Author Archives: Kent Sterling

IU Basketball – What’s Going on in Bloomington?

by Kent Sterling

Things in Bloomington are quiet – too quiet.

The news in Bloomington generally pours out of Cook Hall to the tens of thousands of Indiana faithful who continue to wait patiently for the development of the current roster , as well as the arrival of the next wave of Indiana kids who can’t wait to wear candy stripes and challenge themselves to hang a banner or two.

But in the middle of May, there hasn’t been a stir in two weeks since the little known Remy Abell decided to spurn offers from Penn State, Butler, and Xavier to accept Indiana’s offer to join the program.

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Tom Crean is still pushing for a big man for the 2011 class which would put the Hoosiers one over the limit of 13 scholarships, and more players in the 2012 class where they are also full.

These are interesting times for a program that appears to be ready to take a meaningful leap forward. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had Indiana as a last four in at-large team in his 2012 NCAA bracket, and then inexplicably dropped them to where they are no longer listed at all – not even in the last four out.

It doesn’t make any difference what Lunardi thinks, even in March when people mistakenly invest emotionally is his evaluation. Ten months prior to Selection Sunday, you could line up the Hubble and the Spitzer Space telescopes end-to-end and still not see his relevance.

There are five reasons for Indiana fans optimism, even if the Hoosiers don’t impress Lunardi, as they look ahead to a bit of a make or break season, at least for the fans’ patience:

Maurice Creek is recovering well, and the knee injury that ended his 2010-2011 season wasn’t nearly as serious as the catastrophic injury he suffered the year before. Whether he returns to the level of offensive proficiency he enjoyed early in his freshman season, only time will tell, but there is reason to believe he will be in much better physical condition than he was entering last season.
Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey will be a year stronger and smarter – with the emphasis on smarter. Both players are freak athletes capable of being very good players on both ends, but either hustling themselves out of position or getting periodically lost made it hard for either player to be on the court for extended periods. As the errors decrease in frequency, Crean’s trust will increase, and both will play more minutes.
Cody Zeller and Austin Etherington will show up ready to compete. It’s going to take time, but the two newcomers have played a lot of ball at a very high level in the summers, and both are students of the game. It’s going to take time for these two to develop as Big Ten players, but they have the tools and attitude to get it done. Everyone knows Zeller and expects big things from him, but Etherington is also really good. Ignore those three stars from ratings services – he’s a battler and will be a big piece to the puzzle as the Hoosiers rebuild.
Sophomores are becoming juniors, and that’s a big thing. Christian Watford, Derek Elston, Bobby Capobianco, and Jordan Hulls will be a year older, stronger, and wiser. It’s time for Watford and Hulls to contribute consistently, and time for Elston and Capobianco to contribute period. The switch needs to be flipped for a couple of these guys, and if the urgency of scholarships being in jeopardy is a powerful motivator. One of the great things about college athletics is the challenge that adversity can bring. Things are about to get adverse for a few players.
Minus Ohio State, who will return two players who could very easily have been taken in the top 20 of the NBA Draft (Sullinger in the top five; William Bufurd a little deeper), the Big Ten is much weaker than it was last year. Indiana lost only Jeremiah Rivers, and the rest of the conference lost key cogs to their teams. After getting close in several games last season, Indiana looks better, while most other teams look worse.

Indiana isn’t going to win a National Championship next year – or at least it would seem exceptionally unlikely – but they are going to get better because they have continued to believe. That is a credit to Crean and the attitudes of the players. It would have been easy for the Hoosiers to show up for the Big Ten Tournament two months ago looking ahead to spring break, but they came ready to compete and win, and never accepted their role as the 11 seed.

There was something very noble and admirable about their willingness to believe they had a chance not just to win the opening round game against Penn State, but the entire tournament.

The first step toward success is a common belief, and Indiana showed that last year.

People bang on my ass for being so relentlessly positive of Indiana basketball. The reason for that is easy, and it’s not because I am a fan. I cheer for people I like, not teams. The reason for the encouragement is that writing about how fans should be cynical after eight Big Ten wins in three seasons would be way too simple, and you wouldn’t want to read it.

There is also my belief that IU is getting better. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and for those who can’t see it, I want to help.

Indiana is on the road back, but it’s a long road. If you have ever driven across the country from New York City to Los Angeles, you know how progress appears slow. Kansas sucks, and IU was driving through Kansas last year. While they aren’t to California yet, the Hoosiers are moving toward the beach. The landscape may look as dreary as it did in Ohio, but the car is moving in the right direction.

It may be quiet now, and the countryside out the window dull, but noise will be here soon enough.

Sports Digest – Thursday, May 12, 2011

BCS/Fiesta Bowl settle, Cubs hammers Cards, and NBA offers delay in hard cap.

NBA – Latest offer delays hard cap implementation – ESPN (Stein)

NBA – Bulls having a tough time with Indy’s Jeff Teague – Chicago Sun-Times (Potash)

BCS should spare us the false outrage – USA Today/AP (Dahlberg)

NCAA Basketball – Dr. Bo’s early look at ’11-’12 – Louisville CJ (Bozich)

Cubs – Believe Pujols will be a Cub? Not gonna happen – Sun-Times (Cowley)

Cubs will have to get in line for Pujols – Chicago Tribune (Rogers)

Cubs – Bats shine after rain – Sun-Times (Wittenmyer)

Media – Mariotti charged with three felonies – Tribune (Blankstein)

IndyCar – Hildebrand ready for his Indy debut – Indy Star (Cavin)

High School – Should Indiana allow spring football practice? – Star (Ambrogi)

Milton Bradley for Carlos Silva – the Trade of a Lifetime

by Kent Sterling

When the Seattle Mariners dumped the occasionally talented but always psychotic Milton Bradley this week, it marked the end of end era for both the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs as both players in one of the silliest trades in baseball history had been cast aside despite their teams being on the hook for the balance of their preposterous salaries.

The Cubs signed Bradley before the 2009 season as a free agent in a backloaded deal that paid him $30 million that was the result of a career year Bradley had going into free agency – never seen Hendry duped that way before, have we?. Bradley hit .321, with 22 homers, 77 RBIs, and a league leading on base percentage (.436) and OPS (.999).

In 12 major league seasons for eight teams, Bradley has played in 100 or more games only four times. He wore out his welcome in Chicago very quickly, finally forcing the front office to tell him to leave during meaningless September games.

The Mariners signed the mercurial Silva to an even worse deal based on four years with the Minnesota Twins, when he went 47-45. In his first season with the Mariners, Silva repaid the franchise who lavished a deal for $47 million on him (without the $12 million mutual option for 2012, but plus the $2 million buyout).

The trade from hell was consummated on December 18, 2009, as an early Christmas present for no one, and both players fulfilled the nightmare scenario that everyone but the GMs predicted. Bradley hit .209 for the Mariners before being released after two suspensions in the first month of this season. Silva was good prior to the all-star break, starting 8-1 before an injury followed by a heart issue ended his season with a 10-6 record and 4.22 ERA.

This spring Silva threw batting practice to opponents, and nearly got in a fistfight with Aramis Ramirez before blaming fielding for all his woes. [Note to Cubs pitchers – blaming bad defense for a poor performance can get old in Chicago. The expectation should be bad defense.]

So both men are now at home counting their money. Bradley has already burned bridges with 27% of all potential major league employers, so his career is likely over barring a miraculous advancement in psychological treatments that might get Milton to look in the mirror and see the anger that has caused teams to decide not to enjoy the fruits of his talent.

Silva can eat innings, (and doughnuts by the dozen if his suit size of 56 long is any indication), and someone might be desperate enough to trot him out to the bump again.

When the big book of terrible trades is written, all but one will feature deals like Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio and Ryne Sandberg and Larry Bowa from Ivan DeJesus when one team got a great deal, and the other got bit.

That one trade where both teams somehow got screwed will be Carlos Silva for Milton Bradley. Only Jim Hendry and Jack Zduriencik could make this deal.

[editor’s note: It has been correctly pointed out that Silva is not at home counting his money. He is counting his money while pitching in high-A ball for the New York Yankees. To date, he has thrown seven innings over two games, giving up eight hits and two runs to 20 year-olds.]

Is NCAA President Mark Emmert for Real?

by Kent Sterling

Yesterday, the NCAA hosted a bunch of media types for a day of inculcation into the grim world of NCAA enforcement. The idea being that them folks who criticize the NCAA ought to at least know how the hell the process works.

Mark Emmert has been the president of the NCAA for under a year, and hasn’t had the time to change the culture, so there is still hope that he can spin that aircraft carrier of an organization on to the path of righteousness rather than subservience to its members.

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The evidence of change doesn’t exist – not yet – but that doesn’t mean there is no hope.

As Ohio State revealed the problem coach Jim Tressel knew existed for a half-year not long before the Sugar Bowl, the NCAA agreed to allow the players involved to compete in the game in part because of the lobbying of Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. They, along with Tressel will be suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season. Not playing against Akron, Toledo, Miami (FL), Colorado, and Michigan State isn’t going to dissuade anyone from selling their memorabilia.

UConn committed major violations in recruiting, and then went on to win the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Had Tennessee not belatedly stepped up and fired basketball coach Bruce Pearl, he would still be the coach, despite lying to the face of NCAA investigators, and then admitting he lied.

That’s not the beginning of a legacy of change, but turning takes time, and perhaps Emmert is going to back up his tough talk. His latest comment is typical of the rhetoric if not the action he has employed since deciding to leave the University of Washington, “We need to make sure our penalty structure and enforcement process imposes a thoughtful level of concern, and that the cost of violating the rules costs more than not violating them.”

The NCAA has been resolutely ineffective in enforcing the rules governing college athletics since they opened their doors more than a century ago. Countless movies about corruption in college athletics have been made, dating all the way back to and beyond The Marx Brothers “Monkey Business”.

Men geared to answer all challenges to win at all costs are not going to abide by rules that might get them to the Final Four or a BCS bowl game unless the penalty for being caught is so severe that their ability to make a living as a coach would be cast into peril.

That means if coaches bring a knife, the NCAA will bring a gun, and the guy holding the gun needs to be both angry and fidgety. Here’s a clip about what should be the NCAA way:

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Here are the measures necessary to give the rules some bite:

Major recruiting violation = goodbye and goodluck forever for the coach.
Players accepting non-NCAA gifts from anyone = goodbye and good luck to the player.
Coach not immediately reporting complete information about violations committed by player = goodbye and good luck.
Athletic departments not acting decisively to police their own programs = death penalty for the program.
Find a way to speed the process of investigation and punishment. When programs can be confident that penalties are a year or two away from the time the clock starts on the investigation, there is no meaningful disincentive for a coach making between $1 and $5 million per year. Unless they spend like an NBA All-Star, coaches can exercise a little austerity and maintain a reasonable lifestyle on the money they sock away once they learn their goose might be cooked.

And they need to completely replate the rule book. Right now – it’s thick, confusing, and filled with difficult or impossible to enforce codicils.

The NCAA needs to stop talking and spinning, and start acting. One coach needs to be the guy that steps in a deep pile, and is hit so hard that every coach feels it, and then it needs to happen again and again.

What happened to Kelvin Sampson and Rob Senderoff after the NCAA brought sanctions against Indiana University wouldn’t put fear into Nathan Thurm.

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Sampson took his buyout, ran to the NBA, and earned more serious cash without missing a beat, and Senderoff incredibly is the new head coach at Kent State University. If the level of pain to be inflicted by the NCAA for the Ohio State mess and UConn silliness doesn’t trump the soft landing given to Sampson and Senderoff, then Emmert would do us all a favor by shredding the rule book and telling the enforcement staff its efforts are no longer needed.

Hopefully, Emmert’s bite is a serious as his bark. Student-athletes deserve a level playing field, and to be led by men who are as interested in building character as they are in getting rich for winning championships on the shoulders of what they view as cogs in a machine.

We’re going to find out before the end of the year as the NCAA metes out Emmert style justice on Tennessee, Pearl, Ohio State, and Tressel. My fingers are crossed this is the guy to get it right.

Chicago Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry – You’re fired!

by Kent Sterling

Time for Cubs GM Jim Hendry to load up the unopened P-90X DVDs, Shakeweight, and pilates mat.

Today, I am announcing the immediate termination of Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry. Six moving boxes will be delivered to Hendry’s attention at Wrigley Field later today. He can supply his own tape, or simply fold the flaps to close the boxes after he loads the personal stuff from his office.

Of course, I’m not the owner of the Chicago Cubs, and have no authority to fire Hendry, but something needs to be done, and if all I can do is act in a totally meaningless, futile, and petulant way to make myself feel better about the team I loved first and best that is what I will do.

I have watched too many Cubs games this season to allow the kind of play fans are forced to witness night after night without making some sort of challenge to the status quo. If that means firing the chief potentate of a team over which I have no authority, I am willing to do it.

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The manner in which Hendry preened last night while being quizzed by the media over “the hug” with soon-to-be free agent Albert Pujols was sickening. You would have thought the Cubs were in first place, playing fundamentally sound baseball, instead of the wretched collection of misfits they are.

The game should have served as a reminder to Hendry that the Cubs roster is a laughingstock filled with overpaid oafs incapable of making routine plays. Alfonso Soriano is doing the nearly impossible – leading the major leagues in home runs while also killing his team’s chances to win with daily defensive gaffes that would embarrass a 12 year-old.

His thorough lack of defensive ability and erosion of speed make him an $18 million home run slugging albatross around the necks of Hendry and the Cubs.

Koyie Hill as a back-up catcher is only explainable if he was married to a Ricketts. With Geovany Soto straining a groin last night trying to block a Carlos Zambrano slider, the Cubs are left with Hill as a backstop who might as well stand in the batter’s box holding a guitar as a bat. He’s hitting .125, which means he’s hot.

Mike Quade was the guy who was supposed to hold players accountable for mopery. So far, he’s made Lou Piniella’s leadership last year look effective. If anything, the Cubs appear to care less than in 2010, which isn’t easy. They’re just short of a quarter through his first full season, but it might be time to start comparing Quade with Jim Essian, Lee Elia, and Jim Marshall in the race for worst manager of the past 45 years.

And how about Kosuke Fukudome? He’s hitting .341 with a .445 on base percentage, but in reaching base 45 times, he has managed to score an incredibly anemic six runs. I’ve never heard of a lead off man scoring only 15% of the times he reaches base. Scoring on 15% of plate appearances would be pretty good.

If you think Fukudome is disappointing, look at his $14 million brother Aramis Ramirez. Not only is his range at third limited to within a two foot radius of where he holds his glove when the batter makes contact, this cleanup hitter – while hitting .286 – has a slugging average of .373. Unless he gets hotter than hell, Ramirez will be the first player in major league history to see his slugging average fall from the previous year for seven straight seasons. By the way, he’s on a pace to score a whopping 34 runs.

It’s easy to look at the injuries to Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner as contributing factors in the early season failures of the Cubs to win, but the “Big Three” of Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, and Matt Garza are a combined 6-9, while the rest of the staff is 9-10.

While the ever-shrewd Hendry was negotiating to bring Carlos Pena over to the north side as a free agent, hoping he could improve on his 2010 .198 batting average for $10 million (he has, and is now hitting a comparatively robust .213), Hendry put together a collection of pitching depth that has resulted in James Russell being the fifth starter. As much as Koyie Hill is a virtual pitcher at the plate, Russell pitches like a hitter. He gives up more than one earned run per inning in his starts, and is a lock to lose every game in which he takes the ball.

The Cubs have no team speed, no power at all (minus Soriano), and fundamental lapses that boggle the mind.

I’m concerned for the collective sanity of the Ricketts, who continue to smile and shake hands with fans as this franchise unravels before their very eyes. Nero was a better ruler.

This is what happens when the attention of the guy in charge is focus on ancillary revenue streams like the Triangle Building rather than the on-field product that makes the turnstyles spin. Last night’s rivalry game against the Cardinals sold only 34,249 tickets, and far less than that actually showed up.

This team is a nightmarish 34 games into the season, and for that reason, I’m firing Jim Hendry and hiring Pat Gillick as the team president, replacing both Hendry and Crane Kenney, who I would also fire if I knew what the hell he looked like. Someone who knows Kenney can fire him in my stead.

Someone needs to lead the Cubs out of this abyss, and not owning a single share of stock in the franchise isn’t going to stop me from doing what needs to be done.

I’ve ordered six boxes from a local U-Haul dealership in Lincoln Park that will be delivered to Wrigley Field this afternoon that will help Jim Hendry pack his personal stuff.

Indianapolis Colts Sued Over Bikini Photos

by Kent Sterling

No, Peyton Manning wasn’t photographed in a two-piece. This lawsuit, reported by the Indianapolis Star, is over claims that a former cheerleader is suing the Colts over pictures that led to her dismissal.

Malori Wampler posed for some pics prior to being a cheerleader that showed her nude, minus some body paint over the good parts.

The lawsuit asserts that Wampler did nothing that many white cheerleaders have done before (she is Indonesian), and that because the pictures were taken prior to her signing an agreement not to create notoriety, she can’t be fired for them.

I googled “Malori Wampler bikini”, and the pic to the left is the best I could find. Despite an exhaustive search, I found no evidence that the nude photos exist.

The most shocking piece of information in the story is that the Cheerleaders are paid only $100 per game. What is Lucas Oil Stadium, a Mexican sweat shop/strip club?

The pay for women dancing in bikinis to BTO’s “Taking Care of Business” should at least beat the typical haul for a four-hour shift at PT’s on a Sunday night, and that’s way north of $100, or so I’m told.

Wampler wants the Colts to re-hire her, pay her the couple hundred bucks she lost during the home games she missed after her November canning, and the cost of the lawsuit. All in, it looks like about $1,000 should shut her up.

Colts owner Jim Irsay should just feed her the answer to one of his Twitter trivia contests, and call it a day. Oh, and get her to pony up some of those pictures.

Indiana Pacers – Larry Bird Stays Put; Morway Too

by Kent Sterling

The "Terrible Trio" of David Morway (far left), Herb Simon, and Larry Bird will ride together for another season at least.

The Bird/Simon summit has ended and the status quo has been deemed good enough moving forward for the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers announced this afternoon that Larry Bird will return as the president of basketball operations, but no contract extension was announced. David Morway will be back as well in the general manager chair.

In a statement released by the Pacers, owner Herb Simon said, “I’m quite pleased with the success we experienced this past season and pleased with the direction our team is going. I’m glad Larry is staying to help us continue in the positive direction we are going.”

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Bird’s comment – “The past few months have been the most enjoyable since I took over as President of Basketball Operations. To see our young players develop, to see us make the playoffs and then to see us compete in a hard-fought series with Chicago are indications we are headed in the right direction and it has made me even more determined to help this team improve further and go to the next level.”

The proof as to whether these moves make sense will be in the pudding. The Pacers were 30th of the 30 NBA teams in attendance, have won 35, 36, 36, 32 and 37 games over the past five years, and while Indianapolis was collectively excited by the Pacers first trip to the playoffs since 2006, it’s hard for some to see 37 wins as worthy of an owner’s confidence.

On the other hand, the past six weeks have been the first breath of positive air to come out of Conseco Fieldhouse since the retirement ceremony of Reggie Miller. The roster is filled with young talent, and the money coming off the books could give Bird all the ammunition he needs to fortify the roster with veteran talent – if the pending storm clouds of acrimony between the ownership and players results in the prolonged work stoppage many are predicting.

At the very least, the Pacers should be able to look ahead to taking more calls from people buying season tickets than those eager to relinquish them.

The new collective bargaining agreement is going to require blood, sweat, tears, patience, a deadline, and lockout to craft. NFL teams and players are both making money, and look at that mess. NBA owners – many of them – are bleeding millions, and they are going to make sure that commissioner David Stern represents them well by getting something done with the long and lucrative guaranteed contracts that reward lazy basketball with CEO type salaries.

If the NBA evolves from a soft cap league into a hard cap similar to the NFL, there will be a period of evolution for many of the teams irretrievably over what the cap number might be. That could put the Pacers on the outside looking in in dealing with free agents and trades as they are already beneath that number.

Couple that with the fact that players from outside Indianapolis have very little interest in the Circle City as a destination, and the gains possible for the Pacers are limited, regardless of the cap space gained this offseason.

I would argue that Indianapolis is a perfect place for many in the NBA who want the wealth playing in the league provides, while not being bothered by hysterical fans. A normal life can be led here, and that should be a plus for many. I’ve seen Peyton Manning, perhaps the most recognizable figure in American sports eat quiet lunches and dinners around town, and never be bothered.

The deals Bird may put together should frighten fans given the near trade to bring perennial bad citizen O.J. Mayo to the Pacers, but maybe God intervened there to save Bird from himself, and he learned his lesson.

There are those who say that Bird and Morway don’t have a clue as to what they are doing, and that Simon is a sports hobbyist too kind to make the tough calls the Pacers need to right themselves.

And then there are others who see the evolution of these young Pacers into a playoff team that battled and almost shocked the Bulls.

One of those two groups is right, and we should know in six months who is right.

Next on Bird’s agenda is figuring out who the coach will be, and I will bet $100 with anyone silly enough to accept that Frank Vogel will be back.

Butler Basketball – Shelvin Mack Goes Pro; Ronald Nored Talks About His Teammate, Matt Howard, and Next Season

by Kent Sterling

This is the second consecutive year a Butler Bulldog has taken the chance to jump from the Horizon League to THE league, as in the NBA. No one knows where Mack will be drafted, but his roommate and teammate for the past three years has all the confidence in the world in him.

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Talking to Mack after the big press conference in Hinkle Fiieldhouse, he mentioned the possibility of the worst case scenario playing out. I asked what that was, and he said, “Not being drafted at all.”

There was no talk like that from Ronald Nored, who has spent the last three years defending Mack in workouts and practices, and becoming best friends with him since they were paired to room together as freshmen.

Nored also spoke of his belief in former teammate Matt Howard, and the steps that need to be taken for the Bulldogs to maintain their run of unprecedented excellence.

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Indiana Pacers – Bird/Simon Summit Should Make for Great Entertainment

by Kent Sterling

Indiana Pacers president Larry Legend will duke it out today with owner/mall magnate Herb Simon near Los Angeles to chart the course of Indiana’s favorite NBA franchise. It’s not exactly Ali/Frazier, but this will do.

Simon, who was furious at the performance Larry gave in the season postmortem press conference, will try to get Larry to capitulate to a financial haircut, and some of his ideas for the Pacers next step in rebuilding.

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Larry will try to keep as much power (and cash) as he can, while giving in to some demands just so he appears to be a cooperative listener.

Simon wants Bird back, according to sources. And Bird wants to come back, according to Bird in his press conference. Bird will refuse to report to the other Pacers president Jim Morris, but will likely offer up general manager David Morway if asked to.

Bird would like to finish what he started, and will finally have the cash to do it (depending upon the new collective bargaining agreement). Contracts worth $31.5 will come off the cap, if the Pacers choose not to re-sign T.J. Ford, Mike Dunleavy, Jeff Foster, and Solomon Jones. Jamaal Tinsley’s $5.5 million annual bitter pill is finally of the books as of June 30. Josh McRoberts’ contract is only worth $800K, so bringing him back with a slight bump makes sense.

The Pacers might try to bring Foster back at a reduced salary, but Foster is 34, and he needs to get while the getting is good. I’m not sure what Foster will do after basketball, but it would seem a safe bet that he won’t find a way to replace that sweet NBA income in the business sector.

So Simon will talk to Bird about his behavior during the press conference where he was predictably honest and transparent about his process of evaluating whether he wanted to come back. Bird said that if Simon will spend the money coming off the books to go get upgrades, he’ll return.

That put the weight of the fan base squarely on Simon’s shoulders, and that didn’t play well. So what are the odds for the final result of this meeting (and potentially several others)?

Bird Returns – 70%

Simon knows enough about business to forgive Bird for being exactly who he is during the press conference. He also knows that while winning 37 games is a small step forward, making the playoffs energized fans a little bit. There is positive momentum here for the first time since The Brawl, and to crap on that by flipping the entire basketball side of the front office would be foolish.

The flipside is that Bird has pocketed a significant amount of Simon’s money, and has not yet presided over a team that has won more than it lost. He gave Jim O’Brien an extension that no one understood, had to be talked into firing him, and has slowed played this franchise into 30th place in attendance. If Simon asks himself whether Bird is the best guy available for the job, there might be a change.

Morway returns – 20%

I don’t know David Morway, and have no idea what he is directly responsible for. He seems to be in the unenviable position of a guy who could be offered up as evidence of the change that demonstrates Simon is holding someone accountable for poor performance. No one is safe after the mediocrity fans have endured, nor their decision not to buy tickets or use the tickets they have bought. Morway has no positive profile among fans, and could be painlessly lanced as evidence that change is coming.

Frank Vogel stays – 50%

If Bird comes back, Vogel is a good bet to be the coach next season. He’ll be cheap, and brought the Pacers back from the dead last year. Bird is a loyal guy – to his own peril as we saw with his extension of O’Brien. If Bird goes, the odds drop precipitously. A new president or GM will want to hire his own guy.

It seems unlikely that Vogel, who was simply in the right place at the right time could be one of the 30 best basketball coaches in the world, but maybe he is. If Bird starts interviewing coaches, who knows what he’ll find.

The possible mutations of the Pacers’ evolution are hard to predict. Simon loathes change, and for that reason, I think he and Bird find some middle ground. There is always the chance that Simon decides to go back to the future, and brings Donnie Walsh back, but that’s a long shot. Bird and Simon will give Morway a nice check to go away, and Vogel will return as the coach.

There will be a lockout after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement on June 30, and the new CBA will bring changes that will plot the Pacers course for pursuing free agents. If the cap is lowered but current deals are grandfathered, fans will have to be patient a little longer.

Today begins an era of change with the Indiana Pacers, and I would love to have a seat in the corner of Simon’s office as he and Bird hug or shout it out.

Ohio State Football Heads Even Further South with New Report – Jim Tressel Is Gone, But Doesn’t Know It Yet

by Kent Sterling

Would you buy a used car from this man?

Chum is in the water in Columbus, Ohio, and the sharks are looking for kicking legs.

You know when the byline has three names, a newspaper is expending maximum resources toward a story, and that it’s going to result in bad news for the guy in the center of the storm, so when Jill Riepenhoff, Mike Wagner, and Randy Ludlow’s names showed up atop the latest Columbus Dispatch report of misdeeds and strange doings with Ohio State athletics, what followed was unlikely to be fun reading for embattled (that’s the official writers word for ‘fighting for his job’) coach Jim Tressel.

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Here are the highlights of the post, which is available by clicking here:

The investigation was initiated after The Dispatch found in public records that at least eight Ohio State athletes and 11 athletes’ relatives bought used cars from Jack Maxton Chevrolet or Auto Direct during the past five years. The investigation will involve outside experts and examine at least 50 sales, focusing on whether the athletes received improper benefits.

The common thread in those two dozen transactions was the salesman: Aaron Kniffin, who has worked at both dealerships.

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Kniffin told The Dispatch that he has sold cars to at least four dozen OSU athletes and their relatives, that the OSU compliance staff directed them to him, and that university officials reviewed all documents before sales were final.

Archie said that he has spoken to Kniffin only once, never reviews sales documents and has not directed players to any dealerships.

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Public records show that in 2009, a 2-year-old Chrysler 300 with less than 20,000 miles was titled to then-sophomore linebacker Thaddeus Gibson. Documents show the purchase price as $0.

Mauk could not explain it. “I don’t give cars for free,” he said. Gibson said he was unaware the title on his car showed zero as the sales price. “I paid for the car, and I’m still paying for it,” he said, declining to answer further questions.

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The two collectively have decades of NCAA compliance experience. Neither had ever heard of so many athletes buying cars from the same salesman.

Car ownership among athletes has been a recurring issue at Ohio State dating back to Maurice Clarett in 2003 and extending to the current NCAA investigation of OSU memorabilia sales in which, among other things, one player traded Rose Bowl watches for a vehicle. Four of the six players suspended for selling items for tattoos – or their relatives – also bought cars from the dealers.

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By then, Kniffin, who was working for Maxton, had sold cars to football players Gibson, Chris “Beanie” Wells and Maurice Wells while they were still in school. The mothers of both Wells’ also bought cars. At the time, Beanie’s mom lived in Akron and Maurice’s lived in Maryland.

While employed there, Kniffin also sold cars to football players Robert Rose, Doug Worthington and Solomon Thomas. He also sold cars to Kurt Coleman’s brother, Robert Rose’s father and Ray Small’s father.

While at Auto Direct, a used-car dealership at 2300 E. Dublin-Granville Rd., he sold to wide receiver DeVier Posey and basketball player William Buford. Relatives who bought cars from Kniffin include Pryor’s mother and brother, Daniel “Boom” Herron’s father, basketball player Jon Diebler’s parents and Solomon Thomas’ father.

Kniffin also loaned cars to quarterback Terrelle Pryor, including his own for a three-day test drive to Pennsylvania, where Pryor lives.

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In other words, uh-oh. Not just because of this report, which has denials from Kniffin throughout, but because there are journalists running all over Columbus trying to find as many smoking guns as they can. I drove by a neighborhood Easter egg hunt a few weeks ago, and the kids scurried around like ants on a cupcake in search of the hidden bounty. Journalists on a story like this are like those kids after eating a pound of chocolate.

There is no stopping until they find whatever they are looking for. That’s why it’s always better to simply come out with the truth. The alternative is for reporters, who got into the business because they saw “All the President’s Men” and fell in love with the investigative journalism of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, to pour over every public record and talk to every booster and former player they can find.

When they finally find the guy with a conscience, and they always do – game over.

If it isn’t this story that ends the debate about Tressel’s future in Columbus, there will be another and another and another. There are violations committed by boosters and athletes at the top football programs on a regular basis. No one disputes that, and without a head start, reporters generally leave the retelling of those tales to the internet rumor mongers.

Once the pros are finally awakened, it’s time to start packing because you can damn well bet that one of the 85 scholarship kids who rotate through every four or five years or their benefactors are going to talk.

Yep, the ravenous reporters are swimming in circles trying to find a leg among the driftwood, and they are built to do just that. The truth is out there, and it’s going to take Tressel down.