Did you know that a relatively unusual astromonical event is going to happen tonight?
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/blue-moon-years-eve/story?id=9448523
Yup, we have a "blue moon", or an extra full moon, on the final night of the year...
giving us 13 full moons in this calendar year instead of the slightly more common 12. Most of us won't really notice, since it'll probably be cloudy, but this whole thing made me recall one of the toughest questions in all of astronomy...
A question that is both tough yet simple and at least to me is convincing evidence that what we see in astronomical terms isn't all just happenstance. It isn't just the end results of a huge and random explosion...it was clearly designed with proper laws in place, even if all of human intelligence still cannot figure out those laws or understand them.
It is actually quite a simple question, but you try to come up with an answer.
Even the top experts with Einstein-like intelligence and capabilities still dispute the answer to this very simple question.
"Why does the same side of the moon always face the earth?"
(and please don't bring up the term "dark side" of the moon, because it certainly isn't always dark although since we cannot see it, the other side might as well be dark!)
You think you know? Then step up and let the world's community of top scientists have your answer....they are waiting.....
the most commonly presented answer is that it's due to the tides, but that answer falls far short of being really adequate or universally accepted.
In fact, here's a funny page----on a Wiki answer page someone asks this very question about why the same side of the moon is always visible..
and two different people post an answer...and the two answers differ completely...
one guy uses the tidal answer, the other uses the molten planet answer - so you see, we just cannot get a consensus here!
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_we_always_see_the_same_side_of_the_moon
I am sure you know.... that for thousands and thousands of years, the moon has pretty much shown the exact same side towards the earth.
We here on earth can never see much more than a little over 50% of the moon's surface from our vantage point. (the actual amount that can be seen from earth is a bit OVER 50% since we reside on a planet that's wide enough that as the earth rotates, we get a viewing perspective that's a little wider than just a single pinpoint for observation purposes.)
But- supposedly this wasn't always so that the moon always showed us the same face, since the moon's rotation may have been faster in the distant past...but we don't really know - it's all just guesswork as nobody was here to notice.
But is it just a PURE coincidence that the current face of the moon is always pointed towards earth??
If the moon's time of rotation and of revolution around the earth differed by a mere 0.0001%, then it would easily be detectable, and over a few years, the "unseen" side of the moon would gradually come into view...
BUT IT NEVER DOES.....NEVER!!
And even the top scientists in the history of the world have absolutely NO widely accepted explanation of this phenomenon..
Does that puzzle you??
It sure puzzles me.....I actually have my undergraduate degree in physics and astronomy and I find this intriguing!
Wouldn't you think that someone would find a reasonable explanation for such a relatively common phenomenon - since Mercury's orbit around the sun is of the exact same nature - same side always pointing towards the center of it's orbit..facing the sun. and there are other examples too, but then take Jupiter or Saturn for example...
they each have gobs of moons, and NONE of them follow the same scenario....none of them have the same side always facing the mother-planet.
Here's a guy who tries to argue that the earth's tidal forces are responsible, but he even admits he still can't prove it and admits it isn't easy at all to show it or support it...
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/astronomy/faq/part5/section-20.html
These guys also use a variant of the earth's "tidal" action reasoning, and it's gravity...thus they claim the moon used to spin a lot faster, but the earth's forces have now slowed it down and we just happen to be living at the precise time in all of history that the moon's rotation has coincidentally slowed to exactly the same time as it's revolution around the earth.
Of course, they then offer NO explanation whatsoever why such a theoretical force that is responsible for this has now turned itself off, and the moon is now locked in at the present rate instead continuing to slow down as would be expected if their theory had even an ounce of reason!
http://www.moonconnection.com/moon-same-side.phtml
Others have argued it is due to forces that existed long ago when earth and the moon were molten or liquid, but those explanations cannot be valid because as soon as the bodies solidified, the loss of those forces, would result in gradually the moon's rotation and revolution varying slightly.
But even though they have been each changing over the eons for independent reasons, yet the same side of the moon still always faces earth.....so some unknown force or answer must STILL be effecting the bodies.
I also find it odd that of all the articles and theories presented, each is willing to say "yes, we have the answer", but few are actually willing to openly admit that the experts don't really have a solid clue..
it's almost as if there's an agreement to keep this one kinda quiet so it won't embarrass the experts.
Here is one of the funniest answers you'll see....
this answer amounts essentially to
"it's that way because it's that way"
In other words, they answer the question why we can't see the other side of the moon by answering that it's because that side never faces us!!
http://lunarscience.arc.nasa.gov/kids/moon_face
Here is a paper written by a guy who reviews all the the theories that people have come up with...
some are ridiculous, and all cannot actually and adequately explain the phenomenon...
He discounts and "disproves" the tidal theory as well as others...
but the guy tries anyway to offer his own explanation...
http://www.wbabin.net/physics/tdm20.pdf
The guy comes to the conclusion that since the moon has a lot of iron, and the earth has a magnetic field, then it must be the earth's magnetic influence on the iron in the moon that causes the moon to always face the earth in he same manner.
BUT-- other sources say this theory is absolute poppycock, and here's why..!
We sit in the middle of the earth's magnetic influence...it is no stronger anywhere than right where you sit..
yet if you sprinkle some fine iron shavings onto a piece of paper....check and see if they line up or move about as a result of the earth's magnetic influences...
go ahead and maybe even give them a million years, or even spray some silicone on the paper to reduce friction...
Guess what, they will never line up or move a micron, as the earth's magnetic field is so relatively weak, that it cannot even budge the tiniest little piece of iron on earth....
The weakest magnet you can find or hold in your hand when waved near the shavings will cause them to move...but the earth's magnetic field has an far, far weaker effect on your shavings!!
So then this guy says that as weak as the earth's magnetic field is...it still had this massive influence on the moon, stopping it's rotation and commanding the orientation of the moon throughout all of eternity!!
Plus....throw this fact in...
The earth's magnetic field occasionally reverses itself totally!!
So then how come the moon still stays locked into the same orientation...
if you reverse a magnet near your iron shavings...trust me things will change!
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-magnetic-04a.html
Well...then you see, that even the experts don't have an answer to this one.......
but I prefer to just believe that this is the way it was created. After all, if someone has the ability to create it all and set the rules, then I guess He can set it up any way He wants.
OK...your turn....let's hear your answers........
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Next question we might ponder is that if one of the strongest rules in all of the universe is the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
(the entropy rule that things always get more random and never get MORE organized on their own in nature),
then one has to ask, how did all the space dust all get stuck together and finally come into being as massive bodies formed of dozens of elements and millions of compounds in mega-,assive suns and planets in precise orbits around each other?
Specifically, if all started as a giant cloud of dust in space, how do you get tiny particles of dust and individual molecules all moving a millions of miles per hour, to just suddenly stop moving and colliding and bouncing off each other, and just start sticking to each other and growing into massive bodies like giant stars?
Trust me, it isn't easy -- even the top scientists really don't have a clue, although they'll act like they know and come up with some pretty shaky theories...
Recall, these tiny particles of Hydrogen, helium, etc...are so darned near weightless/massless that even if placed dead still in space right next to each other, they have such little gravity that they would actually repel rather than stick to each other.
And if they are moving through space at any velocity at all, then nothing is going to get them to stick to each other - they's just zip right by each other or collide and bounce away.
No known theory can account for the origin of larger bodies in space.
BUT-- once you have the large bodies, then the big ones gradually get more gravity and might grow larger, but you have to completely jump PAST the hardest step to get to the easier steps...but heck - why not, after all science doesn't care about those details, does it??
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Followup on a Couple Ex-Braves and More Valley News
Up 'til now, nobody had caught word of where ex-Brave Ray Brown went....
after leaving Bradley in spring of 2007, following a failed drug test, he transferred to Missouri Western University (DII) and played there a year. Then he was not back for 2008-2009, and was reported to have returned to the Minneapolis area to be with family. I received one report from a good source that he was staying active playing pick-up games in and around Minneapolis.
But now he shows up on another college roster.
Ray Brown is at Hamline University (in St. Paul, MN) ...and is listed as a senior.
http://www.hamline.edu/hamline_info/athletics/mens_basketball/athletic_bios/0910/brown.ray.html
http://www.hamline.edu/shared/news_items/athletics/mens_basketball/0910/mbb.wheaton.12.29.09.html
http://www.hamline.edu/hamline_info/athletics/mens_basketball/0910/2009-10_roster.html
Ray looks good, and is playing well for DIII Hamline, averaging 16.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 88% on FT's.
But in their 4 conference games Ray has been really hot...
In conference play Ray averages a team leading 20.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 86% on FTs, and 36% (14-39) from 3-pt.
http://www.hamline.edu/hamline_info/athletics/mens_basketball/0910/stats/TEAMCUME.HTM
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Darian Norris is doing well with Salt Lake Community College, a junior college in salt Lake City.
Darian is playing full time point guard and averaging 11 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 5.3 assists, 82% on FTs and 38% on 3-pt.
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Saihou Jassey played last year at NAIA alsh University in Ohio, but is now gone from their roster and did not return for his senior season.
http://www.eurobasket.com/images/GAM/dawdanjie.jpg
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Lance Stemler this year is with a German team, Telemotive Muenchen, which is a smaller regional team not presently playing in the national leagues.
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Jeremy Fears played a couple years for Kapfenberg in Austria and did quite well, then this year started in Hungary and was quickly bought out and is with Slovakian team Prievidza, and is tearing up the league.
Fears leads the entire top Slovakian League in scoring at 20.4 ppg, but also is 4th in assists at 4.6 apg, 2nd in steals at 2.5 spg.
http://www.eurobasket.com/Slovakia/basketball.asp
Here's an interview with Jeremy...it's in Slovak, and I have presented the translation...
http://www.pdbasket.com/Default.aspx?ID=1&Cat=reportaz09_10
"Interviews: Kiro (Rudež), Miro Antol (Jeremy Fears)
Interview with Jeremy Fears
Here is the first interview with the new rozohrávačom BC Prievidza, 24-year U.S. rozohrávačom Jeremy Fears
What attracted you offer Prievidza, that he chose to rubber-stamp it?
Jeremy: My agent told me he knows the team of Prievidza, its goals and the like. Prievidza rozohrávača look capable of giving the points, which should satisfy me. Moreover, in Hungary, where I was from the beginning of the season, I was quite a difficult situation. I tried to find some way out and leave. I'm glad coach Prievidza had great interest for me. Also decided that I accepted this engagement.
What are your expectations from the operation at the international conference?
Jeremy: It is hard to say as follows soon after my arrival. From what I've seen yet, I know that Rudež coach knows what he wants to achieve and how it wants to achieve. I will try to observe the particular instructions and rules. I believe that Western between teammates and we all respect each other. Of course, most of all the titles for which we do everything.
You have already completed the first training, what are your feelings about the new teammates, the environment?
Jeremy: Everyone on himself very hard toil, which is great. Only honest work is to be achieved good results. Coach of each player tries to get the best, so it should be.
You are in Slovakia for the first time or have you ever been here?
Jeremy: In the last year I was wearing my Austrian team played in the European Cup against Inter Bratislava and Handlová. So I have a few times in Slovakia. Even the very near Prievidza as Handlova think there is near ...
You've heard about great Prievidza supporters who are able to create a beautiful atmosphere not only for home games?
Jeremy: Yes, I have to coach them to pursue what-talk. He said to me that people here in Prievidza basketball are very happy, which is cool. Can I say that already are very much looking forward to my first home game in new jersey. I hope many people will come and will root for us all.
What is your greatest weapon?
Jeremy: I think I have pretty good statistics for shooting two points as well as criminal hodoch. Last season I had success turning criminal feasts beyond 90 percent. Whenever I can also gather some assistance, I am doing quite penetrate under the basket.
And what about your weaknesses?
Jeremy: I definitely have work to do to shooting three points, it is certainly my greatest weakness. For each workout try to improve this indicator. We can say that with everything else I am quite happy, though, of course, always be moving forward.
Finally, your desire into this season. Last year was Prievidza bronze ...
Jeremy: I know that the beginning of this year's team came out too, there were some problems with injuries, went first rozohrávač. I will try, so I pulled the team to victory. Highlights will begin as soon as possible to win matches and, of course, entertain the audience. I can hardly express a particular location, I'm still here only briefly."
Zach Andrews, Eddie Cage, Theron Wilson, and Aba Koita are all performing well and top contributors to their teams in Europe....these players have been followed pretty regularly on the BradleyFans.com board, so check there for followup.
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In other Valley news...
Here is the link for the Conference stats...
http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/CONFONLY.HTM
Andrew Warren is 2nd in scoring at 24 ppg. TB is tied for 4th in scoring at 17 ppg. Taylor Brown is 1st in rebounding at 11 rpg. Sam Maniscalco among the leaders in assists at 5 apg, and both TB and Sam M. have perfect shoting at the FT line at 5-5 with Andrew Warren at 4-4!
TB also leads league at 5 steals.
More Valley stuff..........
In kind of an unprecedented move...ex-Creighton Bluejay star Anthony Tolliver starts his own thread on the Creighton message board and tells of an incident back in 2004 apparently in an effort to clear up some previous misstatements on the board!
http://creighton.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=2688&tid=129711728&mid=129711728&sid=1209&style=2
The Creighton/UNI game was labelled as the Mid-major Game of the Night last night, but the report says basically nothing except that CU doesn't have Booker Woodofx any more.
One game into the Valley season, multiple posts on the Drake board calling to dump head coach Mark Phelps!!
http://www.drakenation.com/Topic45989-8-1.aspx
http://www.drakenation.com/Topic29168-8-1.aspx
This 2nd link calls Phelps "a worse D1 coach than Kurt Kanaskie".
One other Drake thread expresses grief over how many minutes the BU starters played. Do the Drake fans even have a clue??
Do they know that Bradley's top two subs (DSE, Dodie) are out for the season, and that one of our subs just came off redshirt?
Looks like one incident at the Wichita-ISU game was kinda funny...
is was said that Shocker coach Gregg Marshall turned to respond to some fans behind him by saying that he wished he was fortunate enough to have "inherited" and player like Osiris Eldridge...suggesting that ISU coach Jankovich was simply serendipitous...
Supposedly the fans got rowdier and let him have it! LOL.
Indiana State's Jake Kelly suffered a knee injury last night (early in 2nd half, then did not return) described as a medial collateral ligament sprain. Generally such knee ligament sprains are treated with rest and limited activity for 2-4 weeks, so Jake may be out for a while.
Wichita fans kinda ripping into Toure Murry as selfinsh!
http://www.shockernet.net/sn/viewtopic.php?t=15730
after leaving Bradley in spring of 2007, following a failed drug test, he transferred to Missouri Western University (DII) and played there a year. Then he was not back for 2008-2009, and was reported to have returned to the Minneapolis area to be with family. I received one report from a good source that he was staying active playing pick-up games in and around Minneapolis.
But now he shows up on another college roster.
Ray Brown is at Hamline University (in St. Paul, MN) ...and is listed as a senior.
http://www.hamline.edu/hamline_info/athletics/mens_basketball/athletic_bios/0910/brown.ray.html
http://www.hamline.edu/shared/news_items/athletics/mens_basketball/0910/mbb.wheaton.12.29.09.html
http://www.hamline.edu/hamline_info/athletics/mens_basketball/0910/2009-10_roster.html
Ray looks good, and is playing well for DIII Hamline, averaging 16.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 88% on FT's.
But in their 4 conference games Ray has been really hot...
In conference play Ray averages a team leading 20.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 86% on FTs, and 36% (14-39) from 3-pt.
http://www.hamline.edu/hamline_info/athletics/mens_basketball/0910/stats/TEAMCUME.HTM
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Darian Norris is doing well with Salt Lake Community College, a junior college in salt Lake City.
Darian is playing full time point guard and averaging 11 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 5.3 assists, 82% on FTs and 38% on 3-pt.
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-
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Saihou Jassey played last year at NAIA alsh University in Ohio, but is now gone from their roster and did not return for his senior season.
http://www.eurobasket.com/images/GAM/dawdanjie.jpg
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-
-
Lance Stemler this year is with a German team, Telemotive Muenchen, which is a smaller regional team not presently playing in the national leagues.
-
-
-
Jeremy Fears played a couple years for Kapfenberg in Austria and did quite well, then this year started in Hungary and was quickly bought out and is with Slovakian team Prievidza, and is tearing up the league.
Fears leads the entire top Slovakian League in scoring at 20.4 ppg, but also is 4th in assists at 4.6 apg, 2nd in steals at 2.5 spg.
http://www.eurobasket.com/Slovakia/basketball.asp
Here's an interview with Jeremy...it's in Slovak, and I have presented the translation...
http://www.pdbasket.com/Default.aspx?ID=1&Cat=reportaz09_10
"Interviews: Kiro (Rudež), Miro Antol (Jeremy Fears)
Interview with Jeremy Fears
Here is the first interview with the new rozohrávačom BC Prievidza, 24-year U.S. rozohrávačom Jeremy Fears
What attracted you offer Prievidza, that he chose to rubber-stamp it?
Jeremy: My agent told me he knows the team of Prievidza, its goals and the like. Prievidza rozohrávača look capable of giving the points, which should satisfy me. Moreover, in Hungary, where I was from the beginning of the season, I was quite a difficult situation. I tried to find some way out and leave. I'm glad coach Prievidza had great interest for me. Also decided that I accepted this engagement.
What are your expectations from the operation at the international conference?
Jeremy: It is hard to say as follows soon after my arrival. From what I've seen yet, I know that Rudež coach knows what he wants to achieve and how it wants to achieve. I will try to observe the particular instructions and rules. I believe that Western between teammates and we all respect each other. Of course, most of all the titles for which we do everything.
You have already completed the first training, what are your feelings about the new teammates, the environment?
Jeremy: Everyone on himself very hard toil, which is great. Only honest work is to be achieved good results. Coach of each player tries to get the best, so it should be.
You are in Slovakia for the first time or have you ever been here?
Jeremy: In the last year I was wearing my Austrian team played in the European Cup against Inter Bratislava and Handlová. So I have a few times in Slovakia. Even the very near Prievidza as Handlova think there is near ...
You've heard about great Prievidza supporters who are able to create a beautiful atmosphere not only for home games?
Jeremy: Yes, I have to coach them to pursue what-talk. He said to me that people here in Prievidza basketball are very happy, which is cool. Can I say that already are very much looking forward to my first home game in new jersey. I hope many people will come and will root for us all.
What is your greatest weapon?
Jeremy: I think I have pretty good statistics for shooting two points as well as criminal hodoch. Last season I had success turning criminal feasts beyond 90 percent. Whenever I can also gather some assistance, I am doing quite penetrate under the basket.
And what about your weaknesses?
Jeremy: I definitely have work to do to shooting three points, it is certainly my greatest weakness. For each workout try to improve this indicator. We can say that with everything else I am quite happy, though, of course, always be moving forward.
Finally, your desire into this season. Last year was Prievidza bronze ...
Jeremy: I know that the beginning of this year's team came out too, there were some problems with injuries, went first rozohrávač. I will try, so I pulled the team to victory. Highlights will begin as soon as possible to win matches and, of course, entertain the audience. I can hardly express a particular location, I'm still here only briefly."
Zach Andrews, Eddie Cage, Theron Wilson, and Aba Koita are all performing well and top contributors to their teams in Europe....these players have been followed pretty regularly on the BradleyFans.com board, so check there for followup.
-
-
-
In other Valley news...
Here is the link for the Conference stats...
http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/CONFONLY.HTM
Andrew Warren is 2nd in scoring at 24 ppg. TB is tied for 4th in scoring at 17 ppg. Taylor Brown is 1st in rebounding at 11 rpg. Sam Maniscalco among the leaders in assists at 5 apg, and both TB and Sam M. have perfect shoting at the FT line at 5-5 with Andrew Warren at 4-4!
TB also leads league at 5 steals.
More Valley stuff..........
In kind of an unprecedented move...ex-Creighton Bluejay star Anthony Tolliver starts his own thread on the Creighton message board and tells of an incident back in 2004 apparently in an effort to clear up some previous misstatements on the board!
http://creighton.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=2688&tid=129711728&mid=129711728&sid=1209&style=2
The Creighton/UNI game was labelled as the Mid-major Game of the Night last night, but the report says basically nothing except that CU doesn't have Booker Woodofx any more.
One game into the Valley season, multiple posts on the Drake board calling to dump head coach Mark Phelps!!
http://www.drakenation.com/Topic45989-8-1.aspx
http://www.drakenation.com/Topic29168-8-1.aspx
This 2nd link calls Phelps "a worse D1 coach than Kurt Kanaskie".
One other Drake thread expresses grief over how many minutes the BU starters played. Do the Drake fans even have a clue??
Do they know that Bradley's top two subs (DSE, Dodie) are out for the season, and that one of our subs just came off redshirt?
Looks like one incident at the Wichita-ISU game was kinda funny...
is was said that Shocker coach Gregg Marshall turned to respond to some fans behind him by saying that he wished he was fortunate enough to have "inherited" and player like Osiris Eldridge...suggesting that ISU coach Jankovich was simply serendipitous...
Supposedly the fans got rowdier and let him have it! LOL.
Indiana State's Jake Kelly suffered a knee injury last night (early in 2nd half, then did not return) described as a medial collateral ligament sprain. Generally such knee ligament sprains are treated with rest and limited activity for 2-4 weeks, so Jake may be out for a while.
Wichita fans kinda ripping into Toure Murry as selfinsh!
http://www.shockernet.net/sn/viewtopic.php?t=15730
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Interesting Basketball Notes Tuesday Morning
Bradley preparing for road game at Drake
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14084
Pick-em for the BU-Drake game
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=154138#post154138
Ex-BU foe, BYU killed Arizona last night with Jimmer Fredette scoring 49!
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=154126#post154126
Indiana's Maurice Creek suffers severe, season ending knee injury. He is undergoing surgery today, and has played too many games already to qualify for a medical redshirt. This type of knee injury will take all of a year to recover and is reminiscent of the injury Shaun Livingston suffered.
Ironically, Verdell Jones, who is the son of the Godfather of Shaun Livingston, was a witness to last nite's injury to Creek.
http://cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com/c71692/media/image/200912/phpvQbi8XIU_BB_BRYANT0215.jpg
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/cs-040208prepcollegesecondseasonpartthree,0,5580338.story
Updated USA Today article about the Missouri Valley teams -
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/mvc/home.htm?csp=34
This was supposed to be the year in the Valley that the seniors would be dominant...
Eldridge, Josh Young, etc...
but check the Valley players' stats thus far...
very few of the leaders in either scoring or rebounding are seniors. I guess this is good for the Valley's future.
http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/ind.pdf
I noticed a thread on P'Allen Stinnett over on the Bluejays' board, was yanked after quite a few Creighton fans got a little hostile.
Here's an Indiana State guy trying to become a two-sports athlete...
Ex- Indiana State Sycamore, Mick Yelovich, entered the World Long Drive Championship and qualified for the final eight with the single longest drive of the competition so far, 403 yeards! Unfortunately he did not win the finals...
Congrats....to Mick.
http://www.remax.co.za/World-Long-Drive/2009-Results/899/
Story out of St. Louis on UNI's success
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/othersports/story/8EFF2595A11BB0328625769B000EC14D?OpenDocument
Story on the ISU-Wichita game
http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/article_2e861784-f426-11de-8d60-001cc4c03286.html
DePaul races to a quick and early last place position in the Big East with their loss last night to Pitt.
Blue Demon fans are bailing by the bunches.
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14084
Pick-em for the BU-Drake game
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=154138#post154138
Ex-BU foe, BYU killed Arizona last night with Jimmer Fredette scoring 49!
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=154126#post154126
Indiana's Maurice Creek suffers severe, season ending knee injury. He is undergoing surgery today, and has played too many games already to qualify for a medical redshirt. This type of knee injury will take all of a year to recover and is reminiscent of the injury Shaun Livingston suffered.
Ironically, Verdell Jones, who is the son of the Godfather of Shaun Livingston, was a witness to last nite's injury to Creek.
http://cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com/c71692/media/image/200912/phpvQbi8XIU_BB_BRYANT0215.jpg
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/cs-040208prepcollegesecondseasonpartthree,0,5580338.story
Updated USA Today article about the Missouri Valley teams -
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/mvc/home.htm?csp=34
This was supposed to be the year in the Valley that the seniors would be dominant...
Eldridge, Josh Young, etc...
but check the Valley players' stats thus far...
very few of the leaders in either scoring or rebounding are seniors. I guess this is good for the Valley's future.
http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/ind.pdf
I noticed a thread on P'Allen Stinnett over on the Bluejays' board, was yanked after quite a few Creighton fans got a little hostile.
Here's an Indiana State guy trying to become a two-sports athlete...
Ex- Indiana State Sycamore, Mick Yelovich, entered the World Long Drive Championship and qualified for the final eight with the single longest drive of the competition so far, 403 yeards! Unfortunately he did not win the finals...
Congrats....to Mick.
http://www.remax.co.za/World-Long-Drive/2009-Results/899/
Story out of St. Louis on UNI's success
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/othersports/story/8EFF2595A11BB0328625769B000EC14D?OpenDocument
Story on the ISU-Wichita game
http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/article_2e861784-f426-11de-8d60-001cc4c03286.html
DePaul races to a quick and early last place position in the Big East with their loss last night to Pitt.
Blue Demon fans are bailing by the bunches.
Friday, December 25, 2009
High Profile Transfers
There are a number of mid-season transfers who are leaving their present schools and looking to play elsewhere.
It is being rumored that Illinois State is looking at some, after all they are widely known as Transfer U.
And who knows, maybe one will land at Bradley.
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13928
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14077
But there's one who is generating a literal feeding frenzy with lots of top schools going after him...
Jio Fontan of Fordham.....a name some will know but others will be unfamiliar with.
The kid was the darling of the east coast press in high school, and got rated as a Top-150 recruit, but chose Fordham seeking instant playing time....
And he did get a ton of playing time, starting and playing every game, even as a freshman.
He's a good player but surely not a mega star...although you'd never know that from the buzz that now surrounds his leaving and transferring.
He played for a hideous team (Fordham), and couldn't help them win more than 4 games in the past 2 seasons...(Fordham was 3-25 last year and was only 1-4 when Fontan bolted this season)
In fact, their winning percentage of 17% without Fontan (they are now 1-4 without him this season)- is actually better than how they've done WITH him in the lineup...(4-29, 12% winning pct.)
But the two real turning points in his career at Fordham were the mass defections last season by lots of other disgruntled players who were ticked about the playing time the untested newcomers were getting (Trey Blue left then, too) - and then, a horribly embarrassing loss, a 24 point whacking by the Manhattan Jaspers over Fordham a couple weeks ago that led to the Fordham coach getting fired and Fontan quitting at Fordham.
In that game, the guy Fontan was guarding...Antoine Pearson, was named MVP, had 16 pts, 3 rebs, 5 steals, while PG Fontan was only 2-9, 0-3 from 3pt, and had SIX turnovers....and only 2 assists...
Seriously, you'd have thought Fontan was going up against Derrick Rose.....but instead, this was only Manhattan and unknown Antoine Pearson!!
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/jasper_juggernaut_in_tk2ElKtni3gY9avZEYO5MN
(BTW- one of the guys who is just a sub for Manhattan is an ex-Chicago Boys to Men player, who hits 14% of his shots from the floor and 16% of his FT attempts, Djibril Coulibaly)
http://www.gojaspers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=52462&SPID=5439&DB_OEM_ID=12500&ATCLID=1609354&Q_SEASON=2009
Fontan is only 5-11 (tops), and 160..
and averages 15 ppg and 4.2 assists..
he makes 35% of his FG attempts, and only 25% on 3-pointers!!
He's only a 61% career FT shooter and rarely ever grabs a rebound...
As noted...it is even rumored that some of the turmoil there at Fordham that has resulted in so many losses
(Fordham has lost 29 of the 33 games that Fontan has played there at Fordham), the firing of the head coach, and then the transfer of virtually all of their talent, even Trey Blue who transferred to ISU, was in part due to the selfishness of their point guard, Fontan, and the seemingly unwarranted huge bulk of playing time he was getting.
The guy is a huge ball hog...he averages taking 15 shots a game, and considers himself a prima donna and superstar...
But then, can you blame him, as the press out there went wild treating him like the next coming of....Sebastian Telfair!!
Now that he is transferring, he is being pursued by Indiana, Tennessee, Miami, Maryland, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Alabama and a few other SEC & ACC schools.
And frankly, I can't understand the mania that's going on over a guy who really doesn't appear to have proven anything...
There are long threads on the message boards at USC, Tennessee, Indiana, and several other schools that desperately want the guy...even though he is obviously a real risk!
The press is helping out with stories like this.......
"Fontan is in Demand"
http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1029170
Now he is saying he'll transfer to USC.....they're desperate for some talent....so he should be able to get playing time right away...
But -
wherever he transfers, he can't play until the 2nd semester next year which will be his junior year...
so he has only 1.5 seasons remaining...so you have to wonder is all the frenzy worth it??
I guess I just don't understand the mania and frenzy for mid-major transfers, who never put up numbers that were all that awesome, even at terrible schools, and even thought they were part of the huge problem that has happened at Fordham.
I guess time will tell............but there's alreday a 5-11 PG on the USC roster, sitting the pines and never getting much playing time...
rapper 'Lil Romeo! (Percy Miller)
http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/miller_percy00.html
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a couple stories on the Valley ...
Drake gets ready for game with Bradley:
http://www.godrakebulldogs.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=15700&ATCLID=204862392
I think this guy is a Southwest Missouri player (MSU):
http://nwitimes.com/sports/high-school/indiana/article_8b6523c2-966f-5fc3-b261-b8585214e1ac.html
ISU's Kellen Thornton shows off his tats...talks about the tragedy of losing his mother.
http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/article_3cbcf058-f0fb-11de-96ab-001cc4c002e0.html
Nice story of the Ole Miss players taking theit tme to do something speacial for a 9 year old fan...
http://www.olemisssports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=12840&SPID=739&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=2600&ATCLID=204862403
Kirk Wessler files this report from the Illinois-Mizzou game:
http://www2.pjstar.com/index.php/wessler/merry_christmas2/
Justin Gant mention:
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/139309485
It is being rumored that Illinois State is looking at some, after all they are widely known as Transfer U.
And who knows, maybe one will land at Bradley.
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13928
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14077
But there's one who is generating a literal feeding frenzy with lots of top schools going after him...
Jio Fontan of Fordham.....a name some will know but others will be unfamiliar with.
The kid was the darling of the east coast press in high school, and got rated as a Top-150 recruit, but chose Fordham seeking instant playing time....
And he did get a ton of playing time, starting and playing every game, even as a freshman.
He's a good player but surely not a mega star...although you'd never know that from the buzz that now surrounds his leaving and transferring.
He played for a hideous team (Fordham), and couldn't help them win more than 4 games in the past 2 seasons...(Fordham was 3-25 last year and was only 1-4 when Fontan bolted this season)
In fact, their winning percentage of 17% without Fontan (they are now 1-4 without him this season)- is actually better than how they've done WITH him in the lineup...(4-29, 12% winning pct.)
But the two real turning points in his career at Fordham were the mass defections last season by lots of other disgruntled players who were ticked about the playing time the untested newcomers were getting (Trey Blue left then, too) - and then, a horribly embarrassing loss, a 24 point whacking by the Manhattan Jaspers over Fordham a couple weeks ago that led to the Fordham coach getting fired and Fontan quitting at Fordham.
In that game, the guy Fontan was guarding...Antoine Pearson, was named MVP, had 16 pts, 3 rebs, 5 steals, while PG Fontan was only 2-9, 0-3 from 3pt, and had SIX turnovers....and only 2 assists...
Seriously, you'd have thought Fontan was going up against Derrick Rose.....but instead, this was only Manhattan and unknown Antoine Pearson!!
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/jasper_juggernaut_in_tk2ElKtni3gY9avZEYO5MN
(BTW- one of the guys who is just a sub for Manhattan is an ex-Chicago Boys to Men player, who hits 14% of his shots from the floor and 16% of his FT attempts, Djibril Coulibaly)
http://www.gojaspers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=52462&SPID=5439&DB_OEM_ID=12500&ATCLID=1609354&Q_SEASON=2009
Fontan is only 5-11 (tops), and 160..
and averages 15 ppg and 4.2 assists..
he makes 35% of his FG attempts, and only 25% on 3-pointers!!
He's only a 61% career FT shooter and rarely ever grabs a rebound...
As noted...it is even rumored that some of the turmoil there at Fordham that has resulted in so many losses
(Fordham has lost 29 of the 33 games that Fontan has played there at Fordham), the firing of the head coach, and then the transfer of virtually all of their talent, even Trey Blue who transferred to ISU, was in part due to the selfishness of their point guard, Fontan, and the seemingly unwarranted huge bulk of playing time he was getting.
The guy is a huge ball hog...he averages taking 15 shots a game, and considers himself a prima donna and superstar...
But then, can you blame him, as the press out there went wild treating him like the next coming of....Sebastian Telfair!!
Now that he is transferring, he is being pursued by Indiana, Tennessee, Miami, Maryland, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Alabama and a few other SEC & ACC schools.
And frankly, I can't understand the mania that's going on over a guy who really doesn't appear to have proven anything...
There are long threads on the message boards at USC, Tennessee, Indiana, and several other schools that desperately want the guy...even though he is obviously a real risk!
The press is helping out with stories like this.......
"Fontan is in Demand"
http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1029170
Now he is saying he'll transfer to USC.....they're desperate for some talent....so he should be able to get playing time right away...
But -
wherever he transfers, he can't play until the 2nd semester next year which will be his junior year...
so he has only 1.5 seasons remaining...so you have to wonder is all the frenzy worth it??
I guess I just don't understand the mania and frenzy for mid-major transfers, who never put up numbers that were all that awesome, even at terrible schools, and even thought they were part of the huge problem that has happened at Fordham.
I guess time will tell............but there's alreday a 5-11 PG on the USC roster, sitting the pines and never getting much playing time...
rapper 'Lil Romeo! (Percy Miller)
http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/miller_percy00.html
-
-
-
a couple stories on the Valley ...
Drake gets ready for game with Bradley:
http://www.godrakebulldogs.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=15700&ATCLID=204862392
I think this guy is a Southwest Missouri player (MSU):
http://nwitimes.com/sports/high-school/indiana/article_8b6523c2-966f-5fc3-b261-b8585214e1ac.html
ISU's Kellen Thornton shows off his tats...talks about the tragedy of losing his mother.
http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/article_3cbcf058-f0fb-11de-96ab-001cc4c002e0.html
Nice story of the Ole Miss players taking theit tme to do something speacial for a 9 year old fan...
http://www.olemisssports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=12840&SPID=739&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=2600&ATCLID=204862403
Kirk Wessler files this report from the Illinois-Mizzou game:
http://www2.pjstar.com/index.php/wessler/merry_christmas2/
Justin Gant mention:
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/139309485
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Just a Thought as We Near Christmas
This is an essay from Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes fame...
Andy Rooney says:
"I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin , but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his Theory of Evolution.
Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire Book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game.
But it's a Christian prayer, some will argue.
Yes, and this is the United States of America , a country founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect -- somebody chanting Hare Krishna?
If I went to a football game in Jerusalem , I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer...
If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad , I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer.
If I went to a ping pong match in China , I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha.
And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit.
When in Rome ......
But what about the atheists? Is another argument.
What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer!
Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do.. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations.
Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying.
God, help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well, just sue me.
The silent majority has been silent too long. It's time we tell that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard that the vast majority doesn't care what they want. It is time that the majority Rules! It's time we tell them, You don't have to pray; you don't have to say the Pledge of Allegiance; you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right; but by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away. We are fighting back, and we WILL WIN!
God bless us one and all ... Especially those who denounce Him , God bless America, despite all her faults. She is still the greatest nation of all. God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God."
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-
-
Oh - and a couple things on college basketball..........
this guy writes about the Indiana Pacers. He wants the Pacers to deal ex-Brave Danny Granger.
The Pacers have played 5 games since Granger went out with injury...
they are 3-2 and averaging 102.2 points per game.
http://hoosierhoopsreport.com/its-time-for-the-pacers-to-deal-granger/
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DePaul hosted Texas State yesterday....and Texas State has only one win over a D-I opponent, a narrow victory over Texas Pan American (who are 1-11 with a 62-pt loss to Texas).
So DePaul should have killed them, right?
Nope - it was pretty close all the way but DePaul played their starters pretty much all the way, with two of them going the full 40 minutes, for the 86-69 win.
Where did DePaul get all those mid-major players?
Speaking of which....CUSA was going to be wide open this year with the demise of Memphis...
Houston, Tulsa, and UAB were going to make a run....
And it still may happen but Houston is now just 4-3 vs. D-I opponents, and has an RPI of 160, and guess who has the best RPI in CUSA right now?
It is Southern Miss!
Seriously, Larry Eustachy's Southern Miss has an RPI of 6!!!!
But hopefully that won't last for long and won't fool anyone....
because they haven't beaten a single Top 100 team, and four of their wins are against NAIA team!
They have found the formula to fool the RPI equation....
play only teams like Montana State and LA Lafayette, avoid playing anyone good, and schedule a bunch of NAIA schools.
Anyone see Duke expose Gonzaga?
Duke won easily by 35 points, exposing Gonzaga's #16 ranking as a bit inflated...
USC exposed Tennessee........someone finally watched some film and packed it in making Tennessee actually hit some shots!
Tennessee went 2-22 from the arc and lost big time to a struggling USC squad..
Hosting a Top-10 opponent still doesn't impress USC fans, however, as they drew only 4500.
Meanwhile, Bruce Pearl admitted after the game that he and his team were completely unprepared for USC as they had not seen any tape nor any scouting reports on the newly eligible USC point guard, Mike Gerrity, who ended up killing the Vols with 12 pts/10 assists.
Portland loses by 25 last night to go to 1-4 since fooling much of the voting body for the AP poll, when they voted them the #25 team in the nation.
I've always said, the people who vote in those polls don't even watch the games nor do they do any homework...they use the headlines from the papers and maybe a few box scores.
P'Allen Stinnett cost Creighton another win last night vs. New Mexico, jacking up bad shots, and turning the ball over 5 times.
Oh, and note the other team's shooting guard went off for 22 pts and 16 rebounds.
For those interested...the guy who was at one time ranked as the best player in the entire nation, even ahead of John Wall....has finally become eligible at Mississippi State.
Remember John Riek...who some people even said was ready for the NBA?
Well, he did go to a few predraft camps, but failed so miserably that some writers even begged forgiveness for overrating him.
Riek is now finally eligible and playing for Miss. State, but logged only 1 minute and doesn't even seem to have any grasp on the concept of the game..
He is a very long term project....
Andy Rooney says:
"I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin , but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his Theory of Evolution.
Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire Book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game.
But it's a Christian prayer, some will argue.
Yes, and this is the United States of America , a country founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect -- somebody chanting Hare Krishna?
If I went to a football game in Jerusalem , I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer...
If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad , I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer.
If I went to a ping pong match in China , I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha.
And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit.
When in Rome ......
But what about the atheists? Is another argument.
What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer!
Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do.. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations.
Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying.
God, help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well, just sue me.
The silent majority has been silent too long. It's time we tell that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard that the vast majority doesn't care what they want. It is time that the majority Rules! It's time we tell them, You don't have to pray; you don't have to say the Pledge of Allegiance; you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right; but by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away. We are fighting back, and we WILL WIN!
God bless us one and all ... Especially those who denounce Him , God bless America, despite all her faults. She is still the greatest nation of all. God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God."
-
-
-
Oh - and a couple things on college basketball..........
this guy writes about the Indiana Pacers. He wants the Pacers to deal ex-Brave Danny Granger.
The Pacers have played 5 games since Granger went out with injury...
they are 3-2 and averaging 102.2 points per game.
http://hoosierhoopsreport.com/its-time-for-the-pacers-to-deal-granger/
-
-
-
DePaul hosted Texas State yesterday....and Texas State has only one win over a D-I opponent, a narrow victory over Texas Pan American (who are 1-11 with a 62-pt loss to Texas).
So DePaul should have killed them, right?
Nope - it was pretty close all the way but DePaul played their starters pretty much all the way, with two of them going the full 40 minutes, for the 86-69 win.
Where did DePaul get all those mid-major players?
Speaking of which....CUSA was going to be wide open this year with the demise of Memphis...
Houston, Tulsa, and UAB were going to make a run....
And it still may happen but Houston is now just 4-3 vs. D-I opponents, and has an RPI of 160, and guess who has the best RPI in CUSA right now?
It is Southern Miss!
Seriously, Larry Eustachy's Southern Miss has an RPI of 6!!!!
But hopefully that won't last for long and won't fool anyone....
because they haven't beaten a single Top 100 team, and four of their wins are against NAIA team!
They have found the formula to fool the RPI equation....
play only teams like Montana State and LA Lafayette, avoid playing anyone good, and schedule a bunch of NAIA schools.
Anyone see Duke expose Gonzaga?
Duke won easily by 35 points, exposing Gonzaga's #16 ranking as a bit inflated...
USC exposed Tennessee........someone finally watched some film and packed it in making Tennessee actually hit some shots!
Tennessee went 2-22 from the arc and lost big time to a struggling USC squad..
Hosting a Top-10 opponent still doesn't impress USC fans, however, as they drew only 4500.
Meanwhile, Bruce Pearl admitted after the game that he and his team were completely unprepared for USC as they had not seen any tape nor any scouting reports on the newly eligible USC point guard, Mike Gerrity, who ended up killing the Vols with 12 pts/10 assists.
Portland loses by 25 last night to go to 1-4 since fooling much of the voting body for the AP poll, when they voted them the #25 team in the nation.
I've always said, the people who vote in those polls don't even watch the games nor do they do any homework...they use the headlines from the papers and maybe a few box scores.
P'Allen Stinnett cost Creighton another win last night vs. New Mexico, jacking up bad shots, and turning the ball over 5 times.
Oh, and note the other team's shooting guard went off for 22 pts and 16 rebounds.
For those interested...the guy who was at one time ranked as the best player in the entire nation, even ahead of John Wall....has finally become eligible at Mississippi State.
Remember John Riek...who some people even said was ready for the NBA?
Well, he did go to a few predraft camps, but failed so miserably that some writers even begged forgiveness for overrating him.
Riek is now finally eligible and playing for Miss. State, but logged only 1 minute and doesn't even seem to have any grasp on the concept of the game..
He is a very long term project....
Comments??
Finally - after 6 months of blogs, someone has left me a comment!
In fact, just this past week, two people left comments on this blog, and those are the first two ever....although I have been made aware that this blog is viewed by and discussed by many people on at least four other message boards.
Anyway, thanks for the comments...and they are both nice observations......I appreciate them....
Here are the two blog entries with new comments....scroll to the bottom if you wish to read the comments.
http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2009/11/will-egolf-and-his-outstanding-recovery.html
http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2009/12/news-around-valley.html
How far they have fallen.....
does any Bradley fan recall Cavel Witter?? I suspect they all do...as Cavel has routinely put up anywhere from 12 to 40 when he plays BU...
But note that he must really be in Dana Altman's doghouse.....he didn't even log a single minute last game, even though the game was a pretty hefty blowout of lowly Savannah State right from the start.
Every other player who has even a jock strap played, and even some of the deeper subs played 13 minutes!
But not a single second for Cavel...he was glued to the bench...
Hey- Dana...please keep the guy on the bench when you play Bradley!!!
http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/cu-d16.htm
Drake might pick up a win today -- they play Iowa!
Drake is 5-5 and has played one of the worst schedules in the nation...
but at least senior Josh Young can brag.....he's never lost to the flagship school, Iowa!
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091218/SPORTS020504/912190318/1097/SPORTS/Men-s-basketball-Josh-Young-perfect-to-lead-Drake-against-Iowa
What is this world coming to!! Is everyone becoming a real wimp??
The Washington Redskins have cancelled their football practice today.....because...it's snowing...
Gimme a break...these guys are sissies...they're going nowhere!
http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/redskins/2009/dec/19/practice-cancelled/
Here's one reason to go to a bar every now and then....you might walk away with $50,000!
http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/x1599182475/One-shot-makes-Quincy-man-50-000-richer
Even more cheating and scandal at USC - but NCAA won't even take notice - book it!
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14034
They aren't paying any attention to all the cheating at UConn either...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14026
But USC did get some good news today....
their 6th year, 24 year old, multi-transferring (Pepperdine to Charlotte to USC) walk-on has been declared eligible by NCAA and given their lack of depth, will not only play today, but will likely start ahead of rapper Lil Romeo!
http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_14031073
You gotta watch the video -- good job Braves....
http://www.bubraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=204860048
This is a funny schedule....Presbyterian College...
They are 2-9 and about to go to 2-10 after today's game at Dayton...
But they have scheduled just a little bit tough this year with games at North Carolina, Ohio State, Dayton, Marquette, Florida, Clemson, etc..
but they probably bring home some cash and haven't had to pay a whole lot of employees yet with so few home games.
http://www.gobluehose.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18100&KEY=&SPID=10747&SPSID=89799
One of the Billiken bloggers thinks they might lose to Missouri State today...but note he calls on all the people on the Billiken message board to show up in force and be loud!!
http://earlonsports.blogspot.com/2009/12/bills-vs-bears.html
These guys predict that ISU will handle Utah today...
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/188/story/1134075.html
In fact, just this past week, two people left comments on this blog, and those are the first two ever....although I have been made aware that this blog is viewed by and discussed by many people on at least four other message boards.
Anyway, thanks for the comments...and they are both nice observations......I appreciate them....
Here are the two blog entries with new comments....scroll to the bottom if you wish to read the comments.
http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2009/11/will-egolf-and-his-outstanding-recovery.html
http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2009/12/news-around-valley.html
How far they have fallen.....
does any Bradley fan recall Cavel Witter?? I suspect they all do...as Cavel has routinely put up anywhere from 12 to 40 when he plays BU...
But note that he must really be in Dana Altman's doghouse.....he didn't even log a single minute last game, even though the game was a pretty hefty blowout of lowly Savannah State right from the start.
Every other player who has even a jock strap played, and even some of the deeper subs played 13 minutes!
But not a single second for Cavel...he was glued to the bench...
Hey- Dana...please keep the guy on the bench when you play Bradley!!!
http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/cu-d16.htm
Drake might pick up a win today -- they play Iowa!
Drake is 5-5 and has played one of the worst schedules in the nation...
but at least senior Josh Young can brag.....he's never lost to the flagship school, Iowa!
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091218/SPORTS020504/912190318/1097/SPORTS/Men-s-basketball-Josh-Young-perfect-to-lead-Drake-against-Iowa
What is this world coming to!! Is everyone becoming a real wimp??
The Washington Redskins have cancelled their football practice today.....because...it's snowing...
Gimme a break...these guys are sissies...they're going nowhere!
http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/redskins/2009/dec/19/practice-cancelled/
Here's one reason to go to a bar every now and then....you might walk away with $50,000!
http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/x1599182475/One-shot-makes-Quincy-man-50-000-richer
Even more cheating and scandal at USC - but NCAA won't even take notice - book it!
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14034
They aren't paying any attention to all the cheating at UConn either...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14026
But USC did get some good news today....
their 6th year, 24 year old, multi-transferring (Pepperdine to Charlotte to USC) walk-on has been declared eligible by NCAA and given their lack of depth, will not only play today, but will likely start ahead of rapper Lil Romeo!
http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_14031073
You gotta watch the video -- good job Braves....
http://www.bubraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=204860048
This is a funny schedule....Presbyterian College...
They are 2-9 and about to go to 2-10 after today's game at Dayton...
But they have scheduled just a little bit tough this year with games at North Carolina, Ohio State, Dayton, Marquette, Florida, Clemson, etc..
but they probably bring home some cash and haven't had to pay a whole lot of employees yet with so few home games.
http://www.gobluehose.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18100&KEY=&SPID=10747&SPSID=89799
One of the Billiken bloggers thinks they might lose to Missouri State today...but note he calls on all the people on the Billiken message board to show up in force and be loud!!
http://earlonsports.blogspot.com/2009/12/bills-vs-bears.html
These guys predict that ISU will handle Utah today...
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/188/story/1134075.html
Friday, December 18, 2009
Ten Oddball Topics
Call them "off-topics" but here are a few things that I found a bit odd.......
1- Tiger Wood's marital issues and indiscretions have sure gotten a lot of publicity. But other famous people with marital difficulties and indiscretions seem to have gotten a pass, and the press barely notices. Wonder why??
Shaquille O'Neal is reportedly running around on his wife, and she's divorcing him, but I really haven't seen that reported outside of a few gossip columns.
http://www.nowpublic.com/sports/shaq-divorce-caused-gilbert-arenas-fiance-laura-govan-2513447.html
Same for another relative NBA good-guy, D-Wade...why such a difference in the way the press is portraying this?/
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/01/18/dwyane-wades-divorce-takes-ugly-turn/
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/business/media/17adco.html
2- I found something interesting this morning.. I asked a few people how to spell D-Wade's first name...
nobody got it right. Considering the guy's been a household name for the better part of a decade, you'd think people would know the proper way top spell his name!
Here's the right way to spell it...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwyane_Wade
http://www.dwyanewade3.com/
a whole lot of places spell it wrong, including NBA people...
http://www.nba.com/knicks/news/nykmiarecap090301.html
3- Kobe would NOT be proud...
Students at Lower Merion HS in Philly degenerate into flinging racial & ethnic taunts at opponents.
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/12/18/1009803/phillie-students-dunked-after-holocaust-taunts
Kobe Bryant is the most famous alum of Lower Merion...
http://www.kobebryantshoes.com/images/kobe_highschool_11.jpg
4- Speaking of bad fan behavior, here's a school (a middle school) where a brawl resulted in cancellation of all the teams' (7th & 8th grade, boys & girls!) entire season! At last, some solid discipline!
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20091217/NEWS01/912180368/Melee+cancels+basketball+season
5- I saw some clips from the new movie "Avatar". The press seems to promise this is the best computer generated graphics anyone has ever seen, and it won't look like a cartoon, but will instead look like real people acting in the movie.
I don't know what everyone else will think, but baloney....it was so obviously CGI that it is just distracting to me. When people talk and interact, there' more facial movement and expression...the CGI still looks like cartoonish graphics.
6- Who among all current and even recent players in the Missouri Valley, leads the entire MVC in career shots attempted?
Well...the winner is well ahead of all the rest......
OE has 1241 shots attempted to date in the MVC.
Next closest is Drake's Josh Young with 1058.
Andrew Warren, in his junior year, still hasn't hit 500, and Sam Maniscalco is just a little over 600.
P'Allen Stinnett, another prolific shooter, also in his junior year, has 699, and Tony Freeman, a gunner who came over from Iowa is at 604.
Even Kyle Korver (1184), Jeremy Crouch (1020), and PJ Couisnard (970) in their prolific FULL 4 year careers in the Valley still never launched close to the number of shot attempts OE has even before most of his senior season has been played.
And nobody in the past 6-8 years, including Jamaal Tatum, Nate Funk, etc....shot as many times as OE will end up with at the completion of his career.
7- Yet another Mizzou player suspended for legal issues...
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/12/17/missouri-basketball-player-jt-tiller-suspended-one-game-after-arrest-unpaid-speeding-ticket/
8- Almost as much legal trouble as they have at Tennessee...
With Lane Kiffin, his hostesses, his lawbreakers, and then add in all the crooks, druggies, and thugs that Bruce Pearl has, they really need their own jail built on campus.
http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11696318
9- Proof that Bobby Knight doesn't always graduate his players...
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/nH8egsr2009/700.pdf
and proof that one Valley school is even worse!!!
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/nH8egsr2009/299.pdf
10- Lastly - just thought I'd give a plug for the World's Greatest ice cream...
You might have to drive a bit to get it...but it's worth it!
http://www.whiteysicecream.com/locations.asp
http://www.whiteysicecream.com/
1- Tiger Wood's marital issues and indiscretions have sure gotten a lot of publicity. But other famous people with marital difficulties and indiscretions seem to have gotten a pass, and the press barely notices. Wonder why??
Shaquille O'Neal is reportedly running around on his wife, and she's divorcing him, but I really haven't seen that reported outside of a few gossip columns.
http://www.nowpublic.com/sports/shaq-divorce-caused-gilbert-arenas-fiance-laura-govan-2513447.html
Same for another relative NBA good-guy, D-Wade...why such a difference in the way the press is portraying this?/
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/01/18/dwyane-wades-divorce-takes-ugly-turn/
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/business/media/17adco.html
2- I found something interesting this morning.. I asked a few people how to spell D-Wade's first name...
nobody got it right. Considering the guy's been a household name for the better part of a decade, you'd think people would know the proper way top spell his name!
Here's the right way to spell it...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwyane_Wade
http://www.dwyanewade3.com/
a whole lot of places spell it wrong, including NBA people...
http://www.nba.com/knicks/news/nykmiarecap090301.html
3- Kobe would NOT be proud...
Students at Lower Merion HS in Philly degenerate into flinging racial & ethnic taunts at opponents.
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/12/18/1009803/phillie-students-dunked-after-holocaust-taunts
Kobe Bryant is the most famous alum of Lower Merion...
http://www.kobebryantshoes.com/images/kobe_highschool_11.jpg
4- Speaking of bad fan behavior, here's a school (a middle school) where a brawl resulted in cancellation of all the teams' (7th & 8th grade, boys & girls!) entire season! At last, some solid discipline!
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20091217/NEWS01/912180368/Melee+cancels+basketball+season
5- I saw some clips from the new movie "Avatar". The press seems to promise this is the best computer generated graphics anyone has ever seen, and it won't look like a cartoon, but will instead look like real people acting in the movie.
I don't know what everyone else will think, but baloney....it was so obviously CGI that it is just distracting to me. When people talk and interact, there' more facial movement and expression...the CGI still looks like cartoonish graphics.
6- Who among all current and even recent players in the Missouri Valley, leads the entire MVC in career shots attempted?
Well...the winner is well ahead of all the rest......
OE has 1241 shots attempted to date in the MVC.
Next closest is Drake's Josh Young with 1058.
Andrew Warren, in his junior year, still hasn't hit 500, and Sam Maniscalco is just a little over 600.
P'Allen Stinnett, another prolific shooter, also in his junior year, has 699, and Tony Freeman, a gunner who came over from Iowa is at 604.
Even Kyle Korver (1184), Jeremy Crouch (1020), and PJ Couisnard (970) in their prolific FULL 4 year careers in the Valley still never launched close to the number of shot attempts OE has even before most of his senior season has been played.
And nobody in the past 6-8 years, including Jamaal Tatum, Nate Funk, etc....shot as many times as OE will end up with at the completion of his career.
7- Yet another Mizzou player suspended for legal issues...
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/12/17/missouri-basketball-player-jt-tiller-suspended-one-game-after-arrest-unpaid-speeding-ticket/
8- Almost as much legal trouble as they have at Tennessee...
With Lane Kiffin, his hostesses, his lawbreakers, and then add in all the crooks, druggies, and thugs that Bruce Pearl has, they really need their own jail built on campus.
http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11696318
9- Proof that Bobby Knight doesn't always graduate his players...
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/nH8egsr2009/700.pdf
and proof that one Valley school is even worse!!!
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/nH8egsr2009/299.pdf
10- Lastly - just thought I'd give a plug for the World's Greatest ice cream...
You might have to drive a bit to get it...but it's worth it!
http://www.whiteysicecream.com/locations.asp
http://www.whiteysicecream.com/
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
News Around the Valley
Here's a little followup on a few players who were or are being recruited by Bradley and other Valley schools:
-John Wilkins' case is still waiting to be heard by the backlogged Iowa court system, with civil cases taking a beating in getting on the dockets. Hopefully it'll get heard this week, with a ruling to follow shortly after.
--Robert Covington was being looked at by BU, but ended up at Tennessee State. He is doing very well. He's a 6-7 wing player along the lines of Taylor Brown, but at Tennessee State he's only a freshman but putting up 10.5 ppg (2nd leading scorer) and 4.5 rpg (2nd leading rebounder) while shooting 14-38 (37%) from 3-pt.
http://www.tsutigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19600&ATCLID=204816656
--one recruiting site says Lake Land junior college's Paris Carter has offers from both ISU and SIU. He is averaging 12 pts, 8 rebs in his sophomore year there.
He is 6-7 and similar to Jeremy Robinson.
--Ehimen Orupke at Three Rivers CC is signed to go to Wichita State next fall. He is a powerful 7-0 center, and he's a late bloomer and has sat out a couple years so he's at least 3-4 years older than many of the players he's facing, but his averages are not so powerful.
He is only averaging 5 ppg, 6 rpg, but also hits on only 45% of his attempts from the floor and only 50% from the FT line. He also leads his team by far in fouls per game, while his A/T ratio is 9/19. He was supposedly a shot blocking specialist and early on was blocking quite a few..but his numbers there have fallen off the chart, and now he's down to 2 bpg...not all that surprising for a 7-footer.
Even BU's David Collins put up much more impressive numbers, pretty much double the scoring and better rebounding, while hitting 60% on FG's and even better on FT's.
--John A. Logan's Lazeric Jones was getting some attention from Valley teams, but now several big programs are hot onto him. UCLA has reportedly offered, as has Wisconsin. He's averaging 10.7 ppg, 5.8 apg. In high school at Simeon, Jones was a PG, and Derrick Rose's backup.
http://wisconsin.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1028319
--Speaking of Derrick Rose's backup, Kenyon Smith has signed a LOI to ISU and is at Lincoln College. 14 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3 apg. But he takes a lot of shots and hits only 38% from the floor overall and just 26% from 3-pt.
He has taken 139 shots already on the season to accumulate his 147 points.
Right now, ISU is the worst 3-pt shooting team in the Valley, so they don't need more of this.
--a couple blurbs on Osiris Eldridge's personal and social web sites tell of him shearing off all his hair...
NO MORE O-Hawk....time to make a change...maybe this'll have the reverse Sampson effect and give him a boost of strength!
Also -- oddly, Osiris links to this picture on his friend's web site, from his twitter account...
could this be what he meant by his comment about taking care of his family?
Do you think this is prudent for a college kid to be flouting this much cash in $100 bills??
And check out what's meant by "rack attack" in the urban Dictionary! (urbandictionary.com)
http://twitpic.com/sotgx
--a few BU recruiting targets are mentioned here-
http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/
but I am intrigued by the comments in the press by Manual's Andrew Jordan...who says quite plainly in many quotes that he transferred from Woodruff to Manual just to get onto a better team...
So can someone tell me again how it's the private schools who recruit??
--a couple ex-BU targets are floundering...
When Iowa played Iowa State a couple nites ago...LA Pomlee played only 1 minute...he needs to get out of there...he never plays!
And Devan Bawinkel went scoreless...the FIFTH time already this season he has been scoreless! He's averaging only 3.5 ppg, but virtually nothing else! Only 0.9 rpg and 0.5 apg.
--Nice to see that BU assistant Alvin Brooks is linking to the BradleyFans message board on his twitter!
http://twitter.com/AlvinBrooks3/status/6578883819
--details emerging suggest that Donivine Stewart was offered a scholarship by Bradley the week before the WCU game....Donivine is having a fine year at Limestone.
--other players somehow connected to BU or Illinois...
-Brian Carlwell (at San Diego State now) has lost his starting job..now averaging only 4.7 ppg, 3 rpg
-Mitchell Anderson Jr (at juco in Georgia)-has been on a comparative tear...his scoring avg up to 3.2 ppg, but his shooting is interesting..
He is only 1-5 from 3-pt and should not be shooting those shots..
he is 14-18 from 2-pt...and averages 4 rebs a game..
-D'Mitri Riggs 13.4 ppg, 5.5 apg
-Manny Cass 13/4
-Darian Norris 1 ppg, 5.5 apg
-Cephas Oglesby 14 ppg, but 33% 3pt shooting
-Antonio Owens (CSI) 13/4
-Chesterton, IN's Mitch McGary - linked to BU at one time, just broke a bone in his right foot and is done for the entire season..
http://www.hoopsindiana.com/
--I saw a long writeup about the head coach of Belmont, Rick Byrd...who some said should have been given consideration when BU hired.
Lots of glowing praise about Belmont's four consecutive seasons of 20 wins or more.
But oddly - the writer never mentioned that Belmont's accomplishment was vs. a schedule that's been consistently among the WORST in D-I...not a single season in there where Belmont's schedule was ranked better than 200+!
This year - their SOS is 281 !!
And what kind of writeup did this same author give to Jim Les - who has 4 consecutive 20+ win seasons against way better opponents?? Do you remember the "renegade" article and the sugestion that Les should be fired... yup....that's the guy...now maybe if Bradley's schedule was ranked 281 then the guy would notice??
--I noted that the Bradley blogger on Examiner, Joe Book has been absent for a while...
hopefully he's just giving that little tike a lot of attention...and I hope he's back soon, as I really enjoy Joe's columns!
http://www.examiner.com/x-7020-Bradley-Braves-Examiner
--not that anyone would notice, but an ISU blog sprung up in response to this very blog, but it has already died a 1000 deaths...not a single entry in more than a month.
This story of a DePaul player getting immediate eligibility is puzzling...
He has never made any claim that he's leaving SEMO to be closer to family or because of family emergency.
In fact, the kid is from Anna, IL, which is way, way at the southern end of the state, and way closer to SEMO than to DePaul! In fact, DePaul is 345 miles from DePaul (per google maps), and is only 25 miles from Cape Girardeau, MO where SEMO is...so by transferring to DePaul he's going to a school more than 13 times as far away as where he was at!
He's only making the claim that SEMO is a bad place to be because they are so lousy and they have a lot of troubles and their coach was canned.
But if that's an allowable reason, then ISU's Trey Blue should be eligibile immediately also as he fled Fordham before their devastation and coach firing.
Oh well...if anyone ever figures out the logic behind the NCAA's decisions, other than constant bias in favor of the BCS schools and the players at BCS schools, then let me know.
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=151903#post151903post151903
Another transfer kid, Alex Legion, who wasted his freshman season playing sparsely in a few games at Kentucky, then kinda wasted his sophomore season playing a sub role very ineffectively at Illinois for just the 2nd semester last year...is now looking to waste his 3nd season, playing little and shooting poorly at Illinois, with a bunch of freshmen zooming by him in the playing rotation...and even Bill Cole moving ahead on the depth chart.
So look for Legion to get unhappy at Illinois and move on! He only has one year left, so he'd have to go D-II! This kid was a Top 40 player!!
Here's more on transfers........
Bruce Pearl is really in need of a scoring guard and a PG...he is taking a page from Jank's playbook and frantically going after every transfer thus far!!
No sooner does the release get out of Maymon leaving Marquette, then a report says he's headed to Tennessee...
http://www.620wtmj.com/shows/llama/79277887.html
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-basketball/89268-2-time-wi-player-year-jeronne.html
and even the kid from Fordham is being hotly pursued by Bruce Pearl...
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=7&f=1398&t=5274056
Pearl is also rumored to be hot after this 8th grader..(no joke!)
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-basketball/88434-new-video-dakota-stone-pg-10-a.html
also, Ohio State's Walter Offutt is transferring to New Mexico...geez..those guys at New Mexico really love the transfers...remember when Ritchie McKay and Duane Broussard (who is still there) went after Danny Granger, Troy DeVries, JR Giddens, Aaron Johnson, Sean Phaler, Ruben Douglas, Jamaal Williams, and just about every other disgruntled transfer in college basketball?
They had tons of behavior problems with just about all of them, many being arrested, bar fights, etc....or kicked off the team, and they were flat out lucky they didn't have to deal with what Baylor had....as the Baylor issues involved one of the New Mexico transfers who went to play for Dave Bliss.
-John Wilkins' case is still waiting to be heard by the backlogged Iowa court system, with civil cases taking a beating in getting on the dockets. Hopefully it'll get heard this week, with a ruling to follow shortly after.
--Robert Covington was being looked at by BU, but ended up at Tennessee State. He is doing very well. He's a 6-7 wing player along the lines of Taylor Brown, but at Tennessee State he's only a freshman but putting up 10.5 ppg (2nd leading scorer) and 4.5 rpg (2nd leading rebounder) while shooting 14-38 (37%) from 3-pt.
http://www.tsutigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19600&ATCLID=204816656
--one recruiting site says Lake Land junior college's Paris Carter has offers from both ISU and SIU. He is averaging 12 pts, 8 rebs in his sophomore year there.
He is 6-7 and similar to Jeremy Robinson.
--Ehimen Orupke at Three Rivers CC is signed to go to Wichita State next fall. He is a powerful 7-0 center, and he's a late bloomer and has sat out a couple years so he's at least 3-4 years older than many of the players he's facing, but his averages are not so powerful.
He is only averaging 5 ppg, 6 rpg, but also hits on only 45% of his attempts from the floor and only 50% from the FT line. He also leads his team by far in fouls per game, while his A/T ratio is 9/19. He was supposedly a shot blocking specialist and early on was blocking quite a few..but his numbers there have fallen off the chart, and now he's down to 2 bpg...not all that surprising for a 7-footer.
Even BU's David Collins put up much more impressive numbers, pretty much double the scoring and better rebounding, while hitting 60% on FG's and even better on FT's.
--John A. Logan's Lazeric Jones was getting some attention from Valley teams, but now several big programs are hot onto him. UCLA has reportedly offered, as has Wisconsin. He's averaging 10.7 ppg, 5.8 apg. In high school at Simeon, Jones was a PG, and Derrick Rose's backup.
http://wisconsin.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1028319
--Speaking of Derrick Rose's backup, Kenyon Smith has signed a LOI to ISU and is at Lincoln College. 14 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3 apg. But he takes a lot of shots and hits only 38% from the floor overall and just 26% from 3-pt.
He has taken 139 shots already on the season to accumulate his 147 points.
Right now, ISU is the worst 3-pt shooting team in the Valley, so they don't need more of this.
--a couple blurbs on Osiris Eldridge's personal and social web sites tell of him shearing off all his hair...
NO MORE O-Hawk....time to make a change...maybe this'll have the reverse Sampson effect and give him a boost of strength!
Also -- oddly, Osiris links to this picture on his friend's web site, from his twitter account...
could this be what he meant by his comment about taking care of his family?
Do you think this is prudent for a college kid to be flouting this much cash in $100 bills??
And check out what's meant by "rack attack" in the urban Dictionary! (urbandictionary.com)
http://twitpic.com/sotgx
--a few BU recruiting targets are mentioned here-
http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/
but I am intrigued by the comments in the press by Manual's Andrew Jordan...who says quite plainly in many quotes that he transferred from Woodruff to Manual just to get onto a better team...
So can someone tell me again how it's the private schools who recruit??
--a couple ex-BU targets are floundering...
When Iowa played Iowa State a couple nites ago...LA Pomlee played only 1 minute...he needs to get out of there...he never plays!
And Devan Bawinkel went scoreless...the FIFTH time already this season he has been scoreless! He's averaging only 3.5 ppg, but virtually nothing else! Only 0.9 rpg and 0.5 apg.
--Nice to see that BU assistant Alvin Brooks is linking to the BradleyFans message board on his twitter!
http://twitter.com/AlvinBrooks3/status/6578883819
--details emerging suggest that Donivine Stewart was offered a scholarship by Bradley the week before the WCU game....Donivine is having a fine year at Limestone.
--other players somehow connected to BU or Illinois...
-Brian Carlwell (at San Diego State now) has lost his starting job..now averaging only 4.7 ppg, 3 rpg
-Mitchell Anderson Jr (at juco in Georgia)-has been on a comparative tear...his scoring avg up to 3.2 ppg, but his shooting is interesting..
He is only 1-5 from 3-pt and should not be shooting those shots..
he is 14-18 from 2-pt...and averages 4 rebs a game..
-D'Mitri Riggs 13.4 ppg, 5.5 apg
-Manny Cass 13/4
-Darian Norris 1 ppg, 5.5 apg
-Cephas Oglesby 14 ppg, but 33% 3pt shooting
-Antonio Owens (CSI) 13/4
-Chesterton, IN's Mitch McGary - linked to BU at one time, just broke a bone in his right foot and is done for the entire season..
http://www.hoopsindiana.com/
--I saw a long writeup about the head coach of Belmont, Rick Byrd...who some said should have been given consideration when BU hired.
Lots of glowing praise about Belmont's four consecutive seasons of 20 wins or more.
But oddly - the writer never mentioned that Belmont's accomplishment was vs. a schedule that's been consistently among the WORST in D-I...not a single season in there where Belmont's schedule was ranked better than 200+!
This year - their SOS is 281 !!
And what kind of writeup did this same author give to Jim Les - who has 4 consecutive 20+ win seasons against way better opponents?? Do you remember the "renegade" article and the sugestion that Les should be fired... yup....that's the guy...now maybe if Bradley's schedule was ranked 281 then the guy would notice??
--I noted that the Bradley blogger on Examiner, Joe Book has been absent for a while...
hopefully he's just giving that little tike a lot of attention...and I hope he's back soon, as I really enjoy Joe's columns!
http://www.examiner.com/x-7020-Bradley-Braves-Examiner
--not that anyone would notice, but an ISU blog sprung up in response to this very blog, but it has already died a 1000 deaths...not a single entry in more than a month.
This story of a DePaul player getting immediate eligibility is puzzling...
He has never made any claim that he's leaving SEMO to be closer to family or because of family emergency.
In fact, the kid is from Anna, IL, which is way, way at the southern end of the state, and way closer to SEMO than to DePaul! In fact, DePaul is 345 miles from DePaul (per google maps), and is only 25 miles from Cape Girardeau, MO where SEMO is...so by transferring to DePaul he's going to a school more than 13 times as far away as where he was at!
He's only making the claim that SEMO is a bad place to be because they are so lousy and they have a lot of troubles and their coach was canned.
But if that's an allowable reason, then ISU's Trey Blue should be eligibile immediately also as he fled Fordham before their devastation and coach firing.
Oh well...if anyone ever figures out the logic behind the NCAA's decisions, other than constant bias in favor of the BCS schools and the players at BCS schools, then let me know.
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=151903#post151903post151903
Another transfer kid, Alex Legion, who wasted his freshman season playing sparsely in a few games at Kentucky, then kinda wasted his sophomore season playing a sub role very ineffectively at Illinois for just the 2nd semester last year...is now looking to waste his 3nd season, playing little and shooting poorly at Illinois, with a bunch of freshmen zooming by him in the playing rotation...and even Bill Cole moving ahead on the depth chart.
So look for Legion to get unhappy at Illinois and move on! He only has one year left, so he'd have to go D-II! This kid was a Top 40 player!!
Here's more on transfers........
Bruce Pearl is really in need of a scoring guard and a PG...he is taking a page from Jank's playbook and frantically going after every transfer thus far!!
No sooner does the release get out of Maymon leaving Marquette, then a report says he's headed to Tennessee...
http://www.620wtmj.com/shows/llama/79277887.html
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-basketball/89268-2-time-wi-player-year-jeronne.html
and even the kid from Fordham is being hotly pursued by Bruce Pearl...
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=7&f=1398&t=5274056
Pearl is also rumored to be hot after this 8th grader..(no joke!)
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-basketball/88434-new-video-dakota-stone-pg-10-a.html
also, Ohio State's Walter Offutt is transferring to New Mexico...geez..those guys at New Mexico really love the transfers...remember when Ritchie McKay and Duane Broussard (who is still there) went after Danny Granger, Troy DeVries, JR Giddens, Aaron Johnson, Sean Phaler, Ruben Douglas, Jamaal Williams, and just about every other disgruntled transfer in college basketball?
They had tons of behavior problems with just about all of them, many being arrested, bar fights, etc....or kicked off the team, and they were flat out lucky they didn't have to deal with what Baylor had....as the Baylor issues involved one of the New Mexico transfers who went to play for Dave Bliss.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Call it the Women's Sports Effect
In any women's sport, when all else fails, resort to the age-old lowest common denominator...
Just a few days back there was lots of talk regarding a woman soon playing in the NBA.
http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2009/12/women-in-nba.html
But the simple truth is that very few women's sports draw well, and once the novelty wears off, and outside of the oddity of some of the sports....then the pro leagues have failed due to lack of viewers. Even the COLLEGE version of women's athletics would have long ago languished and even fallen by the wayside, had they not been bolstered and legislated onto life support by the trendy Title IX.
Not one single women's athletic endeavor at any level of college is self-sustaining or self-supporting. Every one draws revenues from the much more successful and lucrative men's sports.
But now a few smart people have figured it out...
when the sport cannot draw interest on its own, and when the level of competition cannot get interest from the fans of its own merit...then ...
SELL SEX!!!
Yup - that's right, turn to the old gimmick (if you can call it that) that's as old as Adam and Eve. Just parade out the sexually suggestive stuff and just maybe, at least for a while, it'll get some fans through the door or butts in the seats.
Here are some examples...
-Of course we all know how the better looking players in just about every sport are highlighted incessantly...especially if they are blonde like Anna Kournikova, Maria Sharapova, Natalie Gulbis, softball pitcher Jenny Finch, etc....
But even athletes like Candace Parker and sideline babes like Erin Andrews are all too often the story for their looks rather than their on-field performances.
How about the Sports Illustrated piece on Danica Patrick that basically dwelt on her bod and her tattoos?
-women soccer players who rip off their jerseys and prance in their sports bras get more press and publicity than all of the other women in the sport combined in all of history!
If you even just try to do a google search for Brandi Chastain just to see her soccer accomplishments, this is what all the searches take you to...
the one moment that defines her career above everything else combined!
http://www.sportsgirlsplay.com/images/brandi-chastain.jpg
Now, if they really want to be taken seriously....especially with the arguments like maybe a woman getting into the NBA in the near future, then how much damage does this short-term ploy of selling sex cause?
Will people see through the marketing and realize that the best players in any sport are no where near as popular or successful in making money and getting endorsements as the blonde babes like Kournikova.
100 pro tennis players were better players and higher ranked, yet Kournikova's matches always seem to get on TV, as do Sharapova's.
Here are some more examples, but there's a growing number all the time turning to this hot technique...
Women's hoops and media guides getting sexier-
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/womenshoopsblog/2010251932_womens_hoops_media_guides_and.html
What's the message here...and what do these women look like their marketing, basketball?
http://www.seminolehoops.com/team1.shtml
I agree, the girls are pretty, but I think the message they are sending is come watch our team because they are babes....
and maybe next year when they might not be such a great looking bunch of players, then the fans will stop coming?
One of the individual pics even looks like this player has a 2nd night time job... ahem...
http://www.seminolehoops.com/teamkayli.shtml
This one even seems to be mimicking a certain, famous, revealing Britney Spears pose that's all over the internet...
http://www.seminolehoops.com/teamlele.shtml
I got a kick out of the one for the male assistant coach....and apparently so did he, he's really laughing!
He's also doing the spread-leg Britney Spears pose.
http://www.seminolehoops.com/coach3.shtml
A few more comments...
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/b/2008/04/04/sex-sells-but-should-it-sell-womens-sports.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=128546&page=1
Just a few days back there was lots of talk regarding a woman soon playing in the NBA.
http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2009/12/women-in-nba.html
But the simple truth is that very few women's sports draw well, and once the novelty wears off, and outside of the oddity of some of the sports....then the pro leagues have failed due to lack of viewers. Even the COLLEGE version of women's athletics would have long ago languished and even fallen by the wayside, had they not been bolstered and legislated onto life support by the trendy Title IX.
Not one single women's athletic endeavor at any level of college is self-sustaining or self-supporting. Every one draws revenues from the much more successful and lucrative men's sports.
But now a few smart people have figured it out...
when the sport cannot draw interest on its own, and when the level of competition cannot get interest from the fans of its own merit...then ...
SELL SEX!!!
Yup - that's right, turn to the old gimmick (if you can call it that) that's as old as Adam and Eve. Just parade out the sexually suggestive stuff and just maybe, at least for a while, it'll get some fans through the door or butts in the seats.
Here are some examples...
-Of course we all know how the better looking players in just about every sport are highlighted incessantly...especially if they are blonde like Anna Kournikova, Maria Sharapova, Natalie Gulbis, softball pitcher Jenny Finch, etc....
But even athletes like Candace Parker and sideline babes like Erin Andrews are all too often the story for their looks rather than their on-field performances.
How about the Sports Illustrated piece on Danica Patrick that basically dwelt on her bod and her tattoos?
-women soccer players who rip off their jerseys and prance in their sports bras get more press and publicity than all of the other women in the sport combined in all of history!
If you even just try to do a google search for Brandi Chastain just to see her soccer accomplishments, this is what all the searches take you to...
the one moment that defines her career above everything else combined!
http://www.sportsgirlsplay.com/images/brandi-chastain.jpg
Now, if they really want to be taken seriously....especially with the arguments like maybe a woman getting into the NBA in the near future, then how much damage does this short-term ploy of selling sex cause?
Will people see through the marketing and realize that the best players in any sport are no where near as popular or successful in making money and getting endorsements as the blonde babes like Kournikova.
100 pro tennis players were better players and higher ranked, yet Kournikova's matches always seem to get on TV, as do Sharapova's.
Here are some more examples, but there's a growing number all the time turning to this hot technique...
Women's hoops and media guides getting sexier-
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/womenshoopsblog/2010251932_womens_hoops_media_guides_and.html
What's the message here...and what do these women look like their marketing, basketball?
http://www.seminolehoops.com/team1.shtml
I agree, the girls are pretty, but I think the message they are sending is come watch our team because they are babes....
and maybe next year when they might not be such a great looking bunch of players, then the fans will stop coming?
One of the individual pics even looks like this player has a 2nd night time job... ahem...
http://www.seminolehoops.com/teamkayli.shtml
This one even seems to be mimicking a certain, famous, revealing Britney Spears pose that's all over the internet...
http://www.seminolehoops.com/teamlele.shtml
I got a kick out of the one for the male assistant coach....and apparently so did he, he's really laughing!
He's also doing the spread-leg Britney Spears pose.
http://www.seminolehoops.com/coach3.shtml
A few more comments...
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/b/2008/04/04/sex-sells-but-should-it-sell-womens-sports.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=128546&page=1
Sunday, December 13, 2009
A Familiar Name
Beas Hamga is a name that's familiar to many. He is a strong 7-0 center who had played on teams internationally, then came to the US to play for prep schools, including the Decatur Christian School prep squad in 2007-2008.
They played several games in the Peoria area and even looked very good at the Tournament of Champions in 2006, when they played at the old BU Fieldhouse and the Civic Center.
Beas Hamga was their starting center and he had several good games, and impressed many college scouts. He was ranked by NUMEROUS scouting services in the 5-STAR range and as high as Top 20's nationally.
He really looked like he had a ton of potential even to the point where some predicted he'd step right in and be a solid starter from his first season in college.
He was obviously lots older...looking to be in his mid-20's although the schools officially danced around the age issue saying he was not too old to play even if he was under IHSA rules, but we all know how valid such a statement is, as it's since been proven that several of the Decatur Christian kids had their ages posted on Euro web sites when they played on pro teams over there,
and that they were indeed, in many cases, way older and outside the eligible age range for IHSA.
Which of course is why they were playing a prep schedule and NOT playing under IHSA. So even though they say he's in his early 20's evidence points to him being several years older, and an obscure release in 2005 from the agency that brought him to the US noted that since 9-11 it has become very difficult to get visas for these kids and the process takes years...so if Hamga has been in the US since 2005, then the picture below from Cameroon before he got his visa must be at least 6-8 years old...
In 2005, while still in high school, Beas was playing for Stoneridge prep (CA) and even then looked to be in his 20's.
http://www.a-hope.org/images/gallery/dscn0110.jpg
There are also obscure links that suggest Beas was playing on club teams in Africa as early as the beginning of this decade...and was 7-ft tall back then...
http://www.a-hope.org/images/gallery/beas.jpg
Anyway, Steve Alford at Iowa liked Hamga, offered, and Hamga verballed to the Hawkeyes.
Then when Alford was run out at Iowa, Beas reneged on his verbal and chose UNLV instead....selecting from many offers, as there was a significant recruiting frenzy over Beas with many top schools like Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa, Iowa State, etc. chiming in.
Once he got to UNLV, he had to sit out a whole year because of the NCAA's penalty against the kids who played on international teams.
So in an entire year of sitting out (not really redshirting since he was not going to be eligible due to NCAA penalty, and that year is lost and not regainable), you'd think Hamga might have had lots of time to develop his skills or his work ethic.
BUT- word out of UNLV from both the media and from the fans on their message boards was that Beas was still an enormous project and was years away from being able to contribute. But his size and strength still led to some optimism.
So, in Beas' 2nd season at UNLV, after his "redshirt" season, he played in their preseason exhibitions and in 5 regular season games.
He was given decent opportunity to play and show his skills, but it was widely said that instead he just stood around and did virtually nothing.
The fans discussed how lost he looked and how he was so out of sync with the rest of the team that he was a severe hindrance to the team while he was on the court.
In the end, the sum total of his contributions was 5 points in 5 games played for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels, and he barely even grabbed any rebounds as they all seemed to clank off his anything-but-soft hands.
He was cut loose, and sent packing. Not much was said officially but the fans who discussed it said he was at least a 4-year project and that UNLV needed help sooner.
He then transferred and enrolled at Valparaiso, but before he even finished out the year (he wouldn't have been able to play in 2008-2009, and would not have even been eligible until 2nd semester of 2009-2010), he left Valpo and began a search for yet another school....and has finally landed at Weatherford College, a Texas junior college...the 5th school he's either pledged to or enrolled at in the past 2.5 years.
There is still good potential and still some time left for Hamga...
But even then, the saga is puzzling...
he was so out of shape when he arrived at Weatherford and troubled by knee problems, that he didn't even suit up for the first several games.
However, he was cleared by the NJCAA to play immediately, even though the NCAA disclosed Beas Hamga's undeniable professionalism, as he played on such overseas teams, and was penalized the entire season of 2007-2008 at UNLV......so how he was able to be cleared immediately by NJCAA to play at Weatherford is quite a striking question that it has to be raised in light of the astoundingly severe penalty handed down to John Wilkins at Southeastern (Iowa) CC.
Wilkins played scant minutes in only 5 games with a Euro team that was NOT a pro team but included a couple of professional players.
The disparity in the penalties between Wilkins and Hamga is almost as HUGE as the disparity in their professional connections...with Hamga having the far greater professional ties while receiving absolutely NO NJCAA penalty compared to the LIFETIME ban given to Wilkins.
Well...back to Hamga....
Just enroling at Weatherford gets some people drooling, and the guys at Jucojunction ranked Beas Hamga as the 35th best player in all of junior college, and the 4th best center!
This ranking came out BEFORE Hamga ever played a minute at juco, and remember, he's only played a handful of minutes anywhere since spring of 2007, and hasn't played anywhere in over a year.
Jucojunction even lists that he's getting some "medium" recruiting interest from Western Kentucky.
http://jucojunction.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=2526
...He has finally begun playing for Weatherford...after a few weeks resting and treating an injured knee.
By the way, Kevin Durant's cousin is on the Weatherford squad, Kendall Durant...
Kendall Durant scored 29 a week ago Thursday in Beas Hamga's debut with Weatherford, although Hamga played only sparingly and didn't score.
They played a really weak JV squad from Bacone College and won 112-65.
In his 2nd game back against another weak college JV team, WC won 100-58 to go 8-4, and Hamga played a bit better...scoring 9 (Durant had 21).
http://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/sports/images_sizedimage_338102802/resources_photoview
So maybe there's still some optimism that Hamga can develop the skills to make it to D-I.
This is his sophomore season at Weatherford, and he's already lost two years of "clock" and eligibility while at UNLV, so he may have only a single year remaining to play at the D-I level when he graduates from junior college.
His first year at UNLV was NOT a redshirt year, it was a full year of D-I eligibility lost due to the professionalism penalty from NCAA.
He then lost his 2nd D-I year playing five games in 2008-2009 then leaving UNLV.
So even though he's raw and still just developing, and even though he's got only a single year left at the D-I level - after he uses another year at juco, there are still teams that NEED a big man bad enough that there's still talk...
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=170&f=2353&t=5165206
I am rooting for Beas to develop and make it, as I watched him play head to head in 2006 in a game between his Decatur Christian squad and Anthony Thompson's Klein Forest High School squad.
In that game, Hamga dominated and Thompson didn't even play much due to foul trouble.
Nobody in that Tournament of Champions had much success containing Hamga, and in that tourney he looked good. I really thought at that time he had a lot of potentioal, so I really don't know what happened.....why a player with such size & mobility failed to reach the level of success that many talent evaluators, fans, and college coaches thought he's reach. There's still time for Beas.
They played several games in the Peoria area and even looked very good at the Tournament of Champions in 2006, when they played at the old BU Fieldhouse and the Civic Center.
Beas Hamga was their starting center and he had several good games, and impressed many college scouts. He was ranked by NUMEROUS scouting services in the 5-STAR range and as high as Top 20's nationally.
He really looked like he had a ton of potential even to the point where some predicted he'd step right in and be a solid starter from his first season in college.
He was obviously lots older...looking to be in his mid-20's although the schools officially danced around the age issue saying he was not too old to play even if he was under IHSA rules, but we all know how valid such a statement is, as it's since been proven that several of the Decatur Christian kids had their ages posted on Euro web sites when they played on pro teams over there,
and that they were indeed, in many cases, way older and outside the eligible age range for IHSA.
Which of course is why they were playing a prep schedule and NOT playing under IHSA. So even though they say he's in his early 20's evidence points to him being several years older, and an obscure release in 2005 from the agency that brought him to the US noted that since 9-11 it has become very difficult to get visas for these kids and the process takes years...so if Hamga has been in the US since 2005, then the picture below from Cameroon before he got his visa must be at least 6-8 years old...
In 2005, while still in high school, Beas was playing for Stoneridge prep (CA) and even then looked to be in his 20's.
http://www.a-hope.org/images/gallery/dscn0110.jpg
There are also obscure links that suggest Beas was playing on club teams in Africa as early as the beginning of this decade...and was 7-ft tall back then...
http://www.a-hope.org/images/gallery/beas.jpg
Anyway, Steve Alford at Iowa liked Hamga, offered, and Hamga verballed to the Hawkeyes.
Then when Alford was run out at Iowa, Beas reneged on his verbal and chose UNLV instead....selecting from many offers, as there was a significant recruiting frenzy over Beas with many top schools like Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa, Iowa State, etc. chiming in.
Once he got to UNLV, he had to sit out a whole year because of the NCAA's penalty against the kids who played on international teams.
So in an entire year of sitting out (not really redshirting since he was not going to be eligible due to NCAA penalty, and that year is lost and not regainable), you'd think Hamga might have had lots of time to develop his skills or his work ethic.
BUT- word out of UNLV from both the media and from the fans on their message boards was that Beas was still an enormous project and was years away from being able to contribute. But his size and strength still led to some optimism.
So, in Beas' 2nd season at UNLV, after his "redshirt" season, he played in their preseason exhibitions and in 5 regular season games.
He was given decent opportunity to play and show his skills, but it was widely said that instead he just stood around and did virtually nothing.
The fans discussed how lost he looked and how he was so out of sync with the rest of the team that he was a severe hindrance to the team while he was on the court.
In the end, the sum total of his contributions was 5 points in 5 games played for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels, and he barely even grabbed any rebounds as they all seemed to clank off his anything-but-soft hands.
He was cut loose, and sent packing. Not much was said officially but the fans who discussed it said he was at least a 4-year project and that UNLV needed help sooner.
He then transferred and enrolled at Valparaiso, but before he even finished out the year (he wouldn't have been able to play in 2008-2009, and would not have even been eligible until 2nd semester of 2009-2010), he left Valpo and began a search for yet another school....and has finally landed at Weatherford College, a Texas junior college...the 5th school he's either pledged to or enrolled at in the past 2.5 years.
There is still good potential and still some time left for Hamga...
But even then, the saga is puzzling...
he was so out of shape when he arrived at Weatherford and troubled by knee problems, that he didn't even suit up for the first several games.
However, he was cleared by the NJCAA to play immediately, even though the NCAA disclosed Beas Hamga's undeniable professionalism, as he played on such overseas teams, and was penalized the entire season of 2007-2008 at UNLV......so how he was able to be cleared immediately by NJCAA to play at Weatherford is quite a striking question that it has to be raised in light of the astoundingly severe penalty handed down to John Wilkins at Southeastern (Iowa) CC.
Wilkins played scant minutes in only 5 games with a Euro team that was NOT a pro team but included a couple of professional players.
The disparity in the penalties between Wilkins and Hamga is almost as HUGE as the disparity in their professional connections...with Hamga having the far greater professional ties while receiving absolutely NO NJCAA penalty compared to the LIFETIME ban given to Wilkins.
Well...back to Hamga....
Just enroling at Weatherford gets some people drooling, and the guys at Jucojunction ranked Beas Hamga as the 35th best player in all of junior college, and the 4th best center!
This ranking came out BEFORE Hamga ever played a minute at juco, and remember, he's only played a handful of minutes anywhere since spring of 2007, and hasn't played anywhere in over a year.
Jucojunction even lists that he's getting some "medium" recruiting interest from Western Kentucky.
http://jucojunction.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=2526
...He has finally begun playing for Weatherford...after a few weeks resting and treating an injured knee.
By the way, Kevin Durant's cousin is on the Weatherford squad, Kendall Durant...
Kendall Durant scored 29 a week ago Thursday in Beas Hamga's debut with Weatherford, although Hamga played only sparingly and didn't score.
They played a really weak JV squad from Bacone College and won 112-65.
In his 2nd game back against another weak college JV team, WC won 100-58 to go 8-4, and Hamga played a bit better...scoring 9 (Durant had 21).
http://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/sports/images_sizedimage_338102802/resources_photoview
So maybe there's still some optimism that Hamga can develop the skills to make it to D-I.
This is his sophomore season at Weatherford, and he's already lost two years of "clock" and eligibility while at UNLV, so he may have only a single year remaining to play at the D-I level when he graduates from junior college.
His first year at UNLV was NOT a redshirt year, it was a full year of D-I eligibility lost due to the professionalism penalty from NCAA.
He then lost his 2nd D-I year playing five games in 2008-2009 then leaving UNLV.
So even though he's raw and still just developing, and even though he's got only a single year left at the D-I level - after he uses another year at juco, there are still teams that NEED a big man bad enough that there's still talk...
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=170&f=2353&t=5165206
I am rooting for Beas to develop and make it, as I watched him play head to head in 2006 in a game between his Decatur Christian squad and Anthony Thompson's Klein Forest High School squad.
In that game, Hamga dominated and Thompson didn't even play much due to foul trouble.
Nobody in that Tournament of Champions had much success containing Hamga, and in that tourney he looked good. I really thought at that time he had a lot of potentioal, so I really don't know what happened.....why a player with such size & mobility failed to reach the level of success that many talent evaluators, fans, and college coaches thought he's reach. There's still time for Beas.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Women in the NBA?
David Stern says he believes "a woman could be playing in NBA within the next 10 years"
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/12/04/countdown/index.html
This is a topic that comes up often and gets debated. Are women in basketball near the point where one might play against the top men soon?
Or are women in any other sport close to playing against men?
I doubt this column will change people's minds, but here are some simple facts and a few opinions to make the case.
We'll get to basketball later...but first let's touch on a few other sports.
Once in a great while we read of how a girl can play against the boys and maybe even be successful at the junior high or grade school level.
Here is one of those cases, where a Beaverton, OR (kinda Freudian, huh?) girl wanted to play on a boys travel basketball team.
But the issue here isn't that girls can play with boys, the issue was that a very exceptionally good girl who was way, way more developed and mature than the boys in her peer group, could play with a mediocre group of travel team boys, thus maybe bumping a boy off the team.
But she was 6-1 as a 7th grader!
This is hardly an example of a girl playing at the top level in her sport. Plus give it a couple years then by the time she's 14 or 15, the average boys of her age group will beat her easily.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/beavertons_jaime_nared_given_o.html
Then we all know how a washed up 55 year old man, Bobby Riggs, who was never even that good of a tennis player even in his prime, took on the TOP two ranked women in all of professional tennis and beat one while playing solidly against Billy Jean King in the other.
Riggs, had he been ranked among MEN tennis players at the age of 55 wouldn't have been within even the top 10,000,000 men players...every high schooler would have been better!
Yet he was on par with the top women.
Chris Everett, shortly after that when making an appearance on the Johnny Carson Show said that even in her prime, she would work out against her younger brother who was a high school tennis player (and who never even became a pro), and that she routinely got beat by him - badly!
Coors sponsored a women's baseball team, the Silver Bullets, and they were the MOST talented women's baseball players in the world...possibly the best women's team ever, who knows...
Claims were made that they could beat the men's teams!!
They went on tour to prove how good they were and that they could take on the men....
Yeah-- right....anyone recall what happened?
Actually, it turned out they had a hard time even finding a men's baseball team BAD enough for the game to even be close to competetive. It became a bit of a joke because they were so inferior to even low level amateur men teams!
It was cute, and it got publicity...but most of the real facts got suppressed, as the Silver Bullets were killed in almost every game they ever played against men...and most of the opponent teams were simply a pick up group of teens from local park district programs!
It actually was hard to even find the scores, because all you'd see were fluff pieces talking about how hard the girls played and how they were "winners in the larger sense"...for having proven how great women were in this sport....
but they lost nearly every game they ever played...the very top group of adult, professional women baseball players was roughly on par with an average group of high school or possibly even high school JV baseball players.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_n22_v217/ai_15278633/
And of course, many are familiar with Michelle Wie....who at the top of her game tried numerous times with special sponsor exemptions to break into the mens pro tour...but time after time, she never even made the first cut...it was so embarrassing that the press finally called on her to quit it and stop embarrassing herself and the womens sport.
And some say golf might the best sport for a women to actually maybe make it against men - because all out, raw athleticism isn't always needed....golf can be won by finesse and strategy!
In fact it may have actually hurt Wie in the long run, as she has never since been the same player....no longer winning and dominating like she did. As if getting humiliated by her efforts against the men has crushed her confidence and ruined her game.
But getting back to basketball....how would women do if playing against men....?
One bit of evidence, is that men's pro teams are all about winning and making money....
If they thought for a minute that any woman on the planet would actually help them win, they'd sign her. They take long shot chances with high school kids, with obscure European guys, with project players, and with even African giants like Manute Bol.
Why wouldn't they take a chance with one of the top women, unless the answer was obvious??
Then as my final bit of evidence, there's the story of the women's Dream Team. The Women's US Olympic team that won the Gold Medal in Atlanta. The best collection of women's basketball talent ever....Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Carla McGhee, Rebecca Lobo, etc...all who went on to superstar careers in pro basketball.
All were and are fine women's player, deserving of top respect in their sport (but not in someone else's sport ;))
But in preparation for the Olympics, they had to find someone to play against - to scrimmage against. And there simply weren't any women's teams even good enough to challenge them or give them any competition.
So they chose men to scrimmage against....usually a bunch of college men known as their scout team...and they weren't even guys who played basketball in college...more just college kids who the women could work with and play against to get stronger.
PBS did a documentary, and many who saw it will agree...those scout teams were a mis-mash of nearly talentless guys...5-11 and 6-footers who simply gave the women a slight challenge, but who weren't even of sufficient talent to make a good high school team.
But...the key scene in the documentary was when the Dream Team went to Atlanta for their final tune up and preparation. There they had to find a new scout team, so they went to a local army base and rounded up a bunch of guys in their late 20's and 30's who were just guys playing ball on the base...guys who hadn't actually played competetively in a decade...none were college players and some never even played back when they were in high school.
They were army guys so they were in shape, but they had little talent, and if matched against an average high school team probably would have struggled.
Even in the documentary, they narrator acted like this would be a good challenge but that the women's Dream Team had a good chance to beat those army guys.
The truth was far, far different...
The coach-less, chaotic group of hacks who had never played together before other than shoot around in an army base gym, not only beat the women's Dream Team badly, they pummelled them as bad as any mismatch I have ever witnessed.
The women went 10 minutes before scoring, two had to be carried off the court, one tore her knee up and was out of the Olympics, and the men, playing at about 1/2 speed so as not to hurt the women too badly, showed the nation on film that they were the victors.
The game was halted before more of the women dropped or collapsed with the final score of the scrmimage game being about 75 - 20.
The women decided not to even finish the game as their casualties were mounting, and they realized it was a very bad idea.
They were not only getting embarrassed by a bunch of hacks, they were being humiliated...
at one point one of the assistant coaches for the women approached the cameraman doing the video documentary and asked him to turn off the camera as they didn't want this stuff being filmed - it was too embarrassing.
Even more ridiculously, when PBS aired the same documentary a few weeks later right before the Olympics...the entire sequence showing the humiliating scrimmage against the army guys was strangely removed and not shown.
Oh well...the truth got out, and they were not able to suppress it any longer...the very top women in the world...who went on to easily march right through the entire Olympic field and win the GOLD, were annihilated easily by men who wouldn't even be ranked within the top one milion men if there were an endless NBA Draft...
So, to David Stern....you might be fooling some people...but if a women ever gets to the NBA it's be purely as a gimmick...a publicity stunt. Just like the tryout offered Ann Meyers a few years back by the Phoenix Suns...and like Nancy Liebermann playing on the summer circuit with some low level men's teams.
It just isn't going to happen...
But then why should it?? Can we not simply accept that men and women ARE different?
There are very good women's players and they don't NEED to beat or be compared to men...why is there this incessant effort to make the point that women are as good as men?
Why do the very same people who make these ludicrous claims about women being as good as men, also get so riled when the shoe is one the other foot?
Anyone recall a few years back when a couple boys were allowed on one high school girl's bowling team, and they advanced all the way to the state championship?
Of course the rules were changed to never allow that again! And the uproar and anger in many of the losing team's players and parent took years to squelch!
Then just this past spring, it happened again in Pennsylvania and a couple of girl's volleyball teams allowed boys on the team and became dominant!
of course there was a bit of an uproar!!
http://thedailyreview.com/polopoly_fs/1.396100.1257485099!/image/1765198663.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_240/1765198663.jpg
Case closed.........
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/12/04/countdown/index.html
This is a topic that comes up often and gets debated. Are women in basketball near the point where one might play against the top men soon?
Or are women in any other sport close to playing against men?
I doubt this column will change people's minds, but here are some simple facts and a few opinions to make the case.
We'll get to basketball later...but first let's touch on a few other sports.
Once in a great while we read of how a girl can play against the boys and maybe even be successful at the junior high or grade school level.
Here is one of those cases, where a Beaverton, OR (kinda Freudian, huh?) girl wanted to play on a boys travel basketball team.
But the issue here isn't that girls can play with boys, the issue was that a very exceptionally good girl who was way, way more developed and mature than the boys in her peer group, could play with a mediocre group of travel team boys, thus maybe bumping a boy off the team.
But she was 6-1 as a 7th grader!
This is hardly an example of a girl playing at the top level in her sport. Plus give it a couple years then by the time she's 14 or 15, the average boys of her age group will beat her easily.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/beavertons_jaime_nared_given_o.html
Then we all know how a washed up 55 year old man, Bobby Riggs, who was never even that good of a tennis player even in his prime, took on the TOP two ranked women in all of professional tennis and beat one while playing solidly against Billy Jean King in the other.
Riggs, had he been ranked among MEN tennis players at the age of 55 wouldn't have been within even the top 10,000,000 men players...every high schooler would have been better!
Yet he was on par with the top women.
Chris Everett, shortly after that when making an appearance on the Johnny Carson Show said that even in her prime, she would work out against her younger brother who was a high school tennis player (and who never even became a pro), and that she routinely got beat by him - badly!
Coors sponsored a women's baseball team, the Silver Bullets, and they were the MOST talented women's baseball players in the world...possibly the best women's team ever, who knows...
Claims were made that they could beat the men's teams!!
They went on tour to prove how good they were and that they could take on the men....
Yeah-- right....anyone recall what happened?
Actually, it turned out they had a hard time even finding a men's baseball team BAD enough for the game to even be close to competetive. It became a bit of a joke because they were so inferior to even low level amateur men teams!
It was cute, and it got publicity...but most of the real facts got suppressed, as the Silver Bullets were killed in almost every game they ever played against men...and most of the opponent teams were simply a pick up group of teens from local park district programs!
It actually was hard to even find the scores, because all you'd see were fluff pieces talking about how hard the girls played and how they were "winners in the larger sense"...for having proven how great women were in this sport....
but they lost nearly every game they ever played...the very top group of adult, professional women baseball players was roughly on par with an average group of high school or possibly even high school JV baseball players.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_n22_v217/ai_15278633/
And of course, many are familiar with Michelle Wie....who at the top of her game tried numerous times with special sponsor exemptions to break into the mens pro tour...but time after time, she never even made the first cut...it was so embarrassing that the press finally called on her to quit it and stop embarrassing herself and the womens sport.
And some say golf might the best sport for a women to actually maybe make it against men - because all out, raw athleticism isn't always needed....golf can be won by finesse and strategy!
In fact it may have actually hurt Wie in the long run, as she has never since been the same player....no longer winning and dominating like she did. As if getting humiliated by her efforts against the men has crushed her confidence and ruined her game.
But getting back to basketball....how would women do if playing against men....?
One bit of evidence, is that men's pro teams are all about winning and making money....
If they thought for a minute that any woman on the planet would actually help them win, they'd sign her. They take long shot chances with high school kids, with obscure European guys, with project players, and with even African giants like Manute Bol.
Why wouldn't they take a chance with one of the top women, unless the answer was obvious??
Then as my final bit of evidence, there's the story of the women's Dream Team. The Women's US Olympic team that won the Gold Medal in Atlanta. The best collection of women's basketball talent ever....Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Carla McGhee, Rebecca Lobo, etc...all who went on to superstar careers in pro basketball.
All were and are fine women's player, deserving of top respect in their sport (but not in someone else's sport ;))
But in preparation for the Olympics, they had to find someone to play against - to scrimmage against. And there simply weren't any women's teams even good enough to challenge them or give them any competition.
So they chose men to scrimmage against....usually a bunch of college men known as their scout team...and they weren't even guys who played basketball in college...more just college kids who the women could work with and play against to get stronger.
PBS did a documentary, and many who saw it will agree...those scout teams were a mis-mash of nearly talentless guys...5-11 and 6-footers who simply gave the women a slight challenge, but who weren't even of sufficient talent to make a good high school team.
But...the key scene in the documentary was when the Dream Team went to Atlanta for their final tune up and preparation. There they had to find a new scout team, so they went to a local army base and rounded up a bunch of guys in their late 20's and 30's who were just guys playing ball on the base...guys who hadn't actually played competetively in a decade...none were college players and some never even played back when they were in high school.
They were army guys so they were in shape, but they had little talent, and if matched against an average high school team probably would have struggled.
Even in the documentary, they narrator acted like this would be a good challenge but that the women's Dream Team had a good chance to beat those army guys.
The truth was far, far different...
The coach-less, chaotic group of hacks who had never played together before other than shoot around in an army base gym, not only beat the women's Dream Team badly, they pummelled them as bad as any mismatch I have ever witnessed.
The women went 10 minutes before scoring, two had to be carried off the court, one tore her knee up and was out of the Olympics, and the men, playing at about 1/2 speed so as not to hurt the women too badly, showed the nation on film that they were the victors.
The game was halted before more of the women dropped or collapsed with the final score of the scrmimage game being about 75 - 20.
The women decided not to even finish the game as their casualties were mounting, and they realized it was a very bad idea.
They were not only getting embarrassed by a bunch of hacks, they were being humiliated...
at one point one of the assistant coaches for the women approached the cameraman doing the video documentary and asked him to turn off the camera as they didn't want this stuff being filmed - it was too embarrassing.
Even more ridiculously, when PBS aired the same documentary a few weeks later right before the Olympics...the entire sequence showing the humiliating scrimmage against the army guys was strangely removed and not shown.
Oh well...the truth got out, and they were not able to suppress it any longer...the very top women in the world...who went on to easily march right through the entire Olympic field and win the GOLD, were annihilated easily by men who wouldn't even be ranked within the top one milion men if there were an endless NBA Draft...
So, to David Stern....you might be fooling some people...but if a women ever gets to the NBA it's be purely as a gimmick...a publicity stunt. Just like the tryout offered Ann Meyers a few years back by the Phoenix Suns...and like Nancy Liebermann playing on the summer circuit with some low level men's teams.
It just isn't going to happen...
But then why should it?? Can we not simply accept that men and women ARE different?
There are very good women's players and they don't NEED to beat or be compared to men...why is there this incessant effort to make the point that women are as good as men?
Why do the very same people who make these ludicrous claims about women being as good as men, also get so riled when the shoe is one the other foot?
Anyone recall a few years back when a couple boys were allowed on one high school girl's bowling team, and they advanced all the way to the state championship?
Of course the rules were changed to never allow that again! And the uproar and anger in many of the losing team's players and parent took years to squelch!
Then just this past spring, it happened again in Pennsylvania and a couple of girl's volleyball teams allowed boys on the team and became dominant!
of course there was a bit of an uproar!!
http://thedailyreview.com/polopoly_fs/1.396100.1257485099!/image/1765198663.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_240/1765198663.jpg
Case closed.........
Friday, December 11, 2009
Taylor Brown and other Valley news
Taylor Brown is becoming a fan favorite, and consistently putting up good numbers.
Here's a comparison of Taylor's scoring numbers alongside similar numbers of other good scorers in the Valley's recent history.
Taylor Brown is averaging 16.8 points per game and is only 6 games into his sophomore season. He has played a total of 42 games and 605 minutes in his career, so he's still very early in his playing career at Bradley and still developing and improving.
Here's a comparison of how various players at this same point in their careers were doing........
These are/were the per game scoring averages of some of the better recent Valley players just a handful of games into their sophomore season...
Taylor Brown 16.8
Andrew Warren 13.2
Sam Maniscalco 12.6
Osiris Eldridge 15.8
P'Allen Stinnett 12.5
Josh Young 15.9
Kevin Dillard 14.8
Jamaal Tatum 12.3
Kyle Korver 14.6
Tarise Bryson 15.5
So if Taylor can keep up the current average or improve on it, he will have one of the better years scoring-wise in the MVC in the past year...perhaps even the best such year.
But Taylor also adds rebounding, defense, and a certain energy to the equation.
If you look at the current MVC stats, and add points per game plus rebounds per game, the the Valley leaders look like this...
Osiris Eldridge 23.6
Taylor Brown 23.0
Colt Ryan 20.8
James Haarsma 20.6
Jordan Eglseder 20.3
Kyle Weems 20.1
Kenny Lawson 20.0
Dinma Odiakosa 20.0
Adam Koch 19.8
Toure Murry 19.5
Dwayne Lathan 19.4
Kwadzo Ahelegbe 19.2
and nobody else in the league is even close to 20 in this tally.
Here are a couple other stats that are nice to see so far this year...
--Bradley has only 97 total turnovers, 12 per game...
the past two seasons the average has been at about 15 turnovers per game
--BU's average of 16.5 fouls committed per game is also way better than recent seasons and so we are sending them to the line much less.
--BU's 3-pt shooting pct. is improved this season
--BU's assist to turnover ration is way better this year than last year
--areas we need improvement...shooting pct, FT shooting, and rebounding!
-
-
-
-Pepperdine lost last night at home to California Baptist, a small NAIA school! Oddly, due to the differences in the rules between NCAA and NAIA, California Baptist was unable to count this as a regular season game, thus it is officially an exhibition game for them - and they cannot count this win over an NCAA Division I team as an official win!
However, Pepperdine can and does count this as an official game, so it is a bad loss in their books!
http://www.pepperdinesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=90183&SPID=10851&DB_OEM_ID=18500&ATCLID=204847288
-
-
Creighton's Chad Millard is trying to come back from a lot of setbacks this season.
http://creighton.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1026541
-
-
Creighton's Anthony Tolliver is tearing up the D-League and might be making a statement that he deserves another shot.
http://my.nba.com/cms/104343/gatorade_callup_outlook_128
-
-
Drake's freshman David Smith tore ligaments in his left foot and will be out at least a month.
Missouri State starting center Will Creekmore was injured in their last game, played only 15 minutes and is in a walking boot. No official word on condition.
SIU's Jack Crowder has a broken collar bone and is out at least a month.
ISU's Zeke Upshaw has seemingly confirmed on his social network page that he's going to redshirt.
Nice story on Dinma, he has worked himself into a reliable guy in the paint.
http://pantagraph.com/sports/college/illinois-state/article_8ca8dc32-e5f5-11de-97a9-001cc4c002e0.html
The last couple years Butler beat most of the top BCS teams they played, but this year they are losing all those games (Minnesota, Clemson, Georgetown).
After Missouri lost recently to Richmond and Oral Roberts, the St. Louis Post Dispatch has anointed Missouri State as the best team in the state!
http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/bernies-extra-points/bernies-extra-points/bernies-5-minutes/2009/12/mason-conklin-best-blues-tandem/
Time Magazine has a list of "Worst Team Names" and one Valley team, the Evansville Purple Aces, make the list.
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/dec/09/time-magazine-dubs-purple-aces-among-10-worst-team/
Here's the whole list, and I'd have ranked the Dirtbags #1...
1. UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs
2. The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
3. The NYU Violets
4. The MIT Engineers
5. Pace (University) Setters
6. St. Louis College of Pharmacy Eutectics
7. The Long Beach State Dirtbags
8. Grays Harbor College Chokers
9. The University of Evansville Purple Aces
10. Evergreen State College Geoducks
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1898998,00.html#ixzz0ZO1HCJKN
Here's a comparison of Taylor's scoring numbers alongside similar numbers of other good scorers in the Valley's recent history.
Taylor Brown is averaging 16.8 points per game and is only 6 games into his sophomore season. He has played a total of 42 games and 605 minutes in his career, so he's still very early in his playing career at Bradley and still developing and improving.
Here's a comparison of how various players at this same point in their careers were doing........
These are/were the per game scoring averages of some of the better recent Valley players just a handful of games into their sophomore season...
Taylor Brown 16.8
Andrew Warren 13.2
Sam Maniscalco 12.6
Osiris Eldridge 15.8
P'Allen Stinnett 12.5
Josh Young 15.9
Kevin Dillard 14.8
Jamaal Tatum 12.3
Kyle Korver 14.6
Tarise Bryson 15.5
So if Taylor can keep up the current average or improve on it, he will have one of the better years scoring-wise in the MVC in the past year...perhaps even the best such year.
But Taylor also adds rebounding, defense, and a certain energy to the equation.
If you look at the current MVC stats, and add points per game plus rebounds per game, the the Valley leaders look like this...
Osiris Eldridge 23.6
Taylor Brown 23.0
Colt Ryan 20.8
James Haarsma 20.6
Jordan Eglseder 20.3
Kyle Weems 20.1
Kenny Lawson 20.0
Dinma Odiakosa 20.0
Adam Koch 19.8
Toure Murry 19.5
Dwayne Lathan 19.4
Kwadzo Ahelegbe 19.2
and nobody else in the league is even close to 20 in this tally.
Here are a couple other stats that are nice to see so far this year...
--Bradley has only 97 total turnovers, 12 per game...
the past two seasons the average has been at about 15 turnovers per game
--BU's average of 16.5 fouls committed per game is also way better than recent seasons and so we are sending them to the line much less.
--BU's 3-pt shooting pct. is improved this season
--BU's assist to turnover ration is way better this year than last year
--areas we need improvement...shooting pct, FT shooting, and rebounding!
-
-
-
-Pepperdine lost last night at home to California Baptist, a small NAIA school! Oddly, due to the differences in the rules between NCAA and NAIA, California Baptist was unable to count this as a regular season game, thus it is officially an exhibition game for them - and they cannot count this win over an NCAA Division I team as an official win!
However, Pepperdine can and does count this as an official game, so it is a bad loss in their books!
http://www.pepperdinesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=90183&SPID=10851&DB_OEM_ID=18500&ATCLID=204847288
-
-
Creighton's Chad Millard is trying to come back from a lot of setbacks this season.
http://creighton.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1026541
-
-
Creighton's Anthony Tolliver is tearing up the D-League and might be making a statement that he deserves another shot.
http://my.nba.com/cms/104343/gatorade_callup_outlook_128
-
-
Drake's freshman David Smith tore ligaments in his left foot and will be out at least a month.
Missouri State starting center Will Creekmore was injured in their last game, played only 15 minutes and is in a walking boot. No official word on condition.
SIU's Jack Crowder has a broken collar bone and is out at least a month.
ISU's Zeke Upshaw has seemingly confirmed on his social network page that he's going to redshirt.
Nice story on Dinma, he has worked himself into a reliable guy in the paint.
http://pantagraph.com/sports/college/illinois-state/article_8ca8dc32-e5f5-11de-97a9-001cc4c002e0.html
The last couple years Butler beat most of the top BCS teams they played, but this year they are losing all those games (Minnesota, Clemson, Georgetown).
After Missouri lost recently to Richmond and Oral Roberts, the St. Louis Post Dispatch has anointed Missouri State as the best team in the state!
http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/bernies-extra-points/bernies-extra-points/bernies-5-minutes/2009/12/mason-conklin-best-blues-tandem/
Time Magazine has a list of "Worst Team Names" and one Valley team, the Evansville Purple Aces, make the list.
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/dec/09/time-magazine-dubs-purple-aces-among-10-worst-team/
Here's the whole list, and I'd have ranked the Dirtbags #1...
1. UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs
2. The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
3. The NYU Violets
4. The MIT Engineers
5. Pace (University) Setters
6. St. Louis College of Pharmacy Eutectics
7. The Long Beach State Dirtbags
8. Grays Harbor College Chokers
9. The University of Evansville Purple Aces
10. Evergreen State College Geoducks
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1898998,00.html#ixzz0ZO1HCJKN
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
A couple answers regarding John Wilkins
I am not sure why we haven't read some of these facts anywhere in the press, but after a little digging, there are some things that stand out that help to understand what's really going on with John Wilkins.
If you're interested, just read on and click the links...then you can believe what you want...connect the dots.
There's even a bit more that I am unable to say publicly, but will discuss privately about certain personal connections.
** So why is John Wilkins' case not yet ruled on? Well, contrary to outsiders' opinions the delay for Wilkins to get his case heard is the fault of the Iowa court system and the irresponsiblbe governmental spending in the present economy.
In an unprecedented act, the State of Iowa has found a rather unique way of saving money and trying to balance their budget. They have decided to simply close their court system on certain various dates and give everyone a non-paid day off thus tons of money saved. They have also trimmed budgets and laid people off at all levels of the court system.
However, it creates, as expected, an ever worsening backlog of cases, especially in certain areas of the courts deemed lower on the totem pole.
As far back as a year ago, the proposal to close the courts down was suggested...
http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=9679484
Some significant delays in the hearing of court cases were expected, but now it's far worse than initially predicted. On top of that, in further cost saving measures, many localities have laid off other key personnel and thus the court cases are even being processed slower with further delays.
http://www.qctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/article_c16904c4-e028-11de-9d50-001cc4c002e0.html
http://www.kcci.com/news/21573388/detail.html
So any unwarranted criticisms such as some of the ignorant ones I have seen, are truly unfair. The Wilkins law team is working as hard as they can facing these setbacks and want to get the case heard as quickly as possible, yet at every turn, they are thwarted with delays due to the failure of the Iowa court system and the failure of the Iowa Lawmakers to have properly managed their budget.
Then one has to wonder why was John Wilkins hit with a penalty that has never been seen before at any level or in any sport in the NJCAA. Never in all the history of junior colleges has someone been penalized for alleged professionalism with a total ban from junior college athletics. Remember - John Wilkins never actually fit the NJCAA's own definition of being a professional player. He never received remuneration for his play and he never was under contract to any professional organization or team. Thus by their own definition, Wilkins was NOT a professional. Many, many similar athletes who have played on club teams in Europe with other pros in basketball, soccer, volleyball, and even track & cross country have been ruled to still be amateurs and allowed to play. Truly this ruling against John Wilkins is so unprecedented and bizarre.
Even when some with direct pro backgrounds are penalized, they have gotten penalties such as a certain number of games, etc...but never, ever a complete ban...NEVER anything close!!!
.........so what's up?? This stands out as so bizarre and outside the mainstream of all previous NJCAA rulings, that one has to wonder what's the reason...the agenda behind this??
This penalty levied by NJCAA is so far beyond any penalty ever issued, that it doesn't take a genius to suspect something funny might be going on.
Well...decide for yourself...
The head of NJCAA, the Executive Director of NJCAA, is Mary Ellen Leicht.
She assumed the top position on July 10, 2009, and this ruling was one of the first in her tenure. Just maybe this ruling was one way for her to pay back certain others for their support and "friendship".
http://njcaa.org/todaysNJCAA.cfm?category=About§ion=National%20Office&articleid=7251
http://www.hutchnews.com/Sports/challenge2009-03-19T23-33-19
http://www.nacda.com/sports/natycaa/mtt/leicht_maryellen00.html
Leicht is a midwestern native and has a few connections to Iowa and has friends at a couple of other Iowa junior colleges.
One of her friends is in the Regional Director of NJCAA Region 11. And I have heard rumors that some of the other junior colleges in the region where Southeastern Iowa CC plays would favor seeing Wilkins banned as it would make Southeastern pretty powerful in men's basketball. Let's face it...there's a certain competetiveness and dog-eat-dog nature to sports at this and many levels.
Thus, by a mere stroke of the pen, Mary Ellen Leicht has indeed made a ruling that does greatly benefit the other junior colleges in this Iowa Region.
Here's a pic of Leicht posing with her friend Brenda Hampton who is in the Athletic Department at Iowa Central CC and also serves as Regional Director in the Iowa Region.
http://external.ak.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=83c4750b7d4291e8fac28d4ccf9ee18d&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.njcaa.org%2Fimages%2FAwards%2FNATYCAA_CUP%2F2008-2009%2F1st_place_Iowa_Central_web.jpg
Here they are again, pictured together back in 2006...
http://www.iwcc.edu/attachments/Image/hampton.jpg
A search will also show other links connecting the two women...
and this page from NJCAA shows the junior colleges that are in Region 11 and are direct competitors throughout their history and within the same regional.
http://njcaa.org/colleges.cfm?regionId=11&sportslid=0&stname=
Here is her page as the chief at Iowa Western CC -
http://athletics.iwcc.edu/staff.asp
Lastly, unlike NCAA, NJCAA really has limited financial resources. They don't make the kind of $$ from events and television that NCAA makes, and thus they, by comparison, are on a figurative shoestring budget by comparison to NCAA.
It has been speculated that they might be less than willing to fight a legal battle due to the costs involved, and thus we might just hear of this case being settled shortly if all parties want BOTH expediency and fairness.
John Wilkins has already missed 11 games which would amount to (already) the most severe penalty that any incoming student athlete has ever served for this situation.
Why not just "commute" the penalty to time served? That would be the best scenario for all involved and Wilkins has already been penalized far more than necessary.
If NJCAA does stick to it's "guns" and fights this, then Wilkins might still succeed in at least getting an injuction to allow him to play in the meantime. If that happens, then the whole ploy by NJCAA is blown, and with Wilkins playing anyway, then why would Leight continue to pursue the case legally, as one scenario was that she was only trying to help out (her friends and...) the other Iowa junior colleges by keeping Southeastern from having the talent to run away with the Regional.
If the penalty prohibiting Wilkins from playing is no longer in effect, then NJCAA and Leicht would clearly have nothing further to gain by battling the suit, and would only lose money - something they surely don't want to do.
So time will tell. Case will be heard soon, but because of the current case backlog, the date was uncertain, but hopefully by now it has been set and will occur within the next few days.
More on the Wilkins case-http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13815
If you're interested, just read on and click the links...then you can believe what you want...connect the dots.
There's even a bit more that I am unable to say publicly, but will discuss privately about certain personal connections.
** So why is John Wilkins' case not yet ruled on? Well, contrary to outsiders' opinions the delay for Wilkins to get his case heard is the fault of the Iowa court system and the irresponsiblbe governmental spending in the present economy.
In an unprecedented act, the State of Iowa has found a rather unique way of saving money and trying to balance their budget. They have decided to simply close their court system on certain various dates and give everyone a non-paid day off thus tons of money saved. They have also trimmed budgets and laid people off at all levels of the court system.
However, it creates, as expected, an ever worsening backlog of cases, especially in certain areas of the courts deemed lower on the totem pole.
As far back as a year ago, the proposal to close the courts down was suggested...
http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=9679484
Some significant delays in the hearing of court cases were expected, but now it's far worse than initially predicted. On top of that, in further cost saving measures, many localities have laid off other key personnel and thus the court cases are even being processed slower with further delays.
http://www.qctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/article_c16904c4-e028-11de-9d50-001cc4c002e0.html
http://www.kcci.com/news/21573388/detail.html
So any unwarranted criticisms such as some of the ignorant ones I have seen, are truly unfair. The Wilkins law team is working as hard as they can facing these setbacks and want to get the case heard as quickly as possible, yet at every turn, they are thwarted with delays due to the failure of the Iowa court system and the failure of the Iowa Lawmakers to have properly managed their budget.
Then one has to wonder why was John Wilkins hit with a penalty that has never been seen before at any level or in any sport in the NJCAA. Never in all the history of junior colleges has someone been penalized for alleged professionalism with a total ban from junior college athletics. Remember - John Wilkins never actually fit the NJCAA's own definition of being a professional player. He never received remuneration for his play and he never was under contract to any professional organization or team. Thus by their own definition, Wilkins was NOT a professional. Many, many similar athletes who have played on club teams in Europe with other pros in basketball, soccer, volleyball, and even track & cross country have been ruled to still be amateurs and allowed to play. Truly this ruling against John Wilkins is so unprecedented and bizarre.
Even when some with direct pro backgrounds are penalized, they have gotten penalties such as a certain number of games, etc...but never, ever a complete ban...NEVER anything close!!!
.........so what's up?? This stands out as so bizarre and outside the mainstream of all previous NJCAA rulings, that one has to wonder what's the reason...the agenda behind this??
This penalty levied by NJCAA is so far beyond any penalty ever issued, that it doesn't take a genius to suspect something funny might be going on.
Well...decide for yourself...
The head of NJCAA, the Executive Director of NJCAA, is Mary Ellen Leicht.
She assumed the top position on July 10, 2009, and this ruling was one of the first in her tenure. Just maybe this ruling was one way for her to pay back certain others for their support and "friendship".
http://njcaa.org/todaysNJCAA.cfm?category=About§ion=National%20Office&articleid=7251
http://www.hutchnews.com/Sports/challenge2009-03-19T23-33-19
http://www.nacda.com/sports/natycaa/mtt/leicht_maryellen00.html
Leicht is a midwestern native and has a few connections to Iowa and has friends at a couple of other Iowa junior colleges.
One of her friends is in the Regional Director of NJCAA Region 11. And I have heard rumors that some of the other junior colleges in the region where Southeastern Iowa CC plays would favor seeing Wilkins banned as it would make Southeastern pretty powerful in men's basketball. Let's face it...there's a certain competetiveness and dog-eat-dog nature to sports at this and many levels.
Thus, by a mere stroke of the pen, Mary Ellen Leicht has indeed made a ruling that does greatly benefit the other junior colleges in this Iowa Region.
Here's a pic of Leicht posing with her friend Brenda Hampton who is in the Athletic Department at Iowa Central CC and also serves as Regional Director in the Iowa Region.
http://external.ak.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=83c4750b7d4291e8fac28d4ccf9ee18d&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.njcaa.org%2Fimages%2FAwards%2FNATYCAA_CUP%2F2008-2009%2F1st_place_Iowa_Central_web.jpg
Here they are again, pictured together back in 2006...
http://www.iwcc.edu/attachments/Image/hampton.jpg
A search will also show other links connecting the two women...
and this page from NJCAA shows the junior colleges that are in Region 11 and are direct competitors throughout their history and within the same regional.
http://njcaa.org/colleges.cfm?regionId=11&sportslid=0&stname=
Here is her page as the chief at Iowa Western CC -
http://athletics.iwcc.edu/staff.asp
Lastly, unlike NCAA, NJCAA really has limited financial resources. They don't make the kind of $$ from events and television that NCAA makes, and thus they, by comparison, are on a figurative shoestring budget by comparison to NCAA.
It has been speculated that they might be less than willing to fight a legal battle due to the costs involved, and thus we might just hear of this case being settled shortly if all parties want BOTH expediency and fairness.
John Wilkins has already missed 11 games which would amount to (already) the most severe penalty that any incoming student athlete has ever served for this situation.
Why not just "commute" the penalty to time served? That would be the best scenario for all involved and Wilkins has already been penalized far more than necessary.
If NJCAA does stick to it's "guns" and fights this, then Wilkins might still succeed in at least getting an injuction to allow him to play in the meantime. If that happens, then the whole ploy by NJCAA is blown, and with Wilkins playing anyway, then why would Leight continue to pursue the case legally, as one scenario was that she was only trying to help out (her friends and...) the other Iowa junior colleges by keeping Southeastern from having the talent to run away with the Regional.
If the penalty prohibiting Wilkins from playing is no longer in effect, then NJCAA and Leicht would clearly have nothing further to gain by battling the suit, and would only lose money - something they surely don't want to do.
So time will tell. Case will be heard soon, but because of the current case backlog, the date was uncertain, but hopefully by now it has been set and will occur within the next few days.
More on the Wilkins case-http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13815
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Bradley - Press Conference at 11AM to Announce New AD
Now questions and answers...
they're discussing the national search and selection...but only in vague terms..
Dr. Cross played basketball at Buffalo, and also coached there...
surprisingly, no further questions, and press conference has ended!
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Dr. Cross also has a fine Sports Blog!!
http://www.ultimatesportsinsider.com/2009/06/athletic-budget-cut-update-31.html
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Here's Dr. Cross' twitter
http://twitter.com/USInsider
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11:12AM - 134 people online, New Athletic Director is Dr. Michael Cross, and Virnette House-Browning is snubbed.
He is from Michigan, and most recently was Asst. Athletic Director at Princeton.
http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10600&ATCLID=295017
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11:09AM - President Glasser is on the stand and at the mike...116 viewers online viewing...
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People are sitting down and they're checking the mikes on the platform, and the press conference is starting.
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Here's the link...over 85 people online right now at 11AM waiting for press conference to start.
http://explore.bradley.edu/live/?EventID=20091208ad
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Now it's 11:05AM, still waiting, but 92 people online waiting to hear the press conference.
If we can watch from our offices, we can't ask questions, but we can see what the press sees!
they're discussing the national search and selection...but only in vague terms..
Dr. Cross played basketball at Buffalo, and also coached there...
surprisingly, no further questions, and press conference has ended!
-
-
-
Dr. Cross also has a fine Sports Blog!!
http://www.ultimatesportsinsider.com/2009/06/athletic-budget-cut-update-31.html
-
-
-
Here's Dr. Cross' twitter
http://twitter.com/USInsider
-
-
-
11:12AM - 134 people online, New Athletic Director is Dr. Michael Cross, and Virnette House-Browning is snubbed.
He is from Michigan, and most recently was Asst. Athletic Director at Princeton.
http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10600&ATCLID=295017
-
-
11:09AM - President Glasser is on the stand and at the mike...116 viewers online viewing...
-
-
-
People are sitting down and they're checking the mikes on the platform, and the press conference is starting.
-
-
-
Here's the link...over 85 people online right now at 11AM waiting for press conference to start.
http://explore.bradley.edu/live/?EventID=20091208ad
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-
-
-
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Now it's 11:05AM, still waiting, but 92 people online waiting to hear the press conference.
If we can watch from our offices, we can't ask questions, but we can see what the press sees!
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