15 Days from Hoopla/Madness, and more "proof" of life beyond Mars!!

I spoke this morning with some people who have observed some workouts and practices....
basically all good news, except I am sure not going to say more than that in this blog or anywhere publicly -- for a couple reasons......
I figure if the folks at Bradley wanted info out about their sessions, then they'd send out a news release -- so it's just common sense to keep this off the boards and blogs. There are more super, secret, private channels as some of you know...

Anyway -- the methodical, word by word scrutiny, dissection, and stalking that anti-BU people use to analyze and attack every positive word said anywhere about BU makes you wonder if they have any time left in the day for anything positive or is their whole life negative??
And given how many times the BU-bashers have been so boneheadedly wrong about statements like buyouts, player defections, firings, and recently more crap about players in trouble and all but gone -- that nonoe of there rumors ever seem to turn out to have any truth at all about them....
I guess I am stunned those same folks would spend so much time searching to find something they can cite -- even a tiny misspelling or grammatical error, or whatever......

I have seen people who even claim they read it all and save endless "screen shots" of this blog and other posts just so they can have something to whine about later.
What the hey?? Why would someone be so obsessive as to save "screen shots" of what someone else says on the internet just to have something to argue about later on??

Lately the hit count on this blog has zoomed as folks must be posting links on other message boards (the "Stats" feature of this blog even tells me which message boards are "referring" viewers) that send people here......but some of those are clearly on a mission to attack BU and they never rest in digging for something to wail about.
They never find anything though and look pretty silly trying to argue that was Jim Les that had Joe Stowell "fired" (ps- he was NOT fired).
As much time as they put into it -- you'd think they'd actually find something that's worth disagreeing about -- but they never do!

Odd how message boards have been around 15 or more years now and they still keep quoting only perhaps a benign comment or two about Tyrone Cole Scott half a decade ago as the only fault they can find in anything said by the Bradley Braves fans!!
Geez-- as much fun as some have had with one TCS comment I guess I should post some intentional hogwash occasionally so they can play with it for the next 5 years...
so here goes.......
"all of Tim Jankovich's recruits will end up in the NBA"....surely Terrence Johnson, Sead Odzic, and Kellen Thornton are on the way (yes, I know Kellon is arguable -- but he never played for PM!).

Then, there's those who say you cannot be positive about a single player or team because that'll be putting too many expectations on them and pressuring them too much thus causing them to fail! I had no idea a mere comment on a message board or blog had the kind of power to cause a talented player to completely fail!
Maybe that's why those guys trash players....maybe they think the opposite is true, too...if you trash a kid you lay the groundwork for really low expectations then the kid will be a superstar!!

Anyway -- suffice to say we will be seeing the Braves sooner than most years on October 15....
Bradley has some talent returning....three guards, Andrew Warren, Sam Maniscalco, and Dodie Dunson are among the top 5-10 returning players in many stats, including scoring, 3-pt pct, assists, and defensive stats.
Then Taylor Brown is not only the #1 returning rebounder in the entire league, he's also among the top 4 returning scorers in the league.

The Blue Ribbon Guide that's just out - realizes this and honors Taylor Brown with 1st Team All Valley status....Other preseason guides likewise honor Maniscalco and Warren with preseason awards......
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16402


Yet another guy has found a planet that is just like earth and just has to be the place for us to go when this planet gets too hot!!

Have you read these articles??
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/09/gliese-581g-habitable-planet-/1

But here's what they are not telling you -- so better read up before booking your trip to this Goldilocks planet...

--first the data that even tell humans of its existence is pretty thin..mostly just soft evidence consisting of wobbling of the star or really minimal light variations from the star hinting of something passing in between......but they think that there might be a planet orbiting this star (Gliese 581) at a distance where it's "not too hot and not too cold". This zone they call the "Goldilocks zone" since Goldilocks' porridge was similarly not too hot and not too cold. (Maybe we can try to live on Goldilock's porridge??)
But of course there's no possible way to know if there's water, oxygen, or even if there's other people already there ruining that planet worse than we're ruining ours.

--all you need to do is a little digging and you'll quickly and easily find that this planet Gliese 581 is not at all like our sun. It is a RED DWARF star. It's sun does not produce much heat or light, so for this planet to be warm enough it actually has to be a lot closer to that star than earth is to our sun - generating a lot of problems like radiation that would cause serious problems to all life, or the possibility of Venus-like cloud-shrouding that would boost temps to 1000 degrees.
Also some data hints that the same side might be always facing their "red-dwarf-sun" ...meaning one side could be pretty hot and the other side pretty cold.
The more and more real facts you hear, the more you realize how far from reality the news reports are about this planet -- and it doesn't sound so good after all.
It's probably even worse than living in Creve Coeur or Leroy!

But remember from my other blog -- if it's too cold, there's a scientist here on earth who has an idea that we can warm it up by slamming asteroids into it!! So let's get planning!

--Also, Gliese 581 is more than 20 light years from earth -- and even if we could send you there at 10 to 100 times the fastest possible speed any object has ever been sent out into space (roughly 1/1000th the speed of light), it would take at least 20,000 years to get there. But by then you'd be long out of food and dead so nobody'd care.

And predictably the press takes this scant info and runs with it claiming that this planet is habitable!! They simply hear and read into this and then print what they would like to say not anything close to the truth or facts (kinda like some message boards!)
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/roughsketch/2010/09/hi_new_planet_gliese_581g_welc.html

It's like finding mountains on Mars then jumping a light year to the conclusion that since people live in the mountains here on earth -- then this must prove there's a habitable place on Mars that is currently supporting life -- edging us closer to proof of life elsewhere!!! Weird.......

So some newspapers prompt their artists into producing an "artists rendition" that looks as comfy as earth itself!!
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/roughsketch/bylynettecook.jpg


But the scientists must bear some responsibility for what is obviously a violation of common sense and something akin to letting a few facts fly through a meat grinder and then post what's left as proven truths!!
Many of these scientists have motives such as wanting to get their name attached to something, a planet, a star, or something!
Or they want sooooo hard to believe there is life out there, that they are so inclined to believe any hint of any evidence to say that there IS!! Even though science mandates an inherent skepticism that says we need to see some facts and evidence first --
We should never believe life exists elsewhere simply because of such BS reasons as...
--because I feel it
--because I'd hate to think we're all alone (yup - this comes from a scientist!)
--because there's so many stars out there it has to be true
--because nobody's ever proven there isn't life out there
--and then the one we hear most often, if it happened here by chance and accident (which of course isn't the way it happened and no science can explain yet how it did happen) then surely it can happen elsewhere given the vast number of chances...(this might be called the wishful thinking theory or the fairy tale theory along with Goldilocks).

Anyway -- I present in the following paragraph every single bit of evidence yet discovered and offered that supports the existence of life elsewhere besides earth...

....nothing...........nothing despite we've been diligently searching for it for the better part now of 75 years....
if you find any evidence you are free to present it -- there are some real scientists waiting to see it and study it....
Even if yuo want to present something in the realm of flying saucers or little green men in New Mexico -- keep in mind that doesn't prove they are from another planet!

Case closed -- Coach Les is not responsible for anyone's woes - and more...

So Jim Les finally gets a word..but not in the press as nobody actually seems to have asked for his opinion on the Stowell thing..but he gives us a tweet saying that he was absolutely NOT involved in any way in making any "decisions about committees or radio broadcasts" and he even noted he was unfairly being given heat over something he had nothing to do with!!!

So -- that should settle it -- I only wish the local media had gone for the truth instead of unfair attacks based purely on speculation from someone using their agenda to lay the "heat" unfairly on Coach Les who was completely innocent in all this and now fully exonerated.......

I think a few people owe Coach Les an apology...

But now this....
The local media is making news stories out of tweets!! So I guess that elevates a tweet to the same standard of reliability as any other news story!
http://blogs.pjstar.com/pressrow/2010/09/29/les-response-on-stowell-news/



But .......... people have a right to their opinions on this subject without being falsely called out for not being "consistent".
I kinda see "being consistent" as someone who is not guided by the facts of the situation, but instead always making the same decision because of predetermined, rigid bias...
In other words, the very people calling for "consistency" and claiming they ARE consistent while others are not, are the ones rules by their rigid biases and predetermined grudges.
Sure they might be "consistent" but it is clear they are consistently negative and anti-Bradley in every call they make!

Show me someone who is predictably consistent in every statement or decision and I'll show you someone who is so biased and rigid in their one-sided view of everything, that you know what they'd say even before they say it...
here's a few examples of consistently opinionated people...

You know this guy's views before he speaks -- he's consistent
http://www.vimooz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad.jpg

This guy's not only always consistent - he's even consistent with his father's rigidly biased views
http://www.weirdasianews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/KimJongIl-Fashion-Icon.jpg

Another guy that you always know how his consistent opinion will sound...
http://www.armyrecognition.com/images/stories/news/2008/september/Hugo_Chavez_Venezuela_President_001.jpg



Here's all you need to know about tickets for Bradley's upcoming events, scrimmages, games, and exhibitions...
get your tickets ASAP for the best seats!!!
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16389



Another player has gotten a waiver to play an extra year and be immediately eligible...at UIC...

Some will recognize the name...Paul Carter (6-8 forward)
... he's a kid whose dad played in the NBA, he finished high school in Arkansas in 2006, then first went to Connors State (junior college).
He then transferred mid-year to Missouri State-West Plains in 2006-2007, but did not get a release from Connors, so had to sit out and pay his own way...but during the remaining part of 2006-2007, he was there the same time David Collins was a sophomore at Missouri State-WP and played and practiced with David but was ineligible for games until 2007-2008.

Carter, after sitting out the rest of 2006-2007, then played his first year of junior college ball in 2007-2008 averaging 9.4 ppg.
Then he spent 2 years at Minnesota under Tubby Smith, averaging 6 ppg.

This season, Tubby was not going to renew his scholarship, so Carter found another place to play, and received the waiver to be eligible immediately at UIC......
New coach Howard Moore only has 3 other forwards on the entire team -- only one of whom has ever played college ball -- and he's only a 4 ppg scorer...so Carter has an excellent chance for some playing time......
http://www.uicflames.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/092810aaa.html



UNLV is ISU's Mountain West/MVC Challenge opponent...and one of the UNLV players has gotten a bit few headlines lately -- although given the seriousness of his crimes, I gotta think he'd have gotten 100 times more press had he been a Bradley Brave......
After originally being charged with numerous felony charges, UNLV's Tre'Von Willis plead guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge in his domestic battery case......

His penalty served by the UNLV Athletic Dept. and head coach Lon Kruger...
is a "three game suspension"....after Lon said simply that Willis ....
"made a mistake"....

But it's not really 3 games -- it is actually only ONE GAME .....UNLV is saying Willis will sit out for their TWO exhibition games, and also the first regular season game vs. UC-Riverside..

In other words...he will miss one cupcake regular season game ....
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5627231

I know a Valley player who plead guilty to an even FAR lesser charges, took supervision then had his guilty plea removed from the record,
and his record cleared...yet he was hammered far more severely - and I don't recall anyone ever trivializing the crime as a "mistake".



Rumor that Bruce Pearl has put his $12 million home on the market and trying to unload the gas guzzler ---
this coming after he's taking a pay cut for all his cheating and lying...
Must be hard when your salary drops from $2.5 million all the way down to $2.2 million per year -- he just can't make ends meet and will probably have to move into public housing.........
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-basketball/110967-pearls-house-up-sale.html

Here's a good laugh for the day.......
Bruce talks NCAA compliance - and other coaches & media folks crack up in laughter!!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/luke_winn/09/20/tennessee.pearl/index.html



And for those who claim Bradley gets more and better (favorable) press than any other school its size....that's so absurd that I just don't have the time to even waste on refuting it...
Just click the sports page at Omaha.com (The Omaha World Herald) and see how many stories and blog entries are posted every single day on Creighton sports...ALL positive and fair, none are hit pieces and allegations, rumors, innuendo...

And even tiny non-D-I Illinois Wesleyan gets far more daily coverage in the Bloomington paper than anything BU-related gets in Peoria. And none of it is attack-style...
Just do the digging yourself and see.....just about the only Peoria press BU gets is negative and attack-style, or else it's a simple repost of a BU release about schedules or ticket prices. Or as seen here, it's a repost of a tweet...
http://blogs.pjstar.com/pressrow/2010/09/29/les-response-on-stowell-news/


As was pointed out elsewhere -- Peoria even gives Illinois and ICC more coverage and more fair & better coverage than BU gets. If you don't see the anti-BU slant that's CONSISTENT, then you are choosing not to -- but considering the people who claim they don't see it -- it's understandable.



And I have to snicker -- if it wasn't so funny, I'd feel stalked/violated !!!
....even a person's avatar is suspected to have some kind of subtle, occult meaning....when in realty it's just a random picture......

Bradley tickets on sale now -- Tremendous chance great seats for BU's Madness/Red-White Scrimmage/Exhib vs. Quincy -- and Honors to Coach Stowell

I just came from the NEW Bradley arena ticket office...
not even one other person in line and I was in and out in just a few seconds......

Tickets are on sale, use the circle drive up and you're in and out instantly...
Tickets are currrently on sale for all the events...

-The Oct. 15 Madness/Hoopla
-The Oct. 24 Red-White Scrimmage
-The Nov. 6 Exhibition game vs. Quincy
-Leno concert
-women's games
-VB games, etc...

I personally got 6 tix to each of the Hoopla, Red-White, and Quincy Exhib. (so there, you guys who said I already had tickets to all the events were wrong as usual)
and I might even go back and get tickets for a few of the women's games and maybe even Leno ......

BUT here's the clincher---
Hardly anyone knows yet that they can walk right up and buy tickets in the front few rows at courtside...
very few tickets are sold thus far and many, many outstanding seats are wide open and available.
Anyone who wants can literally go there now and get seats within the first 3 rows at midcourt or anywhere in the entire arena that you want,
so get there ASAP -- I cannot guarantee how long those prime seats will be available. All seats will be numbered and good only for the seat location designated -- no general admission where you can sit where you want.
The better seats are, of course, a bit more expensive...but they'll show you a chart and you can pick the seats you desire. I chose Sec. 16 right behind the BU bench and within inches of where the players sit.......

So -- I don't want to hear any more talk of how someone was shut out, or how they had no opportunity to get good seats!
This has turned out exactly as I had predicted -- there is and will be for a short time an absolutely outstanding opportunity for anyone to lock in on the very best seats imaginable - seats like you'll maybe never have the chance again to get once people find out how simple this is.
I know we'll hear it, but there should be NO reason for anyone to ever say -- "we wanted good seats but we were shut out!!"



By the way -- here's info for anyone who thinks (naively) that Bradley has NOT given honor to Coach Joe Stowell......

--Coach Stowell still is still given the honor of doing the women's games, and let and in addition just check back in history......
Coach Joe Stowell has been honored and loved by BU like virtually no other person...

--Bradley has BESTOWED Hall of Fame status to Joe Stowell since (get this) March 7, 1959!!
That's right, he's been a HOF'er at BU for 51 years -- he has BOTH a plaque and a permanent photo induction honor...
There are very FEW BU athletes or coaches who were inducted LONGER ago than Coach Stowell.
http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=3666568

--Bradley has also helped assure that Coach Stowell has been prominently inducted into the Greater Peoria Hall of Fame as well......within the first few years inductions were made back in the 80's
http://www.gpshof.org/Inductees/stowell.html

--They have even further HONORED Joe Stowell and his name by recently PLACING his name on one of the TOP AWARDS in the entire Athletic Department and naming it the
.... Coach Joe Stowell Award
http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3400&KEY=&ATCLID=883026

...and they've even given him other awards also -- and writeups in the Hilltopics, making him the "Honored Guest" and various luncheons and other events,
and other things named after him...and BU has set up the.........
Coach Joe Stowell Scholarship Fund at Bradley...
and use the funds donated to it for various things like helping to send kids from the community to the Mitchell JJ Anderson basketball camps, the Carevr Center, and BU scholarships...

On August 13, 2008, at one event...
"Former Bradley player Bobby Humbles (presented) Coach Stowell with a lifetime achievement award"
...and made "..a donation to the Coach Joe Stowell Scholarship Fund at Bradley"...


And on and on it goes......anyone who says Bradley has NOT honored Coach Stowell is absolutely wrong and uninformed (or lying)..
he's perhaps the most honored and multiply awarded person in BU history!! Congratulations Coach Stowell -- you deserved ALL these awards!!

Human activity discovered on Mars!!! ...and more....

Melting polar ice caps, vast sheets of ice completely disappearing, planetary-wide warming, dust-bowl like conditions appearing, conditions that could support human life deteriorating...
Hmmm...sounds like a clear-cut case of man-made global warming causing disasters everywhere, right??

Nope...all those things are currently happening on....MARS....
so if those are the strongest criteria and arguments for man-made global warming, then I guess we've just proven the existence of people on Mars...and not only people on Mars, but irresponsible people who are driving gas guzzlers and spoiling the place with huge carbon footprints (if Martians even have feet ??)

Even the predominately liberal and global-warming-proponents at National Geographic completely agree...
"..Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming"
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html

http://www.universetoday.com/74267/mars-%E2%80%98hide-and-seek%E2%80%99-ice-cap-affected-by-winds-and-water/


But -- if you want to see the #1, Nobel Prize winner wacky theory that I have heard recently...try this one on...

--first you start with the idea that we are ruining our own planet so fast that we will have to find somewhere else to move to...
Never mind the logistics of moving 6 or 7 billion people to some other planet, when indeed the absolutely WORST place on earth (maybe the extreme South Pole) is still far better and easier to survive at than the most friendly place on Mars.

And don't forget that half the people on earth are currently deprived of satisfactory supplies of food, shelter, and medical care already -- but we're somehow gonna build space ships to take them all on a 1-year voyage to another planet??
We have 13 TRILLION dollars of our own debt to pay for after all the ridiculous giveaways, before we can get Congress or anyone to vote on what it might cost to build a fleet of at least 100 million spaceships - enough to carry everyone!

Anyway -- if we're going to jump ship and bail on a failing planet earth in some Wall-E-like fashion, then we have to get some other place ready for our arrival, right??

Well, here's the reasonable and intelligent thoughts and ideas of our "top scientists"...or just maybe after reading their ideas, you'll be willing to wonder if these are our top scientists or just wackos..

Here's how to prepare Mars for human living, given, of course that there are at least THREE biggie problems we'd have going there......
#1 - that Mars is incredibly cold all the time
#2 - it has almost no water
#3 - and Mars doesn't have enough oxygen for life to exist...

Solution....
--build "huge solar mirrors the size of Texas to melt
the Martian ice caps"

Then.......... "heat up Mars by shooting asteroids at the
planet’s surface essentially jump-starting the
terraforming process"

..."the heat of the impact would be that of millions of
atomic bombs which would heat up the surface.
Second, asteroids contain frozen gases which would
help to thicken the atmosphere and finally set off a
runaway greenhouse effect."

(hmmm..I think he's confusing asteroids with comets, since asteroids are almost all solids and rock, while comets have frozen water and gases)


But, anyway.............yeah -- gotcha....sounds pretty simple when it's laid out like that....

Not that anyone in the world has yet even tried to calculate whether a mirror the size of Texas would be able to reflect enough light at Mars, given that Mars averages being 150 million miles away...and texas doesn't really have whole lot more than 10-12 hours a day of useful sunlight about half the year...plus Mars is out of sight behind the sun or too far away about half of its orbit also.
And do all those people in Texas want to give up their homes and property to build such a thing??
Maybe they'd have to be bribed with window seats on the first rockets transporting everyone to Mars!
There's even more funny ideas here -- but these guys actually do appear serious!
http://bigthink.com/ideas/23938

AND... we have absolutely NO idea how we'd even steer an asteroid if it was coming at us, let alone steer one right into Mars....
and doesn't that sound like it violates the Star Trek Prime Directive??
How dare we annihilate another planet when we aren't even taking good care of our own!! Captain Kirk would never..........
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Directive

And, how dare we earthlings, in our arrogance, presume to know more about what's good for Mars than anyone on Mars does....
if we did this to Mars -- then we'd be way more guilty of violating another world's or another society's sovereignty than Christopher Columbus ever was!

Well.....it doesn't take a guy with a PhD to see that this stuff is for entertainment purposes only -- so it's kinda hard to know where to draw the line and whether these "scientists" are really serious or just joking and coming up with sci-fi like stuff for the entertainment purpose only.
It sort of blurs the line between comic or cartoonish entertainment and actual science which it claims to be.


Lastly -- I am sorry to throw cold water (or frozen CO2) onto this comical theory -- but apparently it has been tried before and failed!
This brand new study says that one of Mars' moons, Phobos, actually is a leftover from a massive collision of some asteroid into the surface of Mars...and even with that, there's still little to no water or oxygen on the red planet...
so if such a collision happened once and didn't work -- then it's a doomed plan right from the beginning, so even if we could figure a way to guide an asteroid into Mars, all we'd do is cause the formation of a third small moon for them and virtually no other noticable benefit!
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/martian-moon-forged-by-catastrophic-blast-100927.html



Back to the Joe Stowell thing...
The real reasons for all that's happening will not likely be known despite rumor and speculation......
But -- clearly there are reasons....some seem to think things happen for "no reason"...

Well, just maybe nobody here nor writing in the paper really knows those reasons, but hey - that never stopped anyone before from drawing bad conclusions....
Why can't a private organization do as they wish without always being criticized? They basically employed Coach Stowell for 55 years of his life as well as gave him the opportunity to play college ball and get an education..
I have loved Coach Stowell for the more than 40 years I have known him and yet I am not at all surprised by this and it seems pretty benign actually.

The guy is 84 years old....how many schools employ people that long and yet get ripped when he's gone?? Only one I can think of.
..reading this stuff - it sounds like Bradley's never done a thing for the man and stabbed him in the back -- couldn't be further from the truth..
BTW-- the Egyptian National basketball team also let him go decades ago -- maybe let's ask them for a reason....

So - the real story will probably never be known as there are privacy laws, and also a desire to say as little as possible since the local media plays up anything whether it's true or not..

(case in point...note the comment "It is not much of a secret, for example, that Stowell and head coach Jim Les have had no relationship to speak of.." then the immediate concession that such a fact had nothing to do with all this!
Then the writer speculates on a "conspiracy theory" and again immediately concedes that there isn't one and the two issues are unrelated.)

But as I read everything on the subject...
Here are some facts that it seems everyone is agreeing with...
-Joe Stowell has been employed and revered at BU and by BU for well over 50 years, but that he is almost 84, doesn't get around well, and cannot travel to road games. 99.8% of all people are retired or end their active employment by age 84, and there are reasons...but in this case, many reasons are not being stated.
-Joe Stowell was not fired by Bradley from his broadcasting gig. This was stated clearly to be the decision of WMBD alone.
-Despite the swipe at JL in the paper, the writer clearly acknowledges that BU and JL had nothing to do with the broadcasting decision, plus that decision was made by WMBD and was unrelated to the issue with the committee.
-How many D-I basketball head coaches are fired by a school from that capacity, but then retained and employed in some other capacity for 30+ years more?? I'll bet you cannot name many...thus I think BU has been every bit as loyal to Joe Stowell as vice-versa.
BU even has one of their top awards named for Coach... - http://is.gd/fvzlc
-the committee decision was back in August and unrelated to this WMBD decision, but Coach Stowell had been given the opportunity to serve on the committee since the 1960's -- way longer than anyone in history has been given to serve.
Since it was back in August that the decision on the committee was made - couldn't they find at least one quote -- maybe a comment from Stowell or anyone on that topic...but we see none.
Even when Stowell was quoted - he mentioned only the separate broadcasting issue and even then he did not seem unhappy.
The story also notes that two other members of the committee also had their terms expire and were likewise replaced, but those members remain unnamed, thus it doesn't seem like this was in any way aimed directly at any one person...perhaps just the relatively new administration's desire to make the changes they brought in here to make? Seems like that's the biggest complaint we ever hear -- people wanting to make changes and bring in "new blood"...right?



Keno Davis at Providence has his work cut out -- he will have 10 players (of the 12 scholarship players Keno has recruited) who have a year or less of college experience...
http://www.projo.com/sports/content/sp_bkc_journal_23_09-23-10_0DK116J_v11.2151ff3.html



And the Monday morning take on all the daily cheating revelations at Tennessee...
There's more than a few black eyes at Tennessee -- and NCAA violations and investigations galore..
but hey -- NEVER MIND that this is the most scandal-ridden period in Tennessee's history, and that nothing but bad has been happening all summer in numerous different athletic departments...
In the middle of all this, the Athletic Director is doing a great job and his position is secure...because..
"the robust success of Hamilton's fundraising -
turning an athletic department deficit into a fat
surplus and funding major improvements to the
football stadium and other building projects."
http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2010/sep/25/troubles-contrast-surplus/

"UT" is being called the "University of Thugs" for all the player arrests, DUI's, drug issues, etc..that they have had...so why isn't the AD getting a little more heat?? This isn't just my opinion....
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_184876.asp

Again -- money and winning is all that matters -- integrity and character don't matter at all...
http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=135771&catid=5

Almost daily - pundits are saying Pearl should be suspended or fired...
and it's likely to get worse when more of the truth about the lies is revealed.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?page=hill/100924

A couple Illini followups and more...

I have always enjoyed doing Bradley player followups, but ran across a couple things on some of the ex-Illini players.......
Does anyone remember Bruce Douglas, All Stater from Quincy who played at Illinois and even played a few games in the NBA?
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/d/douglbr01.html


Bruce Douglas went to University of Illinois and had a great career....
he has since gone into Christian ministry...

"Pastor, Bruce L. Douglas, former NBA player, is a 1988 Graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign with a B.S. in Political Science. He is
President of “Shooting for Christ Ministry,” a
Basketball Camp and Community Outreach that
promotes unity in the community by ministering to
families and youth. Bruce served as an associate
minister at Broadview Missionary Baptist Church with
an active membership of 2,300 members. He was also
involved in the Teaching, Counseling, and Marriage
Ministries at Broadview. Bruce most recently held the
position of Youth Director at Broadview from
1999-2009, until the Lord called him to plant a
church in the Plainfield area. Bruce is currently
working on his Masters of Divinity at Moody Bible
Institute."

Here is a link to his web page...
http://walkingingrace.cc/staff/

More on Bruce Douglas...
http://www.qhsalumni.org/alumni_articles/default.asp?id=50

Rich McBride will be Cairo's boy's basketball head coach...
http://www.sj-r.com/sports/x1445283090/Former-Lanphier-star-McBride-named-Cairo-basketball-coach
http://www.ihsa.org/school/schools/0302.htm

Ex-Richwoods' Derek Holcomb -- he kinda dropped off the map but this guy with the name Derek Holcomb looks a little like him and the age is right...hmmm..is this the reason he dropped off the map?
http://newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/vows_derek_holcomb_and_kenneth_schlesinger/



5-Star freshman Josh Selby at Kansas is still not cleared to play yet for Bill Self -- because of his professional agent connections. However - a rumor is all over the Kansas boards that a deal has been struck that will allow Selby to play but simply dock him 4 or 5 games (early season cupcake exhibitions) like they are doing to John Wilkins. Personally, I find this a travesty...as players like Wilkins never actually played under a pro contract or got paid as a pro or by agents. These guys like John Wall (got docked just one game last year at Kentucky) and Selby have had complex dealings with agents since their high school sophomore years, and should be declared pros.

One a similar issue -- here's a good commentary on Eric Bledsoe and the rampant cheating that went on at his high schools to get him eligible...grades altered and changed, and entire coursework being fudged...yet his school board copped out and is simply dropping the whole thing...

Here are a few of the panel's findings...
"..17 of Bledsoe’s 24 scores for Algebra 3 (which he took, according to
transcripts, prior to taking Algebra 2) were “conspicuously changed.”"

"The reasons given for the (grade) changes are not credible.”

"The grade books for Bledsoe’s junior year are missing, despite a rule that they
must be maintained for three years. That school is closed and all the grade
books for the 2007-2008 school year are gone (missing)"
http://kentsterling.com/2010/09/25/corruption-wins-in-birmingham-eric-bledsoe-keeps-hs-grades-kentucky-basketballs-disappointing-season-stands/



Then the touchy topic of Joe Stowell....off the HOF Committee, and off the air at WMBD. WMBD doesn't employ any other 80 year old broadcasters, nor does any other station I am aware of -- so instead of praising the school and the station for all the years of going with Stowell and putting up with the complaints that came because of some of the jabber -- no -- instead of being positive and thankful for all the wonderful seasons and memories, we have to end Coach's career with bitterness, rumored controversy, and fictitious conspiracies!!!
We could be looking at a glass that's 98% full and be happy, but instead we have to see and hear rants complaining about the 2% that's perceived empty.
I love Coach Stowell...but even Coach Stowell wouldn't complain, he'd be happy for all the years the school has given him employment and the ability to pursue his dreams, and the column even notes that and says Coach won't gripe -- he'll move on.
So.... why do people have to step in and gripe for him?

And oddly -- it's largely the very same people who virtually applauded when the personnel changes took place that have led to this -- the new Prez and AD....
those very people cheered when other firings took place and said it's high time we cleaned out the old personnel -- what took so long??
But suddenly the hypocrisy reigns...and now we have to go back to the old school...when it was the old school we wanted to get rid of last spring??

One writer even brings up pure speculation about some rift between parties...
But -- even the writer has to admit that if such a rift exists, it's been there for years -- so why wasn't Stowell gone years ago??
There's no rift involved here -- just time for an 80-year old to end his broadcasting career ----
If people just want an old guy to give commentary, there are plenty of people around who have been around BU and been with BU for decades.
But you can't just hire someone because they have been around for a while, come on....
doesn't broadcasting ability come into it somewhere?? Doesn't BU (and WMBD for that matter) have a little more knowledge and expertise in these areas...and maybe a little better fit to choose their personnel?
So maybe just longevity isn't what they're looking for... why is that criteria about the only thing people can come up with for why BU should continue with Stowell?
Maybe there is a little more to this...but we'll probably never know, since the only thing that ever gets written up is the anti-BU and conspiracy end of it.
Sorry -- this is not some weird behind-the-scenes conspiracy -- just the very personnel they clamored for, now making the decisions they were hired to make.

End of an era, some Bradley and MVC stuff, and more

End of an era -- everyone who's grown up in Peoria is familiar with Emo's and most have eaten or enjoyed ice cream there. Tomorrow is the end of an era. Emo's has been operating at the corner of Prospect & War Memorial for decades, and that'll all likely end tomorrow. They close for the season tomorrow, September 24, but since the building is up for sale and the sale is currently being negotiated, then in all likelihood, tomorrow will be the final day Emo's ever serves. Never know -- if it doesn't sell they could be around next year - but that's not currently the plan.
I know I will miss them.............



Anthony Parker...is going to start for sure now for the Cavs and get a lot of playing time -- as their scoring takes a hit with their player departures.....
and they're going to have to get more scoring from Anthony so he's have a great opportunity!
Here's AP posing silly -- don't know for what??
http://ow.ly/i/42OF



Wichita State freshman (redshirt) Jerome Hamilton is on crutches wearing a protective boot on his right foot. Not many injuries require this type of management - but Bradley fans are sure familiar with the one that does this most often....having watched both Andrew Warren and Dyricus Simms-Edwards during the treatment of their stress fractures...
No official word on his injury but it wouldn't surprise me if it turns out to be just that...
http://blogs.kansas.com/shockwaves/2010/09/23/a-few-basketball-bullets/

The Shockers also have one open date that could still be filled with either another exhibition game or a closed scrimmage...
Reportedly Kansas State was willing to play Wichita State in a closed scrimmage but just recently backed out with no warning -- leaving Wichita holding the bag with an open slot on the schedule...
Shocker coach Gregg Marshall says..
"WSU is still looking for a scrimmage opponent. Or it could schedule another exhibition.
If Martin canceled the scrimmage too late for Marshall to find another opponent, and Marshall prefers a scrimmage to an exhibition, then I think that potential "friendly" relationship isn't real "friendly" right now."



SIU's first home basketball game this season is at 9AM on a Tuesday morning...ha, anyone wonder what some of BU's fan base would have said about this??
They'd have either had a cow or told the press they had a terrible round of golf because of it...
http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/silu-m-baskbl-sched.html

A small but nice segment on one of ISU's players.....
http://centralillinoisproud.com/fulltext?nxd_id=139945



Lots being written about the Eric Bledsoe case...but again it's being said we'll know something more later today....

Remember -- Kansas' Darrell Arthur and Simeon's Derrick Rose, Tim Flowers, Kenyon Smith, and Kevin Johnson were all proven beyond question to have had their grades altered and fraudulently rigged in order to get eligible...
yet the NCAA looked the other way each time.....as the individual schools, to avoid even more embarrassment and scandal simply closed each case and said they weren't going to pursue them any further.

You cannot rely on those high school people to always do the right thing, as proven by these cases where obvious cheating occurred, yet the schools actually helped in the cheating and coverup - and had little motivation to go back and find the truth or come clean.
NCAA has to stay in the business of finding these cheats and policing this dishonesty.
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=134172&postcount=10
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=134174&postcount=11

btw -- what ever became of this scandal where the UK players were getting freebies and special treatment??
http://www.kentucky.com/2009/06/06/820774/joe-bolognas-off-limits-for-cats.html



Indiana's Tom Crean is in his 3rd year at Indiana and because he has now gotten some verbals from Class of 2012 kids, the pressure seems to be off....even though he hasn't come close to winning much at all yet...

But some of the articles about the job he's doing are a little bit silly ...like this one...
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/471514-dont-doubt-tom-crean-just-yet?source=rss_teams_Indiana_Hoosiers

Much of this article is silly -- like how hard it must be to win when you only have a stable of 3-Star and 4-Star players!!!
Note this particular line...
"Crean basically had a team of walk-ons in 2008."

Really??....I guess nobody actually looked at the facts -- they just made this up...

Per one ratings service...
...scout.com -- he had FIVE 3-Star and ONE 2-Star recruit in 2008, hardly a batch of walk-ons...
Butler kicks everyone's butt in the Hoosier State with far fewer than that numbers of decently rated kids...

One other recruiting site says this, though...
Rivals says in 2008 he had SIX 3-Star kids and ONE 2-Star

Then those same ratings services also note that in 2009, Crean also landed FOUR 4-Star and THREE more 3-Star players...

so...seriously - I think he has enough talent that the excuses have to stop......there's a lot of Big Ten schools that don't ever get a 4-Star kid -----



There have been a ton of stories and articles about the exploding number of serious head injuries in football....especially prep and youth football.....duh...
ya think???
I have heard parents and even the kids who play youth football...as young as 8-9 years old in JFL talking about really flattening the other kid or laying a monster hit on the guy and hitting them hard..
Isn't that one of the main points of this game??
How can you talk of injuries without also talking of major rules changes??
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/09/24/how-worried-should-parents-be-about-concussions-in-young-athletes/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/sports/football/21fastforward.html?_r=2&hpw



Too much sex & cleavage on Sesame Street??
That's what's happening -- as apparently the people producing Sesame Street have no common sense anymore...such that only after they were deluged with tons of complaints by parents after their recent segment that included sexy star Katy Perry.

The complaints came after the episode (shown on Youtube) repeatedly showed too many close ups of Perry's cleavage and high mini-skirt..even an interesting clip of her running with certain parts jiggling..
http://www.pantagraph.com/entertainment/music/article_4d34687e-c7e4-11df-a4a4-001cc4c03286.html
http://www.pantagraph.com/entertainment/music/article_4d34687e-c7e4-11df-a4a4-001cc4c03286.html?mode=video




Here's an interesting topic....
this researcher and well known academic and author has kept track of the violent arrests and felonies in sports for some time...and the thing that's newsworthy -- in how the college kids are WORSE than the pros, and the pros have been bad for years!!

Jeff Bendict is the author -- and here's more......
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1174197/index.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/sec/2010-09-23-florida-football-arrests_N.htm

http://m.si.com/news/archive/archive/detail/2812016;jsessionid=1BBA5FE07B0C62148732B3F88E839340.cnnsi2

http://www.myshelf.com/miscellaneous/04/outofbounds.htm

So - here's the tough question...why are college football and basketball athletes the main ones who commit such plentiful and violent crimes?
we never hear of college golfers or tennis players doing this. The proportions are astronomical given the numbers of athletes in so many different sports from swimming to rowing to even rifle...that never commit crimes!



Here's one that didn't get much coverage today....
IUPUI just fired their women's basketball head coach....
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100924/NEWS14/9240354/-1/7daysarchives/IUPUI-basketball-coach-is-out-with-300-000?odyssey=mod|dnmiss|umbrella

They decided to fire her "without cause" - even though they believed they had plenty of cause!!!
...but then that forces them to pay her entire salary all the way through the end of the contract (2013) -- $300,000...
Lots of people are questioning why if she's a bad person and a bad coach, then what gives that she's getting her full contract in cash up front just to get rid of her...
and note in that article how many of the insiders are keeping quiet and tight-lipped...nobody wants to get sued, since that's all some lazy, incompetent bimbos ever do when their bad job performance gets them fired.......they get a lawyer and sue...

Well, the answer is fairly obvious -- in this day and age if you think someone's a really bad coach, then you have to name the reason you're firing her -- then they'll get lawyers and ask for all that money anyway plus damages and fight the school in court for years and win more than just the measley $300,000...
it's happened way too many times and schools are apparently just happy to pay the witch off and get rid of her...

Read for yourself..but actually she doesn't sound all that bad - but some players whined about her and her techniques.......
Anyway --as one article points out -- the school simply is blowing taxpayer and student money -- so who the heck cares...isn't that unfortunately the way the rest of all the public employees act -- what a bunch of losers and cheats......

speaking of which.......

This may seem off topic except that a few of these scholarships ought to be helping athletes get to college....
Here is a form of legislative abuse of a tremendous privilege -- legislators who are given the ability to help kids by awarding scholarships on the basis of need...
...Then, they turn right around and give the valuable scholarships (illegally) to their own family members...even though the rules are spelled out CLEARLY that they are NOT allowed to given them to any family member or staff member.

Ultimately this money is being stolen from generous donors and taxpayers by the very people who we elect to represent us....
Nov. 2 is less than 40 days away --- we can do something about it..

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/41953.html
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-ebj_16met.ART.East.Edition1.3579b7f.html
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/082910dntexcongress.2c049bb.html
http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2010/09/scandal-widens-congresswoman-who-gave.html
http://www.nlpc.org/stories/2010/09/10/new-documents-implicate-two-house-members-scholarship-scandal

A 100-year old book review

I have a "Spalding's Official Basket Ball Guide" from 100 years ago. Spalding's Guides were the bibles of the sports back then and they had been making baseball guides and football guides for years but began with basketball in 1910...when the game was called "basket ball"...

The issue sold for 10 cents, and the cover says...
"Codified and adopted by a Rules Committee representing the Young Men's Christian Association, Amateur Athletic Union of the United States, and National Collegiate Athletic Association."

So the YMCA, AAU, and NCAA all got together and..."adopted uniform rules for the game of basket ball".

The Spalding Guides were so respected in their days, that when the uniform rules were adopted, those organizations then approached Spalding to publish the Basket Ball Guide.

The book is in great shape for 100 years old and I just thought I'd give you some excerpts........

The first part is the History of Basket Ball...and it details how the game was developed in 1891, and at that time there were only 13 rules set out in a simple rule book by Dr. Naismith in 1892.
Originally the official ball was an ordinary soccer ball, and some of the earliest rules included...
--"teams could consist of any number of players as long as the sides were even"
--"if one team committed three consecutive fouls a goal was award to the opponent"
--"tackling is prohibited"
--"a score is made when the ball is thrown into and stays in the goal (basket)"
...so if it bounced out it didn't count!

Shortly after 1892 the number of players was limited to nine, then rules ultimately changed further and only five were allowed.
The game of basketball exploded and this book details how incredibly popular it was all over the world, the Phillipines, India, England, everywhere...and Dr. Naismith actively traveled to those other nations to help set up the game and instruct.

By the time this book was written many of those rules were changed and new ones added...the book goes into great detail defining and describing all the different rules violations such as "Holding", "Blocking", "Charging", etc...but I'll stick to the more interesting parts of the book...

Here were some of rules that were in effect in basketball 100 years ago...

-the dimensions of the court could be as small as 60 ft by 35 ft. and maximum 90 ft by 50 ft.
-Halves were 20 min. each just as they are today, but clock did not stop.
"a period in which players could catch their breath may be allowed" in the middle of each half especially for younger teams of elementary school players.
-goals should be 10 feet off the floor
-the diameter of the goal ring was increased from 15 to 18 inches
-one of the weirdest rules was that in this era -- dribbling meant either bouncing the ball off the floor or "air dribbling" or batting it upward with one hand and repeating the maneuver, as long as the ball did not come to rest in the player's hands.
The rules clearly state that "the ball must be batted in the air instead of tossed in the air"!
Air dribbling was not eliminated until around 1920.
-the game was rough and a certain amount of contact was allowed..thus requiring a penalty for "Unnecessary Roughness".
As further proof of the game's roughness -- in the back of the guide, Spalding sells all kinds of elbow, knee, and hip pads, along with the balls and other equipment.
-after four fouls the player was disqualified, but it sounds like not a lot of fouls were called.
-during a jump ball the jumpers must keep one hand behind their back. If either player does not do this they are called for a foul for delaying the game!
-"there shall be no coaching from the side lines during the progress of the game"
-the rule for determining who gets the ball when it goes out of bounds is a new rule, since previously the ball was to be inbounded by the team that went and got the ball first. This led to some pretty interesting battles off the court and down the stairwells!
The new rule says... "the nearest opponent of the player causing it to go out shall put it in play by passing, bouncing, or rolling it onto the court in any direction."

There's also sections describing basketball in all regions of the US, and the part about Illinois mentions
"Bradley Poly. Institute, Peoria, Ill." prominently. Fred C. Brown was coach, and Frank Mercer was Captain. They even have photos of Bradley players!

And here's a great one...
the section on
"Missouri Valley Conference Basketball" is actually written by Dr. James A. Naismith, University of Kansas.
(Kansas was part of the MVC from 1907 through 1928, Bradley joined in 1948.
The schools in the conference 100 years ago were...
"Ames" (currently known as Iowa State), Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Washington Univ. (St. Louis), and Drake!

Other photos of Illinois teams include...
-"Illinois Wesleyan University"
-"Shurtleff College", Alton, Ill.
-"Southern Illinois State Normal School", Carbondale, Ill.
-"Eureka College"
-"Hedding College", Abingdon, Ill.
-"St. Viator College", Bourbonnais, Ill. (now known as Olivet Nazarene)
-"University of Illinois", Urbana, Ill.

The Union College team picture has jerseys saying UBBT (presumably for Union basket ball team), Swarthmore and Lehigh have SBB and LBB respectively.
Most players are rather muscular and wear pads!

I could spend more time on this as I find it interesting and fun to read how the game was played 100 years ago.......let me know if you want to know more.

Hopefully if it's repeated 100 times, then it will stick....

OK -- now most of you are just fine and have a really good understanding of reality...
but for the rest, I have become certified in blog-psycho-therapy and will help you through this...
All you have to do is repeat after me....over and over...

1) There are NO regular season games in the on-campus arena - thus there's no reason to panic and have a cow....
There are NO regular season games in the on-campus arena - thus there's no reason to panic and have a cow....
There are NO regular season games in the on-campus arena - thus there's no reason to panic and have a cow....
There are NO regular season games in the on-campus arena - thus there's no reason to panic and have a cow....
There are NO regular season games in the on-campus arena - thus there's no reason to panic and have a cow..

OK...now we have that one out of the way.....but save this page and keep repeating every time you break out in a sweat worrying...

2) There will be plenty of available ticket for any and all events in the new on-campus arena - just wait and see....
There will be plenty of available ticket for any and all events in the new on-campus arena - just wait and see....
There will be plenty of available ticket for any and all events in the new on-campus arena - just wait and see....
There will be plenty of available ticket for any and all events in the new on-campus arena - just wait and see....
There will be plenty of available ticket for any and all events in the new on-campus arena - just wait and see....

There, see how easy that was...so now take a deep breath and keep going, you're almost half way to full recovery...

3) There's no buyout and we still have a head coach -- and there weren't massive player defections as some said would happen....
There's no buyout and we still have a head coach -- and there weren't massive player defections as some said would happen....
There's no buyout and we still have a head coach -- and there weren't massive player defections as some said would happen....

That should be good enough, since most everyone already now knows those stories were total hogwash -- although a few seem to think they hold plenty of truth.

4) Bradley now has the best facilities in the LEAGUE and on par with plenty of BCS schools -- those who support BU should take pride and continue their support....
Bradley now has the best facilities in the LEAGUE and on par with plenty of BCS schools -- those who support BU should take pride and continue their support....

This one is thrown in since some have thought for years that what BU was building was totally inadequate, and that the university should have consulted disgruntled message board posters for their advice first and done this whole thing differently.

5) Bradley still continues to enjoy as good of fan support and ticket sales as any small university in a similar population region...In other words...there's no school similar to BU in size, alumni, and local population that draws any better so maybe we can stop worrying that the whole fan base is gonna get mad about something that's never happened before in all of history and go away....

Yet -- those at BU are not sitting idly by, they are organizing and arranging a multitude of events and opportunities for fans to enjoy great things this fall leading up to the games...

If anyone calling themselves a Bradley fan can't find something among all the events coming up to get excited and optimistic about, then go back to the top and start reading this all over again...

Seriously, if you come up with any talk of being "left out" or "excluded" from what's going on, then you live in one of those parallel universes where everything is 100% opposite from the real truth here.
It's a little disingenuous and seems to look like you're trying way, way too hard to find something to whine about, if you think BU isn't doing everything it can to make all aspects of Bradley basketball easy to see, to get to, and enjoy.
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16198



One of Creighton's veterans Casey Harriman has a torn labrum in his left shoulder...
...this is a very serious injury and the same thing that happened to Creighton's Nate Funk that caused Funk to sit out a whole year.
That would be a problem however for Harriman, as he already voluntarily redshirted his first year at Creighton, so this is his last year of eligibility and he either has to play or quit. There would be NO chance of a Sam Singh-type of 6th-year waiver, since NCAA never gives such a 6th-year waiver when one of the lost seasons was voluntary or within the control of the student athlete.
Casey is not a big scorer, but he has been a key player...although he has never lived up to the scoring promise many thought he had coming out of high school as the all time leading scorer in his state (Iowa), but some of that was because Casey had a similar shoulder injury in his right shoulder (shooting arm) in the 2008-2009 season.
He started half their games last year and is in among the top 5 or 6 returnees in games played, starts, minutes played, 3-pt attempts, 3-pt made, rebounds, assists, steals, and scoring...
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100921/BLUEJAYS/709219819/-1#shoulder-injury-sidelines-cu-s-harriman




Here's a story from the Illinois Rivals site about a kid ...
Class of 2013 superstar Basil Smotherman - from Indianapolis Heritage Christian was at University of Illinois over the weekend visiting & taking in the football game and says he really likes Illinois...he even describes them as if they are his leader...
but one thing he says is really telling...
He seems to talk about how so many of the best Indiana kids DO NOT seem to have staying in Indiana as one of their priorities...
He says this...
"Smotherman is the third member of the Eric Gordon
All Stars 15 and under team to draw Illini interest,
along with Zak Irvin and Devin Davis. Irvin visited the
campus just last weekend and has also drawn an Illini
offer, and Davis was offered earlier this summer as
well.
"I want an uptempo style, and coach that lets you
play a little bit."
"Although he is an Indiana kid, he says that playing in
his home state is not a priority. Although he has in
state schools such as Indiana, Purdue and Notre
Dame on his early list, he doesn't mind looking out of
state.
"It doesn't really matter," Smotherman said of staying
at home."

Interesting -- there was once a time even quite recently when staying in-state DID matter to Indiana kids...in fact up to just a couple years ago Purdue, Indiana, Notre Dame had the entire state locked up...and yet some of the recent bad stuff involving the coaches has destroyed long time relationships.

Coincidentally, just yesterday, Indiana's Tom Crean tweeted this...
"Our job is to take back the State of Indiana but today we went into someone elses backyard"
http://twitter.com/TomCrean/status/25056518566

Obviously they are far, far from taking back their state if the top kids are all looking elsewhere and Crean is battling head to head with the top coaches in Michigan like Tom Izzo!
I think it shows that Indiana is wide open and maybe BU can get some of the talent...
Certainly the Indiana schools do not have the state tied up.
http://illinois.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1129004

IU Coach Crean also tweeted this morning as if he really hates Pursue and loves seeing them lose....something that's quite odd and gives the appearance he has absolutely NO LOYALTY to other Big Ten Conference schools!
Here's what Crean said...
"Make University Gym the loudest spot in Indiana tonight. Anytime we win and Purdue loses its like winning twice!"

...I understand he means it in a pro-IU fashion but he clearly says..ANY TIME Purdue loses it's like he has won something which comes over really harsh!!
http://twitter.com/TomCrean/status/25207889872



Speaking of Indiana, this obscure site came out ranking Indiana at #83...
http://www.thesportsbank.net/college-bball/99-in-99-83-indiana-hoosiers/

they obviously really like the Big Ten and actually have every single one of the 11 Big Ten teams ranked in the Top 99...
(Penn State 86, Mich 92, Iowa 99!)

But really - do you think Indiana is going be better than all but 82 other teams?
They were 222th in RPI last year and don't add a whole lot this season.
Time will tell but last year IU was 10th in the Big Ten, and after only 6 wins in their non-conference schedule, even with all their players, they used injuries to relay why they only beat four bottom dweller teams after Dec. 28!
Five of their 10 total wins were over 300+ cupcakes (Bryant, Howard, USC-Upstate, NC-Central, Northwestern State).
Time will tell, but I just don't see all 11 Big Ten teams finishing inside the Top 100 by anyone's reckoning.



Yup -- those self-imposed penalties at Tennessee were a sham -- as Bruce Pearl was again seen flying off campus and out of state to do recruiting. I guess we'll have to wait a bit longer to see if they take any of this seriously or if they are just making a mockery out of all that cheating...
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-basketball/110110-bruce-pearl-charlotte-morning.html
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=191686#post191686



Bradley's student booster group is getting well organized...
http://www.bradleyredsea.com

Bradley recruit Michael Ochereobia's juco schedule is online...
maybe some can catch a few of Michael's games...his team plays several that are close by...
http://www.highland.edu/athletics/m_basketball/m_basketball_schedule.asp

Set the record straight -- Bradley did want John Wilkins...BU literally helped the kid in every way -- even helping him and his family fight the battle with NCAA and even the battle with NJCAA. Bradley gave advice and kept the offer open until there were demands......then there was a parting of the ways. Believe what you want - but "recruits" who come up with demands are hardly unheard of.... and as noted elsewhere, just watch as the evidence unfolds of what and how those demands might have gotten satisfied.........
Bradley does not knuckle under to recruits' demands, and the schools that do could end up regretting it...

And Kenyon -- after two years there's no excuse for stiffing the taxpayers on what you owe...
lmk - if you need the links...

Then the question of whether John Wilkins will fit right in with all the other ISU guys...it certainly appears so......
Just check the McLean Co. database....looks like he's hitting the courts a little earlier than the Oct. 15 start of the regular season... ;)



Here's something interesting...Wichita State released their whole schedule and it's pretty weak...except for a game vs. Tulsa..
BUT -- there's talk among the Shocker fans who seem to know something -- that the Tulsa game is NOT going to be played in the Shockers' usual home arena...
Instead, for a reason not yet made clear, it is reportedly going to be played in the "INTRUST Bank Arena" affectionately called "IBA" by Shocker fans...
INTRUST is a 15,000 seat municipal arena in downtown Wichita, only 5-10 minutes away from the Wichita State University campus.
Wichita's usual on-campus home arena, the Charles Koch Arena (once called Levitt Arena and sometimes referred to as the Roundhouse) seats 10,500.


Lastly -- just a few comments from Wichita State shocker fans who have now seen their entire schedule and who obviously do not like it with all the horribly weak and obscure guarantee opponents...

"It took five months to schedule some of the worst basketball teams in Division 1. Why not just do that the first week and get it over with?"

"I am disappointed and gravely concerned."

"Given the schedule, I think it's safe to assume the following:
Not good enough to get to the dance (via at-large bid)"

"Well with that schedule, we have very little room for err for a potential NCAA bid"

"It's a poor schedule which will be considered weak at tournament selection time"

"pretty disapointed to spend so much money for season tickets and have to sit thru that non conference schedule"

"If this was simply the best they could do, somebody sucks."

"I'm not sure I can motivate myself to go watch most of the noncon schedule. Wonder if I can give my ticket away? Doubtful."

"This is a truly disappointing schedule."

Then the best comment.........
"It's almost, dare I say it... Illinois State-like."

Latest news......just when you thought it couldn't any more interesting...

Make what you want of this...
Flash Flanagan's Fall Review was at Markin the past couple years, and has frequently been at Bradley, the Fieldhouse, etc..
This year it's elsewhere not even close to BU.....and Jeff Wilkins is paid to be a featured speaker........hmmmm.......
We once had a thread going about college coaches that find a way to funnel money via camps to the guys who provide the players.....sort of a way to technically and legally get by with funneling money from college coaches to recruits, AAU types and recruits' families ....

and it had to do with Bill Self and his staff....which just happened at that time to include...Kansas assistant coach Tim Jankovich...
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree........
check out the links.....
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1473


Here's another example of one of the Valley schools hanging in among a top recruit's final choices...
Robert Goff was considering Indiana, and a few other biggie schools, but had taken a visit and had kept Wichita State in the mix right to the end.
He just verbaled to Oklahoma and is yet another loss for Indiana who desperately need depth and experience in the post.
http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/?p=9832

Bradley has likewise battled the big schools for kids like Jershon Cobb, Nick Fruendt, Drew Crawford (Northwestern), Matt Roth (Indiana), Iman Shumpert (Georgia Tech), (LA Pomlee (Iowa State), Stan Simpson (Illinois), Wesley Witherspoon (Memphis), etc...
and ISU hung in with BJ Young...a 5-Star recruit...
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16278

BTW -- Here's a funny story involving ex-Bradley recruit Wesley Witherspoon...
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/15455/josh-pastner-tossed-into-a-swimming-pool

One MVC recruit, Tyrus McGee, that Creighton is strong after -- just verballed to Iowa State.



More and more trouble for the new Oregon coach Dana Altman -- wonder if he's trying to find a way to get his old job back??
Probably now realizes now that even coaching P'Allen Stinnet wasn't really even all that bad!!
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/09/oregon_basketball_investigatio.html

It's obvious there's still a whole lot more to this story and more bad stuff yet to be revealed...
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/sports/25305204-41/dunigan-oregon-former-andrews-players.csp



Alvin Brooks III has redesigned his web site and has a blog...nice..
http://www.alvinbrooks.com/blog2.html
http://www.alvinbrooks.com/main2.html



Did you know???
The name "Lynyrd Skynyrd" actually has a basketball connotation??
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-09-20/story/leonard-skinner-lynyrd-skynyrd-namesake-dies-77-0


More details daily on the Bruce Pearl cheating scandal....
-- many now calling for Pearl to quit..and with these newest revelations it seems everyone who's been working under Pearl has also been cheating like crazy -- giving impermissible benefits to recruits and their families and making illegal phone calls....

http://espn.go.com/photo/2010/0920/ut_ncbviolation.pdf
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5597589
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/More-details-uncovered-Pearl-s-staff-made-more-;_ylt=Apzz8WSUbHfioZdy219AjPPevbYF?urn=ncaab-271100

...and to think, back when he was at D-II Southern Indiana, and UWM thru 2005, there was occasionally talk of some Valley team nabbing him for head coach...
Wonder if he'd have cheated just as much if he were in the Valley??
Should the NCAA go back and see if his cheating was going on as far back as when his UW-M guys made the Sweet 16...some of us have evidence and know that it was...
Remember -- when Joah Tucker bolted from Bradley then admitted he went to UW-M and worked out with their teammebers and arranged with Bruce Pearl to transfer to UW-M -- all this occurring while he was still under scholsrship at BU? Recall that this was why BU claimed tampering by Pearl?? Doesn't it just seem obvious now that this cheater would have done exactly that?? He and his whole staff were cheaters then -- and he and his whole staff is still cheating now...

Here's where Bruce Pearl seems ever unwilling to own up to the truth...everyone knows it was HE and he alone that lied to Tennessee officials and to the NCAA, yet he still answers questions saying it was "we" who lied...
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/campusrivalry/post/2010/09/bruce-pearl-i-hope-that-the-things-we-did-dont-rise-to-the-level-of-termination/1

Bruce Pearl and Reggie Bush are the same in one respect...
both showed remorse and apologized....years after their violations, and ONLY when the evidence was overwhelming, and only when the guillotine was gonna fall anyway...
Neither has really fessed up to their cheating and neither has really come clean -- they did what they did to save their own skins -- not the do the right thing.



Yet another 5-Star kid verbals to Kentucky...just give 'em the title now, right??
http://dimemag.com/2010/04/breaking-news-doron-lamb-headed-to-kentucky/#more-40586



This is football related - but it's weird---
SIU is #5 ranked nationally and loses at home (first home non-conference loss in 8 years) to lowly SEMO!! The Salukis now fall to 1-2 in the early goings (only win was vs. sacrificial opening opponent Quincy) and definitely appear to be having a far worse year than their preseason hi rankings would have suggested.
But -- I guess the Saluki fans did need something to draw some of their frustrations away from the disaster that their basketball program has become...
Now they have two different forums melting down - basketball and football...
http://www.duquoin.com/sports/x1985978739/FOOTBALL-SEMO-surprises-SIU?img=1



One more funny football story -- speaks for itself...
That's the Ohio Bobcat going after him in an unprovoked attack!!
http://bucknuts.com/index.php/Football-Article/what-is-rufus-bobcat-thinking/menu-id-1346.html



Talking football - don't look now but despite the sanctions USC football is 3-0 and has beaten 3 fairly tough opponents...two of them on the road...



Negative campaigning 101 -- hit 'em where it hurts!!
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42427.html

And I suspect this candidate isn't too worried that she just lost the majority of the Wiccan vote...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/20/wiccan-community-upset-wi_n_731694.html
http://abcnews.go.com/US/witch-christine-odonnells-dabble-witchcraft-bizarre/story?id=11682730

Did you know the recession is over??
We still have 10% unemployment and nobody is hiring...investments are stagnant and there's incredible uncertainty about the future, the wars, the deficit, and debt...
I bet these guys will end up eating their words...
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-recession-over-20100921,0,2428295.story

Upcoming BU events, and a few other news items...

Here's a summary of Bradley's upcoming events...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16330

Note that the November 6 doubleheader has the Men's and Women's games being held separately...
and if they're being held at separate times, and ticket prices are different...
will there be some activist that complains that this violates Title IX as they did in this case setting....
http://www.mlive.com/cardinals/index.ssf/2010/07/great_lakes_conference_changes.html
http://www.nwcaonline.com/nwcawebsite/news/09-07-17/Title_IX_puts_schools_in_conundrum.aspx



News at future BU opponent Iowa State...
Transfer Darion Anderson was deemed immediately eligible after transfer from Northern Illinois University to Iowa State...
causing Iowa State fans to go all giddy as if he's gonna be a stud...

Ahem...earth to Cyclone fans....he was a multi-troubled, egotistical 10 point per game scorer even playing against the likes of an NIU schedule.
When NIU played Big Ten opponent, Illinois, Anderson was 1-10 and had 4 pts...he was just 2-10 against Northern Iowa! The guy might help a little, but at the bottom of the Big 12 where Greg McDermott left you, you're gonna need a whole lot more help!

If Big Ten kids can't even drop down from a BCS conference to the Valley and hit double digits, then are we really confident that bottom feeder MAC conference players are gonna jump to the Big 12 and start lighting it up against Kansas and Texas?? Dream on..........



A Turkish fan sure does have an odd opinion of Osiris Eldridge..
http://twitter.com/p2taspinar/status/24811880417



Our old buddy Bruce Pearl says he has no intention of stepping down...
"some reports being more accurate than others...
...our university had the necessary information to make the proper decisions and set the right course of action.."
"Nothing, however, has taken place that has deterred me from my desire and my intention to successfully compete and lead the Tennessee program for many years to come,'' Pearl said."

Three recruits (Josh Selby, Aaron Craft, and Jordan McRae) were the center of the violations...they were being hosted and given freebies at Bruce Pearl's home -- a definite double violation since they were not allowed to be there and also - they cannot receive freebies.
So, why are those recruits also not just as guilty of violations -- they should also be deemed ineligible -- hit the recruits hard and maybe then they'll stop breaking NCAA rules and asking for freebies and taking them!
http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2010/sep/18/pearl-has-no-intention-to-resign-at-ut/

All it took was a photograph of a violation to bring down Bruce Pearl and Tennessee...so why not a full-fledged open, honest, public admission of guilt by Charles Barkley -- known as one of the most brutally honest and open guys around??
If Charles Barkley public admits to taking agents' money while he was at Auburn,
then isn't this enough for the NCAA to nail Auburn and vacate all their wins??
Will the NCAA totally look the other way??

Mark Tupper has a decent view of Bruce Pearl -- wonder why there are still blind people out there who do not see the crook and worm that this guy is...and there are even some - very few any more -- that actually keep claiming he's a good coach - tho nobody is still saying he's a good guy...
Gotta read Tupper's piece.....
http://www.herald-review.com/app/blogs/marktupper/?p=938

BTW-- an ESPN writer gives John Calipari a new nickname...
"The Vacater"
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmonsnfl2010/100917

..he also has a nickname for Bruce Pearl...check it out....
And this guy has a good perapective -- what does it say about the very people who condone or accept this much cheating -- cheating to the degree we have just never seen before -- or at least since Dave Bliss!!
Pearl does indeed belong in this category -- tho it took ever so long for the blind, deaf, and dumb to see it...
http://beyondthearc.nbcsports.com/2010/09/how-much-cheating-are-we-willing-to-tolerate.php



Even more proof, as if we even needed it, that schools' athletic departments are NOT self sufficient!!

"Financial data recently released by the NCAA show that only 14 college
athletic departments turned an operating profit in 2009..
.. only seven of these programs..have generated an operating profit in each
of the past five years"

"When athletic programs can’t pay their own way, they rely on institutions for
help in the form of student fees, transfers from general fund allocations and
state appropriations.
NCAA data show that the median subsidies — or the dollars provided to
balance athletic budgets — rose 25 percent from 2008, to more than $10
million in 2009."
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/college-sports-spending-out-615830.html?cxtype=ynews_rss

So -- there are only 7 colleges that haven't at some time in the past 5 years (and most do it heavily every year)
taken student fees and taxpayer money to support, bolster, and balance their athletic budgets
and pay all their staff in the athletic departments...
AND this uses only cash accounting, and fails, as I have said and Da Coach has said, to take into account
that at state schools, the value of the scholarship is way more than the actual cost - and the taxpayers
have funded the rest -- and the facilities everyone uses from the rooms, to the gyms, to the bathrooms
are also all paid for by taxpayer funds...and that fails to get into the accounting..

Thus, let's put an end to the ridiculous talk, some by people from our own conference, of having fully self-funded athletic departments....



On one of my favorite topics...Bobby Knight...
He was back in Indiana and got roasted...
http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/basketball/college/indiana-university/article_4acbcd2e-b8b7-527c-b059-488b34e69d16.html

Apparently Bobby still has a few friends and admirers....although not as many as his lap-dog media followers seem to hint at...
and isn't it nice to simply laugh at and discount all the truly serious character issues you have had and demonstrated throughout your life...
If you don't think that's the case...fine...but check how he treated Indianapolis Star writer Jeff Rabjohns...
"I tracked Bob Knight down, asked about IU's efforts to reach out: “Let’s go somewhere else with this. You want to talk about tonight, fine."
http://twitter.com/JeffRabjohns/status/24906557770

...wow -- almost sounds like he's asking the guy to step outside to settle this...maybe punch the guy out now that he's not bound by his "zero-tolerance" clause???
Bobby -- you da man -- Bully of the Year for the 25th consecutive season!



Lots of good news at Bradley -- new arena, great recruits coming in..everyone healthy and lots of solid upperclassmen this season....
so with NO recent petty bad news...the anti-BU folks have gone back into their hole...
Check for yourself -- see how many posts there have been by those who are notoriously anti-BU. It's easy to find them and check their posting but not easy to find much they are saying -- certainly not much positive...they totally disappear when there are great things to discuss and talk about...but let there be one minor scuffle or a tweet then all he** breaks loose and their post counts zoom....
I cannot imagine laying in wait and being so negative all the time...life is great and one should enjoy the good aspects of it...I sure am -- but human nature requires that some stay upset, angry, and bitter all the time always huffy because they think they are not getting as much as they deserve!!
"Bitterness destroys the vessel that holds it"...



Here's a story of a ref fighting back!! Bobby Knight oughta be glad refs weren't doing this years ago!!
http://www.necn.com/09/20/10/Rhode-Island-basketball-ref-sues-school-/landing.html?blockID=314418&feedID=4206

Blue Ribbon Preseason Preview is due out soon...but a little advance release shows...
No MVC teams in their Top 25 and Illinois is #9
http://www.collegechalktalk.com/blueribbon/2010-11/blueribbontop25




This next segment should be independently titled...
"Gaps"

and no, we're not talking about these kinds of gaps...
http://www.refinery29.com/img/gap-toothed-beauties-hutton-lara-stone.jpg

Or these kinds...
http://www.lvrj.com/sports/-rocky---fills-gaps---sets-standard-for-inspirational-flicks-86746107.html

We're talking about a theory that some state is already "settled science" but it has so many impossible gaps that even its proponents are scrambling to hide evidence of those gaps and scrambling to find something -- even the most unlikely and bizarre explanations to fill those gaps!

It's this theory that Richard Dawkins hangs his whole reputation on despite that it has gaps.....
Getting back just one more time to some really weird statements by outspoken scientist Richard Dawkins...
recall he said he believed life on earth may NOT have originated here - but that it was brought here by intelligent aliens that traveled here and planted or "seeded" life here as perhaps some kind of experiment...
..all the while damning anyone else who espouses any kind of "intelligent design" ideas...
http://winteryknight.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/richard-dawkins-cites-fraudulent-research-runs-from-public-debate/
http://www.theoligarch.com/richard-dawkins-aliens.htm

Dawkins' own words (and as this link shows, many of them are absurd especially considering he's a reknowned scientist!) speak for themselves regardless of how he tries and spins later to retract his own very words...
http://www.discovery.org/a/4809

But -- have you seen where just recently Stephen Hawking revises and changes his opinion of where everything comes from...and moves all the way to the border of creationism...
http://www.thestar.com/article/857464--hawking-book-says-the-universe-was-created-spontaneously

AND -- almost all "evolutionists" are trying to come up with something else, too, knowing now that there just is NOT enough time in there (in the order of millions of years) for so many billions of different mutations and changes that must have occurred in order for life to be so complex.

You see - when early theories of evolution were formulated -- nobody had a clue of how vastly more complex life and molecular-level life processes were...everyone thought some simple life forms were --- well, simple..

But .....now we all know that even the simplest life forms have amazingly complex structures, incredibly long self-replicating DNA and RNA molecules, and micro-organs within the "simple cells"..
Even if a mutation making the cell advance forward evolutionarily took place every day (which is absurd as well), it would still take thousands of millions of years to advance from one simple cell stage to the next multi-cell stage...and we know there's just NOT enough time on the time scale for it to have happened this way...

So, in the manner of all failing scientists, you just gotta alter or amend your theory no matter how ridiculously to fit the new findings!!!

That's where this idea Dawkins comes up with originates...
he is trying to come up with something to explain the obvious hole and gaping fault in the theory of evolution -- because if some alien came here and planted already complex but small life forms, then we'd not need to have those first stages that would have otherwise required more time than we have to fit the evolution in...

Voila -- then his gradual evolution theory still works but we have to insert the alien doing all the work for us!!
So there's a need for a "seed planter" to get those first 900 million years of evolution out of the way instantly since the time just doesn't exist for that stage of early evolution to have happened so fast...(you know, the Cambrian explosion - where trillions of new life forms arise in the fossil record overnight with nothing preceding most of them in any way in the record)
so - it's not original but Dawkins has adopted the "alien seed planter" concept...but I had heard that one as far back and the 1960's from some really weirdo, and discredited people - but when in a pinch even discredited stuff is dragged back out....
so it's not really Dawkins' idea at all...he's just lapping it up to fill the vacuum he knows exists in his theories...

Here's another ridiculous attempt to find a faster way for evolution to have occurred - given, of course, that this guy who came up with this also knew there's NOT enough time for all the small changes rerquired to have occurred...
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/punctueq.html

This "Punctuated equilibrium" theory is rejected - even laughed at - by most of the evolutionist experts...but it's a nice try...
In other words...what Steven Jay Gould was saying is that we don't need the zillions of small evolutionary changes over millions of years....
some lizard would just lay an egg and out would come a bird...and then we'd go on from there...
Pretty simple, right???

Thus we also don't even need the intermediary species in the fossil record (another giant, difficult problem the gradual eviolutionists have always sidestepped and been embarrassed by)-- since that's also been a HUGE problem, a complete lack of all those intermediate species that of the BILLIONS of fossils we now have in museums and colections -- that those intermediary ones DO NOT exist!!

So - bottom line - is that the so-called theory of evolution is falling apart at the seams as we learn more and more about complexity of life...and as more and more millions of fossils prove it simply couldn't have happened the way the theory claims it did...
Note when Darwin wrote his book -- dinosaur fossils had NOT even been discovered, and at that time only a few dozen fossils of any kind were known to exist. Had Darwin been able to see into the future and see the vast numbers of fossils later found -- he'd have burned his manuscript and given up, knowing he'd be proven wrong.
Sadly academia hangs on to disproven theories for centuries anyway...
The best prospect for a long range pick-em is what silly and ridiculous theory will some day be patched into the evolutionary theory in order to repair the major damage that those darned, pesky FACTS keep throwing at the guys with the theories??