OK..if you love Bradley basketball, and if you ever wonder exactly what is true and what is not among all the reports you read...then save this blog entry...
I won't and CAN'T go into extreme detail, but for now I am gonna play along with all the internet reports that John Wilkins hasn't given Bradley a thought in months...
He never mentions Bradley any more....he appears all set to commit to one of a couple schools that have apparently NOT even offered yet, and they both look like long term rebuilding projects and laughingstock programs that are falling apart at the seams...
So believe when you want....but how many times do we have to give examples of how the national writers completely leave out Bradley in discussions with recruits..
Ezample - On the very weekend that Iman Shumpert was in Peoria seriously considering Bradley, many national writers were listing his choices and his offers and not one of them even mentioned Bradley.
Other recruits that have BU offers have also been subjects of articles that strangely fail to mention Bradley's involvement - and I am happy in a way about that, as I think a school typically wants its recruiting aims and plans to be kept a little quiet - if you know what I mean...
Another example - One story on Matt Roth flatly stated he had eliminated Bradley yet immediately Matt himself called and talked to the Peoria media to tell them that story was totally false and that the guy who wrote it had never even contacted Matt to get the truth! The quotes were completely fabricated!
Then we have the Jordan Prosser and Dyricus stories...where many, many reports never mentioned Bradley and several that did said they had long since eliminated Bradley - yet both had done NO such thing and ended up coming to Bradley despite the stories saying that would never happen!!
Almost every day I read a recruiting article somewhere in which a kid refutes what's being said about him and even refutes what's being quoted from him.....Jordan Prosser also had this happen to him to the point that he just stopped talking to some of the media and recruiting guys because of all the falsehoods and misquotes.
So believe what you want, but I have evidence that all is not lost......and you will find out more later....so Bradley is doing just fine on the recruiting front.....
Here's a story that seems to shed a light on what factors are important when a recruit chooses a school........
Its story about a kid who sounds a lot like LA Pomlee...the kid that Bradley wanted but he spurned Bradley offers to go and sit on the bench for two years at Iowa State, then get booted so they can open up another scholarship and go after John Wilkins!
This kid is still in high school - and he's getting recruiting interest - but mostly mid-majors like Northern Iowa who just WON their league and are playing the NCAA for the 2nd straight year!..
...then along comes an offer from Iowa State..
they are bad and have been bad for years...since they let Larry Eustachy go, and they are languishing at the bottom of their league, and their coach may be gone soon...
but still, here's what the kid says - and it tells you what factors are the most important when a recruit picks a school...even though you'd think the kid would look at academics, or the school's success, or post-season success, or that chance to play right away....but nope.......(note the kid averages about 12 pts/6 rebs - not all that impressive. Doesn't just about every high school in the naiton have at least 2 kids with numbers like that?)
"Ross Travis ...Chaska, Minn., the 6-foot-7, 205-pound junior
Travis said Iowa State is his most exciting offer. There haven't been many changes in recruiting for Travis, who's averaging 11.8 points, six rebounds
..The same six offers are on the table with Iowa State, Oregon State, Rice, Santa Clara, Northern Iowa and North Dakota State
but Travis said two schools in particular stand out with the Cyclones leading the way.
"Iowa State is the most exciting offer," Travis said. "They play high Division I teams which I'm looking for and the school is big so that was the most exciting offer."
Coach Kerry Keating's squad at Santa Clara is not far behind though.
"Santa Clara, even though they're not doing well this year, they're all the way out in California, so that was pretty exciting, too," Travis said.
"The higher Division I schools, all the bigger schools, are waiting on me to see if I get bigger,"
So even if it's a horrible school that won't win but a couple games in the next few years...it is still his favorite, simply because -
--they are big and it sounds exciting
--they play big schools (even if they don't win too often)
--and the California school seems to have some lure...
The kid seems totally unimpressed with the offer from the Valley school!
Rumors - that some of our area's coaching staffs and others were at Carver last night watching the games and zeroing in on one or more of the Manual kids!!
Speaking of recruiting...Indiana coach Tom Crean sounds absolutely tickled pink that his team lost and is out of the Big Ten Tourney.
This is great - it allows him to get out and recruit.....
remember...they have no open scholarships, and in fact won't have an open ride for any kid until TWO years from this fall, in Fall of 2012...since all the kid they have now are almost all freshmen and sophomres and will still be around a while...and they already have several obscure kids who have already committed for the next couple years filling all the open rides.
So, this sense of urgency to get out and recruit means something's brewing...look for a bunch of current kids to get Creaned and have their scholarships Janked...
Anyway, here's what Crean says this morning...he's excited he can recruit instead of still being alive and playing basketball!
http://twitter.com/TomCrean/status/10421326641
One report I read this morning said that Nick Evans who was booted at Southern Illinois right after Will Egolf took him to the woodshed and he missed that silly monster dunk attempt...then he got a "T" in the next game, lost all his playing time and was booted...
He is going to transfer to University of Southern Indiana so he can transfer there (Division II) and be eligible right away..
That's where Jamar Smith was, but there's also rumors that possibly Torres Roundtree, who was also booted from SIU and is now at juco, will end up there, too.
Here's a story that didn't get very wide coverage...
right at the end of the game Wednesday between Akron and Eastern Michigan, there was a lot of fighting, numerous technicals and ejections, then a foul mouth, obscenity laced tirade by the EMU coach that all caught plainly on TV and radio by the media microphones at courtside...
You can read more details, but the EMU coach Charles Ramsey had to be escorted off and ejected and he cursed loudly...
Yesterday - a phony-sounding apology was posted on the official Eastern Michigan website by the school and the coach about his behavior...but oddly today you can do a search of the EMU site and it can't be found...but I saved the link from yesterday and the page can still be accessed.
The EMU message board unanimously wants the guy fired...
http://bgnewssports.com/2010/03/quarterfinal-game-between-akron-and-eastern-michigan-gets-chippy/
http://www.emueagles.com/news/2010/3/12/GEN_0312102613.aspx
Here are just a couple representative opinions posted...that want the coach fired
http://www.mlive.com/forums/eagles/index.ssf?artid=54651
http://www.mlive.com/forums/eagles/index.ssf?artid=54657
Here's a couple non-sports stories that caught my eye........
Did anyone else think what I thought when you first heard the story of the "runaway Prius" a couple days ago??
Did you also hear the 911 call made by the driver of the supposedly runaway car - made while he was driving...
He was able to make a 911 call, and stayed on the line with 911 personnel for 23 minutes!!!
... but when told repeatedly by the 911 operator to shift the car out of gear or shut off the engine, he himmed and hawed and mostly ignored the suggestion or hinted he didn't have a free hand because he was talking on the cell phone..or for some reason he was afraid to do so as he might actually succeed and slow down then get rear-ended!!
Now evidence is coming out that this was just another monster HOAX...
a way to get fame AND fortune and be able to get in on a lucrative lawsuit against Toyota...or at least get a free car..
...and just coincidentally the guy in question is filing bankruptcy and is $700,000 in debt!!!
PLUS the guy has made money filing suspicious insurance claims in the past and owns an adult swinger web site!!
Possibly the bigger theme here is how the so-called "mainstream media" NEVER once questioned this guy nor even asked the proper questions that would have instantly revealed this was a hoax...
it was almost as if the media was willingly playing along with the guy....likely because it does make good news, it does sell newspapers, and anyway...why not bring down a major worldwide automaker in the process....after all, they are real bad guys here!!
Here are several stories...the first one is pretty darned convincing
that this was a complete hoax from the beginning and the media fell for it...[/B]
http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/12/toyota-autos-hoax-media-opinions-contributors-michael-fumento.html
http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-news-jamessikesinvestigated0311,0,4677651.story
http://www.thecollegedriver.com/posts/940-California-runaway-Prius-may-be-hoax-driver-bankrupt-behind-on-car-payments
Lastly....you wonder why would the media be complicit in lobbying against auto makers?? Well apparently it has happened before...
One comments in one of the above links talks about how CNN has done this before...(and btw- I saw this CNN piece and it was indeed aiming to paint the automakers as big bad guys...)
"...a couple of CNN anchors coaching people on how to "turn lemons into lemonade" by take advantage of the Lemon Law.
They were targeting people in Atlanta ... trying to get them to game the system and get a free car out of the deal."
Did anyone else read this local story...it's about a company in Peoria named "Firefly Energy".
It's about a "start-up" technology company, andf they asked for & received
$6 million in local loans and tax breaks from the City of Peoria and the County of Peoria, PLUS...
They also received a $7 million development contract from the U.S. government in 2007, followed by a $2 million grant from the U.S. military in 2008.
PLUS -- their own web site touts even more handouts they claim to have received...
"the defense bill for fiscal year 2006 includes 2.5 million dollars to speed up development of the Firefly battery"
"...the ...Electrolux (Corporation).. have invested in Firefly Energy and will become the first customer for the batteries
Electolux ..owns..Husqvarna, Poulan, and Weed Eater.. The ride-on mowers you see at Sears Garden Centers are most likely built by Electrolux."
..other private companies also have invested $$ in this company including Caterpillar...
"Caterpillar executive management decided in 2003 to provide seed funding for a separate business solely dedicated to the new technology. Firefly Energy was born!"
So in all...this new company pocketed a minimum of $15 million and maybe as much as $25 million in handouts and help courtesy of you and me, the taxpayers..and others....
Now, you guessed it, they are complately out of money and filing bacnkruptcy..
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois/article_8268279f-77a4-5832-b9bc-aefd87a00e95.html
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x99748000/Firefly-files-for-bankruptcy
As a taxpayer...I'd like a few answers as to why our money was sunk into such a bad investment...and just curious whether any of the big wigs in this Firefly Corp. ended up getting rich in this scheme?? (although I think I already know the answer).
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