IU basketball. So that leaves two questions, are the first two years of the Crean regime indicative of what's to come for IU, and would IU AD Fred Glass have the stones to buy out Crean's contract and restart (AGAIN!) the process of getting Indiana back to respectability? The first answer is unknown and because of that, Glass shouldn't do anything. It's possible that this spring will be the one chance Indiana might have to go get Brad Stevens, but they would be doing it at the expense of the guy who might yet be right for the job. There is no doubt that as Glass watches the thrilling Butler run to what could be a national championship, he is making that determination in his own head. He won't share that with anyone because to do so would start a rumor machine best left silent, but he knows Stevens is so well established in Indiana that he could do a great job recruiting Indiana kids to play at Indiana (what a concept). And not only do Butler kids graduate - they excel in the classroom. These aren't the end of the bench kids either. Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward are academic All-Americans - Howard is a first-team selection, and Hayward a third-teamer. Butler is the only school with two kids selected. So does Glass stroke a fat check to Crean, hire Stevens, and hope? Or does he continue to hope that Crean can right the ship, and not beg alums for another big bag of cash? This is an academic argument. No way Glass turns against Crean. It took Baylor seven years to move toward excellence, and it will take Indiana that long with Crean, Stevens, or the ghost of Henry Iba. Glass will ride with Crean, and hope the Cook Center can tip the scales further in IU's favor. Stevens will stay at Butler for now, continue to grind and keep Butler atop the Horizon League until they bolt for the Atlantic 10. He will enjoy going to work everyday, saying hello to Jennifer Johnson (who launders the players uniforms, and plays a great second base for an old broad) and Collier with the same enthusiasm. There is something to be said for loving your job and feeling loved in it. Lickliter found that out a couple of weeks ago. I get the feeling Stevens is smart enough to get it without earning that lesson the hard way. We're going to find out because someone is going to back a big-ass truck full of cash up to Stevens' front door in the coming weeks. He'll have to make a decision, but it won't be Glass whose offer he'll refuse. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Sports Digest - Wednesday, March 31, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:13:41 +0000

Sports Digest staff is out of town. There is no sports digest today.

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, March 31, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:16:01 +0000

Harry was out late last night, and we are still waiting for him. The hotel front desk has been called, and they are efforting to wake him so he can fulfill has contractual requirements. This is what the producers of Harry on Sports get from time to time for trusting Harry in a city where he has friends.

American Idol Review - March 30, 2010; Siobhan Magnus, Crystal Bowersox, Casey James, Lee Dewyze, and Aaron Kelly; Who Will Be Eliminated

kentsterling — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:22:01 +0000

by Justin Whitaker While I enjoy seeing two UFC fighters fight to bleed and love seeing safeties crack defenseless wide receivers, I have to admit I also love American Idol. It is not the most masculine thing, but as a music fan, it is enjoyable to see a contest so hyped and publicized. And as a sports fan, I enjoy the competition the show brings. Blend the music with the competition and it is a combination I cannot stop watching. I catch flack from most of my buddies because I watch the music talent show, but it does not really bother me because they have terrible tastes anyways. They are watching Real World and Jersey Shore, I am watching Idol, who really needs to be getting thrown under a bus? While I will still be writing and talking sports weekly, I am going to be giving my not-so-expert opinions on everyone’s favorite guilty pleasure every week. Time for the now weekly American Idol review! Top Ten: R&B/Soul Week 1. Siobhan Magnus- “Through The Fire” by Chaka Khan I like the song choice first off. The Kanye West version of the song is good, so I was hoping for the same here. Siobhan looked the most normal we have seen her all year. I was really a fan of her outfit until they showed her boots. Wow, those things were hideous. She was pretty and elegant, and then had some military boots on. Uh, what? But at least her unique voice distracted me. It was at times hard to understand her because of the way she sang it. But Siobhan did an okay job with it. I don’t think her niche is R&B/Soul so she’ll get a pass this week. The judges were way too hard on her though. Maybe their critiques seemed worse than they really were because they are usually very complimentary toward her. When she was talking to Ryan I thought she was going to break down in tears. But returning from break, the floodgates burst. By the way, the backstage reaction of the contestants was great. I really enjoy that point of view and I hope it continues every week. 2. Casey James – “Hold On, I’m Coming” by Sam & Dave For the first time I believe in all of Casey’s performances, there was more of his voice than him playing the guitar. While I am normally not a fan of his, I enjoyed his performance this week. But as my step mom said continuously, “He is eye candy!” Well duh. That is the only reason he is on the show. Casey’s future is as one heck of a lead guitarist, but not as a bland wannabe rockstar. Wait, does Nickleback need a singer? It was one of Casey’s better performances, but to me it was like the Detroit Lions having a good season. Sure it does not happen every often and it was nice. But how good is having a 9-7 performance only once in a while? That is what Casey’s performance was to me. The 2000 Detroit Lions, about time something decent materialized. Back to mediocrity next week though. 3. Michael Lynche – “Ready for Love” by India.Arie Big Mike brought it tonight. He had been starting to wear on my nervous with his overzealousness and larger than life (and body) personality. But he was subdued, relaxed and controlled. I really enjoyed his performance a lot. I had never heard the song before but he made me a fan of it. I enjoy it when the singers move into the crowd or perform in different places. Big Mike did a great job this week of doing that because it made his performance more special and memorable. Ellen said it best, “That was beautiful, I loved it.” 4. Didi Benami – “What Becomes of a Broken Heart?” by Jimmy Ruffin First off, I have to admit I have some bias towards her. I am hoping Didi stays around a little while because she’s a great person to watch sing. She is such a beautiful girl. And I am fond of the little bit of Regina Spektor in her voice. This was one of Didi’s better sounding performances so I was disappointed that the judges tore into her. Maybe I was distracted, but I did not notice all the drama. But I can also tell you that I was not exactly looking for drama during her performance either. She not make a good song choice though. I am not sure if it was supposed to be a slow or fast song. It seemed to be a very rushed song, like a lot of things were packed into that small time window. Didi was not going to share what that song was about either, it did not matter how much Ryan pried. After break they showed her pretty emotional in the green room, I just wish I could have been there to give her a hug. 5. Tim Urban – “Sweet Love” - by Anita Baker I believe I have figured out why he’s still on. His facial expressions. He looked like a sad puppy dog throughout the entire song. He really took Usher’s advice and connected with the audience, but too much. He stared into the camera every chance he got and it felt very awkward. But I am sure all the teenage girls were swooning over him as I thought he was starting to make a pass at me. While his voice is dreadful, I have to give the guy credit that he has a great sense of humor about this. He realizes that he no place on the show and it is by pure luck he’s still on the show. Tim just laughs at the harsh critiques the judges give him, which makes me laugh. Maybe he should stay a little longer, his uncomfortable awkwardness is quite entertaining. 6. Andrew Garcia – “Forever” by Chris Brown Some people do not like him, but I have been driving the Andrew bandwagon since day one. I have enjoyed almost all of his performances and when I heard he was singing this song I was ecstatic. He was dressed to impress in that grey suit with a purple and white shirt underneath. His outfit blended really well with the purple lights in the background. More importantly, he did such a great job with the song. It was original and fun to listen to. Andrew made it sound very easy and graceful. Great performance and good to have him back to form. They just better stop with that weekly “Straight Up” reference now. Lastly, I disagree completely with Simon’s statement about him being boring. Idol featured his story during the audition weeks, which shows there is some substance there. Andrew just seems to be a very subdued guy. Good to see him finally get the judges support again. 7. Katie Stevens – “Chain of Fools” by Aretha Franklin Like the entire night, Usher gave great encouragement. Telling her that she needed to have some attitude was essential to the performance and song. The bouncing her shoulders and head right off the bat injected attitude immediately. I cannot believe she is still in high school. Watching that performance would not make you think that she is so young. But Katie and her voice just seem much older than what they really are. Pretty big comparison here but she sounded like Christina Aguilera in parts of the song. (I swear I typed this before Randy made the comparisons) She is getting better every week and she could make it pretty far in this competition. I would not be surprised if she made the finals if she continued to improve like she has been. 8. Lee Dewyze – “Treat Her Like A Lady” by The Cornelius Brothers Lee admitted that self-doubt has hurt him. I do not know why he has any because he is a great singer. He has such a unique, enjoyable voice. It was on display throughout this song and the crowd was involved the entire time. They were clapping, cheering and soaking it all up. Plus, quite an ovation after the song was over. It was easily his best performance in the competition. The song fit him well and he made it sound interesting. Lee turned a song that I’ve never liked into something I would listen to. After Simon’s high complement, Lee looked completely speechless. But Simon could be right, that might have been the performance that changed his life. 9. Crystal Bowersox – “Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight & the Pips I liked her sitting down playing the piano, it made the performance seem more intimate and special. It was obvious immediately she felt weird standing up with just a microphone and no guitar to play. But her performance was good, but not as good as her other performances. It was just average for her. Simon was right about the backup singers, it did feel old fashioned because of them. When Ryan asked Crystal about Kara’s one-sleeved shirt, all she could say about it was “It’s cute.” Which you could tell was code for, “Uh, there’s no way I’d be caught looking that ridiculous.” 10. Aaron Kelly – “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers Wikipedia says that Aaron Kelly is one of 127 people to cover this song. It also seems like someone on Idol has performed this song every year. Unfortunately for Aaron, there are a lot of comparisons to be made. I will admit before hand that I am not a big fan of his. He might be a star, but not to me. But I don’t think I am the demographic he is really interested in. I am sure him and Justin Bieber are not really sweating over a 21-year-old college student disliking them severely though. There were a few things that bothered me about his performance. His outfit did not match the song at all. Aaron should have been dressed better. Not look like his parents just dropped him off at the mall for some Wetzel’s Pretzels and Orange Julius. I did not like his performance at all. He just did not fit well singing such a commanding song. The crowd agreed with me because if they really liked it, during the quiet parts of the song you would hear a reaction. But there was nothing, much like the feeling I get after all of his performances. Overall, a pretty solid night. I had doubts about the R&B/Soul week, but most of the contestants delivered. Usher was actually a helpful guest judge too, he seemed to have meaningful tips for the singers. While the judges enjoyed Lee the best, Andrew was my favorite of the night. I look for Tim, Didi and Katie to be in the bottom three this week. With hopefully Tim leaving, if not, it is goodbye for my favorite on the eyes, Didi, to leave. Justin’s Idol Power Rankings of R&B/Soul week

Andrew Garcia
Lee Dewyze
Michael Lynche
Katie Stevens
Crystal Bowersox
Casey James
Siobhan Magnus
Aaron Kelly
Didi Benami
Tim Urban

Final Four Breakdown - Three Goods Versus One Evil

kentsterling — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:25:13 +0000

by Kent Sterling The talking heads never want to step out and say that there is some seriously crooked nonsense going down in college basketball, and I lose respect for them every time they wax rhapsodic about Bob Huggins and John Calipari. "Baby, there guys can flat-out coach!" is the refrain. How are they at building young men who can go out in the world and make a difference? How are they at finding a way for their kids to earning a meaningful degree? How are they at selling their programs to recruits on its merits? To pour Coach K, Tom Izzo, and Brad Stevens into the same career pot as Bob Huggins is laughable. I was thrilled to see West Virginia and Kentucky paired in the same bracket because at at one would have to lose before coming to Indianapolis. Of course all of the coaches will be here in their shiny logoed sweatsuits this weekend for the National Association of Basketball Coaches convention. They will spend their money at the OTB, Ike and Jonesy's, and Iaria's, all the while complaining about how kids are flakier than ever, and how their parents are worse. Then Saturday will come, and we will turn our attention from the annoyance of the sweatsuited throng to the basketball the country is waiting to see. Izzo's Michigan State Spartans will enjoy their sixth trip to the Final Four in 12 years, and will match-up against the supposed Cinderella. That's not a glass slipper on Matt Howard's foot - it's a size 18 basketball shoe. The bus Butler will use to get to the stadium won't turn into a pumpkin because these Cinderellas are the favorites in the first semifinal. Brad Stevens' group does an outstanding job of playing within themselves and controlling the tempo. The winners of 24 consecutive games, the Bulldogs are pretty close to unflappable. They know how to finish games and in 80 minutes against the numbers one and two seeds in their regions, Butler looked flustered during exactly zero possessions. They play the way they play, and nothing Izzo can do will change that. It may or may not be good enough to beat the Spartans, but Butler won't be awed by the experience and beat themselves. In the second game Saturday night, we have two teams I would like to see lose. As with the Kentucky vs.West Virginia game on Saturday, I will have to settle for a guarantee of one of them losing. Duke I root against because the university is a pious and sanctimonious place where the kids who are too cool to go to an in-state school but not smart enough to get into an Ivy League institution go to be all impressed with themselves. I've been to the campus twice, and the vibe is early American Self-Impressed Douche Nozzle. Coach K appears to be this wonderful mentor for kids (and is), but he is said to have the foulest mouth in sports. That raises my level of admiration a bit for Duke, but not enough. Jon Scheyer is the typical Dukie. He's that guy who gets all the broads, but doesn't know what to do with them. The guys who play at Duke just aren't "guys" - you know? The exception is Nolan Smith, the son of the late Derek Smith, who helped the University of Louisville to several Final Fours and a National Championship in 1980. Derek was one of the all-time good guys in sports. He was asked one year to play in the Foster Brooks Celebrity Pro-Am at Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville. Foster Brooks was this guy who did a drunk act on the Dean Martin Roasts and put together a golf tournament to benefit the Kosair Hospital for Children. Bob Hope, Ernie Banks, and a bunch of half-baked celebs would join pros like Fuzzy Zoeller, Jodie Mudd, and Billy Kratzert for a day of golf. Smith declined to embarrass himself by playing but he did offer to serve as a caddy. The entire 18-holes, Smith shagged a bag for a golfer. He raked traps, pulled pins, and all with a big smile. He won me over forever that day, and his kid must be a decent enough guy because of that. Smith died as a result of a congenital heart defect almost 14 years ago, so there is a part of me that wants his kid to put a smile on the old man's face as he watches from above. It also helps that Duke is playing a team coached by Bob Huggins. I don't care what the school is. If Huggins is the coach, I want losses of the most agonizing kind. I want Smith to throw in a half-court shot that leaves his hand the exact moment the horn sounds. I want Huggins to leave his seat, lean all this way and that, and then gaze in horror as the shot hits the back iron and pops 25-feet straight up in the air, jump up and down twice thinking he's won, and then collapse in horror as the ball slices through the net. Huggins doesn't graduate young men ready for the challenges of the business world. In fact, he graduates no one. The final of Butler and Duke would be a singular affirmation that student-athletes can triumph over the one-and-dones that have populated the Finals for that past few years. College basketball should be played by kids who go to college to learn about life, not use it as a weigh station for a professional career. The rule requiring kids to attend a year of college is so completely ludicrous and absent any academic logic that those in the NCAA who agreed to it are the standard bearers of boobism for our generation. A final of Duke and Butler - two schools that enjoy racial, athletic, and academic harmony will be something parents can point to as an example of competitive sports being done right. Can we be so lucky to see that on Monday night? A Butler win would change the landscape of basketball in Indiana for a decade. Kids here would grow up dreaming of playing for the Bulldogs. Can you imagine Matt Painter and Tom Crean making home visits hoping that Brad Stevens isn't behind them? I see no parallels between the Hickory High School team of "Hoosiers" and Butler Bulldogs, but come on, do it for all the small schools that never got a chance. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

The Importance of This Year’s Recruiting Class for Indiana University

The Truth — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:57:34 +0000

by Kyle Miller It’s really quite simple. Competition drives success. Crean has come up empty on some top recruits (Selby, Irving, and most recently Abraham, to name a few), but there is no reason to fret. If Crean wants to establish a solid foundation, he must produce and excel with the core players we currently have. Would landing a top 10 recruit be nice? Of course. In time I believe Crean will land his fair share of those players, but not this year. Players spend a ridiculous amount of time throughout their playing career in practice and working out. Practice and off-season workouts are where the majority of players improve and sharpen their skills. Crean commented late in the season about how players seem to compete in practice but lack that same type of aggression and drive in games. This statement did not come as a surprise to me for one simple reason: IU lacks competition in practice whether it is five-on-five or one-on-one due to the lack of depth at all positions. In order to mimic the intensity of games, practice must match that sort of intensity. Imagine a one-on-one dribble drive drill between Verdell Jones III, arguably IU’s most explosive offensive player, and Kory Barnett. How does Jones’ game benefit? It doesn’t. In certain practices and drills, I’m sure Jones is matched up against the likes of a Maurice Creek, but not on a day-to-day basis. Skills are perfected through repetition, so when Oladipo (number 23 in white in video below) and Sheehey become official Hoosiers this summer, Verdell will face stronger competition. This is apparent at each of the five positions for the Hoosiers. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmYmfw9Hb0U] I expect exponential improvement from the returning core players, especially Watford and Elston. They ought to push each other each and every day. This will make them both better. If Rivers sticks around, his athletic ability will help prepare Jordan Hulls and Maurice Creek for the defensive pressure they will face in games. We lack an inside presence, obviously. We need a skilled big man to help Bawa develop. Hopes are lost on Pritchard, and Cappobianco is a solid four. Is it too early to talk Indiana Hoosiers basketball? Hell no. Indiana basketball is on my mind 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Football season is simply a prerequisite to basketball season. I wish Crean would allow practices to be watched by the public more. I would be very interested to see how he conducts his practices. I’ve heard rumors on which I won’t release because half of rumors are lies. Practices are where players improve, bond, and win championships. The foundation needs to be built on the basis of competition. We need our top guys competing each day with players that can challenge them. This recruiting class can provide that. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Come Fly with Me: A Grounded a Look at the North Carolina-Dayton NIT Finale

Greg Adams — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:51:33 +0000

by Greg Adams Okay, so maybe you’re a lifelong Tar Heel fan reeling from a disappointing season who’s been self-medicating since January 4, 2010—the night you watched your beloved ‘Heels lose to the College of Freaking Charleston. Or perhaps you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Dayton Flyer who’s still angry at the world over not being invited to the Big Dance—and subsequently found yourself spending Friday evening hanging out with a couple of other losers at Taco Bell and 40 Lanes for Bowling and Burrito Night. Welcome to the NIT. The place where dreams come true. But only after other, better dreams came violently crashing down to earth. Fans of American history—and those with nothing better to do—should actually appreciate the championship matchup if only for one reason. North Carolina and Ohio have a somewhat petty and subtle bone to pick with one another: just which state should be credited with the origins of manned flight? Orville and Wilbur Wright, who are generally acknowledged as the creators and builders of the world’s first successful manned and sustainable airplane, have roots in Dayton, OH, but made their historic flight in Kitty Hawk, NC. A few years ago, Ohio started using the phrase “Birthplace of Aviation” on its license plates. As someone who often finds himself sitting behind Ohioans in traffic, I thought, “Hmm…way to go Buckeyes. You guys really are about more than getting clowned by SEC teams in major bowl games.” However, when my aunt and uncle visited from North Carolina at Christmas, I noticed their North Carolina license plate read, “First in Flight.” Wait a second. It turns out that both states have a valid claim to the Wright Brothers’ accomplishments. Orville and Wilbur came up with most of their original designs for human flight in Dayton. They then tried, failed, tried, failed, and eventually tried and succeeded with some of those ideas in Kitty Hawk. (What gets lost in all of this is that Indiana also has a claim, albeit an extremely minor one, in all this. Wilbur was born in Indiana and his birthplace can be found off an exit on I-70 on the eastern side of the state. And Wilbur attended high school in Richmond, IN. However, he never graduated, dropping out of school when his family moved to Dayton. The irony in all this is that in 2007 Richmond High School was labeled a “drop out factory” in a Johns Hopkins University study. Those poor Richmond kids never had a chance, though—even Wilbur Freaking Wright couldn’t graduate from Richmond!) Which brings us to tonight’s Carolina-Dayton NIT Finale, which will be played at historic Madison Square Garden. I know it’s historic because ESPN announcers informed me of this 20-30 times during the semifinals—which were also played in historic…well, you get the point. [caption id="attachment_2265" align="aligncenter" width="240" caption="This is neither square nor a garden."][/caption] Tonight, it won’t matter that Dayton’s players should have spent more time perfecting the three-point shot and less time beating each other’s brains out at a local boxing ring. And it won’t matter that the University of North Carolina—who, in addition to generally chipping paint and hoisting bricks from three-point range—has trouble with other silly things like dribbling, passing, and shooting free throws. No, there’s more to play for tonight. This goes deeper than winning a tournament that will likely be swallowed up in 2011 by probable (gluttonous?) NCAA Tournament expansion. This is about making history. Or writing history. Or taking more of it for yourself. I’m not really sure. But this is what I do know. Apparently the NIT Selection Committee watches even less mid-major college basketball than the NCAA Selection Committee (Minnesota. Seriously?). I don’t know how the Flyers are a No. 3 seed in this tournament. I also know that North Carolina had absolutely no business hosting a first round game in this tournament, is playing some of its best basketball of the year, and still isn’t a very good college basketball team after 36 games. And this is coming from one of the most passionate Carolina basketball fans you’ll ever meet. [caption id="attachment_2312" align="alignright" width="120" caption="Dayton's Chris Wright. Not an original Wright brother."][/caption] Tonight’s game won’t be decided by Dayton’s Chris Wright—no relation to Orville and Wilbur—just my best guess here. And it won’t be decided by Tar Heel Deon Thompson’s turnaround jumper. It will be decided by history. And while the execution of a good game plan can’t be underestimated, the origin of the game plan makes it all possible. By truly rising to the occasion, the Flyers ground the ‘Heels. And then the state of Ohio, in all its manned-flight glory, will turn southward toward the Tar Heel State, stick their thumbs in their ears, wave their fingers about, and say, “Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.” Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Sports Digest - Thursday, April 1, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:57:59 +0000

Here are the big stories for the Thursday before the Final Four: Butler - Ronald Nored's Grandparents' Prayers Were Answered When He Came to Butler Butler - Kravitz - Bobby Plump's Memory and Joy for the Game Never Fade Butler - Tully - Drive from Hinkle to Lucas Oil Stadium Show Both Sides of Indy Butler - Howards Earns Rep as "Flopper" Butler - $10M Project Will Upgrade Hinkle Fieldhouse Butler - Recruits Enjoying the Ride Too West Virginia - Huggins Tough Love Works NCAA - Tournament Likely to Expand to 96 Teams Colts - Preseason Schedule Set IndyCar - Andrettis Join for 500 Run Hoosiers - Thoughts on Carlino, Abraham, and Wilkins Cubs - Soriano Looks Ordinary in Sub-Par Spring Cubs - Zambrano Says He's Ready; Piniella Say "Don't Expect Perfection" Cubs - Tyler Colvin Pushing Cubs Into Future

Harry on Sports - Thursday, April 1, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:25:30 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry58.mp3]

Matt Howard Leads the Butler Bulldogs into the Final Four

kentsterling — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:53:36 +0000

by Kent Sterling When I watch Matt Howard play for Butler, I'm reminded of the kid that came to the Spiece [caption id="attachment_2289" align="alignright" width="73" caption="Matt Howard in his Spiece Central Stars Uniform. This was one of the six moments he spent not smiling off the court."][/caption] Central Stars as a sophomore-to-be from Connersville. He showed up early for practice with either his Dad or brother driving, and he would shoot. His Dad, Stan, and I would talk about things. One thing was clear, Stan was a family guy, and as I came to know the Howards, it was clear the most important thing to all of them is family. It took years for me to remember any of the brother and sisters names, and long for me to apply them to the right people. Stan was a good athlete himself - a solid pitcher who once struck out Mike Schmidt. He only told me that story once - which speaks to the kind of modesty the whole family shares. If I had struck out Schmidt, a picture of that moment would be tattooed on my chest and back - on the chest would be me throwing the pitch, and on the back Schmitty's errant swing. That I've given it that much thought speaks to my idiocy. Matt shared that modesty through the 225 games he played for the Stars. That fit right in with the other kids on that team, They went to work early, pushed each other hard, and won 90% of their games. Most of the teams watched our guys warm up and thought they could beat our asses. After two-minutes, the score would be 14-2 and their coach would call that beautiful first timeout that let all of us know that the game was over. When the Stars won, there was no cocky preening. Our player would flip the ball to the official and the team would line up to shake hands. There were occasional smiles after a big win, but that group knew it was going to win and it did. Matt was a big part of that success. He fit perfectly among a bunch of kids who were outstanding teammates. There was a practice early in Matt's first year with the team where he was draining shot after shot from beyond the sideline - about 28-feet. I told him he needed to step out and shoot a few times a game to show the college coaches that he was damn good at it. He said, "Nope. Why would I shoot when we have Zahn (Hahn), Ryan (Sterling), and John (Ashworth)." It wasn't best for the team, so despite it being in his best interest, the fact that it wasn't in the team's best interest made it seem foolish to him. I argued for a minute, and he just smiled. Matt was very adept at catching down low, drawing help, and then kicking it out to the guy the defense abandoned in order to double him. If you are a big guy and want to make friends with good catch-and-shoot guards, give them a nice crisp inside-out pass right in the pocket. Our guards loved playing with Matt. He was as goofy off the court as he was on it. To the adults, Matt seemed shy and stoic. The players though would tell stories of the endless goofy things that Matt would do. This was a very close-knit group of kids, just as I like to think Butler is. Our players started transposing the first letters of their first and last names, which I thought was odd. I asked my son why. "Because Matt thinks it's funny to do that, and now we do too." The players, parents, and coaches of the Stars (so ironic that their name would connote arrogance when that was one trait no kid on the team possessed) were the only people in summer basketball who believed they were any good. The kids would win tournament after tournament (30 over four years together), and I would be harangued by people in the airport on our way home by people telling me why the kids should have lost and why they wouldn't be recruited (too slow, can't create their own shots, too dependent upon streaky shooting). Then they would go out the following week against Top 50 kids and win some more. Over time, Matt earned the respect of recruiters, and was ranked anywhere between 60th and 80th. He never let that color the way he played. Matt was the same kid and player in 2004 as he is today. He still won't step outside and shoot. He still supports teammates - I guarantee you that Matt was first in line to congratulate Gordon Hayward after he succeeded Matt as the conference player of the year. He works hard in the classroom - earning a spot on the Academic All-American First Team. And he surely still takes odd joy in transposing the first letters of his teammates' names - Hordon Gayward and Hach Zahn. His parents, brothers, and sisters, who almost fill a section at Hinkle just as they did at the Spartan Bowl in Connersville, are more proud of the kid than the player - for good reason. Hang around after a Butler home game, and watch Matt sign autographs for every kid who asks, and talk to each of them. He's not just a great player and kid, but an incredible ambassador for "The Butler Way". Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Carmel Assault Story Finally Moving Forward

kentsterling — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:21:25 +0000

by Kent Sterling The waiting is almost over. The Hendricks County prosecutor's office is wrapping up its investigation. Sonya Leerkamp in Hamilton County is still saying it will be the end of April before she files any charges in the events the occurred in her jurisdiction. And now an attorney for the family of one of the freshmen who were victimized is considering a series of lawsuits against a long list of people and institutions including the kids who victimized the freshmen, the coaches who sat idly in the front of the bus while cell phones were rupturing rectums, and the school district that has turned a blind eye to what is reported as institutional hazing. While Carmel Schools Superintendent Swensson and CHS Principal continue to shriek "Make it stop!" from underneath their desks, the churn is starting to pick up. Below are some the stories reported during the past two days:

Prosecutor close to decision on Carmel bus assault charges (WTHR's Sandra Chapman)

Posted: Mar 30, 2010 5:46 PMUpdated: Mar 30, 2010 6:23 PM Hendricks County - The investigation into assault charges on a Carmel High School bus is expanding. In an exclusive interview with 13 Investigates, the Hendricks County prosecutor is considering charges involving allegations in her county. On the case for just over two weeks, Hendricks County Prosecutor Patricia Baldwin says she's close. "I don't see any reason why this needs to go on and on. It really ought to be able to be wrapped up relatively quickly," said Baldwin. She is close to deciding if three Carmel High School basketball players will face charges in connection with an alleged rolling bus assault on January 22nd. It was on this route, after leaving an Arby's Restaurant in Cloverdale, that the seniors are being investigated for accusations of grabbing two freshmen and committing alleged sex crimes against them. Baldwin says based on the time and speed of travel, the assault occurred along I-70 in Hendricks County. "There's about ten different things that you could look at that come under sexual crimes," said Baldwin. Potential charges could include criminal deviant conduct, sexual battery and child molest. Baldwin says the case falls under her jurisdiction because the alleged perpetrators are all 18 years or older, confirming for the first time their status as adults. The City of Carmel has repeatedly refused to divulge the ages of the basketball players. "Anytime you have persons that are adults, not juvenile cases, you have to look at where an alleged incident happened. They're over the age of 18 in which you would be considered an adult," she said. Baldwin wouldn't say whether the hospital report from one freshman provided any evidence for the case. But she says getting evidence from that type of hospital report is pretty rare, but that doesn't mean nothing happened. "Allegations of teammates or older students doing something with a younger student, you have to look at very carefully," said Baldwin. The Hendricks County case deals solely with the bus incident. The alleged locker room assaults are still in the hands of the Hamilton County Prosecutor . Baldwin says just a couple of interviews are pending. She wants to review bus tapes if they exists, and meet with the victims, with hopes of making a determination in April. And this from Fox 59's Kim King CARMEL, IN - It's been more than a month since Carmel Police and Carmel High School administrators held their joint news conference some parents considered a joke. The sexual hazing case remains shrouded in secrecy. But there's news one of the freshman allegedly attacked may sue. "At this point I have information that causes me to believe it's been going on for much longer than reported by any news organization I've seen and it involved multiple incidents," said attorney Robert Turner. "I believe it involved my client and others." Turner now represents a freshman. The young man says he was sexually attacked by senior players on a bus. Turner says other attacks took place in the Carmel High School locker room. "I have other victims names and I'd like to talk with them," said Turner. He says the parents of his freshman client are angry school administrators have not taken action or made a decisive statement what will happen to the students accused. "They're frustrated nothing has happened so far," said Turner. "I've spoke to this young man for hours, he's hurt and wonders why it had to happen but it will sort itself out." Turner says the family contacted him about a week ago. He will conduct his own investigation and says it's ultimately up to the family to decide whether to sue. "It's also their decision on who they sue and there are several options I think," said Turner. That could include Carmel High School, Freshman coaches on the bus, students and even Carmel police if Turner finds the police didn't act properly to investigate the criminal accusations after administrators notified them a report had been made. One big issue is concerns the students on the bus weren't properly supervised to ensure their safety. "I think there needs to be corrective action taken, I think the coaches could have handled it differently in terms of stopping abusive behavior and acting to protect children from similar incidents," said Turner. "I think the behavior could be characterized as sexual battery." Turner says he has no timeline but will conduct a thorough investigation of his own. Hamilton County prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp says her office will decide on criminal charges by the end of April. Senior basketball players were reportedly involved in the sexual hazing incident on the bus. There was a piece by Rosemary Boeglin in the Carmel student paper that was enlightening in how the kids at Carmel HS News Website. Toward the end, there is this: Still, athletes like Charles said that he and other members of the swim team know how to keep bullying in check. “As a whole we know the fine line of what is bullying,” he said. “If we see a teammate or senior bullying, we tell them to quit it because we’ll all get in trouble. If one of us bullies we all get in trouble for it.” Holding one another accountable for activities and attitudes, as Williams said the men’s swimming team does, is an additional way to reign in bully-like behavior. “Most, if not all, of the time students hide these activities,” she said. “They don’t (bully) when a staff member will see it because they don’t want to get caught,” she said. “Things go on that staff members cannot always see or be aware of.” This brings to mind one of the few portions of college psychology at IU that I clearly recall. Kohlberg's Six Stages of Morality pre-conventional morality, conventional morality, and post-conventional morality:

Level 1 (Pre-Conventional)

1. Obedience and punishment orientation

(How can I avoid punishment?)

2. Self-interest orientation

(What's in it for me?)

Level 2 (Conventional)

3. Interpersonal accord and conformity

(Social norms)

(The good boy/good girl attitude)

4. Authority and social-order maintaining orientation

(Law and order morality)

Level 3 (Post-Conventional)

5. Social contract orientation

6. Universal ethical principles

(Principled conscience)

High schools and any level of educational institution has an obligation to try to help kids learn how to progress through these stages of moral development. The Carmel student quoted is concerned only with the threat of punishment. His reasoning for not bullying is buried in step one - the same level two-year-olds inhabit. How about trying to educate these kids in the concept of not shoving cell phones up the asses of younger and weaker students because it is grotesque and horrifying for the victim. You know, the whole do unto others business is kind of trite, but how in the world can an 18-year-old see this as acceptable as long as he/she doesn't get caught? This is a repellent quote from a kid who doesn't know any better. Clearly, the parents have taught this kid nothing about treating people with respect. The school can at the minimum demand that kids evaluate their thoughts through a prism of empathy. If the kids don't grasp that, the full wrath of punishment must be felt to preserve safety for the kids threatened by the morally retarded mopes who hear the cries of freshman and cackle. Be careful what kind of kids you produce at Carmel High School. They are the next generation of teachers,superintendents, and nursing home attendants.

Sports From the Couch--NCAA Begins Attempt to Ruin March Madness

jshowal2 — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:55:17 +0000

By Jeff Showalter Yesterday, someone decided Jim Delaney, Big 10 commissioner should send up the first trial balloon about tournament expansion by letting everyone know it is under consideration. Today, the NCAA reported that the study is well under way to go to a 96 team tournament. I'm not even going to waste anyone's time in giving full details but basically what was said was that the team has studied 68,80 and 96 team tournaments. Let me translate what was really said: "we have the chance to option out of the current TV contract with CBS. We also have this pain in the ass tournament called the National Invitation Tournament which we had to buy because the past owners sued us and it was cheaper to buy the tournament then go to court and let some legal eagle show the world how stupid we are. What we are good at though, is exploitation and we have a chance to renegotiate this deal and make more billions then we already do. Plus we can dump the NIT, add 32 teams to the tournament and make even more money exploiting fans, schools and most importantly, the players" The NCAA maybe the poorest ran corporation on the planet. Only General Motors and the United States Government are ran as badly. Sure they can print money but what they have failed to realize (same as GM) is that eventually you can have too much of a good thing. Arrogance is a really bad business trait. There are numerous examples in the USA where arrogant fools thought their product was great and equate greatness with more. "If this is great then more is even greater". By extending the tournament to 96 teams, the NCAA is about to prove this out again. Remember when everybody drove SUV's? Gas went to four dollars and a lot of people got rid of SUV's. GM (as well as Ford and Chrysler) didn't make good cars because they spent all their time loving on their SUV's. The rest is history. How about Major League Baseball? Major League Baseball decided to shut down and lose a World Series. Then Bud Selig and the boys thought the home run derby was great so they looked the other way as players and numbers got larger and larger. MLB hasn't been the same since the strike and are now suffering from a generation of people that do not even follow the sport. The point is that with business and sports (and let's face it the NCAA is business), you can water down your product by overexposure. Even college football, which I consider the most entertaining sport, is watered down because it is on five nights a week on ESPN. Arrogance equals more and more doesn't always mean better. 96 teams isn't better. Allowing more bad teams doesn't make the tourney better or more exciting. It makes it more congested. Congestion, in any form, is usually not a good thing. Last, the logistics of the tournament are going to be a nightmare. If the top 32 teams get first round byes, when are the first three rounds take place? Could you imagine a Thursday, Saturday, Monday or a Friday, Sunday, Tuesday format to get to 16 teams? That's a disaster. Now you are going to have round of 32 games mid week and one day rest before sweet 16 games. That's an absolute disaster. Does the NCAA even care if students go to class? Looks to me that all the non-revenue sport athletes have to go to class, but basketball players can miss as many as they want in the name of money for the NCAA. What kind of plan is that? A really bad one!

Sports Digest - Friday, April 2, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:20:03 +0000

Here's the latest from sports sources around the country for a Final Four Weekend: Butler - Academic Success Inspires Ex-Butler Players Make Pilgrimage Back to Indy Butler - Hayward's Mom Provides a Lift Butler - No Underdog - Just Bulldogs NCAA - Kravitz - Teams Are the Stars if Final Four Cubs - Dempster's Little Inspiration Cubs - New Owner Impressed by Hendry and Staff Cubs - Still Living in the Past NCAA - Regrettably, Expansion to 96 Teams Seems Inevitable NCAA - They Can Play, But Do NCAA Players Graduate? NCAA - Works on 96-Team Scenario NCAA - 20-years Later - College Hoops Is a Bigger "Cesspool" Media - CBS' Jim Nantz Fulfills Wish, Meets Plump IndyCar - Power Could Be in First Into May Recruiting - Indy's Teague Has All the Info Needed to Make Decision

Harry on Sports - Friday, April 2, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:22:23 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry59.mp3]

2010 American Idol Winner Odds

kentsterling — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:30:43 +0000

by Kent Sterling This is a pretty sad season overall for American Idol talent. The field is down to nine, and the people being eliminated each week are still completely unable to compete. The idea of the show is to get down to three or four who can cut records and make lots of money. Ideally, there will be four finalists who can hit different genres of music and ring the bell hard for the Idol team. In the past, Idol has placed talent in rock, R&B, country, and even showtunes and Broadway. That is what they hope for this year. Who among the nine left can advance to that four, and then on to the win. Winning is not necessary for success. In fact, it may not even help. Adam Lambert and David Archuleta both finished second, and to be honest, I can't remember whether Ruben Studdard or Clay Aiken won. David Cook won, but Daughtry and Elliott Yamin didn't. Carrie Underwood won, but Jennifer Hudson did not. There is a lot of room for making money and recording hits. So who will win, and who will be cast into the dustbin of the unmemorable Idol contestants? Tim Urban - Infinite-to-one This poor untalented kid can't sing. There are some misdirected simpletons who love Urban's smile and vote for him regardless of his inability to hit notes that are right in the middle of his range. He seems to be well aware of the futility of this death march and appears genuinely embarrassed by the results each week as he squeaks by - sending another slightly more talented singer home. Didi Benami's rendition of "Rhiannon" as an effort to save herself last night validated America's choice to let Urban skate for one more week. Katie Stevens - 50,000-to-one Katie went low-cut last week to try to get the boob-fans in America to rally to her cause. It doesn't help her sing any better, but it's always nice to look at boobs. She has no chance to win, and will likely be voted off next week - barring either an even more horrifying Tim Urban performance, or surprising competence from her. Andrew Garcia - 1,000-to-one I never remember anything Garcia sings 15-seconds after he finishes. Being aware of that, I plan to flip to the Women's NCAA Basketball Championship during Andrew's choice of Lennon/McCartney songs. I like The Beatles, but Garcia will probably pick the always insipid "Yesterday". I may be the only person on earth who hates "Yesterday", but I won't apologize for it. McCartney is the most overrated songwriter in modern music. Maybe he'll sing "Lady Madonna", and I'll vomit. Aaron Kelly - 50-to-1 The David Archuleta wanna-be is cloying in his cuteness, but at least he can sing. After Urban, Katie, and Garcia are sent packing, the rest are worthy of some love. When Urban goes, this kid will get the 18-24 year-old female vote, so he'll stick around longer than the Top Six, but he needs to do something more than sing okay and look impish to win. Archuleta is uniquely likable and talented, and he didn't win. This guy is to Archuleta and Popov is to Ketel One. Casey James - 30-to-1 There will come a week where Casey's talent will not be well showcased. That will be the week he loses. I like "Hold on , I'm Coming". Sam & Dave were great, and the story about how the song was written is hilarious. He's really good at that kind of song. He has a nice bluesy voice kind of reminiscent of Jeff Healey (remember him? the blind Canadian slide guitar player who had a hit with "Angel Eyes" in the late '80s. Lee Dewyze - 25-to-1 Ol' Little Doozy has morphed from an annoyingly self-loathing one-note half-assed performer into a guy that we root for. That happened last Tuesday when he sang "Treat Her Like a Lady" like he meant it. He looked confident and performed the song instead of just behaving. Michael Lynche - 12-to-1 He's not my cup of tea, but the guy sure can sing his ample ass off. His behavior as he's introduced is hackneyed and reveals insecurities. For whatever reason, I almost never hear Lynche's songs. Maybe it's bad luck. Maybe I'm aware enough to know I won't be able to overcome my aversion to Lynche's clowning off-stage. Siobhan Magnus - 5-to-1 She sucked it dry this week. Way off pitch, and clearly not happy with her singing as she got deeper into the song. One bad note led to a worse note, and on and on. Magnus is one of the three most Googled contestants, so there is a lot of interest in her, and that means votes. She seems uncomfortable with looking good, as off-stage she looks like a hungover librarian. Crystal Bowersox - 7-to-2 Oh boy. How does she not win. She sings every genre like she owns it, and isn't perfect looking. She looks comfortable and honest. "Midnight Train to Georgia" was every bit as good as Gladys Knight. Despite Simon saying that the backing singers made it sound old fashioned, I thought it could be a hit for her today. She sings Joplin just enough like her that it's familiar and original at the same time. She did the same with Gladys Knight. Her pitch is perfect, but her voice is just a little bit rough. Without distractingly good looks, it's easy to enjoy her performance because of the singing. Plus, she has a memorable and cool name. The genius of "American Idol" is that we can all guess and judge. For the last five seasons, I have been right until the final two. In my mind, that makes me an expert - just as everyone else feels like they are experts. In the end, we are the only experts that matter because we buy or don't buy the records. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

April Fool's Day Brings Back Memory of Favorite Practical Joke

kentsterling — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:10:14 +0000

by Kent Sterling Laughing at the expense of others was a hobby of mine for many years, just as it was one of the joys of my Dad's life. Finding a way to place people in awkward situations was something at which I excelled. Before advances in technology made videotaping everything cheap and easy, I was Ashton Kutcher with a mean streak and a less attractive, well, everything. Instead of "punking" celebrities to get rich, I punked the ordinary to pass time and make myself laugh. The best practical jokes are those that take on a life of their own and wind up somewhere never imagined when taking that first step toward making an ass of someone. Toward the end of college, we were bored, and idle time is the practical joker's workshop. After a night in the bars, Pauly Balst and I came back to his apartment with nothing to do. It was after 1 a.m., and everyone was either asleep our poor candidates for keeping up with our pace. There was some mail on the table addressed to an old roommate of Pauly's named Colin, who had graduated at the end of the Fall Semester. I opened an envelope with a Boston return address. Colin was originally from Boston, so I thought maybe the letter was from a friend who would reveal something embarrassing. No such luck - the letter was from the mother of a friend and was filled with silly platitudes. I thought it might be fun to give this adult a call (as Colin) and say some outrageous things that might worry her, and at least give the family some inkling that he had wandered down a troubling path. It would be funnier (to Paulie and I) if I called collect and tried to keep them on the phone as long as possible. Back then, collect calls billed at about $1 per minute, so a real phone call could run as much as a nice meal. I called person-to-person collect from Colin, and she accepted the charges. The first thing I said was that I was on my way - halfway through Pennsylvania - and had stopped for the night. I told her to have some gin & tonics and ham sandwiches ready. We spent another 30-minutes talking about nothing. I had no idea what the hell she was saying and only responded to try to get her to talk more. The less I said, the better. The letter gave me a little bit of information, and I knew Colin well enough to fake my way through the talk. It was good fun - fun enough that at the end of a similar night a week later, I called back. Again collect. I let her know that I had some car trouble, but was ready to complete the last leg of the drive, and by God to have those gin & tonics and ham sandwiches ready. All done. Never though about the phone calls again for another year. All of the people who had been friends at school were invited to a party in Wilmette, Illinois, by Rick Rafanello. Rick is a great guy who's always eager to share fun, so the turnout was excellent. Colin was there too. At one point, Paulie called me over and said, "You have to hear this." Colin was talking about déjà vu and psychologically strange occurrences. He restarted the story for me about this time almost a year before that he dropped in unannounced on some old friends from Massachusetts. They treated him like a leper. Colin knocked at the door, and the lady of the house answered, "Nice of you to show up!" she snarled. Everyone else in the house was equally upset and made comments to that effect. Colin didn't understand, and finally asked what people were talking about. He was told about these two late night collect calls where we told the family he was coming but never showed. They talked about the gin & tonics and ham sandwiches they had prepared for him at his insistence. Colin thought that sounded like something he might say. He went on and on with this story, and couldn't figure out how he had forgotten or blacked-out that he had made these calls. He was genuinely concerned for his own mental health. He had no way to know or reason to expect that anyone would know those old friends in Massachusetts, and would call them as him. To not admit making the call would have been cruel, plus the constant laughing during his story had to seem odd, so I told him it was me and what exactly had happened. He promised retribution, but no one could set up such an elaborate and unexpected chain of events. Serendipity is the best friend of the bored joker, and if you throw enough crap at a wall - eventually something sticks like this stuck to Colin. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

iPad Due Tomorrow

kentsterling — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:38:26 +0000

by Kent Sterling A year ago, I was an Apple hater. All of the Apple zealots kept telling me to buy an iPhone. Blackberry was my phone of choice. I couldn't imagine anything easier or more useful. Email was right there, and I could play brick-breaker during meetings when the sales managers started droning on and on in meetings. Then I hosted a meeting with a bunch of 20-t0-24 year old interns to find out how they gathered information via media. I thought I was going to hear about websites. Nope. These people spoke in terms of Apps. Having no idea what the hell they were talking about, I asked to see their iPhones (they all had iPhones). When I left the meeting, I walked across the street to the mall and bought an iPhone. It was and is the single most intuitive and versatile piece of technology I've ever used. There is nothing it won't do. From the mundane (what is the altitude where I currently stand, to fart noises, and mindless games like Boggle) to the very helpful (GPS, high-end microphone for recording interviews, and the ability to record phone calls easily), the iPhone can do it all. Every reasonably well-funded news source has an app. You can watch TV shows, movies, and listen to every song ever recorded. I would never go back to a Blackberry. People complain about the iPhone's keypad. For me, it's quicker than the Blackberry. Tomorrow is April 3rd, and the iPad will be sold to the public for the first time. I have one reserved. When I looked for a replacement laptop for my PC, because of my experience with the iPhone, I went to the Apple Store. The place is crawling with helpful staff kids who know everything about Mac stuff. They pushed me away from the laptops toward the desktop plus iPad option. The staff isn't on commission, so I trusted that advice and bought the desktop. The desktop is as intuitive as the iPhone, and I love it. The iMac makes this blog and everything else I do exceptionally simple and quick. I never worry about the technical minutiae anymore, so I can think creatively. The iPad will serve as a portable workstation for everything I need to do outside of the house. There are people like I used to be - they claim a love for PCs. They remind me of husbands who say they love their wives while tolerating endless whining and nagging. Nothing wrong with finding things to love about a woman you promised to honor, love, and cherish until death. Computers aren't women though. If there were two women standing next to each other on the street, and you could buy either, why select the churlish, complex, and unattractive woman? Apple makes its products with the consumer in mind. We live in an age when people are rewarded for complicating systems. It doesn't matter if they work or not as long as there is a fancy flow-chart and a lot of jingoistic terminology that can be included in a weekly report to the corporate office. Apple is almost un-American in its desire to make sense and welcome new customers. You don't need to have studied Fortran in college to get an iMac to do what you like. I know nothing about the iPad other than what I saw Steve Jobs do with his when Apple hosted the unveiling of the device, but I know that once I work with it for an hour (max), I'll get it. And what I don't understand, the people at Apple will help me understand. Apple is a business that some don't trust because it's so completely different. Someone must be lying. Nothing can be as easy or sensible as Apple is said to be. Well, it is. Tomorrow I get to figure this iPad thing out, and I can't wait. Instead of being wary of Apple, corporate America should simply use the products, it should adopt their model. Simplify, and then simplify some more, especially if you want to reach young-end media users. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

An Open Letter to the NCAA (Likely to Go Unread)

Greg Adams — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:28:38 +0000

by Greg Adams Members of the NCAA: Greetings. I hope you are well. As you well know, Final Four weekend is upon us. I must tell you that I love your tournament and look forward to it every March. The tournament format is almost perfect. I appreciate the rhythm and flow of the men’s college basketball postseason. Preconference schedule, conference schedule, small conference tournament week, large conference tournament week, Selection Sunday, and then...Madness. You end the regular season without taking an eternity to get to the postseason. It’s a really nice setup. Could you perchance share this particular observation with those in charge of major college football? What? That would be the BCS commissioners? Do you have a way to contact them? You don’t? Oh, they pretty much just tell you what to do. Gotcha. Well, anyway, it’s obvious that the Final Four marks the end of the college basketball season. And, from what I can tell, this will be the last time we experience the tournament in its current 65-team format. I have to admit I never really liked the 65-team format. I thought the Tuesday night play-in game was a slap in the face to two nobodies who won conference tournaments and deserved to play in the real tournament on Thursday and Friday. I would have strongly preferred the last two “at large” teams to play on Tuesday night. It would have been a nice way of saying, “Listen, you weren’t bad enough that we don’t want you in the tournament altogether, but you’re just bad enough we want to keep the loser of this game out on the fringes.” Just one man’s humble opinion. As I alluded to earlier, I’ve heard the news that you are probably expanding the tournament. Just wanted you to know that you can come out and tell me it’s all about money. I watch enough sports to understand that. I'm pretty numb to it. It's out of my control, anyway. So just go ahead and get it over with and don’t insult my intelligence. I do want to point out that I think the tournament is perfect at 64 teams. But 96 isn’t the end of the world, either. I can adapt. I’m a fully functional and rational human being—unless Carolina’s playing, then I get a little nuts. But overall, I do okay. I realize that your organization may not be terribly concerned about my thoughts on the subject, but I do have two ideas for the tournament if and when it’s reconfigured. One, I would strongly recommend that regular season conference champions be rewarded with an automatic bid. Especially in non-BCS leagues. If you win 25 games in the regular season but play one stinker in your conference tournament, you shouldn’t be sitting at home watching the tournament. Two, let’s still find a way to end the tournament the first Monday in April. We live in an age where leagues increasingly seem to think they’re the only event around. Baseball’s ending in November, the NFL’s creeping into mid-February, the NHL and NBA playoffs go on interminably. Just don’t extend college basketball into my calendar any further. You’re expendable. Especially with this expansion rubbish. It’s not like a labor dispute—I’ll probably get used to it without too much whining. But while you’re busy getting your greed on, don’t think I can’t cut you. And your advertisers still want me and people like me watching their ad pitches while I’m tuning in during your tournament. It’s interesting how sports leagues tend to complain about ratings being down for this or that. In fact, as I understand it, lower ratings is the main reason you are considering adding more teams. More games equals more value. I think the hope is that while fewer people are watching each game, having more teams involved will generate more viewers, make your tournament more valuable, and generate more revenue. What you fail to understand is that sometimes moderation is a good thing. I love pizza. But I can’t eat pizza every single day. After awhile, no matter how much I love pizza, I’m going to get bored with pizza. Televised sports are wonderful. I enjoy them. But I’m married. I have two kids. I work full-time. I still only have twenty-four hours in a day. Only 365 days in a year. And I’ve got options as to how to spend my free time. A lot of them. When you start playing two or three college basketball games a night on ESPN after the college football season is over and it’s on all day Saturday and is on all day Sunday after the Super Bowl, how much longer can your really expect me to watch your games—especially when the quality of the basketball is so mediocre? Sometimes I want to take my wife to a movie or my kids to the Children’s Museum. The weather starts getting nicer in April. The longer you extend this tournament out on the calendar, the less likely I am to watch it. The weather’s too nice and I’ve got too much to do. It’s the singular reason I haven’t sat through an entire NBA playoff game in 10 years. I know that you’re going to do whatever you want. It’s cool. It’s your sport, your organization. But if you want your sport to continue its air in my living room, you might want to think about what I’ve said. I’m sure there are others who feel this way. I know I can’t be the only one. Thanks for your time. Sincerely, Greg PS I realize you’re extremely busy and all—but UTEP recently hired Tim Floyd, who, as you may or may not be aware, slipped a guy $1,000 to land OJ Mayo at USC. Thought that was kind of strange. And thought you might like to know. PPS And congratulations on discovering the improprieties that have apparently been plaguing IUPUI’s athletic programs and for subsequently disciplining the school. It takes some real stones to bust an institution that’s so unequivocally unimportant within the scope of your organization. Have you heard of USC football? Okay, that’s all for now. Really. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

2010 Final Four - Butler Can Win It All at Home

kentsterling — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:10:06 +0000

by Juston Whitaker Four teams have made it through the madness of March to this year’s NCAA men’s Final Four, and one can win the title in its home city. UCLA did it in 1972, in Los Angeles. Now, the Butler Bulldogs, whose first Final Four is in their home city, are two games away from a hometown title. Butler will play Michigan State at 6:07 p.m. Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium. The winner will advance to the championship game Monday. For a team with nine NCAA tournament appearances in the past 14 years, a spot in the Final Four could not have come at a better time or place. The pride and emotion of this team’s success reach beyond the campus of 4,400 students in northern Indianapolis to the alumni who paved the way. Wally Cox, a 1958 Butler graduate and former basketball player, had only one response as Butler beat the Kansas State Wildcats to advance to the Final Four. “It was probably 20 seconds to go in that last game,” Cox said, “and tears were coming right down my wife’s cheek and my cheek.” The emotions were not just for the team’s success, he said, but also because of the types of individuals these Butler players are. “We were just so happy for the kids because we are so proud of them,” Cox said. “They are quality kids. These guys aren’t just basketball players. They don’t run down the court pounding their chest and yelling in guys’ faces. “They really are great messengers for Butler University.” That message has produced excitement and anticipation like nothing before on the Butler campus, senior class president Lindsay Rump said. “Everywhere you go,” Rump said, “there is a constant buzz about everything — tickets, games, where to go to watch the games if you can’t go, and more. “People drive through campus honking their horns,” she said. “Greek students are decorating their lawns, and the dorms are decorating their doors and windows. The level of excitement is simply through the roof.” Former Butler guard Mike Green, playing basketball halfway across the world in Belgium, watched the Kansas State game live. He said he could barely contain himself. “I was overjoyed,” said Green, the Horizon League Player of the Year in 2007-08. “I stayed up all night watching the game and an hour after — bragging.” Another former player, Brandon Crone, joined former teammates Green and Julian Betko via Skype during the Kansas State game. He said he was quite nervous. “The last four minutes of the game actually had my stomach going. It was an amazing finish,” said Crone, a 6-foot-6 forward who played from 2003-07. All the excitement and success come from a young team. The starting lineup features three sophomores — Gordon Hayward, Shelvin Mack and Ronald Nored — and only one senior, Willie Veasley. Matt Howard starts as a junior. The third leading scorer in Butler basketball history, A.J. Graves, played from 2004 to 2008. He said this young team can achieve great things. “This group has accomplished so much while being a very young team,” said Graves, Butler’s all-time leader in games played with 130. “They have a great chance at winning the national championship. Just look at what they’ve accomplished so far.” Considering the Bulldogs’ incredible run, it’s been tough to study and focus on academics, the student body president said, but professors have been lenient of the situation. “Professors are being very understanding,” Rump said. “They are just as excited as the students are.” She said professors moved tests, changed due dates and canceled classes. The history major said professors adjusted schedules specifically for when tickets went on sale on Monday and for Wednesday’s pep rally in downtown Indianapolis. When the tickets went on sale to alumni and selected students at noon Monday, lines ran completely around the inside of historic Hinkle Fieldhouse and overflowed outside. Some fans arrived before dawn, waiting to get their tickets for the Bulldogs’ game against Michigan State. Graduate Eric Foerg rotated in line with three friends, waiting for coveted Final Four tickets. His friends arrived at 8 a.m., but Foerg had the final shift, arriving around 11 a.m. as the official season ticket holder of the group. Foerg, a 2002 Butler graduate in finance, was not a vocal fan as he waited in line at Hinkle, only because he had little voice left. His coarse rasp remained from yelling in person at three of the first four tournament games, “especially on foul calls on Matt Howard that are ghost fouls,” Foerg said. There was more yelling and cheering Wednesday at the Butler pep rally in sunny Monument Circle, in the middle of the downtown Indianapolis. The seven miles separating the campus and Lucas Oil Stadium were erased. Thousands of fans arrived at the pep rally ready for game time decked in various Butler gear, many holding “Go, Dawgs!” signs. The popular bulldog mascot, Blue II, made an appearance on the steps of the monument. Indianapolis sports radio talk show host Eddie White emceed the rally and announced that Blue II would be allowed at the games this weekend. The crowd erupted. Addressing the rally were Indianapolis Downtown Inc. President Tamara Zahn, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, Butler Athletic Director and former coach Barry Collier, Butler University President Bobby Fong and legendary Butler basketball player Bobby Plump. Plump is known for making the game-winning shot in the 1954 Indiana state championship game for the Milan (Ind.) High School team that inspired the movie “Hoosiers.” But the biggest cheer at the rally came when the mayor declared Wednesday to be Butler Bulldog Day. “Butler represents the best,” Ballard said.

2010 Final Four Game Times

kentsterling — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:31:52 +0000

by Kent Sterling There have been some questions about the game times for tomorrow night. The first game - Butler vs. Michigan State will tip at 6:07 p.m. Eastern/3:07 p.m. Central. The second game between Duke and West Virginia will tip 30-minutes after the first game ends - likely 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Eastern.

Moses Abraham Recruiting Update; DePaul Coaching Choice

kentsterling — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 03:05:42 +0000

by Kent Sterling There are basketball big wheels everywhere downtown and while there tonight, I had two different coaches tell me the same thing, "Until Moses Abraham signs with Georgetown, don't count out IU." Neither of the big wigs were Tom Crean - nor to my knowledge cronies of Crean. They say the deal isn't done. Terry Hutchens implied the same thing a couple of days ago in his Indy Star IU blog, but these guys were both fairly adamant. Abraham is still a potential Hoosier. Neither are have been coaches in the past, nor would they allow me to use their names, but both are very credible sources in college basketball. *********** Isiah Thomas is interested in the DePaul job, but who wouldn't be when A.D. Jeanne Lenti Ponsetto revealed that she has $2.5 million annually available for a right candidate. Her's how the negotiation will unfold: JLP: Thanks for coming in. Did you enjoy your burger at McGee's? Coach: Yep. Charbroiled deliciousness. JLP: We would like to offer you $1.3 million a year for six years - guaranteed. Coach: $2.5 million. JLP: $1.6 million. Coach: $2.5 Million JLP: $1.8? Coach: $2.5. JLP: $2.1? Coach: $2.5. JLP: Okay. I wish I had a boss who was that forthcoming with her available assets. Who does that in the media? This job search is now the equivalent of a police investigation where a reward has been offered by the family of a missing kid. Every wingnut with a phone and JLP's number is going to call and offer his services. It would be the same if the police offered a crazy reward instead of the grieving family. Isiah would like a shot at $2.5-million, or least for Florida International to give him a bump. Reggie Theus is another willing recipient of $2.5-million. What the hell. It's a small price for running a program that has no chance to win. Steve Rosenbloom had a nice piece in the Tribune today about how DePaul doesn't have any idea who they are. They could be a very competitive team in the Horizon League, but have no chance to even lose respectably in the Big East. DePaul needs to face facts, create a culture (like Butler has), and hire a guy who will embody it. This isn't as hard as JLP is making it. Who are you? Hire to that.

Sports From the Couch--Butler and West Virginia Meet in Finals

jshowal2 — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 03:07:24 +0000

By Jeff Showalter This week has felt like a month for me. I haven't spent time downtown soaking up the atmosphere and I will not be going to the game so the time clock of life has gone kind of slow waiting for Saturday to get here (the fact that most humans wish their life is a whole different topic). Now that it is Friday night, it is time for Sports From the Couch to go over the preview of the Final Four semifinals. We're going to go in reverse order and begin with the West Virginia-Duke game. I've been flip flopping on this game for a couple days. Duke really looked impressive beating an abundantly athletic Baylor team. Kyle Singler didn't make a shot from the field but Nolan Smith picked up the slack and the rotating Blue Devil big guys held off Baylor's front line on the rebounding front. West Virginia beat back tournament favorite Kentucky to advance to Indianapolis. The Mountaineers moved the Evil Empire's shooters off their favorite spots and UK responded with disastrous shooting from behind the arc. WVU's offense got an injection of "go" from point guard Joe Mazulla. Mazulla went for 17 unexpected points to offset a poor shooting day from their best player, Da'sean Butler. One key to this game is the how Duke handles the West Virginia 1-3-1 zone defense. Duke's shooters, Singler, Smith and Jon Scheyer have good range, but will Duke have to shoot the ball from deeper then even they would like? Will Duke's interior players be able to score and even more importantly, pass rebounds back out to their shooters as second chance three point shots are often good, open looks. The second key is Butler. WVU's best player should be the best player on the court. He can shoot it, handle it, plays defense and has been a dagger thrower all year with six game winning shots. I think Butler is going to have a big game because no one on Duke really matches up to Butler on the defensive end. Butler has a big game and WVU beats Duke 77-72. Butler is the predominant theme for this Final Four. Da'Sean will be the best player of the second game and of course, the Butler Bulldogs will be playing in front of their hometown and state as they take on the Michigan State Spartans. First, Tom Izzo is now the best coach in college basketball. Izzo, who Bob Kravitz swears would have listened if IU cam calling a couple years ago, has now been to six of the last 12 final fours. This year is his best coaching job yet, as a series of injuries has plagued the Spartans all year. After Kalin Lucas went down versus Maryland, everyone counted Izzo's team out. Bad mistake. MSU is like a snake, you have to cut their head off and Maryland, Northern Iowa and Tennessee were incapable of doing so. MSU used timely shooting from Durrell Summers and usual tough defense and rebounding to overcome their point guard deficiencies. The Bulldogs, have had the most impressive path to Lucas Oil. Syracuse and Kansas State fell to Brad Stevens group due to stifling defense and balanced, opportunistic offense. Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack led the offense, but all five starters have had moments of offensive prominence and their team defense has kept all opponents under 60 points. All the "experts" have broken this game down to the shoelaces. This game is really pretty simple and nobody mentions it. Butler comes out and punches their opponents right in the kisser. They walk onto the floor expecting to win. Most schools don't do that. Mid Majors never do that. Butler does. I'm sure "the Butler Way" is usually not synonymous with blood sport, but that is exactly what this team does. They aren't Milan or Hickory. They are more like Rocky. They know how to take a punch but they know they are going to knock the hell out of you too. No one take more punches then Connersville's own Matt Howard. He's undersized every game and competes like mad. Matt misses more shots then you would like, maybe fouls more then he should, but he competes like crazy. He looks like he's going thru a heavyweight fight every game. Butler is the one team that can match MSU's tenacity and grit. That gives Butler an edge. The big edge will be Ronald Nored and Shawn Vanzant's defense against Korie Lucious. Lucious is the Spartans main ball handle with Lucas gone. Nored is a tenacious defender and will hawk the Spartan point guard. Vanzant is an amazing athlete who will be on Lucious when Nored takes a break. At the end of the game, the Spartan guard will be worn out and that will be the key to the Butler win. The defense does it again. Butler 67-59. There you go. It's Butler led WVU versus Brad Stevens led Butler Bulldogs Monday night. The Couch will worry about that game Monday.

Final Four Match-up - Butler vs. Michigan State Can Be All-Time Classic

kentsterling — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 12:17:55 +0000

by Kent Sterling This is about as close as two basketball teams can be. Butler is a one-point favorite over Michigan State, but that point is probably a nod to Butler being able to sleep in their own beds through the week instead of traveling and bunking two to a room and eating in restaurants. Butler kids were still going to class yesterday around their media and practice responsibilities. Tom Izzo's Spartans have broken their routine and are waiting to play. The Bulldogs are living their lives. Normal is good, and for Butler, little slivers of normal are so important during a week that is so completely removed from normal. At 6:07 p.m. tonight, the Bulldogs will lace them up to try for their 25th consecutive win - a win that will thrust them into the national championship game - 40-minutes from hanging a national championship banner from the rafters of Hinkle Fieldhouse. This is an incredible story, but it really shouldn't be. Butler is a great basketball team with kids who absolutely belong in the Final Four. They were ranked in high school, and chose Butler over much bigger schools. Butler has built a culture over the course of the past 15-years that has affirmed in the minds of recruits and parents that at Butler, kids are students first and basketball players second. At Butler, the kids get degrees because the high school students who aren't leaders in the classroom aren't recruited. The best way to build a culture is not simply to say yes to those who represent your culture, but to say no to those who don't. The temptation to bend the rules to allow entry to an incredibly talented kids who doesn't embody your program is great, but necessary. It takes the kind of discipline that is rare enough that there is only one Butler. Michigan State brings a different vibe into Lucas Oil Stadium. The Spartans are not being asked whether they feel they belong in the middle of college basketball's marquee event. Izzo has shepherded six teams in the last 12 years to the Final Four, and won a title in Indianapolis ten years ago. Regardless of the sweetness of the Butler Way, the consistency of the Michigan State program, or the duel between the seasoned veteran coach and the wet behind the ears kid who looks like he could be a player as he puts the Bulldogs through workouts at Hinkle, this game is about lining the five in blue and white against the five in green and white and seeing who can put the ball in the bucket more often. Butler is a defensively stout group yet to have given up 60 points in any of its four wins during the NCAA's. That work begin with the guards. Ronald Nored and Shelvin Mack are not just tough-minded, they are strong as hell. A guard's ability to score is dependent upon his ability to penetrate. Against strong and tough guards, that is exceptionally difficult. Without being able to get the corner, there is never an opportunity to take advantage of help. When Butler is forced to help, they not only get to the spot quick, but they recover so fast. Matt Howard may be the key. Matt loves setting his feet and falling backwards with any contact. There are times that he gets the charge call, and other when he is called for the block. If Matt can get the first two calls and put either Raymar Morgan or Draymond Green in foul trouble, that will be huge. If Matt picks up two early fouls, that's not a death knell, but it won't help. Against Kansas State, Matt spent virtually the entire game in foul trouble, but the rhythm of the contest never really changed. Tom Izzo is as good a coach as there is in basketball, and good coaches figure out what works as quickly as possible and do it until it doesn't work anymore. The game could be decided very early if Izzo answers Butler's questions before Brad Stevens answers the Michigan State riddles. Butler is built to play with a lead. Both the games against Syracuse and Kansas State progressed with almost identical flows. Butler jumps out to a lead that gets to 10, and then the opponent shaves it down to nothing or take a brief lead. Then Butler finally asserts itself and wins by maintaining relentless defensive pressure and making foul shots. That is the recipe for success. If Butler pushes a lead during the first half, they are in good shape. If the Spartans lead in the first half, that could mean trouble. While Butler is most comfortable while leading, 24-straight wins have given Butler confidence and belief that everything will be okay. They play the way they play, and accept the consequences. That's what I love about Howard. He plays like Matt Howard whether he has one foul or four. You drive at Matt and he'll try to draw the charge. He gives no quarter. Michigan State is a typical Tom Izzo team. With Kalin Lucas out, they have four guys averaging between 8.5 and 11.5 ppg. No one is great at anything, and no one sucks at anything - except Derrick Nix who shoots 27.1% from the line. Chris Allen is a strong three-point shooter, and Green can both rebound and pass. Everyone turns the ball over, but not too much. You can bet that Michigan State will pound the ball inside early, and that if Butler responds well to that, Izzo will try something else to generate some offense. Butler will do what it always does - run offense and get a good look. Gordon Hayward will try to penetrate, as will Mack. Howard will make accurate and rhythmic inside-out passes for open threes. If Michigan State doubles down on Howard, the Bulldogs will get a lot of open looks from outside. As I have written about the last two games, my potential hero is Zach Hahn. If Hahn comes of the bench hot, he can put up nine-points in a minute. Stevens will spot Hahn minutes here and there hoping that he catches open from 25-feet and in. Zach tries hard on defense, and if a team doesn't exploit him on that side of the ball, he will kill them on the other. There won't be a player on the floor tonight for any of the four teams who believes more resolutely in his ability to make shots than Hahn. I asked him at a summer team tournament how he became so confident. He said, "Because I work at it harder than anyone." Tonight's first game will be a great contest for two proud programs - one that has made the Big Dance a habit, and another that has taken 15 years to become an overnight sensation. I'm picking the Bulldogs in a very similar game to those they played last weekend. Butler over Michigan State 61-57. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Butler Basketball and the Indianapolis Colts: A Comparison that Works

Greg Adams — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:05:34 +0000

by Greg Adams People have been looking for a good Butler comparison all week. Hickory Huskers? I'm so tired of this one I could scream. Cinderella? Nah. These guys were ranked in the Top-10 most of the year. What about George Mason 2006? Um, no. The Bulldogs went undefeated in the Horizon League and would have been invited to the Big Dance even without having won its conference tournament. Those trying to make a good Butler comparison (as if that’s totally necessary in the first place) need look no further than Butler’s hometown and the team who regularly occupies tonight’s Final Four venue from September to January. How about the Indianapolis Colts? That’s right. It took my stumbling onto a quote in the Indianapolis Star from Butler coach Brad Stevens to finally make the connection. The Star’s John Rabjohns wrote a really nice piece on Matt Howard, and in that piece, I fully understood why Butler basketball is where it is right now and why Brad Stevens will be successful in whatever he does as a college basketball coach. And in life. Stevens said, "One of the things we identify is not what you're ranked, it's, 'Do we think you fit well at Butler and would you be a positive person for our program?' Those are our criteria.” Do we think you fit well at Butler and would you be a positive person for our program? It sounds like Butler’s recruiting “high-character” guys. And for the past several years they’ve been getting high-character guys who can play. Sound familiar, Central Indiana sports fans? It should. If you’ve followed the Indianapolis Colts for any significant length of time, they’ve been doing it right for over a decade. The Colts intentionally look for players who fit within their system who they think have good character. Sometimes this means not risking a high draft pick on a kid who didn’t attend class or who has been in some legal trouble. To be sure, the Colts have made a couple notable exceptions to this rule--and been burned (see Corey Simon and Ed Johnson). But overall the Colts find high quality guys who they can develop to help them win on the field. Guys who are positive people for the organization to help them win off it. It’s why Brad Stevens has two Academic All-Americans starting tonight in the Final Four. It’s why Peyton Manning and Edgerrin James made the cut for Jim Irsay and Bill Polian while Ryan Leaf and Ricky Williams didn’t. And it’s why both teams are enjoying a ton of success. Between the lines and outside of them. Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Sports From the Couch-Butler Survives and Advances

jshowal2 — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 00:58:00 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I don't claim to be a genius, but I believe my pre-game analysis of the Butler-Michigan State game was pretty much dead on. I do believe I know as much as Seth Davis who is zero for five in his last five picks. Butler's guards pressured the hell out of Korie Lucious into five turnovers and MSU into 16 turnovers total and advanced to the NCAA title game 52-50. Butler stood man to man with the bigger and more athletic Spartans and punched them right in the mouth. The Butler Way isn't just going to class, playing as a team and next man up. They have a little George Foreman in them as well. They will stand their and take a punch and punch back. May not be pretty, in fact, Butler has only played one half of GREAT basketball all tournament. The 2nd half of the UTEP game, they steamrolled the Miners 50-26. The game took a toll on the Bulldogs. Matt Howard looks as though he may have a concussion. Shelvin Mack had muscle spasms. Gordon Hayward and Howard both had fat lips. I told you they could take a punch! It's the Spartans that fell to the floor. Now it's time to relax, enjoy a beverage and watch West Virginia and Duke.

Butler Beats Michigan State 52-50; Advances to Championship Game Against Duke

kentsterling — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 14:39:34 +0000

by Kent Sterling Sixty-three teams are home dreaming of what could have been. Butler is preparing to play 40 more minutes of basketball that can secure for them a very special place in history. [caption id="attachment_2391" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Great Wall of Hoop field is down to two teams - Duke returning to the Championship Game after an extended absence, and Butler - making it's first trip."][/caption] The Bulldogs beat Michigan State last night in one of the best defensive basketball displays in the history of the Final Four, and maybe all of college basketball. Clean shots for either team were scarce. The help-side rotation was quick and consistent, and the recovery was quicker. Prior to the game, this was a coin-toss. There was no question that instead of a 40-minute game, the officials could have set the clock to 2:00 and let the teams battle. We would have missed 38-minutes of ever shrinking offensive opportunities because of stifling defense, but no way either of these teams would have allowed the other to pull away. Listening to Cubs baseball as a kid, Vince Lloyd and Lou Boudreau would refer to a 1-0 game as a "connoisseur's delight", meaning that only people who absolutely loved baseball would find such a low-scoring game thrilling. Last night's Butler - Michigan State game was a connoisseur's delight. Butler shot 31% - and won. I love assists as a stat to determine the effectiveness of a defense. Purdue played tenacious defense all year, and was successful when given up assists in the single-digits. Last night, Michigan State allowed Butler only five assists. I have never seen a team lose when playing such a smothering defense that they only allowed five passes that led to baskets. Incredible. Michigan State has 11 assists, but turned to ball over 16 times to Butler's eight. Foul shooting was the pivot point for the Spartans - making only 10-of-18. Butler went to the line six times more than Michigan State and made seven more. Personal fouls were close to even at 21-17 with the Bulldogs at the lower mark - some of the Butler fouls seemed to be the ticky-tack touch variety before the shot that refs use to even up the numbers, but they count just the same. I've been in arguments throughout the month about Gordon Hayward as an NBA prospect. Until last night, it was hard for me to believe he's a kid who can play in the league. Sure, he could create his own shot against Horizon League teams, but against NBA style defenders he would be overmatched. That reasoning flew out the window over the last three games, and was obliterated last night. As Matt Howard struggled, and Shelvin Mack played only 25 minutes, Hayward stepped up with 19 points on 14 shots, and nine boards. He played 39-minutes, and made the play of the tournament by cutting to the bucket after his missed triple from the corner. Somehow Shawn Vanzant got to the ball first, saw a cutting Hayward, and fed him for the only Butler field goal of the last 12+-minutes. That play gave the Bulldogs a 50-46 lead with 1:26 left, and that was enough to earn a place for Butler in Monday night's game against Duke. The Blue Devils plowed through West Virginia like a team on a mission. Nothing went right for the Mountaineers as Couch K's team that the Indianapolis Star certainly thinks we love to hate. The truth is, Duke has been largely irrelevant for the last half-decade, last making it to the Final Four in 2004. People don't hate good teams - they hate great ones. It's been awhile since Duke was great. It's too bad for the thousands of West Virginia fans who have been spending money at [caption id="attachment_2384" align="alignright" width="420" caption="The best-looking West Virginia fans in Indiana"][/caption] Indianapolis bars and restaurants on food and booze like they have their own currency mills. I spoke to a Mountaineer fan at the "Wild Beaver", a surprisingly good place to watch the game and he took great pride in telling me that they love to roll into a city and drink it dry, "We went to Charlotte for a football game, and the only two cold beers I had all weekend were the first two. They wasn't ready for us. We'd been in town for two-hours, and all of a sudden on the main drag in Charlotte, the parade of beer trucks started, and it didn't end until we left on Sunday." Funny what some people take pride in. The entire fan base for the Mountaineers were odd, but friendly. Kind of like Hoosiers, but odder - much odder. The West Virginians did have a license on drunken boobery. A man who looked very professorial in a Michigan State windbreaker wobbled, and then fell ass over elbows first over a chair and then a table. The whole thing transpired in front of me as though it were in slow-motion. He survived with a skinned forehead and a wounded pride. The server from the Wild Beaver put some Band-Aids on his head and gave him a kiss on the cheek. So the Bulldogs will play for the National Championship, and right now have no idea about the status of Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack. Both will be needed to compete against Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, and Nolan Smith. These are very similar teams with a slight advantage to Duke offensively, and an advantage to Butler for their defensive play. Neither team got much from their benches last night. Duke is a seven-point favorite in most sports books, and that seems like a huge number against a team who has allowed less than 60-points to every team it has played in the tournament. Throughout the season, Butler has shown and ability to stay within contact of opponents, and winning their last 25-games. Duke is 34-5, having won 17-of -18. The Blue Devils have only played in five games decided by six-or-less points - losers of two of them (@ Georgia Tec, and @ Wisconsin). This should be a game for the ages. To think that Butler - a 200-to-1 underdog when the tournament started - is 40-minutes away from hanging a National Championship banner in Hinkle is amazing. It affirms that college basketball - famously and correctly called "a cesspool" by Sonny Vaccaro - can be played successfully without even bending the rules, and can be what all of us who love it dream for it to be.

NCAA Tournament Plan to Expand to 96-Teams Could Mean End of 29-Year Run for CBS

kentsterling — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 15:58:44 +0000

by Kent Sterling The NCAA is seriously considering an expansion of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament to 96-teams in an effort to squeeze more money out of the network that will pay for the privilege of broadcasting the seminal March television sports event. The long-standing deal between the NCAA and CBS has a clause that will allow the NCAA to opt out after the 2010 tourney. That would open the door for Disney (ESPN/ABC) to jump in with a massive offer to secure the television rights, and return games to the network on which they belong. Kids won't remember this, but back in the 1980s, ESPN carried the first two rounds of the NCAA Tourney. They were exceptionally good at it. Toggling from one game to another to make sure viewers caught all of the relevant action was an art that ESPN mastered early on. Then CBS finally figured out that by only broadcasting the Sweet 16 forward, they were limiting themselves to 15 events, so they carried everything from the second round forward. Finally, they doubled their games by including the first round games. The result was a comparatively pitiful product for the viewers. ESPN was irreverent and fun with Dick Vitale threatening to stand on his head if Austin Peay could manage an upset over third-seeded Illinois, and then did it. ESPN moved from game-to-game with precision. Fans never missed anything important. Chris Berman was an excellent in-studio host - injecting fun and laughs into a long day of watching hoops. CBS has always treated every event it covers with almost funereal respect. Jim Nantz may be a fun guy off camera - I don't know - but doing play-by-play of college basketball, he brings a an unnecessarily serious and humorless tone. The explosion of popularity of college hoops is often credited to the 1979 Magic vs. Bird championship, but the guys who made it a ball to watch were Dick Enberg (given one of the shortest, most awkward, and oddest tributes in the history of broadcasting last night), Al McGuire, and Billy Packer. Enberg was a sincerely amused emcee in the middle of the sanctimonious and almost always [caption id="attachment_2399" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Enberg and McGuire - I'm no fan of Packer. so I found a picture without him."][/caption] wrong Packer and the spontaneous, funny, and knowledgeable (if also a little nutty) McGuire. The broadcasts breezed by and were a top-notch compliment to the action. When the tournament moved to CBS in 1982, basketball fans were left with Brent Musberger and Packer to color the action. Yikes. This was like replacing the Marx Brothers with the Ritz Brothers. They both did the same thing, but the results for the audience were markedly different. Now, the NCAA has a chance to get it right. They have a chance to send Jim Nantz to Augusta National a bit early (a position at which his hushed obsequiousness is totally appropriate), and turn the comparatively monstrous resources of ESPN loose on an event that is too big for one portal. Although ESPN has wandered into the land of partner worship a little too often for my taste, it still has the ability to both inform and entertain. Kids today don't remember Chris Bermanwhen he was funny and spontaneous. He was among the first real smart-asses in broadcasting, and he was really good at it. Along the way, Berman has become chiched and a sometimes nuisance. ESPN needs to adopt that underdog attitude again or become the thing it once attacked - the high-minded and self-important toadies of those leagues and institutions with whom they partner. That's a subject for another day. The expansion to 96-teams is abhorrent to me. I would like to see a contraction to 32-teams as there is virtually no chance of a team outside the top eight seeds winning the tournament. Is this a tournament about crowning a champion, or adding profitable events to the calendar (we all know the answer to that question). The current construct keeps the conference tournaments meaningful, so the real start of the NCAA Tournament is a full two weeks prior to the play-in game in Dayton. That gives fans a full month of March Madness. Plus, how the hell am I supposed to construct a 96-team bracket as a Great Wall of Hoop? But if a 96-team tourney allows ESPN to make financial sense of submitted a gargantuan bid that will wrestle March Madness away from the staid network of William S. Paley and the octogenarians who still watch it, I'm in. CBS is the network of Andy Rooney and the "NCIS" franchise. Have you ever met anyone who watches "NCIS"? I haven't either. As for Rooney, when was the last time he said or thought anything close to meaningful for anyone under the age of 85? He and Willard Scott should tour college campuses as object lessons for medical students who are proponents of heroic measures being used to prolong the lives of the elderly. [That's a little harsh even for me - especially on Easter Sunday.] Let's get this big-ass clunky 79-game event over three weeks on a network with the resources to do it justice.

As Butler and Duke Get Ready, Final Four Host City - Indianapolis Gets an A+

kentsterling — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 02:11:35 +0000

by Justin Whitaker As Lindsay Rump sees it, a Butler University basketball fan’s needs this weekend are simple. First, a fan at the Final Four must eat — ideally, with other fans of one’s team. Then, there’s the matter of watching the game. Rump, the Butler student body president, said around basketball-crazy Indianapolis, finding such a place during 2010 Final Four weekend, hasn’t been a difficult task. “People are flooding any place that they can find good food, good company, and of course, a killer TV and watch the Bulldogs,” Rump, the Butler student body president said this week as the hometown Bulldogs prepared to play in the Final Four for the first time in school history. “The excitement is all over the city so even if you aren’t on campus, you can still count yourself as part of the madness and the atmosphere.” That Indianapolis is filling the needs of students and fans flooding the city to watch not only Butler, but Michigan State, Duke and West Virginia, isn’t surprising to CBS college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg. The city, hosting its sixth Final Four this weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis, is not only a basketball paradise, Kellogg said it has logistics, experience and basketball passion necessary to host one of the sports year’s biggest events. “It’s a terrific city,” said Kellogg, who this weekend is calling his second Final Four with Jim Nantz. “The proximity of the venue to the hotels, the restaurants and to all the activities that go on around the Final Four make it special. “It is a combination of venue, quality of people in the city, the experience this city has had hosting major events, and the way people take pride in showcasing a city at one of the great sporting events on the calendar.” Serving as a host city for the Final Four no longer means just having a place for fans to watch three basketball games over the course of three days. It is now a big-time event, which Bill Benner said means providing entertainment and ambiance beyond the match-ups. “As it has grown, I don’t think it’s many levels below the Super Bowl,” Benner, the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association’s director of communications, said. “You are talking about an event that has not only the games, but all these ancillary events that take place.” For those on a college student budget, events included Friday’s free, open practices for all Final Four teams. More than 29,000 people watched the hometown Butler Bulldogs’ Friday session, a group that included Matt Clayton, a 21-year-old University of Indianapolis student. "It was so packed and there was nowhere for us to sit," Clayton said. "We arrived five minutes into the practice and could not find seats anywhere.” Clayton said his group then moved onto Bracket Town, an interactive event in the Indianapolis Convention Center billed by the NCAA as "the ultimate Final Four fan fest." It features competitions, clinics, demonstrations and autograph sessions, including the State Farm coaches All-America team. There are 12 basketball courts, a football obstacle course and opportunities to try fencing and other NCAA sports. Fans can also role-play their favorite sportscasters as they read off a teleprompter in AT&T’s At the Half Video Play-by-Play. This interactive studio features fans analyzing memorable moments in NCAA Final Four history. “Over the past years, the NCAA has really made a conscious effort to involve ticket holders and non-ticket holders alike,” Benner said. “They have really tried to reach beyond the two semifinals games and championship game to involve people.” Other events in the Convention Center this weekend include the 2,500-seat Spalding Arena, which hosts State Farm’s College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships and a Battle of the Bands with each Final Four team’s mascot, band and cheerleaders. For music fans, The Big Dance Concert Series at White River State Park is a three-day, free concert series that kicks off with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Country Music Association New Artist of the Year Darius Rucker, and former American Idol contestant Daughtry headline Saturday afternoon’s festivities with host Ryan Seacrest. Multiplatinum rock band the Goo Goo Dolls and rapper and actor LL Cool J close out the concert series on Sunday. This year’s concert series was different than the 2006 Final Four in Indianapolis, when Monument Circle was closed for a one-day concert with Chris Brown, Carrie Underwood and Hoosier John Mellencamp. An estimated 80,000 people attended that one-day concert. This year, the concerts were spread out and moved to White River State Park to help ease the pressure on downtown Indianapolis. “It is less of an impact on the city when you do not have to shut down Monument Circle and the streets around them," Benner said. Next to White River State Park is the NCAA headquarters and museum, the NCAA Hall of Champions. It’s an interactive museum where visitors can experience NCAA sports firsthand. Memorabilia and trophies are on display in this mecca of college athletics. Lucas Oil Stadium, the Indianapolis Convention Center, White River State Park and NCAA headquarters are all within 10 minutes walking distance, allowing easy access between venues and downtown. Several downtown Indianapolis restaurants also have adopted Final Four teams fans, branding themselves as headquarters for particularly teams. Fans can root for Butler at RAM Restaurant and Big Horn Brewery and Michigan State fans can go to Champps Restaurant. Duke fans will be at Buffalo Wild Wings and West Virginia fans at Scotty’s Brewhouse. “This is a basketball state,” Kellogg said. “You have not only the Butler alums, but you probably have the IU and Purdue fans that are embracing Butler because it’s Indiana. The overriding theme in an event like this is a lot of time their school loyalties take precedents to their local loyalties and you are seeing that this weekend.”

Sports Digest - Championship Monday, April 5, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:26:12 +0000

Here are the big stories for the Monday that will end March Madness and begin Another Cubs Season: Butler - Kravitz - (Under) Dogs' Night Butler -Kravitz - Butler Inspired by Alum Matt White (from Saturday) Butler - Win Would Top All-Time Shockers Butler - Wooden Roots for Butler Butler - Stevens Faces Another Legend Butler - Stevens Has Come a Long Way Quickly Butler - Matt Howard Profile in New York Times Butler - A Title on the Horizon? Butler - Mack the Right Fit for the Bulldogs Butler - Title May Hinge on Hayward/Singler Match-up Butler - Howard a Gametime Decision Butler - Stevens on Oregon's Radar Butler - Hayward's Legend Hits Growth Spurt Duke - Nolan Smith Follows in Dad's Footsteps Duke - Knight Taught Coach K About Life Cubs - Players Insist They Have Something to Prove Cubs - Nady in Left; Colvin in Center and Right as Backups Cubs - Nine Questions for the Cubs to Answer in 2010 Cubs - Something to Prove in 2010 Cubs - A Look at Braves Series Matchup Masters - Compelling Start Today as Tiger Speaks

Harry on Sports - Monday, April 5, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:43:08 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry-601.mp3]

NCAA Championship Game Start Time Is a Disgrace

kentsterling — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:34:26 +0000

by Kent Sterling 9:21p! 9:21 at night. That's when the final between Duke and Butler will start! All the college basketball fans 14-and-under have bedtimes earlier (or should) than this game will start. With the protracted halftime (maybe they will salute Dick Enberg for another 15-seconds) and extended time-outs, this game will almost certainly creep toward a Midnight finish. The CBS decision is undoubtedly to allow the west coast audience to enjoy the game with the rest of the country, but why would they have any interest? Fourteen of the teams in the Sweet Sixteen and none of the Elite Eight came from the Mountain or Pacific Time Zones. In baseball, the World Series starts shortly before 8:00p, and that has teams from the west coast in it as often as not. The institutional stupidity and short-sightedness of the CBS coverage of the NCAA Tournament is so extreme that it makes it difficult to fathom what kind of oafs sit in the meetings making any of the calls in how this fiasco is brought into our homes. Sports is supposed to be fun. It's a diversion. CBS treats every broadcast as a holy event. There are occasional pre-scripted attempts at appearing fun, but the overall tone is ridiculously somber. Let's look at the target demographic of the basketball audience. Where do they live? Of the 64 teams in the bracket (I'm refusing to acknowledge the absurd play-in game), 36 teams are from the Eastern Time Zone, 14 are from the Central, and the other 14 are from the Mountain and Pacific. None of the teams from the Mountain or Pacific advanced to the Elite Eight. Basketball is an east coast and midwest game, as is most of college football. The SEC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC lie entirely in the East and Central. The Pac Ten, lucky to put two teams in the tourney this year, is the only major conference with any schools that lie outside those time zones. The BCS Championship kicked at 8:30p in the east. That is n event that the west coast has teams that might play in the game. The Super Bowl kickoff is at 6:25p. The World Series - shortly before 8p. The NBA Finals - 8:37p. Stanley Cup Finals - 8:00p. Where does 9:21p come from? I've probed for the answer from people who would know, and what I get back is laughter, followed by "I don't know." It's time for Greg Shaheen and the NCAA to put this game on at a time when kids can watch it. CBS can get with the program or cede the tournament rights to ESPN, a network that generally makes logical decisions that serve the audience.

A Tournament's End Is a Tough Time for Teams

kentsterling — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:11:54 +0000

by Kent Sterling In a tournament like the NCAA's, where the goal is to survive to play another day, the day of the championship is a tough one. Regardless of the outcome, everyone goes home. Tournaments are so much fun. There are teams and fans everywhere you go for three weeks, and then there is silence as America's sports calendar ticks forward past your relevance. Today, there are news crews camped all over the Butler campus. Tomorrow, there will be the post mortem. After that, not so much other than quiet. The noise that accompanies a great story like this can be a little intoxicating, and the din will rise and fall around this time of year on a fifth, tenth, 20th, 25th, and on and on anniversaries of April 5, 2010, but it won't be the same. This Butler run, if it culminates with a win, might be a similar story to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. It will never reach that level of passionate response, as that team belonged to America. Butler belongs to a specific neighborhood of Indianapolis. But the level of upset is not altogether dissimilar. Duke's annual basketball budget, according to the Indianapolis Star, is $13-million. Butler's is $1.7 million. The New York Times published a story this morning about Butler's Matt Howard. National media wants to talk to Zach Hahn. Brad Stevens has become the most celebrated young coach in college hoops, and is being seriously considered by Oregon for it's open gig. What's Oregon? Oregon is going to throw $3-million-plus at somebody - maybe Brad. Phil Knight of Nike is going to spend whatever he has to in order to get a coach for that program that he believes can take the Oregon program to the next level. If that's Brad, he will likely make close to twice Butler's entire hoops budget. That level of noise is a lot of fun, so maybe the next week will be enjoyable, at least for Brad. The rest of the kids will enjoy a day or two off, and then go back to work in the comparative silence of Hinkle Fieldhouse. The echo of a nation immersing itself in "The Butler Way" will give way to the solitary echo of a basketball bouncing at Hinkle. The media requests will calm to a trickle, much to the delight of SID Jim McGrath. Parents who are enjoying this trip into the national spotlight will walk out of Lucas Oil Stadium tonight knowing that their sweet odyssey has ended. All of that time and energy thinking, hoping, and praying for a miracle will need to be directed toward something else. Being in the middle of a storm is kind of fun. It provides focus and a sense of importance. When it is removed quickly, the result is an emptiness that is startling. Once the road to abnormally loud ends, the quiet is deafening. There is a portion of the documentary about the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that deals with the sadness that occurred after the trip to the White House to Meet President Carter. All of a sudden there was quiet on the bus, and one of the players asked, "What's the matter?" The other responded, "It's over." Fortunately for the Bulldogs, most will have each other for another year, and the love they have developed through this most unique three-week journey will continue to bind them on the floor and off. That will help make the silence easier to accept. If Brad leaves for an enormous payday, that will make it tougher, but Butler promotes from within, so the new coach won't be too disruptive. For Willie Veasley, Nick Rodgers, and Avery Jukes (am I crazy, or does it seem like Jukes has been at Butler since 1998?) this is the end of a beautiful trip. No more beautiful noise. Additional basketball will be played with mercenaries trying to make a buck in South America, England, Poland, or any of another 50 countries where small professional basketball leagues pay kids to sacrifice their bodies for meal money and pocket change. Books will be written. A movie might be made. Reunions will be held. But nothing in the lives of the people associated with the Butler program will ever measure up to whatever happens tonight. Today's din is the sweetest noise those kids will ever hear. Tomorrow begins a lifetime of looking back.

A 2010 Chicago Cubs Fan's Lament

kentsterling — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:34:52 +0000

by Kent Sterling With apologies to the late and great Steve Goodman, I'm not sure hope is on the horizon for fans of the Chicago National League Ballclub. It's hard to feel great hope when from the time you can remember being alive, Cubs-focused hope has never once been validated. Throughout your childhood, parents scolded hope for the Cubs as foolish because they too had never seen it pay off, and their parents before them did the same. No man or woman lives today who was a Cubs fan they last time there was reason to celebrate at the end of the season. Wrigley Field will turn 100 in four years. The last time it hosted a World Series, it was 31 years old. It has unsuccessfully welcomed American League teams for a Fall Classic a total of six times. During the divisional era, Wrigley has hosted seven postseason series, and has seen one win, although that occurred on the road. We've been teased again and again with the Cubs almost getting to the World Series. They have been five outs away once (in 2003), and eight outs away twice (in games four and five of the 1984 NLCS). I had bleacher tickets to game six of NLCS and game three of the World Series in 1989. Of course, the Cubs lost the NLCS to the Giants in five games as Don Zimmer stuck with Mike Bielecki because Les Lancaster had already given up two homers to Robby Thompson earlier in the series. Some say that the Cubs historic futility defines Cubs fans, and without it we would be lost. That maybe so. I would sure like to test that theory though. Will it happen in my lifetime? In yours? In my son's? There is something magical about the Cubs, and the summers on the north side of Chicago when the team is winning and joy permeates the park and surrounding neighborhood. It doesn't really exist anywhere else. Cubs fans come back, keep coming back year after painful year, too blind to reality and too ignorantly blissful to know better. They pray for deliverance from their century of failure, and then pray again after those prayers go unanswered. The bitterness that would be so reasonable is never adopted. Hope survives the torment - again and again. Songs are written by rock stars with a little kid trapped inside, and they are loudly and joyously sung after wins that stir the soul. We remember Willie Smith's pinch home run in the 11th to beat the Phillies in the 1969 opener, Ryne Sandberg's two home runs against Bruce Sutter in 1984, and Gary Gaetti's home run in the 1998 tie breaker game, and we try to forget Bartman, Leon Durham letting the grounder go through his legs in San Diego, and Don Young. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqHTScDBsDU] We laughed at Jim Marshall's toupee, chided Jim Holland's love for over-the-hill relievers, and loathed Milton Bradley. Over the years, Wrigley Field has changed. It used to be a place where fathers and sons spent afgternoons playing hookey in the grandstands and kept score. Now, it's a bar where twenty-something idiots drink as much as they can before the seventh inning cutoff and litter the field with empty cups whenever they are displeased. Girls with nice tans and cans but bereft of baseball knowledge come out to sit in the sun. A generation ago, parents in Lake Bluff allowed their 14-year-old kids to take the Northwestern to Davis, transfer to the Howard Line, and go to Wrigley on a summer afternoon of baseball. At least the parents of Nick Anson and Kent Sterling did. Now? No chance. The fans change. Wrigley Field changes a little bit. The media really changes. The result hasn't changed. At least not in 101 years. We have no reason to believe this year will be any different. Cubs GM Jim Hendry continues to throw crap at the wall, hoping that something sticks. The middle infield is weak at both spots. The outfield is a collective 100 years old. The catcher was on the fat Oprah diet last year, and then switched to the skinny Oprah diet for 2010 (until he stops getting his eyebrows waxed, it will be tough to take him seriously). Our crazy ace of the pitching staff swears his emotional age has climbed past 12, and our manager has gone from temperamental to comatose. There are kids who might be ready by midseason to show us what they can and can't do. Starlin Castro is projected to be an all-star in two years. Mike Fontenot is projected to be out of baseball then. Tyler Colvin is said to be a better player today than Kosuke Fukudome. Is it Hendry's pride that keeps him out of the lineup, or a lack of desire to admit to the Ricketts Family that he is spending $10-million of their money for a mediocre outfield when he has a better option that costs $400,000? I've seen worse Cubs teams, and I've seen better. Last year, I felt no hope and predicted the Cubs would win 83 games, and they won 83 games. This year, I'm going out on a limb built on hope and nothing else. The limb may be proven to be live electrical cable I have mistaken for a tree branch, but I'm going to predict the majority of the Cubs stay healthy, that Carlos Silva pitches reasonably well (12-10), and that Marmol closes the door as well as a pitcher with his unhittable stuff should. The Cubs will go 91-71, and earn a wild-card berth in the playoffs ahead of the Braves. That prediction is a full 13 games better than most analysts predict, but what the hell good is a summer without hope? Go Cubs, Go! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIylmftZSuM]

The Butler Way on a Championship Monday; Matt Howard Health Update

kentsterling — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:01:17 +0000

by Kent Sterling On college campuses all over the country, Division One basketball players are taking the day off. They likely were out late Saturday night watching the Final Four games, and with the national championship game tonight at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis between Butler and Duke tonight they needed to get some extra rest because the game won't end until almost Midnight. At Butler University, the Bulldogs were in class today. The very players who will line it up tonight against Coach K's Blue Devils were in classes studying engineering, finance, and secondary education. While players in Lexington, Kentucky might have been meeting with agents or preparing their bodies for the workouts that will determine where they might slot in the upcoming June NBA Draft, the Butler kids were preparing their minds on the days they will remember for the rest of their lives. This is called "The Butler Way", and it's damn smart. What the hell else are those kids going to do all day other than obsess about the game? It's great to get the kids' minds off the game for a few hours and keep life as normal for them as possible. You couldn't send a better message to the rest of the students on campus either. A kid better have a damn good excuse for missing class if basketball players on the biggest day of their athletic lives are willing to invest their energy in Pythagorean theorems and subject-predicate agreement. I know nothing about Matt Howard's concussion, but I do know his brothers Luke and Tim. If Matt doesn't lace them up tonight, his brothers will kill him. They roughed him up out in the driveway playing ball when he was young, and they aren't afraid to dip into that bag of tricks again. Seriously, Matt Howard is a fierce competitor who relishes every opportunity to join his teammates in battle, and tonight will be no different. Matt will play and play hard tonight because that's who he is. More than anything else, Matt is motivated by the respect with which his teammates hold him. Brad Stevens and the Butler medical staff will need to shackle him to the bench like Bobby Seale was in the trial of the Chicago Seven. Regardless of the outcome of tonight's game, Butler's gameday performance has served as a great model for college students and students of life. What is meaningful and what is not? Hopefully, athletic directors and college presidents are watching and learning. Thanks again to Barry Collier and Brad Stevens for continuing to show the NCAA and its member institutions what "student-athlete" means.

Butler to Prove Themselves Worthy...Again

The Truth — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:50:14 +0000

By Kyle Miller Butler defeated Michigan State at Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday night in front of 70,000 people. They won the Horizon League Championship game in front of only 6,000. Despite defeating #1 Syracuse, #2 Kansas State, #5 Michigan State, and showing they’re capable of winning anytime, anywhere, Butler enters the game tonight as an 7.5-point underdog at the MGM Mirage in Las Vegas. The “David vs. Goliath” talk has begun once again, but Butler had to listen to that story for the last three rounds now. Perhaps it will take one final upset to prove to the nation and all of the doubters that this team is the real deal. Butler can beat Duke if they can accomplish four things: 1) They must contain the Big 3- 63 of Dukes 78 points against West Virginia came from Scheyer, Smith, Singler. Butler has proven to have a stifling half court defense. A crucial part of keeping these three in check will be controlling the tempo and limiting their three-point looks. Matchup wise, I think Nored will guard Smith, Mack will check Scheyer, and Willie Veasley will defend Singler. Veasley is 6’3”, making him five inches shorter than Singler. This potential matchup would pose a big problem for Duke because Lance Thomas cannot possibly contain Gordon Hayward, so Singler would most likely have to try and guard him. But then who does Lance Thomas guard? 2) A quick start is key- Butler squeezed all the juice out of the Orange when they started the game on an 11 to 1 run. Two days later they battled Kansas State and managed to take a 20 to 10 lead fourteen minutes into the game. In contrast, Butler spent most of the first half of Saturday night’s contest against the Spartans trailing, but they were able to keep it close and ended up tied at halftime. Duke absolutely dominated the Mountaineers from the tip on Saturday. They only trailed once by a score of 4-2 and never looked back after that. The first four minutes of this game will determine a lot. 3) Cleaning the glass- The way the game will play out will have a lot to do with whether or not Matt Howard is able to lace up. If he does not play, Butler is knee deep in quicksand from the tip. The rebounding responsibility does not fall solely on Howard, though. To compete with Duke on the boards, Butler is going to have to team rebound. They have to clean up the garbage under the rim. If the ball hits the floor off a shot, Butler must come up with it. 4) The style of play must be ugly- The Butler/Michigan State game was tough to watch. Butler has a scratch, claw, bite, do-whatever-it-takes-to-win style of play, while Duke is notorious for being a bunch of softies. If Duke is able to successfully execute their perimeter oriented offense and out-finesse the Bulldog’s gritty defense, Butler will be in big trouble. Everybody has his thoughts on the keys to tonight’s contest. I hate Duke. My Modus Ponens: If he looks like a rat, then he must be a rat. Coach K looks like a rat. Therefore, Coach K is a rat. Though my opinion is quite bias, I truly believe the Bulldogs have what it takes to win. This game is a simple “prove it” game for Butler. Can they prove ONE more time they deserve to be crowned national champions? We’ve seen them do it all year and all tournament… now it’s time to prove it. Go DAWGS!

Chicago Cubs Get Blitzed by Braves in Opener 16-5

kentsterling — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:59:58 +0000

by Kent Sterling "THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!" Dennis Green famously screamed during a postgame press conference as coach of the Arizona Cardinals. The Cubs were who we thought they were this afternoon in Atlanta. The defense up the middle was as pathetic as Cubs fans might remember from last year. Mike Fontenot booted a ground ball, and Ryan Theriot couldn't get out to a bloop that turned into several runs in the six-run Braves first. Marlon Byrd and Aramis Ramirez hit bombs, but the defensive incompetence of the Cubs could not be overcome. Derrek Lee made a throwing error, and even when plays were made, they looked completely unsure of themselves. At the plate, Alfonso Soriano looked like the undisciplined, heavy-batted mope who can't lay off a sweeping breaking ball low and away. He faced the second highest percentage of breaking balls of any hitter in baseball 0.1% behind the Phillies Ryan Howard. That begs the question why any right-handed pitcher would throw him even one fastball. This is the fourth season Cubs fans have been forced to suffer through bad Soriano at-bats. Carlos Zambrano started the opener and made it one out into the second inning. He allowed eight runs - all earned - on six hits, two walks, and two long home runs. One of the home runs was off the very virginal bat of Braves prospect Jason Heyward (no relation to Gordon of the Butler Bulldogs) in his very first major league at-bat. Amazing that the Braves, projected to finish well ahead of the Cubs, are willing to start unproven youngsters, while the Cubs prefer to sit Tyler Colvin and have Starlin Castro start the season in Double-A. This wasn't a game where the Braves went crazy and beat the Cubs brains in. This was the kind of game that teams that will contend just don't play. The pitching (other than Sean Marshall and James Russell) was horrible. They were wild inside and outside the zone. They gave up eight walks. EIGHT! Lou Piniella went out on a skinny limb late in spring training by saying that the Cubs "are very close to winning a World Series." What group of players is he watching? If the best piece of news from the game is that Marshall looked great in 2-2/3 innings of relief, this was not a day to inspire fans to buy tickets for meaningful September games. What a disaster! The Cubs continue to operate under the delusion that they are close - that the veterans are good enough to contend. Defense up the middle is important enough in baseball that any thoughts of contending a for fools. Yeah, I know that this morning I wrote that the Cubs would win 91 games. Honestly, I was still teary-eyed from listening to Eddie Vedder's "All the Way" - his tribute to the generational hope of Cubs fans. If Vedder watched this game, he wrote an entirely different song, maybe called "All the Way to the Cellar". Fittingly, Soriano struck out to end it.

Sports From the Couch-The Impossible Dream: Butler Plays for a Championship

jshowal2 — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:17:31 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I was listening to MPOS today and Mark Patrick was talking about what the main storyline is about Butler's run to a championship. I'm not sure what they determined, because I arrived to my location but the storyline is pretty simple. 99% of the media got Butler wrong. Butler was suppose to lose to UTEP. Butler was suppose to Syracuse. Butler can't eat Kansas State. There is no way Butler can beat Michigan State. How did that work out? Other then the Butler faithful, Pat Forde , Andy Staples and central Indiana, none of the "experts" got this right. Media expert failure (Duke was the weakest number one seed) is the story of this tournament. I'm going to make this as quick as I can. 2007, Butler leads Florida with four minutes to go. Florida had six NBA draft choices. Butler none. It took some shady calls and a couple clutch shots for Florida to win the game. This Butler team is better then 2007's. This Duke team isn't close to that Florida team. Butler will again, stand toe-to-toe with Duke. They will scrap, fight, claw, dive and scratch for every play. Nored, Veasley, Vanzant, Mack and Hahn break even with Singler, Scheyer and Smith. Can Howard, Hayward, Jukes and Smith match Zoubek, Thomas and the Plumlees. Maybe not on the boards, but Butler will outscore them. I've got a feeling that Jukes is going to hit a three and Hayward can take all the bigs, and Singler, off the dribble. There is no way Duke hits threes like they did Saturday. Brad Stevens becomes the hottest name in coaching since...I have no idea. The Dream ends tonight: For Duke. The impossible dream comes to fruition. Butler 67 Duke 63

Sports From the Couch--Teddy Valentine Will Screw Butler

jshowal2 — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:57:19 +0000

by Jeff Showalter Mark it down. Teddy Valentine will have a hand in Duke's winning of two of their four national titles. Teddy V. absolutely screwed Indiana University out of a national semifinal victory over Duke in 1992. After the Hoosiers, clearly the superior team, went up double digits against the Blue Devils, Valentine took the game over. He fouled out, Damon Bailey, Calbert Chaney and Greg Graham. He called an unnecessary technical on Coach Knight and before anyone could catch their breath, Duke had pulled away. If not for the heroics of Todd Leary, IU would have been blown out. Valentine would have blocked those shots himself if he could have. I'm sticking to my pick because I already made it. If I knew Valentine was officiating, I would have changed my pick. Teddy V will do his best to make sure Duke wins.

Duke Beats Butler 61-59 in Greatest Championship Game Ever

kentsterling — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 03:48:22 +0000

by Kent Sterling My goodness. There will be those critical of some of the Butler players, but how crazy is that? The Butler Bulldogs could have played a perfect game and won, but basketball is rarely perfect, and never against a team as smart and talented as Duke. Mistakes were made by both teams, but the game was won because of a singular effort by Duke's Kyle Singler. He was phenomenal, and Butler lacked that one guy who'd make the game his. This has been a remarkable season for the Bulldogs, and there isn't a person who couldn't have done something a little bit better. This game was about one play - one more play, one better play, one better call, or one worse play for Duke - as have been all of the Butler games since round one. Hopefully, over time these kids and coaches forget the loss and recall the wonderful run that captivated the college basketball world. What a game though. I doubt anyone who watched it will forget it. The last three weeks is what college basketball is supposed to be all about. Kids working hard - on the floor and in the classroom. College basketball was well-served tonight.

Butler Bulldogs: A Heartfelt Thank You

Greg Adams — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 05:34:57 +0000

by Greg Adams Thank you, Butler. Thank you, Brad Stevens and Barry Collier. Thank you for offering major college basketball another version of how to compete, be successful, and win. And for showing us there’s a better way. The Butler Way. Thank you for proving to us that even a Division-I basketball star can attend class the day of the biggest game of his life. For allowing us to cling to the ideal that true student-athletes can still be part of the big revenue sports. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so much pride while watching a team play basketball. I’ll tell my kids and my grandkids all about you. About the mid-major university who gutted a path all the way to the NCAA Championship Game. I’ll tell them that, even though I was only watching the game on television, I’m not sure I’d ever heard the Luke a-rockin’ like it did when Butler stood toe-to-toe with the Duke University Blue Devils and their Hall-of-Fame coach, three-headed perimeter scoring monster, and tremendous interior size. I’ll tell them that Willie Veasley gave a valiant defensive effort on Kyle Singler while giving up a good six inches in height. I’ll tell them that 6-8 Matt Howard worked most of the night against a 7-1 giant. I’ll tell them how Gordon Hayward stroked two free throws after being yanked violently to the ground while attempting a layup—without uttering so much as a word. I’ll tell them that a group of gritty kids, which included several native Hoosiers, were fearless against a national program. Every year, for three weeks spanning from mid-March to early April, I look forward to the Madness. I’ve never enjoyed a tournament so much. And my team wasn’t even in it. I adopted you Butler, like so many from the Hoosier state. By the end of the tournament, we were completely swept away. While many of us got caught up in Cinderellas, Davids, and Hoosiers, you wouldn’t buy it. You were different. You believed you belonged all along. In the end, we did too. Though the loss stings for all of us, we can only imagine how it must feel for you, the players and coaches who have so diligently devoted your sweat, blood, time, energy and passion to make this season’s end result possible. And we would be remiss if we did not heartily congratulate Duke University on its great accomplishment. You certainly made them earn it when others could not. In beating you, they proved to be a worthy champion. The defining play I’ll remember from this year’s team won’t be Shelvin Mack stepping into an early three, Matt Howard running circles around Duke's big men, or Gordon Hayward’s oh-so-close desperation heave at the end of the game. What I’ll remember is Butler needing to create a turnover in the final minutes of the game while Willie Veasely guarded Duke’s Kyle Singler. He forced Singler to dribble right toward the baseline. With nowhere to go, Singler fired a pass along the baseline. Ronald Nored stepped in to pick it off. The steal led to two Gordon Hayward free throws. There were five minutes to play in the game. But the whole sequence embodied everything we came to love about you. Hard-nosed defense, a turnover created off that defense, and points created off that turnover. Everybody knowing his role and doing his job. It's what defined you. It's why we loved you. In the win-at-all costs culture we currently find ourselves, it’s often said that no one remembers who finishes second. We’ll remember the Butler Bulldogs. Thank you.

Sports Digest - Tuesday, April 6, 2010 - The Day After

kentsterling — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:16:55 +0000

Butler - Shot to Win Rims Out (Star) Butler - It Was Nearly the Greatest... (ESPN - Forde) Butler - Ride Ends, But Dream Lives (Star - Kravitz) Butler - Loses Battle, But Wins War for Our Memories (CBS - Doyel) Butler - Stunned Bulldogs Prove They Belong (ESPN) Butler - Duke Holds Off Butler (Chicago Sun-Times) Butler - Two Narrow Misses... (Star) Butler - Howard's Play Late Gives Dogs a Chance (Star) Butler - Jukes Keeps It Close in First Half (Star) Butler - Faithful Are Proud (Star) Cubs - Inept Cubs Give Up 16 Runs in Opener (Sun-Times) Cubs - Zambrano Shows Cubs Rely on Wrong Guy - (Sun-Times) Cubs - Game One of "Year One" One to Forget (Chicago Tribune) Cubs - Big Z Making Strides - Really (ESPN Chicago - Isaacson)

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, April 6, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:35:44 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry-61.mp3]

Butler's Brad Stevens - Will He Stay or Will He Go Now?

kentsterling — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:37:02 +0000

by Kent Sterling Brad Stevens is about as centered a young man as there is. He's a decade in the making overnight sensation who has done the improbable in three seasons as the head coach of the Butler Bulldogs. Because of the faith he has in himself (shared by his wife) when he left Eli Lilly to accept an unpaid coaching position at Butler and the table he helped set as an assistant coach for Barry Collier, Thad Matta, and Todd Lickliter, He is on the precipice of being a very wealthy man should he choose to accept the money he will undoubtedly be offered. Ninety-nine out of 100 men in Brad's spot would take the money and move to a major conference, but Butler may have one of the rare guys as coach for whom cash isn't a primary concern. Here are ... reasons Brad Stevens will return to Butler next year:

He left a job at Lilly that paid reasonably well for a coaching job that paid $0. Even at 23, Brad knew money isn't everything.
Willie Veasley, Avery Jukes, and Nick Rodgers are the only players graduating. We can assume there aren't going to be a lot of guys who transfer out of Butler after the fun they had over the past four months. That means another year of Matt Howard, Shelvin Mack, Gordon Hayward (if he resists the siren call of the NBA), Zach Hahn, and the rest of this Bulldog team that has shown it knows how to win.
Brad has never lived anywhere else. He played high school ball at Zionsville High School, played college ball at DePauw, and has lived in Indianapolis for the past decade.
The Butler culture is already established and rolling. If he has a yearning to rebuild another program within the rules, he may want to give Tom Crean a call to ask how much fun it is.
Butler has always had to grab the high-academic kids that might have been overlooked by Purdue and Indiana. Now he might be in a position to get first bite in Indiana. The number of kids I saw in my neighborhood today shooting baskets was incredible. You think any of them were dreaming they were Robbie Hummel or Maurice Creek?
While Brad could jump to Oregon or another well-heeled school, if he stays at Butler, he has a chance to win 900 games, and get a building named after him.

Conversely, there are reasons he will consider leaving:

Potential one-time only Powerball cash infusion for generations of his family. Brad could be the John D. Rockefeller of college hoops before it's all said and done, if that's the path he chooses.
These moments don't come every year. Brad is the hot property among college coaches right now. Next year, if Hayward goes pro and Mack is injured (God forbid), Butler wins 18 games, and the bloom is off the rose. Buy low, sell high. Brad's stock will never be higher.
No matter how successful Butler is, they will never have the facilties close to what Oregon has built.
If Brad leaves, it's time again for the next man up. That means someone gets an opportunity.
Did I mention a Brinks Truck filled with cash?

Almost anyone else would leave given this set of circumstances. I believe Brad will stay through next year. There might be jobs that Brad would leave Butler for, but Oregon? What the hell does Brad know about Eugene? After another 30 win season (or close), ADs will still love him because he is the real deal. Brad isn't trying to present an identity he believes will be attractive to prospective employers. He is genuinely a good guy who wants his players to graduate after excelling in the classroom and on the court. Brad seems to know that happiness isn't measured in digits.

DePaul Basketball Hires Clemson's Oliver Purnell as New Coach

kentsterling — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:34:42 +0000

by Kent Sterling DePaul University basketball needs a culture which will lead to an image which will then attract young men who are good basketball players. That would separate the Blue Demons from every coaching regime it has embraced since 1984 when Ray Meyer retired. Joey Meyer, Pat Kennedy, Dave Leitao, and Jerry Wainwright have taken DePaul down a 25-year-long journey to obscurity - the athletic equivalent of Mayim Bialik, the big chested girl who played "Blossom" in the late 1980s in entertainment or Dan Quayle in politics. Instead of trying to climb out of the hole DePaul basketball was in, they dug with more and more energy sure that they eventually would burst through the other side into an arena where what they do will matter to anyone. Today, they either took a step forward or will stand pat (there is no chance they got worse as the Blue Demons are at Ground Zero - bedrock to dense that even the DePaul athletic [caption id="attachment_2467" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Oliver Purnell - the New Steward of DePaul Blue Demons Basketball"][/caption] administration can't dent it with their drill so mighty it reached depths almost unrivaled in major conference college basketball). DePaul announced the hire of Clemson coach Oliver Purnell as its fifth coach since 1997 - Joey's last season in Lincoln Park. Purnell comes to DePaul with a pretty respectable resume' as the former head coach at Radford, Old Dominion, Dayton, and Clemson. He has achieved goodness, but never greatness. Greatness was never a possibility at any of his stops, and it's likely not in the cards for DePaul. Purnell has demonstrated an ability though to rebuild, and the key for DePaul is that someone needs to bring some hope. He certainly brings that. In his fourth year at Dayton and Clemson, Purnell started strings of winning 20-games a year that only ended because he left the schools. He has never coached a team to a win in the NCAA tournament, but he has gotten six teams into the tournament, which in and of itself would be a miracle for the Blue Demons. DePaul needs to prove it belongs in the Big East, or move out. The last couple of Blue Demons teams would have had trouble winning games in the Horizon League, much less the Big East. Their summer workouts against Loyola of Chicago resulted in merciless drubbings. In 1900, engineers constructed a series of locks that changes the direction of water flow in the Chicago River to allow water to move away from Lake Michigan rather than into it. Oliver Purnell needs to do the same thing with Chicago basketball talent. You didn't need to watch a lot of basketball this college basketball season to wonder what hell could be raised by a team filled with homegrown Chicago talent. Ohio State's College Basketball Player of the Year Evan Turner, Illinois' Dmitri McCamey, and Duke's Jon Scheyer are just three kids who would have looked very good in DePaul red and blue. This is a tough job that will require a man with Purnell's ability and desire to communicate with the media. He will need to begin by establishing a culture and communicating it. My first impulse was to look at the demographic similarities between Jerry Wainwright and Oliver Purnell. They are very nearly the same age at the time of their hires. Fifty-seven year olds are generally looking for a last contract that will last them in their retirement. In Wainwright, that was certainly the case. For Purnell, based upon the press conference that recently concluded, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Wainwright appeared much older than his 57 years, and Purnell looks younger. Purnell talked the talk of a confident guy who is ready to get to work and build a program worthy of the tradition Blue Demons fans cling to, even as it fades from memory. Chicago deserves a great basketball program, and the last city school's trip to the Final Four was almost 10-years before the eldest current player was born. It's going to take time, but Purnell scored a seven-year contract. Climbing out of the hole will take a couple of years, and then building something good will cost another two. Look for DePaul back in the NCAA Tournament in 2014 unless the Mayans are right, and the we lose the whole damn planet in 2012, in which case DePaul should have hired me for a buck-fifty a year.

Sports From the Couch--Butler Loses Championship, Wins Over a Nation

jshowal2 — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:36:20 +0000

By Jeff Showalter The score says Duke 61 Butler 59. The expressions of the Bulldog players, coaches and fans showed the sadness, the anguish, the pain of a group who reached the brink of a championship season but came one play short of a historical victory. In the days, weeks and months ahead, this group of young men will allow the soothing abilities of Father Time to heal the wounds of a battle lost. The scars will remain as a reminder but they will learn from the experience, the loss and the heartache. Eventually, they will look at the 33 wins, the 25 wins in a row and the run to the championship game with great pride and joy. One day, Butler will look at this season as one of great accomplishment. History will shine brightly on this chapter of NCAA basketball history, just as the country already has. Butler lost a game last night, but what they won can not be placed on a trophy or a plaque. There is no dollar value or price you can place on this victory. Butler, in defeat, forever won the passion of the American public. The Butler Way became the American Way. In a time of national crisis, a war on multiple fronts, large unemployment, a housing meltdown and financial crisis, Butler showed a country what strength and passion can do. In a country taken over by a the far left, a President that has brought forth an unprecedented move toward socialistic government controls, a country dictated by the cultural elite and an American public more interested government assistance then hard work, Butler proved that a team of hard workers and intelligent people can pull together and still accomplish unbelievable results the old fashioned way. By earning it. Butler never asked for a handout. They didn't want your sympathy. Butler didn't go looking for help when times got tough. No one told them how to act or what to do. They didn't need a bailout or a credit. All Butler wanted was a court, two goals and a ball. They didn't care about the size of the school, the economics or the history. The Bulldogs scoffed at the critics, they ignored the experts and the uninformed. They didn't need help. Butler has built a program on the same disciplines that our founding fathers built this country: hard work, a vision and the belief that anything can be accomplished if you believe enough in it to work your ass of for it. It was "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in college basketball terms. Butler isn't done. In fact this run has just begun. Stevens will stay, this ride isn't done. Hayward will too. He can't go out on a 2 for 11 game and the pain of the last two shots will drive his summer work. Howard, Mack, Nored and Hahn will get better, work even harder. They will break in a promising freshmen class as well as help Andrew Smith get better. This team is going to be pre -season number 1 and the only way to make this scar go away is to make a run matched only by the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers. Butler will strive for an undefeated season and a National Championship. A loving nation will follow. It's the Butler Way. It's the American Way. Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam:27, 1850 may be the best way to describe what this season meant to a school, a city, a state and eventually a nation.

I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.

2010 American Idol Review Week Nine - April 6

kentsterling — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 01:56:10 +0000

by Kent Sterling Tonight was Lennon-McCartney night on American Idol. Those two songwriters are responsible for such an iconic library of pop music that guessing the song choices for the nine remaining finalists was impossible. Lots of surprises tonight, and as the wheat continues to be separated from the chaff, the quality and quantity of the performances have improved. Below is a rundown of the performances from the evening's entertainment in the order of their appearance: Aaron Kelly The kid is 17-years-old, and has a nice voice. He's tiny like David Archuleta, so the girls 12-24 vote for him. When Tim Urban is finally voted off, he will garner all the votes from that valuable demo. He chose "The Long and Winding Road", a song that is the ultimate example of Paul McCartney's self-indulgence. Everything McCartney thought or felt from 1967-176, he turned into a song. Aaron's voice is way too thin for this song, and he screwed the pooch on the lyrics. On a scale of 1-to-10 Apples, Kelly gets three. Ellen called it a "long and winding song". She was being kind. Katie Stevens Another 17-year-old with a questionable ability to perform. Her selections each week are forgotten as quickly as this first commercial following the song finishes. "let It Be" was Katie's choice - another piece of McCartney tripe (that's a little harsh, but I detest first-person songs). This is a fairly simple melody, but that shouldn't require a penalty. This might have been her best performance since the auditions. I actually liked her this week, and that's without the low-cut dress. She gets 6-1/2 Apples Out-of-Ten, and that's only because I want to leave some room for the other seven. Simon took credit for her country turn, which seemed odd as there was nothing country about the song or the singing. Andrew Garcia He has the neck tattoo working which means he had better be able to sing because he is otherwise unemployable. He chose "Can't Buy Me Love", and I oddly enjoyed the funky arrangement. I'm not sure he can sing, but the Brian Setzerization of the early Beatles hit was a pretty good at hiding his questionable range. My guess three people in is that this will put him in the middle of the pack. He's second after three performances - ahead of Aaron but behind Katie. He gets a solid Five Apples. A little Wayne Newton Vegas loungy, but that was about all he's got. He's the less-talented demon child of Richie Valens and Buddy Holly. Michael Lynche This guy is a bother every week. He is either ultra-confident or ultra-insecure - I can't tell which. The off-stage posing points to one or the other. Given that he's a body builder, I'm going to guess it's insecurity. But he can sing - that's for sure. His song was McCartney's "Eleanor Rigby", and he rocked it. When is anyone going to sing a John Lennon song? This is more a story than a song until the chorus, but he still made it work. If he recorded that song, I think it would be a hit. I still don't much care for "Big Mike", but that was not entirely uncool. How about Seven Apples for Mike. Best of the night so far. Crystal Bowersox Doesn't she look older than 24? Bowersox looks like she has lived a bit of a hard life. If she were at a Phish concert, no one would blink walking past her. Finally, someone picked a Lennon song, and she killed "Come Together". There is no way she woman isn't the next "American Idol" - unless America is populated with idiots, so there really is no way she'll win. Crystal is easily - EASILY - the best singer and performer in the competition. Eight-and-a-Half Apples. She's not the best ever, but I like that she's not perfect looking like Carrie Underwood was. She is original looking and sounding, which I suppose is the point of the show. Tim Urban Tim makes me sad every week because he clearly knows that he doesn't belong on the show, other than for the fact that his appearance has resonated with a group of young girls who could care less what he sounds like. This are the children and perhaps grandchildren of those who spent $3 to see the Brady Kids on the state fair circuit in the early 1970s because they got all weak-kneed for Barry Williams (Greg Brady). He picked "All My Lovin'", and it was predictably mediocre. There must be something about the Idol experience that really allows these singers to improve because as bad as Urban is, he's getting a little better. This wasn't terrible - maybe his best ever. For the first week since they started voting people off, I think tonight got Urban out of the cellar. Four-Out-of-Ten Apples. Casey James He's the oldest of the remaining contestants, and the guy whose looks drove his initial success. Kara was quite smitten during the audition, but can he sing. He's one of those safe rock guys - kind of like the anti-Axel or anti-Gregg Allman. Casey chose Lennon's "Jealous Guy", which is not an easy song. The arrangement was quite spartan, but that was nice. It's such a personal song. People this week have chosen McCartney more often than Lennon, but those who chose Lennon get bonus points from me because McCartney's melodies are very simple, and the choice here was not an obvious one. I'm not a big fan normally, but this was really good. Casey gets Eight Apples. He might be in the final two in the end. Siobhan Magnus Strange 19-year-old who likes to look good on-stage and dresses like a washer woman off-stage. The judges keep ragging her for screaming at the end of songs, but without that would you remember any of her performances. I wouldn't. She has perfect pitch, but while they say this is a singing competition, it's really a performance competition. While she can sing, her performances just don't stick. She chose "Across the Universe" - another Lennon song making the competition even at three for each, and two songs that were co-written. The outfit was so odd that it took me ten-seconds to concentrate on the singing, which was sublime. She got a little operatic, but it is such a great song that I dug it. Listening to it made me wonder what Sarah McLachlan might do with it. As nice as it was, I give it Six Apples, because it just never really became transcendent. That I was wonder about what another singer might sound like while Siobhan was singing isn't a good thing. Lee Dewyze There are guys like Lee Dewyze on Idol every season. Likable enough. Competent enough. He's alright. Looks just like 90% of the guys in bars Friday night whose girlfriend looks alright too. I was ready to dismiss him until last week when he took a giant leap forward. He picked the hackneyed and trite "Hey Jude" (can you tell I like Lennon over McCartney. He couldn't hit some notes, and strained to hit others. During the intro, the other contestants made fun of Dewyze for being certain each week he's going home. This week he might be right. I thought he was as bad tonight as he was good last week. The bagpiper was a distraction, and that might be a good thing. Lee gets Two Apples and is my choice as the person going home.

2010 American Idol Rankings and Review - Week Nine - Lennon and McCartney

kentsterling — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:58:13 +0000

by Justin Whitaker As I try to get over Monday night’s Butler depression, it’s time for Lennon/McCartney Songbook Week on American Idol. Unfortunately, last week the beautiful Didi Benami left us. I looked forward to seeing her every week. Notice that I said seeing her, not hearing her sing. But before I get into this week’s performances, I need to clear some things up. I watch American Idol as a fan of competition, reality shows and more than anything, music. I love music, but not just bland, generic stuff on the radio. My likes range from 80’s hair rock to rap and from punk to easy listening. I enjoy most types of music. I also do wish that I had some of these singers talent because my voice is nowhere close to theirs. But this week will be interesting, in season seven the contestants were great covering the Beatles and Lennon/McCartney songbook. I do not think they will come close tonight to that group. But we shall see! Top Nine: Lennon/McCartney Songbook Week 1. Aaron Kelly - “The Long and Winding Road” The Yoda comparisons the other singers made during the video package were not very good. I do not see the comparison at all. At least the contestants Yoda impressions were good, Siobhan gets the nod for best one. Now on to Aaron’s…zzzzzzz….. lulla zzzzzzzz, lullaby, I mean song. That was such a terrible choice and he did not do a good job with it. Nothing about that performance was good except the end. I am sort of surprised the backup singers didn’t jump off the balcony during the song to put it out of it’s misery. Whenever Kara was talking I didn’t understand anything she said because that disco ball of a shirt was glistening in the light. The highlight of Aaron’s time on stage was getting called sweetie by Simon and the camera catching him rolling his eyes. I literally laughed out loud. 2. Katie Stevens – “Let It Be” When did a brunette Cyndi Lauper join American Idol? That outfit made her look exactly like the 80’s pop star. Her answer to the prom question was pretty funny, I bet those five guys that asked her to prom are going to have sore thumbs tonight. With the performance, I love the song and usually enjoy Katie but I did not really like her tonight. Maybe because I was comparing her performance to when Brooke White sung that song like an angel during season seven. It was just okay to me and I felt that her voice did not match that well with the song. The judges loved it but I have to disagree. It might be why I am at home typing on my laptop and they are on live primetime television. 3. Andrew Garcia – “Can’t Buy Me Love” My thoughts last week that Andrew isn’t boring was confirmed this week. Thank you highlight video. I would much rather see him sing a different song like “Imagine” or “Here Comes The Sun.” But he did a good job. I really liked the arrangement, it was a fun upbeat, performance. I just love his voice though so he could probably sing the phone book and I would like it. The background music was sometimes too loud as it was hard to hear Andrew sing (I typed this before Simon said it). Kara was contradictory like always; she said she wanted to see something new. Why? Don’t you always tell someone to find his or her niche and stick with it? That statement made no sense as per usual when she talks. It was a solid performance. Not amazing, but not bad. 4. Big Mike – “Eleanor Rigby” His voice had too much of an R&B sound to it for this song. With the arrangement and song, I feel like it needed to have a rock-type voice. “The Incredible Hulk” as Katie called him in the highlight montage, was very dramatic and the song kept building up. The arrangement was good though as it sounded current and enjoyable. Big Mike got better throughout the song and I think it was one of his better performances. I am just not the biggest Big Mike fan. 5. Crystal Bowersox – “Come Together” In that picture of Crystal’s dad in her hometown, I liked the street sign in the top left corner – “Witty”, I’d really like to steal that sign. Now I really like the song choice, it is one of my favorite Beatles songs. I kept hearing an electric guitar but I just see her playing an acoustic. That does not make sense – neither does that guy playing the look-a-like bong. It sounds like the opening sound for Survivor. But back to Crystal, her voice fit really well with the song and I liked it. It might be the best performance tonight, but after this night it is kind of like being Devin Harris on the New Jersey Nets. Yeah you are the best player, but everyone else sucks. 6. Tim Urban – “All My Loving” Tim is still on the show because I think teenage girls mistake him for Justin Bieber. Little girls and my 15-year-old brother, Jarrett, go bananas for that awkward 15-year-old singing about love. So maybe that’s why Tim is still on, he’s a Justin Bieber-look-a-like. But Randy was right, this was a good Tim performance. If he is still on the show in the next few weeks, I hope they start judging him in the Tim Scale. Take any grade they would give any other contestants and divide by two. With all of the judges being happy with his performance, this might be a clue he is going home. Now there is no rallying call for people to save him. 7. Chad Kroeger (Casey James) – “Jealous Guy” His voice sounded very shaky during times like he was singing during an earthquake. But I’ll have to admit it was pretty good for Chad. His voice was solid and it was nice to actually hear it and not the guitar. I would never purchase anything that he would record, but I can sort of see why people would. Kara brought up that she liked his vulnerability when singing. To be honest, as long as you can sing, you can sing. I do not care about authenticity or anything when singing. If you have a good enough voice, then you can sing anything. Just because you connect to a song does not make it good to listen to. 8. Siobhan Magnus – “Across the Universe” I love how different Siobhan is. She is such an interesting person and I am very intrigued by her. The stage was beautiful, but I think they were reflecting from Kara’s shirt for all the glittery spots that filled the stage. This performance was unlike anything we have seen from Siobhan, it was much more subdued and controlled. It really worked for her and showed she did not have to have that signature crazy note at the end. It has been my favorite performance of the night so far. It was good to see some real emotion from her when she broke down talking to Simon. I like that she does not change for anyone, especially in such a controlled, mainstream show like Idol. 9. Lee Dewyze – “Hey Jude” All the contestants saying he is a worrywart made perfect sense. You can always tell he is freaking out and worried about how the judges will receive his performances. This is another one of my favorite Beatles songs so I am excited to hear Lee sing it. He got better as the song went on and he nailed it. The bagpipes were a great addition; it gave the performance a big time feel that a song like this deserves. What I like about Lee is he always makes good song choices and this was no different. It was slightly below Siobhan, but a very good performance on the night. I could see him making the finals and I think he is guaranteed for at least a Top 3 spot. Overall, I was disappointed in this week’s American Idol. There were only the great performances of Crystal, Siobhan and Lee that stuck out. With a great song selection of Lennon/McCartney songs I was hoping for more out of the singers. I look for Tim to hopefully be going home this week. Then Andrew and Aaron joining him in the bottom three. I really hope that Tim leaves though; his talent is so far beneath the other singers it is ridiculous. Justin’s Idol Power Rankings of Lennon/McCartney Songbook Week

Siobhan Magnus
Lee Dewyze
Crystal Bowersox
Katie Stevens
Big Mike
Casey James
Andrew Garcia
Tim Urban
Aaron Kelly

Sports Digest - Wednesday, April 7, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:45:58 +0000

Here are the stories that fuel sports interest post NCAA Tournament and Opening Day:

Butler - Celebration Fit for a Champion at Hinkle (Indianapolis Star)

Butler - Bidding War Stars for Stevens (Star - Bob Kravitz)

Butler - Hayward to Weigh NBA Prospects (Star)

Butler - Hayward Doesn't Lose Sleep Over Missed Shots (Star)

Hoosiers - Butler's Success Haunts IU (Indianapolis Business Journal - Schoettle)

Cubs - Let's Call This Opening Day II (Chicago Sun-Times)

Cubs - Dempster in a Better Frame of Mind as Daughter Is Safe (Chicago Tribune)

Cubs - Maddux Helping in Variety of Roles (Cubs.com)

DePaul - Invests in Future with Oliver Purnell (Sun-Times)

DePaul - Purnell Has Done Right His Whole Career (Tribune - Haugh)

DePaul - Hires One of the Better Resume's to Fail in Chicago (Trib - Rosenblog)

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, April 7, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:08:49 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry-62.mp3]

Indiana Pacers - Mired in Mediocrity, They Need a Change of Culture

kentsterling — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:57:54 +0000

by Kent Sterling In business, in life, in college basketball, or any other sport, the first question that needs to be asked is "who are we?" Once that is answered, the rest is execution. Define your culture - teach to it, and hire to it. If you don't have a ready answer to that first question, get one or resign. 1070 - The Fan radio host Dan Dakich always says, "You have to know who you are." At The Fan, I knew who we were because I got to make that decision before we ever launched the station and brand. We were going to search for truth and fun in sports. Dan fit perfectly into that culture, as did Kravitz & Eddie, as well as ESPN. There is a huge advantage in developing a culture from a blank slate, rather than inheriting one. When I took over as program director of WIBC, I knew what I wanted the culture of WIBC to be, but needed time to bring the image I inherited over to the culture that could be successful. The difficulty there is that by far the most successful ratings magnet for the station was and is Rush Limbaugh, and there is no PD so entirely secure that he would ever cancel the station's most successful show in order to enforce a specific image that didn't include him. That leaves three choices - leave Rush be and view him as a very successful three-hour island around which you build the station you want, conform to the Rush culture by hiring a bunch of hosts similar to Rush, or keep everything the way it is and work within the margins to achieve the best result you can. It's kind of like being the general manager of an NBA team that had the 2003-2004 version of Allen Iverson. You might not want an offense that has a point guard who dominates the ball and takes 28 shots a game, but you can't change him, and the $20-million you have invested is going to do nothing for you from the bench. The only chance you have is to play Iverson and try to get him to evolve a little bit toward being the kind of point guard whose play can win you championships. This is why a trip to the bottom is the best way to get to the top. As painful as it is, a total deconstruction is sometimes necessary not because of better draft position or cap room, but because it allows a total divorce from any current culture that isn't working. Trying to hold onto as much of the stuff that kind of works guarantees a mediocre result in perpetuity. That is life in athletics and business. If the current culture doesn't work, fire it's author and hire a new architect. The Pacers are a great example of a franchise who simply does not know who it is. Their two current defining characteristics are being willing to wait for the their slew of contracts that expire in 2011 to lapse, and their total lack of willingness to let go of mediocrity because they so fear being worse. The fear of terrible is mediocre's best friend, and that is why the Pacers continue to win meaningless games. They call it pride. I call it a generation of finishing with the 10th-13th worst record in the NBA. They see victories as victories and losses as losses. They allow the results of games others are willing to lose as validation that a two-legged table can stand just fine if you hold onto it. Sometimes, the table needs to fall and break so you can can that a three of four-legged table is can stand on its own forever without anyone propping it up. Keeping happy the 7,000 people who show up every night to watch mediocrity is not the first step toward filling Conseco Fieldhouse. It's a act of foolishness that only serves to perpetuate the culture that has kept 11,000 seats empty for three years. Instead of looking at their assets and deciding how best to utilize them to be as good as they can be today, the Pacers need to decide what great looks like and devote their energies to getting there regardless of the amount of time or the cost. Then go do that. Anything and anyone standing in the way has to go. I believe Larry Bird knows all this, but is being pulled, prodded, and cajoled into putting as good a team as possible on the court tonight against the Knicks. The people who are impatiently evaluating the franchise based upon wins late in a season that is already lost are cancerous and should be sent packing. The Pacers rebuilding requires focus and clarity. If it's there, the powers within Conseco Fieldhouse are keeping it very well hidden. Does Larry Bird have the stones to walk into Herb Simon's office and say, "Hey, I know you're losing your ass this year, just like the last 28-of-30, but we are really going to suck for one more year. And I mean suck in ways you can't imagine. People are going to hate us, and think we are idiots, but after the next couple of drafts and getting rid of all the dead weight bleeding you dry, we are going to emerge as a championship contender. Have you got the stomach for that?" (This would have been better before the Pacers started beating teams willing to lose their way into a top five pick in the June NBA Draft. If Simon agrees, go to work. If he can't swallow that, pack your stuff and go play golf.

Yellow Pages Are Here Today!

kentsterling — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:06:27 +0000

by Kent Sterling There are few current traditions that harken to a simpler time than the Yellow Pages. The new edition of the Yellow Pages landing and the doorsteps was never a reason for joy, but that mine were delivered today made me smile for a moment, and then quickly grimace as I walked them quickly from the doorstep to the garbage can in the garage. The Yellow Pages are an anachronism akin to choosing to travel cross-country by train. I could choose to watch TV in black-and-white, wash dishes and clothes by hand, and hit golf balls with my old persimmon driver. Those too would remind me of my youth an eras when people needed 20-volume encyclopedias sold by unemployed salesman to learn that the one-term presidency of Martin Van Buren was tainted by the Panic of 1837. The very continued existence of the Yellow Pages is peculiar and begs the question of who continues to use these things on either end. I know of no one who looks up the names of business in a book they keep in a kitchen cupboard. If they exist, I don't know where I would find them. That business owners continue to write checks for comparatively huge amounts of money for the privilege of having the phone numbers in a book 98% of Americans term a nuisance. Today, I can pick up my iPhone, press 411, and get a text that shows me the address, phone number, and map for the business I request. I can press one button and get directions from the place I am standing to their front door. Without a specific business name, I can google it in the time it would take me to walk to the kitchen. If I chose to pick up the Yellow Pages today, I would question the sanity of every business listed as those whose marketing plan is so firmly rooted in the past that their products may be similarly antiquated. There is a great quote in a book I've read but whose name and author I cannot recall, "If the first sentence of your mass communications business model is - 'first we kill a tree...', you are in trouble." If the expectation of any business owner is that I am going to walk to the kitchen, leaf through a book, and then dial his or her number, it's no wonder the economy is in the tank. So I will do what I always do, put the Yellow Pages in the fireplace because it is the best kinling ever invented.

Listening to Dan Dakich May Be Bad for Your Health

Greg Adams — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 03:45:56 +0000

by Greg Adams I’m starting to think the Dan Dakich Show needs to open with the following Surgeon General Warning: Listening to the Dan Dakich Show may be bad for your health. Case in point: my lunchtime just got a whole lot more sedentary. [caption id="attachment_2490" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Double D: Sports Talk Radio Host/Potential Health Risk"][/caption] I have an hour-long lunch break at work. I don’t really know why. But I do. And since I can only milk so much of an hour downing a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and a glass of water, I decided to start walking for about 40 minutes a day at a mall close to where I work. My lunch period lasts from 1-2 pm every Monday through Friday, and I listen to 1070 the Fan while I eat my lunch and as I drive from work to the mall. Which was never really a big deal. Until this past Monday. You see, for the longest time 1070 aired Colin Cowherd’s show during my lunch hour. I’d usually catch Colin in mid-rant on a topic I could have cared less about right around the time I was working on that apple. My honest opinion is that Colin doesn’t hold the Midwest in general—or more specifically, the Big Ten—in the highest regard. Which is fine. But I’m a Midwesterner, I like the Big Ten, and I couldn’t give a rat’s tuchus about SEC football, the Yankees, Jets, Lakers, Dodgers, LeBron, Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, the West Coast, bookies, and SEC football. Oops…did I already mention Cowherd loves SEC football? Faux pas! Needless to say, although I don’t hate Cowherd’s show by any means, I could take it or leave it. And it really was easy for me to leave it everyday in order to head into the mall to spend 40 minutes of my day being lapped by a couple of uber-intense 70 year-old guys wearing tracksuits and headbands. And then came Monday, April 5, 2010. I tuned in, not to hear Cowherd blathering on and on about transience or who knows what else, but to the sound of Dan Dakich breaking down the Butler-Duke matchup. We’re talking insightful, meaningful analysis for the most important game in Butler's basketball history. I never made it into the mall. Just sat in the parking lot. Listening to the Dan Dakich Show. Same thing happened Tuesday. And again today. I’d listened to Double D a couple times, before his move to the 12-3 pm time slot. He used to be on from 10 am to noon and I only heard the show when I had the day off or had to take an early lunch for whatever reason. Great show. I listen to local sports talk radio because I want to hear about local sports. Or at least get a local perspective on national sport stories. I don’t know why I find him so entertaining. Part of it is that he’s a coach to the bone. He doesn’t see the game the same way spectators—or even players— typically do. I have a feeling it would be really interesting to be in the room sometime as he breaks down game film. But he’s also gotten to be really good at radio. He’s probably surrounded by a great team, but even so he does a great job interviewing various sports media guests and also does a really nice job with the callers. I can’t imagine him doing this forever. I think coaching’s in his blood. I could see him walking away from the radio gig in order to coach again. I don’t know the man at all. It’s just a hunch. But I hope it’s not anytime soon. I’ve gotta kill one whole hour every day. Who needs the mall, anyway? So while my wife and my doctor are, in fact, really worried that I’ll “never walk again”, I’m more worried that some big school with a lot of money is going to stumble across Double D and decide to hire him on the spot. Let’s face it. If Steve Lavin can land a head coaching gig based primarily on his tenure at ESPN, I don’t think anything’s totally out of the realm of possibility. But man, if Dakich left 1070 to coach again…sigh. Back to getting smoked by those 70 year-olds again. Brutal.

Sports Digest - Thursday, April 8, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:07:03 +0000

Here are the stories that are making sports interesting today: Butler - Zeller Could Head to Butler Hoosiers - Olapido Wants to Make IU Fans Proud in Louisville All-Star Game Kentucky - Loses Five (or four) to NBA Draft Kentucky - Cal's Cupboard Is Bare Pacers - Another Win Against a Team Happy to Pile Up Losses Cubs - Losses Pile Up to Two Cubs - Wrigley Ticket Prices Lead Majors Cubs - Don't Believe Bad Start Means Doom DePaul - Local HS/AAU Shoots at Process that Excluded Chicago Candidates

Harry on Sports - Thursday, April 8, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:28:37 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry-63.mp3]

2010 Masters First Round Opens - Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus Knock It Down the Middle

kentsterling — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 13:48:18 +0000

by Kent Sterling Until all three passed away within a couple of years of each other, it was always s treat to see Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, and Gene Sarazen hit the ceremonial first drives at Augusta National to signal the beginning of The Masters. Now, it's left to the King and the all-time greatest to tell us that spring has sprung at the place where golf fans are patrons and the greens are cut, not bikini waxed. Arnold Palmer won four Green Jackets in 1958, 1960, 1962, and 1964, and drained a 65-foot snake yesterday on the 9th during the Par Three Tournament, a wonderful tradition that allows the golfers a chance to relax with their families on the day before the only major played on the same track each year. The Masters concludes the absolute best four weeks of the annual sports calendar - beginning with the first game of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, and including Baseball's Opening Day. From here, it's all downhill - especially for Cubs fans (already 0-2 after a massacre, and an ill-timed Josh Grabow 3-0 change to Chipper Jones) after this weekend, but it is a wonderful weekend. One of the very cool traditions of The Masters that was recently abandoned was the lifelong invitation for each former champions who chose to accept. That allowed a parade of oldsters who had no chance to win a chance to play a couple of rounds in front of the Augusta patrons. Billy Casper, Bob Goalby, Tommy Aaron, and Art Wall, Jr. would join Palmer for rounds that were meaningless in terms of who would win the tournament but indelibly cool for people to watch. It gave us all a chance to see golf history in person - like a walking and swinging museum. And every once in a while, one of the old lions would remember how to whack it straight and long. Tommie Aaron made the cut a decade ago, and incredibly Nicklaus was still in contention on the Sunday at the age of 59. The history of Augusta is what makes the place hallowed. All the way back to the Sarazen double-eagle at 15 on has way to the 1935 Green Jacket, even passive golf fans can cite the historic moments of the world's greatest annual trip down memory lane. All of the Norman collapses, Larry Mize chip to win, and the wildly improbably Nicklaus 30 on the back to win his sixth Green Jacket. Recently, the Tiger Woods birdie chip that hung on the lip of the 16th with the Nike logo perfectly positioned as the ball paused before falling. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nJfhUGM4Yc] And now Tiger Woods waits for his 1:42 p.m. tee time to begin his trek back into the hearts of golf fans. Having undergone months of in-patient treatment for sex addiction, and a couple of uncomfortable afternoons of apologizing profusely to everyone with a pulse, Tiger is now ready to get back to beating that little white ball around perfectly manicured lawns. I've never been sure what Tiger did to require our forgiveness. He never physically harmed anyone. He never stole from anyone. And he lied to only one person. Tiger aggressively failed at being a faithful husband and for that he and his Escalade were chased into a tree. How many husbands have similarly failed? About half, although few with the brazen panache that Woods showed. What Tiger does in his bedroom or the back of his SUV with a waitress from Perkins in not my concern, and I don't hold him accountable for that behavior. Tiger made no promise to me, and while a happy marriage certainly is a lot more fun than an angry one, whether he and Elin hate each other or are devoted to making this crazy union work is totally irrelevant to my enjoyment of watching him play golf. That goes for all of you too. You want to play fast and loose away from home, go get 'em. 'Judge not lest ye be judged' is a pretty pithy bit of wisdom. I'm much more interested in wayward drives than wayward eyes. Tiger will try to write some Masters history this weekend, and unfortunately it will take some very special swings and putts to make this 76th Masters memorable for Tiger's play, rather than for the misdeeds of Tiger the Swinging Putz.

2010 Masters - Tom Watson Leads with a Five-Under Par 67

kentsterling — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:36:09 +0000

by Kent Sterling The nicest man in professional golf shined for yet another day on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National. Tom Watson, the victim of being slotted in the generation between Nicklaus & Palmer and Woods & Mickelson, matriculated over the bridges and through the pines with a career best 67 age the ripe young age of 60. Watson, who came so close last summer to defying father time, logic, and sanity by claiming a sixth Claret Jug, made five birdies this morning while carding no bogeys. Earlier, according to ESPN's Mike Tirico, Watson stood on a milk crate to watch his old friends Arnie and Jack hit the ceremonial first drives to signal the start of the 76th Masters. What Watson did then was anything but ceremonial. Still one of the best iron strikers on the world, Watson compensated for a lack of length with a measure of precision. Rarely is the faith of golf fans rewarded as they cheer for their heroes of a long gone age, but if their is a golfer of advanced experience who can string together a few rounds that recall long dormant excellence, it's Watson. While discussing the chances of Ernie Els earlier this morning, Curtis Strange said the Els' clock is ticking and there is no telling how many more good chances he has to be a legitimate contender. If Watson is any judge, Els - at the age of 40 - has roughly 20 swipes at a Green Jacket left in him. Watson is an amazingly modest man of extraordinary talent. Without a direct rival to define him as a great champion, Watson is a lone wolf in the continuum of golf. And alone is where you will find him during tournaments. During the U.S. Senior Open at Crooked Stick last summer, I was left without anyone compelling to follow. The senior tour is filled with really good players without great lineage. Why watch Fred Funk when Watson is prowling around the Pete Dye track. What struck me about Watson on that beautiful weekend was that during the lulls in action as he waited for the threesome he followed to hit or putt, Watson would stand with his hands clasped behind his back and watch those behind him on adjacent holes play their shots. This is a man who clearly loves golf. The other two men in his group would talk to their caddies, take practice swings, or chat with the Carmel, Indiana, rabble. Watson stood by himself - watching and enjoying the golf. As was the case at Turnberry last summer, we will doubt Watson more and more as the holes pass by. After all, until today he hadn't broken 70 at Augusta since 1997. As anything in sports is possible, however unlikely, Watson can win. The odds are stacked high against him, but he was an eight-iron grabbing hold of the turf on the 18th green away from winning another major at the age of 59. That would have made him the oldest winner of a modern major by 13 years (Nicklaus being the oldest at 46 when he beat back Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros with a back nine 30 in 1986). So we will cheer for Watson - knowing that his putter will likely betray him as it has for so many years. But with each passing hole, our hope will increase that the nicest man in golf will be rewarded. Our attention has been so riveted by the off-course hunger of Tiger Woods during this week, and his dramatic return to competitive golf. Wouldn't it be so nice to see a classy man who at the age of 60 "doesn't like to lose" find the steadiness and strength to show everyone how golf can be played by a man who simply loves the game.

Brad Stevens Signs 12 Year Extension--Sports From the Couch

jshowal2 — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 22:56:18 +0000

By Jeff Showalter Today it has been reported by numerous outlets that Butler head coach Brad Stevens has agreed to a 12 year contract extension to stay as the leader of the men's basketball program. A press conference is scheduled for Friday morning. Details have not been reported, and as a private institution they may not be, but look for the total compensation package to be north on one million dollars. His previous contract was approximated at 750,000 dollars. My guess would be with camps, increased public interest, made for TV games and shoe contracts, Stevens will be properly compensated for a coach that completed his third year with results unprecedented in the modern era of college hoops. Stevens has been the hottest coach in the yearly rumor mill of coaching changes that occur after the title game. Oregon was definitely interested and the newly opened Wake Forrest job may be very enticing, but neither school has the immediate possibility of a top 5 team and a return to the final four. Oregon, basically ran by Nike CEO Phil Knight, has been a poorly managed athletic program for numerous years. Current football issues with player arrests, a basketball program that floundered over the past few years under fired coach Ernie Kent and the unexpected resignation of athletic director and former head football coach Mike Belotti makes the department look as poorly ran as the Indiana Athletic department has been ran since Ralph Floyd left almost 30 years ago. Wake Forrest, with battling neighbors North Carolina, Duke, NC State and Charolette for recruits would clearly be a difficult challenge. With four starters and seven of the top nine players returning, Stevens has Butler ready for another amazing season. A promising recruiting class with significant offensive punch will help Butler overcome some stagnant offensive play that was the one troublesome point in another wise amazing tournament run. Look for Butler to fight Purdue, Duke and Michigan State for a number one rating and a possible number one seed in next years version of march madness.

Big Mike Lynche Saved on American Idol

kentsterling — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 23:16:30 +0000

by Kent Sterling One of the quirks of the American Idol voting system is that fans are supposed to vote for their favorites, not against those they would like to see leave. This is both smart and unfair, and it results in a really good singer like Big Mike being at risk for going home long before less talented singers. But this contest is about anointing the best, not eliminating the worst. Big Mike Lynche has been among the Top Five of the 24 featured singers in this season's race. If the directive was to vote for the person you would like to see go home, the only choice is Smilin' Timmy Urban. He probably wouldn't be one of the top five singers in any crowded bar, much less the most talented unknown in the country. Urban didn't even actually make the Top 24, but was given the spot of DQ'ed Chris Golightly. So why did America not vote for Big Mike? Are the voters a bunch of hilljack racists, as people assert? Race has little to do with it. While he can sure sing, there is nothing cute about him. Big Mike would not be cast as a Brady or Partridge, regardless of the color of his skin. He could be a singing lineman like Ethan Suplee's "Louie Lastik" character in "Remember the Titans", but all the girls loved Kip Pardue's "Sunshine". American Idol is not a perfect measuring stick of singing talent, but it does a great job of assessing the potential financial performance of singers. How many shitty singers have made millions based upon something other than perfect pitch? Jimmy Buffett isn't a great singer, but he sells out outdoor stadiums in hours because he has been able to create a brand and represent a lifestyle that resonates with middle-aged whites who love sitting on a beach drinking endless Coronas. These singers aren't simply singers - they are potential brands. While Big Mike can sing, he has not done a great job of creating a brand that voters have embraced. As odd as it seems, Smilin' Timmy would sell more tickets than Big Mike. While voting for the favorite would seem an unfortunate and illogical method for eliminating the worst, it is the absolute best way to determine the ultra positive affection and tendencies of ticket and record buyers. Big Mike is a casualty of that system, but a perfect candidate for being saved by judges who know better.

Indiana High School Basketball Team vs. 2010 Connecticut Women's Basketball Team

The Truth — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:09:26 +0000

By Kyle Miller I received an e-mail today during my philosophy class from Sports Illustrated entitled “Simply Too Good.” Was it about Tiger, John Wall, or King James? No, it was a team picture of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team after they defeated Stanford in the National Championship game on Tuesday. 77 consecutive wins is impressive. The fact that 76 of those wins were by double digits is astonishing. Yeah… ‘Simply Too Good’ for women’s basketball, but what about the men’s game? This e-mail provoked an argument that my friends and I have all argued before: could the UConn women beat a good Indiana men’s high school basketball team? My answer: No. In fact, if you took the 2007 Cathedral Irish High School men’s basketball team, who went 21-4 and won the City Tournament but lost in the first round of their sectional, and matched them up against the 2010 Connecticut women’s team, Cathedral would annihilate the Huskies by 20 points. [caption id="attachment_2536" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Cathedral after winning the 2007 City Championship"][/caption] First of all, the overall size of Cathedral would present UConn with numerous mismatches. The starting lineup for Cathedral consisted of 6’3” Stephen Thomas, 6’4” Ryan Sterling, 6’6” Keenan Barlow, 6’7” Joe Hughes, and 6’1” William Stubbs. On the other hand, UConn starts three 5’10” girls in Caroline Doty, Kalana Greene, and Tiffany Hayes, along with 6’0” Maya Moore, and 6’4” Tina Charles. You saw the impact Brittney Grinner had on the game; imagine a skilled, more physical, and hairier Joe Hughes defending the Naismith Player of the Year in Tina Charles. Maya Moore would be defended by William Stubbs who broke all sorts of rushing records for the Cathedral football team. I truly believe she would struggle to get the ball inside the three point line. Forget the size factor… as if that’s not enough already, the athletic nature of men’s basketball is played above the rim. The speed of the game is like comparing a Buick LeSabre to a Dodge Viper. Rebounds are corralled immediately off the rim and passes are quicker and sharper allowing teams to get up the court faster. Some might argue that UConn could successfully play a zone against Cathedral. I played with Sterling for most of my life, and I don’t think I’ve ever met a kid with the ability to take advantage of the weaknesses a zone presents like he can. Thomas could, and most likely still can, stroke it. Off the bench Cathedral brought Sean Esposito, who now plays at IUPUI, and he was money as well. Cathedral has more athletic ability and skill. Height and speed alone would be enough to beat UConn, but add a little talent… and Cathedral would win by 20 plus, end of story. The point of this article is not to take anything away from women’s basketball. They are incredibly talented girls, and I admire the way they play fundamental basketball. The better argument in my eyes would be: Could Cathedral or any good Indiana high school team beat a star-studded women’s basketball team, like one that with Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Lisa Leslie, and Sheryl Swoops? I know one thing, if they had Cheryl Miller, boys would be scared.

Tiger Woods Returns to Golf: 2010 Masters Day 1

mcline223 — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 06:19:22 +0000

by Mark Cline Man, it's fun to watch Tiger Woods play golf. With so much speculation as to which version of Tiger Woods would show up at Augusta National for the 2010 Masters, it was great to see the most exciting golfer ever back where he truly belongs, a golf course. T-Woo belongs on the cover of Sports Illustrated and self-glorifying video games, not US Weekly; and today he took his first 18 steps towards normalcy. The crowd on hand clapped like normal, Woods displayed his ball-striking power like normal and we all cheered--whether secretly or out in the open--like normal. Really, the only part of Woods' opening round on Thursday that was not normal was his score. Tiger shot a 4-under par 68, marking the first time he has had a sub 70 score after the first day in the 16-years he has competed at the Masters. Do you think Tiger is happy to be back on that good old Bermuda grass? Me too. Forget all the story lines about Tiger being a changed man, a more humble man, possibly even a less exciting man. Now that he is back on the links, he is once again just a golfer, that's how I see him anyway. No longer will I have to hear about how he's an evil marketing genius and company pitchman hellbent on taking honest folks money. No more talking heads giving their unqualified and unwanted two cents worth as to how Tiger can make this right with the "millions he betrayed." Sure these moronic stories will continue. But now that he is back, I can ignore them and evaluate Tiger Woods the only way I feel entitled to, as a golfer. Tiger Woods doesn't need to apologize to me for any of his off the field indiscretions. The only reason any of it mattered to me as a sports fan was that it robbed the sport's world of one of its greatest athletes. When Tiger crushed a ball 300-yards on his opening drive Thursday morning, all was forgiven in my eyes. Perhaps people will think I am allowing Woods off too easily. However, he really didn't do anything to me except put his golf game on the shelf for five months. The truth is, America isn't pissed that Tiger Woods was cheating on his wife. America is pissed that Tiger Woods got caught cheating on his wife. No longer could they point to the upstanding, well-spoken and tattoo free Tiger Woods while telling their kids that this is what they should become. Now that Tiger has revealed he is human, these same people might actually have to lead future generations by being a good example themselves...heaven forbid I know. How can they allow the TV and internet to babysit their children if all they are going to read about is the sexual appetite of one of the world's most successful human beings? To think Tiger Woods is the exception rather than the rule in extramarital affairs when discussing professional athletes is to not know sports at all. We as a society--pardon the sweeping generalization--don't expect more from pros, we expect they kept it to themselves. And with that, let us get to some golf. By the time Tiger teed off on 460-yard par-4 ninth hole, he had established that it takes more than a five-month self-imposed layoff--due to biggest sex scandal since sex was deemed scandalous--to through him off his game. Up to that point, his scorecard held a handful of pars, one birdie, one bogey and an eagle. But the moment that it all sank in for me was his second shot from that same hole. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH7Zy5KX-Rs] Yes, I was impressed with precision in which he hooked the shot around a stand of trees to saddle up 10 feet from the hole, but he is not the only golfer who can make that shot. What made me somewhat giddy was Tiger's reaction to the shot himself. When he realized he wouldn't be able to see the shot's landing through the trees, he galloped like a thoroughbred some 20-yards to see it settle. That was the answer to all the "what Tiger Woods will show up at Augusta" questions I was looking for. Caught up in the moment of doing what he loves most, Tiger couldn't help but be the competitor he has always been. When Woods came out of hiding, he said that he had reconnected with his Buddhist faith. No longer would his fist pumps be as egregious, nor his outbursts be so colorful. And, in front of the podiums, or on the back nine come Sunday he just may be more conscious and controlled. But, that quick sidestep betrayed all of his rehearsed PG celebrations we will see in the near future--and we will see them. It showed that in the heat of the moment, he is the same old Tiger that does care about how he plays, because that is what he has always done, and a Tiger never changes his stripes, right? By the way, the 2010 Masters got off to a hell of a start on Thursday. Over 30 players finished the day with scores under par. And atop the leader board is a who's who of professional golf. The leader after 18 holes is 50-year old Fred Couples--92' Masters Champion. At 6-under par, Couples is alone at the top and is the oldest player to ever have the outright lead at Augusta at the end of a round. If you didn't get enough of Tom Watson flirting with a Major victory at last year's British Open, fear not. The 60-year old Watson--77' & 81' Masters Champion--was tied for the clubhouse lead much of the day with a 5-under par performance. Add to the mix a 5-under from Phil Mickelson,--04' & 06' Masters Champion--K.J. Choi, Y.E. Yang and Lee Westwood, while Ian Poulter and Anthony Kim are tied with Tiger at 4-under par, and you've got a good start to what could become a great tournament. I'll be back after tomorrow's action to break down day 2 of the Masters, and we might actually talk about some golf.

Sports Digest - Friday, April 9, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:29:12 +0000

Here are the stories that frame the sportsworld today: Butler - Kravitz - Stevens Staying Put (Indy Star) Butler - Stevens Signs 12-Year Deal (Star) Butler - Stevens Signs Extension (ESPN) Masters - Tiger's Best Thursday Ever (Star) Tiger - Nike Ad Bad Beyond Belief (Sun-Times - Morrissey) Big Ten - Expansion Could Be Massive (St. Louis Today) Pacers - Simon: No Change at the Top (Star) NCAA - Adnan Hodzic to Enter Draft (Star) Cubs - Wells Wins One (Sun-Times) Cubs - Search for the New Marmol (Sun-Times) Cubs - Colvin Homers in First AB (Chicago Tribune) Indy 500 - Qualifying Format Changed (Star)

Harry on Sports - Friday, April 9, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:53:29 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry64.mp3]

Gordon Hayward - 2010 NBA Draft or a Junior Year at Butler?

kentsterling — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:55:53 +0000

by Kent Sterling In NBA Mock Drafts, Butler's Gordon Hayward is projected as high as the 16th and as low as the 31st player selected in the 2010 NBA Draft. There has been noise that Hayward may have played himself into a late lottery selection during Butler's wonderful run in the recently concluded NCAA Tourney. Now, Hayward has a decision. Does he jump to the league - start semi-adulthood with a few million in his pocket, or does he return to Butler for his junior season as the stud on a group that would open the season in the Top Five if he stays put? The question facing Hayward is similar, but not exactly that which faced Butler Coach Brad Stevens until he signed yesterday's new contract to stay with the Bulldogs. Does happy trump cash, or vice versa? While the next month will be agonizing for Hayward, it's not really all that bad a choice to have. Play with friends and get a real degree in engineering, or fill your savings account to the brim before you are old enough to spend it buying rounds of drinks for your friends. Not exactly a Thema & Louise decision to drive the car off the cliff or face the law, is it. Because people are constantly asking my counsel when faced with a quandary requiring a third party to wrestle the pros and cons from a safe distance, after minutes of deliberation I offer the following Go To The League/Stay At Butler lists: Pro-NBA

Cash. You can go back for your degree after the first round guaranteed contract checks are cashed. Even if you are a terrible NBA player, which is not likely, you will be worth a minimum of $3-million before he would have graduated college.
CASH! If Hayward is a really good NBA player, he will start the clock on that max contract a year earlier, allowing him to make upward of $150-million before his knees or hips won't allow him to perambulate effectively.
NBA Lockout - Unless some progress is made in labor talks, the owners could force a work stoppage after next season. Then there won't be a decision to make between his junior and senior years.
Promise vs. Performance - Hayward's stock will likely never be higher. Scouts love his grit, athleticism, and court savvy. With another year to be dissected, scouts will find his flaws and his stock will drop. Josh McRoberts is a nice cautionary tale in this regard. His autobiography, "From the Lottery to the NBDL in 12 Months" comes free with an iPad.

Stay in School

Broads. Forgive me for being coarse, but once who graduate to the NBA, you won't be able to trust any woman you meet. Gorgeous women with plastic tits, toothy smiles, and IQs at par (72), will flock to the lobby of the hotel where you stay on the road. They will listen breathlessly to everything you say, and then tell their story to the tabloids unless you spend some of the cash you thought would see you through to old age to keep her quiet. Travel with an attorney who keeps cartons of condoms and confidentiality agreements in that expensive briefcase. In college, you get to know the girls in class, fall in love, act like a fool, and not worry because you are all idiots without an agenda.
Education. Without an education, how will you enjoy that money. If the only joy of cash is spending it on a dozen purple Bentleys like a dumbass, you won't have it long. Learn about business. Learn about charity. Learn about the arts. Take some of your time and work with a charitable organization to learn about selfless happiness. There are thousands of people without a pot to piss in compared to NBA players who are happier and more fulfilled than many in the NBA.
A Degree. What are you going to do after your playing days are over? Own a restaurant and sign autographs for fawning boosters? That's okay for some, but you are an academic All-American. It's academic that you have aspirations beyond attaining wealth. I know from Seinfeld's George Costanza that engineers, not architects, design bridges, so maybe that is your dream. Bridges built by professional basketball players tend to wobble and collapse.
Unfinished Business. This one you can ignore. The chances of Butler making another run like the one that ended three nights ago are minute. Returning to the Final Four is tough with a team filled with NBA bound studs. For Butler, a wonderful group of young men whose degrees will be very helpful in making a buck, it could be a short trip next year. If you thought the crowds for your Horizon League games were packed and raucous this year, just wait for next year. The teams who just show up to play UWGB will come out every game with fire in their eyes.

How's that for making it easy. Here's the best advice I can muster - what's the hurry, Murray? Life is about more than money. It's about finding a good woman, starting a family, and helping your kids find their way. It's about leaving the world and its people a little better off because you were there. If you have always dreamed of a life spent testing your basketball skills against the very best, then go to the NBA. If that is what you want out of life, your decision is easy - as it has been for the Kentucky roster, Xavier Henry, Jordan Crawford, Evan Turner, and Cole Aldrich (among others). If you want more from life than hooping for big cash, stay in school and enjoy where you are. Future Baseball Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux tells a good story about a conversation that changed his life. Then Cubs Manager Tom Trebelhorn told Maddux that he was sick of players looking ahead to what is next - the next day off, the off-season, the next big contract. He asked Maddux why players couldn't just be really happy today because they get to play baseball and live a dream. Maddux didn't have an answer, but after thinking about what Trebelhorn said, stopped thinking about how much he would enjoy the next off-day and focused on how much fun his life was that day. Whatever you do. Enjoy it. Make it worthwhile. It's not the path you take, but how you take the path.

Adnan Hodzic Declares for the NBA Draft

kentsterling — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:23:32 +0000

by Kent Sterling Each morning, I go through sports section of newspaper websites all over the country to find out what's going on. Today, I expected a slew of stories heralding Tiger's 68 yesterday, Tom Watson's 67, and Freddy Couples 66. The Cubs won their first game last night, but still showed they have no ability to create runs with any tools other than home runs. Brad Stevens was fairly rewarded for averaging 30 wins per season and coming with 1.5 inches of winning a national championship four days ago. What I didn't expect to see was the following in the Indianapolis Star: Libscomb junior Adnan Hodzic (North Central) declared for the NBA draft, after being named the Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year. The 6-8 Bosnian will not sign with an agent but will participate in workouts with NBA teams and has until May 8 to withdraw his name from the draft. Hodzic averaged 8.9 points and 4.3 rebounds as a freshman at Lipscomb, nearly doubled those totals to 17.1 points and 7.1 rebounds as a sophomore and averaged 22.7 points and 9.1 rebounds this season. He has scored in double figures in 57 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the nation and averaged 30 points and 18.3 rebounds in the final three games of the season. Adnan played high school ball at North Central in Indianapolis, and spent six-weeks with our AAU team between the kids junior and senior years. I didn't write that he played because he didn't play much. Adnan sat behind both Butler's Matt Howard and Purdue's JaJuan Johnson. He liked to be called Addo (pronounced AH-doh) and he practiced and looked like he could do a few things, but he just didn't really get how team basketball is played. He was yak-strong, and has nice hands, but he was an indifferent defender, and frankly just didn't like the vibe of our team. He was always a respectful kid, but he just couldn't adapt to the style we played. These kids had all played 300 games a year since they were eight - mostly with and against each other, and they weren't going to adapt to Addo. Our guys were welcoming, but you better be ready to work and function as a member of a unit. Addo left the team, and that was the last I saw of him until he dropped 18 on the Hoosiers in what looked on the schedule to be nothing more than a non-conference game against a nothing team. Lipscomb beat Indiana at Assembly Hall behind Addo's 18, and I thought, "Buy, that kid has gotten stronger and a lot better. Now, the reigning Sunbelt Player of the Year with gaudy averages, Addo has declared for the NBA Draft. Given where he was four years ago, I never thought I would be writing any of that about a kid who seemed indifferent about basketball despite a nice skill set. The light must have gone on while at Lipscomb because I don't care what league you play in - 23 and nine are not easy numbers to come by. The best part about kids is that sometimes a dim light grows bright. Best of luck to Addo as he works to join his high school classmate Eric Gordon in the NBA. The Sunbelt isn't exactly a launching pad to the league, but a lot of people, including me, have underestimated this kid before.

Butler Basketball's Success Traces Back to Indiana University Basketball's Loss

kentsterling — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:51:30 +0000

by Kent Sterling There on the sideline of the floor in the middle of Lucas Oil Stadium in front of the Duke University bench was the signature of the late Myles Brand. The former Indiana University President and head of the NCAA passed away last year of pancreatic cancer, and the signature was an honor in his memory. It was also an appropriate reminder of how the two combatants in that game came to build their programs. Both teams trace their lineage back to former IU Basketball Coach Bob Knight. Duke's tie to Knight is coach Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K played for Knight at Army, and served as an assistant for a year at IU for the 1974-1975 season before being recommended to Army as their next head coach. From there Coach K was off. Butler's tether to Knight and Brand is less direct, but at least as profound. From 1963-2000, Butler won exactly zero NCAA Tournament basketball games. None. From 2001-2010, the Bulldogs have won 11 tourney games. What the hell happened to Butler Basketball that allowed this kind of rapid ascension? I'll give you a hint - it occurred on September 10, 2000, and involved an ill-conceived zero-tolerance policy that forced everyone's hand when Knight admonished a student for referring to him simply as "Knight". The firing of Bob Knight opened Indiana as free territory for schools who had their shit together to swoop in a poach kids who had likely dreamed their entire lives of playing for The General in Assembly Hall. All of a sudden, the kinds of guards who always went to Indiana went elsewhere. The tough-minded gritty kids who consistently performed for Knight were shunned by his oafish replacement Mike Davis, and they had to go someplace. Thad Matta, Todd Lickliter, and Brad Stevens have been smart enough to grab as many of those kids as they could, as has Matt Painter at Purdue. There are unintended consequences for every action, and the reward for Indiana Basketball after Knight's firing was the explosion of Butler Basketball as the new sheriff in the state for the kids who want to get a great education and play basketball at the highest level. Indiana's program today is known for...nothing. It has no image at all other than a bastion of relentless rebuilding and educational malaise? Butler is now the hip choice among high schoolers. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Washington's Cody Zeller - the "little" 6'10 1/2" brother of Luke and Tyler is ranked 35th on Rivals, lists Butler and Indiana as being among the finalists for his services. If Indiana is going to get back into the conversation as a power in college basketball, the Cody Zellers of the world are going to have to choose IU over a team that still takes buses damn near everywhere they play. Butler is a quaint destination, but if Indiana can't beat the Bulldogs for the affection of a kid like Zeller, the Hoosiers have lapsed into an institutional irrelevance from which they may never escape. If Tom Crean loses a kid like Marquis Teague, I get it. The dad isn't playing games, and wants Marquis to follow Jeff as an early entry lottery pick, and he is going to go with the program that can best launch him there. With a recent threesome of Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, and John Wall, I would have Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats on my short list too. Plus, there might be a visit from Worldwide Wes, and he'll be bearing gifts. But the Hoosiers need to build the image of the program to a point where a kid like Zeller can't wait to sign with Indiana. It could have happened if Brand and Knight hadn't been so arrogant. The time had come for Knight to move on. He didn't recruit anymore, and while John Ryan and Ralph Floyd had been able to control him a little bit - or at least get him to listen - Tom Ehrlich, Brand, and Clarence Doninger couldn't get Knight to answer the phone. If any of those three had been willing to pay the price to earn a modicum of respect from Knight, they might have been able to have the conversation that Gene Keady had at Purdue where a successor might have been selected and the culture of both academic and athletic excellence on the men's basketball team could continue. I know getting Knight to accept that plan would have been a longshot, but I think if after the zero-tolerance decree someone had approached Knight about coaching through 2002, he might have acquiesced because it sure as hell beat what was inevitable. Dan Dakich is a hell of a radio host, and one thing he repeats like a mantra, and that I now hear ringing in my ears throughout the day is, "You need to know who you are." There are two important outcomes of knowing who you are. The first is that every decision will be informed by that self-awareness. The second is that others will grow to accept that image as your culture. Indiana's basketball program today has no easily discernible image. Butler does. That tectonic shift began on September 10, 2000, and Myles Brand, the man whose signature adorned the floor where Butler ingrained its culture in the minds of every schoolboy basketball player in Indiana from six-to-18, was the author.

Ball State Cardinals Football Team Spanked by Buttocks Slapper

Greg Adams — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 02:58:58 +0000

by Greg Adams An open-handed fiend is terrorizing the backsides of Ball State University. His latest victim? The Ball State University football team. On April 7, 2010, which, from what I can gather, was a pretty slow news day nation-wide, reports surfaced regarding a “cupple” of incidents on the Ball State University campus involving a man on a 1950s-style bicycle and multiple female fannies. The police were called. Two of the victims filed reports—which is cool. They should have. The university sent out a public service notice simply to warn students of the assaults—which turned out to be kind of uncool. But hey, they’re administrators. Cut ‘em some slack. They tried. End of story. Right? Well...not quite. Like so many other stories here in the Information Age, this one began to take on a life of its own, thanks in large part to a combination of media oversaturation, a few industrious college students, and school administrators that just couldn’t let anything go. The result? The Ball State Football Cardinals are getting pushed around. Badly. Even by their own standards. The students created a Facebook page celebrating the buttocks slapper. At this moment, the group numbers well over 9,500 fans. Ball State’s football team has managed to draw close to 2,600. Talk about a spanking. Let me get this straight. Ball State football is so unpopular that a guy riding a vintage bike can palm-palm a few tushes on a Wednesday morning and by Friday night is outgaining the football team by right around 7,000 Facebook fans? Rumor has it that the buttocks slapper is in talks with Nike negotiating a glove deal. Rumor also has it that I'm enjoying typing the phrase "buttocks slapper" way too much. Efforts were going to be made to contact Cardinal head coach Stan Parrish, but I lost the napkin on which I’d written the reminder to e-mail him regarding his thoughts. That said, I have a pretty good feeling about what his response might have been. University President Jo Ann Gora ripped into the creators of the Facebook page that made light of the incident. It appears that blowing the fan page out of proportion is largely responsible for the fan page blowing up. So, um, nice job, Prez. Having throughly pummeled the backsides of the football team’s fan page, the "legend" is gearing up for its next opponent: Ball State’s organizational fan page. Which currently has over 15,000 fans. The buttocks slapper seems to have yet another derriere in his dirty sights. With hands wide open.

Tiger Woods Returns to Golf: 2010 Masters Day 2

mcline223 — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 04:00:50 +0000

by Mark Cline Thanks in large part to more difficult pin placements, Day 2 of the 2010 Masters proved to be far less feather friendly. Those players who were able to capture a birdie here and an eagle there--while limiting the number of 1951 Oscar winners on their scorecard--have set themselves up for a great chance to win the ugliest prize in all major sports. With 36 holes yet to be played, nothing is written in stone. However, the top eight names on Augusta's Leaderboard are all within 3 shots of each other, and every player in Saturday's final four pairings has a legitimate chance to win. In case you actually had to work on Thursday and Friday, please allow me to catch you up on the major players in contention for the first Major of the decade. T-1 Ian Poulter (-8) World Ranking #7 Poulter is a 34-year old right handed Englishmen whose loud mouth is only outdone by his outrageous fashion sense. Poulter has gotten somewhat of a bum rap here in the States because of such pontificating as "Don't get me wrong, I really respect every professional golfer, but I know I haven't played to my full potential and when that happens, it will be just me and Tiger." These remarks were made back in 2008 when he was new to fans in the Red, White and Blue, and up to that point he really had not done much in way of winning tournaments. Nevertheless, Poulter has continued to improve his game and collected his first PGA Tour victory on U.S. soil earlier this year by winning the Match Play Championship. Poulter shot an opening round 4-under 68 on Thursday, and followed it up with another 4-under 68 on Friday. The outspoken Brit seemed to gain momentum on the back nine Friday with birdies at the 12th, 13th and 16th before dropping a shot with a bogey at the 18th. If you have trouble finding him tomorrow, just look for a spikey-haired guy in a ridiculous outfit. T-1 Lee Westwood (-8) World Ranking #4 Westwood has a few things in common with Poulter other than the that he too is a loyal subject of the Queen Mother. Westwood--36-years old, right handed--has never won a Major event, but has come painfully close. In both the 2008 U.S. Open and the 2009 British Open, Lee fell just one putt short of taking part in the deciding playoff. Not only will Westwood be able to pull from his aforementioned Major experiences, but both he and Poulter have been part of European Ryder Cup teams in the past. So the pressure that comes with Augusta may seem pedestrian to these two when compared to playing for the entire European Union. Westwood came out like gangbusters on Friday by shooting 4-under on the opening seven holes. He added two more birdies at Amen Corner before a double bogey at the 14th brought him back to earth. Westwood finished his day by exchanging a birdie at the 16th for a final bogey at the 18th. T-3 Tiger Woods (-6) World Ranking #1 Apparently, this guy is still pretty good. After months of speculation as to how exactly the world's most recognizable athlete goes about "regaining America's trust," it seems Woods has found a pretty good answer. Contend. In less than 48 hours since first pitting his golf club against his golf ball in sanctioned competition, Tiger Woods has blown the door of national acceptance right off its hinges. No matter the scandals off the course, now that Woods has a legitimate chance to win the Masters, his golf game is all we can talk about; its all we want to talk about. This is America people. We love pulling for dysfunctional athletes, its what we do best. Case in point: Mike Tyson. At 20-years old, he was the youngest person to be Boxing's Heavyweight Champion of the World, a legitimate phenom. He then went on to force his way with a beauty queen, profess to a reporter that he would violate him until he loved Mike, bit a grown man's ear not once but twice and tattoo his face. Still, Mike Tyson got a standing ovation at this year's Academy Awards because of a cameo where he sings some Phil Collins, and tries to collect his Tiger. The more noise Woods makes on the course this weekend, the less noise we will hear about his night putting. After a 4-under opening round of 68, Tiger put up a very even keeled 2-under 70 on Friday. Tiger took what Augusta gave him today, never trying to force the tough shots. Woods did exactly what you need to do at the Masters, go birdie or better on the par 5s and don't get caught with your hand in the cookie jar anywhere else. Saturday is known as moving day in the golf world, and no one moves better than Woods when he is on. If he can get his putting game in check, we have a early candidate for comeback sportsmen of the year. One more quick note on Le Tigre, his 6-under par after two days of play at Augusta is the second lowest score he has ever had going into the weekend. Twice he has held a score of 8-under and once a score of 5-under. In all three previous instances, Tiger was getting fitted for a green jacket after 72 holes. T-3 K.J. Choi (-6) World Ranking #43 For years, it was a shared belief that Choi would be the first Asian golfer to win a Major tournament. While he fell short of this achivement, the 39-year old right handed Korean is the most accomplished Asian born player the PGA has ever seen. K.J. will be right at home on Saturday playing in the same pairing as Tiger Woods since the two shared a tee time during the first two days of the Masters as well. I don't see Choi wearing green when all is said and done Sunday night, but I wouldn't be surprised if he proved me wrong. T-3 Anthony Kim (-6) World Ranking #14 Only 24-years of age, many believe the right handed Kim is the next American superstar of golf. Kim has shown flashes of brilliance throughout his young career and seems to relish in the Majors spotlight. Also, for such a young player, he has big time tourney experience as a member of the 2008 winning U.S. Ryder Cup team. By the way, Kim is coming off a first place finish in last week's PGA event, the Shell Houston Open. T-3 Ricky Barnes (-6) World Ranking #82 Considered another leading member of the PGA's new school of golfers, the 29-year old right hander from California still has everyone waiting for his breakthrough moment. Barnes first gained national recognition by winning the 2002 U.S. Amateur Open. Since then, he has had an up and down career which include a tie for second place at the 2009 U.S. Open, and a 21st place finish in the 2003 Masters, his best finish ever at Augusta. Not that it makes any difference to his golf game, but Barnes is the son of former New England Patriots punter Bruce Barnes...so there's that. T-3 Phil Mickelson (-6) World Ranking #3 Besides Tiger Woods, Mickelson is the only other former Masters winner this high on the leaderboard. The 39-year old right hander who plays lefty--thus the nickname Lefty--has won three of golf's Majors, including two at Augusta. The 2004 and 2006 Green Jacket winner is always a fan favorite, but even more so due to the heavy heart he now plays with. Both Mickelson's wife and mother were diagnosed and treated for breast cancer in 2009. Mickelson's chances to win this year's Masters were slim to none in most experts eyes until a string of six birdies in last week's Shell Houston Open breathed new life into his game. The entire golf world would like nothing more than a final pairing on Sunday of Lefty vs Lothario. 8 Y.E. Yang (-5) World Ranking #28 Yang has two separate claims to fame. The 38-year old right handed Korean took the honor of being the first Asian to ever win a PGA Major event when he won the 2009 PGA Tournament. Not only did he pull the carpet out from under K.J. Choi's feet by winning the 09' PGA, but he is the only player to ever defeat Tiger Woods in a Major where Woods had an outright lead at the start of play during the final round. Again, I don't see Yang pulling out a victory and pulling on a green jacket, but he is the only player ever to prove he can not only hang with Woods on a Major Sunday, but he can beat him. Just some final housekeeping before we part. The old men who made such a fantastic run on Thursday--Fred Couples 50 and Tom Watson 60--are still sniffing around at 3-under par for the tournament. And Italian amateur Matteo Manassero became the youngest golfer to ever make the cut at Augusta. The 16-year old is from the Ian Poulter school of haberdashery and will open up play on Saturday morning at +3. I'll be back on Saturday night to wrap up moving day, until then.

Three Indiana Championship Appearances - Three Strikes

kentsterling — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 12:18:15 +0000

by Justin Whitaker For central Indiana sports fans, this past year of sports has been filled with championship appearances, but no trophies or parades have been brought home. The Indiana Fever took the Phoenix Mercury to five games in the franchise’s first ever appearance in the WNBA Finals. The Indianapolis Colts made their second appearance in four years in the Super Bowl, but lost a heartbreaker to the New Orleans Saints, 31-17. Earlier this week, the hometown Butler Bulldogs lost an instant classic to the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA men’s basketball championship, 61-59, at Lucas Oil Stadium. These three championship appearances ignited Indianapolis and central Indiana with enthusiasm, but think about the excitement and joy if all three of these teams won their championship? The Fever had multiple chances at winning the championship, just only if things had gone a little differently. In Game 1, Indiana lost in overtime, 120-116, in the highest-scoring game in WNBA history. The lead changed six times in overtime, just imagine if the Fever held on. There might be a championship banner being hung in Conseco Fieldhouse this season. In the Super Bowl, imagine If Reggie Wayne doesn’t slip on his pattern and Saints cornerback Tracy Porter doesn’t jump the route. Does Peyton Manning and the Colts score and go onto to win their second NFL championship? Possibly, the Colts D’ would have had to make a stop, but what if? What about if either of Gordon Hayward’s two shots drop near the end of the Butler-Duke game? His arching jumper on the baseline over Duke center Brian Zoubek was just a hair too long. Imagine if that shot goes in, sure Duke gets the ball back with time remaining. But that Butler defense with a reputation for making tough stops at the end of games gets a chance to solidify their legacy forever. What about if Hayward’s half-court runner goes through the bottom of the net? The greatest end to the greatest NCAA games of all time? Yes. That shot was only possible because Matt Howard floored Kyle Singler right before the timeline, clearing a better shot. That had to have been one of the best blindside screens ever. Singler looked like he ran into the rock hard “The Situation’s” abs, from Jersey Shore. Three national titles in three appearances would have been historical for a sports city that only has the Colts Super Bowl XLV victory in 2007. Thankfully each of these teams can make repeat appearances in their next season. The Indiana Fever return every player from last season except retired Tamecka Dixon and should only improve. Their main rival, the now Tulsa Shock moved to the Western Conference and should allow for an easier road to the WNBA Finals. Tamika Catchings and Katie Douglas are one of the best 1-2 combos in the WNBA and make the Fever a legitimate favorite to win their first WNBA championship. Until No.18 stops taking snaps for the Colts, Indianapolis is threat to win a championship. Throw in a (hopefully) healthy Bob Sanders, a bigger offensive line and a more experienced receiving corps, the Colts are top contenders in the improving AFC. With the recent extension of Brad Stevens contract, the Bulldogs are primed to make another run deep into the NCAA tournament. If Hayward returns, as he should, Butler will be in even better position with returning stars Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack. The return of those three players and a promising recruiting class featuring Manual High School guard Chrishawn Hopkins should allow for Butler to run through the Horizon League worse than Kristie Alley at a buffet. Sure, sports fans have to wait a little bit for these three teams hopeful return to championship games. But at least the NBA Finals are only a month away. Wait, we have the Indiana Pacers. Nevermind.

DIRECTV Deal Good for You and Good for Me

kentsterling — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:29:20 +0000

by Kent Sterling It's a win-win, and for that reason I don't feel guilty for wasting your time with it. First, I have been a DIRECTV subsciber since 1997, and I love it. From the NFL Sunday Ticket to the incredible selection of sports stations from around the country, and nice bunch of girly networks so the wife doesn't see this as a total guy-buy. With 3D on the way, and HD everywhere, DIRECTV is the leader. More satellites are going online every half year or so, and the DIRECTV people are always eager to upgrade your equipment at no cost (they usually require a two-year commitment from me for the upgrade. So here's the deal. If you call 1-800-507-4045 or go online at www.directv.com/refer and sign up for DIRECTV with my account number - 4030523 - as a referral, you will get $100 credit toward your account. I will get the same thing. You win - I win. Nice. For more information about the deal, go to http://www.directv.com:80/DTVAPP/referral/referralProgram.jsp?ICID=CUAP-TA-LOYALTY_REFER_LM&lid=Loyalty_Learn_More If you want to see the introductory offers for new users, go to https://www.directv.com:443/DTVAPP/new_customer/base_packages.jsp

Harry on Sports - Saturday, April 10, 2010

kentsterling — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:55:20 +0000

Harry accosts a neighborhood woman as she plants flowers in her yard. [audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry-for-a-saturday.mp3]

Butler Basketball's Brad Stevens Is Still Underpaid

kentsterling — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:02:26 +0000

by Kent Sterling What if Butler Head Basketball Coach Brad Stevens returns to the Final Four next year? The value of a 34-year-old coach who has been able to lever "The Butler Way" to heretofore uncharted success would be so far beyond the $1-million level his new deal places him that Athletic Director Barry Collier who be forced to shred Steven's second freshly inked deal in two years and pony up another chunk of money or risk losing him. So far, this has been an offseason that has seen relatively light turnover among the big time programs. Wake Forest, Clemson, and Oregon have been the only jobs that a coach like Stevens would ever even consider. My God, what a quick four years. He has gone from, "Hey, who's the kid in the Butler shirt watching our kids (at AAU tournaments)?" to the hottest young coach in college basketball. Here's a Horizon League coach - the other nine of whom would accept a call from Clemson believing that maybe the bursar had a question about an unpaid parking ticket. Stevens correctly has no interest. The test will be when a big job is available and the phone rings. If Tom Crean decided that this rebuilding process at Indiana is less fun than he can tolerate and bolts for a Clemson level gig, Stevens will take that call. How about Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, or UCLA? They all have crazy deep pockets, and although UCLA is slipping from that top echelon, as long as John Wooden can pick up a phone, Brad Stevens will listen to him. If Coach Wooden called and asked me to drive to his condo in Encino and help him find his glasses, I would get in the car and start driving west. Collier is doing an admirable job of trying to make it difficult for Steven to untether himself from the place he loves, at some point the siren song of huge money and program prestige will win out. Stevens will get the call from a school with a pedigree that is impossible to ignore, and despite his love and admirable loyalty for the Butler way, it will be time to call U-Haul. College basketball is a snake pit for coaches, and there is generally such an understandably complete lack of loyalty and decency among them that when we see a guy turn away the promise of lifelong wealth to continue his embrace of the institution and kids where he achieve initial success, it's a reminder that happiness isn't always determined by the amount of money you can afford to lose in Las Vegas (although I doubt Stevens spends a lot of money at the craps table). The battle Collier is waging is Quixotic, and should earn the wonder of the Butler faithful, who need to start stepping up and buying tickets. If the average attendance next season stays in the 6,000-7,000 range next year, maybe the annual overtures to Stevens should stop and he should realize that Butler Basketball will never engender anything close to the loyalty and hysteria of Indiana University. Butler has worked exceptionally hard since Collier's hire in 1989 to build a culture, and that work has yielded unprecedented success - especially in the past three seasons. Over that period, Butler has produced"

Four Academic All-Americans (15 total are selected each year)
Three Horizon League Players of the Year
Three All-Americans
Two Horizon League Coach of the Year honors for Stevens
Six NCAA Tournament Wins

Go back one more year, and you add Todd Lickliter as a National Coach of the Year, another All-American, another Academic All-American, and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. That is the result of 21 years of consistent work toward building something special. The alums, boosters, and students at Indiana want change today and wins tomorrow, but the truth is it takes time. When Myles Brand fired Bob Knight, and willfully changed the very successful culture at IU's basketball program he changed forced a cultural change that sent IU spiraling downward to the nadir (hopefully) that was the 2008-2009 season. Butler has been marvelous in managing itself in maintaining its culture. Less disciplined ADs and coaches would have long since decided to try to take the leap to the next level by compromising academic and behavioral standards. Not Butler. They continue to do it right so consistently, that behavior has become its very image. That image is now a draw to outstanding basketball players who also want to get a great education. Butler has become THE place for kids in central Indiana to play and study - for those who care about both. May Butler never change. If you have a son who loves basketball and you want some of that culture to rub off, send him to the Butler Basketball Camp. It was the best camp my son attended for a variety of reasons, and it remains the best.

It's Sunday at the Masters--Sports From the Couch

jshowal2 — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:35:43 +0000

By Jeff Showalter What in the hell am I thinking? It's gorgeous outside, the wife is at work, and I've got some tasks I could be doing. Yet, the couch is calling for me to spend the beautiful day on the couch. It's Sunday at Augusta and this Masters looks as though it could be one of those classic finishes that keeps golf fans on the edge of their seat waiting to see which golfer flinches first. Hold on, that's really not the reason. The reason to watch is because Tiger Woods is in third place, four shots back of Lee Westwood and three fro Phil Mickelson. Can Tiger really win the first tournament he plays after a 144 day layoff because he got caught by his wife for sleeping with skanks, strippers and whores? Can Phil, in his new found role of the morally correct, loving husband hold off the sexual miscreant while chasing the quiet Brit? Damn! This is like Dallas or Dynasty merged with the PGA for a new Friday night show. "How the putter stands up to all this pressure" has taken a whole new meaning. To be honest, I don't really care if Tiger nails every stripper from Los Angeles to Miami. I'm not really all that judgemental when it comes to cheating, because it isn't any of my business. I really wonder more on why he got married and how freaking stupid is wife, Elin, is since she had no idea that Tiger was going thru women like I drink Diet Pepsi's. There are two issues about Tiger that I do find rather alarming. 1) The Nike commercial is just stupid. It is out of context and from the research I've done, his dad liked the ladies as much as the son. That apple never fell off the tree! 2) Why does anyone need 90 security guards, former FBI and Secret Service agents included, to guard you at the most secure golf course in America? Isn't that a little overkill. For me, nothing shows that Tiger is more whacked out, with no sense of reality then this. Ninety security guards is Michael Jackson-esque! Tiger may have gone Jacko on us. What does ninety security guys do? That is five guards per whole, almost seven guards per club. Isn't that a little much. That doesn't include that psycho punk caddie, Stevie Williams, who takes pleasure in going at fans that piss off golf's new Howard Hughes. I' still going to watch. I hope Tiger makes a run so it is really interesting. I hope Phil doesn't do anything stupid like he has done at the US Open. I hope Fred Couples can keep playing well at age 50 with a 75 year old back. I hope it is a fun final day at the Masters. TMZ and I will be watching.

Why Joe West Is Right—and Wrong

Greg Adams — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:18:01 +0000

by Greg Adams Major League Baseball umpire Joe West created a minor stir during baseball’s opening week when he criticized the Yankees and Red Sox for taking too long to finish games in spite of the umpires’ best efforts to speed the game along during the opening installment of “baseball’s greatest rivalry.” The opener clocked in at 3 hours, 46 minutes. If the opening game sets the tone for the season, it's going to be a very long year. Much has been made about how West isn’t fit to be the torchbearer for this issue, citing his small strike zone as a reason games take so long. And while making pitchers throw more pitches never helps in shortening the game, this still seems to be a classic case of shooting the messenger. The bottom line is, regardless of your opinion of West, he’s right. The Yankees and Red Sox are a disgrace. Not the teams themselves, but the games they play against each other. The Yankees and Red Sox, baseball’s marquee matchup for the past decade or so, aren’t doing the sport any favors by not getting on with it already. Boston’s Dustin Pedroia responded to West, saying, “When we don't do well in these games against the Yankees, we get killed. So if I'm going to take a deep breath and focus before I get in the box, I'm going to do it.” I understand Perdroia’s point regarding the pressure he and his teammates are under; the problem is he’s hitting a baseball, not performing surgery. If he’s able to simply step into the box and hit against Baltimore, let’s give it a shot against New York, too. Humor me. Baseball likes Yankees-Red Sox because people tune in to watch. That’s why the rivalry is spectacularly shoved down our throats all season long. I happen to think the game garners great ratings (by baseball’s regular season standards) because the Yankees and Red Sox have two of the largest and proudest fan bases in the country. I think the hype surrounding the rivalry (and the reason baseball is under the impression that we all watch) is largely due to Yankee and Red Sox fans. They’re passionate. They love their teams. And they hate each other. Despite my theory as to who exactly watches the Yankees-Red Sox regular season games, let’s just say—for the sake of argument—that the rest of us do, in fact, watch these games. Is it really in baseball’s best interest for their contests to last almost four hours? I think it’s bad for baseball. Between the NFL, NBA, and MLB, baseball has to deal with the largest disparity between ballpark and living room experience. Baseball’s strength from a spectator standpoint is the ballpark experience. If you’ve been to a major league baseball game anywhere, you can attest to how fun the experience is. Baseball’s uniqueness and pace are definitive advantages. My personal experience is that games taking upwards of four hours to complete are still excessive, but I can still rationalize that I’m getting my money’s worth. I still overpaid for a ticket if the game last 2 hours and 20 minutes, but I overpaid less if the game goes twice as long. But blocking out four hours to watch one regular season baseball game on television? Out of the how many thousands aired each year? Count me out. That said, I also have a message for Joe West. While we’re on the subject of long games, why don’t you and your colleagues start calling “rulebook” strikes? This "just above the knees to the belt" nonsense is garbage. I think we could shave at least 30-45 minutes off the length of each game by adopting this strategy. Maybe we could give the players time to step out of the box and think through their at-bats like they’re dismantling a bomb if the strike zone was actually enforced. In other words, quit being part of the problem. Regardless of what baseball does, if anything (the institution generally seems good at sitting on its thumbs but not much else), the next time I hear ESPN blathering on about the next great Yankees-Red Sox matchup on Sunday Night Baseball, I think I might just rent a movie. Or maybe a couple. I should have plenty of time to play two.

Carmel Assault, Bullying, Sexual Assault Case Deserves Continued Attention

kentsterling — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 20:13:01 +0000

by Kent Sterling There are passionate comments responding to posts and other comments every couple of day on this site. These comments point out the absolute outrage that exists from parents and virtually anyone with a conscience. Outrage is not in short supply, but new information is. Without new information or victim willing to share their story (I'm guessing the attackers will remain closed-mouthed), there is little to write or talk about. That seems to be the game for the prosecutors and school officials to play at this point. They don't want hysterical parents driving the punishment phase of this investigation - which is preposterous given it was the school officials' apathy that has caused the actions that prompted the hysteria. Carmel Schools Superintendent Jeff Swensson and Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp are underestimating the rage that will burn brightly and eternally within Carmel parents not blinded by the embarrassment of some of the leading students of their high school shoving cell phones in the rectum of freshman. The longer justice for these victims is postponed, the broader the broom of punishment should sweep. Below is a comment written this afternoon by a person who is agitated and correctly wants action. He or she articulates it far better than I can: It is obvious the bullying started many months ago. The “locker room issues” comment in the police report, the attorney for one of the victims confirming the Jan 22nd incident was not the first time the 9th grader had been defiled and humiliated. The fact that there are multiple victims assaulted in multiple locations on school property on multiple occassions shows the seniors felt they had the coaches tacit approval to perpetrate these vile acts. As the season progressed the senior starters ratcheted up their reign of terror while the coaches turned a blind eye. This was preventable! A gross lack of leadership, the coaches failed our children, fostering a cuture where a state title takes precedent over mutual respect and decency; where the weak are “shark bait.” Multiple victims, multiple assaults, in multiple locations….The coaches had to know, but did nothing! We have damaged lives because the coaches cared about the stats, not our children. Disgusting! The other victims (remember these are 13 and 14 year olds) are afraid to come forward, fearing reprissal from the coaches who have instituted a code of silence. Now the Carmel Clay School School Board is failing the community by a lack of action regarding the basketball coaching staff! Dr. Swenson promised quick and decisive action. It has been a month since their internal investigation was completed, and the coaches are still on the payroll, having meetings about the next season. EXCUSE ME!!! I hold the coaches responsible right along with the seniors, who have succeeded in damaging our children, our community, not to mention the civil suits that are sure to follow, and possible loss of 43 good teachers by jeopardizing the success of the referendum. It is an outrage! The coaching staff should be asked to resign. NOW! Is the School Board turning a blind eye regarding the coaches? In the last 7 weeks all the School Board has managed to do is talk about is adding a paragraph on hazing to the student manual. This is neither quick nor decisive. Dr. Swenson and the Carmel Clay School Board, now is the time for action. Here is the text of the most recent Indianapolis Star story with some background, as we as an accusation from a local attorney saying that the cops are purposely delaying the investigation: An attorney for the family of a freshman basketball player who allegedly was attacked by older players on a Carmel school bus said Friday that police are being "intentionally negligent" in their investigation. Attorney Robert Turner, a former public safety director for Indianapolis, also charged that Carmel Schools officials are more interested in maintaining their reputation than exposing embarrassing details. Carmel Police Lt. Jeff Horner didn't return phone calls Friday afternoon seeking reaction to Turner's comments. Carmel Clay Schools Superintendent Jeff Swensson could not be reached for comment. Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp called Turner's assertions "presumptuous" but declined to elaborate on the scope of the investigation. Four senior players on the Carmel High School basketball team were kicked off the team for allegedly assaulting younger students. The attacks occurred on at least two occasions, a Jan. 22 school bus incident in Hendricks County and a Jan. 8 Carmel High locker room attack. Carmel police have said the charges under investigation for the bus incident include battery, confinement and criminal deviate conduct. Indiana law defines criminal deviate conduct as an act that "knowingly or willingly causes another person to submit to sexual deviate conduct." A charge of sexual battery was suggested for the locker room incident. Prosecutors in Hamilton and Hendricks counties have said they will decide on filing charges against the accused players by the end of the month. When pressed on details of the alleged bus attack, Turner said the family requested he not divulge exact details at this time but suspected more information could be released early next week. Turner, a 35-year police veteran who became an assistant chief in Indianapolis and then public safety director under then-Mayor Bart Peterson, has been investigating the case since the family hired him last week. He said Friday he is concerned that the police investigation has been limited to just those two incidents -- but he thinks the assaults were more widespread. He also said they happened during a longer period of time than Carmel officials have let on, "progressively getting more and more severe" in the past six months to a year. Turner said his client had been targeted by upperclassmen on other occasions during the school year, with more students -- "more onlookers than active participants," Turner said -- possibly being involved. A police report from the Jan. 8 incident noted "there were ongoing issues that were occurring in the locker rooms at Carmel High School." "By treating these as isolated incidents, they're being intentionally negligent and handcuffing the investigation," Turner said. "The conduct may not have been as intrusive in the other cases, but it was just as severe." Turner also expressed concern about Carmel school officials' handling of the situation. "I'm not screaming for anyone's head," he said, "but there are problems that need to be addressed. "This wasn't a simple issue of harassment," he continued. "It went much further, into an extreme deviation. "When I joined the Letterman's Club in high school, I had to walk through the Shortridge cafeteria holding hands with another player. That was hazing. It was embarrassing, but it didn't hurt. When you force someone to disrobe, that's not hazing." Police have released scant details about the two incidents since the investigation began in mid-February. Copies of the two police reports provided to the media were heavily redacted. "I can understand Carmel PD being sensitive about embarrassing people," Turner said. "But at some point, their (the alleged attackers') behavior compromises that." Turner said he planned to speak to investigators next week. The Indianapolis Star typically doesn't identify suspects who have not been charged with a crime. I always assumed that police and attorneys got into the business of law enforcement in order to bring justice and truth to situations and people who need it most. Maybe in Carmel, the police are too busy writing tickets to cars for five miles-an-hour faster than the school zone speed during hours when schools are closed and the area is clear of people. Maybe that's how giant acoustically perfect arts centers are built. There is no money in the resolution of this crime, so maybe that's why the freshman whose rectum was torn by a cell phone waits for the police and school officials to speak for him and hold accountable those who behaved so cruelly.

Phil Mickelson Wins Third Masters Green Jacket

kentsterling — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 23:25:02 +0000

by Kent Sterling Karma's a bitch. Tiger Woods lost The Masters where he had an opportunity to win it. With a five-foot birdie putt at 14, Tiger knocked it past a couple of feet. Without gathering himself, he pushed the tap-in and notched a bogey that took America's favorite philanderer completely out of the running. Phil Mickelson, whose devotion to his wife is well-chronicled, won The Masters where he could have lost it. At the 13th hole, after an errant drive that pinned him behind a couple of those gorgeous Georgia pines. Mickelson decided as he has many times in the past, that not-losing isn't the same thing as winning. He whacked his second between the pines to within six-feet. He missed the eagle putt, but there was no doubt from that point forward that Mickelson would win his third Green Jacket after knocking in the putt back for birdie - joining those on the hallowed rack at Augusta that he won in 2004 and 2006. Augusta National is a place where the golf gods choose their winners with care, and throughout today's final round, they made their decision clear. Tiger would be allowed to continue to grind, but Phil would be allowed the grace of the walk up 18 firmly in front, and without any drama. There has been enough drama in Mickelson's life during the past two years as his wife and mother have each fought difficult battles with breast cancer. Mickelson has taken time off from golf, gotten into shape, and returned with a calm. He has undoubtedly learned over these two years that golf and professional success take a distant backseat to health and family. His hug with wife Amy, who has spent the entire week in an Augusta bed looking forward to today - the day she would use her strength to watch Phil triumph for the third time - was emotional and spoke to the struggles they have shared. He joins a tie for third with those three wins (Nick Faldo, Jimmy Demaret, Gary Player, and Sam Snead) - behind only Arnold Palmer, and Tiger Woods with four, and Jack Nicklaus with six. There is the life you learn with, and the life you live with, or at least Glenn Close said so in "The Big Chill". Mickelson looked like a man who has learned, and is now living. Tiger looked like he his still learning. His curt interview with Peter Kostas following his up-and-down final round betrayed a continued arrogance and narcissism that will take more time and effort to shave from his personality. There was a report on ESPN that relayed a conversation between Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. Michael told Tiger that he should not try to be the best golfer in the world - he said his focus should be on being the richest golfer in the world. It might be that kind of crazy, poorly-conceived and articulated advice that can motivate poor choices and put Woods in the middle of the foolishness he's trying to escape. Jordan should stick to ruining his own life. Just because Michael has chosen the selfish path doesn't mean he has to drag anyone who will listen along with him. Mickelson looks like a man who is experiencing a great deal of pain because those he loves suffer. Tiger is going through a different kind of pain - that of a man who doesn't love others enough to say no to his own selfish desires. Tiger should ever be so lucky that he feels the pain Mickelson deals with. On this day, instead of thinking about his brain-dead putting on 14, he should be reveling in the sweetness of this victory for the Mickelson Family. Enjoying the joy of others would be a great next step for Woods. It never deterred Nicklaus from competing and winning, and it won't hurt him either.

Sports Digest - Monday, April 12, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:07:37 +0000

Here are the stories that frame our sportsworld for a Monday: Masters - Stirring Win for Lefty (AP) Masters - Phil's Victory a Win for Women (ESPN - Reilly) Masters - Mickelson's Win a Triumph in a Difficult Year (Chicago Sun-Times - Morrissey) Colts - Chad Simpson Waived (Indy Star) Hoosiers - Carlino Has Several Suitors (Star - Neddenrlep) IndyCar - Castroneves Makes Right Call (Star - Cavin) IndyCar - Penalty Leaves Dixon Hot (Star - Cavin) Pacers - P.A. Voice Reb Porter Retiring (Star) Cubs - Offensive Impotence Leads to 2-4 Trip (Sun-Times - Wittenmyer) Cubs - Jaramillo's in Tight Spot (Sun-Times - Wittenmyer) Cubs - Soriano, Cubs Offense Drop the Ball in Loss (Chicago Tribune - Sullivan) Cubs - Lefty Grabow Struggles with Consistency (Chicago Tribune - Sullivan)

Harry on Sports - Monday, April 12, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:22:23 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/my-song-2.mp3]

Reb Porter Retires as Pacers P.A. Announcer

kentsterling — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:35:57 +0000

by Kent Sterling Reb Porter has been at courtside for almost everything, and tonight the Indiana Pacers will honor him. P.A. guys have a fairly easy gig, and they are paid like it. They announce the names of the players who make baskets and commit fouls for all of the lunkheads who refuse to crane their necks to see it on the scoreboard. The hope is that through the boredom they P.A. guy will find something interesting to say that will be a signature item of business that everyone will associate for the team. That allows the P.A. guy to augment his income by making appearances at weddings and other quick in-and-outs for a couple hundred bucks. There is no telling how much money the Bulls Ray Clay made over the years (only the IRS knows for sure, and they probably don't if Clay had the brains to ask for cash) announcing wedding parties as though they were the Chicago Bulls, "At five-ten, an attorney from Hofstra University, Seth Rosenfeld! Okay, the bar is open. Please remember the liquor is $47 a bottle, so stick to beer if you can. Finish your dinners. The food is $75 a plate." Excellent. My favorite P.A. guy story is from Jim Volkman's one-night (you'll read why a second night would have been a bad idea) audition doing P.A. for the Bulls. He's sitting courtside doing all all of the stuff P.A. guys might do. Then a drunk guy behind him started screaming, "Hey, dumbass, they just called a foul on Hardaway. What's the matter with you, announce the foul!" Volkman, who is best known for doing the best Harry Carey impression ever on Chicago radio, made the mistake of being terrified that the drunk guy was right, opened the mike, and announced, "Magic personal foul - Penny Hardaway - his second." That the ball was controlled by the Magic and the refs had not blown a whistle was lost on Volkman. The guard handling the ball for the Magic was stunned. The refs were stunned as the ref closest to Volkman blew the whistle and walked over to the scorer's table. "Just watch me. Don't listen to the people behind you," the ref admonished. Jim worked the rest of the game knowing the only positive that would come out of the audition would be the story of his own buffoonery. Here's a clip of Volkman with Kevin Matthews as Jim Shorts as Harry. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nylZC95R890] Reb is a sort of radio legend in Indianapolis. He did traffic for more that two decades, until his preoccupation with booking his wedding gigs during his shift finally became such a distraction from his work (and everyone else's in the newsroom) that he had to go. Traffic reports in Indianapolis are silly in that there is no traffic. My 16-mile commute in the most heavily congested corridor in the city each day took between 28-32 minutes - without exception. The last thing Indy Radio needed though was a traffic reporter who acknowledged that lack of importance. Michael Grady will be the new P.A. voice for the Pacers. People who listen to 1070 - The Fan know who Michael is, and Pacers fans have enjoyed getting to know him as the person who hosts a lot of the fun during timeouts. Michael worked has worked at Emmis Indy for the past six years, and is an exceptionally diligent and loyal young man. When I got the job to launch The Fan over two years ago, my first thought was, "Hire Michael to be the executive producer." Just as I never regretted for a second hiring him to produce Indiana Sportstalk, I never doubted that he was the best choice in the role of running the nuts and bolts for The Fan. At a time when kids are much more interested in feathering their own nests at the expanse of their employer, Michael did bucked the trend by being one of the most committed team-first guys in radio. His consistent hard work is one of the key reasons for The Fan building ratings and ascending to the top ratings position in sportstalk. Announcing a Troy Murphy three-pointer to 7,000 fans won't be quite as challenging as building a radio station from the ground up, but I think Michael will find a way to make it interesting.

Indiana Pacers Wrap Up Home Schedule Tonight

kentsterling — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:39:20 +0000

by Kent Sterling One thing I've learned over the past three months of writing this website is that writing about the Pacers is that it's creative masturbation. I enjoy it alone. No one will ever read this. That's fine. Some things you do for yourself - or to yourself. Ten years ago, the Pacers were preparing for a postseason that would result in a trip to the NBA Finals. Today, the withering franchise is riding a wave of recent success (winning 12 of the last 17) that has done nothing but reduce their chances of drafting in the top three from approximately one-in-three to one-in 25. Fortunately, the season is two games from over or the Pacers could wind up the last team in the lottery than the 10th. The Pacers have seen potential draft help that included John Wall, Evan Turner (who they wouldn't take because Turner is a slightly more talented version of Danny Granger), or DeMarcus Cousins devolve into Cole Aldrich, Xavier Henry, and Patrick Patterson. If you want tickets to see the unnecessarily resurgent Pacers, there are plenty of tickets available - a pair in the fifth row behind the Pacers bench could be had for $200 apiece from Ticketmaster five minutes ago. I'm relatively certain they are still there (yep, still there). That is before the fees which are growing faster than the national debt. Right now, for the privilege of buying a pair of tickets from an automatic service, you will pony up $39, which brings the total to a whopping $439. I like that one of the fees is called a "Convenience Charge". The Chicago/Doobie Brothers show in July at one of the ubiquitous Verizon Wireless amphitheaters has lawn seats selling for $20, but add the $10 convenience charge plus the tax, and a $40 night becomes a $70 night. God forbid you want a beer for $8 or a pop for $4. Granted, Chicago's remaining original members are in their 60s, but did you know that they have sold more records than any American band in the history of rock? Despite no one reading this, I can only digress so much. The Pacers game tonight is "Customer Appreciation Night". All attendees are eligible for the following prizes/discounts:

Receive a team poster, courtesy of Sport Graphics.
Shop the Home Court Gift Shop Blowout Sale with items as low as $5 and $10, with many items 50 to 75 percent off.
Receive special giveaways throughout the night, including autographed game-worn jerseys and shoes from Pacers players
Special Dollar Menu at concession stands: $1 Pepsi products, $1 popcorn and $1 hot dog

I love the gift shop peddling the crap they can't move at a huge discount being listed as an incentive. It must be customer appreciation day at Kohl's year-round. The Pacers need a radical change in their culture to make any gain in their relevance in Indianapolis. This isn't about the on-court product, which is likely to improve next season by default. Given the contracts schedule to expire at the end of next season and another draft, they almost have to improve. There is an arrogance in the offices of Conseco Fieldhouse that is debilitating. That arrogance prompts a hunger to hold onto what is left, rather than pitch it in favor of a new structure that will allow growth. Sometimes the right play is to stop fighting the fall. Embrace it. Hit bottom, and then climb a different hill. The Pacers front office staff works their asses off in an environment more like a slave ship than a professional sports franchise as they strive to fall less quickly. Admitting defeat is sometimes the first step toward winning. Tonight, you can buy tickets for under $10 to see a team that has figured out how to win meaningless games against teams that are willing to collapse late for the chance to win later. You can see Dwight Howard play, and pick up some cheap swag. At the minimum, basketball fans have to applaud the honor with which the Pacers have refused to do the smart thing in favor of competing honestly. It's also Reb Porter's last night doing P.A. Go applaud a genuinely nice man who has done the job since the Pacers joined the NBA. How many years away from the playoff are the Pacers? "Two-uh."

NBA Theme: Bird vs. Magic followed by LeBron vs. Kobe

The Truth — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:15:35 +0000

by Kyle Miller With the NBA playoffs right around the corner, my enthusiasm is not near the level it was for the NCAA tournament. The NBA in general just doesn’t tickle my fancy. I only enjoy watching the cream of the crop teams like the Lakers, Cavilers, and Nuggets. I can’t complain about watching the Pacers, but their mediocrity is hard on my eyes. Plus their season ends on Wednesday. During the 1970’s the NBA struggled with TV ratings and minimal attendance at games. CBS signed a deal in 1981 with the NBA and their objective was simple: Give the NBA a theme. Their theme was based around the Larry Bird and Ervin “Magic” Johnson rivalry. Due to this, the 1981 NBA Championship that featured both Magic and Bird was the most viewed NBA game in history to that date. Television has reemerged with a similar theme. This decade has its own version of Magic vs. Bird in LeBron vs. Kobe. How many double headers on TNT or ESPN have we seen where the early game features the Cavilers and the later game highlights Kobe and the Lakers? What two teams play on Christmas Day every year for the whole nation to watch? Which two teams are almost guaranteed locks to play in the NBA Finals? …the Lakers and Cavs—unless Melo and crew can knock off the Lakers in the west. This doesn’t bother me; in fact, I prefer television to include these teams in their double-headers because watching the Washington Wizards versus the Memphis Grizzles makes me want to pour hot acid into my eyes. Hardly anyone wants to watch a matchup like that unless one of those two teams happens to be your favorite/hometown team. The media industry is a business. Its main objective is to display the best product when called upon and recently that happens to be Kobe or LeBron, or better yet, both. Similar to Bird and Magic, I imagine Kobe and LeBron aren’t the best of friends, but the respect is undeniably present between them. Magic and Bird finally played together in 1992 when the United States sent professional players to the Olympics for the first time. They joined Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and other NBA greats to assemble to original “Dream Team.” They won the gold in Barcelona, Spain. Fittingly, LeBron and Kobe starred on the 2008 Olympic gold medal team that dubbed themselves the “Redeem Team” (this was because they wanted to bring back the dominance and worldwide appeal to USA basketball that had been missing since the 90’s). The rivalry between Johnson and Bird will never be eclipsed. Not just because of what they did for basketball and the NBA, but because of what it did for American culture. Segregation was imminent in America still and the emmergence of a dominate white basketball player was a bit odd. Initially the rivalry split blacks and whites, but later brought them closer together. Sports fans across the country were captivated by the rivalry and loved to not only cheer hard for Larry or Magic but root hard against the other. This era of NBA Basketball helped saved the league and make it as popular as it is today. Kobe and LeBron might not capture the attention of Americans quite like Larry vs. Magic did, especially because there are a lot of NBA “haters” out there, but it certainly is another great sport rivalry. In regards to this year’s NBA Finals, I’m taking the Cleveland Cavaliers. With home court throughout the playoffs and a sub-par Eastern Conference, the Cavs should make it to the Finals relatively easily. The Lakers are struggling without Bynum, but with Kobe resting and healing his injuries for the rest of the regular season, I still look for the Lakers to still come out of the West. They may be tested by the Nuggest or Mavericks, but in a seven game series you don’t bet against Kobe—unless, perhaps, it’s against LeBron. The Cavs will beat the Lakers in seven games and the passing of the torch of NBA dominance will pass not only from the Lakers to the Cavs, but from Kobe to Lebron.

JaJuan Johnson to Declare Eligibility for the NBA Draft

kentsterling — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:09:50 +0000

by Kent Sterling Generally, I hate kids declaring early for the NBA Draft. What's the hurry, Murray? Life can wait. The waters surrounding NBA courts are filled with sharks waiting to take money from kids who have no idea what to do with it - many of them have nice asses and a certain moral indifference. [caption id="attachment_2645" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="JaJuan can jump, and he's long enough to get up - way up"][/caption] At some point, though if you're 6'10 1/2" with an 88-inch wingspan and the NBA offers you millions, you say "Thank you very much." If you are going to leave college early because of money, make damn sure you take good care of your money. JaJuan hasn't asked me for advice in almost four years, and even then I think I offered it to him without being asked. Here is some unsolicited financial advice, go to the league. Instead of buying fancy cars and buying a 3,000 square-foot condo, call Denny Smith at (317) 579-0700. Hand every check to him. He'll set you up with an allowance that will cover everything you need to live comfortably. Do that for five years. When your teammates laugh at you driving a $25,000 car, living in a less than opulent place, and going back to your room alone when you're on the road, just shrug. Show up for work early, get that sweet 18-footer dialed in, and keep pumping iron. At the end of those five years, Denny will have you set for life. You'll never have to work again, and those teammates who were laughing will be asking you for loans to cover the payments on their Bentleys and 12,000 square-foot houses. One guy no longer laughing is Derrick Coleman, the forward famous for being fined $5,000 for being late to practice while with the Philadelphia 76ers, and then taking $20,000 out of his sock, handing it to Larry Brown to cover the fines plus the next three. Here's a solid - dare I say irrefutable - tip; if you are carrying $20K in your sock, you are destined for bankruptcy. Denny can be trusted, so I mention him specifically, but if you prefer someone else runs your economic affairs, just make sure he or she has a track record of making money for clients. There are a lot of financial planners much more interested in planning their own finances with your money than making sure you build wealth. JaJuan will go to the pre-draft camps and show the front office guys and agents his skill set, and his stock will go up. Right now, he is projected as a late first-round/early second-round pick. I would be shocked if he's still on the board at 20. One of the issues in JJ's recruiting [caption id="attachment_2644" align="alignright" width="107" caption="JaJuan proudly posing for the camera in his Spiece Central Stars jersey in 2006"][/caption] that weighed against him was his unselfishness in AAU ball. Unlike almost every AAU program on the planet, JJ's team (Spiece Central Stars) was about playing the game correctly and winning rather than showcasing his abilities. Programs like Virginia came out to watch JaJuan and left telling strangers on a plane that they were no longer interested. They didn't think he could play because that team wasn't about proving they could. Then he went to the Adidas Camp in New Jersey, and came back a player who no longer made inside out passes more often than not. When the ball went into JJ, the ball went up. The team didn't win as often, but his stock went up quickly. The same thing will happen at the pre-draft camps. The unselfish Boiler will focus his attention on impressing scouts, and he will. Watch the mock drafts update after the camps. JaJuan can play in the NBA. He's a terrific teammate, has phenomenal hands, and runs the floor like a gazelle. He's a little light to stop a good back-to-the bucket power forward, but he'll add weight. JaJuan came to basketball late as a kid, so he's still learning the game, but he sees the floor very well and adapts very quickly. Best of all, he's a really good kid. On one hand, if JaJuan allows the deadline to pass without pulling his name out of the hat, they lose his services for next year, and JJ is a very unique talent. Having a big man that long and athletic is a nice asset in the Big Ten. He can create his own shot, and that helped Purdue win a lot of games this season. Purdue and Matt Painter have now demonstrated they have get a kid with unique gifts ready to play in the NBA. That will help as they recruit in the future because as slight as the chance are, every high school kid being recruited is thinking about the NBA. Good for JaJuan. Good for Matt Painter. Good for IU fans because next year the Hoosiers won't have to watch JaJuan put up big numbers against them - unless he withdraws from the draft. Then all bets are off.

Carmel High School Faces Another Challenge

kentsterling — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:25:06 +0000

by Kent Sterling Two 15-year-old Carmel High School freshmen were killed in a car accident near the corner of 146th and River Road Friday night. A third is being treated for injuries at Methodist [caption id="attachment_2726" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="The vigil Sunday was yet another for teen auto fatalities in Hamilton County."][/caption] Hospital in Indianapolis. The crash followed a high speed chase as the car driven by the hospitalized teen was being pursued after reportedly being clocked in excess of the speed limit. The Carmel Police are providing no addition information about the incident, and say they won't until their investigation has been completed. One question they have yet to address is whether they are investigating the efforts of the police officer in instigating the chase. Jordan Moss and Jordan Poirier were killed. The identity of the driver has not been made public. Moss and Poirier are the latest teen automobile fatalities in a county with no dearth of them. It seems Hamilton County loses teens each year, and at an alarming rate. If there was a Hamilton County sniper shooting teens with assault rifles in the number that are lost to car wrecks, parents would keep their kids locked in the basement and put bars on the windows. That's not to say this tragedy is somehow the fault of the parents of the kids, but it does speak to the semi-cavalier attitude parents have about kids driving - especially late at night. High school students have a sense of invulnerability that can result in disaster. They haven't felt the sting or slam of consequence yet, and they make decisions better suited for action movies than real life. Anyone who made it through high school unscathed can point to several instances where the result could have been as unfortunate as Friday night's accident. I'm sure the policeman who gave chase is crestfallen. No policeman wants to start in motion the actions that result in two kids being killed, but is it really necessary to haul ass after every car that speeds and doesn't pull to the side of the road. I'm not saying that speeders should get a pass because of their indifference to being caught, but there has to be a better way than to make a bad situation worse by flying through streets at a time when people maybe aren't at their best. The police aren't helping matters by releasing zero information about the specifics of the incident. Silence begets questions and questions begat doubt. Too much begetting in Carmel right now. I'm not sure what harm the truth will do, but no one is sure of anything, because all we know is that three kids who should have been in school today weren't, and two of them will never be. As we wait to find out what happened, hold your kids close. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed to any of us.

Sports Digest - Tuesday, April 13, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:14:42 +0000

Sports news never slows down. Here's the news that frames our day: Pacers - Clock Is Ticking on Larry Legend (Indy Star - Kravitz) Pacers - Pacers Loss Too Little Too Late (Star) Colts - Brackett Just as Busy During Offseason (Star) Hoosiers - Hutch's Blog on All Things Hoosiers Hoops (Star.com - Hutchens) Cubs - Good Times Roll for Ricketts Family (Chicago Sun-Times - Telander) Cubs - Soriano Replaced in Sixth (Sun-Times) Cubs - Piniella to Use Marshall as Setup Man (Sun-Times) Bombshell McGee - "Gotta Change Image" (TMZ)

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, April 13, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:28:28 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/my-song-21.mp3]

Russ Settle Dies - an Indianapolis Original Is Gone

kentsterling — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:29:38 +0000

by Kent Sterling A city without too many points of interest lost one last weekend. Russ Settle, the owner of the Red Key Tavern on College Avenue passed away at 92, and with him went one of the quirkiest bar experiences in the world. Russ laid down the law at the Red Key, and anyone who dared neglect his rules was scolded. If there was a second offense, you left. The rules made the Red Key a place that was a first stop for thirsty out-of-town visitors. Being from Chicago, my friends were used to that whole customer-is-always-right thing. At the Red Key, Russ was always right. The rules were a little like those at my grandmother's house - no feet on the furniture. No swearing. Use your inside voice. No coats on the backs of the chairs. No credit. And you weren't allowed to scoot tables together or bring extra chair to your table. No standing at tables either. It was a little like the army - a bunch of rules that really didn't make much sense, but you applied your own sense of logic at your peril. There was one beautiful night when many of my college friends from Chicago were in town for a wedding. Ray was to get married the following day, and after an eventful rehearsal dinner, we headed to the Red Key. Ray was already far enough beyond unthirsty that his inclusion in this trip guaranteed disaster for him and hilarity for us. Ray was not only already challenging the processing capacity of his liver, he walked into a bar where his nemesis, Dr. Mike was enjoying a beverage with friends. Dr. Mike was the victim of one of Ray's classic blunders seven years before when he careened headlong into one of Dr. Mike's front teeth. Dr. Mike had yet to exact revenge, and the night before Ray's wedding seemed as good a time as any to cross that off his to-do list. Dr. Mike bought Ray shots of tequila one after another until Ray could barely stand. In his defense, Dr. Mike didn't know that another guest at the rehearsal dinner had duped Ray into gulping down three glasses of vodka. Ray's wobbling through the Red Key was unsettling to Russ Settle, who came over to our table just as Ray collapsed while trying to sit down. It was odd - this collapse. Ray got to the chair just fine, and then when he tried to sit, the chair sort of exploded right underneath him. Russ went from curious to agitated and quizzed Paulie Balst about getting him out of the bar. Paulie said he would take care of it, and then said, "He's okay to drive, huh?" I'm not sure what happened next, but suddenly we were all out on the sidewalk outside the bar, and Ray was vomiting into a bush. Indianapolis is a town without a whole lot of unique characters and places. The Alley Cat and Iaria's are cool. The Legal Beagle used to be cool when Gordie owned it. Other than that, it's tough to find a real bar in town. Russ was the coolest unique character the town had. He was unafraid to hold his customers responsible for their behavior. Being a POW in World War II probably knocked the fear out of him. If he could handle the real life Klinks and Schultzes, he could sure tell some 23-year-old slapdick to shut-up and get him to do it. He'd been doing it since 1951 at the Red Key.

Kentucky Basketball's Rod Strickland Posts Fourth DUI

kentsterling — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:28:18 +0000

by Kent Sterling Clearly, former nomadic NBA guard and current UK Assistant Coach Rod Strickland has a problem. He picked up his fourth career arrest for driving under the influence early Sunday morning after running a red light and nearly hitting a car. He was also cited for running a red light, driving with expired tags, and driving without insurance. Just two weeks ago, Strickland was the subject of a New York Times piece about redemption. As a player for eight NBA teams in 17 years, Strickland was the prototypical nightmare for coaches. The NY Times story chronicled his humbling evolution into one of the coaches he used to drive crazy. Strickland has been a mentor to the top three point guards in college basketball during the past three seasons - Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, and John Wall. If convicted, Strickland will face a sentence as a three-time offender (Strickland was acquitted of the second DUI charge). The UK brass will have to make a decision regarding Strickland's place as a leader of young men. Should a man charged four times with an offense as patently stupid as driving under the influence be paid to interact as a role model with impressionable young adults? Strickland is one of two things - an alcoholic or a man with no regard for authority. He could be both. If he can get sober, he could provide kids at Kentucky a wonderful cautionary tale about the danger of alcohol abuse. Of course, he could serve the same purpose if fired. Kentucky exists today on the very fringe of acceptable behavior in college basketball with a coach paid $4-million to win now and suffer the consequences later. John Calipari's two appearances in Final Fours have been whitewashed by the NCAA, and the last thing he and the school needs is to have a forgiven representative of his regime make a mistake where his car crossing the intersection doesn't narrowly miss another. The decision for Calipari and AD Mitch Barnhart will be agonizing but simple. Strickland has to go. Police reports show that Strickland failed field sobriety tests that included reciting the alphabet and standing on one leg. (He wisely refused a breathalyzer on the scene of the arrest.) Stand by Strickland as a friend, but you can't allow a man who has been charged four times with DUI to mentor 18-year-olds. Kentucky basketball currently represents the very worst image of college basketball - one with street agents, AAU coaches, and bloated boosters whose self-worth is defined by their proximity to the success of the program. They leverage a piece of their souls for each win, and as much fun as it was to watch John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe this year - that fun will exact a toll - maybe not tomorrow or the day after, but a reckoning is coming. Justice is not always swift, but it is usually sure. And while all of us should hope that Strickland finds the strength to acknowledge his problem and at the very least take precautions to avoid endangering everyone sharing the road at 3 a.m., part of that education for the kids he has touched at Memphis and UK need to be a meaningful consequence. And, what kind of idiot drives without insurance?

Rod Strickland's DUI Should End His Run with Kentucky Basketball

kentsterling — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:46:22 +0000

by Kent Sterling I wrote about this unfortunate episode in the life of a guy who has thrown away more chances at success than most groups of ten get in a lifetime, and it has bugged me since I finished it. [caption id="attachment_2780" align="alignleft" width="83" caption="Rod got three chances for redemption. I'm taking a second chance at a post poorly written"][/caption] The whole piece was drivel about how Strickland should be blamed sort of for providing a kind of non-positive example for the players he's trusted to lead. Christ, what a douchebag I can be in the morning. If there is an ounce of morality and decency left in Lexington, the University of Kentucky has tell tell Strickland that his next chance for redemption will have to be earned elsewhere. This is the fourth time this unrepentant boob has been cited for DUI. Yeah, most of us have been this dumb before, but some who were wound up killing families. Getting caught four times is definitive proof that Strickland both has a problem with alcohol and is an idiot so far beyond the ability to be entrusted as a role model for student-athletes (yes, even at Kentucky, they are student-athletes) that the curvature of the earth hides it from his sight. Not only should Strickland be fired the instant the AD and Head Coach John Calipari get the facts, should he be convicted, multiple years of unpleasant incarceration should be the result. Send him to that same place in Kentucky where Robert Redford played the warden in Brubaker. Kids need to know they will be held accountable for their actions, and this is a great opportunity to make that message clear. Strickland spent 17 years dancing on the smoldering grave of NBA authority, and was taught nothing. He was Jamaal Tinsley before Jamaal Tinsley - remarkably talented below the neck, and a total team cancer above it. He played for eight teams, and all eight were glad to see him go. The Wizards bought out his contract, just as the Pacers did with Tinsley. Yes, this is a shame, but that's for his family and friends to consider. For fans of college basketball, and higher education in general, the result is the thing - and that should be Strickland's dismissal, prosecution, and incarceration. Rehab is his business, not ours. Addicts need firm boundaries, and Strickland has lived outside those boundaries since before he dazzled and disappointed fans at DePaul in the late 1980s with talent and foolishness dispensed in equal measure. Larry Eustachy was canned at Iowa State for being a tool dumb enough to get loaded with [caption id="attachment_2773" align="alignright" width="275" caption="Former Iowa State Coach Larry Eustachy on a night at a frat with University of Missouri co-eds. If this stupidity got him canned, what should happen to Rod Strickland?"][/caption] students after putting his team on a plane back to Ames after a game against Missouri. He didn't get behind the wheel of a two-ton machine. Drunk drivers caused the deaths of 18,000 people in the United States each year. Eustachy was nothing more than a harmless boob reliving his youth - or hoping to extend it. Strickland is fortunate to be coaching in a program as well-known for moral turpitude as winning basketball games, and the boosters, students, and administration have all shown a blithely dismissive attitude toward those who can bring the university a little glory on the hardwood. That is nothing new in Lexington, and neither is a coach who orders his cocktails by the pitcher. Billy Gillespie reportedly had a driver while head coach at Kentucky, and Eddie Sutton didn't. If Kentucky can't help but overpay a coach whose resume' is littered with NCAA-mandated divots, the least they can do it refuse to endorse the potentially lethal acts of an employee who has shown no ability to learn from past mistakes.

Kent Sterling Finds His Inner Anger, and Lets It Go

kentsterling — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:43:13 +0000

by Kent Sterling My decision seconds after getting the boot at Emmis Indianapolis was to move on, get busy, and find another challenge. That process was made easier a few days later when my wife said we had been hurtling toward unresolvable domestic issues if there hadn't been a change in my approach to work. Delegation was not at the top of my professional tool box, and I knew it, but thought I could figure it out over the next year or so. It wasn't that I felt I had to do everything, but that I couldn't let go of my investment in the result. Given two radio stations to sweat, I was up to my ass in emotional investment. That left little room for Julie. Okay. Good. Move forward. Don't whine. Work at something, and if you didn't get paid, who cares. Keep moving. Self pity is always wasted energy, but sometimes it might be good to reflect for a second or two. That is something I did not do. I had lunches with dozens of friends that served as cheap therapy, but my focus was more toward convincing everyone that my unceremonious dumping was not the end of anything, but a long-overdue beginning of uncharted and undreamed of new challenges. The only problem with all that was the dishonesty - not in the conversations with friends, but with myself. As time has gone on, I've come to the realization that I am pissed. In my mind, my firing isn't just a slap in my face, but in the face of the Emmis culture I have been a part of for more than a third of my life. I would have quit in a second rather than risk my marriage, so the result isn't the thing. I no longer work at Emmis Indy, and that might be for the best, but that the people in charge didn't view my contributions as valuable enough to maintain me as an employee is just completely beyond my ability to rationally accept. And it pisses me off. That I'm not there to fight for the right thing in meetings that determine the course of radio in Indianapolis is an outrage to me. So now you know I think pretty highly of my ability to build and evolve radio stations toward popularity and profitability. Is that high-handed? I don't care. I was talking to a friend on the phone this morning and I gave him my perspective. He said he felt the same way, but wondered how we could know that we're both right. I told him that I know radio, and that if I believe it - it's right. Then I said, "I'm saying that from my living room couch though." We laughed, but I absolutely believe it. If there is a person in America who knows talk radio performance as well as I do, we haven't met. That the people responsible for my short daily commute from my bedroom to the living room didn't see that is confounding to me. It's not that I'm some brilliant guy, but that I have fallen into some very valuable training in extemporaneously performance over the years, and it has provided my insight that others just don't have. If believing - and I mean firmly believing, like Obama believes in raising taxes - that I'm the best at something makes me arrogant, I don't give a shit. I try to be as calm and unassuming as I can be with my knowledge and abilities. There is no screaming and strutting like The Wiz on "Seinfeld", at least none that I was aware of, but it pisses me off I can't get people to understand it. Ratings go up. Revenue goes up. What's to debate? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRf_A07Elyw] This has been a year of incredible upheaval. Death, economic chaos, firing, and all kinds of other crazy bullshit have made the last year most odd. Today, I love my wife and son totally. Today, I'm writing my ass off. Today, I'm moving forward toward something excellent. I know all of that, but being fired still pisses me off. I'm reading "The Last Lecture", which is thoroughly enjoyable. The author, a dying man given a chance to share his wisdom delves deep into his soul to share everything he has learned. It was given to me by a friend at Emmis who thought I might enjoy it, and as usual he was right. I used to enjoy the feeling that I was helping him make money. It pisses me off that is no longer allowed. I'm not sure if I've learned anything from Randy Pausch's book because the more I read about his challenge in dealing with his imminent death - essentially God firing Randy as a husband and father - the angrier I have gotten about my own situation. I'm pretty sure the intended result of reading the book is to give the reader some perspective about how each day is precious and that helping others is really the seed of the greatest joy. Right now, I'm pissed off. That either means I have a long way to go in finding the wisdom Randy gained after his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer, or that maybe I was originally so far removed from it that this anger is part of the journey toward it. If the Sun is Dalai Lama type wisdom, I may have been on Pluto a year ago. Now, I've reached Uranus. Nothing like a little astrological humor to take the edge off a self-absorbed rant about myself and how angry I am. Pauly Balst tried to talk me into taking a small chunk of my severance and going to Mexico with him. It seemed impossibly selfish at the time, but I should have known better. It would have cleared my head, and made me see the stupidity of allowing a bad decision by men I barely know affect me negatively. Then, I could have been a little less self-involved and a little more honest in turning the page. Damn it, I know better than to discount Paulie's advice, especially when a trip to Mexico is on the line. Shoving all that hostility aside was like Lloyd Braun (if you don't like "Seinfeld", you should never read anything I write because everything that happens in my life has a direct corollary to that great sitcom) and Frank Costanza yelling "Serenity Now!" [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5513mXmQbw4&feature=related] There may come a time when I see being fired as a step toward something wonderful. For now, it just pisses me off. That I can't help my friends get better at their jobs and put them in a position to succeed is an outrage. It's probably better to deal with that out of the box than wait for it to fester. Maybe one day I'll worry a little bit more about a country filled with starving kids than I do about my own ridiculous little measure of unpleasantness. Maybe one day, but not today. Today, I'm just pissed.

Sports From the Couch

jshowal2 — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:47:59 +0000

by Jeff Showalter The first "Sports From the Couch" babe award winner...Blake Lively! The Philadelphia Eagles traded Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins. That means Andy Reid thinks his former QB is not only toast, but that Philly thinks the trade will allow the Eagles to win two divisional games every year. Eagles-Redskins is must see TV for 2010. The NFL draft is seven rounds and will take THREE DAYS! Roger Goddell may be the best commissioner in sports and ESPN is still the sports leader, but this is completely out of control and will water down the experience. I think all championship games, across all sports, should be played weekdays at 9 pm Eastern time so no kids will ever get to watch the games. Geesh! Does anyone care if kids get to watch these games anymore? Remember when IU basketball was relevant? I don't remember either. I do know this, while Crean is tweeting and clapping and tanning, Indiana kids are picturing themselves in Purdue and Butler uniforms. Brad Stevens' NCAA tournament record, six up and 3 down. Tom Crean's record, five up and five down. Without D Wade, one and four. The Butler run will be remembered forever. Not only for the magic but because the kids are student athletes. Barry Collier, thanks for keeping Stevens at Butler. Brad, thanks for staying. In three years, get your rear end to Bloomington. 2010 preseason top 2: 1) Purdue, 2) Butler. 2010 Maxpreps.com Maxpreps top 100 high school seniors. Purdue has three recruits. Butler has to. IU has as many as Ball State. Four hour base ball games? No thanks. Three hour baseball games? Pass as well. Little League parents are a pain in the ass. Tennis parents are a pain in the ass. Basketball parents are a pain in the ass. Do you see where I'm going with this? Matt Howard, please work on a face up game. Your unselfishness is sincere but hurts your teams offensive efficiency. I believe someone has told you this before...... Matt Howard, congrats on the 3.77 GPA. JuJuan Johnson: Do you like Fort Wayne? If not, go back to school learn how to post, learn how to handle the ball, learn how to rebound. Oh, and hit the gym and go on a 10,000 calorie diet. There is no four in the NBA you can defend. None! Your not fast enough to guard the small fours and not strong enough to guard the big fours. Larry Bird, how's that Hansbrough pick working for the Pacers? Larry Bird: Cole Aldrich? NO! Don't even go there. If the Pacers are serious about rebuilding: trade Danny Granger for draft picks. trade Troy Murphy for cap space. Get whatever you can for Foster and Dunleavy. Go 10-72 and then start building. Oh yeah, Bird has to go as well because he has a pathetic talent evaluator. I'm still waiting for the Boss to give us an update on the IPad. He's had it for 10 days.... I can't believe 24 and Two and a Half men are closing shop. That sucks. Justified, on the FX network, is outstanding. Timothy Olyphant is really good. Also, it takes place in Kentucky and uses every redneck stereotype possible so it is also funny as well. We may have to figure out how to go with some special editions of "Video From the Couch".

American Idol - Top Nine (Again) Review - April 13, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:31:03 +0000

by Kent Sterling What an odd competition this is. Adam Lambert tried to help the kids reach a performance level that would entertain, and actually seemed to get more out of those who listened. That seems to be the vibe for this season - if the contestants have sucked it, they seem to be more receptive to advice. They improve. Those who get the feeling that they are rocking it tend to trust their own instincts. Their performances are the same week after week. There are the average singers who are improving, great singers who appear mediocre because they aren't improving, and two on either side of the continuum whose talent defines them. Crystal Bowersox is so far ahead of everyone else based on any rational system of measurement. Andrew Garcia is a train wreck. That's okay. Some people have greatness, and others enjoy a total lack of it. Crystal sings everything in a way that is commercial and compelling. Andrew doesn't. Two singers get the boot this week because the judges saved Mike Lynche last week. One of those two will be Andrew Garcia unless America suffered a power outage during his rendition of whatever it is he sang. It was not bad enough to be memorable, but it was farther away from good enough. My wife reminds me that he sand "Hound Dog". He brought such a lack of energy that he can't possible engage enough people with access to a phone to make to next week. "Hound Dog" is a blues song about a cheating significant other. He sang it as a little romantic trifle. Somewhere, Etta James was flinging ribs scraps at her TV. Big Mike sang "In the Ghetto". He's one of those who is insisting on doing things his own way, and despite being one of the best singers, he is exactly the same guy he was early on. That's not good enough to win, and I think that was the source of the voters dissatisfaction last week. Tim Urban, one of the most cloying contestants since Constantine Maroulis, but for completely different reasons. He did a quiet version of "Can't Help Falling in Love" that showed just how far a kid can come when he listens to educated guidance. He's gone from a lock for the bottom three to to a singer likely to stick around - maybe as far as the top five. Siobhan Magnus sang "Suspicious Mind" and was a train wreck. She told the judges after their Kara and Simon criticized her for being all over the place and singing with two different voices, “If I can’t even label myself, I don’t think it’s necessary to be labeled. I just love to sing,” she said. That is the problem with Magnus. She doesn't know who she is, and without that self-awareness, what the hell are we supposed to think of her? Grab an image - any image. Great voice, but no presence. Her refusal to accept criticism and respond to it will kill her chances, although she should survive tomorrow. Katie Stevens was as good as she gets with "Baby, What Do You Want Me to Do". This was her best performance, and it was an actual performance. So many of these contestants simply sing, as though that's the gig. That's like saying that acting is just saying words. There is a reason Sinatra and Elvis were great - there are a lot of singers, but very few singular performers. Stevens snarled and chastised her way past the judges and likely into the top seven next week. Aaron Kelly was at a distinct advantage singing "Blue Suede Shoes". That song is a threat, and there is nothing threatening about that kid. He may not weigh enough to be a jockey. He can sing but there is no authenticity in anything he sings. It might be time to say goodbye to Aaron. David Archuleta Lite might be on his way out. Lee DeWyze is starting to get it, but the baby steps might not be big enough to get him into the top five, but his "A Little Less Conversation" was kind of okay. Good singer, but a reluctance to bring any stage presence again hurt him. It's a shame because especially on Elvis night, there is a tacit license to be over-the-top and ridiculous. Elvis went so far beyond anyone with physicality that you can't look silly singing Elvis. This was the week for DeWyze to say "Screw it!" and crack open some surprising wildness. It was not to be. That is the only thing holding him back from being a potential finalist. Casey James was last, and maybe (other than Andrew) least. His "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". This week could have been right in Casey's wheelhouse, but he sounded the same as he does every week. Here are the four classes of performers left in Season Eight: Winner - Crystal Bowersox Great, but not getting better - Siobhan Magnus, Mike Lynche, Casey James, Aaron Kelly Good, but getting better every week - Tim Urban, Katie Stevens, Lee DeWyze (improving a bit) On the wrong show - Andrew Garcia The two who will go tomorrow night? Andrew and Mike

Wake Forest Men’s Basketball Head Coaching Search Ends at Nexus of the Universe

Greg Adams — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:10:10 +0000

by Greg Adams Anybody up for a game of Whose Line Is It, Anyway: Deacon Edition? Wake Forest “improv”ed it’s men’s basketball head coaching situation over the past week or so. The result is truly nonsensical but horribly unfunny. Here’s a quick review of the pertinent facts for those unaware of—or indifferent about—the Demon Deacons’ head coaching situation. Dino Gaudio takes over a Wake Forest program in peril after the unexpected death of Skip Prosser three years ago, proceeds to tally a 61-31 record over those three years, and signs a contract extension just six months ago that would take him through the 2013-14 season. While most college basketball coaching extensions aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on, if you’re Dino Guadio you have to be thinking you just recruited a highly-touted five-man class, and you’re just about to send your third player to the League in the past two years. Certainly you have a little job security. Right? Um, not exactly. Welcome to the upside-down world of men’s college basketball. Also known as every logician’s nightmare. I don’t know Dino Gaudio. I couldn’t tell you what type of program he ran or what Wake’s graduation rates were. What I can tell you comes primarily from what I saw while he manned the sidelines in Winston-Salem: the man could coach and the man could recruit. In fact, he almost recruited too well—sophomores Jeff Teague and James Johnson were drafted after last season and Al-Farouq Aminu is a potential lottery pick this year. Okay, so you’re Wake Forest Athletic Director Ron Wellman. You decide that Gaudio has been such a disappointment that you’re willing to pay him for not coaching the team this year. Who are you going to hire? You’ve gotta make a splash! Jeff Bzdelik. Wha…huh? I can’t even say it! He coached at Colorado. You’ve heard of the Buffaloes, right? Well you probably haven’t recently. That’s because Bzdelik’s been busy stockpiling wins at a snail’s pace the past three seasons, going 36-58 during that span. So here’s the new math: 61-31 = don’t let the door hit you in the derriere on your way out; 36-58 = hello and take us next to the next level, baby! Every logician’s nightmare. I don’t know what’s in the water in the ACC lately, but the conference’s AD’s have totally de-railed. A couple weeks ago, Al Skinner gets fired from—I’m sorry, “mutually agrees to leave”—Boston College, a school whose basketball program he actually made somewhat relevant. After “mutually agreeing” to can Skinner, Eagles AD Gene DeFilippo goes out and signs Steve Donahue of Cornell. Cornell of the Ivy League. The team that made a nice little tournament run this past March. The same Cornell that doesn’t offer athletic scholarships for basketball. Hasn’t offered athletic scholarships for basketball. Ever. I have a feeling two of the happiest men in ACC basketball right now both work within about 8 miles of each other. Back to Gaudio, the reason he was let go was apparently due to finishing with a whimper. His teams had a habit of early-season success and late-season fades. However, at one point during the 2008-09 season, the Demon Deacons did manage a No. 1 ranking. Did I mention he won 61 games over three seasons? I don’t think the 30-point loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to a good chunk of the NBA draft lottery helped a whole lot. But when his best player picked up his third personal foul, the score was tied 19-19. If Al-Farouq Aminu doesn’t pick up that third foul, I mean, Wake makes that a 15-point game. Easy. Well, maybe the Kentucky game isn’t the greatest example… Probably the most important lesson in all of this is that college basketball—although it usually doesn’t resemble the real world in any way at all—still adheres to one of life’s important principles: sometimes it’s not what you know, but whom. And that’s how a guy whose last name starts with a “b,” a “z,” and a “d” can win 38 percent of his games over three years and replace a guy who finished 30 games over .500. Apparently, Bzdelik and Wake AD Ron Wellman go way back. And that is apparently more significant than anything else down in Winston-Salem. On Wednesday Wake Forest will announce its latest hire. The press conference will probably go like most new-hire press conferences typically go: well-scripted, neat, and clean. But make no mistake, it’s just bad improv. Pure nonsense.

Sports Digest - Wednesday, April 14, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:04:07 +0000

Here are the sports stories that frame our day: Pacers - Threaten to Move If City Doesn't Pick Up Tab (Indy Star - Ruthhart) Pacers - Season Ends Tonight; Roster Changes to Follow (Star - Wells) Hoosiers - Oladipo Brings Versatility (Evansville Courier-Press - Bruno) Boilers - JaJuan Johnson Will Declare for Draft, But Won't Hire Agent (Star - Rabjohns) Colts - Offensive Line Gets New Look (Star - Chappell) Big Ten - Paterno Wants Expansion (Star - Rabjohns) Cubs - Piniella Still Gets Pissed (Chicago Sun-Times) Cubs - Wells Not in any Sophomore Slump (Chicago Tribune - van Dyck) Onion - NASCAR's Drive for Diversity Program Successfully Hidden from Fans Tiger Banners at The Masters- TMZ

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, April 14, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:29:19 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/my-song-3.mp3]

Indiana Pacers Threaten to Move If City Doesn't Cover $15-Million

kentsterling — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:31:12 +0000

by Kent Sterling According to the Indiana Pacers, the annual cost for running Conseco Fieldhouse is $15-million, and if Indianapolis doesn't promise by June 30 to absorb that cost, the team might just move. That is according to comments from Pacers President Jim Morris to the Indianapolis Star. Morris said that if the city and Pacers didn't wrap up negotiations in the next 30-45 days, "Herb would have to look at all of his options." Moving? "Herb would look at all of his options," Morris repeated. Going into tonight's final game of the regular season, the Pacers are 32-49 - their worst season since '88-'89. This will be the Pacers fourth straight season not making the playoffs, and their fifth non-winning season in a row. Attendance has been atrocious, and interest in the community for a team that owned Indianapolis a decade ago has never been lower. Many more people are talking about Butler Basketball than the Pacers. Per game attendance (real attendance - asses in seats, not tickets sold) at both Purdue and IU is far beyond what the Pacers draw. This is not the time to make threats and try to lever popular sentiment to help get a deal done because the popular sentiment regarding the Pacers is ambivalence. The economy is still in the crapper, and Indianapolis will be paying off Lucas Oil Stadium with a collection of taxes on downtown food, beverages, hotel rooms, and rental cars until they need another new stadium (roughly 25 years). Where is $15-million more each year going to come from? Will taxpayers unwilling to pay $10 for a ticket to see a game in-person be willing to cough up another $15 per year for the privilege of living in a town that hosts a mediocre-to-bad NBA franchise few want to see play? No one wants to lose money, and Herb Simon certainly has been very successful at not losing money, but that's the cost of doing business in the NBA. The labor agreement is a disaster, and the game's popularity continues to fall where it matters most - in the towns where people can see it. Global icons like Lebron, Kobe, and Yao move jerseys all over the world, but that doesn't spin the turnstyles. The Pacers have assembled a team people don't want to watch, and they want the Indiana Capitol Improvement Board to step in and help defray losses it is no longer willing to accept. They are being run by a group so intent on mismanaging the team that when all they had to do was lose to earn (at worst) the fourth spot in the June NBA Draft, they found a way to win 12-of-17 against teams with enough morally indifferent but prudent leadership to take the dive needed to draft a potential franchise player. About tanking games, Simon told the Star's Mike Wells, "That doesn't feel good and it's not the right way to do it. The fans who come out every game expect us to do our best and try our best and play our best. That's what this franchise stands for." Most likely stuck with the tenth pick, the Pacers will have an excellent chance to fortify their bench with yet another solid role player. Earnestness is a nice trait in a friend or spouse, but in the management of a sports franchise, it's best to have a shark who will do what it takes to win. You want to be a righteous dude? Write the check. And the fans don't want meaningless wins - they want a team that can compete for a championship. Mel and Herb Simon saved the Pacers from moving back in 1983 when they paid $11-million for the team in a goodwill gesture more than a savvy business move. The franchise was worth $340-million a couple of years ago, according to Forbes. Despite losing $200-million running the Pacers, the Simons are ahead of the game - at least on paper. So now Morris has started the clock ticking on a renegotiated lease. As the calendar rolls, will Mayor Greg Ballard bite the bullet to keep a major league franchise in town, or will he let them solicit offers from other cities hungry for what Indianapolis sports fans seem willing to allow to wither? I hope the Pacers stay. They won't suck forever, and there are signs that they are improving. They are young, have a handful of expiring contracts to use as bait to bring in players who will help them win, and are probably scraping the bottom this year. Indianapolis is a better place to live because the Pacers are a part of the fabric of this community. That being the case, I am tired of sports franchises who run into some hard times crying for the government to bail them out. That means you and me through our ever expanding tax burden coming to the rescue when a team overpays for players and executives while getting nothing in return. Herb Simon is a good man who, along with his late brother Mel, has been a great ally in building Indianapolis into a city of relevance (at least compared to what it was back in the early 1980s). If the Pacers had moved in 1983, the Colts would likely not made the move from Baltimore. No Pacers. No Colts. No Lucas Oil Stadium. No Conseco Fieldhouse. No Final Fours. No Super Bowl. No Big Ten Tournament. No downtown restaurants and bars. This is a close one. I hate bailouts, but I like and respect Simon and Jim Morris. This will come down to the wire.

Indiana Pacers Need a Different Type of Threat—Try Winning

Greg Adams — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:20:32 +0000

by Greg Adams I’m quaking in my overpriced kicks. The Indianapolis Star’s Bill Ruthhart reported today that the Indiana Pacers “would consider all options—including moving the NBA franchise to a new city—if the city doesn't agree to cover the cost to run Conseco Fieldhouse.” Just how out-of-touch is the Pacers brass these days? Before going too much further, let’s review some recent Pacers (and American) history. I thought it’d be fun to do some free association as to why the Pacers threat to move is poorly-timed and ill-conceived. I’m going to throw out a phrase, you spout off with the first thing that comes to your mind. Throwdown in Motown. Shawne Williams. Cloud 9. J.O. Bad contracts. Playoffs? (I know, I know. Different team. Same city, still applicable.) JOB. T.J. Inner ear infection. Economic crisis. Feel free to come up with your own. This list is by no means exhaustive. Suffice it to say, this is just a bad time to be threatening to move. It’s not a good leveraging tool in this case. Which is what the threat of moving is supposed to be. The ultimate leveraging tool. (Even though the threat is not really being used as leverage. Yeah, right.) I know the Pacers are hemorrhaging money. At least, I hear they are. The NBA and the Pacers have been pretty upfront about their economic woes, but to my knowledge, not terribly forthcoming about exactly how bad the damage is. Welcome to 2010, guys. Jump on board. Most of us are hurting. Listen, do I want the Pacers to leave town? No. Their departure would negatively affect Downtown. The Pacers averaged over 14,000 people over 41 games this season. That’s 14,000 people who might grab a bite to eat or do a little shopping Downtown 41 times a year. And I think it’s safe to say that the Pacers have helped revitalize the downtown area. And there would be revenue losses as a result of not having a pro basketball team. That said, it’s utter nonsense to think that the public is going to be willing to cough up $15 million per year just to help you operate Conseco Fieldhouse given the recent level of performance they’ve been subjected to. And while the Pacers and the NBA can make claims about losses all they want, asking a city government for a $15 million commitment in the current economic climate is more than a little nervy. Most of my issues with the shakedown are directly related to the recent product the Pacers have chosen to put on the court. It’s unwatchable. The best thing a Pacers fan could have hoped for this year was to lose about 65 games in order to have a better shot in the NBA Draft Lottery. But the Pacers even screwed that up, playing their best basketball of the season during the final stretch, virtually guaranteeing mediocrity for at least the next couple of seasons. Thanks to the big winning streak, it doesn’t appear likely that we’re going to see Evan Turner, John Wall, or DeMarcus Cousins suiting up for the Blue and Gold anytime soon. The Pacers can’t expect taxpayers to want to pay to keep them in Indianapolis when they won’t even pay to see them play—the team finished 27^th in attendance this year. That’s total apathy. I think it might be worse than that. I think there’s antipathy. Fans are ticked. If the fans are ticked, what about the general public? Add to the mix the political ramifications for city officials involved in the negotiations. Those needing to score political points may not be too concerned about the Pacers plight if it makes them look like they’re looking out for the citizens of Indianapolis. Re-election is a powerful motivator. It’d be great if the Pacers could stay. It’d be nice if a deal could be worked out. But you know what else would be nice? Not sucking. I realize the Pacers are still paying the price for winning with questionable characters. They got rid of the clowns and most fans were happy. Now the basketball is awful while most of the guys are likable. But the natives are getting restless. The Pacers have burned up a lot of PR capital based on the personnel decisions they have chosen to make over the past several seasons. And while they may eventually right the ship, I still have but one piece of advice for the Pacers brass. Before you threaten to move, make us want to miss you.

Gordon Hayward Is Not the Answer to the Pacers Problems

kentsterling — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:19:46 +0000

by Kent Sterling I'm starting to question my sanity. Unlike radio, the statistics for measuring audience response are immediate are precise. If 4,123 people read what I write, I know it. If 12 people read, I know that too. There is no topic that repels readers more quickly and completely than the Indiana Pacers, and yet I can't stop my self from writing about them. If no one else cares, that's cool. I care. Another guy wrote about the Pacers recently. Anthony Schoettle of the Indianapolis Business Journal writes in his weekly column that he believes drafting Butler forward Gordon Hayward in the first round might be the answer to putting asses in seats at Conseco Fieldhouse. Hey, it's a slow time for sports in central Indiana, so Anthony tried to marry a local hot property with a sports franchise of declining importance. No harm, no foul, but his premise that ticket buyers in Indianapolis would plunk down righteous cash to watch Hayward toil for the blue and gold ignores a couple of prescient facts. Butler averaged less than 7,000 fans during conference play when they actually had a chance to watch Hayward play (he's not ready to start in the NBA, even for the Pacers). Fans didn't pay to watch Damon Bailey when he suited up for the Pacers in exhibition games. On a scale of popularity among basketball fans in Indiana, Bailey ranks far enough ahead of Hayward that neither can see the other. Fans embrace a winning team, as long as it's not infested with arrogant pricks. Their is a sense of entitlement among some NBA players, and the Pacers had more than their share during the most recent winning group. Jermaine O'Neal went so far following his trade from the Pacers as to say that he would look forward to seeing his number seven hanging from the rafters of Conseco Fieldhouse. What? Reggie Miller was a star for the Pacers, but not until the mid-1990s when they won regularly. For the first couple of years, fans were still pissed off that then-GM Donnie Walsh drafted Miller ahead of IU hero Steve Alford. Miller then began his ascension to the greatest Pacer of all-time while Steve Alford began his coaching career in Manchester, Indiana. Fortunately, Larry Bird is a smart enough guy to draft the best player available and not a local kid because it might move a couple hundred tickets and jerseys. Great players sell thousands of seats. How many tickets did Quinn Buckner, Jim Thomas, and Randy Wittman sell while toiling for the Pacers in the late-1980s? Somewhere near zero. Hayward is a great kid, by all accounts. So is Tyler Hansbrough. So is Roy Hibbert. There are a lot of great kids wearing blue and gold. Mike Dunleavy - great kid. Over the past three years, the Pacers have been pretty good at staying out of the police blotter. Draft the best kid available and build a winning team. Hayward will not be the player with the tenth-best potential in the 2010 NBA Draft. And he won't be the tenth pick.

Jerry Jones - Liquored Up and Ripping Bill Parcells and Tim Tebow

kentsterling — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:32:07 +0000

by Kent Sterling You have to like a guy who is so in love with the sound of his own voice after a couple of pops that he'll say anything to anyone. You also have to hate a scumbag who videotapes it to throw online. Bars should be sacrosanct areas for the loud and idiotic. What is said or done in bars stays in the bar. There should be no rats among drunks. View this video as a cautionary tale. Whatever you say or do in a group can find its way on to the internet and remove all doubt that you are a bombastic fool. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixSxPdY9Saw]

American Idol Review - April 13, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:44:02 +0000

by Justin Whitaker What a shocking turn of events in the American Idol world last Wednesday. The Big Save was used on Big Mike. Sure Big Mike should not be leaving this soon, but is he going to win? No. Will he make it to the final three? No. So why did he get saved? Maybe this week Tim has a better shot of being eliminated because now the bottom two are sent packing this week. A lot of people were fans of last week’s performances, but I was not. Hopefully Elvis week will be better, but I doubt it. Adam Lambert will be a great mentor too. He really knows about over the top, ridiculous performances, so he should help these contestants. Now let’s get to the performances! Top Nine (Again): Elvis Week 1 - Crystal Bowersox – “Saved” Adam gave her some good advice by telling her to mix it up and play with an electric guitar. He was great at always mixing it up and she could benefit from his advice that way she does not get stale. Crystal really threw some emotion into this performance and she delivered as usual. While not a big fan of the song, she sung it very well. She is almost a guarantee to the final two. 2 - Andrew Garcia – “Hound Dog” Again, Adam was correct about switching up the arrangement of the song. Andrew is usually classified as boring by most people so he needed to do something to make him and the song stick out more. I am a huge fan of Andrew because he is different and I like the tone of his voice. But I was disappointed with it. He did alright, but could have done so much better with it. The song just never really changed, it was the same thing over and over again. Hopefully, Andrew is saved this week, but this might be his time to go. 3 - Tim Urban – “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You” Great choice for Tim to pick this song. Like Ryan Seacrest said, “Tim showing his romantic side.” He really knows how to get the teenage girl votes. The song was boring and his expressions were very distracting from the performance. But at this point it does not matter what Tim does. He could get on stage and swallow swords and juggle fire but I am not going to enjoy him. He is a circus performer and needs to get off the show. Kara saying that it was her favorite Tim performance is like me saying The Fast and the Furious is my favorite Paul Walker performance. They are both are so bad at what they “do” they should just be ignored. 4 - Lee DeWyze – “A Little Less Conversation” Great song choice for the shy one. The raspiness voice fit perfectly with this song. The arrangement was modern and it sounded like he could record that song for the radio (sorry to steal the judges sayings). Lee really delivered with this performance and I am going to go out on a not so far limb and say him and Crystal are going to be in the final two. 5 - Aaron Kelly – “Blue Suede Shoes” Aaron would be great in the 1950s. When listening to this song, I kept thinking how much people would love him if he were born 50 years earlier. This song made him sound like a doo-wop, cheesy singer. It was not terrible but this is not American Bandstand with Dick Clark. I agreed with Simon, it was very old-fashioned, Kara was completely wrong. 6 - Siobhan Magnus – “Suspicious Minds” That is a duet I would like to see, Adam and Siobhan. Those two can really belt out some crazy notes and they would be fun to listen to. With that outfit and hair, Siobhan looks like she aged 30 years since last week. As far as the song goes, it was boring until the end when she let the big notes out of the gate. I do not know why the judges harp on her so much for those huge notes, I really enjoy them and hope for them every week. But she did a good job singing like always, just could have picked a better song. Kara said she was confused. Imagine that. 7 - Michael Lynche – “In the Ghetto” Big Mike did a great job singing this song. All the words were understandable and you could feel his emotion with the song. I like that the arrangement was very simple. Just the guitar and soft piano in the background made it good. He deserves to stay this week and the next few also. It was one of my favorite performances of his. 8 - Katie Stevens - “Baby, What You Want Me to Do” Katie has done a great job putting emotion and attitude into her songs recently. That translates to a better performance. From her eyebrows, head bobbing, hips swaying, she does a great job connecting to the song. The vocals were great and she is improving every week. I continue to be impressed by her more every week. 9 - Casey James – “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” I am not a big Casey fan at all, but this week, I actually did not want to mute the television. He was better than usual, maybe because he made the song sound interesting. I am not jumping up and down over the performance but it was one of my favorites of his because it was not over the top or too Casey like. The contestants overall did a decent job with Elvis Week. This season is weaker than usual and there is not one singer who is just incredible every week like previous contestants Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry. But right now Lee seems to be the front-runner. He is consistently great, adding his own flavor to songs and singing them well. Crystal has been solid like always and Katie is rapidly improving. Siobhan needs to elevate her game up or she’ll be going home in the next few weeks. But hopefully this is week of Tim’s elimination. I think that Andrew will be joining Tim unfortunately on the plane home. I enjoy Andrew and would hate to see him leave, but unless Aaron sneaks in the bottom two, Andrew’s Idol run is over. Justin’s Idol Power Rankings of Elvis Week 1. Lee DeWyze 2. Crystal Bowersox 3. Katie Stevens 4. Michael Lynche 5. Casey James 6. Siobhan Magnus 7. Andrew Garcia 8. Tim Urban 9. Aaron Kelly Let me know what you think! Post your rankings!

Cook Hall

The Truth — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:08:58 +0000

By Kyle Miller Just one of the many luxuries of having a class at Assembly Hall is observing the progress of the IU’s new practice facility, Cook Hall. The facility looks virtually complete with a few finishing touches still to be added. Cook Hall will serve both the men’s and women’s basketball team. It includes practice courts for both teams, offices, locker rooms, a weight room, and an athletic training room. The single greatest aspect of the facility in my mind is “Legacy Court,” which highlights Indiana’s historic past. It’s cylindrical, glass case stretches from the floor to the ceiling and contains the five NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship trophies. Former Hoosier greats that once strolled this campus have their pictures displayed behind glass cases, along with classic photos, such as Keith Smart’s 1987 National Championship game-winner against Syracuse. Legends are rewarded here, and there is no better way to reward these teams and individuals than to assemble them all together in one common place. “I am looking for people who understand why we wear the candy-striped pants, why it says ‘Indiana’ on the front and what the uniform stands for.” This quote by Tom Crean is plastered on an entire wall in the player’s lounge. Hopefully they also have his “Because it’s Indiana” statement that he made when asked why he accepted the job here after the Sampson debacle. In my eyes, Cook Hall will attract recruits like mosquitoes to a bright light in the middle of the night. They will be mesmerized by the value placed on basketball here in Indiana and to become part of that tradition could be mind-blowing. Fred Glass apparently understands the importance of having state-of-the-art facilities which is nice to see. Maintaining nice facilities is definitely a main attraction for most recruits. Last summer, IU filled in what is now a horseshoe-shaped Memorial Stadium, and that has already helped recruiting. Now we add Cook Hall to our already top-tier basketball program. Our athletic programs are looking better and better every day. Cook Hall is scheduled to be completed by the end of the month and from my perspective it looks absolutely stunning. Courtesy of Indiana University’s Athletics website, I have provided a link to view pictures of the new Cook Hall: http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/040610aaa.html Once to the webpage, click photo gallery.

Cubs Win; God Bless LaTroy Hawkins

kentsterling — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:01:03 +0000

by Kent Sterling The smartest 30 men in all of baseball keep giving LaTroy Hawkins millions of dollars to throw hittable pitches to major league hitters. In his career, Hawkins has converted 64% of his save opportunities - which is about as bad as closers are allowed to get before they start making their money at card shows. Instead, teams now use Hawkins as a set-up man. That didn't work so well for Brewers Manager Ken Macha today. Why Macha allowed Hawkins to throw to Kosuke Fukudome with runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth and a 6-5 lead is anyone's guess. Maybe spite. He had two lefties in the bullpen who were never asked to get loose, and Hawkins gave up a two-run single to Fukudome. On the best website in the world - www.baseball-reference.com - Hawkins is said to compare very closely with David Weathers. Yep, that's about right. The only time I saw Weathers fail to give up hits to the Cubs was when he pitched for them. The same is true for Hawkins. Hawkins has pitched for eight teams in the last eight seasons, which confirms that seven GMs were smart enough to know Hawkins can't get people out and that eight are dumb enough to think he can. Alfonso Soriano continued to be a defensive liability in left field Cubs fans haven't seen since Ralph Kiner, and that is based upon my Dad's assessment of Kiner. It may be totally spurious. Soriano continues to misplay balls at an alarming rate. We've seen several dropping fly balls this season, and today he played the carom off the wall like an idiot and being unable to pick up a ball after it had stopped down the left field line. Assuming someone in the Ricketts Family is hand-signing checks every payday, as he does it, there is steam shooting from his nostrils and ears when he gets to Soriano's check. "F**king Hendry!" he mutters under his breath. The Cubs are not far off being a decent team. Soriano needs to become the highest paid pinch hitter in the history of baseball, and Mike Fontenot can schlep bags of peanuts outside Wrigley, and all of a sudden maybe there is something there. But while Soriano is allowed to bumble away runs in left, and Fontenot starts at second, this team is built to break hearts. If there is a God, Hawkins will recover quickly, and be available as the Cubs go for the sweep.

Sports Digest - Thursday, April 15, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:24:14 +0000

Another day, another local kid declares for the NBA Draft: Boilers/Butler - Moore/Hayward Declares for the NBA Draft (Indy Stars - Woods) Boilers - Moore and Johnson Seek NBA Opinion (Lafayette Journal & Courier - Washburn) Butler - Hayward to Test NBA Waters (ESPN/AP) Colts - Too Soon to Look at QBs in Draft (Star - Chappell) Colts - Bullitt and Muir Sign Tenders (Star - Richards) Pacers Lose Finale to Wizards (Star - Wells) Cubs - The "Sori" Situation (Chicago Sun-Times - Wittenmyer) Cubs - Soriano Has Another Tough Day in the Field (Chicago Tribune - Sullivan) Cubs Rally for 7-6 Win over Brewers (Tribune - Sullivan) Cubs - Lilly Stellar in Rehab Outing (Sun-Times - Malloy) Kentucky - UK Lands Brandon Knight (ESPN - Lawlor)

Harry on Sports - Thursday, April 15, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:32:44 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry-65.mp3]

Kentucky Basketball Recruiting Commitments - Top-Ranked Players Brandon Knight and Michael Gilchrist

kentsterling — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:02:19 +0000

by Kent Sterling College basketball is a cesspool. Sonny Vaccaro said that 20 years ago, and he was right, but he couldn't have anticipated Kentucky's dominance in basketball recruiting. There is a scene in the great Martin Scorcese film "Casino" that I would like to send to NCAA investigators. In it, Robert DeNiro's character walks up to an employee at his casino who has stood idly by as the same slot machine paid off three jackpots. DeNiro fires him for being an idiot. No slot machine pays off three times in 30-minutes without someone rigging the game. Success is fine. Annual and unrelenting success at a game everyone is playing hard is greedy and obvious. Why would the top players in the 2009, 2010, and 2011 classes (John Wall, Brandon Knight, and Michael Gilchrist) accept Kentucky's offers when every program in America would have crawled over broken glass to get those kids? They sure as hell aren't going there because of the dribble-drive offense, which is a silly scheme as responsible for winning as John Calipari's nicely tailored suits. When your bus arrives at an arena and five first round picks in the following year's NBA Draft climb out, you win games with the no-dribble and only shoot hook shots offense. Saying that the dribble-drive is a winning strategy is like putting me in a boxing ring with Sugar Shane Mosely and saying he beat me to a pulp because of his footwork. It sure isn't the education being offered at UK. Wall, Knight, and Gilchrist have as much interest in getting a degree from Kentucky as White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel wants input from members of the Tea Party Movement. The heritage of the Kentucky program is as much about cheating and racism as success. Even with the most talented team in college basketball this season, the Wildcats failed to make the Final Four. In fact, no team John Calipari has coached has ever played in the Final Four - which seems wrong, but in the record books there is no mention of a UMass or Memphis team competing there. Given that major college basketball is a cesspool, that Kentucky basketball has made such incredible strides in 12 whole months - signing the top classes for each of the past two years - it's quite likely that there is another motivator for these kids to play ball at Kentucky. That inducement is made possible through one of the most dubious and hypocritical agreements in the history of sport between the NCAA and NBA. Those organizations allow force basketball players who want any form of compensation at all for filling North American arenas to play one season in college before being eligible for the NBA. That might be the biggest crock of shit in the history of business, much less sports. The rationale for that rule is purely selfish. It expands the talent pool in college hoops, and it keeps NBA teams from paying the very best players in the world a max contract for another year. Rookies in the NBA are rarely ready to be dominant players, even when they are 22, so why not delay the start of the clock for an extra year, get them a little more ready in the weight room, and pay them top money when they are 26 and not 25. It's smart, but smacks of the kind of systemic servitude and racism that America has supposedly moved past. To force poor kids to accept money under the table when it should be paid to them in the form of giant and fun novelty checks is ludicrous, but the kids and parents don't want to throw a monkey wrench into the cogs of this machine that will pay them millions if they are willing to wait just twelve months. In the meantime, the boosters and street agents will make sure life is good. The risk is negligible for the kids and coaches. The program gets punished as long as the coach isn't an arrogant tool like Kelvin Sampson. The coach gets a fatter contract at the next place. There is no way the NCAA can move fast enough in an investigation to threaten the kid's eligibility as a freshman. And the shoe companies, agents, street agents, and AAU coaches can do whatever the hell they want because no one goes to jail for violating NCAA rules. So the winners in this scheme are the owners of NBA teams who don't have to start paying their best players real money for an extra year, the college basketball coaches like Calipari who use a broken and murky system to their advantage, and the players believe they win - just a little bit less than they would have otherwise. The loser - what is right and decent, two attributes that don't motivate a whole lot of pondering by those looking to profit. There are schools doing it the right way. Butler is one of those, and that is why watching them come within an inch of winning the national championship was so sweet. Every few years, the cheats, thieves, and scoundrels are vanquished by the honest, and sports fans revel in a moment of justices. It doesn't happen often enough, and that's why no one outside of the State of Kentucky will ever cheer for the John Calipari's Wildcats. In a perfect world, "Winners never cheat, and cheaters never win." The world of college basketball isn't close to a perfect world. Shame on the NCAA and the NBA for forcing indigent families to compromise their beliefs to leverage a child's talent to put food on the table. Shame on purported institutions of higher learning for suborning the corruption that fills their arenas. Shame on fans for looking the other way as they know it happens.

Butler Hoops Team Under Investigation - AP

kentsterling — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:19:57 +0000

This is a reprint of an email sent to me this afternoon. Very funny. Wish I knew the original source. Butler Hoops Team Under Investigation - AP INDIANAPOLIS--Butler's run in the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Game may be tarnished after reports surfaced today that all 13 scholarship players on the roster are being given good educations in an effort to help them find good jobs after they leave the school. "It's important to remember that right now these are only allegations -- allegations that we are looking into," said NCAA president James Isch. "But, obviously, if true, this would be very disappointing. The NCAA has certain expectations and standards. It's not fair for players at one school to be given good educations while athletes at other member schools receive basic, remedial instruction that is worth essentially nothing." According to documents seized from the school's registrar's office, Butler players have received an education worth $38,616 per year totaling more than $150,000 over a four-year career. Compare that to player at a school like Kentucky , where tuition is set at $4,051 -- but with an actual value far below that. “We don't want to say too much until these reports are confirmed," said Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari. "But we're talking about almost $140,000 difference in education per player -- and that's even if my players stayed four years or graduated, which many of them do not. Then these Butler players are reportedly stepping into good jobs after graduation while my kids, if they don't make the NBA, have absolutely no job prospects or life skills. It's far from a balanced playing field. They are buying the best players by giving them a high-priced education." In addition to the allegations that they were given an expensive education, many Butler players have been spotted around campus holding books, studying and engaging in interesting conversations. Others have been seen with people who are known to not be tutors. Butler shooting guard and Kentucky native Shelvin Mack, who is reportedly a secondary education major, denied allegations that the Bulldog program is cheating. "The discourse on this matter is fatuous and inane," he said, implicating the program further.

Sports From the Couch--The Genius of Kentucky Hoops

jshowal2 — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:59:21 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I had an epiphany today about one of the favorite subjects of this website: the men's basketball program of the University of Kentucky. Some schools try to rebuild programs the old fashion way. Build a foundation, re-energize the fan base and continually try to bring in better and better kids. Some schools have these foundations built, have a specific type of student athlete in mind, and a value system in place that is passed on from senior to freshmen. The names change but the name on the front of the jersey does not. These programs are built for the name on the front of the uniform. You have the "quick fix" programs that find the juco's and the transfers that need a second chance and they "build on the fly" with attempting to be a top team in a two or three year period. Then you have the University of Kentucky. UK did the "rebuild the foundation" with Rick Pitino. It worked great, but Coach decided he needed to give the "League" another shot and went to the Celtics. KY then went with route number two: the Tubby years". Great guy, solid coach, respected program, but he couldn't win the big one after Pitino's players left so the fan base ran Tubby up to Minnesota. The Wildcats then tried option three: "The Bill Clyde Way". Run people off, get some quick help in and "build on the fly". That didn't work so well. The Wilcat faithful was pissed! No NCAA tourney runs, no dominance in the SEC and a coach that just didn't really fit the mold of what UK was meant to be. UK then went to a new option. They reinvented college basketball and forever changed the way the game will be seen. They hired John Calipari. The Calipari way was just beginning at Memphis. D. Rose and T. Evans (That's the way they roll) had started a trend of one and done's but the was still limitations to the reach Calipari had. Memphis was a great team and Calipari is a great coach, but Memphis played in a really bad Conference (C-USA) and some kids really didn't want to play Southern Miss and TCU. Still Calipari lead Memphis to the final game against Kansas in 2007 and even though they choked it away, Calipari had proven that his new style of basketball called the "dribble drive" and his ability to recruit were a potential goldmine for himself and an institution ready to take John as head coach. The perfect mate came along in the University of Kentucky. UK, had decided that competing for championships in Men's basketball was priority number one and aside from handing players money, whatever else it took for UK to take its rightful place amongst the elite was acceptable. The marriage of UK and John Calipari became official last year and ushered in a new world of college hoops. I like to call it "The (U)Kalipari Way". The (U)Kalipari Way" is pretty simple to understand. 1) Get the best one year players you can get. 2) Coach them up. 3) In April, have them announce for he NBA draft. 4) Repeat. Pretty simple and yet so brilliant. Kentucky has a long and illustrious history of putting basketball before things like rules and education. When the NBA decided that kids had to be one year removed from their high school graduation class before they could enter the NBA draft, a whole new market of players opened up. UK, like any good business, created a market for these poor kids. They don't even have to pay them anymore. Calipari has shown he can get players to the NBA. Calipari has shown he can coach one year kids, and UK doesn't have to worry about kids having to get any more then 5 months of an education. The (U)Kalipari Way, is the best business solution available. Good businesses fill a void that is in the market. The (U)Kalipari way, fills the void. That, my friends, is great business. Maybe the rest of the University can learn about it. The freshmen hoopsters will never get that far in their classes to know about it. It's brilliant.

Sports Digest - Friday, April 16, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:14:13 +0000

Big Day in Sports. Here are the big stories framing it. Pacers - One More Year of Mediocrity Awaits (Indy Star - Kravitz) Pacers - CIB could Take Over Fieldhouse (Star - Jarosz) Pacers - Bird Sticking with O'Brien (Star - Wells) Pacers - First Priority a Point Guard (Star - Wells) Colts - NFL Draft Running Backs (Star - Chappell) Hoosiers - Tomorrow's Spring Game to Be Fun (IDS - Winn) Cubs; A Pen of Inquity - 8th Inning Woes Continue - (Chicago Sun-Times - Wittenmyer) Cubs - Lou Still Confident in Soriano (Sun-Times) College Football - Eye Black Messages Banned American Idol - Bowersox Almost Quit Two Weeks Ago (TMZ) Butler - Doesn't Understand What It Has to Do to Get Out of Indiana (The Onion)

Harry on Sports - Friday, April 16, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:21:20 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry66.mp3]

Larry Bird - This Year's Indiana Pacers Post-Mortum

kentsterling — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:27:19 +0000

by Kent Sterling You have to love Larry Legend. The stories are magical. From showing up and playing in blue jeans with his brother at Indiana State for what amounted to a tryout to fighting Julius Erving to winning three NBA Championships to posting the best overall winning percentage as a head coach in the history of the Pacers, Larry has authored more great basketball moments that almost any man alive. He walked away from Indiana University because Kent Benson treated him like shit. Kirby Overman, Bird's Indiana All-Stars coach buried Bird on the end of the bench. Bill Hodges, Bird's coach at Indiana State was not a bright man, but had the sense to sit back and let Larry run the team that went to the finals against Majic and won Hodges the National Coach of the Year Award.. Bird now runs the Indiana Pacers. Over the past four seasons, the Pacers have won 35, 36, 36, and 32 games. Yet, as Bird spoke yesterday in his 34-minutes long Q&A session with the Indianapolis media (only because the national media barely know the Pacers exist, and sure as hell aren't flying in to listen to Larry), he portrayed a sense of total calm and said the team is right on track in their rebuilding program. When I programmed The Fan, and even before that, I would alway attend the Bird end-of-season pressers for two reasons - one, he's a funny guy occasionally; and two, he is the most confident failure (to this point as an executive) I've ever watched. Bird conveys an essence of superiority and confidence that is magical. Watching the performance yesterday, it was impossible to think anything other than, "Well, Larry has this whole thing right where he wants it." That is no easy feat when your team is mired in a half-decade run of abject mediocrity from which there seems no escape. The news out of the state of the franchise speech was as expected. Coach Jim O'Brien will return. Bird left the Pacers as head coach after the 1999-2000 season saying that he didn't believe that a coach could hold the attention of the players beyond the third year. That O'Brien is entering his fourth year - the first three being the first three year run the Pacers haven't made the playoffs since 1984-1986 - seems lost on Bird, unless the changes will be massive and O'Brien will run the Pacers whose only similarity to the past three seasons will be the uniforms. I'm not sure what failure is if not what the Pacers have shown fans for the past three seasons. It certainly isn't O'Brien's fault, and I'm not just saying that because I won a golf bag at his outing last year. O'Brien has been give a set of garden tools and has been asked to play golf with them. Bird knows no one can shoot 80 with a hoe and sickle, so O'Brien keeps his gig with the promise of real clubs somewhere down the road. Bird sounded like things are right as they should be, "There's a lot of work to do here," he said. "I really believe this franchise is on target. Nobody likes to lose. It was a tough year for us. I saw some good things I liked. Obviously they didn't turn out to be wins but in the long run this franchise is heading in the right direction. "I know there's a lot of people out there that don't think so but I love this job and I also believe that this franchise is moving in the right direction and in a short period of time you're going to see what I'm talking about." Okay, this year he sounds a little more willing to give fans a deadline for when this team will begin to improve. But "short period of time" means what? Does it mean next year? The year after? Certainly, it can't mean the year after that. The Pacers will have a boatload of expiring contracts after next season. Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, and T.J. Ford will all be gone, but will Bird deal them before the draft to get a veteran or two who can help the team win next year, or sit pat and deal closer to the trading deadline when another franchise might get greedy and mortgage their future for a chance to win now. With Jeff Foster almost certainly toast after next season, and the Pacers finally getting out from under the horrific Jamaal Tinsley money ($5.5-million next year), the Pacers will drop $43-million in salaries. With that kind of cash, two of the best players in the league can be given max money. The Pacers will have the flexibility to do anything. Until now, Bird has been able to cry poor. Starting yesterday, the heavy lifting Indianapolis has been waiting that will allow the resurrection of its lost franchise must start. Bird seems confident, but I'll bet that at the poker table it's impossible to tell whether Larry is holding bullets or junk. With Jim Morris threatening on Herb Simon's behalf to call the Mayflower trucks, ambivalence toward the Pacers at an all-time high, and Bird entering the last year of his contract, the temperature in Conseco Fieldhouse is rising. Bird does not look like he's ready to start sweating yet, but at some point he'll have to start pulling triggers and then be responsible for the product he throws on the floor. At some point we'll find out what kind of hand Larry was holding. He will reveal himself as either a genius who suffered four years of slings and arrows to get it right in the end, or a kook who was a bad investment by Herb Simon, a man who doesn't make many.

Indiana University's Little 500 Weekend: #10 and #9 Greatest All-Time Moments

kentsterling — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:32:42 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Little 500 is a 50-mile bicycle race, and the centerpiece of "The World's Greatest College Weekend". The race is idiotic, and almost all are. Thirty-three teams of four riders share the load in the race, and like the Indy 500 - the race that inspired the Little 500 - the crashes and the last two laps are interesting. The riders train year-round for the opportunity to ride and win the race. The rest of the people at the race are drunk, or will be soon. This is what students do at IU, and believe me I'm not judging. I've never understood the attitude of the IU powers who try to manage the reputation of the school by trying to go all Cary Nation on the students to prevent the binge drinking that defines life in Bloomington and particularly during Little 500 Weekend. It's a party, and one thing that all kids at IU can excel is being drunk and idiotic. As the most famous IU Below are the Top 10 All-Time Little 500 Weekend Moments: 10 - IU Women's Basketball Coach Jim Izard enjoyed our visits through the 1990s, and usually overindulged. To his first Little 500, he brought a flack of Jack Daniel's. I told him he wouldn't need it, and should put it away. We brought more than a dozen gallon jugs of screwdrivers every year. Inexplicably, we were never stopped or asked to pour them out - either as students or alums. Izzy enjoyed the screwdrivers, always consumed by hoisting the jug to the mouth, and said, "There ain't nothing in these." Shortly after the race, as we were leaving, one of the more recognizable leaders of athletes on campus stumbled and wobbled until he fell backwards into the chain link fence erected to stop drunken boobs like Izzy from tumbling down the hill to the IU Track Stadium. He was shepherded by an assistant coach to his car and never returned. 9 - Three years ago, a dozen of us returned to IU for Little 500 Weekend after a decade long absence. At some point it became ludicrous for us to keep going back. By 2007, we were old enough to pass for parents of students. The night before the race, we went to Nick's because what the hell else can you do on Friday night in Bloomington. What were we going to do - go to the Union to see some David Lynch movie? At Nicks, we all wore a credential on a lanyard we had created for the race the next day. The credential made us laugh. It featured all the requisite logos - that year's Little 500 logo, the IU seal, and pictures of Bill "Army" Armstrong (the namesake of the stadium where the Little 5 is run), Rosa Parks, and other logos for good measure (the Fraternal Order of Police and the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure among them). It wasn't perfect, but it was likely to get us past the volunteers at the gate. At Nick's a man roughly our age walked up to me and asked, "How do I get one of those credentials?" I looked at him and said, "We give a lot of money to the university." He said, "I give a lot of money to the university." In the best, I-didn't-want-to-drop-this-card-but-you've-forced-me, way I could, I said, "We build buildings." The guy dropped his head and shuffled away. All-Time Greatest Moments - #8 and #7 coming tomorrow.

Radio Needs to Embrace Change

kentsterling — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:21:09 +0000

by Kent Sterling Radio is business has nothing to do with radio the thing with a dial, antenna, and speakers. The challenge with radio is for the people in charge to embrace the axiom that the product is the thing. With a unique product, money can be made. Without one, you slug it out with every idiot who can run Selector. Life has become difficult for radio operators. The status quo from 20 years ago no longer functions well, and in an effort to maintain margins, management has trimmed budgets by trimming people and rendering their product less unique. Cutting costs is labor free. It's as easy as drawing lines through a budget and then calling human resources. A couple of meetings later - done. Increasing revenue takes effort, patience, and creativity. It doesn't necessarily mean raising expenses, but it does mean investing in your product - both financially and in energy. Unique equals people. That's just the way it is. It's this simple - create a unique product, build it's brand, extend it across as many platforms as you can monetize. Sell the hell out of it. Unfortunately, radio has so fervently embraced the mindset of shortsighted quarterly survival that those who excel at building brands and shows have either been fired or chosen to leave the business. The show is the thing. With a great show, you can build a great brand. With a great brand, you can print money. The concept is easy. The practice is challenging because when the regional VP or CFO wants the margin to be X, you need to deliver that number while still maintaining a plan that is three years down the line. Building shows into brands takes two years. That's all there is to it. No way around it. No way to hasten it. Two years. It took two years for Bob & Tom. It took two years for Mike & Mike. It took two years for Kravitz & Eddie. Two years. Here's the recipe:

Hire the right people - good listeners, likable, and authentic.
Make sure they know you are invested in them.
Try all kinds of different benchmarks, and build the show.
Make sure the talent reflects your target in temperament and demographic.
Vigorously stir for two years.

There you go. Do that as many times as you like. There is no limit to the number of salable brands you can create. Take the product, and find a TV home, internet applications, Twitter, Facebook, etc... And it isn't just about personalities, although that is certainly the low-hanging fruit for finding uniqueness. Radio just doesn't have the assets needed to consistently provide unique information first, but if they can - all the better. Whatever the station does, it should own it. Traffic, weather, news, sports, business news, ag news - grab your categories and own them on-air, online, and on the street. Do it. Own it. Brand it. Sell it. Invest in it. Go get more money. Don't make cuts. Work at the product. Tell your GM that you are more interested in making the product better than attending an endless series of useless meetings called by those who believe a full calendar equals a productive day. Be bold. Make mistakes. Celebrate successes. Plant seeds and let them grow for two years. Rake and fertilize often. Believe in your product. Make great radio products and you'll make radio great. People will find a way to listen to great products.

Financial Planning for Dummies By Dummies

kentsterling — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 22:24:53 +0000

by Kent Sterling My wife and I have been shopping for some life insurance and a little personal financial planning, and we found a guy who seemed nice enough and sincere enough to trust with some money. We need to make sure that if either of us is hit by a bus, the other will be okay. Our meeting was for this afternoon at 3:30p with our guy. We got to the office a little late, and made our way past a guy and girl out front smoking away a Friday afternoon. Both sadly out of shape, in their 40s, and more interested in killing the rest of the day rather than being productive. The lady had some bleached blond hair working, and Julie found her blue polyester pants amusing. The office is in a two-story building that might house eight businesses. We took the elevator up to two and looked for a receptionist. They had a front desk, but no one home to welcome customers and their money. They provided a bell on top of the front desk, and a sign that reads "For Service, Ring Bell". The bell was rung twice, as much because I enjoy the rudeness of banging on the plunger as that I wanted immediate service. The promise of service went unfulfilled for eight minutes, and Julie and I decided it was time to go. She wasn't excited about the whole process, so by the time a finished the note to our guy Claude, Julie was at the elevator. The note, surprisingly, was quite nice and expressed our regret in leaving. I left it on the front desk and walked out of the office just as the elevator opened for Julie. The two smokers, still chatting exited, and we entered. By the time we got into the car, the blond lady had sprinted down the stairs and run through the front door. I heard muffled yelling, and Julie said, "Kent, there she is! She's chasing us down! She's waving the note over her head!" I put the car in drive and drove away. "What are you doing? Look, there's the blond lady who was smoking. Don't you see her?" Then Julie said, "We can never go back there, can we?" There was no question in my mind we wouldn't be returning, as the blond shrank in the rearview mirror, still running. "No we can't." Then Julie started laughing, and then laughing harder. She called her friend Amber, and told the story with tears running down her cheeks. Then, she called my Mom, and did the same thing. A nightmare of perfunctory form completion became an adventure, and while we still need to augment our abilities to live comfortably if the other leaps into traffic from between two parked cars and a beer truck driver is texting his honey, the afternoon was a rousing success if you count the minutes of laughter. None of it was done with the intention of making Julie laugh, but once I was in the car, there was a pot commitment that I couldn't break. There was no better option than driving away. First, I had not made eye contact with the blond, so there was plausible deniability - as if it mattered. Second, if I stopped, returning to the office for our meeting with Claude was a given, and then Julie's guilt over the whole sordid affair would have squashed any desire to say no as Claude tried to upsell us. Third, I'm not a fan of investing my money in a company where smoking is more crucial to the employees than business. Hey, you want to kill some downtime playing fantasy baseball? Cool. Everyone needs to decompress a little. Spending a quarter hour four times a day in front of the building? I'm out. Julie keeps laughing and telling me that I'm terrible. In truth I think God took care of us this afternoon in keeping us from committing to a company that didn't want our money. I feel bad for Claude. Last week, we totally forgot about our meeting, and he stuck around after calling us a half-hour after we were supposed to be there for our late asses. But it wasn't to be.

NCAA to Choose Between ESPN and CBS/Turner Bids

kentsterling — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:17:40 +0000

by Kent Sterling Today's Sports Business Journal reported that CBS/Turner submitted a bid worth $40 million per year more that the $800-million annual average offered by ESPN/Disney. Both deals cover 14-years, and would require the expansion of the tournament to 96-teams. This decision is easy. Take the $800-million and let ESPN showcase your event in the manner it deserves. Does the NCAA want to continue to do business with a dinosaur whose talent would have to have a youth movement to average retirement age, and would elimate their best play-by-play voices in Verne Lundquist and Dick Enberg. ESPN has a multitude of platforms that will devote itself to making the NCAA Basketball Tournament the king of its calendar from February through the beginning of April. They already do a hell of a job as it is. Imagine what they would do as the official carrier of those games. Remember the days when ESPN carried the first round? They killed it. The ESPN mentality is one of what's next, and what's hip. The CBS vibe is somber and respectful. If Greg Gumbel and Jim Nantz are CBS's answers for accessing Men 18-34 viewers, they are in a different galaxy - a vortex devoid of reason and creativity. ESPN is all about doing it right, whatever it is. They work at it, and from the CEO to the interns, the complex in Bristol, Connecticut, is filled with people who bust ass everyday dealing with attracting one single demo and building their properties into humungous brands themselves. The business models at CBS and ESPN are widely divergent. CBS is trying to hang on top what they have. ESPN is trying to build and evolve into what will serve sportsfans in 2013, 202, and 2050. CBS is intractable, but well-funded. ESPN is agile, but offering 5% less cash. In my world, the NCAA makes the deal with the best partner and enjoys the additional annual $100-million it would receive as compared to the last three years of the backloaded current deal with CBS. As my world never seems to be a dividend or multiplier it the equation used to determine the right choice, my guess is that the NCAA will go with a added $40-million, and do the deal with CBS/Turner. What the hell does Turner bring, Ernie Johnson and Craig Sager's suits? The NCAA will be happy with ESPN promoting the hell out of their event without partnering, and then will be able to add the might of the milquetoast CBS and ill-equipped Turner. I assume TNT would be willing to interrupt its constant barrage of "A Few Good Men", and TBS will allow basketball to preempt George Lopez for the west coast games. Not to veer wildly off-topic, but has George Lopez ever said or done anything that you think is funny? He must speak in a secret language that I'm not capable of understanding. He appears to believe that what he is saying is very funny, and people in the audience laugh like hell. When I watch Lopez, which is very seldom, I feel like one of those stroke victims who are unable to interpret humor. Should the NCAA trust a network that invests heavily in a man who is paid to amuse, but is incapable of being amusing? I hope the NCAA can look past their greed, and do what's right for college basketball fans because that will be positive for the overall brands of each of the competing schools and choose ESPN. The rooms where those decisions are made are swayed by the bottom line because no one has the balls to stand up and take responsibility for making the choice based upon what is not clearly articulated in the ledger. ESPN's only hope is that in addition to the money, they have stacked supportive programming so thick that the NCAA can't look away from the positive pub their athletes will get if they do the deal. CBS/Turner will get the deal, and we will be stuck with the blandest team of anchors and play-by-play guys long enough for them to bore my grandkids.

Indianapolis Libraries Should Close

kentsterling — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 12:53:42 +0000

by Kent Sterling Indianapolis is discussing the wisdom of closing six regional libraries. A meeting was held Thursday to get some community input. Here is the lead paragraph of yesterday's article in the Indianapolis Star that chronicles the meeting: More than 75 Indianapolis residents turned out Thursday to ask library officials not to close the book on six local branches and lay off 55 employees. [caption id="attachment_2923" align="alignleft" width="420" caption="The $150-million Indianapolis Central Library is proudly known as the nicest building in the city that no one has ever entered. The obelisk in the foreground is not a part of the library - surprisingly, given its uselessness."][/caption] The closing will address a financial shortfall that is expected to hit $1.5-million by 2014. The new central library in downtown Indianapolis cost $150-million to build. It opened in early 2008 after nearly $50-million in cost overruns. My math skills are a little shaky, but if the budget shortfall is scheduled to hit $1.5-million in four years time, it is creeping up by $375,000 per year. Let's round it up to $400K per year because obviously math isn't the strong suit of an operation that needed a whopping 50% more cash than planned to finish a building that was immediately obsolete as the need for libraries parallels the need for cross-country travel by horse-drawn carriage. Libraries are quaint, but silly. When was the last time you were in a library or wished that you were closer to one so you could avail yourself of its contents? For me, it was 15 years ago in Lake Bluff, Illinois, when I checked to see if my name was still on the library card of "I Am Third", Gale Sayers autobiography that I checked out in 1975. Let me do a little more ciphering for you. Fifty-five employees will be laid off if these libraries close, and 75 people showed up for the meeting protest the closures. If all of the seen to be ex-librarians showed up, accompanied by one family member who would also feel the sting of the layoffs, that would bring 110 people to the meeting. That means some 35 librarians/family members made the decision not to show. It also means that on a pro rata basis the turnout was roughly a dozen concerned citizens per site poised for closure. If these 75 people are truly concerned citizens - dedicated users of the six closing libraries - we should give them each a share of the amount of the $1.5-million cost overrun in exchange for their silence. A check for $20K would turn the most zealous library fan into a book burning fiend. There were times in college I needed to use the library to do some research for a paper - usually hours before the paper was due. With an invention called "the Internet", if the library folks would care to check it out, I have no use whatsoever for the contents of a library. Books I can read online for next to nothing, or buy from Borders for the cost of a grande latte or whatever the hell those expensive coffees are called. When the horseless carriage came along, all the blacksmiths were forced to evolve or close up shop. Without the need for smithing horseshoes, they were obsolete. With the iPhone, I have a library in my pants! The idiocy of a $150-million tax-funded library aside, only the most bored and wayward members of our society would ever notice the closing of any or all libraries. People say the kids will miss the libraries. What kid loves going to the library? Who wants the hassle of checking out a book, and then feeling the pressure of returning it before the fine system, which seems utterly incapable of sustaining the bloated financial needs of the Indianapolis library system. An evolved society will applaud the closing of these dinosaurian monuments to a time when they were needed. Maybe the Indiana State Museum can build a replica of the library to entertain those who enjoy an occasional trip to a simpler time. As for the layoffs, how many librarians does it take to shush an empty building?

Not Joel Osteen's 10 Rules for a Happy Life

kentsterling — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:19:26 +0000

by The Reverend Thomas Learfeld, First Union Church of Cicero [caption id="attachment_2947" align="alignleft" width="102" caption="These tips for a better life are not sanctioned nor acknowledged by Joel Osteen or the Joel Osteen Ministries."][/caption] Religion doesn't always have to determine behavior. You should be unafraid to break the mold - step out of your comfort zone and mix it up. Make the day interesting. None of these tips a dangerous and all will give you a great feeling of social freedom 10. Drive faster than traffic by 10-miles per hour. This way, you never have to worry about being hit from behind. The only danger is straight ahead and directly in your field of vision. "Mirrors? We don't need no stinking mirrors!" 9. Always break the ice with a culturally insensitive joke. Nowhere to go but up after mocking a group based on a stereotype you find funny. If the person to whom you are telling the joke is a member of that religion, sex, or nationality, all the better. 8. Zany antics in staff meetings are always a big hit with co-workers. Break the tedium of your manager's relentless droning by calling your co-workers' cell phones, flipping pencils into the ceiling tiles, and challenging his positions with outrageous questions and comments. "Hey, look who read a Ries and Trout book last night." "Dale Carnegie is rolling over in his grave!" And, "Can you repeat the last five sentences?" are all guaranteed to please the other bored staff members. 7. Without explanation, walk into the house, go straight to bed, and lock the bedroom door. Wait for your husband or wife to get curious and start banging on the door. Let their imaginations run wild. They will think the craziest thing, and might just reveal their greatest fear. Once the frenzy is on full-tilt, climb out the bedroom window and play some golf. The relief on the face of your husband or wife will be priceless. 6. Walk into work carrying a suitcase, and keep it close to you for the rest of the day. The halls will buzz with speculation about what's inside, and where you might be going and why. It's always good to keep your co-workers and managers a little off-balance. If someone has the balls to ask about the suitcase, clutch it close to your chest like Van Heflin in “Airport” and walk away without saying a word. 5. In a grocery store, the bigger the better, wait for an elderly man or woman to reach for an item on a shelf, and grab the cart. Sprint off with it, and don't stop until you reach the other side of the store. Then, double back. Find the elderly shopper, and say, "I apologize for my twin's behavior. Truly sorry." Then walk around the corner, and sneak up behind them again. Grab the cart, and run like hell again. This odd behavior will make for hilarious retelling at the assisted living center, and make that luck senior the life of the party. 4. At your child's athletic contest or concert, the louder you cheer for him or her, the better. "Let Bobby sing alone! He's the best! Yahoo!" "Put my kid in the game, you boob!" "Look at my kid pitch! Nobody can hit him, especially you, you turd!" People at games love enthusiasm, and will respect you as a great parent for bragging about your kid and getting on their's. It challenges them to overcome adversity, and if you can create that adversity...what a gift! 3. When you attend a friend's child's First Communion, wear a turban and kneel in front of the lectern. Each time the congregation responds to a prayer by saying "Amen", you yell "Gotcha, Chief!" This will not only crack up everyone including the priest, it will show the kids a little bit about not taking religion too seriously. 2. Instead of saying "Thank you," in response to servers regardless of gender for refilling drinks, bringing food, or returning change, you say "Mo' butta, and make it snappy, Pappy!" That breaks the monotony of the constant simple expressions of gratitude, and imbues you with a touch of mystery. 1. Send resume's to prospective employers under the name "David Hasselhoff". Who wouldn't schedule David Hasselhoff for an interview? Claiming to be The Hoff gets you in the door. The rest is up to you! Click on the RSS Feed icon to the left to subscribe to indysportsonline.com and receive automatic updates when new material is posted. If you enjoyed reading this, forward the link to friends.

Dumbass Gets Stuck

kentsterling — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:25:57 +0000

by Kent Sterling We love idiots, and this guy certainly qualifies. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RBYQEUbO4c&feature=aso]

Sports From the Couch--Steelers V. Pacers

jshowal2 — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 23:28:31 +0000

By Jeff Showalter We have a really interesting situation brewing in the Steel City. Pittsburgh Steeler Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is an absolute dumb ass. For the second time in less then 12 months, Big Ben has taken the nickname to a whole new level. "Junior Big Ben" has overruled his brain and found himself with two instances of purported sexual assault. The first was last year in Lake Tahoe and this year, Big Ben went to Georgia and found himself in a bar bathroom with an underage female. Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes was discarded to the Jets for a 5th round draft choice after being accused of throwing a glass at a lady and, as we found out the same day, has been suspended four games. Per numerous media outlets, Steelers ownership is "fed up" with behavior issues which led to Holmes departure and Art Rooney II has publicly criticized Roethlisberger and will work with the commissioner's office on penalty options for the Steelers QB. The media is reporting that a large group of Steeler nation is just as irritated with the QB as the Rooney family is. Calls for suspension, trade or release have been heard as well as the opposite view of Big Ben having no penalty since he has not been arrested, or for that matter, found guilty of any misconduct. What we have here is an Indiana Pacers situation and let me be the first to tell you, the Pacers suck and have sucked for years with no chance of returning to glory (or relevance) any time soon. The Rooney's and Steeler fans may want to think twice before they decide to "purify' the Steel City's football team because the ramifications can be ever lasting. All they have to do is look to Naptown for an example of blowing up a franchise for morality issues. The Simon family, the Pacers brass and the lynch mob that represented a large group of Hoosiers, decided that the Ron Artest, Stephan Jackson, and Jamaal Tinsley were thugs and bums and needed to leave immediately. Well Artest went first, then Jack and finally Tinsley. This week, Artest and Jackson will be playing in the first round of the playoffs and Tinsley added veteran experience to a Memphis Grizzlies team that had 40 wins this year. In the same time frame, the Pacers have become the embarrassment of the city as Larry Bird will now go out looking for the next white guy to come in and help the franchise finish outside the Eastern Conference playoff, but just good enough that Indianapolis will not have to watch a great rookie that may have a little bit of an attitude. How's that working out for the Pacers franchise? They're selling tickets for 80% off face value and no one cares. The Simon's, as brilliantly as they have run their property group, have blundered the running of the Pacers, apparently losing money almost every year. The financial strife is now to a point that the franchise has demanded the CIB take over the running of Conseco Fieldhouse and return some 15 million dollars to the Pacers. (I agree with this part, especially since the Colts raped the citizens while the Capitol Improvement Board provided the KY jelly). The NBA and the NFL are different, I get that. NFL rosters are bigger, the NFL sets schedules based on the goal of equality. NFL teams can be built in far different ways, with far different combinations then the NBA. Also, coaching makes a significant difference in the NFL. Still, the quarterback position is the most important role of all team sports. A great QB can make a bad team good and a good team great. That is not the case in the NBA. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are examples of great players that needed help to win championships. Roethlisberger has been the winning QB of two Super Bowls. While Big Ben didn't play well in the first Super Bowl, he played great in the second Super Bowl. I do think the off season issues, don't forget the motorcycle crash, had definite issues with his performance (the Steelers failed to make the playoffs after both championships). If the Steelers decide to get rid of Roethlisberger and any other of the players that may have off field issues, the Steelers must be prepared for the results. Steeler fans may think they want the malcontents gone, but fans are fickle and I guarantee that losing football games with choirboys will result in a fan base far more pissed then having Big Ben behind center and going 11-5. Go ask the Pacers.

Carmel Assault Case Still Stirring Emotions, If Not Headlines

kentsterling — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:56:09 +0000

by Kent Sterling If the goal of the Hamilton and Harrison Counties Prosecutors is to drag out the investigation of the Carmel assaults by high school seniors against several freshmen - one involving the tearing of a student rectum by shoving a cell phone into his ass - they have succeeded. People in Carmel and Hendricks County remain furious, as evidenced by the email below, and others like it I receive everyday: What the hell is going on with the Carmel assault cases? Robert Turner was running his mouth to God and who ever else would listen about his defiled and humiliated client and now NOTHING. Where is the MEDIA In all this? Sandra Chapman, Kim King, and who ever else was sharpening their claws have gone SILENT. Lee Rosenthal has shut down his investigations. Pat Baldwin said back on March 31 that she would soon speak out as she saw no reason to drag this out. 18 days later, Pat still has not said shit. Neither Leerkamp nor Fogarty will say anything about the alleged locker room assault. Do you know why? This whole thing smells of cover up and at taxpayers expense. Whatever happened to the taxpayers right to know. It is our money financing all this NOTHINGNESS. No wonder American's think law enforcement and politicians all suck in their jobs. Thanks for reading and have a good day, if you can. MM in Hendricks County The crime is no longer the worst part of the incident for the victims. It's now the knowledge that the justice system has nothing to do with protecting victims, and that he primary corrupting influence of most enterprises run by attorneys and administrators is to postpone unpleasantness and continue to collect pay checks. Kids at Carmel High School are quite secure in the knowledge that if a student is sexually assaulted or plain old assaulted while on school property or a bus, he can expect skepticism and a school system intent upon preserving their image and income over doing the right thing and battling those who prey upon the young and weak. My son chose seven years ago to attend Cathedral High School - a private Catholic school on Indianapolis' northeast side. I attended a public high school, and saw nothing wrong with Hamilton Southeastern Schools, but he had gone through a process that demonstrated that Cathedral would be the best choice for him. HSE was growing like crazy and a new high school was going online at some point, and no one could give me a straight answer about zoning or which class would be the first to enter Fishers High. That made Cathedral my choice too. The never-ending chapters of public school idiocy with the three-month old Carmel Assault Story makes me think the $30K+ we spent in Ryan's four years at Cathedral was the best money we ever spent. At Cathedral, a kid screwed up - the kid was gone. Boom! I love consequences for those who are disruptive. Being a reformed disruptor myself, I know that they don't aid in the educational process. At Carmel, you pick on, bully, and sexually assault kids in the presence of coaches, and the kids might be gone, but they will graduate. The coaches? Oh, how can they be expected to keep track of everyone on a school bus - not one of the big ones, mind you - but even on a small one, kids will be kids, and cell phone can wind up in rectums without anyone knowing. There are reports that these assault are far from isolated incidents. This seems to be a part of the culture at Carmel High School. There have been meetings held with students, administrators, and parents where the result has been to answers these horrifying episodes with some additional explanation on the evils of bullying in the student handbook. That'll do it. The most effective tool to maintain a level of eagerness among teenagers is an understanding that immediate consequences will be the result of bad acts. It also helps to know that teachers are also help accountable. If there has been anything said or done to coaches who at the minimum encouraged this aberrant behavior with their silence, we know nothing about it. The next time anything like these assaults happens, the odds of the victims coming forward are nil, and that is just the way Principal Williams, Superintendent Swensson, and Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp want it. No problem reported, no problem to solve. What a pathetic example these bureaucrats are for the kids they are supposed to protect and instruct. The opportunity to help positively shape the character of a generation of students has passed. When the media is the only class in the act, the wheels have come off the track, but where the hell are they? The story is still there. The victims are still there. The criminals are still there. What kind of sadsack media city is Indianapolis? Maybe they should stop reading press releases, and get back to work.

All-Time Great Sleep Over for Guys

kentsterling — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:21:51 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Cubs suck ass. The NBA and Stanley Cup Playoffs have just started. The NFL Draft is a week away. Did I mention that Lou Piniella is brain-dead for inserting Carlos Marmol into a game with two men on? How about that the Cubs have proven most adept at giving team an extra two outs per game while eliminating two of their own through little-league base running? So I'm putting together a great sleepover, as though I were 12 again, and could invite any famous men I want. First - the ground rules. This is not some weekend romp in Vegas, where distractions abound. The entertainment will not involve hookers or strippers. In fact, no broads at all. We aren't going to the craps table to win or lose a bunch of money. We will be talking - yes, relying on ourselves, or rather I will be relying on their wit and ability to compel to make for a great night. Only living people are eligible, otherwise, how do you choose between Isaac Newton, Babe Ruth, and Plato? No musical instruments are allowed. I can't have some guy strumming an obscure John Prine song because something one of the guest said reminded him of a great lyric. Last, it's a tad odd for a guy in his 40s to invite five guys over with their sleeping bags, so maybe even if I could get these guys to come over, I wouldn't. [caption id="attachment_2974" align="alignleft" width="91" caption="Kids don't know him unless they watch their parents DVDs, but he's still one of the three coolest guys ever."][/caption] 1 - Bill Murray - He's funny, bores easily, and once punched Chevy Chase in the face just prior to a show Chase hosted during the second season of Saturday Night Life. Punching a self-congratulatory douchebag like Chevy Chase is enough to earn a ticket, but there's more. He was the most bankable actor in the early 1980s until he decided that wasn't important, and he did work because he thought it might be interesting. Laughter seems important to him, and he's as ready at 2 a.m. as he is at 8 p.m. Being from Chicago is also a plus. Good to surround yourself with sarcastic pricks the Chicago seems to spit out like it's the city's job. Cubs fan too. [caption id="attachment_2972" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Blue Hugh (left) at the Bluebird with the "Brass with Class""][/caption] 2 - This is a pick that won't ring bells with other than a very specific group of people, but I'm bringing in Blue Hugh of Blue Hugh and the Colourtones. Blue Hugh was the frontman of a great cover band in Bloomington, Indiana, from 1982-1986. Hugh was good-looking enough to attract female fans (my wife still has one of Hugh's guitar picks), but cool enough for guys to like. He and the band owned a bus that they filled with beer and drove around on off nights. They were parked outside our apartment building at Walnut Knolls, and Dave Decker and I didn't fee like walking to Jake's, so we stuck our heads in the bus and asked for a ride. We asked who they were, and they driver said, "We're Blue Hugh and the Colourtones." We never should have gotten off the bus. Hugh wanted a band, so he formed one, and they packed the Bluebird dozens of times. 3 - Vince Vaughn - Funny guy. Chicago guy. Lake Forest High School grad. His movie characters are filled with so much strange wisdom that some of it has to come from who he is. He seems to make Jon Favreau laugh, and I've never known Favreau to laugh at anything that isn't funny. He never seems to tolerate a whole lot of self-examination, so if anyone becomes too self-involved, he'll give the guy a smack and bring him back. 4 - Charles Barkley - I think Charles is hilarious, and he won't take any crap. He has a great laugh, and gets thirsty. Always a good idea to invite a guy who knocks back a beer every seven minutes, so the rest of the group feels responsible. Charles is also going to make sure that we get fed, and a plus is that he is well-known as a terrible gambler. Nothing wrong with winning a wager now and then to end a lull in the conversation. 5 - Tom Cruise - I know this is an odd choice, and normally I wouldn't have him in my home. The thought of inviting came because I thought it would be fun to have him show up at the house, and greet him by telling him there had been a mistake and he wasn't actually on the guest list. That would make me an asshole though, so I've decided to invite him so the rest of us would have someone to make fun of. No man who jumped up and down on Oprah's couch over a girl 20 years his junior after being married to a woman in her forties while he was in his 20s is mentally well, and it would be three-minutes before baring his soul to caustic bastards like Murray and Vaughn. Every party needs an emotional pinata. Cruise fills that role perfectly. Honorable mention: Peyton Manning (funny, goofy, gets angry and makes funny faces), Ernie Banks (Hey, it's Ernie Banks), Burt Reynolds (a lock before his recent heart ailment - I'm not calling 911 for one of my guests, and with five guests I won't be able to keep track of everything these guys put in their bodies), Eddie Vedder (rock star, Cubs fan, doesn't seem like a sap), Warren Zevon and Hunter S. Thompson (both eliminated due to their respective deaths, but without that - they're in; Keith Moon is also in the dead group who would automatically get their ticket punched), David Letterman (my guess is that Letterman would just sit in the corner looking at us like we were idiots), Richard Simmons (the only guys worthy of a verbal smackdown to rival Cruise), and Don Rickles (he would be the first alternate if not for the fear that he would burst into the very odd tribute to Jimmy Cagney that ends every show of his).

Quentin Richardson Causes Unexpected Trouble for Pair of Celtics

Greg Adams — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 03:05:17 +0000

by Greg Adams Thanks to a skirmish in Game 1 of the Boston-Miami opening round matchup, Kevin Garnett will be suspended for Game 2 of the series. However, it turns out an offhanded comment may lead to further problems for KG and Boston guard Paul Pierce. After the brouhaha, Miami Heat shooting guard/instigator Quentin Richardson popped off about Garnett and Pierce, saying, "I don’t know what was going on, two actresses over there—that's what they are." Clever? Yes. Funny? Most definitely. Impugning? Apparently. It turns out that KG and Pierce aren’t, among other things, current on their Screen Actors Guild dues. SAG President Alan Rosenberg is apparently none too happy with the Celtic duo, according to an anonymous SAG source. “He’s ticked. Really ticked. Those two want to go out and just play basketball? We're fine with that. But all the other shenanigans the public has to put up with when they take the court? That falls under our umbrella. And our union needs their money, too,” said the anonymous source. When pressed regarding the dues issue, smoke shot out of KG’s ears, his nostrils flared, and he screamed, “That’s none of your (expletive) business! What are you some kind of (expletive) (expletive) (expletive)?” I’d never actually heard that combination of expletives before. Pierce was too busy sobbing uncontrollably into a soft white towel to provide any substantive comment. Rosenberg allegedly sent correspondence to the Celtics stars—a collections letter of sorts—in order to assist them in getting the dues paid current. I’ve been told the letters “mysteriously” found KG and Pierce’s File 13. Of course, this is journalism in 2010, so I’m relying on a lot of rumors and hearsay at this point. When asked for a reaction regarding KG’s Game 2 suspension, Pierce finally had the sobbing under control enough to say, “It’s gonna be hard. I love that guy.” “I can’t quit you, KG.” AP wire reports assisted in making up this story.

Sports Digest - Monday, April 19, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:24:28 +0000

Lots going on, and the Cubs look like, well, the Cubs. NFL Draft - Colts Look at DBs (Indy Star - Chappell) Big Ten Expansion Talks Get Serious (Chicago Tribune - Greenstein) Big Ten - Time to Force Notre Dame's Hand - Columbus Dispatch - Hunter) IndyCar - Ryan Hunter-Reay Wins at Long Beach (Star - Cavin) Butler - Recruit Eric Fromm Shines in All-Star Game (Star - Neddenriep) Cubs - Lineup Change Coming for Impotent Cubs (Chicago Sun-Times - Ginnetti) Cubs - Soriano Feels Hopeless (Sun-Times - Ginnetti) ESPN - All Sports to Cease Operations So Skip Bayless Will Stop Talking (The Onion) Indiana Football - Spring Game Exceeds Glass' Expectations (IDS)

Harry on Sports - Monday, April 19, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:34:27 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry67.mp3]

Indiana University's Little 500 Weekend: #8 and #7 Greatest All-Time Moments

kentsterling — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:45:05 +0000

by Kent Sterling When spring springs in Bloomington, Indiana, the student body gets restless and thoughts turn to the Little 500. For the 132 riders and various mechanics and hangers-on, it's a race. For the thousands of others at the race, it's a party. This will be the 30th race that will transpire since my first in 1981, and I have seen it all, but the best stories have nothing to do with bicycling. Through this Friday, we will relive some of the greatest moments of Little 500s past. Great Moment #8 - 1994 Someone had the great idea to combine the Little 500 with a bachelor party, and mayhem ensued. A group from South Bend made the drive to Bloomington on the morning of the race, and the celebration in the vehicles commenced as the caravan rolled out of St. Joe County. By the time the sots rolled in, they were in fine form. Our group was 40-50 strong, and each carried a gallon of screwdrivers. As was usually the case with first-timers, they also brought some very unnecessary back up beverages. We knew that meant trouble, but trouble for others usually meant fun for us, so who were we to question. Over the years, we had become lazy and brazen in the obviousness with which we enjoyed our gallons of cocktails. One year, an IU ticket taker sniffed the first couple of jugs, but they smell like orange juice, and she let us through. Once into Bill "Army" Armstrong Stadium, no one ever looked twice at us. This year, we had allowed a group of oddballs to mingle with us, and the police were immediately alert to our behavior. The police stared, talked, and stared some more. The boobs from South Bend continued to act like boors, so there was no escaping our comeuppance. I walked down to the police and asked if there was a problem. They said that we were suspected of being drunk, and that the gallon jugs likely contained alcohol. Of course, they were right, except for the drunk part. The people who were not a part of the bachelor party were sober as judges. That included me, and explains my willingness to confront the cops. My goal was to ascertain their mood to see if I could buy us a reprieve. As the drunks continued to raise hell, it was clear that they wanted us gone. So I switched to Plan B, which was to buy time. The police asked me to get the guys to clear out, and take the gallon jugs with us. I agreed and agreed and agreed - without moving. The cops finally said it was time for me to gather the fellas and jugs for our trip out. We gathered, and walked behind the cops. The first three of us followed close behind as the police took a right toward the exit., and the other 40 guys hung a left. I kept walk and talking, and finally turned to see no one behind us. Clever guys. We reached the exit, and the cop asked where everyone had gone. I thanked him and kept walking. We walked for a while, and returned without the jugs. We found our party sitting with the Sig Eps in the northeast corner. As it usually the case, friends had been easily made by alums with access to unlimited hooch. I found Paulie Balst and Len Totlan sitting next to a tall kid, who kept yelling, "Hey, McBarkeep! Give me the juice!" Paulie introduced me to the thirsty Sig Eps fan, IU quarterback Chris Dittoe. Great Moment #7 - Also 1994 The lone legal casualty of the group from South Bend was a guy who drank a bunch of beers on the way down, screwdrivers at the race, and when no one was looking knocked back some whiskey. No way he wasn't going to wind up in the Monroe County lockup, but it was his method that everyone found hilarious. After the race, the guy bolted from the group and managed to get into Sembower Field, the home of the Indiana Hoosiers Baseball team. He wandered around a bit, then decided to leave. He walked the fence for awhile, but couldn't find a gate. Eventually, he tired, and thought it best to get some rest before resuming his search for the exit. The unconscious are most at risk for apprehension by the police, and this episode proves that rule. The cops found the entrance/exit to the field just fine, and handcuffed our brief acquaintance in centerfield. He spent Saturday night in the lock-up because no one was willing to rescue a dumbass who didn't have the insight to find a gate or climb a fence. That guy, whose name I never knew, remains the only legal casualty of our many visits to the Little 500.

Ben Roethlisberger - What Will NFL Commish Roger Goodell Do?

kentsterling — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:56:18 +0000

by Kent Sterling [caption id="attachment_2997" align="alignleft" width="125" caption="Ben Roethlisberger hasn't quite yet learned about celebrity decorum in a bar."][/caption] Following his second sexual assault allegation in two years, Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is going to be judged and sentenced on by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell because in the words of the Georgia district attorney where the alleged sexual assault took place , "We do not prosecute morals. We prosecute crimes." The victim, as the 20-year old, who was drunk and said no, according to her statement has been referred to by the district attorney, and her family have asked that the matter be dropped because of the intense media spotlight that would shine on her. What will Goodell do with Big Ben, and how and how about Steelers president Art Rooney II? This isn't unlike the Kobe Bryant rape case that resulted in no penalty beyond the humiliation of Bryant during the trial, but it's also not unlike the incidents that have been punished outside the scope of the judicial system by Goodell in the past. Most suspensions are the result of incidents where the wrongdoing is not in question, like testing positive for illegal or banned substances. This is different in that a drunk girl accused Roethlisberger of forcing her to have sex in a public restroom, whose door was guarded by two Pennsylvania cops acting as Roethlisberger's bodyguards. Friends of the girl say they tried to push past the guards to help the girl "because she didn't know what she was doing." Is Roethlisberger a scumbag? No doubt. He has been accused twice of a crime that is almost never prosecuted because it is almost impossible to prove. She says she said no. He says she said yes. Prosecuting a crime requires more than that. Goodell and Rooney are dealing with the face of a franchise, and one of the 10 most popular figures in their sports. This isn't Pacman Jones, Santonio Holmes, or Plaxico Burress. Those players are black. NFL fans around the country see the mugshots of black men every night on the news. It's not hard for white Americans to accept "those" players for being thugs. Roethlisberger went to Miami of Ohio, and other than an idiotic decision to not wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle, Roethlisberger has been a hero of sorts to the white suburban kids who buy a lot of jerseys. That he has been proven to be nothing more that a reckless sexual participant is Goodell's out as the NFL commissioner's job is not to punish a lack of morals. It's a zany world when smoking pot is somehow more deleterious to the image of the NFL than a guy following a drunk girl into the can of a small bar just outside of Macon, Georgia, and putting forcing himself into her. What kind of suspension would be appropriate? Should Goodell equate the alleged sexual assault with one-game? Four games? a season? What is that girl's emotional health worth? How many other NFL players do similar things, and how many drunk women would see an [caption id="attachment_2998" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Picture of Big Ben on the night of the alleged assault."][/caption] alleged sexual assault as leverage for a significant payoff, if Goodell made it clear that kind of behavior would cause a four-game rip? One-quarter of Roethlisberger's salary is a ton of cash. Some strumpet pulls another Johnny QB into the can when he's plowed and afterwards demands $100K. What happens there? This isn't as easy as white vs. black, good vs. evil, or smart vs. stupid. For substance abuse, basketball players in Carmel would be expelled and prosecuted. If it happened on the bus back from a game, the coach would be fired. For shoving a cell phone into the rectum of a freshman, the town shuffles its feet and school administrators blame the media. Roethlisberger will doubtless pay some kind of karmic tariff, but suspending him opens up a Pandora's Box that will undoubtedly cause additional problems. Of course, if he isn't suspended, the commissioner's office gives the appearance that white heroes can get away with anything while blacks are penalized again and again. This is a tough one for Goodell. I wish it was as simple as saying, "Hey, this guy is an asshole, and we need to stop this kind of stupid shit. Suspended for a year!" Of course it's not. Being an asshole who gets off (literally) by impressing college girls with his fame, getting them liquored-up, and inviting them into the bathroom is reprehensible, but there are a lot of tools roaming the streets. Fame and money make people more of what they are. For a guy like Gary Brackett, the fame and money allows him to do more good. For Roethlisberger, it allows him to do more bad. Both have put in the hours to reveal their character. Professional athletes have been taking advantage of emotionally troubled drunk women for years. Start suspending players for that, and God only knows where it ends.

Good News Strikes Bloomington this Weekend

The Truth — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 02:34:03 +0000

by Kyle Miller On April 16th, ten of my friends and I were extended the opportunity to meet with Pat Kraft, Senior Assistant Athletic Director of Marketing for Indiana University. We met in the North end zone tower of Memorial Stadium to begin the process of developing a new student organization, the Crimson Guard. The sole objective of this organization is to help organize and facilitate the student section as IU once again rises to prominence. Kraft immediately broke down where the Athletic Department’s priorities are currently. I thought I’d never see a more optimistic, intense guy than Coach Crean, but in a business sense Pat Kraft was that. He simply convinced us that Indiana football was on the rise and assured us stating, “I’m not even worried” in regards to our basketball program. The new football student section is now nicknamed “The Quarry.” The Athletic Department is attempting to bring a few [caption id="attachment_3018" align="alignright" width="150" caption="The flag barrage"][/caption] of the basketball traditions to the football field. A major activity transferring from Assembly to Memorial involves the TV timeout break following the eight minute mark in the second half. This is where the cheerleaders and one or two lucky fans run a barrage of flags around the court while Assembly Hall rehearses the fight song. Imagine 52,692 raucous fans in unison belching the fight song. But let’s not be greedy, and just try to imagine 25,000 people singing “Indiana, Oh Indiana.” I don’t understand the point in tailgating if your ass isn’t going to go into the game! But that’s for a different article. Maybe I’m drinking the Kool-Aid, but IU has a chance to go 7-5 this year. We should win beat all four of our non-conference opponents along with Illinois, Northwestern, and one between Michigan, Wisconsin, or Iowa. The topic of interest switched to the Crimson Guard rather quickly. Like I said early the Crimson Guard represents the largest student section in the Big Ten. Talk did not circle about the direction of the program because apparently that direction was already determined. Rather we talked ideas of unifying the student section by providing road trips, getting students there earlier, and organizing. Since this meeting, 3 highlights have occurred—one on each day: • Friday: I’ve heard rumors of Cody Zeller potentially committing to IU soon, which could actually draw his brother, Tyler Zeller from North Carolina. • Saturday: Coach Crean posted on his twitter “We want to hang BANNER 6! WE ARE NOT THE LEAST BIT CONTENT OR PATIENT! I LOVE THE COMPETITION OF ALL THIS!” His enthusiasm never seems to die down and he understands IU’s standards. • Sunday: Jeremiah Davis from Muncie Central, seems to be fond of IU Indiana and Coach Crean. This smooth and crafty 6’3” guard will announce his college decision Wednesday. Did I mention he is teammates with Cody Zeller on Team Indinana? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly59n-0kCA4&feature=related] This is the first uplifting news that IU fans have heard in awhile, and the news is continuing. I’ve heard a rumor regarding Sterling Gibbs and his admiration for IU and Coach Crean. Gibbs has decided to take an official visit to Indiana in the fall. The class of 2010 is thin, but 2011 seems to be panning out for the Hoosiers, as Cody Zeller, Jeremiah Davis and Sterling Gibbs represent that class. 2011 could also include transfer Tyler Zeller. Good news to start Little 5.

Sports Digest - Tuesday, April 20, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:19:39 +0000

NFL Draft Looms, and Cubs Wither. Colts - IUPUI Worker Accuses Colts DT Eric Foster of Sexual Assault (Indy Star) Colts - Will Colts Look at Linebackers? (Star - Chappell) Hoosiers - Cook Center Will Be Dedicated Sunday (IU) Butler - Bulldogs to Christen New Arena in Louisville (Star - Woods) Butler - Several Mid-Level Recruits Taking Look at Butler (Star - Woods) Cubs - New Lineup; Same Result (Chicago Tribune - Sullivan) Cubs - Ramirez Not Getting Job Done (Chicago Sun-Times - Wittenmyer) Cubs - Meet Lou's Shuffling Crew (Sun-Times) Cubs - Lee's Patience Should Be Contagious (Sun-Times) Cubs - No Rush to Bring Up Cashner (Tribune - Sullivan) Fun Video - Viking's Jared Allen Threatens Guy in Bar (TMZ)

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, April 20, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:29:16 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry68.mp3]

Indiana University's Little 500 Weekend: #6 and #5 Greatest All-Time Moments

kentsterling — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:29:46 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Little 500 has always reflected society's view of fun. The men running Indiana University used to not only look the other way, but there were rumors that they found the Little 500 every bit as much the excuse for overindulgence as the students. Bill "Army" Armstrong, the president of the IU Foundation, appeared to be a long ways into his day by the time he ordered the riders to mount their Huffy Roadmaster Bicycles. The students followed suit, at least through the Varsity Villa mailbox explosions of 1987. Once that destruction was repeated in 1991, the hammer came down and the idiocy became too risky for the dopey students who heeded warnings. Not knowing that an increased visual showing by police actually made avoiding arrest easier, the mood calmed precipitously in 1992. That didn't deter the people who understood how people in power operate. The authorities of a potential disaster want nothing more than to avoid a disaster. If you can enter into an implicit alliance with the cops and deans where it is made clear that nothing will blow up, and the fun will not show up on the news, they will let you do whatever the hell you want. Embarrass them, and power will take hostages. Students forgot that in 1991. They hung bed sheets from the windows at the Villas with signs like "I'm not an alcoholic; I'm a drunk: Alcoholics go to meetings", "The closest I'll ever get to a 4.0 is my blood alcohol content", and "There is too much blood in my alcohol system!" These signs were on all three each Indianapolis TV newscasts on the Friday before the race in 1991. Think of Mayor Carmine DePasto in "Animal House", when he tells Dean Wormer to sit on that fraternity during the town celebration at Faber, "I don't want no dinking riot." The Delta House was smart enough not to announce to the media that they were idiots, surprised everyone, and were reinstated at Faber. When the mailboxes blew up at the Villas, the po-po was right there, and the Villa bombers went to jail. Great Moment #6 In 1986, the biggest party Walnut Knolls Apartments has ever seen was held in the courtyard in D-Building. It was filled with thousands of people from all over the midwest. The Knolls were (unintentionally, I'm sure) designed perfectly for socialization. All doors and front room windows faced a common courtyard, so it was almost impossible not to get to know the people in your building. They have renamed and redesigned it since with crazy staircases all over the place, but until a few years ago, it was the best place on campus for fun. The Knolls never made any pretense about being anything more than a poorly equipped flophouse for marginal students more interested in enjoying themselves than anything else in their lives. Bobby Knolls (no one bothered to learn his real name, although his first name might have actually been Bobby) ran the place, and he was the king of tolerating anything that didn't require him to move or think. We had a pretty good idea of how far to push. Thousands of happy people drinking beer not so quickly, because the lines were forever long unless you could get to one of the secret kegs stored in apartments where only residents could get to them. Instead of staying downtown at bars like Kilroy's or The Bluebird, the hot dog vendors camped at the Knolls. This was all just a prelude to moment #6 which occurred on the following day. After yet another race filled with antisocial socializing, a large group came back to D-Building where the party continued. As the afternoon gave way to evening, a group of us were talking to a guy sitting on the second floor railing. The railing was designed to keep people from falling 12-feet to the courtyard below. It usually worked, but not for idiots who swing their legs between the spokes. The guy we had just met flipped off the balcony right in front of us. We thought for an all-too-brief moment that he had done him on purpose because he made no "Whoooooa!" No nothing. No noise at all until the thwack of his skull crashing into the cement. It sounded like someone dropped a coconut on the cement sidewalk. Someone called 911 because the boob below was unconscious and Ian, one of the first floor knuckleheads couldn't tell if he was breathing. Nothing like drunken pizza restaurant managers assessing the condition of blunt force trauma victims. Ian initiated unnecessary CPR and foul-tasting (I would guess) until the EMTs arrived. The victim recovered quickly enough to initiate a lawsuit which was fruitless because several Walnut Knolls residents told the truth during depositions about the drinking and the way he sat on the railing. We felt that was a fair exchange for Bobby Knolls looking the other way when we flooded his 35 apartment D-Building with 7,000 drunken 21-year olds. Great Moment #5 In 1991, the most important discovery in Little 500 fun was made. In the Little 500 program, there is a group photo of the IU Student Foundation blue blazer-clad do-gooders who busy themselves running hither and yon during the race doing all manner of unimportant things throughout the two-hour race. The photo was accompanied by a key just below that listed their names. Two-plus-two equaled a bunch of boobs in their late 20s yelling foul and embarrassingly personal information to the well-meaning students immediately after looking up into the crowd because their name was shouted. If there is a way to have more fun during a dull bicycle race than yelling at a bunch of self-important resumé builders, I don't know what it is. The best of the bunch after several years of yelling was a kid named Chip Pfau. He came out with us after the race in 1991, and was good-humored for a Fiji. To the left is a picture of Pfau - still a doer of good at a reception for the United Way in New Albany. He seems to have traded his blue blazer for a handsome sweater vest.

As Predicted, the Cubs Suck and GM Jim Hendry Should Be Fired

kentsterling — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:00:36 +0000

by Kent Sterling There is a sweet spot that exists for championship teams in almost every sport. Everyone knows his role, and is comfortable he can execute. The attitude on a team that succeed breeds more success. Winning isn't just the result of that culture - it becomes the culture itself. The Yankees of the past 15 years didn't just buy the best players. They instilled a culture where winning wasn't just the expectation, it was the only result that would be tolerated. The Reds and Orioles of the late 1960s and early-to-mid 1970s did the same. The Cubs are a different deal. Their culture is one of hope. As long as hope exists, the fans are in their element. They players don't seem to enjoy an overwhelming need to succeed. They do what they do, and if the result is good; hey, that's nice. If the result is losing; hey, try again tomorrow. The problems with the Cubs are the same year after year, and there is never any movement toward improvement. The starting pitching is strong. Ryan Dempster, Carlos Silva, Carlos Zambrano (other than opening day), Randy Wells, and Tom Gorzelanny have been solid. Carlos Marmol blew a save against the Astros, but has been lights out overall. The rest of the bullpen has been horseshit. The Cubs are 5-8, and have allowed 64 runs in their 118 innings of play. The starters have thrown 75 of those innings, and have allowed 33 runs (eight of those came in Zambrano's disastrous one-and-a-third inning first start). Let's remove game one of the 2010 season. In 73-2/3 innings, the Cubs starters have allowed 25 runs. That leaves a bullpen that has given up 31 runs in 43 innings - 14 of them in the eighth inning alone. The offense is a disaster, and the defense is terrible. The Cubs have limited speed, and only show power against pitchers toward the end of the opponent's rotation. On the positive side of the ledger, the Cubs are wonderful mistake hitters. Throw a center cut fastball and watch it fly. That has been the case for years, and the reason they were miserable to watch in the 2007 and 2008 postseasons. If you can't create runs, you can't win in the postseason. If you can't hold leads, you can't win in the regular season. Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot have limited range, and Fontenot has a minus arm. Soriano is an increasing liability in left - and I never thought his level of defensive incompetence could drop. It has. The bullpen is in full meltdown mode. There is not a single pitcher out there other than Marmol who is ready to be a close-to-reliable set-up guy. Not one. Sean Marshall has been good, but he isn't comfortable in that role - at least not yet. Of the seven pitchers not named Marmol in the 'pen, five have ERAs above 5,00, and four are at 7.71 or greater. That sucks, and while we are only 13 games in, there is no reason to expect a turnaround. The catastrophe that is the Chicago Cubs roster - garbage defense up the middle (minus Marlon Byrd, who has been pretty good in center) - is entirely Jim Hendry's responsibility. Fukudome has gone from being a plus right fielder to looking lost. Offensively, he has never adjusted to the American version of baseball. Soriano? Aramis Ramirez is hitting .157, but he'll bounce back. Mike Fontenot is hitting .321, but has knocked in one run. ONE RUN! He's scored two! Jim Hendry should be fired after this season because:

He signed Alfonso Soriano, who if you had never seen him play might still be spooked because the Yankees and Rangers were both anxious to deal him. He is a wonderful athlete with a head full of soft cheddar cheese. He can't hit nor lay off sliders away, so he sees a bunch of those. Why anyone throws him a fastball in the strike zone is one of the great mysteries of sports. Because Soriano accounts for more than 10% of the budget ($17-million last year) and contributes almost nothing, the Cubs can't dump him and can't add another contract.
He signed Kosuke Fukudome. This one is a less obvious mistake an ordinary fan might have made. The guy hit in Japan, and based upon Ichiro and Hideki Matsui, it was reasonable to project success here. He's also a very smart outfielder. His willingness to hit a cutoff man was a welcome change in attitude at Wrigley. But Fukudome's ticket is more than $10-million ($12.5 last year), and this makes two $10-million-plus errors.
He signed Carlos Zambrano and made him one of the highest paid pitchers in baseball ($18.75 million last year). His innings have dropped the last two years, and instead of hitting 95 on the gun with his fastball like he did during his first couple of years, his heater strolls up to the plate at 91-92 mph. He made $2-million per win last year.
He signed Milton Bradley. No explanation needed.
He has done nothing to address the worst ss-2B combo to patrol Wrigley since Mike Brumley and Paul Noce in 1987 - in Dallas Green's defense, both regulars (Shawon Dunston and Ryne Sandberg) were on the DL during the stretch that Brumley and Noce started together. Both are 30, and not likely to develop better range, a stronger arm, more power or speed.
Hendry hired "No CLou" Piniella instead of Joe Girardi when both were available. Piniella is one of those Dusty Baker types who throw guys out there and expect them to play like professionals. He does very little to generate runs. Lou will put on the bunt, but his players suck at it. Is he capable of getting the most out of his guys? Can he motivate? Can he school his players in how to better execute? It would seem not. Lou will be 67 this year, and celebrates the 20th anniversary of his World's Championship as leader of the Reds this year. I doubt some bright light is going to go on now.
The farm system has produced very little. Some kids may be ready to produce, or they may be stiffs whose potential has been inflated by a media desperate to bring some hope to Cubs fans.
Finally, and worst, he preens around spring training like the great and powerful Oz, as though the Cubs are anything but an overpaid collection of pampered mediocre players. Some poor bastard will have to nurse the Cubs through a period where half the payroll is expended on contracts for men who simply can't play anymore. The Cubs are the Indiana Pacers in 2006. Hendry has portrayed great confidence, which seems to impress bosses. In truth, he has proven most mediocre in allocating resources and assembling pieces.

If the Ricketts Family is serious about changing the culture and winning a championship, we'll know it when they ditch Hendry.

Butler Basketball Selected to Open New Arena in Louisville

kentsterling — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:55:04 +0000

by Kent Sterling Ten years ago, this was impossible. There was only one team in Indiana that drew invitations like this, and maybe only three or four nationally. Yet, when it came time for the University of Louisville to look for an opponent to christen their new downtown $238-million dollar KFC Yum! Arena, they picked up the phone and dialed the 317 area code. Barry Collier said sure, as long as you play a return game next year at Hinkle Fieldhouse, and the deal was done. Now, the little quaint program that existed in relative anonymity on 49th Street inIndianapolis is a highly-sought-after draw for major national programs. They used to be a pain in the ass non-conference opponent because they were good enough to whip your ass and kill your RPI because of their Horizon League strength of schedule. Today, people agree to return games. The trip to the NCAA Championship will pay dividends for a generation because of the cash they can now generate to support their basketball program. I doubt Brad Stevens was sleeping in his car at AAU tournaments, but now they can travel like the majors, recruit high academic kids nationally, and support their non-revenue programs. For Indiana kids who wanted to be rock stars, there was only one destination, and it is 47 miles south of Indy down the Ruel W. Steele Memorial Highway. Now, it's less than a mile from the Governor's Mansion in Indianapolis. The Indiana Hoosiers still generate more heat and passion, but Butler has moved on up, and like "The Jeffersons", they have changed the neighborhood of college basketball in Indiana forever. Instead of compete only with Purdue for the best kids in Indiana, when IU coaches park at a kids house, they will start running into Brad Stevens, and he isn't driving a Yugo anymore.

Subscribe Today and Pay Nothing

kentsterling — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:11:06 +0000

You think this level of determined sports insight and entertainment will be free forever? Guarantee that you are never asked to pay for access to this wondrous blog by clicking the RSS icon to the upper left on the home page, and you will never have to pay - EVER! You will receive an email every time the site is updated, and that will keep you ahead of the game when news or wind breaks. Click now and receive bonus points!

Jim Johnson with Clark Kellogg on Basketball

jimjohnsonpbm — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:01:27 +0000

Clark Kellogg from CBS and FSN Indiana is one of the best in the business. He had a front row seat to the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis has he provided color for the NCAA Tournament coverage on CBS. He say down with IndySportsOnline.com to talk a little basketball, recap the NCAA Final Four and touch on the Indiana Pacers. [audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/final-interview.mp3]

Sports From the Couch--Tuesday's Thoughts

jshowal2 — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:09:16 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I'm kind of competitive. Played Wii Resort's three point shootout with my 11 year old grandkid (it's complicated, I'm only 42). I did the Larry Bird raise the finger in the air when I shot the last shot, before it went in the net. The fact that he had no idea why I did that is irrelevant. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIB0KwNB4e4] I think the Colts may trade down. If Polian has five of the ten players he considered left at 31, then the Colts may trade down to 35 or 36 and pick up a third or fourth round pick. Of course, what do I know. I did not have Donald Brown last year on the WNDE draft broadcast. Donovan McNabb wants Terrell Owens? Wouldn't this like remarrying your ex? The best analogy I have ever heard for that is taking milk out of the refrigerator, tasting it, deciding it is not any good, putting the milk back in the fridge and believing a couple days later that the milk will taste better. Marvin Harrison is about to have a really bad day. E:60, 7pm ESPN. The Cook Center opens this week. I remember when kids from Indiana would crawl to Bloomington to play for IU. Do Indiana kids even know where IU is today? Does Tom Crean know how to get to Indy, Muncie, Gary, Richmond or Jeffersonville. None of those cities are in New Jersey, Florida or Georgia. Didn't IU fire a coach, that went to a final four partly because, he couldn't recruit Indiana. Players will one day crawl to Bloomington, but Brad Stevens isn't the coach yet. "Yet" is the important word. Reds/Cubs.....Does it matter? Reds suck for less but they still both suck. Still no IPAD blog updates from the Boss. It's killing me. I haven't pulled the trigger yet. I didn't pull the trigger on Apple stock either when it was 70 dollars a share. Or 100, or 120, 140, 160, 180, 200...now it is over 250. Good job Jeff, you dumb ass! I know I can be pathetic but there is nothing better 30 dollars I spend a week then having "Cliff the lawn guy" take care of my yard. Always looks great. This isn't called "Sports From the Lawnmower" for a reason. I bought new golf hybrid irons. I still can't hit a 3-iron. I'm a good par 3 golfer. From 90 yards in I am pretty good. Problem is that most holes are longer then 90 yards. With the 10th pick of the 2010 NBA Draft, the Indiana Pacers select.....Heaven help us. Kyle Singler is going back to school. Pay attention Gordon Hayward. You will still be getting paid, lockouts end. So when will Tony Dungy show up at the Pennsylvania prison system to see Marvin? Saw a story that the Bengals are one of the worst drafting teams in the NFL. Mike Brown can't understand why that is. They've been to the playoffs twice in the last 20 years.

American Idol Review - Final Seven - April 20, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 01:04:42 +0000

by Kent Sterling Another week, and two are gone from last week. That leaves seven. Six who are not quite as annoying as those who have been voted off. Casey James - Casey led off with "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow", and he did the same old classic rock schtick. It sounded like him, which means he is in a rut, and holds no surprises. He'll move on because there are still some weak contestants left. Casey is likable, consistent to the point of monotony, and determined to play guitar on every song he sings. He's too impressed with himself to try something different and strange. Casey is repelled by discomfort and that is death on this show. Lee DeWyze - This guy is close to getting to an interesting place. His performance level is evolving, and maybe he can get to the final three. There is something to be said for a lack of confidence because people who don't feel great about themselves are ravenous listeners. Lee listens and he improves. Go figure. Lee sang the Simon and Garfunkel classic "The Boxer", which I hated. I thought the arrangement was a mish-mash. I don't want it to be just like the original, but this was strangely different and too similar simultaneously. His performance though was pretty damn good. He's smiling more too. Tim Urban - The ice is getting thin around Smilin' Timmy. "Tonight's the Night", he sang, and tonight's the night we may have seen the end of the Brady Bunch grandson. He's figured out that he can't sang, so he sings lees, and sort of whispers more. That he's in the final seven is a miracle, and he seems to appreciate it. If we see him next week, it would be another miracle. Aaron Kelly - David Archuleta light. There was something sweet and decent about Archuleta, but there is an underlying cockiness in Kelly that his talent doesn't validate. He performed "I Believe I can Fly", and fell short of showing the singing chops to sell that song. There is a lack of discipline in his singing that makes a song that big less than pleasing. He lives to fight another week because Tim Urban will go home. Siobhan Magnus - Choosing songs recorded by singular talents like Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey is a mistake unless you are really, REALLY good. Magnus isn't in that league, and this song exposed her as a lesser talent. A couple of weeks ago she said that she just sings what she likes without much thought to perception. That's admirable, but a bit like Shaquille O'Neal shooting threes. Know who you are. Be that. Magnus does neither. She can sing, but "When You Believe" has been done by both Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. There was no was for her to compare favorably. "American Idol" is about finding a singular talent, and she isn't one. She can sing, but she is a very average performer. Mike Lynche - He sang "Hero", but like Casey, Mike performs every song in a very similar way, and I always forget what he sang immediately after he finishes. He can sing, and this week was better than most for him. This performance might have saved him for another week or two. The judges chose to save him a couple of weeks ago, and if he doesn't make it to the top five that save is wasted. Big Mike rolls on because Smilin' Tim is in over his head. He won't make it much farther because he hasn't shown the ability to adapt and evolve. Like Casey, he's very reluctant to give up his happy and comfortable place. That's not confidence, it's fear. Crystal Bowersox - This woman exudes the kind of confidence that is very rare. Crystal is very willing to do anything and everything. She likes taking a step or two away from comfort. She came with "People Get Ready" tonight, and went without the guitar or piano. The only singular talent on the season's roster, Crystal reveals part of herself, or so it seems, each time she opens her mouth. She is believable and authentic. She cried at the end of the song, which was a little strange, but sweet. A singer whose emotions are that close to the surface is destined to either spend a lifetime in therapy or become a star - or both. Again - no doubt who the winner is, just a matter of who goes out until the finals. This week's rankings 1 - Crystal Bowersox 2 - Lee DeWyze 3 - Mike Lynche (but he'll be in the bottom three) 4 - Siobhan Magnus 5 - Aaron Kelly 6 - Casey James (but he won't be in the bottom three) 7 - Smilin' Tim Urban

American Idol Week Seven Performances and Rankings

kentsterling — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:20:36 +0000

by Justin Whitaker This week’s theme on American Idol is songs of inspiration. It is hard to be inspired when two of my favorites are now gone. Unless Andrew Garcia or Katie Stevens magically reappear on the show, I am not going to be inspired by anything. I could see Andrew’s elimination coming but Katie’s was a complete shock. Especially when you have David Archletta-Lite (Aaron Kelly), the pretty boy Chad Kroeger (Casey James) and the token relative overstaying his welcome (Tim Urban). I have no expectations for this week’s theme. With Idol Gives Back this week, we’ll see how much these contestants inspire people to reach into their pocketbooks and donate. Let’s get to the performances! Top Seven: Songs of Inspiration Week 1. Casey James – “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” by Fleetwood Mac I really like this song first off but I’m not the biggest Casey James fan so this will be interesting. He looked really stiff whenever he sung. The strain in his voice did not work too well for me. I think of this song as very upbeat and fun and Casey just did not seem to bring that out of the song. It was mellow and not inspirational. Randy was right in saying it is the same thing every week from him. Casey, do something amazing instead of just acting like you are duel wielding the guitar and microphone like you are playing Rock Band. 2. Lee Dewyze – “The Boxer” by Simon and Garfunkel Lee is one of my favorites, but I do not like the song choice. The song sounded current but it was boring to me. Lee’s voice sounded great like usual but the performance was bland. Very disappointed with Lee this week, there was nothing inspirational about that performance. Randy said this year was about artists which practically means it is not about voices. Ha. 3. Tim Urban – “Better Days” by the Goo Goo Dolls I really enjoy the Goo Goo Dolls and this song so Tim better not butcher this song. His voice was not that great at all like usual. At least the music made up for his voice. The band made this performance enjoyable. If someone else sung that song it would have been that “moment” the judges always talk about. The only thing Tim’s performance inspired me to do was change the channel. 4. Aaron Kelly – “I Believe I Can Fly” by R. Kelly I could probably sing this song and people would enjoy it. What a great song choice for Aaron. This was the first good performance of the night. Aaron really impressed me tonight. His voice sounded great throughout the song. It was by far my favorite performance of his. The young kid did not seem so young for the first time in the competition. 5. Siobhan Magnus – “When You Believe” by Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston With Andrew gone, Siobhan takes over the top spot as my favorite in the competition. Her voice was extremely pretty during the slow beginning of the song. I do not think the song fit her very well but her voice and outfit were graceful. The signature big note was great like always. Anytime the judges give her a not-so-good response she always goes on a brief ramble explaining the song choice and her point of view. It felt awkward. 6. Michael Lynche – “Hero” by Chad Kroeger Whenever I hear this song I think of Spider-Man ,it was the title song for the movie. The mini orchestra was kind of cool right next to Big Mike. This was a great song choice for him also. He did a solid job singing it. The long ending note was well done. This was one of the first times in a while that I was not bored by his performance. It was very fun to watch. 7. Crystal Bowersox – “People Get Ready” by The Impressions Starting a cappella was risky, but if anyone has the voice to do it on the show it is Crystal. I am not the biggest fan of the song but she sung it beautifully. It was the best performance of the night and she did the best job attaching to the theme. Her breaking down at the end was authentic and sweet. It showed how much the competition and the song meant to her. Especially after I read that she was close to walking off the show a few weeks ago. Thankfully Crystal did not quit because she is the best thing going on Idol. Overall, the songs of inspiration week was a roller coaster. There were some really good performances and some really bad ones also. Crystal was by far the best of the night as she put everyone else to shame. With Idol Gives Back this week, there are no eliminations. Unfortunately that means one more week of Tim. Justin’s Power Rankings for Songs of Inspiration Week

Crystal Bowersox
Michael Lynche
Aaron Kelly
Siobhan Magnus
Lee Dewyze
Casey James
Tim Urban

Let me know what you think and post your rankings!

Sports Digest - Wednesday, April 21, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:08:24 +0000

NFL Schedules released and the Cubs lose their fourth straight highlight the day in sports. Colts - Manning Bowl II in Indy Among Highlights of Schedule (Indy Star - Chappell) Colts - NFL Draft - Need D-Line Depth (Star - Chappell) NFL Draft - Mel Kiper Explains How Justice Steven Retirement Could Affect First Round (Onion Sports) NASCAR - Tony Stewart Tests and Talks at Brickyard (Star - Cavin) Hoosiers - Will McClain Fill Hoops Coaching Void? (Star Blog - Hutchens) Recruiting - Marquis Teague to Announce Choice Tomorrow (Star - Neddenriep) Recruiting - Izzo to Visit Muncie's Jeremiah Davis Today (Muncie Star-Press - St. Myer) Butler - Arizona Guard Likes Butler (Star - Woods) Butler - Brad Stevens Invited to Throw Out First Pitch at Cubs Game (ESPN) Cubs - Fourth Loss in a Row as They Post Measley Three Hits (Chicago Sun-Times - Wittenmyer) Cubs - Soriano Dismisses Brenley's "Selfish" Tag (Sun-Times)

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, April 21, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:21:07 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry69.mp3]

Indiana University's Little 500 Weekend: #4 Greatest All-Time Moment

kentsterling — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:24:18 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Little 500 was turned into an iconic event by the great film, "Breaking Away". That movie was a coming of age tale loosely based on the exploits of a dominant rider in the early 1960s. The movie turned the kid into a quirky townie pedaling machine who drove his dad crazy. He and his friends were aimless oafs who found their identities through winning the Little 500. In truth, the race is the almost unnecessary centerpiece of a weekend long party. Watching a bunch of thick-legged co-eds so completely misdirected in their energies that they choose to risk scrubbing cinders out of their legs for a week in order to participate in a race no one watches. They're like an unperpaid version of the Chicago Cubs. The race does serve as a nice point of focus that makes bolting for a weekend palatable to spouses who don't know any better, and that has always been the point, I guess. We didn't need many excuses to behave like children when we were comparatively hours removed from our true chronological adolescence, but as we are now likely closer to death than our freshman year in college, the trip to Bloomington for a weekend of stupidity requires better reasons to convince ourselves it's worth the drive. The final of our consecutive trips (minus a 1988 miss), was in 1998, and the trip went weird. The group was missing Pauly Balst, but that didn't stop some moments so strange that we simply had to accept that the Little 500 weekend as we had known it was gone forever. The brings us to... Great Moment #4 - A Star Is Found One of the great gifts of being the only people in Bill "Army" Armstrong Stadium with 20 gallons of screwdrivers is that it prompts some interesting people to stop by our perch in turn one (now turn three) to say hello and hold out their empty cups. In 1998, three people showed up near us, and because we overpacked, the orange colored liquor flowed freely. One of the people was a lady named Star an oddly friendly, but not in a horrible way, and another was a strange mildly obese fellow. There was a third, but to be honest I don't even remember whether it was a he or she. The guy and girl weren't a couple ias we found out later. Can anything be more fun than turning your life over to strangers and agreeing to do whatever a couple of stranger tell you on the day of the Little 500, so we followed tham to a party that stunk on ice. Being that they knew the hosts, we thought ducking out to go to Nick's would be easy. "We think the party sucks too! We'll come to Nick's with you," Star said as we tried to tiptoe away. While the 12 of us waited for a table, the big stranger got flush and started sweating likeAlbert Brooks in "Broadcast News", but worse. The guy looked like someone was holding a garden hose to the top of his scalp. Words like "liability", "contributing" - to what I don't know, but if the guy died - we sure as hell contributed something, and "call the family" ran through my head. My mission was to get this guy out of Nick's right now. I called the bouncer over, "Hey, my friend is really not feeling good. Doesn't he look awful? He's been drinking all day, and I'm not sure where this is headed." The guy we now referred to as "Puddles", nodded affirmatively, which was damn nice of him, and the bouncer started thinking about liability too. Bouncers are paid to think about liability, so Puddles was removed from the property with dispatch, and was out of our hair. Star, on the other hand, was deep into our hair. At the table, as the other 11 of us ate our strombolis and laughed, Star made a drunken trip around the table whispering in our ears. I don't remember the order, but the whispering was a very specific and forward proposition that she issued to us - one after another. It was fun watching the guys react in that stunned way they do when a girl whispers, "I want to f*** you. Let's go!" Each guy blinked a couple of times, stared straight ahead for five seconds, and said something like, "No thanks," or "Uhh, not just now, thanks." What was mildly entertaining for fifteen minutes became monotonous as Star made her third cycle around the table. Even if any of us had been so inclined, the fact that she would have settled for any of us made her repellent to all. We finally talked one of the single guys into getting Star the hell out of Nick's. This was a table for men to laugh at manly things, not for Stars to be plucked. When we got back to the hotel, we asked the guy what we did with Star. This is not the kind of thing I'm usually proud to write publicly, but the guy said, "I titty-f***ed her." It still makes me laugh. She was willing to do anything, and the guy decided that was the appropriate physical response. Hilarious.

Cubs Lou Piniella Must Be Fired

kentsterling — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:15:18 +0000

by Kent Sterling This is April 21, and Cubs Manager Lou Piniella needs to go. That's early in a season to can a manager, but would it be better to wait until June when the Cubs are 12-games under .500 and have no shot at the postseason? Either men are playing for a manager, or they are not. If they aren't, you either need a new group of men or a new leader. Easier to replace the leader than try to move a half-dozen terrible contracts that GM Jim Hendry has amassed over the past three or four years as he made it his mission to make rich a series of mediocre ballplayers. Piniella called a meeting with Alfonso Soriano after he turned a triple into a double by watching a long flyball hit the wall instead of sail over it. This is Soriano's fourth season in Cubs blue - all under Piniella, and he's been doing the same thing the entire time. Soriano has singular athletic gifts, but can't use them properly because of a severe lack of discipline. Dan Dakich said something on his radio show yesterday that was smart. He does that often. He said that talent and money corrupt the thinking of coaches more than anything else. Coaches and managers think that kids with talent just need to be coached a certain way or they wait for it to click for them. While they spend their time trying to fix the talented kid, the rest of the team suffers. For years, Soriano has dropped flyballs because of his idiotic hop as he catches it. He says he is going to stop the hop because now he sees that it doesn't help, but that it will take a while to get completely out of his system. The habit is so deeply ingrained that he is powerless to put an immediate end to it. These are not the words of a man who is not being led effectively. That he was allowed to continue to hop into errors for this long is a violently waving red flag to signal that Piniella has no control over his team. To manage a guy into a fourth season and still have to initiate a meeting to correct a player for standing and admiring a home run that wasn't is shameful. Cubs fans hear the same refrain again and again - these are well-paid men, and they should know to play like professionals. Really? A manager enforces the culture, and makes damn sure everyone adheres to the style of play he sets as the standard. Piniella's standard has been one of tolerance and acceptance of laziness. The Cubs play like idiots, and Lou yells in the clubhouse. The next night, the Cubs play like idiots, and Lou yells in the clubhouse. And on it goes. On and on and on. In 40+ years of watching Cubs baseball, I've seen a lot of foolish baseball, but other than the 1975 season, which stands as the low water mark for decent baseball, I have never so so many baserunners picked off, doubled off, or run off the bases. That is on Piniella. Little league teams know to make the line drive go through. The Cubs break on contact. Bunting? Forget about it. Maybe I'm watching at the wrong times, but I have only seen the Cubs succeed once in the last two seasons at trying to move runners on first and second with no outs. They have bunted into nine force outs at third that I can remember. Jim Hendry won't fire Piniella because that he would have to admit he made a mistake in hiring him in the first place. Hendry doesn't make mistakes - at least not in his world. The players he overpays don't play as well as they should. Kosuke Fukudome should be hitting .310 with 22 homers, 85 RBI, and 18 steals. That Fukudome has demonstrated himself to be a .260 hitter who gets caught stealing more often than he steals, and can only hit belt high fastballs on the inner half for power is meaningless because he should be doing everything better. Same thing with Mike Fontenot. In Hendry's mind, Fontenot wasted a great opportunity last season. That he is not capable of playing at a level high enough to help a team win a championship is Fontenot's fault, not Hendry's. Hendry believes the bullpen should be getting men out in the eighth inning rather than giving up 18 runs in 14 games. That's the fault of the pitchers trusted with that assignment. At some point, Hendry has to be held accountable for assembling a group that is dysfunctional at best with a war chest of $130-million. With that kind of cash, it's easy to be blinded by talent and compromise who you are, as Dakich correctly said yesterday. Hendry has done that blithely for years, and continues to accept no responsibility for the shit on the field that fans are forced to endure. If the Ricketts Family wants Chicago Cubs fans to believe they are serious people and not simply hobbyists with billions, they will fire Hendry and Piniella in favor of men who will build a team that has a champion's attitude to go along with their talent.

Little 500 Party Pictures from 1985

kentsterling — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:44:07 +0000

by Kent Sterling Indianapolis bon vivant and raconteur Lou Belch was a big part of the Little 500 celebrations in 1985 and 1986. He chronicled those parties on film. In these three pics, you see the crowd before it got really crowded, the group trying to shove their way into the party through the north entrance of Walnut Knolls D-Building, and the last hot dog vendor as the party petered out at 2am. If it looks unsafe, it was. And why not. Nothing in life is guaranteed. Joy must be earned.

Sports From the Couch-American Idol Gives Back: Promotes Pro Abortion Groups

jshowal2 — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:24:55 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I like American Idol as much as the next guy but when you give money to a charity of choice, you should understand who the money is going to and what the money goes for. In this case, Save the Children is one of the major charities. Save the Children is linked to many pro-abortion groups. I'm not making a political or religious point, what someone chooses to do with their body is between them and God. However, I believe you should know where your money goes.American Idol and Abortion Needless to say, American Idol will never make the connection to abortion, but that makes sense for them. Also, having the Socialist, pro abortion Commander in Chief of the USA start the show with his wife telling America to support this show should also not be surprising.

Cubs Zambrano Moving to the Bullpen

kentsterling — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 01:49:58 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Chicago Cubs are moving $18,875 million man Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen to accommodate the return of Ted Lilly to the starting rotation, Lou Piniella told the media before tonight's game against the Mets. Just over two weeks into the season, the Cubs season is adrift with Jonas Grumby at the helm. If Lou Piniella looked a bit more like Gilligan, the 2010 Cubs would make for a nice "Gilligan's Island" remake. The Cubs have a few too many Thurston Howell the Thirds, and not enough professors. Millionaires are everywhere. Players smart and selfless enough to help the club win are few and far between. The leadership of this team is completely lost. The Ricketts Family should sue GM Jim Hendry for the difference between Zambrano's current salary and the average cash outlay to a setup man. I'm guessing that would come to $13-million. Everything looked rosy to the Ricketts a week ago when they sang the Seventh Inning Stretch, but as they are huddled in their offices signing checks and stuffing envelopes, or fixating on the business manager who does that kind of thing (I like to think of owners sitting under one of those green office lamps late at night signing important documents like Mr. Potter in "It's a Wonderful Life"), wondering just what the hell made their bid so attractive to Bud Selig. I couldn't bring myself to pay a 20-pitch a night guy $18.875- million if he threw a 180 mph heater and never missed the mitt. There have been absurd chapters in Chicago Cubs history - the College of Coaches, Lou Boudreau and Charlie Grimm swapping jobs as broadcaster and manager, and Larry Himes letting Greg Maddux leave town over missing a deadline by 15-minutes among them. By the way Jonas Grumby was the real name of the Skipper. If Alan Hale, Jr., had survived, he would have been perfect as Jim Hendry in the TV movie about the history of the Cubs. We'll have to settle for Jim Belushi, who is every bit the actor Hendry is a GM.

Marquis Teague to Pick Kentucky Tomorrow

kentsterling — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:14:22 +0000

by Kent Sterling Given the desperation of Rick Pitino announcing that Louisville will travel to Hinkle Fieldhouse during Marquis Teague's freshman season, I'm staking my formidable reputation as a prognosticator on Kentucky being Teague's choice. There are other factors - UK coach John Calipari's habit of sending guards to great success in the NBA chief among them - and the word of a trusted local recruiting source in luring the #2 ranked member of the high school class of 2011. Teague has postponed the announcement several times, and for good reason. As much fun as it is to choose a school and say yes to one coach, it is really tough to say no to all the others. The phone for a kid like Teague is a never-ending thing to do. That's why kids commit early, limit the scope of their finalists to try to get the ringing to stop. I'm sure Teague has known in his heart where he wants to play for a while, but it is tough - really tough for a kid to make the decision for good. To say no to Matt Painter, Tom Crean, and Rick Pitino will be brutally hard because any would have been great choices. It's much harder than saying yes to Calipari will be. Lexington has gained a cool factor over the last year. Calipari just lets the kids play, and the Wildcats seem to have fun as the blue-chippers spend their eight months on campus before rocking to the NBA. Given Teague's talent level, it all makes sense. If playing close to home was that important to Teague, he could have walked from his house to Butler (eight miles, but he could do it) to tell Brad Stevens that he's coming. I like that Pitino is going deep into his bag of tricks to try to appeal to the kid, but it's a hollow gesture against the seemingly automatic road to the NBA that UK provides. I know that Marquis' Dad Shawn played for Pitino at Boston University, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. How many college kids and families have true love for their coach. Not too many. Some question the ranking of a kid who didn't do so much for his high school team, and lost in the sectionals, but I did the same thing with his big bother Jeff, who didn't even make the regional Indiana Junior All-Stars. Jeff proved everyone wrong by being a first round pick after his sophomore year at Wake Forest. One thing, don't expect the phone to stop ringing. As Lefty Driesell once said, "I love it when a kid commits early. That way I know who I need to beat."

American Idol Rankings Exactly Right

kentsterling — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 03:05:59 +0000

by Kent Sterling I don't like to brag, but the three lowest vote getters on tonight's results show were exactly right. Aaron Kelly, Casey James, and Tim Urban stood in the middle of the stage on Idol Gives Back Night, and tonight's loser Smilin' Timmy was announced as the loser - as was predicted here. Next week, barring a miracle performance Tiny Aaron will join Urban on the sidelines.

Sports Digest - Thursday, April 22, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:55:40 +0000

NFL Draft Day , Z to the Pen, and Teague to UK (probably) Colts - No Hints from Polian (Indy Star - Chappell) Colts - Foster to Remain a Colt (Star - Chappell) Colts - Mock Draft Results (Various) Hoosiers - Saffold Trying to Relax About Draft (Star - Hutchens) Hoosiers - McClain New Hoops Assistant (Star - Hutchens) Recruiting - Teague to Make Call Today (Star - Neddenriep) Vice President Biden Receives Lifetime Ban from Dave & Busters (The Onion) Indy 500 - May Race Could Have Five Women (Star - Cavin) Big Ten - Expansion Timetable Has Not Accelerated (USA Today - Wieberg) Cubs - Big Z to the Bullpen Friday (Chicago Sun-Times - Wittenmyer) Cubs - Piniella Appreciates Z's Mature Reaction to Demotion (Sun-Times - Wittenmyer) Cubs - Finally Get One Against Lowly Mets (Sun-Times) Cuba Gooding, Jr. Drunken Toast (TMZ)

Harry on Sports - Thursday, April 22, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:03:38 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry70.mp3]

Indiana University's Little 500 Weekend: #3 Greatest All-Time Moment

kentsterling — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:07:49 +0000

by Kent Sterling Ahh, the Little 500. Dr. Bop & the Headliners, Roadmaster, John Mellencamp, the BoDeans, Otis Day and the Knights, and too much more music to mention. The powers that be at IU tried to do everything they could to keep the students and silly alums from getting bored after the race. They knew from past experience that when amped-up 20-year-olds get bored in large group, mailboxes at the Villas explode. An impressive effort was made over the years to keep the kids in an environment that could be controlled by booking bands that resonated with the student body. My favorite band was Otis Day & the Knights. They are the band the played the Delta House's toga party in "Animal House". The band didn't really exist, but actor DeWayne Jessie (Otis Day) knew a chance to make some coin when he saw it. The played a postrace concert after a race in the early 1990s, and that was enough to get us to walk over to the field west of Bill "Army" Armstrong Stadium for a look. Greatest Moment #3 - 1992-ish - "We Need Some Space" The race was like all of the others. Bike went around and around in circles for two hours, Ed Kink flipped up his eyelids during lap 88, and the screwdrivers were mix and chilled to perfection. Over the years, the status of the vodka rose with the level of our earnings. While we were students, we bought Popov or McCormick's. Shortly after graduation, graduated to Smirnov and maybe treated ourselves to some Absolut. Later, it was nothing but Stoli and then Grey Goose (you don't have to remind me that mixing Grey Goose with orange juice is ridiculous.) My wife's eldest brother was a grad student at IU at the time, and Julie asked him to join us. He's a smart, funny guy, so he was welcomed by all. Our group of friends was always exceptionally inclusive and loved inviting new people. Julie's brother didn't need me to vouch for him, but I would have. He was a freshman at Georgetown while Bill Clinton was a senior, and disliked Clinton intensely. That would have been good enough for most of our group if such a credential was necessary. Julie's brother was another of the rookies who drank too much too quick. He was older than us, so who were we to quibble? During the race, another thirsty stranger ambled over. A girl named Heidi Flobeck, who had ridden in the earlier separate but equal women's Little 500 enjoyed some long gulps from one of the many plastic jugs, and seemed like a good kid. The only reason I mention her is that I am stunned I still remember her name. I can't remember people I met 15 minutes ago, but Heidi Flobeck stuck. The Little 500 has always done things as closely to the Indianapolis 500 as it could afford to - minus involving the Purdue Marching Band - so dignitaries to ride around the track in convertibles. This year as in many others, Senator Richard Lugar was in a car smiling that giant smile of his, and as he came toward our turn one stand, Paulie Balst began chanting "Dick Lugar, Not Indiana! Dick Lugar, Not Indiana!" One the second parade lap, there were 50 or 60 of us chanting "Dick Lugar, Not Indiana! Dick Lugar, Not Indiana!" Lugar heard his name, turned and waved, and then the smile vanished. It was replaced by an inquisitive look, and then a hard glare. We got the same look from IU President Thomas Ehrlich when Balst yelled "No Penn State! No Penn State!" every time his car came around. This was immediately prior to Big Ten's expansion to 11 teams by inviting the Nittany Lions. Everyone yelled. Ehrlich grimaced. Everyone laughed. That's Little 500 in a nutshell. Anyway, Julie's brother enjoyed his gallon jug, and was ready to head over to see Otis Day and the Knights. No one was feeling any pain, but Julie's brother was pretty popped, and he was a big guy. No huge, but looked like he might have played football back in the day. There was a huge crowd, and nowhere for us to go, but we moved forward to within 30-feet of the stage. People are never happy with festival seating vultures who get there late but force their way into a great position. If normally people are not happy, imagine their level of discomfort when Julie's bother started to dance. The dance wasn't the usual head-bopping, foot-tapping white guy dance. Julie's brother went into a full-out Grateful Dead spinfest that cleared a 20-foot-by-20-foot swath for us for seconds. Those who didn't move were knocked over like bowling pins as he careened into and through the crowd. If you ever played Skittles - the game where a wooden top wanders aimlessly through a table covered with pin - this was the human version. All of the spinning and cavorting was too much for Julie's brother's constitution and it became immediately evident that it was time to get him back to his dorm. Eigenmann is a good mile from the stadium, and the emotional and physical tires on Julie's brother were worn bald, so we tried to get him to the street where we could hail a cab. He made it to the field adjacent to the street, wobbled, and collapsed. The police were monitoring, so Julie and I made the preemptive move to explain our friend's low blood sugar issues. I asked if they could call a cab. The head cop scowled, "No, and if he isn't in a cab in five minutes, he's under arrest. Then an Asian fellow starting snapping pictures of the big fellow laying down. I went after him demanding the camera, and Julie's brother started yelling "Honesty!" while pointing a finger in the air. Hunter S. Thompson always said, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." I thought maybe that is what he was doing. A cab pulled up out of nowhere, and we loaded Lee in there. Julie sat in the back and I (not being a fool) grabbed the front. That piece of wisdom kept me from being splatter with the orange projectile vomit that sprayed throughout the backseat of the cab. The driver looked at me, and a shrugged, "Sorry?" We got him out of the cab and began the torturous process of mostly carrying Julie's brother to his room, the number of which he could not recall. Eigenmann (see right) has 13 floors with 52 rooms on each floor, so that search would take quite a bit of time. Good fortune smiled on us again, as we bumped - literally - into someone who knew Julie's brother. After rolling him into bed, we were off to wherever the misfits we left behind had gone. A week later, we heard that Julie's brother had tumbled off the bed and dislocated his shoulder shortly after we tucked him in.

NFL Draft - the Indianapolis Colts Are on the Clock

kentsterling — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:08:27 +0000

by Kent Sterling One thing you know about Colts Grand Poo-bah Bill Polian is that you will never guess who he will take, or even what position. I guessed right in 1998 with Peyton Manning. From there, it's been nothing but surprises. As soo as you believe you understand a rule like - Bill never takes a linebacker in the first round, he grabs Rob Morris. You believe they are deep somewhere, but Bill drafts there anyway. One thing he has never done during his years with the Colts is trade up in the first round, so maybe we can guarantee that he won't do that. Uh-oh, didn't I just write that as soon as we believe something, Bill does it? Now, I've assured that the Colts will trade up. Of one thing you can be sure, Bill Polian will get it right much more often than he gets itwrong. Colts fans know that the new format of the draft will make this a four day affair. Most of the country will watch the first round, most will blow off day two that features the second and third round, and almost no one will watch day three with rounds four-through-seven. The fourth day will be when the Colts build their next champion by signing kids fans have never heard of from schools they barely recognize. He is the master of the draft. The format penalizes the Colts because less organized teams (all 31 of them) will be able to gather themselves to prepare once more than they were before. The Colts would be better served if the selections were one-minute apart through the whole thing, and it was done in 3 1/2 hours. Let all of the tools who run their draft like a party, as Bill Tobin used to, suffer for their lack of preparation. The Colts will steal all of the talent left on the board, and then because have a record of inviting undrafted free agents who have a chance to make the team, they will get the pick of the litter. There isn't anyone who has an inkling who the Colts will take at 31 because it's imossible to know who will be left on the board. They could take an offensive lineman, a defensive tackle, a pass rush specialist, a running back, Tim Tebow, an outside LB, a safety or corner. The Colts will not take a punter, and they will not take a kicker. It would be hard to believe they will take a receiver, but who knows. My preference would be that the Colts draft whoever floats Mr. Polian's boat. There is nothing more fun than second-guessing draft choices, but Polian has been so much better than anyone else for so long that it's crazy to sit in judgement. When Larry Bird drafted Jerryd Bayless, and then traded down, Pacers fans went crazy. He isn't starting for the Trailblazers, and averaged 8.5 ppg, but fans still moan and groan about Bayless. The only bit of second-guessing that I have done was to think that maybe the Colts could have traded the number-four pick used to get Egderrin James and still gotten James a few picks later, plus added one a little later in the first. But if Polian could have gotten Edge at seven and added the 11 or whatever it was, he would have, so who am I to judge. He's better at his gig than anyone in the history of the NFL, so I'll ride shotgun while Polian drives. There are three things we know about every draft. Jets fans will boo everything that happens, the Raiders will screw up at every turn, and the Colts will upgrade at a bunch of spots. Like I wrote, I have only guessed correctly once what Polian will do, and that was a no-brainer when he grabbed Peyton. I'm going with Charles Brown from USC. Last season, the Colts saw what happens when Peyton leaves a game, so they will move heaven and earth to make sure he's protected. A lot of people including Peter King and Eddie White think Polian will take Rodger Saffold from IU. By naming both of those guys, I have effective eliminated not only them, but that entire position, and probably the offensive side of the ball.

Sports From the Couch--Big 10 Expansion Gives Birth to Butler as State's Premiere Basketball Program

jshowal2 — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:37:09 +0000

By Jeff Showalter The Red Sea is about to part and Butler is about to walk on dry land straight to the promised land. The Big Ten is now seriously working on expansion. They aren't talkin one team either. The Big Ten is going to become the Big 10 plus 6 or the Big 16. (I can't wait until the College Presidents come up with an explanation of how a conference can be called "10" with 16 members. Reminds be of TV preachers saving souls and then hitting strip clubs that night). The domino effect of this expansion will have positive impacts on Big Ten pocketbooks but not on performance. The school that will benefit in the wallet and performance? The Butler University Bulldogs. Brad Stevens and Barry Collier are even smarter then we think they are. There was a method to the madness when they agreed on a 12 year extension. Stevens won't need to save the IU basketball program from the demise brought on by Brand, Knight, Davis, Greenspan, Herbert, Sampson (Sampson is still a BUM), Crean and Glass. Butler is going to have it's own goldmine to cultivate. When you connect the dots, look at the domino's or whatever cliche you want to use, Butler is a huge winner in Big Ten Expansion and will pass Purdue as the premiere basketball program in Indiana. How does this happen you ask? Pretty simple. The Big Whatever goes to the east coast to get Syracuse and Rutgers. This does permanent damage to the Big East as there will no longer be a market for Big East college football in New York City. The ACC goes after UConn and West Virginia. Louisville and Cincinnati go the the SEC. The Big East is fatally wounded. Notre Dame, with its desire to keep football independence leaves the Big East. Notre Dame looks to use its name recognition and arrogance, decides to pull together a new conference for basketball and olympic sports. Who do they call? Marquette, Dayton, St.Louis, Georgetown, St.Johns, Xavier, George Washington, Saint Joseph's and your Butler Bulldogs. The "Great American Conference" covers New York City, Philly, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago and Washington D.C.. Butler's revenues go up five fold minimum, maybe ten times. Add a national runner up year to a 15 team next season(top 3 if Gordon Hayward stays), two recruits in this years top 100, a new national recognition led by the best young coach in America and guess what? You have a force. You may even have the new Duke. Purdue be afraid, be very afraid. Indiana, unfortunately you were already irrelevant and will stay that way. Butler is on a roll that may not end. Go ahead Big Ten, count your money. You'll make it, but you are creating a national monster that may not be stopped.

Sports From the Couch-Pacers' GM Larry Bird Contacting NFL About Claussen

jshowal2 — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:11:04 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I have exclusive sources, inside the NFL and NBA that are reporting to me that Pacers GM, Larry Bird, has been in contact with NFL officials about acquiring the rights to former Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Claussen. Bird believes Claussens toughness, leadership and whiteness would be a perfect compliment to fellow benchwarmers, Tyler Hansbrough, and Josh McRoberts, as well as help make up for the future losses of Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy Jr. as well as the loss of Travis Diener. Apparently Bird believes this move as well as the decision to win 11 of 13 so they could pick up Cole Aldrich with the 11th pick will have the fans ready to fill up Conseco Fieldhouse. Heaven help us.

Indiana University - Little 500 - Greatest Memory #2

kentsterling — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:37:20 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Little 500 is to Indiana University what, well, nothing is to any other campus. It is a unique day and event. Other schools claim to have a similar fun centerpiece, none are close. The Little 500 has its own stadium, and is broadcast live on a national TV network - okay, it's HD Net, but at least it isn't Versus. Over the past 30 years, we've seen everything. Idiots. Thieves. Mopes. Shocked parents. Arrests of morons. That one day serves as a great example of both the best and worst that college offers. There are times that resurrect the long dormant vibe of college discovery and excitement. At Indiana, that day isn't a football of basketball game, it's the Little 500. Even as we are almost 25 years out from our final Little five as students, a return to Bloomington on this weekend puts a hop in a relatively old guy's step. When we do go back, it's always a plus to bring some youngsters to both give us a push when we hit the wall at about 5p. They are good about getting us through, and it's a little like taking your kids to a carnival. You get to enjoy it through their eyes, and it becomes new again. Little 500 Favorite Memory #2 - Trophy Wife for Paulie Balst The 2007 Little 500 saw our return for the first time in a decade. Once people start having kids, bolting the family for a weekend so completely insipid is almost indefensible, so while dads coached Little League or AAU Basketball there was what we thought was a permanent moratorium on Little 500 fun. A couple of years ago with a strong sense of nostalgia in the air, we began the process of putting the band back together. Chicken Loman, Hoss, Spanky, Balst, Ed Kink and a couple of other members of the old guard agreed to make the trip, and my wife - named by Irresponsible Men's Magazine as the Most Tolerant Wife in America in 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2009 - brought a couple of co-workers down to Bloomington for the weekend. Both were in their mid-20s, and went a long way toward legitimizing our presence in a stadium filled with kids young enough to be our kids. In fact, we saw many of our son's friends acting like fools at the race. Bunny and Cissy fit into our group seamlessly and enjoyed the jugs and our upgrade in attendance as we debuted the homemade credential system that not only allowed us entry, but "All-Access". Here's a tip about creating your own credentials: always throw the phrase "All-Access" somewhere on the thing. Then, put some fancy vague title on there. Our choice was "Special Provost". No one knows what the he'll a provost is, and preceding it with the word "special", you guarantee yourself an afternoon above question by ushers and police. that's a good thing when you are 12 strong carrying 20 gallons of toxins. Even after walking past the police and ushers 20 times, I would still find myself getting nervous as we approached the gate. This year we raised the ante by creating our own credentials that were worth no more than the card stock and lanyards that we thought gave it them a professional look. When we got the the volunteer who duty it was to check tickets, she looked at the jugs and credential, and told us to go to the next gate. This made me nervous, but running was out of the question, so we walked around the little shack, and found another volunteer. He looked at the credential, and asked about the jugs, "for the riders?". We said "Sure.". He opened the gate and we went right in. Halfway through the race, Balst got bored and decided to push the "All-Access" tag on the credential, He grabbed Bunny and said, "You're my trophy wife.". Bunny, who is always up for adventure, shrugged and agreed. They made their way down to the track, showed a Bloomington cop their credentials, and the cop waved them across the track into the infield. Shortly after that Julie and Rick headed down and were likewise waved across. That was the last time we saw them for the afternoon. The foursome made their way to the reviewing stand at the end of the race where the winning team would receive their trophy for riding a bicycle 50 miles faster than any other four-man team. When the Cutters crossed the line first, the rider hopped off his bike, was joined by thrilled teammates, and found themselves standing next to Paulie, Bunny, Julie, and Rick for the first series of pictures taken as the 2007 Little 500 Champions. After the pics and associated fooferah, several of the IU Foundation high muckety-mucks shook Balst's hand and thanked him for coming. That's Hoosier Hospitality!

CNN Headline News Hilariously Punks Itself

kentsterling — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:42:44 +0000

by Kent Sterling CNN Headline News stepped in a big pile of crap by airing a story about how Lane Bryant is upset because Fox and ABC are refusing to air an ad for their products in prime time. The original ad has the plus-size model getting a text reading "Meet Dan for Lunch". CNN grabbed an online copy of a parody ad. Look at what the text reads now in the spot they show during the story. Here is the link - Plus-size story

Indiana University Little 500 - #1 Greatest All-Time Memory

kentsterling — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 13:38:25 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Little 500 Weekend was always the time to turn it up a notch - go even nuttier and blow off steam before finals. Ahh, who am I crappin'? We blew off steam like it was our job, but there was no better place or time than in Bloomington, Indiana, on that beautiful Saturday when the bikes went around in circles 200 times. Picking the greatest ten moments has been a fun trip down memory lane, but there are so many other moments that deserve some measure of recognition. Each Little 500 Saturday, there were traditions as moronic and pointless as any surrounding a college event in America. My two favorites were to walk from Walnut Knolls (and then the Hampton Inn after we graduated) across Walnut and College to the IGA to fill a grocery cart with steaks and unfiltered Lucky Strikes only to abandon it in the produce section. The second was to call room 306 at the Hampton Inn and identifying myself to the guest as the manager of the hotel. The occupants were told their stay would be comped if they accepted the request to switch rooms. "You see, I promised a young couple room 306, and they have just registered for the room. They had their first special experience in that room, and I made the mistake of promising them the room when they made their reservation. If you would agree to switch to room 312, we would be happy to comp your stay." Invariably, the people agreed, went down to the front desk, and confused the actual manager with that tale of woe. There was nothing better than sitting in the lobby close enough to hear the guest argue with the manager about the offer as both thought that other was lying. The very best of these was a decade ago when a couple in their 50s had the misfortune of being assigned room 306. The guy was skeptical at first, and agreed to the swap. As he went to the front desk, the wife began the process of moving bag after bag down the hall to room 312. There must have been 20 bags stacked outside the room. After losing the inevitable argument with the nonplussed manager, he roared back to the third floor and barked, "Move it all back! Put it back in 306!" The wife complied with zero help for the irate husband. [editor's note: As a special treat (for me), I just tried to make the ceremonial call to the Hampton to offer the occupants of room 306 the free room, and when asked to connect with room 306, the guy at the front desk asked for the name of the guests in that room. While this was frustrating, I take it as a kind of tim of the cap from the staff at the Hampton for 23 prank phone calls well made since the Hampton opened in 1987.] The prank phone calls really became a fixture when we made the trip down on Thursday, and had a free day Friday with collegiate style free time. The best was the call to the manager of the Denny's that is adjacent to the Hampton Inn from the manager of the Hampton. Of course, the manager of the Hampton was portrayed by the caller. The call went like this: Hampton Manager: This is Doug - the manager of the Hampton and we have a problem. Denny's Manager: I know. I know. (This response was not anticipated, and could have caused a problem) Hampton: You do? What's your side of the story? Denny's: I already took care of it. I told my staff to keep their cars out of your parking lot until after Little 500 Weekend. Hampton: Oh, that's totally unnecessary. Here's the only thing I need - get me a list of the tag numbers of your staff's cars . That way my security guys no who the hell those cars belong to. I was a little pissed because I don't want to tow your servers cars. Denny's: Really? You would let us do that? Hampton: Hell, yeah. Hey, we're all neighbors here. Maybe one day you can treat me and my wife to a Grand Slam Breakfast, and I can get you a free room. Jusat get that list of license numbers to me ASAP, and we're good to go. Denny's: Thanks a lot Doug. At that point, the manager of Denny, we assume, asked his employees for their license number, and compiled a list - a minor pain in the ass - and told his staff they were free to park in the Hampton Inn's lot. He then brought the list of two dozen license numbers to the Hampton and tried to give it to Doug, who had no idea what the hell it was who negotiated this parking arrangement. He likely rejected it with prejudice. If all went well, this little drama started ushered in an era of great acrimony between the two businesses. Greatest Moment in the History of the Little 500 In 1985, half of our group of friends from Walnut Knolls graduated, so when they returned in 1986 in a 31-foot long deluxe RV, they were welcomed like conquering heroes, and the fun commenced. In a half decade of stupidity on Little 500 weekend, we had never enjoyed a drive to Bill "Army" Armstrong Stadium for the race. With Chicken Loman at the wheel and the RV packed full with students, recent grads, a couple sets of parents, and 30+ jugs of citric hilarity, we hit the road. The race went as expected - 200 laps of tedious circling and Ed Kink's inverted eyelids during lap 88 (Kink did two things well at the race - one was the flipping of his eyelids, and the other was passing out just prior to the end of the race and staying in the stadium until about three hours after when the place had completely emptied) - and then ended. The drive to the race had been uneventful. The drive home would be different. It was possibly the greatest ten minutes in the history of irresponsible comportment of 60 people jammed into an RV for a trip of any distance. After everyone, including the parents of Kerri Melda, climbed aboard, Chicken Loman moved the RV north from the fieldhouse parking lot to the corner of Fee Lane and State Road 46, which was backed up for more than a mile. Loman wasn't interested in waiting. "Heeeere Weeee goooo!" yelled Loman as he turned onto the gravel shoulder of 46. "You don't see RV's do this very often," grinned Loman as he passed stopped cars with the RV at 50 miles-per-hour. He slammed on the breaks, and turned left into the gravel parking lot at Memorial Stadium. As he did, the woman who would become my wife in a little over a year, was in the lavatory answering an urgent call. She neglected to lock the door, and Spanky Froat popped open the door. Flummoxed and embarrassed, Julie diverted attention from her spicy muffin by pulling up her shirt and showing Rick her fleshy chest pillows. Loman got the RV going nice and fast, and yanked the wheel. The RV spun like a top. Loman grinned from ear-to-ear as the RV did doughnuts in the gravel. The Melda Parents held on for dear life and their faces were ghostly white. As is usually the case with senior adolescents, we laughed harder with every spin. People flew through the RV and at some point furnishings started to break. Once the guys who rented the RV started to grasp that their security deposit was likely going to be forfeited, Loman was encouraged to stop the madness, and get us back to Walnut Knolls. The madness continued as the Melda Family recovered, a roommate of some girls we knew sullied a bath towel in an unspeakable manner, and finally John Mellencamp rocked Memorial Stadium with a sound system that was totally inadequate for such a big place. The Little 500 will be held later today, and we won't be there, not because we've outgrown any of this stupidity, but because we are relatively certain that we have exhausted all the possible avenues of fun possible before, during, and after a bicycle race. It may take us years to be inspired to find a new and untraveled road. We do not encourage any current students to adopt our choices as their own. There has always been a divine providence that has guided our actions, without which we certainly would have been punished again and again by the Monroe County authorities, Indiana University representatives, or God and karma. We have shown a well-earned knack again and again for walking up to the edge of the abyss, but never falling in. Enjoy the race, but leave the madness to professionals.

NFL Draft Is Almost Unwatchable, But You Have to

kentsterling — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:23:15 +0000

by Kent Sterling I watch at least four NFL games per week during the fall. The Colts are the team I was with great interest. They are operated in a way that I would do it if I were that smart. Bill Polian and Jim Irsay have built a culture of winning and decent citizenship, despite the recent allegations against Eric Foster. College football isn't that interesting to me. I watch Indiana every week, and probably catch one more game - Notre Dame, Florida, maybe Oklahoma. So, I'm like almost every other football fan in the country. In the first round, until the bona fide coverage of the NFL Draft began over the past two weeks, I had never heard of 21 of the 32 young men selected in the first round. If you had asked me last Monday who Jerry Hughes, the pass rushing specialist from TCU, is, I might have guessed he is a state senator from Jasper, Indiana. The Colts took him 31st overall. The 2010 NFL Draft will go a long way toward determining the future for all 32 NFL teams, but this is like watching the auditions for what will become a great sitcom. We could have cared, other than him family, whether Jennifer Aniston was cast as Rachel on "Friends", but we sit and watch this thing for hours and hours. The B list of on ESPN with Trey Wingo, Ron Jaworski, Todd McShay, and the ever presentMel Kiper, Jr, is shepherding us through rounds four through seven. Kiper has been a part of ESPN's coverage, and he looks almost exactly the same as he did in the mid-1980s. At some point, he'll stop looking like some kook who lives in his mom's basement, but as of 2010, he is still sports media's answer to "The Andy Griffith Show's" Howard Sprague. This show is little more than four guys having a chat, as 1070 The Fan's Dan Dakich likes to say. The NFL Draft is about guesswork preceded by years of hard work and evaluation. The NFL Draft broadcast is about less prepared men sitting at a table evaluating the guesswork. This is a lot like the radio broadcasts of basketball games, which are mostly rhythmic patter between score and time updates. Colts fans watch to see who the Colts take. With the exception of the clinically insane, no Colts fan cares about the nose tackle the Carolina Panthers take in the fourth round, but we continue to watch. Reports are that more viewers enjoyed the first round coverage on ESPN and the NFL Network than all of the NBA Playoff games played Thursday night combined. Sports fans chose to watch Steve Young prattle on and on - he may still be talking wherever he is - about players most of us were completely unaware of two weeks ago than watch LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durrant, Steve Nash, and Amare Stoudemire play meaningful postseason games. The league built of the marketing of stars was beaten by the league that celebrates team, as they drafted young men with whom the majority of America was totally unfamiliar. That includes the ratings in the second largest TV market that has no NFL franchise, having squandered opportunities with the Raiders and Rams. It's likely "Nip/Tuck" beat both the NBA and the NFL is Los Angeles. So the NFL Draft continues, and sports fans continue to watch and listen as Mel continues to bang on Jimmy Claussen falling into the middle of the second round. More than five-and-a-half hours to go.

Matt Millen Apologizes for Calling Ron Jaworski a "Polack"

kentsterling — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 17:47:28 +0000

by Kent Sterling You really hear people on national TV use a term like "Polack", "Dago", or Mick". Archie Bunker went there to illustrate his ignorance of stereotyping because of nationality. I can't remember the last time I heard a person who was not a member of the group being mocked using a similar term in the last 20 years. Millen referred to Jaws as a Polack in one of his few appearances during today's NFL Draft coverage. This undoubtedly caused a slew of phone calls from offended viewers. Millen's apology was designed to calm the storm because the Polish Defamation League calls for his ouster from the only job in football Millen can get. After mismanaging the Lions for almost a decade, Millen is back on TV where he can do little direct harm to the NFL. Millen is obviously a tool, but people - Americans specifically - need to lighten up. Words represent ideas, and ideas have been responsible for a great deal of the evil the world has seen since man started flapping his lips. But ideas from a boob like Millen should be ignored by even the most sensitive person of Polish descent. Idiots only have the power to anger and incite if no one responds. I would like to think we have moved as a society closer to a place where no one pays any attention when boobs make ignorant remarks.

Sixtieth Little 500 Delayed by Rain

kentsterling — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 20:03:27 +0000

by Kent Sterling The weather gods are smiling on our decision to avoid Bloomington on this Little 500 as the skies opened up during lap 88 - a lap that Little 500 enthusiasts recognize the traditional time for Ed Kink to flip his eyelids, which is now known as the "Greatest Debacle in Racing". The race has been suspended with 102 laps complete. They are planning to resume the race shortly with the Cutters leading and DTD in second. The Cutters have won the last three Little 500s. IU alum Mark Cuban has issued the financially dubious mandate that HD Net carry the race live, so I have been monitoring from the dropping of the Green Flag. I can't imagine their are more than 12 DirecTV subscribers in America who are watching the rain delay coverage. Unfortunately, the producers only prepared two pieces to cover a potential break in the action, so the three announcers are talking about their favorite bike racing movies - after "Breaking Away" and "American Flyers" the pickings get slim. The students have stayed in the stadium to see if the race will resume, but I can promise you that had this delay occurred last year. We would have been long gone as soon as the first drop fell. Here are a couple more pictures from the 1986 debacle. The first is of Spanky Froat driving the RV that Chicken Loman did donuts in just a little earlier. The second is Froat with an ampty Old Style can stuck to his forehead. He spent more than half his five years with an empty beer can stuck to his forehead or chest. To this day, Froat is the only Drug-Free Power Lifting Championship with six beer cans affixed to his body through suction.

ESPN Talent - Top Five/Bottom Five Fun to Hang With Hosts

kentsterling — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 13:33:41 +0000

by Kent Sterling ESPN has a lot of guys and girls who seem like they would be fun to hang with in bars, and others who you would hang a u-turn if you saw them in a bar. Some are real guys, and others are not. Some of the women you could through on a couch in a sweatshirt and drink beers with while watching a meaningless college football game. Others would kill every conversation and be effete pests. Today, the list of the five ESPN talent worth inviting to a table with your friends, and tomorrow the list of five who would kill your night of fun. Some of these guys I know, and some I don't, but I have opinions about all. I stayed away from most of the former athletes, but had to include a couple that I either know or heard about from those who do know them well. The Top Five ESPN Talent to Invite to a Party 5 - Scott Van Pelt - I like Van Pelt. Never met him, but he seems to take sports a little less seriously than most guys making their living talking about it. There are two different kind of sportstalk guys - those who really don't like or understand sports, but believe they are good enough performers to fake it. They make inane proclamations that expose their ignorance. Then there are guys who played a little bit and know that it's just sports, and that sports should be a diversion. Having some fun while talking about sports is not only acceptable, but necessary. Van Pelt is one of those guys. He's a wise-ass, and wise-asses are always welcome. 4 - Erik Kuselias - We don't see Kuselias on TV much, but he is a solid radio host who is funny and smart. No idea about this guy's ability to have fun, but he can talk sports - all sports and teams with anyone. He seems to be a driven guy who's ambitious, but still retains a sense of humor. He isn't obnoxious like Cowherd. Who would want to sit across a table from Cowherd? No one would ever get a word in edgewise. Kuselias is a good listener, and that is a must in a bar. It's never bad to be the most obnoxious person at the table by just a little bit, and Kuselias will never be the most obnoxious. Cowherd is always the most obnoxious guy in whatever room in which he stands. 3 - Sage Steele - Sage is from Indianapolis and worked in the sports department at WISH-TV for a couple of years. She played softball in the media league, and was always incredibly nice. She was the third sports reporter in the WISH-TV stable, and had no attitude. Talked to her for a while last summer when she was back in town from Bristol, and she was exactly the same person. I don't project her as a girl who would enjoy a lot of daytime drinking while watching a game, but at this point neither am I, so no points deducted. Being a "nice" person used to qualify someone for the worst list, but we all grow up a little. 2 - Mike Ditka - Never met him, but I know Merril Hoge a little, and he has told me stories that I really can't share that make it clear that Ditka belongs in the Top Five. He is hilarious and enjoys a cocktail. Ditka lives by a set of rules he crafted for himself, and even after heart issues and reaching the age of 70, he is still an able companion in the arena of enjoyment. People like Ditka can get away with anything and everything 98% of the time, and he takes full advantage of that status. 1 - Tony Kornheiser - Any party needs a hardened and sarcastic guy who can redirect the conversation away from the pedantic with observations that are worth a laugh. Kornheiser is a detail-oriented guy who is annoyed by those same microscopic issue in life that bother Larry David. He sees the world through a unique prism that brings laughs in a room. He strikes me as a guy who would rather avoid a stranger than embrace the chance to meet someone new, so his accepting an invitation to an event where I'm present is a longshot at best, but he is unafraid to where a Carnac hat or pilgrim outfit. Maybe he'll show up for a Halloween Sunday Night Football Party this year. So we have a regular guy, a beauty, a brain, an ogre, and a wit. That is how you put together a room or table that is going to make for a fun night. Tomorrow - the Bottom Five people to hang with. There will be one surprise that most guys would include in the Top Five, but I have an issue with her.

Indianapolis Colts - NFL Draft Grade - A

kentsterling — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:40:34 +0000

by Kent Sterling If not for Bill Polian running the Colts effort in the NFL Draft, who knows what kind of grade the Colts might be assigned. The Colts showed weakness in run blocking and pass coverage. On the current roster, the Colts have two All-Pro defensive ends (Robert Mathis, Dwight Freeney), and a middle linebacker (Gary Brackett) who has belonged in the Pro Bowl the past two seasons. Who do the Colts draft in the first two rounds? TCU speed rusher Jerry Hughes and Iowa inside linebacker Patrick Angerer. Both were really good football players in college. When Bill Polian stands in front of media on the day before the draft and says the Colts will take the best player available, there should be no doubt that he means it. It makes total sense. Taking a mediocre guard while leaving a game changing DE with 4.5 40 speed on the board is no way to build an excellent team. On day three, the Colts went after players at positions where they need depth with Jacques McClendon - Tennessee (OG), Ricardo Matthews - Cincinnati (DT), Kavell Conner - Clemson (OLB), and Ray Fisher - Indiana (CB). Also taken in the fifth round was tight end Brody Eldridge - Oklahoma. Not sure how many back-up tight ends the Colts need, but while Eldridge was drafted as a tight end, he has also played center and guard, so he's a blocker not a receiver. At 263 lbs., Eldridge has the bulk to block in double tight end sets. Today, the real genius of Bill Polian and his crew will be on full display. The Colts have been amazingly productive in finding undrafted free agents who compete exceptionally well and contribute immediately. Gary Brackett, Ramon Humber, Jacob Lacey, and Melvin Bullitt were all undrafted free agents. That success brings more success because the undrafted kids and their agents know that the Colts will give them an honest chance to make the team, and will play the best players regardless of pedigree. The Colts are one of the few teams in the NFL who earn an automatic "A" for the draft until proven otherwise. To give them a grade lower is to assume that you know more than Polian, which is quite an assumption. Would it be more fun to live in Denver, Chicago, or Oakland, so we could second-guess with a high degree of confidence that we are right? Sure, but the season wouldn't be nearly as fun.

Indian Premiere League Cricket Finals - Mumbai Indians vs. Chennai Super Kings

kentsterling — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:41:30 +0000

by Kent Sterling Taking advantage of free things is a passion of mine, and when DirecTV offered free live coverage of the cricket finals from India, I decided to invest a couple of hours watching and learning about cricket. I knew nothing about the game before watching this game which seems it will go on forever, but it certainly seems to have caught the imagination of India. They say cricket turned into rounders which then became baseball, but I can't find any similarities between cricket and baseball at all. Right now, the score is 65-2. That is quite unbaseball like, as is the field which is a 360-degree field with the pitching and hitting done square in the middle. The people in India seem to know what's going on. The crowd gets very excited periodically, but I have yet to figure out what. The hitters swing a wide and flat stick not unlike the paddles used to try to get my attention during high school. Instead of whacking my ass, they hit a ball that needs to bounce once on its way to the hitter. Oops, the score is now 80-3. If you get a hankering to visit India, the website that Indians prefer seems to be www.yatra.com. The trip takes roughly one-day, and the roundtrip cost is right around $1,500. That's a lot of money to spend to visit a country that always appears in the media to be squalorous. The score is now 92-3, and they have shown the standings a few times. They list matches and points, but there are no wins and losses. Is it possible that they use their total number of runs, and don't have wins and losses. The are eight boards to go and the Super Kings lead 107-3. I'm unsure of what that means, but it must be good for the Super Kings. The Mumbai team just let what appeared to be a very catchable flyball drop between two fielders. Didn't realize Alfonso Soriano also played cricket. Now there are five overs to go. What is an over? Oh boy, now it's 117-3 after another dropped ball. Maybe Brant Brown plays for Mumbai as well. Thanks to the people at DirecTV for giving me the chance to evaluate the slow-moving insanity of cricket without investing hard-earned cash for the privilege. With 17.5 overs played, the score is 146-4, and I'm moving on to one of the many American sports that are simple enough to follow without a primer. As if I needed another reason to be grateful to have been born in America, the baffling scoring system of cricket can be added to the list. I'm switching to the NASCAR race from Talladega. Colorful cars drive in circles, and the first one across the line at the end of 500 miles wins. Simple.

Sports From the Couch-Crean's Desperation Overshadow's Cook Hall Opening

jshowal2 — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:22:22 +0000

By Jeff Showalter I have been pretty clear on the performance of current Indiana Basketball coach Tom Crean. It has been pathetic. Beyond the obvious lack of wins, other issues plaguing the Crean era has been, a lack of player development, poor in game coaching, not using the bench as a motivator considering losing was inevitable anyway, a really bad offense and poor development in making the state of Indiana the number one priority in recruiting. Crean's third recruiting class has zero players from the state as well as zero top 100 recruits. Crean invested a worthless amount of time chasing New Jersey point guard Kyrie Irving all over the USA like an obsessed lover, only to lose Irving to Duke after Coach K jumped in at the last second. IU is, at this moment, fifth, in recruiting the state behind, Purdue, Louisville, Butler and Kentucky. Crean will move to sixth if Michigan State's Tom Izzo invades Northern Indiana for some of the top players in Gary. All these issues have cultivated a sense of desperation in Bloomington that IU is hoping to place on the back burner with the opening of Cook Hall.

[caption id="attachment_3018" align="alignright" width="150" caption="The flag barrage"][/caption] Events this week, have perpetuated, in my opinion, the obvious continued problems in Bloomington. First, point guard, Marquis Teague, from Indianapolis, committed to the University of Kentucky. While a "one and done" going to UK is not a real big deal in the grand scheme of building the IU program, it does continue the incredible trend that the Hoosier State is no longer prime recruiting grounds for the cream and crimson. Second, the Hoosiers continue the trend of trying to get in late on big men that have not committed, only to lose out to other schools. Moses Abraham, picked Georgetown over IU after being wooed late in the process by the Hoosier coaching staff. Third, Crean consistently is trolling the juco's in an effort to find a big man and continues to miss. But it is the last issue that clearly shows the desperation of the IU program. Emmanuel Negedu was another kid that IU missed on when he spurned IU for Tennessee. Negedu is not at UT anymore when the Vols athletic department would not clear the sophomore to play after Negedu suffered cardiac arrest and was rescued because the UT staff had a defibrillator on hand. Negedu had an internal defibrillator installed but UT would not allow him to compete so the player left. Negedu has been seen at IU and he lived in Bloomington in the summers since he has been in the states. It looks as though Negedu will be offered a scholarship at IU. This move my Crean could be a disaster. Are you willing to take on the responsibility of an athlete with a heart problem in an effort to rebuild the fallen program? Negedu has been cleared by doctors in Tennessee and Los Angeles. He also met with team physician, Larry Rink, who is also a respected cardiologist. The issue? You can name a number of players that have passed away from this very same issue. Is IU willing to take the risk of having an athlete die on the court because he was the 40th ranked player in the class of 2008 and you have a team that quite frankly has been terrible? For me, this is too risky for the player and the coach. If Negedu dies on the court, Crean is done and the IU program, already on life support, dies as well. Too much pressure for anyone to handle. Unless someone can guarantee, 100 percent, Negedu will not have an issue, IU has to say no. This program can't take another hit. Crean's desperation has led him to a place where he is making a decision that could have unimaginable ramifications. It's not worth it.

Let's Take a Chance and Gamble a Bit

The Truth — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:51:02 +0000

By Kyle Miller I’ll be the first to admit, Little 500 dominated me once again. Yesterday my friends and I covered my side yard with a 20’ x 25’ plastic tarp. With a little help from Mother Nature, a hose, and lots of dish soap, we created a gigantic slip ‘n slide. After several relay races and other shenanigans, I woke up this morning sore, bruised, cut and broke. Broke not in the sense of bones, but broke as in money. I have decided to make a small investment into an activity I believe I can conquer. Sports betting. Sports betting was first introduced to me when I was fairly oblivious to what was actually occurring. We went to Las Vegas for a summer AAU basketball tournament prior to my sophomore year in high school, and Kent Sterling and my father would knock on our hotel door and ask my friend, Kent’s son, and me for advice on baseball games. They explained how spreads, money lines, and payouts worked. Finally, for a time spanning roughly three straight days, our fathers would come to our room with a sheet of paper displaying all the games, spreads, and payouts. To make a long story short, my friend and I correctly picked every game for three days. I believe we went something like 7-0. As sixteen year-olds, we dominated Vegas. So here’s my thought: Why not try again? I’ll be cooped up for the next two weeks studying for tests and finals, so I need something to look forward to. I can’t slip ‘n slide every day or else I’d be in a full body cast, so sports betting it is. I understand the addictiveness of betting on sports, which is why I am only placing $20 into an account. Many of you are probably thinking, what’s $20? Well, to a college student on a college budget $20 is enough to risk. My goal is to flip $20 into $80 by the end of the school year. The NBA playoffs are predictable in my eyes, so now is the perfect time to begin my gambling adventure. I’ll most likely lose my $20 immediately, but what the hell… let’s have a little fun. My first pick is the Cleveland Cavaliers, -6, against the Chicago Bulls. LeBron spoke of facing adversity and how it was good for their team to lose Game 3. I want to see how good it really was for them. I think the Cavs will respond by trouncing the Bulls, or as I call them, the Bullocks. Between LeBron’s renewed focus and the fact that the Bulls are pitiful, I believe that the Cavs will extend their series lead to 3-1 crushing the hearts of many Chicagoans.

Sports Digest - Monday, April 26, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:16:27 +0000

Here are the sports stories that make our world go on a late April Monday morning: Colts - Polian Finds Another Perfect Fit with DE Hughes (Indy Star - Kravitz) Colts - Colts Sign 11 Free Agents, Including Edge's Cuz (Star - Chappell) Hoosiers - Muncie's Davis Could Decide Soon (Star - Neddenriep) Hoosiers - Cook Hall Will Blow Away Recruits (IDS - Cohen) Blackhawks - No Suspension for Hossa - (ESPN) Cubs Leap Outside the Box and Sweep the Brewers - (Sun-Times - Wittenmyer) NFL Draft - Long Planned Practical Joke Results in Sam Bradford Not Being Drafted - Onion Sports Oddest Couple of the Year - TMZ This is Chaz Bono (the former Chastity, who was so cute so long ago in her parents' arms at the end of "Sonny & Cher" and figure skating diva Johnny Weir. Where do you begin?

Harry on Sports - Monday, April 26, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:32:45 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry71.mp3]

ESPN Talent - Bottom Five Fun-to-Hang-With Hosts

kentsterling — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:36:49 +0000

By Kent Sterling Yesterday, the top five list was published and included Scott Van Pelt, Sage Steele, Erik Kuselias, Mike Ditka, and Tony Kornheiser. Today, we take a look at the people with whom we would not want to sit for a night of beers and fun. The criteria is simple does that man or woman enhance the conversation, dominate it, or kill it. These guys and the one girl would annoy more than entertain. They might all be nice people - in the case of the one guy I know fairly well, he is definitely a nice guy, but in a bar? Probably not the best pick. 5 - Mike Greenberg - He portrays himself as the metrosexual half of Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio, and he is exactly that. No one is that good an actor. I worked with Mike for two years in Chicago at WMAQ Radio, and he was exactly the same guy he is today. My recollection is that Mike actually used on of those reflectors to enhance his overall tan. No one has owned one of those things since the 1950s until Mike tried to bring them back. I'm not sure whether Mike bought his or fashioned it out of aluminum foil and cardboard. I recall arguing with Mike for hours about Mark Jackson, who Mike thought was the best point guard in basketball - this was in 1990. He was unshakable in that assessment. That inability to allow himself to be moved off a ridiculous position keeps him out of a chair at my table. 4 - Colin Cowherd - Too loud. Too obnoxious. Too unwilling to listen. Too sure of his own twisted perspective. Too west coast. Too shrill a laugh. Too identical to Will Arnett (Left, or is it right) - the actor who portrayed Gob Bluth on "Arrested Development". Boy, that's a hell of a list for the fourth ranked guy. If our table would be filled with mutes, Colin would be perfect. He's exactly the same guy in person that he is on the radio. I met him in Bristol, and when he found out that I programmed 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis, he said "Big stick." I thanked him, and then figured out he meant the power of our transmitter. My response was actually a cockeyed smile because all of the mutton-heads in radio talk about big sticks. There is one non-engineer in radio that I know that I listen to in radio when it comes to big sticks - Randy Michaels. He knows more about arrays, patterns, wattage, and nighttime signals than any man in the world. Cowherd thinks I'm a radio wonk and refers to the 1070 AM stick, or he's a wonk. Colin is also a very polarizing guy. People either love him or hate him. I don't want have of the people at my table to hate anyone. Either way, Colin is out - with prejudice. Good host - bad party guest. 3 - Howie Schwab - He's a know it all concerned with the minutiae of sports rather than the narrative, and I don't give a shit how many University of Minnesota hockey players are currently in the NHL. You got the vibe from Howie during "Stump the Schwab" - the ESPN trivia show - that it's very important to Schwab that everyone knows that he knows everything - which always sucks. Much better to have guests that make everyone else feels smarter, not dumber. One of Schwab's other duties at ESPN is to help produce college basketball games. He is often seen onsite with Dick Vitale passing notes and giving Vitale some nuggets to use during the game. Between the endless trivia and Vitale stories, I would probably rip my ears off before 10 p.m. There is no coincidence that Schwab's picture is very small, and our #1 has two large pics. 2 - Tony Reali - This guy is eliminated for so many reasons, they are hard to list. He presides over a cast of men seemingly paid based upon their ability to annoy on "Around the Horn". Jay Mariotti and Woody Paige have resisted any temptation to be even remotely insightful during their unexplainably long runs on the show, and Reali's smarminess only enhances its unwatchability. He dresses like a guy much more interested in getting laid than being a "guy". We've all known guys like this. You're in a bar, and four of those you're with are laughing and having a great time. The fifth guy, the Reali of the group, is constantly surveying the crowd for babes with whom he will leave as soon as she shows any interest. He spends the whole night trolling and not participating. Then, he winds up with "Snooky" from "Jersey Shore". He could have spent the night laughing and having some fun, but he invested in a rank slut that he'll regret waking up next to. Then, there is the requisite trip to the urologist. All avoidable by focusing on the laughs. 1 - Erin Andrews - I've met Erin, and she is a very nice and honest person. I liked her, but unfortunately she falls into the category of way too good-looking to allow entry into a room full of guys. All my friends would sit with idiotic grins on their faces as they imagined Erin Andrews naked. No way they would be able to concentrate on anything else. She would represent the same level of distraction as an Arab terrorist with four pounds of C4 strapped to a vest. It's not that anyone would harbor any hope of enjoying physical contact with her. Girls like Erin let you know whether they are interested, not the other way around. There is a college basketball coach I spoke with who was interviewed after a game by Erin, and he didn't hear a word of her question. He was mesmerized just looking at her, and when she stopped talking, he had to guess what she asked. The answer might not have had anything to do with the question at all. Erin must believe everyone in the world is very quiet. I don't like quiet rooms, so unfortunately Erin doesn't have a seat at the table. Those are the five ESPN talents who cannot come to a table of my friends who are ready for a night of revelry. Building a good table or party is a lot like building an NFL franchise. The key many times is about who you don't draft as much as who you do. There can be no compromise in whom you refuse to invite. Sure, Erin would draw a crowd, but it would be a quiet crowd whose focus would never deviate from Erin. That's not a party, it's a clothed strip show.

Kentucky Derby Festival Events Kick Off Great Month

kentsterling — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:13:33 +0000

by Kent Sterling Louisville is generally not the most remarkable city in the United States. For 51-weeks, there is not so much to do, and then for one week the city turns it up and becomes a destination. That week starts today as the 136th Running of the Kentucky Derby is only six days away. Most of the events are a little strange, but Louisville brings such energy to the Pegasus Parade, Balloon Race, and Steamboat Race that the whole vibe of the city becomes very positive. Louisville is only an hour-and-a-half south of Indianapolis, but very few people from Indytake advantage of the easy drive down I-65 to enjoy any of the party. That's a shame because it's much different than the Month of May in Indy. Nothing gets done in Louisville this week. It's a little like Mardi Gras without the beads. When I worked at WIBC, we took advantage of the invitation offered us by the Derby Festival Committee to spend two days in Louisville on them. They put us up at the Galt House and made damn sure we had a great time. To satisfy our part of the deal, we did three morning shows that were reach-arounds for the Louisville Chamber of Commerce. To the committee members, fun meant never letting 9 a.m. pass without a cocktail in their hand. These were some old school knuckleheads who ignored both civic laws and safety issues most take for granted. The guys in the sport coats with the ever-present Pegasus logos had no problem going to wrong way on one-way streets while on cell phones, steering with their knees because their non-phone hand was busy trying to keep their bourbon and Coke from spilling on their fancy coats. Jeff Pigeon, Terri Stacy, Steve Simpson and I spent a lot of time looking at each other in disbelief as these affable nuts made a never-ending series of dubious if not dangerous decisions. They laughed a lot, and expressed great pride in their city. The fun was contagious, and we always promised to come back. That promise was broken when we finally had to embrace the fact that no one in Indianapolis cared about their neighbors to the south, and we were sacrificing three days of ratings in exchange for a hell of a good time. This year, there is a lot going on, even if you aren't well-connected and invited to all the outstanding parties. My favorite bar in Louisville is the Phoenix Hill and they have two nice concerts schedule for Friday and Saturday nights - Puddle of Mudd is there Friday, and The Drowning Pool is on Derby Night. Incidentally, Puddle of Mudd is also playing the show on the night before the Indy 500 in Noblesville. Rodney Atkins is the headliner for the Derby Eve Jam. I would be much more inclined to head to the Phoenix Hill for Puddle of Mudd, as I prefer rock to country, but the Jam is on the waterfront and it's free. If you like horse racing, Friday is a nice day to watch America's best fillies (horses, not giant hat-wearing broads) in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. Parking is ridiculous around Churchill Downs, so either get there early or late. Be careful of the guys who ask you to pay them to watch your car. What they are really asking is whether you would like to pay them not to mess with your car. A few years ago, we parked on the street and laughed at the guy who offered "to keep an eye on things" while we enjoyed a day at the races. When we got on I-65, the car started to shake. We nursed it to a tire store, and the mechanic found that three of our left front lugnuts were gone, and the other two had been loosened. Nice. I have gone to one derby, and had a reasonably good time. My problem was that the guy with whom I went to the race had been out the night before and met two girls roughly our age from downstate Illinois. He staked a claim on more attractive of the two, and left me with a not unattractive girl, except for an exceptionally dark and discolored incisor. She looked like she could have been Jackie Earle Haley's sister, but that tooth was too much for me to ignore (not that being Haley's sister was a positive with perfect teeth). Each time she smiled, I wondered how it became so dark, and whether it denoted some odd level of infection. Why couldn't she get that taken care of? So my friend got the beauty, and I faked an illness so I could go home. Derby Day is a lovely mess. The infield is for the young and young at heart. It's a crazy festivals of bourbon, beer, and betting. And there is mud - a lot of mud. Wear shoes you would otherwise throwaway, and lineup early to bet. If they let you bet all the races at once, do that. The cheapest ticket to the derby is $40, but they never sellout because the infield has an infinite capacity. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMiXNFH5rR8] If you are an Indy 500 veteran but Kentucky Derby rookie, you need to know that coolers are allowed in the infield (18" X 18" is the max size), but they cannot contain alcoholic beverages of any kind. At Indy, anything goes in coolers, even in the grandstand as long as the cooler is no more than 14-inches wide. Betting on the Derby is more fun than in normal races because of the 20-horse field. Anything can happen, and it just might this Saturday with the pulling of expected overwhelming favorite Eskendereya from the field due to injury. Bob Baffert trained Lookin At Lucky will be the favorite (at 5-2 or 3-1), followed by Sidney's Candy and Awesome Act. Derby week is a great time. Hotels in Louisville will be cheap until Friday. The people are friendly. If you have a day or two to kill this week, invest 90-minutes in a drive to Louisville to kick of a great month of fun in or near Indiana.

Ben Roethlisberger's Apology Too Little Too Late

kentsterling — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:51:16 +0000

by Kent Sterling If Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger bought shots of Patron for a group of 20-year-olds in a Macon, Georgia, bar, and then took one of the seriously inebriated girls into the men's bathroom to bang the back of her head against the stall partition, that's it for me. This is one of the most recognizable players in the NFL, and by being exceptionally indiscreet, he communicated with millions of kids with the NFL lifestyle is all about doing whatever the hell you want to girls you have paid to inebriate. I'm not sure when the change occurred in the sexual values game with teenagers, but the world has gone completely haywire in the 30-years since my hormones careened through my body like electrons in a nuclear accelerator. The stories from high school kids blow my mind, and tell a story of a generation whose values are in crisis. Activities that were only rumored to exist when I was in school are now practiced without a second thought. If a girl had done to me what kids say goes on routinely today, I would have been both speechless and stunned. With Tiger, Ben, Kobe, Bill Clinton, Jesse James and dozens of other well known men treating women like their own private billiard room where balls and cues are caressed and stroked - okay, that's gross, but I'm keeping it - and TMZ more than happy to air any dirt that is captured on an iPhone, young girls who don't have armor-esque self-esteem have almost no choice but see themselves as tools of powerful men's physical whims. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiIP_KDQmXs The Roethlisberger events perpetuate this medieval image of women, and the NFL's answer is a six-game suspension that can be reduced to four if Roethlisberger adheres to a series of conditions. Now, Roethlisberger apologizes to fans and teammates for letting them down. "The Commissioner's decision to suspend me speaks clearly that more is expected of me," Roethlisberger said in a statement posted on the Steelers' website and e-mailed to media. "I am accountable for the consequences of my actions. "Though I have committed no crime, I regret that I have fallen short of the values instilled in me by my family. I will not appeal the suspension and will comply with what is asked of me -- and more." "Missing games will be devastating for me," Roethlisberger said in the statement. "I am sorry to let down my teammates and the entire Steelers fan base. I am disappointed that I have reached this point and will not put myself in this situation again. "I appreciate the opportunities that I have been given in my life and will make the necessary improvements." My problem is with the timing of this apology and all other similar apologies. Has anyone ever become sorry before being caught - and not just caught but presented with irrefutable evidence of their atrocious behavior. No one expresses contrition or even admits wrongdoing without being painted into a corner by mountainous and compelling testimony. Remember Linda Tripp, the odd woman who was excoriated by democrats for accusing President Clinton of having "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky? Their outrage was muted by a soiled dress. Barring the dress, Clinton's denials would have stuck. Is there a man out there who does wrong and says he was wrong without physical evidence being thrown in his lap? The truth is elusive under the best of circumstances, but there should be no credit given to a legally vetted statement that exists as much to restate that his activities were not criminal. I'm all about viewing these guys in the context of their performance on the field, court, or course, but in an era when PR reps employed by the athlete or company with whom the athlete does business, the image is an important consideration in whether fans respond positively to him. I want to watch Tiger play golf without seeing the guy who is alleged to have treated women like shit - threatening to punch them and urinate on them - but that's impossible. Now what I see is an asshole who decided that big money and fame trumped decency. In Roethlisberger, we are treated to the same thing. Where are the guys who say no because it's right? I'm looking for them, but it's harder to imagine their are many out there. Maybe LeBron. Maybe Mickelson. Maybe we should just make damn sure that our kids understand that it's our pedestrian views of right and wrong that are important, and not the rich and famous. Kids need to know right and wrong aren't simply commandments, but good ideas from a practical standpoint. Keep it simple. Be nice. Don't be an asshole, even if you can get away with it.

Carmel Assault Case - Charges Delayed Again

kentsterling — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:31:22 +0000

by Kent Sterling Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp announced today that there is new information that needs to be reviewed before charges are filed, and that will take up to another month. You couldn't make this up. In Mid-January, three senior Carmel basketball players allegedly attacked a freshman player on a school bus traveling from Terre Haute to Carmel. The seniors were not supposed to be on the bus but were allowed by the coaches accompanying the freshmen. The senior pulled down the pants of the freshman, according to another freshman player who witnessed the attack, and shoved a cell phone into his rectum. The victim was taken to the hospital and treated for a tear in the tissue where the call phone had been shoved. The hospital informed the school of the injury, and the kid didn't reveal the source of the injury until school officials began asking questions alluding to his parents as the abusers. To keep his parents from being accused, the freshman came clean about his senior teammates. Nearly a month later, Carmel High School acted and suspended the three seniors. Shortly after that, another accusation of assault came to light, and is still being investigated by Leerkamp's office. That senior was also suspended. There are conflicting reports as to whether the seniors were expelled, or simply told to stay home and accept their diplomas for the work they had done prior to their final semester. From the very beginning of the media coverage of this sexually deviant behavior, the clear goal of the prosecutor and school officials has been to extend the game and move the story out of the academic year, so that the horrific 2009-2010 year could end in relative peace for everyone - except the victims of the many rumored assaults on Carmel students over the past several years, and those who have bravely stood to face the fire as they reported those events for which charges may or may not be filed. That the prosecutors in Hamilton and Hendricks County, as well as the officials in Carmel schools have been long on image control and short on accountability. Someone over there must have read "All the President's Men", and thought Nixon and the Plumbers had it right. Just as it was during Watergate, until the mountain of evidence became impossible to look away from, the majority of America just couldn't believe it. The number of Carmel citizens who stand behind superintendent Jeff Swensson and principal John Williams is stunning. These men believe that by refusing to acknowledge the problem that seems cultural within the halls and locker rooms of the school, the public will be fooled into believing there is no problem, and many are. But it's even worse than that. The administrators, teachers, and students believe that there is no problem, that this is an anomaly. The assistant principal, Amy Skeens-Benton, believe the media has created this problem, and meetings scheduled to discuss solutions for a problem they don't believe exists deal more with responses to the media than pursuing the means by which kids within the school might treat each other with respect and empathy. Skeens-Benton went on to whine about how the school had been "bullied by the media". She expended time during the meeting to propose that a video be made by the school of every interview conducted with a school official so parents could see the whole interview. That will keep kids safe how? The entire press conference debacle was webcast live and unedited. Carmel school officials have never looked more moronic and silly. If I were Skeens-Benton, I would beg the media to continue to edit. These boobs left to their own devices give way too accurate an account of their own ineptitude. They say the vast majority of the kids are decent and respectful. Of course they are. Can you imagine what kind of mania would exist in a school where even 10% of the students bullied or were victims of bullying? This isn't about killing an ant with a sledgehammer. This is about a kid on a school bus within 15-feet of coaches entrusted to protect kids not noticing or stopping three seniors from taking down the pants of a freshman and ramming a cell phone into his ass. If adults aren't willing to put a definitive halt to that kind of behavior, find some who will. Anal cuts on an innocent is not the fault of the media. The first step in solving a problem is to admit there is one, and the media glare on this outrage is entirely the responsibility of those who preen in front of the cameras - their behavior screaming "Nothing to see here! All is well." The media isn't too bright themselves, and like most professions, never underestimate their desire to work just hard enough to get by, but like any group with even a small amount of pride, they don't like to be treated like that image is always reality. Every once in a while, the media rises to the occasion, and I hope this is one of those times. The very least that should be demanded by parents is safety for their kids, and when one isn't safe, all aren't safe. Hold these bureaucratic mopes to a higher standard than to sit in their fancy leather chairs and cite the media as the bad guy. How many kids need to be cell-raped before enough is enough? How many assaults amount to a problem? Six? 40? What's the number? Be men. Stand up, and do something more than put a coach's office in the locker rooms. If you had three coaches on the bus during the assault, and they paid no attention to it, the problem isn't the facilities. It's the men trusted by the parents to do the right thing. The right thing, by the way, is the thing being left undone at Carmel High School. Just ask the two victims.

Sports Digest - Tuesday, April 27, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:01:41 +0000

Cubs win in 10; the Colts continue to build, and the other stories that frame our day Colts - Draft Day Grade from Kravy - (Indy Star - Kravitz) Big Ten - Schools Will Likely Have to Be Members of the American Assoc. of Universities (Indy Star - Rabjohns) SEC - Watching Big Ten's Moves (AP) Hoosiers - Eric Gordon Upbeat About Future (Star - Rabjohns) Kentucky Derby - Jockey Favored to Win Derby as He Is Greatest "Horse-Beather of All (The Onion) Cubs - Zambrano Move Could Get Tricky - (Sun-Times - Wittenmyer) Cubs - The Carlos Armada Gets Win Against Nats (Sun-Times - Wittenmyer) Cubs - Z Does the Job for Cubs - (Chicago Tribune - Sullivan)

Harry on Sports - Tuesday, April 27, 2010

kentsterling — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:11:39 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry72.mp3]

Cathedral Basketball Needs to Go Back to the Future for Coach

kentsterling — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:12:08 +0000

by Kent Sterling Tom O'Brien is an old coach. he was the head coach of the Cathedral Fighting Irish back in the early 1970s, and then again in the 1980s. Recently unseated coach Scott Hicks played for OB back in the 1980s. He also coached Jerry Sloan, the head coach of the Utah Jazz, and longest tenured coach in the NBA, when he was at Evansville. Sloan is 68 years old. I'm not sure how old OB is, but if he coached Sloan, he must be older than 68. I don't care how old he is. OB runs a great practice, knows the game, and teaches basketball principles so that kids embrace them. My son played for OB for four summers from 2003-2006, and taught the kids on that AAU team a hell of a lot about basketball, and more importantly he made it fun for the kids. He's healthy, has great energy, and loves kids. I don't care if he's 104, he's good for kids and good for the game. Hiring a young mediocre coach is not as smart as hiring a really good old guy who can still coach. Every one of OB's practices was run with great precision and discipline, and the kids loved every minute of them. By the way, ten of those kids are currently playing college basketball. OB is a rare bird who demands effort and respect from kids. He inspires confidence in the kids, and you can bet that Cathedral won't have any assaults on their buses with OB as the coach. The process for filing applications is closed, and the decision should be made within the month. There are times when you take a flyer on a kid because you believe in him. In this case, Cathedral should do the opposite and take a chance on an old guys who's done it before, and still has the energy to do it today. Granted, OB is a friend of mine. He's a genuinely good guy who's been around a lot of blocks, but there are very few coaches of any age who relate better to kids than Tom O'Brien. Basketball is a simple game, and OB teaches it as a simple game. His teams win, and his kids play hard and smart. They respect the game, their opponents, and each other. What more from a coach does Cathedral want?

Don't Be Fooled by Cubs Recent Success

kentsterling — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:13:29 +0000

by Kent Sterling It's tough being a Cubs fan. For years, the Cubs have been very good at beating the hell out of bad teams, and getting thumped by the good ones. That's not unusual in baseball. That scenario plays out for all the mediocre teams in baseball. The Cubs unfortunately are one of those. The Cubs are 10-10 after last night's 10-inning win against the Washington Nationals. The Cubs starting rotation is 8-4-8. The eight is for wins, the four is losses, and the seven is no-decisions. That means the bullpen is 2-6. With a decent pen, the Cubs would be riding high this month as they enjoy the most favorable schedule of the season. The ERA of the starters for the season (minus Carlos Zambrano, who has been moved to the bullpen) is a hair over two. And they are 10-10. The team batting average is .271, good for fifth in the league, and they have hit 23 homers - third in the National League. And they are 10-10. Six of the starting eight for the Cubs are hitting .295 or better. And they are 10-10. Aramis Ramirez is putting one of Cubs history's worst Aprils since Gary Scott with a puny .139 average, last in the NL by 14 points. The Cubs have been very healthy so far, and that won't last given their age. Fortunately, they are relatively deep with Xavier Nady and Tyler Colvin in the outfield, Chad Tracy and Jeff Baker in the infield, and Carlos Zambrano behind the five starters. They are the second oldest team in the NL though, and that means trips to the DL will pile up. The next 21 games are against the Nats, D-Backs, Pirates, Reds, Marlins, Pirates, and Rockies. Those teams are among the league's worst. They should be clear of .500 by several games through that stretch, even if they continue to lose games they should win. Lou Piniella has started to make tough decisions - a gift I didn't know he still had, but I guess being in the final year of a contract with new owners will get a 67-year-old to make the tough climb out of the box seem worthwhile. He's doing a nice job spotting rookie Tyler Colvin, who has an OPS of 1.102 (the combination of the on base % and slugging %). At some point though, if Colvin continues to whack like Albert Pujols, Alfonso Soriano should be the guy who spots. How about the starting outfield with slugging averages of .533 (Soriano), .563 (Marlon Byrd), .588 (Kosuke Fukudome), and Colvin's .697? And the Cubs are 10-10? Minor league phenom Starlin Castro is hitting .382 with an OPS over one. As soon as the Cubs pass the threshold for starting Castro's arbitration clock, he should be the Cubs starting shortstop. Move Theriot over to second, and suddenly an infield with limited range becomes solid. Move Mike Fontenot to a club in need of a weak-armed unsure-handed second baseman with occasional pop at the plate, and maybe the Cubs have a chance to hang around with the Cardinals. Don't get too excited though. There are tough decisions down the road for Piniella and GM Jim Hendry. The farm system might be ready to produce their first real major league position players since Mark Grace and Rafael Palmiero. There have been quite a few GMs since Dallas Green started drafting real prospects. That zero good major league position players are currently active that were raised by the Cubs is a disgrace, and Hendry has been the head guy for almost eight years. Tim Wilken and Oneri Fleita are responsible for the current influx of young Cubs talent that looks ready to make the jump, but Hendry deserves some credit for hiring those guys. Still, the Cubs are leaky defensively, and has zero team speed. Tough to beat top starting pitching without being able to create runs. If you are one of the kooks who love getting all hyped up about October during May, enjoy yourselves. I'm waiting until August 1. My prediction is that the Cubs are even-steven as July ends.

Crazy Mike Brey Rumor - Brey Being Forced to Resign

kentsterling — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:06:13 +0000

by Kent Sterling Here are the facts... WNDU news anchor Erin Logan was arrested for public intoxication, disorderly content and resisting arrest April 15th at the home of formers Chicago Bears and Notre Dame Fighting Irish lineman Chris Zorich. When police responded to a call from Zorich, they found Logan belligerent and uncooperative. Logan's blood alcohol content was .11. She was almost immediately fired by WNDU. The rumor is that Brey is being forced out due to a relationship with Logan that broke Notre Dame's code of conduct. Brey has been the head coach for Notre Dame hoops for 10 seasons, and has amassed a consistently mediocre body of work. The Irish has gone to the NCAA Tourney six times, advancing as far as the Sweet Sixteen only once. They always go to a postseason, but never advance far enough to gin up any passion for the program, The rumor right now is just a lot of chatter on the internet, but that chatter is more organized than most weirdness that populates it regularly. There may be no fire, but there is sure a lot of smoke. Even if the rumored tryst between Brey and Logan is nothing but blather, let this story be a lesson to hot women everywhere - you might be able to be a bitch everywhere else, but the cops are hot-agnostic when decided who to slap cuffs on. There is another side to the Logan/Zorich incident. Logan says (as you might guess) that she did nothing wrong, and that Zorich is at fault. She became belligerent when it was clear that police were taking the side of the Irish football star when it was he who provoked the incident, and gave Logan reason to fear for her safety. As 1070 - The Fan's Eddie White always says, "There are three sides to every story - his, hers, and the truth."

Cubs Fans Are as Sensitive as the Cubs Themselves

kentsterling — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:08:00 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Cubs aren't very good right now. Fans can wish and think and hope and pray as I do, but that won't give Mike Fontenot any extra range or arm strength. Fontenot is Bruce Pearson from "Bang the Drum Slowly" without the cancer. That isn't my fault. I didn't trade for him. Jim Hendry did. The bullpen, minus Carlos Marmol sucks. Carlos Zambrano has pitched alright in two eighth inning appearances, but that won't last. At some point Mt. St. Z will blow, and when he does, he will go completely off the reservation and who knows what damage will lie in his wake. The Cubs will be left with Sean Marshall and the law firm of Russell, Grabow, and Berg - "We object to eighth inning runs!" I didn't assemble that mismash of noodle armed mediocrity. Jim Hendry did. Yet when I write about the Trojan Horse that will be the Cubs record after the next 20 games, people rip me. Just like Kent Mercker blamed Steve Stone for telling the truth, Cubs fans like to bruise the messenger: "You are the whole reason I hate cubs fans. I am done reading your swill. How about just being a fan. Win or lose i love my Cubs. Really? Good job dumb ass!" Tim Doyle "Thanks Tim for taking the words right out of my mouth. Maybe we are dumb for being happy in May, but what's the point of even watching baseball right now if we can't enjoy a 4 game win streak. 3 of which we obliterated Milwaukee IN Milwaukee.... Theriot is hot, same with Kosuke, D. Lee always gets off to a slow start every year, and Rami seemed to break out of his slump last night. The starting pitching rotation is arguably the best in baseball with Lilly back. Zambrano seems to be shining in the bullpen and is almost surely not to give up multiple run leads like the other set-up men have been doing whether he is happy there or not. Maybe this is just optimism from a life long Cubs fan, but it may also be because I know if I want to enjoy the baseball season as a Cubs fan or any other fan of a baseball team, optimism is all I can have." Ryan Ahearn "They're 20 games into 162 game schedule. And last I checked, they trailed the Cards by only 2-1/2 games. If the Cubs are as mediocre as you claim Mr. Sterling, what does that make St. Louis? There are 142 games left to straighten out the bullpen. It'll happen. The bats have come alive & the starting pitching has been fantastic thus far. Let's at least see where they stand in June before we start leaping off the bridge!" Matt Row It bears mention that being 2 1/2 games back after 20 games projects to a 20 game deficit over the course of a full season. Save your optimism for a year when it's warranted. Hey, I want the Cubs to win as badly as anyone, but this group doesn't have the speed or defense to get it done. Jim Hendry has squandered $130-million to collect mediocrity. Of the top nine in ABs, seven are significantly above their career average. The starters have been spectacular. The schedule has been favorable. The Cubs are 10-10. I'm not making this shit up. These are real numbers. I've watched season after season after season of good Cubs seasons and bad. If you need to wait until June to put two and two together, go right ahead. Tim Wilken is putting together solid draft classes, and if Hendry doesn't screw the pooch by trading legit prospects for more old guys to try to salvage 2010, we might have something to get legitimately excited about in 2012.

Sports From the Couch-Views From the Couch

jshowal2 — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:34:42 +0000

By Jeff Showalter The Couch believes the citizens of Carmel should be embarrassed and ashamed. What does it take to get the "republic" upset? Death? What if the athletes did this to a female? Grow some onions Carmel! Dhani Jones is the man! Despite going to Michigan, the dude plays a great linebacker and has one of the best shows on TV Dhani Tackles the Globe. Jones is a modern age renaissance man. Speaking of Bengals, my boy Ochocinco continues to represent the NFL well in dancing with the stars. Speaking of DWTS, today's babe from the Couch is Julianne Hough.

Tom Crean lost another potential recruit this week. Dwight McCombs chose CENTRAL FLORIDA over IU. Crean loses again. First, how desperate can you be to hit the juco route for a player that is being recruited by Middler Tennessee State, Arizona State and UCF? Second, why are we recruiting players that are probably not good enough to be at IU anyway? I'll stick to Crean's desperation theory. Mike Woodson showed up at the reception for Cook Hall between games in the Atlanta Hawks series with Milwaukee. Not a good idea. Hawks lost last night. Crean's impact to losing knows no borders. American Idol: It has "jumped the shark". Artists as a whole aren't very good. There is a reason why Simon Cowell is leaving. The dude is smart, if anything, and has more money then he knows what to do with. Dennis Ryerson, you want to save the newspaper business? More articles like Matthew Tully's article about a student finding his personal history. That is what newspapers have to do to stay relevant. They have to tell a story. The news is easy to access. Good stories are not easy to find. People have to find them, have the guts to write them and have an editor with the vision to publish them. M. Tully. Ryerson, go get the Carmel story. The Star hasn't done enough. There is an obligation to the area for the lone newspaper to take a more involved stance on what may be the biggest story of the last 6 months. Reds suck, Cubs suck, baseball sucks, when does football start? David Stern, on Sunday, there is no acceptable reason for a playoff game to start a game after 8pm EST! None! It's a Sunday. You had 4 games on Sunday. Noon, 2:30, 5pm and 7:30 pm! How hard can that be. No wonder no one cares. OH yeah, with the 10th pick of the 2010 NBA draft, Your Indiana Pacers select....a player not as good as the one you would be picking if you didn't try to win 11 of 13 at the end of the season. Talk about stupid, they can't even lose correctly. Gordon Hayward is going to go pro. I understand the reason but you can't put a price on becoming a legend. Winning a National Championship made Scott May and Kent Benson a helluva lot more money then the NBA ever did. Contracts were smaller back then, but the point is that there is a lot of money to be made by staying a year as well. Get stronger, get better, remember how to shoot. Go win a championship. 24 is almost over. Somebody should pick the series up. TNT????? Jack Bauer would put up with Carmel for about two minutes. Where is the hero of the kids that were abused? Guess they must not need one. That's too bad!

American Idol Review - Final Six - April 27, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:06:53 +0000

by Kent Sterling Tonight, the last six-pack delved into the Shania Twain songbook. And I love Shania. Okay, I'm indifferent about Shania. She's not someone I would ever pay to see, but what the hell, the Idols singing the Pete Townshend catalogue won't happen in my lifetime, and the chances of J Geils being featured are bleak. How about The Ramones? I'm never going to be superserved by this show, but at least they haven't gone so far afield that they have gone to Marc Cohn. Lee DeWyze - He sang "Still the One", and it was okay. Not the best of the season for him and not the worst. I'm not sure why with some of the contestants the judges criticize their ability to really break through and be unique when Lee has sung in basically the same style and performance level for weeks. He's beyond competent, and has improved from week-to-week until this show. Still, I kind of like the guy. He's one of the few Idols that I could see myself sitting next to at a Cubs game and disliking by the end of the fourth. He seems like a guy, and he's eager to learn and grow. Mike Lynche - Big Mike is constantly compared to Luther Vandross, which makes sense because both are (was, in Luther's case) big, black, and melodic. Skinny, white comedians with page-boy haircuts remind people of Emo Phillips. As with Lee, Mike sings every song the same. There is something to be said for consistency, but I couldn't tell tonight's "It only Hurts When I'm Breathing" from any of the songs Mike has performed in the last four weeks. There is nothing surprising, so I don't look forward to his segments. They don't stick in my mind, and frankly I was kind of shocked to see him this week. I know he is still on the show, but he is the same as he was during Hollywood Week, so my brain has thrown Mike in the bucket with all the others who didn't cut through. Casey James - He brought "Don't" to life, whatever that means. His hair is too girly for me. The fluffy waves are for Farrah Fawcett than Gregg Allman. That said, the song choice was perfect for him, and this was by far his best performance of the competition so far. This marks the quickest evolution from rocker to soft AC artist in the history of music. Normally, bands at the very end of their relevance sell-out and record ballads to extend their commercial viability. Casey made the leap prior to recording his first album, but this song definitely showed the kind of music he's most ready to get rich by performing. I thought he might be in trouble this week, but that performance gets him through to the Top Five. It's tough for a contestant to elevate out of the bottom three once there because the same people vote each week, so Casey needed to change the minds of some voters or win more Tim Urban devotees than the others, and I think that performance did it. Crystal Bowersox - "No One Needs to Know" was her choice of Twain songs, and I think she picked the wrong song - not that I have a better idea of what a better Twain song would be. It was a playful little bluegrass thing, but I didn't think it did anything to showcase her wild talents. She is the only unique performer in the field this year. She makes every song sound unique. I've written it for weeks, but the key - the absolute key - to a performance and artist is authenticity. There is nothing that can be done to acquire authenticity, and those who have it as well as some incredible musical gifts wind up being one name artists like Elvis and Madonna. Time will tell whether Crystal has that kind of gift, but she is the only one who has the charisma to have any chance. She is kind of like Albert Pujols was in his rookie year, and thought, "Christ, that guy can hit any pitch out of the park." I thought he might be the best hitter I had ever seen, but that kind of hyperbole is reserved for looking back at a career of excellence, not ahead toward an unknown level of consistency. Crystal might wig out and decide she would rather sing in bars in her hometown than play the Hollywood Bowl and arenas. Aaron Kelly - He chose "You Got a Way", and that song just has too big a message for that little fella to deliver. I can't take a 17-year-old singing a song of emotional depth. All of the remaining contestants can sing, so they have to do more than just sing, and this kid isn't there yet for me. Some kids are wise beyond their years and can convey the ideas in a complicated song. Then, he started to tear up because he said he sang it to his mom. That might be enough to get people to pick up the phone and vote. Still, unless Siobhan shits the bed, I don't think Aaron moves on to the Fab Five. Siobhan Magnus - "Any Man of Mine". Siobhan is still more interested in singing than performing. She always seems to be just a bit behind the beat, and in this song - a song screaming for some playfulness - Siobhan went back to the screaming at the end. It wasn't fun, and performance was forced. Simon accused her of "almost giving birth" at the end of the song. Not good enough to win, but surely Siobhan won't be voted off tomorrow night. No one will miss her when she's gone because she is a voice without a heart big enough to hold interest, but if everyone had "it", then "it" wouldn't be as special and unique as "it" is. Rankings for the Final Sixes Performances Tonight: 1 - Casey James - a first on top 2 - Lee DeWyze 3 - Michael Lynche 4 - Crystal Bowersox 5 - Siobhan Magnus 6 - Aaron Kelly The bottom two will be Big Mike and Aaron with Aaron going home.

Sports Digest - Wednesday, April 28, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:06:32 +0000

Here are the stories that frame our day as sports fans: NCAA's Basic Problems Remain - Indy Star (Kravitz) NCAA Hires New Head - Star (Rabjohns) New NCAA President Defers on BCS Question - Star (Rabjohns) Hoosiers - Carlino Pledges UCLA - Star (Neddenriep/Schulz) UK Basketball - Recruiting Violations for Cal for Recruitment of Hoops Playing Dog - The Onion Pacers - Granger to Have Short Offseason - Star (Wells) Kentucky Derby - If You're Lookin At Lucky, You're Looking at the Favorite - Louisville Courier-Journal (Rees) Cubs - Bats (and Dugout) Go Cold - Chicago Sun-Times (Wittenmyer) Celebrity Rehab - Shoots for the Stars - TMZ

Harry on Sports - Wednesday, April 28, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:20:34 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry73.mp3]

Final Six American Idol Review - April 27, 2010

kentsterling — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:23:58 +0000

by Justin Whitaker Ding dong the witch is dead. Finally the worst singer on American Idol this season is eliminated. Tim Urban is gone! This makes the show so much more enjoyable from here on out. The only bad news is this week is Shania Twain week. Aaron Kelly is the only singer on Idol who has any sort of country in him and it is not like he that good anyways. So here we go, let’s get to the performances! Top Six: Shania Twain Week 1. Lee DeWyze – “You’re Still the One” This song choice automatically made me think of when David Cook covered “Always Be My Baby” by Mariah Carey in season 7. A great choice of song by Lee, if I had to pick a favorite Shania song, it would be this. I did not like how it started off, it sounded odd like there needed to be more. But he did a great job singing the song like usual. I felt like I wanted to hear him perform the entire song, not just a minute and half of it. Lee did a great job making the song sound current and relevant. 2. Mike Lynche – “It Only Hurts When I Breathe” Big Mike sitting on the staircase looked really cool with the lights dimmed and the fog rushing out behind him. This version sounded nowhere close to country, which was good for Big Mike’s sake. The song sounded extremely R&B. I found the song and him boring tonight though. Every week Big Mike is a hit or miss, sometimes he is good and sometimes he isn’t. His voice sounded well, but I just did not like the song choice at all. 3. Casey James – “Don’t” Is it just me or did Casey’s hair look extra curly and extra done up? I am pretty sure that Casey got his hair done with the intention of going to prom immediately after his performance. All that is missing is a corsage and a bright pink dress that shows off just enough of the legs. Enough of his look, let’s get to song. Brace yourself, I actually liked it. He was not screaming over the guitar, his voice was controlled, the song was simple and they all combined for his best performance of the competition. The only problem with the performance is I do not believe this is artist that he his. He wants to be rocker and jam band kind of artist. I have a hard time believing that he will stick to these types of songs. But if he wants to have a shot at winning Idol this year, then he will. 4. Crystal Bowersox – “No One Needs to Know Right Now” This looked like a performance of Crystal Bowersox and the Hippies. The set up was very weird, with the band and rug on stage. This was by far the most country out of all the songs tonight. The three high notes near the end did not sound pleasant either. The music was not that good and Crystal did not sing it well. I felt that she was performing at the Little Nashville Opry in Brown County, Indiana. I believe it burned down though. And a performance like that could have started the fire. 5. Aaron Kelly – “It’s In the Way You Love Me” His voice was shaky at the beginning but got better as he hit the chorus. At times I felt like he was singing the song really well and other times I really wanted to change the channel. There was not much to song and it was almost like a lullaby. The end note was extremely strong though. He delivered there at the end, but other than that I was not a big fan. 6. Siobhan Magnus – “Any Man of Mine” The drums sounded like the beginning of “We Will Rock You” by Queen. I wish she had sung that song instead. But regardless, she made this song listenable. I am a huge fan of Siobhan and luckily the vocals were better than they have been lately. She really belted out the end of the song. The trademark huge note at the end was a tad too long but she did a great job overall. I was not expecting her to be that good. Justin’s Power Rankings for Shania Twain Week 1. Lee DeWyze 2. Siobhan Magnus 3. Casey James 4. Aaron Kelly 5. Michael Lynche 6. Crystal Bowersox Overall, they did a better job than I expected this week. I actually enjoyed the Shania Twain week much more than I regularly enjoy country music. Lee, Siobhan and Casey were by far the best of the night. Aaron, Michael and Crystal were sub par and I expect them to be in the bottom three this week. I predict that Big Mike will be the one going home this week making his save a few weeks ago useless. Let me know what you think! Post your own rankings!

Carmel Assault Update - New Information Surfaces

kentsterling — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:52:51 +0000

by Kent Sterling The story continues to percolate, and every time there is new information, it leads all Indianapolis newscasts. There is still hunger for new information and a desire to see justice done on behalf of the victims of the two specific assaults by members of the Carmel High School Basketball Team, and the many others who have suffered for years because of the culture that allowed so many other acts of bullying there to go unpunished. There have been some new pieces of information that we have learned. The hard drive of the video unit from the bus carrying the freshman team home from Terre Haute on January 22 - the bus where the brutal incident involving the cell phone took place - has been recovered. It's very difficult to see anything because it's very dark and the image is grainy. The prosecution of the incident in the locker room is being hampered because the victim has not been willing to cooperate fully with the investigation. This may be what has prompted Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp to convene a grand jury. In that setting, he may be compelled to testify. At the conclusion of the investigation, multiple members of the Carmel School Board will recommend that the entire coaching staff for boys basketball be replaced. They feel very confident that coaches have overlooked incidents of bullying for some time, and that a change in staff is the only way to assure a change in culture has taken place. People in Carmel can moan about the never-ending din of media coverage for this story, but if the bureaucrats want nothing more than to crate this mess and hide it in the crawl space, the media is the perfect tool to force a reckoning. The media's most sacred trust is to find a way to shine a bright light in places those who abuse power want hidden. There are times when that light in uncomfortable, and we are forced to look at events we wish didn't exist, but wishing doesn't always make it so. The unpleasantness makes recurrence more difficult. Kids being abused is horrifying, but if this is dealt with quietly and discreetly, what is the disincentive for school officials to go back to business as usual? The memory of the assault on January 22 can never be scrubbed from the memory of the victim, so it should never be out of the minds of those who can help prevent another similar attack. Correcting a broken culture is never easy, and often messy. It should be done in the light of day and with diligence. That is what the media is trying to ensure.

New NCAA President Mark Emmert's To-Do List

kentsterling — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:07:39 +0000

by Kent Sterling "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss." Pete Townshend, "Won't Get Fooled Again" Mark Emmert will take the reins of the NCAA on November 1. He can be an advocate for much needed change in college athletics, and serve as a voice for those who have none, or he can be the figure head for the member college presidents and make sure the money pump remains fully engaged. The NCAA is an organization to which colleges and universities belong. It authority is granted by those it governs, which means that any implementation of rules that adversely affect members could prompt a change in structure that might eliminate the organization entirely. This is like investment firms being governed by an SEC that is funded by and selected by those same firms it oversees. If that isn't a situation rife with potential for short-sightedness, one-sidedness, and/or convenient blindness, what is? There is a mandate missing in the charter of the NCAA, as it decides who's eligible, who's operating ethically, who should get how much cash, and who deserves what. The kids have no representation at the table, other than the student council type committees on which a few athletes serve. They get to decide the theme for the prom, and allocate a little money for a class gift, but the heavy lifting is done upstairs by the grown-ups. College athletes are treated today much like farm workers before Cesar Chavez. The football and basketball players who fill arenas and stadiums are picking tomatoes and apples so the non-revenue sports can eat. And, the NCAA in concert with the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL determines when exactly the athletes can earn more than tuition, books, and room and board. This inequity should be address by Emmert as one of his first acts. Below is the list he should begin working on Novemer 1:

Remove all restrictions on the movement of athletes who wish to play professionally. There is nothing that should determine whether a kid should be able to start working for a living, regardless of the profession, other than the desire to work and the eagerness of the employer to engage the prospective employee. Any argument to the contrary is absurdly heavy-handed and self-serving.
Allow kids to transfer without penalty regardless of the reason. Scholarships are one-year tenders out of which the school can opt at the end of each school year. The student-athlete should be afforded the same option. For a coach to be able to recruit a kid and then leave at his whim to earn $1-million-plus elsewhere because of the level of play of the athlete while the kid must wait a year if he chooses to do the same is patently unfair.
Require to the extent it's possible to disband the BCS. It's a solution whose time has passed. Pursue a solution that makes more sense for everyone. There is more money for everyone if there is a playoff that could be contested during the holiday break so the student-athletes don't miss a class.
There have been proposals that would limit the amount of competition during the holiday break. Put an end to that bizarreness immediately. Kid should be playing every other day during the break, so that the games and travel could be spread out during the academic year.
Create a panel of students that has a seat at the table and an ability to create or change policy. It may be like putting the chickens in charge of the hen house, but what is more American that that?
Cap the amount of money coaches can be paid. That the highest paid state employee in virtually every state in the union is a college football or basketball coach is an outrage that has to be addressed. The schools and coaches have no ability to restrain themselves, so that role falls to the NCAA. $4-million for a man to recruit one-year students and implement the idiotic dribble drive offense should be one of the signs of the apocalypse. Stop the madness.

That should keep Mr. Emmert busy for the first few weeks of his reign. I'll have more. My opinions of how student-athletes are taking it in the shorts are many.

Meijer Stores Raise the Roof and Shelves

kentsterling — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:23:28 +0000

by Kent Sterling The grocery store is roughly the same as we have known it for generations, except they have grown longer and wider. Meijer Stores are now growing in the only other available direction - up! Meijer Stores, headquartered in Walker, Michigan, and with stores in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky, is spend $17.4-million to raise the shelves in each of its stores to increase the square footage of shelf space in each store by 27%. One unintended consequence is that shoppers now have to climb the shelves to reach items toward the top. [caption id="attachment_3394" align="alignleft" width="420" caption="Muskegon, Michigan, shopper Randall Jameson (above) enjoyed the experience in the store used to beta test the program, "There is a greater variety of items and I get a little exercise too. I played college basketball, but love climbing the shelves. Giving a boost to elderly shoppers gives me a nice feeling. We need to help each other, and if my 86-year-old neighbor Miss Krauser need some whole hearty garlic dill pickles from Claussen, by God, I'll scurry up and get 'em.""][/caption] Meijer spokesman Peter Nagle says that the new construct has been met with nearly unanimous enthusiasm. "After the first three hours the Muskegon store was open, our attorney advised us to pass out free protective headgear, and once we got that hammered out and slowed down the exodus of our senior clients to the Warmington Head Trauma Center, everything smoothed out just fine." Retrofitting the current stores for new roof extensions and taller shelves should be complete by June. Rock climbing enthusiasts will be able to kill two birds with one stone as they shop.

Shake Weight Providing Endless Laughs in Restaurants Carrying ESPN

kentsterling — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:56:12 +0000

by Kent Sterling During the last week, I have been in three different eateries in Fishers, Indiana, where the Shake Weight commercial aired and prompted laughter from diners. It's always the same - one person looks, laughs, and points. Within seconds everyone in the place is rolling. The question is whether the producers of the spot purposely made the spot funny or not. The action used to make the Shake Weight work looks not unlike something a friendly woman might do to a man to get rid of him, or something a man might do to himself if an unfriendly woman gets rid of him without "a little something for the effort". Here is the women's spot (my favorite part is where they have a lady using the Shake Weight with a bunch of electrodes attached - what are they measuring?) The spot proclaims that by using this device for six-minutes, women can get rid of unsightly arm flab. What might women do if you offered the same results in three minutes - without the investment of a Shake Weight?: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVogg_0Hhus] Shake Weight is not discriminating, and offers a product that will do the same thing for men - not that there is anything wrong with that. The video prompts at least as much laughter in restaurants as that for the women. Here's the spot for men: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbsSeVr5NSI] Troubling images to explain to a child. "Why is that funny, Mommy?" "Eat your mashed carrots Caitlin!"

NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith Needs to Relax About Dez White

kentsterling — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 21:14:36 +0000

by Kent Sterling Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland apologized to newly drafted Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant for asking if his mom was a prostitute during an interview at the NFL Scouting Combine. Now, DeMaurice Smith, speaking on behalf of his union members, says in a statement, "We need to make sure the men of this league are treated as businessmen. During interviews, our players and prospective players should never be subjected to discrimination or degradation stemming from the biases or misconceptions held by team personnel. NFL teams cannot have the free rein to ask questions during the interview process which can be categorized as stereotyping or which may bring a personal insult to any player as a man." Why can't a guy ask a stupid question? Who decides what constitutes a stupid question? Who is the arbiter of good taste employed to determine whether a question "can be categorized as stereotyping or which may bring a personal insult to any player as a man"? Good taste, respect, and decency can't be regulated by a collective bargaining agreement, and until people stop reacting every time some ill-informed rube offends them, the idiots will have the power. I'm not sure what series of events need to unfold for a highly-compensated executive to ask a kid whether his mom is a prostitute, but the kid has to be content in knowing that a dumbass's penance for being a dumbass is that he's a dumbass. Smith should recognize that it is not a union's duty to protect the hurt feelings of a kid who's offended, again, by a dumbass. This kid needs a mentor - whether it's a minister, father, mother, brother, or union head - who can explain that people are not always caring, nice, and empathetic, but that shouldn't determine his behavior. The concept that people are owed respect is a new one in our society. It would be great if people were smart enough to recognize that all people are worthy of respect, but that world doesn't exist today. Somehow enacting rules or sending people to sensitivity class isn't the answer either. The answer is in the measured and unemotional response of the offended. That question is asked, tell the Dolphins you will not sign with them if drafted because of their insensitivity, grab your bag, and walk out of the room. Tell them you are offended. Stay calm and communicate. Life is too short to waste it being pissed off at idiots. Smith's outrage is an unnecessary distraction from the real solution to a problem desperately in need of one..

American Idol Shocker - Siobhan Magnus Voted Off; A Look Ahead to the Final Five

kentsterling — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 02:10:43 +0000

by Kent Sterling Feeling a little cocky after getting it right last week, I thought I had the whole thing figured out. Last night, I thought Casey gave the best performance. Nope. He was in the final two. Siobhan was deserving of a spot in the final two with a clunky version of a Shania hit. The key seems to be what happens to the constituency of the most recently discarded contestant, and it seems that Smilin' Timmy Urban's voters went straight to Aaron. Siobhan had a core group of fans, but never gathered any new voters from those most recently voted out. Singers sing in lounges. Performers fill auditoriums. Siobhan never figured out how to emotionally connect with a song, so she never connected with viewers. That will also be the undoing for Casey and Big Mike, the others in the bottom three tonight. Authenticity, not vocal skill bonds a performer with a community. To be authentic, a singer needs to know who they are. Siobhan, by her own admission, loves to sing. She never mentioned how to perform. Next week is Sinatra night with Harry Connick, Jr. Good that Siobhan left tonight because minus Elvis, Sinatra was the master of performing a song. Either the light would have gone on for her, or she would have been the obvious weak contestant. Casey could have a very tough time, if his song choice misses. Crystal, Aaron, Big Mike, and Lee should be fine.

Sports Digest - Thursday, April 29, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:57:22 +0000

Here are the stories that shape our sports world for a Thursday: Colts - Rookie Begin the Process of Becoming Colts - Indy Star (Chappell) Hoosiers - Quick Look at Scholarship Numbers - Star (Hutchens) Boilers - Freshman Linebacker Makes Early Impression - Lafaeyette J&C (Carmin) Kentucky Derby - Post Position Draw Has Faves at Opposite Ends - Louisville CJ (Rees) Kentucky Derby - Young Jockey Joe Talamo Living Dream - Courier Journal (Demling) Indy 500 - IRL Needs Outsider's Vision - Star (Kravitz) Indy 500 - Historian Donald Davidson Named to Hall of Fame Cubs - Mount Zambrano Poised to Blow - Chicago Sun-Times (Morrissey) Cubs - Nats Closer Capps Would Have Been Happy to Be a Cub - Sun-Times Cubs - Offense Fails Again in 3-2 Loss - Chicago Tribune (Sullivan) Shopping - Meijer Stores Raising Roof and Shelves - (ISO- Sterling) Jenna - She Tests Clean (TMZ) MLB - Wainwright Annoys Everyone in Park By Announcing Pitch Count (The Onion)

Harry on Sports - Thursday, April 29, 2010

kentsterling — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:14:21 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry74.mp3]

Lou Piniella Needs to Go - NOW! TODAY!

kentsterling — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:16:41 +0000

by Kent Sterling For years dating back to before Lou was nodding off in the dugout, Cubs managers have sat with their thumbs somewhere other than visible hoping for Cubs hitters to knock in runs. Against good pitching like the Cubs faced yesterday, it doesn't happen. When a reporter asked Piniella if he thought about bunting with no outs and Marlon Byrd on second in the eighth and the Cubs down 3-2 and Mike Fontenot at the plate, Lou got testy, "With a left-hander? What kind of baseball are you playing?" Lou was implying that Fontenot (a lefty) needs to put the ball in play on the right side to allow Byrd to take third. By not bunting, you don't necessarily sacrifice the out. Of course, Fontenot didn't do that. He popped weakly to the left side, and Byrd stayed planted on second, where he would watch the rest of the eighth inning. I remember going to a Cubs vs. Pirates game in 1988. Jim Leyland managed the Pirates. In the third inning of that game, the leadoff man reached, and the next hitter, Jay Bell laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runner to second. The runner wound up scoring without the Pirates getting a hit. I thought Leyland was insane. With a lineup that had Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke, Bobby Bonilla, and Jeff Kent, Leyland played for one run in the third inning. The Pirates won that game, went to the playoffs, and ironically lost the NLCS to Lou Piniella's Cincinnati Reds. If the Tigers go 94-68 this season, Leyland's all-time record as a big league manager will be one game over .500. The Cubs are not adept at bunting, and Fontenot is among their worst. He's the kind of player who has to be lights out at all the nuances of the game to earn playing time, or at least he would for any other team. For the Cubs, he's the everyday second baseman. He's a defensive liability with no range nor arm, and despite hitting a fairly robust .308 in 52 ABs, he has scored three runs and driven in another four. His OPS is a pathetic .685 (all through Tuesday). This is no early season anomaly. Fontenot's OPS in 2009 was .677 - the lowest of theeveryday players. He had zero sacrifice bunts. ZERO! He can't run (four steals), doesn't score (38 runs in 419 plate appearances), and hits for occasional power (nine homers each in 2008 and 2009). Projected over 162 games (based on career numbers), Fontenot would score 54 runs and drive in another 54. The very best Piniella should have hoped was for Fontenot to move Byrd to third. He spent his energy hoping for the best, and got the worst - as usual from a guy who has no business playing in the majors, much less starting for a team that should contend every year based on its payroll. Piniella needs to take what's available and not hope one of the worst starting second baseman in Cubs history produces. Jim Hendry is at fault here for giving Piniella such a bad hand to begin with - or at least sticking him with a bad card like Fontenot - but Piniella could at least acknowledge that Fontenot might be a bunt candidate because he isn't capable of getting done what professional hitter should. The Cubs are 10-12, and couldn't take a series from the Washington Nationals at home. It's time to bring in a manager who will use what he has instead of manage the way he would based on what players should be able to do. There is no reason to believe this team will be anything other than what it has been through 22 games. Aramis Ramirez will start hitting at some point, but the starting pitching isn't going to have an ERA in the twos at the end of the year. The Ricketts should fire Piniella, install Alan Trammell as the interim guy. At the end of the season, fire the classless Hendry. Time to turn the page.

Indiana Basketball - Walter Offutt to IU, Why Not?

kentsterling — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:53:17 +0000

by Kent Sterling Hey, I don't want to crap all over Walter Offutt because if he shows up in Bloomington as a walk-on, there is nothing to lose, but as a player during his high school and summer career he was an style-over-substance underachiever. Offutt spent way too much time talking and expended too little effort playing. He was a kid who spent a lot of time reading and believing his press clippings, and committed to Ohio State too young. He hurt his knee, and didn't come close to achieving what many thought his talent deserved. He enrolled at Ohio State, and transferred to Wright State. With Brad Brownell leaving Wright State for the Clemson job, Offutt is pulling up stakes again, and says he will enroll at Indiana as a non-scholarship player or Ohio so he can play for John Groce, with whom he is close. As a summer player prior to his junior year in high school, our summer team got a early lead on his Indiana Elite team. He yelled something I couldn't quite hear, and our guys went on a 10-0 run, and wound up beating them by more than 50 points. After Offutt yelled, our players kind of cocked their heads, smiled, and destroyed Indiana Elite. After the game, I asked current Butler guard Zach Hahn what Offutt had said. "He yelled, 'I'm gettin' ready to take this game over!' We got the next 10, and I kept telling him, 'Go ahead, take it over." Without investing a scholarship, maybe you take a chance that the light will go on for a very talented kid. I would prefer Indiana recruits to a culture, but maybe he fits that culture now. Some kids mature. Some kids don't though. Some kids like being popular for playing basketball more than they actually like to play it. They enjoy the affirmation that goes along with being recruited more than they do the work that can help make a team better. They love telling friends which schools called and how many big name coaches love them, and dislike getting in the gym and busting their asses. I'm not sure that's Offutt, but he fits the profile. For a team that needs depth, and isn't sure about Maurice Creek's longterm recovery, why not invite a kid who has all the athletic gifts necessary to be successful. If the light goes on, IU wins. If it stays dark, Offutt takes whatever remains of his eligibility elsewhere.

Little Person Works Tall at Meijer Store

kentsterling — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:15:08 +0000

by Kent Sterling "There's something you don't see everyday," I said to my wife as we shopped at the Meijer Store on East 96th Street in Fishers, Indiana. What insensitive pricks used to call a midget was busy scaling the shelves in the refrigerated aisle in an effort to keep them stocked. Curious, I took a picture and sought out someone who looked like a manager for an explanation. "My little guy does a hell of a job, don't he? He scampers this way and that, and the kids just love him. He can't work in the deli because he can't reach the meat slicer, so we got him in in the cooler filling up dairy, cheeses, and the rest of that cold stuff," the man who would only identify himself as Chili (not like the temperature of the dairy in the cooler, but the spicy meat - "my girlfriend hung that one on me.") said. "We offered to get him some stilts or one of them little extender dealies with the grippers on the end, but he said he wanted to climb. I'm proud of him," said Chili. "He don't want help from nobody." I asked if the corporate office in Michigan asked stores to employ little people as a part of a company wide program. "Hell, I don't know about that kind of BS, but the little fella works his little sausage fingers to the bone - I call 'em sausage fingers 'cause they looked stuffed and the knuckles look like where they's tied which he thinks is hilarious! "The only help he wants is a little bitty stepladder that starts him up them shelves. I hope everybody comes out and sees him working."

Sports From the Couch--Desperation Continues In Bloomington

jshowal2 — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:48:26 +0000

by Jeff Showalter The Boss has just posted on Walter Offutt walking on at IU. Good for him. Injuries and poor judgement have been issues for the Warren Central grad but knees are fixable and kids make bad decisions, in recruiting, every year. I hope Offutt can contribute once he becomes eligible in December. I read a book a few weeks ago about the US auto industry. "Crash Course" is a really good read about the last 50 years of the car business and spends a lot of time on the crisis that has occurred over the past few years. Two points I took away from the book was 1) history repeats itself. The names change but arrogant leaders will make the same mistakes as their predecessors if they don't pay attention to their own business history; and 2) General Motors may have been the most mis-manged company in the history of US business. GM continued on paths that they knew would lead to a certain demise yet believed because they were "GM" things would work out ok. Indiana University basketball has become the GM of college hoops. Tom Crean is the CEO of one of the most desperate programs in the country. Today, Terry Hutchens, IU beat writer for the Indianapolis Star is reporting that IU is heavily recruiting seven footer Guy Marc Michel. Apparently Crean is trying to hold onto to the "all airport american" status that former Hoosier Tijan Jobe had. IU is attempting to take on another project. Apparently new assistant coach Steve McClain had been recruiting the center while at Colorado. Let's get to the brass tax on this. Recruiting another 7 footer to sit on the end of the bench is an absolute joke. It's a travesty. First, if you are the kid and you believe you have a future playing hoop, the LAST place you want to go is IU. Crean has zero history with improving big men that play inside and Tijan Jobe is evidence "A" for a juco player wanting to get better to say "no thanks" to Tom Crean. Second, why is Crean going all over the USA looking for a big guy when he has big guys already on his roster. COACH THEM UP! If they aren't any good, yank their scholarship and kick their asses to the curb. If Crean believes the McRobbie quote that said something to the point that "IU is more concerned with having high quality players then good players" then Crean needs to get his head out of the sand. IU nation will run Crean AND McRobbie out of town. What in the hell happened to IU Nation? Jeez! IU nation spends more time bitching about UK, Butler and Purdue then wondering why their own program (and mine as well) is shattered and possibly beyond fixing. Speaking of the new assistant coach, Dustin Dopirak from the Bloomington Herald-Times, tweeted to me that McClain said, and I quote ""I've never had a job where we didn't have to recruit nationally." Really, let me give you exhibit 1 Spartan Roster and exhibit 2 Purdue Roster. How are those two programs doing McClain? Pretty damned good. Why in the hell did Crean hire a guy from Colarado who believes this once great program now has to recruit nationally? Let's go with a list for exhibit 3: Green, Abernathy, May, Buckner, McGinnis, Downing, Woodson, Radford, Crews, Wittman, Kitchel, I. Thomas, Turner, Tolbert, Edwards, Jones, Cheaney, Graham, Graham, Bailey, Evans, Henderson, Nover, Coverdale, Jefferies, Odle, Fife and Carter. Without double checking, I believe this list covers FOUR OF THE FIFTY STATES. Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan (which is for Fife because I like Dane). How'd that work out for IU basketball? Pretty well. How's New Jersey, Idaho, Colorado, Florida and where ever the hell else Crean and band of merry men are looking for (and lost) recruits work out? Not very well, ask Mike Davis how it worked for him? IU has recruited nationally, lost, and decided to keep doing it. I believe Insanity is repeating the same events and expecting different results. It didn't work for GM. It's not working for Tom Crean. It won't work for Steve McClain. Go get the "Crash Course". You can see what desperation did to Detroit and what it is doing to IU hoops. It kills them!

Sports Digest - Friday, April 30, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:56:48 +0000

Framing our sports day are these stories: Hoosiers - Offutt Close to Joining IU - Indy Star (Hutchens) Hoosiers - Kevin Noreen Official Visit May 7 & 8 - Bloomingtom Herald Times (Dopirak) Hoosiers - Iowa Player Visits IU and Butler - Star (Neddenriep) Butler - Illinois Guard Commits to Bulldogs - Star (Woods) Kentucky Derby - Synthetic Surfaces Hamper Handicappers - Louisville CJ (Rees) NCAA - Directors Approve Tourney Expansion to 68 Teams (AP) IndyCar - Ganassi Teams Git R Dun on Ovals and Street Courses - Star (Cavin) Cubs - It May Be Starlin's Time - Chicago Sun-Times (Wittenmyer) Cubs - Three Takes on the Cubs - Sun-Times Cubs - Hendry Believes in Hitters - Sun-Times (Wittenmyer) Cubs - Online Video - Rudy Jaramillo on Hitters Progress - Chicago Tribune Lindsay Lohan - She Faces Jail Time - TMZ

Harry on Sports - Friday, April 30, 2010

kentsterling — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:04:34 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/harry75.mp3]

Donald Davidson Punches Ticket to Auto Racing Hall of Fame

kentsterling — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:05:41 +0000

by Kent Sterling Indianapolis Motor Speedway Historian Donald Davidson has been named a 2010 inductee of the Auto Racing Hall of Fame. Donald has been the host of the seasonal radio show "Talk of Gasoline Alley" for 40 years on WIBC and then 1070 The Fan when the 1070 AM frequency flipped to all-sports in 2008. Donald grew up in England and developed a love of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. In his 20s, he packed and moved to Indianapolis because he loved the Brickyard. This will be Donald's 47th year as part of the Indianapolis 500 Radio Network, and his 41st spending at least one hour on 1070 AM answering nostalgic questions about the Indianapolis 500. Don't mistake this for a show about anything remotely controversial, and if you are a caller, do not under any circumstances talk about the split between CART and the IRL. Donald is a remarkably good and decent man. Making him happy was never too tough. No co-host. Keep the theme music the same. I'm convinced I was fired because Donald found out I was changing the Talk of Gasoline Alley Theme to a nice rock instrumental by local guitar god Casey Harshbarger. Every bit of granular information about the Indianapolis 500 is locked away in Donald's head, and there is nothing he would rather do than answer questions about his favorite event. When I moved to Indianapolis, six weeks after I got here, I was first exposed to Talk of Gasoline Alley. I was aware of the Indy 500 and had always watched the race on TV, but I couldn't believe my ears the first time I heard the show. I had never heard of Sam Hanks, Ralph DePalma, Louis Meyer (the former head of MGM raced open wheel cars? no, different guy), and Wilbur Shaw until that show. It was beyond my comprehension that anyone would listen to that show. A British guy yapping about men who won a race 70 years before couldn't possibly compel one listener to invest an hour in the show, could it. The ratings are always phenomenal. Tens of thousands of people listen on 1070, and another large group listens on www.1070thefan.com. Donald answers the same questions about arcane Indy details (to me; there is no such thing as an arcane detail in Donald's world). Each year, one of my favorite traditions was the call from Donald to find out whether he was still needed on WIBC or The Fan. Two years ago, I assured him that he was, but that I had a question. In an effort to attract some younger listeners to the show, I asked if Donald would be amenable to during an occasional interview with a driver. The show is a caller driven Q&A, and for Donald to agree to that departure stunned me when he unequivocally agreed. My surprise was proven unwarranted when Donald qualified his answer with, "as long as it isn't with one of the moderns." I asked for Donald to define "moderns". He answered, "Well, anyone who never drove a roadster." The last roadster at Indy took its final competitive lap in 1966. I spent the rest of the day smiling and telling that story. Donald Davidson is truly one of the living monuments at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that make the place incredibly special. If it has been a while since you have seen a man who truly is passionate about his job, take Donald's tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. That's where Donald's office is. You might think he's a bit of a nut because he is always smiling, He goes to work everyday at the place of his childhood dreams because he had the balls to allow irresistible emotional gravity guide his life. We should all be that nutty.

Fire Lou Piniella Today

kentsterling — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:09:58 +0000

by Kent Sterling Lou Piniella believes his expensive baseball players should be playing better. He hopes today will be a better day for the Chicago Cubs, and that Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez will start to hit. The Cubs need a manager who can get them to play better, not hope for it. They need a manger who can compensate for it, rather than wait for it. With Lee hitting .193 and Ramirez an anemic .159, the Cubs aren't going to play big ball very often, so until those two start swinging where the middle of the ball crosses the plane of the bat, the Cubs need to find another way to score runs. That's tough without any team speed or desire/need/urgency to execute (bunting successfully, hitting behind runners, not getting doubled off on a caught line drive). Lou complains a lot about a lack of timely hitting and bad baserunning, but what the hell is he doing about it? His response is usually "They're professionals, and they need to play like professionals!" He snaps at the media like the ink-stained wretches caused any of this. How about telling your players to make the line drives go through, like every little league coach in the world does. The Cubs look and play like a fat and happy group who are thrilled every Friday to get confirmation that their direct deposit still works. There are a few exceptions. I love the way Marlon Byrd plays. For all the justified crap being heaped on Jim Hendry, the signing of Byrd was a great move. Fukudome has had his typical hot April - looking like an all-star. We'll see if he can avoid the slide he has endured the next five months in his first two seasons as a Cub. Mike Fontenot either has pictures of Hendry defiling farm animals, or he won a sweepstakes [caption id="attachment_3474" align="alignright" width="117" caption="Mike Fontenot's alter ego Bruce Pearson laces up his cleats before a big game."][/caption] because there is no other explanation for his being allowed in Wrigley Field without buying a ticket. I'm not sure Rob Sperring or Vic Harris were ever this bad. It's not often we get to watch a zero tool players, so maybe Cubs fans should consider themselves lucky, kind of like an outdoorsman seeing a deer with two asses. It's not something you mount on a wall, but it makes for a good story. Our kids can one day attest to Fontenot's complete lack of discernible baseball ability. Starlin Castro continues to hit in the .370s in Double-A, but the Cubs aren't going to bring him up and start that arbitration clock early like the Giants did with Tim Lincecum in 2007. Another few days, and the Giants save many millions this year. Castro will be up before the end of May, but will the Cubs be in too deep a hole by then the save the season, and is a 20-year-old going to make that much difference? Hendry took a risk that Fontenot at second would not kill the Cubs in their first 50 games. He didn't. As pitiful as Fontenot is, the Cubs haven't been able to overcome Lee and Ramirez sucking in addition to what they knew Fontenot would detract from the lineup in the field, at the plate, and on the bases. The starting pitching with the exception of the first and last starts of the season has been better than Piniella might have dreamed, but the Cubs are three games under .500 and 5.5 back of the St. Louis Cardinals, who are going to be tough to catch. At some point, Cubs fans are going to have to wake up to the fact that this team is not very good despite all the spent money and crowing being done by the Ricketts, Hendry, and Piniella. Are the Ricketts rich hobbyists or committed owners? The answer to that question will be apparent very soon. At some point, they will realize that Hendry is a hyper-confident boob who talks the talk, but can't build a farm system that generates an all-star and has not ability to spend money wisely on players who can help a team win a championship. Hendry is Salty Saltwell without the fun backstory. It's time for a serious man to put on his big boy pants and set a positive course for the Cubs organization. Neither Hendry nor Piniella are part of that equation. Maybe Ryne Sandberg is. Maybe Greg Maddux is, although I have a tough time seeing the professor embracing all the organizational bullshit that is required of a GM. Maybe Tim Wilken is a good candidate for GM. He sure as hell has thrown the scouting system a quantum leap ahead of where it was (to Hendry's credit, he hired Wilken from the Rays four years ago). Every time I write about the Cubs, I am deluged with emails from people telling me that true Cubs fans are optimists and that it's still April. No they aren't, and tomorrow starts another month. In 31 more days, we'll be into June. I've watched an enormous amount of Cubs baseball since 1968 - good teams and bad - and I know the difference. You optimists can go to church and say a Rosary for the Cubs. As for me, I'll keep watching, secure in the knowledge that this team has been assembled by a brash, foul-mouthed moron, and is being managed by a man limping to the end of a great career.

"The Runaways" Embarrasses Even Me

kentsterling — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:03:06 +0000

by Kent Sterling I don't fib to my wife very often, but when she called from her Mom's house last night, I ran from the theater and answered her question about whether I had seen a movie with "I'm walking around the mall. That was technically correct, but in fact I had just watched the majority of "The Runaways", the story of the all-girl rock back from the mid-1970s, and I wasn't proud of it. You might be asking yourself, hey, how did this guy take the call from his wife without being a rude bastard by keeping his cell phone on during the movie? That would be a good question if I hadn't been the only person in the theater! This has happened to me once before with "Mad Dog and Glory", a Bill Murray/Robert DeNiro flick that I liked. Sitting alone in a theater allows for a suspension of disbelief that I'm a working class guy. Alone in a theater, I'm one of those rich nuts who builds a theater in his 12,000 square foot home. If you are one of those rich guys who doesn't like feeling like a dirty pervert, this is a film to skip. Had I been more clever, I would have deduced that a film chronicling the rise and fall of a band of teenage girls from broken homes would likely be filled with creepy things adult men shouldn't see, but I didn't. I thought it might be a little like "The Doors" by Oliver Stone, which I loved, if only to hear that music pumped loud in Dolby. Nope. This was like going back to junior high and seeing all those people who weren't old enough to completely lose hope, but you knew that was coming. They had to be in school because the state said so. There they were, eager to start to make the decisions that would send their futures off a cliff and into the abyss filled with the carcasses of history's losers. Joan Jett and Lita Ford are the two Runaways you might have heard of. They became popular because they were a little like a dirty young female version of The Ramones. They lost popularity because wealth only makes you more of what you are, and for these girls, that meant drug using, bad decision making, trying anything high school dropouts who had never been taught enough about life to recognize a good thing. Just like the Runaways themselves, this was soft-porn for an audience likely to include Pee Wee Herman. Throughout the movie, I kept looking back (I always sit in the fifth row in the middle - not sure why) to make sure no one else was in there. If there had been, I would have left. That I stumbled into that showing because the start time fit my schedule nicely wouldn't have made me feel any less gross if someone I knew had seen me. Overall, the movie wasn't terrible. The performances were solid, as they definitely gave the vibe that these kids were on the road to no good. But the sheer unrelenting sense that I shouldn't be watching was pervasive, and cause me to sprint from the theater as soon as the phone rang. Leaving before the end is not a mitigating factor at all for me. I either should have left as soon as I discovered it was creepy, or I should have discovered it sooner. Either way, yecch!

A Frustrating Week for Yours Truly

The Truth — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 22:33:03 +0000

By Kyle Miller I’m pissed. My roommate asked me to play goalie for his intramural soccer team yesterday, and after I showed my excellence between the posts yesterday in two games, I laid an egg in the championship game today as we lost 2-1. The biggest soccer game of my life since sixth grade… and I performed like a blockhead. Worst of all, a championship t-shirt escaped my grasp. Here at Indiana, this week is labeled “Dead Week.” To my knowledge that was intended to mean that teachers relax on the out of class assignments and tests so students can prepare for finals. Yet this week, for me, consisted of a Personal Fitness test, a Marketing test, and a paper. Ironically, the Personal Fitness test was much harder than my Marketing test. That pissed me off as well. Next week I have three tests within 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday, and I report to River Glen golf course at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday to begin my summer job. I must admit I love working at River Glen, but 5:30 in the morning is awfully early. The three tests in 24 hours are what ultimately infuriate me because it ruins my last weekend down here. This bad mood of mine along with writers block has led me to focus this blog on my latest grievances in the sports world. I have watched a lot of ESPN this week, and a lot of things have been bothering me as a result:

Woody Paige on Around the Horn is obnoxious. I hate his [caption id="attachment_3495" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Woody Paige and his ridiculous quotes"][/caption] sayings/quotes on his blackboard. They never make me laugh or ponder.
Jemele Hill made it to the finals on Around the Horn.
People thinking “Sugar” Shane Mosley has any type of chance against Floyd “Money” Mayweather. His only chance is if Mayweather decides not to show up. [caption id="attachment_3496" align="alignright" width="128" caption="Fight is at the MGM Grand on Saturday"][/caption]
The Cubs this week, but they have a knack for pushing my buttons. They won today, however.
Carlos Boozer. I never realized how much I hate the hunchback. He's a Dukie. And he only records the statistics he does because Deron Williams is the best point guard on the planet.
The non-stop Jim Ireland and Dez Bryant talk. Did Ireland ask Bryant if his mother was a prostitute? Right or wrong, Bryant has reported to Cowboys practice and we have heard nothing about that.
Brett Favre. I’ll leave it at that.
How about Tiger Woods? He just missed the cut at Quail Hollow shooting a 43 on the back nice. Do you think he’s fiending for a little play time?
According to Pardon the Interruption, 24% of people think Tiger used performance enhancing drugs. Honestly, who seriously believes that?
LeBron James shooting his SECOND free throw left-handed in a critical segment of the game. How can you shoot your first free throw normal, sink it, and then decide to shot your second one left handed? That was all for show.

On a lighter note, Walter Offutt heading to Bloomington as long as he receives financial aid is the best news I have heard in weeks, hell… months. He is a combo guard that can fill IU’s vacant point guard position. One more bit of fun news…Cook Hall opens to the public this coming Sunday, which entitles me to take a break from studying and get my first glimpse of the new practice facility. Finally, I have flipped $20 into $42 in just one week. My pick today is the Lakers in a pick 'em game to beat the Thunder.

Tiger Woods Misses Cut - Urine Stained Women Rejoice

kentsterling — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:15:03 +0000

by Kent Sterling Tiger Woods shot a 43 on the back nine at Quail Hollow today, and missed his first cut in a non-major since 2005 today, and I'm glad. The continued reports that are released almost daily about Tiger's behavior and attitude toward women are more than troubling. They are horrific. To tell women that you would like to urinate of them and beat them during sex reveals a character so flawed and troubled that it defies belief. I am choosing to believe those reports because I find TMZ and the women who chose to involve themselves with Woods in a series of extramarital affairs with Tiger to be more credible than Tiger or any member of Team Tiger. The goal for Ari Fleischer and the rest of the corporation and handlers representing Tiger is to make the noise stop, not to tell the truth or for Tiger to bare his soul. This is damage control at its most transparent. The strippers, porn stars, and Perkins wait staff has no image toprotect or damage. Those women embrace their whoriness, and while they are certainly a classless gaggle of troubled morally uncompassed waywards, they have nothing to gain by revealing the truth (unless Tiger has paid them to play nice. Most of these broads are not playing nice. Tiger has done the nearly impossible after becoming one of the few dominant players for whom the public rooted. Most people look at the films of the 1986 Masters and believe Nicklaus had a lot of fans. At 46, he did, but back in the 1960s and 1970s, more people rooted against Nicklaus than for him. No one rooted for Bjorn Borg as he won Wimbledon after Wimbledon, and when Jimmy Connors was on top of tennis, no one liked him either. Roger Federer has inspired ambivalence at level unheard of for the greatest champion in any sport. Tiger was beloved. America believed he was a smart guy, who happened to also be a good guy. Guys begrudged him nothing. Then, he stuck his car into a tree at 8 mph, and refused to talk. Bam. He tried to take control of the story, but frankly, what he had to say about his recovery as a sex addict wasn't nearly as interesting or revelatory as what his former conquests had to say. I hope he never wins another tournament. Karma is a bitch, and nothing is more compelling that the fall from grace of a person who thoroughly deserves it. Maybe at some point Tiger becomes so pathetic that he assumes the role of an underdog, and America will come to see him as a sympathetic figure again. Still, all these stories will take a long time to fade from the minds of people who see Tiger as more than a guy who has socked away almost a billion dollars for being the best at smacking a little dimpled ball around tightly mowed grass.

Sports From the Couch--Hawks/Bucks Murder Basketball

jshowal2 — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:20:30 +0000

By Jeff Showalter The halftime score of game 6 in the the first round of the NBA: Bucks 34 Hawks 31. Bad? You bet, but it gets worse. At the end of 3rd quarter: Hawks 60 Bucks 45. If the Hawks win, there will be a game 7 in Atlanta. I implore Commissioner David Stern to cancel the game and the series. Then reward the Eastern Conference Semi's to Orlando. They are going to crush either team anyway. Why risk Orlando beast Dwight Howard getting hurt?

Sports From the Couch-Pacers Fire Perkins. Problems Solved!

jshowal2 — Sat, 01 May 2010 14:02:28 +0000

By Jeff Showalter Your Indiana Pacers: you have a co-owner that dies and has his name ran thru the mud in a spiteful fight over his will; you field a team that had no shot of making the playoffs; you have a President of Basketball Ops that has failed miserably; a head coach who couldn't teach defense to 5th graders; a team that has lost it's community; the front page of the Pacers.com site headlines a story about the former Pacers struggle in the playoffs like that is some kind of excuse for getting rid of them. How do you fix the issue? Per the Indy Star, you fire Sam Perkins. Vice President of Player Relations. Wells Yep! All the Blue and Gold's issues are now resolved. Now Bird can concentrate on the draft. Pacers Sports and Entertainment President Jim Morris can go back to threatening the city that the Pacers may have to leave town because they can't manage their own business and need a bailout. David Morway can...well I don't think he really does anything so he can just keep doing his best at whatever he is doing. Perkins was the problem? I thought that Mel Daniels was the problem? Who's next? Obviously it is not the coaching. Hell they only have a head coach and five assistants. Hell you can't expect six men to coach up 15 players. Maybe their needs to be 9 more coaches so there is a ratio of coaches to players. This really is too easy so I'm going to tread lightly, but the Pacers, since Donnie Walsh left, has been hit by the race card because Bird keeps building the team by acquiring white guys. Let's face it, Murphy, Dunleavey, McRoberts, Deiner, Foster, Hansbrough and Sarunas J. aren't exactly the building blocks for a competitive NBA team. Then, you fire Daniels, a Pacers legend, and Perkins, one of the most respected players of his era. Both are African Americans and you have a serious public relations nightmare on your hands. The Pacers continue to make moves that already accentuate a really bad stigma. Eventually, the stigma can no longer be wiped away because, right or wrong, the evidence is too great to refute. I don't believe the Pacers are moving to Elwood anytime soon, but If I'm a left wing lunatic like Al Sharpton, and all I care about is my own personal agenda, then I'm calling out the Pacers for the moves of this franchise, on the court and off the court. If this was IBM or 3M, there would be people raising hell on the company lawn. Maybe some bailout money can help the Pacers hire a PR firm. If they keep firing front office black guys, they are going to need one. Oh yeah, that three pictures on the website: Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson. Jim Morris, you got that PR company on the line yet?

Harry on Sports - May 1, 2010

kentsterling — Sat, 01 May 2010 14:06:05 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/harry76.mp3]

Chicago Protests Against Arizona Illegal Alien Law Confuses

kentsterling — Sat, 01 May 2010 16:56:19 +0000

by Kent Sterling There is a new law in Arizona that makes being an illegal alien in that state illegal. This allows the state law enforcement community to patrol borders and arrest those who violate federal law by entering this country illegally. This new law has people hopping mad, and has prompted protests outside Wrigley Field this weekend as the Arizona Diamondbacks visit. Beyond the law's merits, I'm baffled that the visit to Chicago from a baseball team would result in an organized protest. Maybe the protesters are unsure as to how the governmental system works. We might be better off if members of baseball rosters voted on bills rather than state legislatures, but they don't. It's still idiots in ill-tailored suits more interested in feathering their own nests than serving the public good. There is nothing wrong with protesting. I like a little rabble-rousing myself now and then. But what is wrong with enacting a law that helps keep illegal aliens from spilling across our borders. I'm kind of a black and white guy, so either open the borders wide open, or enact some enforceable laws that force people from other countries to respect our process for getting into the country. Whatever that process is, I trust it has been reasonably well thought out, although people are usually smart enough to get things right - usually our system of government is more concerned with what is least wrong than what's right. Now San Francisco officials is a group who want Major League Baseball's All-Star Game to be moved from Phoenix because this law has passed. The two men who sent a letter to Bud Selig asking that the game be moved are upset because the law will allow local police to detain and question individuals they have "reasonable suspicion" are in the country illegally, and that make it a state crime for legal immigrants to not always carry documented proof of legal presence in the country with them. San Francisco officials busying themselves deriding an Arizona law being protested by hysterics in Chicago is a scenario that could only be seen in America, primarily because Chicago, Arizona, and San Francisco are in America, but you get the point. Enact laws and enforce them. If the laws are unpopular, vote out the boobs who passed and signed the laws. That is democracy. We have elections in November that provide us the power to put out of work all the nimrods who cash checks for comporting themselves with great import as they make it very difficult for small businesses to thrive. Instead of protesting against laws that will help send back those who enjoy the fruits of our ancestors' labors without contributing to the overall welfare of the country, those angry with Arizona should be rallying for the erection (that's what she said) of a fence or other barricade that will be effective in making certain people from Mexico and Canada (the two countries with whom America shares land borders). Then there would be no need to check anyone's [caption id="attachment_3536" align="alignright" width="101" caption="Selig's response to "How many of you are in favor of playing the MLB All-Star Game in Phoenix as planned?""][/caption] paperwork. Selig will have to endure this headache as part of the work load for which he is paid $18+- million. This makes him the second most overpaid man in baseball, recently passed in a blur by Carlos Zambrano. Politicians have discovered that by using sporting events, they can gin up much more publicity than in any other way, so Selig will have to avoid the media for as long as possible so he doesn't anger anyone. If Bud Lite doesn't have a George Costanza like contraption under is desk so he can hide comfortably, he should. If you want proof your leadership is weak, check how many times your entity deals with protesters, who always gravitate toward those who are most prone to be responsive to their rantings.

Cubs Need to Fire Lou Piniella Today! Day Four

kentsterling — Sat, 01 May 2010 18:10:02 +0000

by Kent Sterling The Cubs either knock the hell out of the ball and beat bad pitching, or they struggle to score runs and lose. They are incapable of beating a team with good pitching by playing good baseball. They are slow. The defense in the middle of the infield is poor. They can't bunt or hit behind the runner. Soriano is the worst defensive outfielder since Hank Sauer, and the bullpen is a mess. This might all sound familiar. It should. Either you have heard it, thought it, or read it, and you will continue to as long as Lou Piniella is the manager of the Cubs. Piniella might be perfectly qualified to sit and watch Cubs hit mistakes onto Waveland and Sheffield, but when it comes to creating a run that can win or tie a game he is of no value. It took Lou almost three years to figure out that a guy whose principle value is hitting home runs, and chases breaking balls low and away hit it's a good thing isn't a leadoff hitter. He keeps throwing Mike Fontenot out there at second base like he's going to blossom into something other than a guy who would look great at second in Iowa. His cleanup hitter is at the very bottom of the National League in hitting. Aramis Ramirez isn't going to hit .152 all season, and Derrek Lee won't hit .205, but when the three men who have spent time in the one and two holes of the lineup are hitting .337, .344, and .348, they should have scored more than two-or-less runs as they did nine times in 24 April games. All but one of those games resulted in losses. With a bullpen that can't hold a lead and a lineup that can't score one run at a time, the outlook for the Cubs is bleak. A change of culture and management is needed, and the sooner it comes, the sooner hope can return to the Friendly Confines. This Cubs team reminds me of the 1972 Cubs - a team that hoped its way to 85 wins. No [caption id="attachment_3530" align="alignright" width="137" caption="Sweet Swingin"][/caption] speed, crappy pen, and a successful mix or youth and veterans in the rotation. John Holland put together a team that couldn't create a run late in the game, and Leo Durocher managed like a fan. The difference between the 1972 and 2010 versions of the Cubs is that the 1972 Cubs had two hall of famers and perhaps a third if Ron Santo gets in (and he shouldn't). The 2010 Cubs have zero hall of famers, but the same weaknesses. Jim Hendry did the impossible last year as he had the third highest payroll in baseball and sent one player (Ted Lilly) to the 2009 All-Star Game. That is incompetence from a talent evaluation standpoint that may never be equaled. So it's not all Lou's fault, but but he has managed to fail at the task at helping the Cubs find a way. While we wait for Starling Castro - likely to be recalled from AA ball as soon as the Cubs clear the number of games that will not let Castro become arbitration-eligible in 2013. Maybe at that point, the Cubs can become competitive in low scoring games, but that's hope talking again. There is a point at which some coaches and managers learn enough from their mistakes that they become timid. Almost like a golfer who has missed enough putts that he gets the yips, some managers learn how to avoid mistakes rather than play aggressively to win. That's where Lou is, and that's why he needs to go. Today.

Kentucky Derby Latest Odds and Picks

kentsterling — Sat, 01 May 2010 18:11:36 +0000

by Kent Sterling The odds of everyone in the infield at Churchill Downs being drunk before the Derby are much better than that of any horse running in the race. The odds on the horses at 2:00 p.m. are between 8-1 and 25-1. That means nobody knows what the hell is happening on Central Avenue in Louisville, The weather is tough to get a handle on, and that means the track could be sloppy or heavy if if begins to dry. The handicappers have an idea of how the Derby will unfold if the track is dry, but that won't happen after this morning's downpour. They have an idea of who can run in the slop. It's the shades of gray between wet and dry that make it impossible to predict who will do what. The 11-hole seemed to be a great draw early as the winners of the first three races I saw came out of that stall. Devil May Care is the field's only fillie and she will break from 11. Lookin' At Lucky (#1, and Sidney's Candy (#20) will bracket the field, and would have been clearer favorites minus the unclear track conditions. Paddy O'Prado is supposed to be good in the slop, but without additional rain, he might not be able to take advantage of that skill. The Derby is about more than handicapping, as this is a different event, and lends itself to upsets. If anyone was great at picking winners on a regular basis, there would be several more beautiful homes (or any) near Churchill Downs. This is the first trip for a lot of the field on real dirt, but that could be good or bad. Sidney's Candy is owned by Jenny Craig. Yes, the same woman in charge of Kirstie Alley's yo-yo like weight loss and gain issues, Velerie Bertinelli looking good in a bikini two years after being fitted for Homer Simpson-esque mumus, and the reclamation project of George Costanza's body owns this horse. I'm sure Jenny will feed the horse bland oats and hope it craps roses, but my money is on the weather turning sour, and Paddy O'Prado running away from the field late. This is the first trip for a lot of the field on real dirt, but that could be good or bad. The rest of the top five will be (in order) - Lookin' At Lucky, Devil May Care, Dublin, and Conveyance.

The Indianapolis Colts Own Indiana

kentsterling — Sun, 02 May 2010 20:10:22 +0000

by Kent Sterling An old friend and his wife had a Kentucky Derby Party yesterday on the Indiana side of Louisville, and with my wife helping host a bridal shower in Wisconsin - thank God women don't want guys at those things - I made the 90 minute drive to Sellersburg to reconnect and enjoy the derby among friends. The derby itself took a couple of seconds more than two-minutes, so there was a lot of time to talk, and so I moved through the party talking sports. Virtually all the guests were Colts fans, and eager to talk about the Colts. Several times I was asked, "Does Indianapolis have a civic celebration anything like the derby?" I reminded them that the Indianapolis 500 is coming up in four weeks. "Oh yeah, the 500. I sure love coming up for Colts games. Maybe the 500 would be fun too." The Indiana Pacers came up a few times, but the only player names that anyone responded to were Jamaal Tinsley and Ron Artest. The Pacers have done a decent job locally of moving beyond the clods who made the brawl at The Palace in Detroit the signature moment of the decade for a once-proud franchise, but for those in the outlying area, they have no idea who plays on the current incarnation of the Pacers. I couldn't find a single person at the party - and these weren't sports neophytes - who could name a player. Again and again, the conversation turned to Artest and Tinsley, and then quickly back to the Colts. There were season ticket holders everywhere for the Colts, but only one guy planning to go to the 500, and no one who had gone to a Pacers game in the last five years. The Pacers surely must be aware of their irrelevance outside a 30-mile radius from the Fieldhouse, but I wonder about the people at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Last year, I had no doubt that the momentum was swinging in favor of the 500. There was an excitement last year that was unmistakable. Carb Day was phenomenal, and race day was great. There were more people in the infield on race day than I've seen since 1995, but there was a troubling ignorance of sports fans who live within an easy drive of the 16th and Georgetown. There is another late entry into the race for Indianapolis franchises that draw attention and admiration. These people love the Butler Bulldogs, and they expressed a perception that the Bulldogs operate just like the Colts. "Classy" is the word that many used to describe both. They spoke in glowing terms about the way that Bill Polian and Brad Stevens have built their teams, "They make it easy to root for them because they have their heads screwed on straight." Not surprisingly, there was a lot of discussion about Indiana, Louisville, and Kentucky basketball. The Readers Digest version of their feelings about those three programs - IU needs two more years, but no one can figure out why a blue chip kid would play for Tom Crean. Rick Pitino needs to get the Louisville Cardinals need to recruit well enough to make a deep run in the tournament and soon. John Calipari is poaching Louisville kids, and that pisses off the U of L fans. Louisville is the 42nd largest city in America, and one of the biggest without a major league sports franchise. That means there is a large sports market lying unclaimed within an a easy tank of gas to Indy and back. And they don't know shit about the Indy 500 and the Pacers. If Louisville fans are willing to drive to Lucas Oil Stadium to enjoy a Colts game, some tickets to the Indy 500 Time Trials, Carb Day, and Race Day should be simple if the event marketed successfully as special. The Pacers should be able to sell a ten-game season ticket package to fans in Louisville if they can get anyone to care about the product. Indianapolis is by far the closest NBA city to the Louisville market, and I can't find a sportsfan who knows the name of a Pacers player. The NBA might be a global game as far as jersey sales and TV revenues, but the people in a basketball crazy town can't answer the easiest of questions about the franchise only 90-minutes up I-65. As unsuccessful as the Pacers have been in getting their message across, I was even worsein betting on the derby. Karl, the host, allowed parimutuel wagering, and because one one other bettor put money on the 20-horse - Sydney's Candy, I put my cash right there. The party was crawling with women, and they all love Calvin Borel, the jockey who won the derby in 2007 and 2009. He's smiley and sneaky along the rail, so all the broads bet his mount, Super Saver. What saps, I thought. Of course, the women all went home with a cash in the bras, as is the traditional storage facility for ill-gotten gambling gains. I went home poorer financially, but much better spiritually after enjoying the friendship of people I so seldom see. No matter the format, parties are only as good as the guests and hosts. This was a great party, filled with people both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indiana Pacers need to convert or at least access.

Sports Digest - Monday, May 3, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 03 May 2010 12:31:46 +0000

Lots going on today in the world of sports: Colts - Many Happy Returns for New Colts Return Men - Indy Star (Chappell) Pacers - Dunleavy Embarks on "Most Important Summer" - Star (Wells) Hoosiers - IU Hoops Never Out of Season - Gary Post-Tribune (Mutka) Hoosiers - Etherington Talks Up IU - Star (Neddenriep) NCAA - Was Expansion to 68-Teams the Right Choice for Hoops Tourney (Chicago Tribune) Youth Hoops - iHoops to Show Right Path, Says Elmore - Star (Neddenriep) Cubs - Finally Some Support for Gorzelanny - Chicago Sun-Times (Ginnetti) Cubs - Soto Looks More Like Old Self - Sun-Times Cubs - Soriano Gets Hot - Chicago Tribune (van Dyck) Corey Dillon Arrested for Throwing Soy Sauce at Wife - TMZ Tiger Mistress Victim of Stripper Prejudice - TMZ Bill Belichik Drops off Recent Draft Picks in Middle of Nowhere, Tells Them to Find Way Back - The Onion

Harry on Sports - Monday, May 3, 2010

kentsterling — Mon, 03 May 2010 12:45:27 +0000

[audio http://kentsterling.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/harry77.mp3]

Is 68-Teams the Right Size for NCAA Tournament?

kentsterling — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:47:32 +0000

by Kent Sterling The NCAA is nothing if not clever at framing the debate regarding the size of their signature event. Whether it was purposeful or not, the original proposal for expansion to 96-teams was so over-the-top and horrifying that anything less felt like the tournament got a reprieve and that logic prevailed. The best tournament number would be 32 teams, but show me a profitable and popular event willing to contract and leave cash on the table. It doesn't happen and it won't, so let's just leave 32-teams out there as an ideal for doing the traditional job of any tourney - select a champion. The 64-team bracket allows for a first day that brings great upsets and allows the event to welcome the fans of 32-teams who otherwise would be playing in the NIT. Even if a 32-team tournament ignored conference champions, and chose the best 32 squad in the country, who would care if LSU beat Kansas. The major conferences would dominate the field, and drama would be non-existant. A 32-team tournament could be great if it granted entry only to conference champions as the conference tourneys would have huge drama, and the championship games in the ACC, SEC, Big East, Big Ten, and Big 12 would be wars with a body count. The teams who need to win their tournament to get in, play like their lives depend upon it. Think of the wars if a everyone was playing like that. As it stands today, only the most exact publications even list the entrants in the play-in game, which is more list a gladiator fight to the death to decide who survives to face the lions. The end is coming, but dying Friday is better than dying Tuesday. To gauge public interest in that play-in game, name one team who has ever played in one. With four play in games, that dynamic doesn't change. The losers in the 68-team format are the #2s and #3s who will now be playing what would have been the #13s and #14s. The play-in games will allow four at-large teams to make the field who otherwise would not have made it. They will slot as #11s and #12s, sliding every other team back a seed. As was learned this year, the #13s and #14s can play at a much higher level than the #15s and #16s, and they will occasionally send home a #2 in this new format. From a pragmatic standpoint a 96-team tournament just would not have worked as wellbecause it would have killed the NIT because the entire field of the NIT minus one would have been welcomed to the NCAAs with 31 additional slots to fill. How many fans of the fifth best team in the Atlantic 10 would travel to see them play the third best club in the Horizon League in Madison Square Garden? If your guess is more than 1,000, you are the kids of optimist that would book a Pro Bowlers Association event in Lucas Oil Stadium. The 68-team construct also maintains whatever importance remains of the conference tournaments which currently serve mostly to affect seeding for the NCAAs. Few teams who need to play their way in by winning their conference tourney can do it, and only the fringe teams play their way in or out. Illinois this year were probably one win away from squeaking into the field, and Minnesota won their way in during the Big Ten Tourney by making the finals, but without knowing that for sure, the drama was restricted. Without any direct and transparent NCAA implications, the major conference tournaments are less than compelling. The minor conferences ("minor is not a term used to denigrate who they are, but what the hell else do you call the counter of "major"?) provide great drama as kids who feel they were falsely overlooked by the big boys earn the opportunity to shove it straight up their asses. The choice between watching the MAC final and the ACC final is easy - if they were scheduled against each other. I'm watching the MAC where people are playing for a once in a lifetime thrill. Kids at Duke are so surrounded by thrills, they have become routine for those kids. Sixty-eight teams will allow three more mediocre major conference teams into the mix, but that's not a horrible thing. No team outside the #8-seeds has ever won the tournament, so the quality of the #12 seeds is of no import other than to the #5s and the alums of the schools for whom the dreaded bubble is just outside their world. Fans get a simple bracket that looks the same as it has for a quarter century, and the networks to include three more teams with hundreds of thousands of alums. Everyone wins except for the #16s and 17s, who have no chance for anything more than a chance to fight the longest odds in sports. "One Shining Moment" and the friendly bland gushings of Jim Nantz will remain the reward for one of the best teams when the tournament starts.