BU at Western Carolina, more bad rumors, other Valley teams frustrated, and Jerrance Howard scoping out Bobo..

BU at Western Carolina tonight...Sammy's tweets speak of him practicing hard and expecting to play -- but unfortunately there's new that late last night, a decision was made that will in all likelihood mean Sammy will sit the rest of the season and seek a medical redshirt and return in 2011-2012.
I would loved to have seen Sammy play against Duke --


Here's a great piece on Coach Alvin Brooks III now at Sam Houston State -
http://collegechalktalk.prestosports.com/coachesDiary/sam_houston_state/2010-11/11.30.10brooks


I see yet another silly rumor of the sky falling and guess what?? It is coming from the same, exact source as a few of the past notorious rumors...the buyout rumor, and the rumor of massive BU player defections this past summer (neither of which ever happened).
Thanks, guys, for keeping us all entertained in a cartoonishly silly fashion!

Drake fans, after a couple bad losses, are enraged and wanting their head coach fired...
Here is a 13 page thread from their Drake board about firing Mark Phelps.-
The Phelps disaster
http://www.drakenation.com/Topic29168-8-1.aspx

And there are also several more, including a couple that suggest bringing back Tom Davis or Kurt Kanaskie!!
http://www.drakenation.com/Topic56024-8-1.aspx

http://www.drakenation.com/Topic55922-8-1.aspx
http://www.drakenation.com/Topic29168-8-1.aspx

ISU appears to have some discipline issues and point guard of the future Kenyon Smith has been benched and not playing...
also some of the ISU fans add their own observations...about player attitudes...

http://www.pantagraph.com/app/blogs/main/?p=5703
http://www.redbirdfan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=505&sid=c3087290801ee2cc007a5a28e3a62377


BTW-- did anyone notice that John Wilkins played on Sunday -- his first college game ever...after serving his NCAA-mandated penalty and sitting out five games.
Wilkins came off the bench, played 13 minutes, was 1-3 from the floor, 1-4 from the FT line, and had 4 pts, 6 rebs, and picked up 3 fouls.

In the game, ISU got a double digit lead after just 5 minutes, but were never really able to extend much beyond the lead they had in the first 5 minutes..
They hovered between 7 to 12 pts ahead the rest of the game, getting their largest lead of 13 pts in the final seconds on a FT.


Bad news for Aces fans......
The Evansville message board, which saw very little action, now seems to be defunct-
http://www.thepurplecode.com/
http://www.thepurplecode.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=2

Some SIU fans have turned on Gene Teague.....
now wanting Lowery to sit Teague- 5 page thread-
I don't get it -- he's one of their best players!
http://www.salukitalk.net/st/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34127&sid=d98b0f4a51c7233681c9d52c475162ae

Also one notes that a few SIU fans admit that SIU plays dirty on defense and that they foul constantly-
http://www.salukitalk.net/st/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34158&sid=d98b0f4a51c7233681c9d52c475162ae


Here's something that apparently some find surprising -- but I have to wonder where those people have been for years as this is nothing new...
Sacramento Kings brass is wondering what to do as two of their top young players, Tyreke Evans, and DeMarcus Cousins, are seemingly always getting in trouble!!
Duh...seriously -- those guys always got in trouble since they were in junior high!!
but not it seems they really have discipline and morale issues, as the Kings are one of the worst teams in the NBA and have the fewest wins of all 30 NBA teams, save for the 3-15 Clippers.
"Cousins has a reputation for volatility"
"selfishness"
"clashes"
"immaturity"...etc...

The other players on the Kings are tired of this crap and there's already rumors of trades of their prima donnas...
I guess Miami isn't the only place proving it IS possible to have too much talent if it is accompanied by too much selfishness and ego...
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/11/12/kings-deny-growing-issues-with-demarcus-cousins-tyreke-evans/
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-101112-14/testing-early-trade-winds


BTW -- here's an interesting note -- the Illini board was buzzing about top Illinois recruiter (Jerrance Howard) sitting in on Bobo Drummond's game Sunday watching Bobo -- who is verballed but obviously NOT signed yet to SIU.
Illinois' point guard situtation is still fuzzy for the future after McCamey is gone, and right now, they are not very deep at that spot...
so could Illinois still be in the hunt for Bobo??



In the non-sports section...
Here's one state governor who finally has a grasp on controlling exhorbitant and unreasonable spending...

He is trying to get the economy of the State of New Jersey under control, and he's speaking to a bunch of press, citizens, and state workers about capping the ridiculous salaries of state and municipal employees who are making incredible amounts and being paid twice as much as what similar people in similar employment situations make in other states......

and one of the state workers, a school superintendant who is making well over $200,000 per year (and by some reports when all benefits are included, closer to $260,000 per year) says it is not fair that the State of New Jersey is capping his salary for the time being...

The guy then says this...
That the caps are unfair to people like him trying to get by on a mere $200K and just maybe he'll leave the state!!!

Governor Chris Christie then says to the guy...
"Let me help you pack."
"We have real problems in our state that we have to fix and we don’t have the time, nor the money, nor the patience any longer for people who put themselves before our citizens.”
http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/archives/24625
http://www.minyanville.com/dailyfeed/school-administrator-threatens-to-quit/

Boogie has career game, Ryan Hare gone from SICC, and more...

Ex-Bradley Brave Boogie Wright .. has career game!!
Lawrence "Boogie" Wright had a great game this week in his Finnish league battle against LAPPEENRANTA, a 99-73 victory.
He played 25 minutes, was 11-14 from the floor, 3-4 from 3pt range,
25 points and 7 rebounds.
His current team-leading stats are 15 ppg, 9 rpg.



Ex-Saluki Ryan Hare seems to have finally hit the end of his college basketball career...
He is no longer on the team at Southeastern Iowa CC...he is "said" to have quit the team..but there's definitely more to the story...

He is reported to have posted something on his Facebook (possibly now removed) that there was some incident and it involved other guys on the team......possibly he can still finish his education elsewhere...
Recall, SIU fans were hopeful Hare could even return to save the Salukis as soon as THIS SEASON!!
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=200235#post200235



Arizona State coach Herb Sendek inserted both Brandon Dunson & Corey Hawkins into their game last night for about a minute each...both were scoreless.
--Corey Hawkins went into the game at 14:32 of the 1st half, then was pulled back out at 14:21, 11 seconds later...he was then re-inserted to play the final minute or so of the game when Arizona State was behind by 12...he did get one rebound and one assist.
--Brandon likewise got minimal play and again, in bizarre fashion...
He went into the game with 1:42 left in the 1st half..then just 7 seconds later, at 1:35 he was subbed OUT, as Sendek made a five-man line change!
He then played the final 45 seconds of the 1st half, going back in with another 4-man line change but had no stats at all.
He didn't play in the 2nd half.

Both Brandon and Corey have now played a grand total of 9 minutes between them in the first 5 games. Both are getting a raw deal there.......



Wow -- today's ISU game vs. Jacksonville State is weird...
Jackie Carmichael coming off some pretty good games, goes 0-7, scores zero points, and grabs only ONE rebound! ISU was lucky to pull this one out!



Stanford just beat DePaul in OT 81-74 but the interesting news is that Stanford's best player collapsed immediately after the game and news is scant on his condition...
He was apparently taken immediately to a hospital...and I hope he's OK and does NOT have a serious heart condition...
http://lacrossetribune.com/sports/college/article_7fce85df-337e-5901-bf9a-3e32190b1225.html
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2010/11/28/stanford-basketball-jeremy-green-collapses-on-court/



December 2 is one of the most important days ever for soccer in the US...
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/44853/




Here's the non-sports segment....
OK -- I'm gonna bite on a couple recent reports I saw in the press...

#1 -- skin cancer rates have been going up for 50 years....we all know that.
50-60 years ago people swam in full shirts and even leggings...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2787/4347935085_6a9ca8f7a7.jpg

and the lag time is 30-40 years before the skin cancers show up -- so we're seeing that now...
But -- read this article and it says flatly and unequivocally that the skin cancer rates are due to the hole in the ozone layer!!!
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/the-skin-cancer-time-bomb-20101126-189q8.html


#2 -- did you know whales are all getting sunburned...and the cause is the "hole in the ozone layer"
http://www.earthweek.com/2010/ew101112/ew101112h.html

But let's add some sense to this...the hole in the ozone layer is predominately over the south pole and wouldn't have a thing to do with sunburns in the northern hemisphere, and probably nothing to do with whale sunburns either!!


So what about the ozone layer? Remember -- in the late 1980's and 1990's we were all told by the expert that the holes and "damage" to the ozone layer was being caused by the release of chlorinated flourocarbons (CFC's), and if we would just ban the CFC's then we'd see the holes and "damage" rapidly improve and then disappear.

Have you ever noticed that you haven't heard a thing about the ozone layer lately? Well, some might conclude that's because the ozone layer is back to "normal"...but sadly for the "experts" who claimed they knew what was right for everyone, the ozone layer has not improved much....but it does grow and shrink cyclically -- totally unrelated to CFC levels!

In fact, the evidence over the past 10 years of what the ozone layer is doing, tends to strongly support that nothing whatsoever in the ozone layer is even connected to CFC's...
In other words...the experts on climate control and environmentalism were wrong again.
Many environmentalist talking heads conclude that if we aren't hearing about the holes in the ozone layer, then they must not be there, and thus the banning of those substances must have worked!
This is how their science works!

But to actually see the truth that exposes the stupidity and inaccuracy of those 1990's Al Gore-types, you have to do a little digging.

Here's proof that just as recently as this month, the holes in the ozone layer are still there and causing as much trouble intermittently as ever, but it's not much...
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=13437204

But do just a little more digging and you'll find that the ozone holes come and go completely independently of the CFC's and the worldwide bans on them.
Since the worldwide banning of CFC's - and now the ongoing banning of even HFC's (that have not been implicated in any ozone damage but let's ban them anyway) - the holes in the ozone layer have not changed significantly...

NOTE -- ozone layer holes are not the same thing as climate change..but of course if it is to their benefit to frighten people and get the legislation they want, then environmentalists will always lump them together.

So if the total destruction of a worldwide industry didn't work, then what's the environmentalist's plan now...
it's just do more of what didn't work the first time around!! Ban more things!!

But get this.....scientists have now discovered that there's something even more important in determining the ozone layer and virtually all climate issues here on earth...

They have discovered.....gasp....that the sun is actually responsible!
OMG -- this is breaking news, and how come we haven't heard this??
(although serious, I think most of us concluded this very fact by the time we were five years old and got a sunburn.)

Now scientists are sorta suddenly waking up to the fact that it is the sun's activity that is affecting things like the ozone layer and climate.
Maybe we should ban the sun -- that would save those sunburned whales, too!!
http://www.theresilientearth.com/?q=content/scientists-discover-sun-does-affect-earths-climate

I am not trying to say humans should return to being totally irresponsible -- because if those ozone-related laws did anything, it at least made people more responsible with waste.
And I am not against using science in order to find ways to take better care of our earth...

However - slowly and surely, the global warming folks are having to admit this is true, that sun and sunspot activity may be having more to do with all this than any activity man is responsible for.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sun-spots-and-climate-change

http://www.gcrio.org/CONSEQUENCES/winter96/sunclimate.html

Even the ultra-liberal Jesse Ventura, ex-governor of Minnesota, has come to the conclusion that all this environmentalism stuff is a hoax and a plot to make certain people ultra-wealthy!
Now all that's left is for the other ultra-liberals to see and believe the evidence..
http://www.mediaite.com/online/jesse-ventura-conspiracy-theory-global-warming-climategate/
http://cambioclimaticoglobal.com/climate-change-news/jesse-ventura-conspiracy-theory-global-warming-part-2-of-6


I don't know about you, but I get a laugh out of all the bumbling idiocy and pseudo-science that is daily passed off as truth and gospel and which unfortunately influences gullible (or greedy) politicians.
If you ever need a laugh -- just read what the global catastrophe people spout off next...better get your furry parkas!!!
http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978735151


The US is having a warm year but much of Europe is having one of the coldest years in decades!!! BUT guess what -- they are blaming the record COLD on....you guessed it...on "GLOBAL WARMING"!!!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11855579
http://planetsave.com/2010/11/19/global-warming-could-trigger-global-cooling/
http://news.carrentals.co.uk/coldest-november-weather-for-17-years-grips-britain-34225518.html

This is so funny you ought to make a silly disaster movie plot out of it...oh, they already did...
http://www.beyondcommunion.com/film/day_after_tomorrow_ice_lores.jpg

Bobo, some Valley notes, and lots more including more proof it's the Islamic guys doing the terrorist stuff, not vacationing Americans!

Nice article on Bobo Drummond...
he is fun to watch..
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=200832#post200832


UNI's Jordan Eglseder was waived by one NBDL team and picked up by the Maine Red Claws..
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4678361/injury-bug-biting-maine-too

He played last night and logged 15 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds.
Teammate Chamberlain Oguchi (ISU) had 13 pts, 3 reb, 5 TO.
Also on the same team is Jamar Smith...he had 5 points, but look where the NBDL says he went to college!!
They say he played for Indiana -- what an insult!!
http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/tmp_jamar_smith/


In other NBDL action -- ex-UIC Othyus Jeffers had 32 points to help Iowa over Tulsa 123-111. He's averaging 21 ppg. Teammate Shy Ely (Evansville) had 15 pts, 5 reb.
Kansas' Cole Aldrich has been demoted and had 8 pts for Tulsa.
Booker Woodfox had 19 points and teammate Justin Dentmon 12 to lead their Texas Legends to a 108-100 win over Idaho.


Some of the college basketball results last night were surprising...

First, in SIU's 19 point loss to Purdue..
I guess I am stumped how SIU's post players did so poorly...
none of their interior players had more than a couple rebounds...
Gene Teague only had one rebound to go with 4 points and 7 turnovers!
He is as big as just about anyone Purdue has there...
and Fay & Drinkard combined for just 5 more rebounds..
SIU ended the game with 25 turnovers, and the two teams combined for 57 FT's...must have been an ugly game!
Chris Lowery's comment about all the travelling calls and turnovers for his team...
"Some of our guys played like they had roller skates on, and we can't have 25 turnovers."

Drake lost another remarkably lopsided game, 82-39 to St. John's...
Drake is now 2-2 and their two losses were by 43 and 48 points!!
Last night they seemed unable to shoot or rebound, with Rayvonte Rice just 3-12, and their bench contributing nothing!

Creighton beat Kennesaw State - who have lost 5 in a row to the likes of Northern Arizona & Alabama State. Even all the Bluejay walk-ons got some time in this one. Is there something up with Kenny Lawson??
He didn't play a lot and had just 7 pts and 1 rebound against a vastly outmanned opponent.
Ethan Wragge did play - coming back from injury. He was 0-3 from 3-pt and 1-6 overall.

Illinois State beat South Dakota - a D-II transitional team, who are still winless against D-I...81-63..in a game that was surprisingly close all the way into the 2nd half (halftime score 41-34).
Jackie Carmichael had his way with 9-10, 22 pts, 5 reb.
ISU was only 3-14 from 3-pt, and Zeke Upshaw - who ISU fans have described as a "nightmare matchup" - was 0-1 in his 3 minutes.
Their attendance of 4344 was for the doubleheader that included Jacksonville State's 57-50 loss to ULM.
And what's with Kenyon Smith -- billed as the starting "pure" point guard for ISU -- who isn't even getting off the bench until the final minute of 20 point blowouts?

In a couple other games...
Arizona State barely edged Weber State 59-58, but neither Corey Hawkins nor Brandon Dunson got into the game.
Sadly, I feel both will come to regret going to Arizona State.

UAB upset Arkansas, and a couple familiar names rode the pines...
Beas Hamga never got off the bench for UAB, and ex-BU recruit Marvell Waithe, who was highly pursued and who had awesome juco stats, logged less than a minute of playing time and was scoreless.
Waithe definitely has talent -- but they are seemingly only going to play in blowouts, so it's sad they keep aiming so high.

Likewise for ex-BU recruit Ricardo Johnson, who appeared for only 4 minutes, even tho his team's game was a 58 point blowout! (loss to Kansas 98-41)
you gotta wonder why the Ohio coach played his starters as much as 35 minutes in a game that was a laffer well before halftime!

Detroit, picked by many to be at the top of their conference (Horizon League), needed double overtime to beat 1-5 Albany and avoided going 0-4 against D-I opponents.
Detroit's 5-Star Ray McCallum played 48 minutes and went 2-7, 9 pts.
Detroit's Chase Simon (a Central Michigan transfer) shot the ball 26 times!
You gotta wonder about the sanity of that since he's already had an 0-10 game this year and is currently shooting only 13% from 3-pt even though 12 of his jacks were from beyond the arc, as have 30 of his attempts so far this season!

DePaul's loss to Cal State-Northridge is embarrassing...

Anyone recall 5-Star Fab Melo -- subject of a huge recruiting battle last year?
He was one of those 7-foot foreign players that were rated 5-Star and said to ben instant impact players who'd be gone to the NBA in a year?
Fab has played 5 games thus far for Syracuse, he has scored a total of 8 points, and grabbed 9 rebounds (1.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg)...and clearly is a long term project -- similar to Beas Hamga..

Indiana took a fairly close game and blew it open with 62 points in the 2nd half against Northwestern (Louisiana) State, Matt Roth got 4 minutes despite this game being a blowout, and missed his only shot - a 3-pointer.
Matt didn't even enter the game until well into the 2nd half when the Hoosier lead was alerady almost 20, then he came back in to play some garbage time in the final few seconds when the lead was 100-64, finishing the game with Matt and four walk-ons on the court at the same time (Howard, Wayer, Moore, Barnett) - with some of the walk-ons logging more playing time than Matt.
Matt's career averages fall to 6 ppg, and 33% 3-pt shooting. He'd be averaging 30 minutes and 18 ppg at a midmajor.
This was only a 1-point game just a little before halftime, but IU blew it out to a 19 point lead in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half.
IU is a very soft 6-0 having played 6 home games against the bottom dwellers of six different mid- and low- major conferences.
Their Strength of Schedule overall to this point is 320 according to Pomeroy.


A couple junior college notes...
Lincoln's Kiel Turpin was 0-8 Thursday and scoreless as Lincoln lost to Lake Land. Lake Land's Moussa Gueye - another overhyped big man did not play.
Highland CC falls to 6-2 with a loss to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College.
Michael Ochereobia isn't getting a lot of playing time because of all the solid sophomore big men that Highland has.


I enjoyed the football game last night between Boise State and Nevada....thought it was going to go on 'til morning!! How come they never installed tie-breaker rules until the game of college football had spent 100 years ending in boring ties??


Lastly -- the non-sports section...
Can you believe this??

Al Gore lied...!! Now he is ADMITTING
that he disingenuously supported corn-based ethanol as an environmental ploy to gain favor with farmers, win votes, and help him to the presidency in 2000!!

What??? He lied and made up stuff about the environment -- just for political gain (and likely financial gain as well)!!!
I think this is even more evidence that he is a dishonest phony who will say or do anything to get rich or get elected....so why do people still believe him and cite him as an authority?
He needs to give back his Heisman Trophy -- er... I mean Nobel Prize!!!
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/11/23/al-gore-mea-culpa-support-for-corn-based-ethanol-was-a-mistake/


And yet another stupidly failed terror-BOMB plot -- and guess what??
It isn't some little old granny or a right winger as the feds would want you to think is why they have to do groin pats on grannies...
It is a SOMALI Muslim!! Duhhh.....isn't that surprising!!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/27/oregon.bomb.plot/?hpt=T1

Bruce Pearl = Jesus?? And a little more on other topics...including a shout out to Dan Poneman

ESPN and a few other sources just did interviews with Bruce Pearl while he was in New York for the NIT...I have seen the ESPN one a couple times this past week...

..basically it boils down to Pearl pleading about how good he is because he came clean...and now he's suffering all kinds of persecution for being honest...
He's really a good guy, made just one tiny mistake and UConn has done even worse and nobody's going after them!!
gimme a break...

But get this.... Bruce Pearl's wife put this statement on her Facebook likening Bruce to Jesus..Hard to imagine she's anywhere close to serious - and she claims to be a Christian!
Remember -- Jesus was crucified even though he has NO SINS, but Bruce has plenty and is earning $2 million per year for a cushy job --- and his sins brought all this upon himself!

Here's what Brandy Pearl said and a link to the page...
"Now I know of two Jewish men who have been crucified. Lord be with my hubby’s spirit. We will get through this."
http://www.mrsec.com/2010/11/pearl-says-character-on-trial-wife-compares-him-to-jesus/
http://kentuckysportsradio.com/?p=64890

BTW -- one other thing...how come Tennessee and Pearl were given all the way until the end of February to appear before the NCAA on all these violations??
Isn't that odd how schools like Tennessee, USC, UConn are all given endless time even up to 5 years as in the Reggie Bush case?
Somehow it seems that when the NCAA came to BU's campus to check on something back in 2005, they slammed BU almost immediately!!! No delays then.....



Speaking of Pearl -- Tennessee is taking on Villanova in the NIT Final on ESPN right now..Tennessee up 5 at the half.

But-- I've been watching Alabama-Auburn and was hoping Alabama would pull the upset of Auburn & Cam Newton..but it looks now like Auburn will make the comeback again.




I spent much of the day over at the Washington, IL Tournament of Champions...
Several good games, and Donivine Stewart is playing right now..
The best game was Academy of the New Church vs. Brehm Prep...

The game was back and forth, high scoring, a little controversy about a score-book error, and a couple of really great players who should be able to step in and play at the college level next year.

Brehm has Bruce Barron who is going to play for Dana Altman at Oregon. He's very athletic but I can see where he will get himself into trouble somewhere along the line..
He trash talks constantly - even to fans and the opposing coaches, not a very classy thing to do.
He also barks endlessly at officials for their calls. But he is very talented and can shoot the three.

The Bryn Athyn, PA Academy of the New Church team has Rakeem Christmas. They list him at 6-10, but that's generous...maybe 6-9 or 6-8 but he's a ton...
He already has a college physique, and plays everywhere inside 15 feet from the hoop.
He had many nice interior moves, and is headed to Syracuse next year.



I also had a chance to talk with Dan Poneman for a while...what a motivated guy -- doing a lot for high school basketball.
Follow Dan on twitter...
http://twitter.com/#!/hsbball

and on his web site...click "Basketball" at the top tool bar..
http://illinoishsbasketball.com/



Just hot off the wire.. UCLA loses to VCU!!!
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201011260613


and get this one--- just maybe Oliver Purnell might not be around all that long at DePaul as they are currently losing to Cal State-Northridge!! And not just losing, but getting pummelled...
45 to 21 at the half...


And check this score...
Cal is losing to Notre Dame and the score is 27-10...
but the remarkable thing is that it's 3 minutes into the 2nd half!!!
Cal has just four baskets in the first 23 minutes of the game...


And -- UTEP beating Georgia Tech in the 2nd half...

Some notes on Bradley, the Valley, and Max...

Just wonder how much difference would there have been in the last two games, both losses for Bradley...if.........

--if we had Taylor Brown healthy...I have to think we'd have won both games and we'd be 6-0 and few would be complaining.

--if we hadn't played FIVE games in EIGHT days including a long trip out east...
Remember, EIU had only play three games in that same span and had not travelled outside of the State of Illinois.

--if Sam Manisclaco had simply not had his worst game ever...
Here's a guy who gives us everything, he's one of the most if not THE MOST valuable player in the league, and he wins games for you - such as the USC game...
but he had a really bad game Wednesday, and it cost us..........but I know Sammy will snap back.


Bradley's next three games...

-At Western Carolina -- NEXT TUESDAY, NOV. 30 -- WCU is one of those schools where none of their sports programs draw well, but basketball is the poor sister to their football program.
They have a good basketball program -- and have already beaten DePaul in Chicago! But -- they've yet to play a home game.
Last year's home attendance averaged only 2,427, but their home non-conference games were all under 1000!
Even though their football team went just 2-9, they drew close to 10,000.

-Home vs. Utah -- SATURDAY, Dec. 4 -- The Utes are now 4-1, losing their only road game at Utah State, and wins over four easy teams, and they've drawn about 5000 per home game, even though they have drawn about 10,000 per game in recent years past...
BUT -- interest is currently down and won't likely pick up until football season is over.
Virtually none of the talk on any of the three Utah message boards is about basketball.
In fact, they are already talking Pac-12 football and basketball, as they are moving to the Pac-10 Conference...
The only basketball discussion going of any significance over there is about their schedule once they get to the Pac-12.
Utah starts playing Pac-10 teams next year and this article is the subject of their discussion...
as they already have their conference schedule for next year.....so that means they're out of the Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge....and their game against Bradley is likely the last one they'll ever play against a Valley team in this challenge.
http://pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/215644/Future-Pac-12-Conference-Basketball-Schedules-Announced.aspx?bg=/Portals/7/DigArticle/215644/WASH_Holiday_Justin-0910-web.jpg

-At Duke - WEDNESDAY, Dec. 8....should be interesting.......


Dodie's little brother Brandon Dunson got his first action yesterday with Arizona State.
ASU beat Houston Baptist 73-55, and Brandon got into the game for 2 minutes in the middle of the 1st half - while ASU was ahead by 14...then was subbed in again with only 14 seconds to go and Arizona State up 18.
Teammate Corey Hawkins, Hersey's son, didn't get in the game at all, but he's not going to be able to redshirt this year now since he did appear for 4 minutes in Arizona State's game against UAB..
Personally, I think that Brandon is wasting his talent at Arizona State...he's never going to get more than a few minutes per game there, as they are very deep with wing players.
Here's the ASU statistics....Brandon and Corey have played the least of all the players on the roster - neither has scored and neither has even taken a shot.


P'Allen Stinnett's Missouri Western team just did something Bradley couldn't do -- they just beat Quincy. P'Allen had 13 pts, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 turnovers....pretty much the same scoring and rebounding line that Peoria Notre Dame's Josh Edmonds had in the game, that ended 92-88 in favor of Missouri Western.
In three games, the high scoring Missouri Western team is averaging 83 ppg, and P'Allen's numbers are 19 ppg, 8-18 on 3-pointers, 4.7 rpg, 4.6 assists per game, and 4.0 turnovers per game.


Creighton's Ethan Wragge (who would probably be starting if healthy) is suffering from a lingering foot injury (ligament strain), and has missed all but a few seconds of Creighton's four games thus far. It is possible he could return soon, but if Creighton has an easy time with Kennesaw State today I'd have to think he gets very little playing time.


Meanwhile, Creighton's Kenny Lawson -- billed as possibly the best post player in the league -- has become the Bluejays' most prolific 3-point shooter....
http://omaha.com/article/20101123/BLUEJAYS/711239802#lawson-gets-the-green-light-on-3s


Wichita State is 3-1 with one win over D-II Chaminade and their only loss to UConn, an 83-79 loss on Monday. UConn is 5-0 and their closest game has been the Wichita game, while they beat both Michigan State and Kentucky by bigger margins.


Ex-Saluki Kevin Dillard is now at Dayton -- waiting out a year to be eligible. I am not so sure I agree with this article -- he didn't exactly help SIU win a lot of games. The Salukis were 28-33 with Dillard.
http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/springfield-oh-sports/university-of-dayton-flyers/transfer-dillard-eager-to-be-on-the-court-for-flyers-1013669.html


ISU enters the easy part of their schedule...that is if any one part of the non-conference schedule is any easier than the rest...
After playing SIUE, Tennessee State, and Ark-Little Rock, the Redbirds get South Dakota, Louisiana Monroe, and Jackson ville State all at home.


Three games into the season, Peoria Notre Dame's Max Bielfeldt is averaging 35 ppg, 12.3 rpg......and not against weak competition....would love to see him at BU!
Here's a review of Max from yesterday by a national writer...

"Max Biefeldt, PF, Peoria Notre Dame – There is absolutely nothing pretty about Biefeldt’s game, but the bottom line is he produces. Though limited athletically, Biefeldt had an enormous game with 40 points and 15 rebounds. Biefeldt ran the floor and scored off of rebounds, hit from the outside, and scored on crafty post moves. Quite simply McCluer had no answer for him, and giving maximum energy on every possession, Biefeldt set a tournament record for points scored in a single game. It is easy to talk sometimes about what Biefeldt isn’t physically able to do, but his high motor and intelligence allow him to put up big numbers consistently, and that is impossible to take away from him. "
"Max Biefeldt listed offers from Illinois-Chicago, Ball State, Western Michigan, and Wright State. Also Dartmouth and Brown from the Ivy League are in hot pursuit."

Watch out -- Peoria Central has a 6-9, raw junior center who is still growing --



Flashback....here's a discussion off the BradleyFans board from FOUR years ago...
anyone remember this ??? (one of our funnier threads!!)
It centers on an article that was written in the PJ Star after the Bradley-Wright State game in December of 2006...where an experienced (and I mean 30 years of experience covering sports) writer who covered the game, railed about Bradley's offensive rebounding...
and if you read the article, it's obvious that he didn't have a clue -- not even an inkling - of what an offensive rebound is.
The entire article was based on a completely erroneous idea of what constitutes an offensive rebound...
Recall, in that game, BU clobbered them 88-49, and they missed 43 shots (and lots of 3-pointers and even free throws) compared to Bradley missing only 27 shots..
Of course this means there's a whole lot more rebounds for someone to get off their offensive end! BUT it constitutes OUR defensive end where we outrebounded them!
Even a cursory look shows that even our walk-ons like Ryan Phillips had as many offensive rebounds as all but three of their players...so to dig and find just one thing to rag about in a blowout game, and make it the offensive rebounding to rag about when it not only isn't an issue, but then display a complete lack of understanding of what the stats mean....prompted that thread in 2006 started by one of the Bradley fans........
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2189

Happy Thanksgiving

Enjoy the Holiday and the time with family! Some more Valley basketball coming up really soon!

Some tidbits and followups and interesting stats.......

SIU really gave up on 3-point shooting last night vs. Charleston Southern (SIU 85- CS 67) with the Salukis going only 1-5, CFay 13 pt/6 reb.
Justin Bocot struggling thus far..averaging 8 ppg, 1.5 asst.

Missouri State's Adam Leonard also struggling with his shooting...
he's only 15-45 from 3-pt on the season.



Indiana beat lowly NC Central by 16 last night -- the only relevant part --
Matt Roth played 6 min. -- 0-1 from 3-pt - scoreless.
Indiana is rumored to be going to get another commitment for 2011 this evening -- but that's important since they already have passed the limit for next year -- and one more means for sure someone currently on the roster is getting booted...

WIU without their star Ceola Clark loses to Morgan St...they need him back.

Ex-Richwoods Knights' Ahmad Grant - a career night 11-17, incl 7-7 from 3-pt!!
30 pts, 6 reb
NC-W loses however to NC A&T
http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/11/24/article/nc_at_overtakes_uncw

Peoria Notre Dame's Max Bielfeldt scores 39 points, 17 rebs, 5 blocks!!!
http://www.pjstar.com/preps/x1966816869/Notre-Dame-senior-scores-39-in-victory-at-Tournament-of-Champions
http://hoopsillinois1.hoops247.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77:68-max-bielfeldt-opens-with-a-powerful-39-point-13-reboud-effort&catid=40:news

I would like to see Max at BU -- but check this out...
http://twitter.com/#!/cavwalsh/status/7234768856948736

Note Max played head to head vs. Jay Simpson -- a Purdue recruit -- and virtually shut Simpson down while tearing up the hoops and boards!



The Kentucky/Washington game in Maui was momentarily interrupted by an EARTHQUAKE!!!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131561589



Michael Jordan's son Marcus finally has a highlight dunk!
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/526468-marcus-jordan-video-michael-jordans-son-gets-big-air-on-dunk



Other familiar names..
Evansville's Shy Ely had a good game last night in the NBDL...
12 pts, 4 rebs.......
http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20101122/DAKIWA/gameinfo.html

Bill Cole for the Illini was 0-3, zero pts.

DJ Richardson 16, Joe Bertrand played!! 4 min.

Ex-BU recruit Scott Suggs 6 min & scoreless in Washington's loss to Kentucky

Cal City TF North's Demond Watt (coached by ex-Brave Tim Bankston)
is at Texas A&M - Corpus Christi -- he's having a great season so far...
averaging 15 ppg/10 rpg

UAB's Beas Hamga 2 pts, 1 reb last night -- one time 5-Star recruit!

ex-BU recruit, Jordair Jett 11 pt for Saint Louis last night

Jarod Oldham helped his team, Buffalo over Canisius 81-64..Buffalo 3-1

Lavonte Dority.. got a lot of recruiting interest last year -- but thus far at South Florida as a freshman -- 5 games, 1.8ppg, 0.4 rpg .. not good..
Remember, he was one of 20 Illinois players last year who were ranked higher than Walt Lemon--

Here's a couple more of them...
Lenzelle Smith -- at Ohio State -- Lenzelle was ranked #3 in the entire state of IL..
he's currently averaging just 1 pt, 1 rpg -- no player on his entire Buckeye team doing worse..

Rayvonte Rice (was top 10 in Illinois) 7 pt, 3 reb, 21% FG shooting, 12.5% 3-pt shooting (Yup -- 12%!!)

One other guy that got tons of recruiting interest...
Dwight McCombs -- went to UCF - but last night got 0 pts, in win over Stetson
His averages -- 4 ppg, 3 rpg



Last night Osiris Eldridge's Turkish team played a hugely important Eurocup game and won 82-75 but Osiris did not play...no word on whether he's injured...
http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/EuroChallenge/2010/1123_1152_190.asp

Also in Turkey -- Allen Iverson's first Eurocup game for his Turkish team, Besiktas, ended in a 85-83 loss, with Iverson going for 18 points, 1 asst. 1 reb.
He's on the same team with Vanderbilt's AJ Ogilvy.
Iverson had played in one league game over the weekend and had just 2 pts, no asst.



One time BU recruit Mitch McGary is doing well at Brewster Prep...



After posting in this blog the actual NCAA rule on what determines whether a shot is good at the buzzer....especially if replay video is available....funny how I got a couple PM's saying -- "so, but it really should be this way..."
As if the rule is irrelevant or just an option -- a suggestion.
NO -- it is the rule -- no need to debate that it ought to be some other way....

The actual NCAA rule on buzzer beaters, lots of BU player followups, and more...

So we have yet another game where a shot at the final buzzer creates controversy...
we've had plays like this many times, even in the MVC Tournament (WSU-CU)...
Saturday's Creighton-Iowa State was won by a shot at the final buzzer by Jamie Vanderbeeken that was ruled good, even though the backboard light was already on when the shot was still in his hands.
As you will read below -- there are specific rules to deal with this end-game situation, and although the refs at the CU-ISU game got the call wrong, their judgment stands.

And of course lots of opinions, lots of people stating as fact what the rules are...but oddly -- almost every single one of them that I have read so far (save for ONE) is wrong when the actual NCAA rule is reviewed...

On cyclonefanatic..there are two guys arguing different things...
one saying that clearly in a replay he has, the horn sounded AFTER the shot regardless of when the light went on and thus, since it is the horn that matters, the shot is good.
The other guy takes issue and argues strongly that it is the clock reaching 0;00 that is the one and only thing that matters..
There are also various opinions on BradleyFans, the Creighton site, etc...

But-- college basketball is governed by a precise and thorough set of rules, so just maybe someone ought to check the rules...and I have......

Here's the rule....the actual NCAA rule..direct from the NCAA Basketball Rule Book..isn't that what really matters and not just everyone's opinion...
http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/BR11.pdf

And guess what -- the 2nd guy I cited on cyclonefanatic (and also, exactly what I have been contending all along)
is right........read it and see......


Except in games where NO replay is available -- or no tenths-of-a-second clock is available...

-->> It is the CLOCK when visible in the video replay that is the final determiner of whether the shot is good or not!



Here's the rule cut and pasted from the NCAA Rule Book:

"Rule 5, Sec. 7 (page 91)
Art. 1. Each period shall begin when the ball becomes live.

Art. 2. Each period shall end when the red light or LED lights have become
activated. When the light fails to operate or is not visible, each period shall
end with the sounding of the game-clock horn.

a. In games when the red light is not present, the game-clock horn shall
terminate players’ activity.

b. In games with a 10th-of-a-second game clock display and where an
official courtside monitor is used, the reading of zeros on the game
clock is to be used to determine whether a try for goal occurred
before or after the expiration of time in any period.
When the game clock is not visible, the officials shall verify the original call
with the use of the red/LED light(s). When the red/LED light(s) are not
visible, the sounding of the game-clock horn shall be utilized. When
definitive information is unattainable with the use of the monitor, the
original call stands."


So -- to recap the official rule...the order of importance for ruling an end game shot...
-1st -- if the refs rule the game over and there is no controversy -- then it's over
-2nd, if there is a controversy or buzzer beater play, then it is the replay video of the game clock that determines the call
-3rd if the clock or video are not available, then it is the referee's judgement regarding the lights on the backboard
-then finally, only if both those other sources are unavailable or fail, then use it falls to the referee's judgment on whether the play beat the horn.

I am surprised so many people flat out discount the video of the game clock, as I have seen at least 100 comments from people -- even claimed experts on the message boards saying it is NOT the video replay of the clock...and that it is the horn or the lights...but read the NCAA rule...

Here is it again for reference...

"In games with a 10th-of-a-second game clock display and where an
official courtside monitor is used, the reading of zeros on the game
clock is to be used to determine whether a try for goal occurred
before or after the expiration of time in any period."



The bright spots in Sunday's BU loss to TCU --
Andrew Warren - 24 points 10 rebounds!
Sammy - played 35 minutes!!
We outrebounded them by 10
Walt Lemon double digits again...
We can build on those..........



Allen Iverson played his first two games with his new Turkish team...and neither was exactly a great game..
His first game last Tuesday he did score 15 points, and had 2 assists, but his team, Besiktas Cola Turka, lost.
Then last night his team played again and lost again with Iverson getting only 2 points and remarkably handing out ZERO assists!

Iverson's team is set to face Osiris Eldridge's team on Christmas Eve..

BTW --Osiris' team, Karsiyaka, lost again Saturday, to go 3-3, with OE having a bad game - just 5 pts, 1-5 from 3-pt range, and NO assists.
OE's team is in 8th place in the Turkish League at 3-3and King O is averaging 11.8 ppg, 4 rebs, 1.5 asst, 3 TO.



In other action and followups of other BU players and familiar names...

-Boogie Wright has taken over scoring lead on his Finnish team at 14.1 ppg, and 8.9 rpg..

-Likewise Theron Wilson is doing well with his Finnish team, 15 ppg, 8.4 rpg...

-Here are the box scores of the two games where they've gone head to head..Boogie's team won them both..but in the 2nd meeting Theron had a MONSTER GAME of 20 points and 17 rebounds - yet his team still scored only 53 points total!
Boogie countered with a double-double also, 12 pts, 12 rebs..
http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Finland/2010/0924_1026_1593.asp
http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Finland/2010/1112_1593_1026.asp


-Cellus also had a monster game Saturday nigvht in his team's 7-point loss to the league leader, Chalon..
Cellus had 21 points, 11 rebs


-In Tunisia, Will Franklin's team remains undefeated (6-0), blowing out every opponent by 20-30 points..


-And Zach Andrews continues to dominate his Japanese league in rebounding...
His averages are: 12 ppg, 11 rpg, and 69% FG shooting


-Ex-Braves commit Anthony Grundy is having a fine year in Greece, and was just named Player of the Week for all of European basketball as awarded by Eurobasket.com.


Followups on other familiar players...

-Rhode Island's Daniel West -- ex-BU commit, lost to UIC 74-68, west had 6 pts, 2 asst in a sub role.

-Angus Brandt is a 6-10 Australian kid from Lake Forest Academy who provoked a major recruiting battle with Illinois, Indiana, and others hot after him -- rising to 4-Star but choosing Oregon State to play for up and coming coach Craig Robinson -- President Obama's brother in law.
But things are not going well....Brandt was weak and couldn't score at all last year averaging barely 1 ppg...and is still struggling...getting only 1 or 2 points in each of his last few games..
Oregon State looks terrible and just maybe people will stop referring to Craig Robinson and an up and coming star in the coaching ranks...
After landing several 4-Star recruits the past couple years, his team is off to a 1-2 start, losing even to Seattle & Texas Southern (at home)!


-Vanderbilt & Brehm Prep's James Siakam -- a big time U of I target last year -- still hasn't played after 4 games, suggesting a strong likelihood of redshirt.


-Some NBDL results..
Chris Roberts' Idaho Stampede lost their game Saturday, and Chris played 13 minutes, was 2-4, 4 pts, 2 rebs.


-Champ Oguchi scored 17 pts on 5-8 from 3-pt in his Maine Red Claws' 103-97 loss to The Austin Toros Friday...while teammate Jamar Smith had just 5 pts.
Then Oguchi had 21 points Saturday - but teammate Jamar Smith had 25!


-Evansville's Shy Ely had 8 pts in Iowa Energy's 21 pt win over Dakota Friday then 6 pts on Sat.


-News from Yuba College...
Yuba has the two best scorers in their conference and two of the best in all of the California juco system...
Julian Welch, sophomore, 25.8 ppg, and
Julian Scott, sophomore, 22.5 ppg



Final thoughts --
did anyone ever think WHY....the TSA (airport security) has implemented such a vigorous search policy for airline travelers, even poking hands into groins, feeling genitals and inside of brassiers??
well..use common sense...they're doing it because they know what is likely coming...
they know that the method of choice is for bombers to hide the stuff where nobody can find it and then blow up a plane...and they know that's not just the plan -- our intelligence tells the officials that it is going to happen...

Given all this, I am more than happy to allow whatever they have to do to assure the plane is safe....if you don't want to get felt up, then drive a car......



More on the ongoing Kansas ticket scandal...hinting that it possibly goes all the way to the top...
and wondering how the AD could NOT know that $5 million of Kansas tickets were being pilfered and sold on the black market for illegal gotten gains...
and perhaps just wondering who all may have gained from the sales.......
Time might just tell, as the low-level employees being hit with the current charges might start spilling the beans!
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/nov/22/scandal-continues/?opinion



Lastly -- if several of our players were all tied up in rape and assault charges, or we had a multi-million dollar theft and corruption scandal in the athletic department, or if our coaching staff had been proven to make hundreds and maybe even thousands of illegal phone calls, or if our staff had cheated and lied, and even lied directly to the NCAA when they were caught...
In any of these situations, don't you think everyone and their mother would be calling for cleaning of the entire house???
Heck -- we get calls from pundits calling Bradley a renegade program just for having a 20 year old take a drink....not even a DUI!
And the local press is breathing down their necks constantly always alleging issues as major as a silly text message, a campus spat, and whether the coach actually was honest in revealing his starting lineup!

So I have to ask...how the heck do Rick Majerus, Bill Self, Bruce Pearl, Jim Calhoun, and others keep their jobs?? Why is the press elsewhere not railing to get them fired ASAP as would happen you-know-where?
I guess most places value winning and landing top recruits way more than ethics....

The Kansas/Selby ruling -- why it is unfair...and the SLU rape cases, and MORE basketball news..

Josh Selby, the 5-Star Kansas freshman, has finally been cleared -- but here's the deal --
The NCAA went incredibly soft on him -- they ruled all the cash and goods he got were just "impermissible benefits" and not money from an agent prior to initial eligibility!!!

The NCAA ruled that he received at least $5,757.58 in impermissible benefits...
(you can bet he got other stuff that NCAA couldn't find or prove as well!)..
so they have penalized him 9 games and he must repay the money...
(there is an appeal and Kansas is already apparently asking the amount be reduced to $4,607.58)

Now -- I suppose it really doesn't matter to me because it was a given all along that they were going to allow the kid to play -- after all this is Kansas -- and Kansas makes a lot of money for the NCAA....and they get obvious breaks from NCAA all the time despite their history of cheating.

But -- this is MONEY the kid got from PROFESSIONAL AGENTS!! In fact, the MAIN agent in question is Carmelo Anthony's own personal business manager and agent!!! --- so it is exactly the same as the Enes Kanter case (Kentucky) and thus the kid Should be declared a PROFESSIONAL athlete and should be barred from ever playing in college!
NCAA also just banned a couple North Carolina FOOTBALL players for precisely the same thing!!

But...... considering the kid gets exactly the same penalty that Bradley's Patrick O'Bryant got for inadvertently receiving a few hundred dollars....
(suspended 30% of the games and must repay the money)
this is a complete insult!
On top of that BU got hammered additionally with other penalties and probation for the POB incident, but of course Kansas U. ain't gonna get any penalty -- even though all their scandals and cheating keep happening while they are still on probation from the last time they got caught cheating!!

Let's face it -- if the NCAA found $5757 that this kid received in impermissible benefits, then there's probably $20,000 more they did NOT find -- and the kid got the money from pro agents -- not inadvertently from a summer job.
This is the same violation the NCAA used for Marcus Canty, Howard Porter, and Enes Kanter -- even the same rulings that were so blatant with Reggie Bush & OJ Mayo -- to ban them forever and even forfeit any wins they had -- so why is the kid not banned forever from college sports??

This is just the kind of crap we see all the time...
the press will say great-- the NCAA acted properly, but when you look at the details, they did not act properly...they need to penalize the cheating going on...
In effect -- the kid gets NO penalty at all -- he just pays back the $$ (or probably the agent does it for him) and he gets to start playing in a couple weeks...and of course the school gets nothing as well.

How do think this is ever going prevent kids from taking money from agents? What the hey ---this ruling basically says they might as well do it -- they have little to lose ---
even if they get caught, all they do is pay back what the NCAA bumbles across and finds, and they get declared eligible anyway, maybe missing a few games.
But given how horrible 5-Star Harrison Barnes looked last night for UNC (0-12 from the floor), maybe a 9-game mini-redshirt isn't a bad idea anyway!

What we've seen lately with NCAA pardoning USC basketball entirely even though OJ Mayo got tens of thousands of dollars' worth of goodies, and Mississippi State's Renardo Sydney getting off scott free except docked a few games, even though his family got nearly a MILLION dollars of freebies!!! In fact the Sydney case was so dirty - that even though the kid and his family moved to LA and planned to go to USC, the folks at USC, who were cheating like he** anyway -- still didn't want to touch Sydney and pulled their offer!! What does that tell you??
Yet the NCAA is still ever so soft on these cheaters -- especially the ones going to BCS schools....so it's not gonna change....
to get change you have to penalize the offenders.....but instead, NCAA looks for a free pack of gum some Bradley kid might have gotten, or a coach who says "work harder" during the summer, or they hammer SEMO three more times for minimal violations!
Meanwhile Kansas looks for other ways to get rich and get ahead like black market scalping several millions in tickets -- and the NCAA won't bother them at all on that!
I say follow the money -- see where all that black market cash went to -- and I'll bet some went for some nice cars and things (like rifles being shot out of the dorm windows) that are being enjoyed by the players.



I am not the only one who thinks this NCAA penalty is ridiculous..read this...
CBSSports' Gary Parrish agrees...this penalty is absolutely NOTHING --
so he's mockingly telling all the top recruits to go ahead and take the gifts and freebies the agents toss their way...

"..I've got some advice: Take improper benefits.

Seriously, just do it.

(Get it? Just Do It!)

Take flights and hotel rooms, cell phones and cash. Drive a nice car, get a
"recruiting advisor" who works with NBA players, grab your mother and tell
her to do it, too. More than likely, you won't get caught because, well, it's
just hard to prove these things. But even if you do get caught -- like Kansas
freshman Josh Selby got caught -- you'll merely be asked to repay a few
thousand dollars, and then you'll be reinstated before the start of league play.

The reward clearly outweighs the risk."

...It's compared to robbing a bank, then living the life of luxury all along on the money you got illegally, then in the end, when your fun is over, just repay some of the money and all is forgiven!!
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/14325013



THEN JUST A BIT OF FOLLOWUP ON THE SAINT LOUIS RAPE CASES..
that were mentioned in this blog last Wednesday...
http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2010/11/more-promotion-of-unusual-special.html

I hate to belabor the point, but there's a new article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch...and they seem to deal pretty lightly with this whole thing as if this is just the usual, expected college stuff!!!
But had this stuff happened at Bradley -- not only would all the players be gone in an instant, but there'd be deafening, daily demands that the entire coaching staff be fired and the entire athletic department as well -- and I honestly think I'd be one of those asking for such firings...
Yet -- of the four basketball players involved in this mess, two transferred out on their own -- and the other are being welcomed back and will likely be back on the team starting 2nd semester...

So -- why is the atmosphere for tolerance of this kind of behavior so very different in Peoria from St. Louis and elsewhere??

BTW- there are links to the actual police report -- and this article really didn't do it justice..as it is far more explicit and graphic..
Remember -- the police did virtually nothing and the prosecutors just ignored it...
but when the Saint Louis University student court reviewed this incident and actually heard the evidence and heard the testimony from the woman and the men -- it unanimously called for all the student-violators to be expelled...not just suspended from basketball - but kicked out of the school entirely! The school then followed suit and expelled them....
So obviously it's the consensus of the people there who have heard and know the facts, that these guys all are guilty of violating long time, standard guidelines for behavior on campus -- and were dealt the most severe penalty the student court could issue.
Meanwhile -- the woman and her family and lawyers never could interest the cops and prosecutors so the perps go scott free.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/article_b0d76ac8-3ceb-5bd9-badd-a0f0aa2d1173.html




The Sun Times has a great feature -- check any Chicago area team with detail and pics..
(sorry no downstate teams -- they just don't have the $$ to spend on gas, I guess..)

Here's a picture of ISU recruit Jonny Hill...
http://i.dailyherald.com/stories/324/324766.jpg

and here's the main pages...several general articles......
http://basketball.dailyherald.com/boys/
http://basketball.dailyherald.com/story/?id=413850

AND -- This page allows you to search any school in the area and get details...
http://basketball.dailyherald.com/teams/boys/

For example -- here's Al Biancalana's York...
http://basketball.dailyherald.com/teams/york/boys/

I know this is a big city, but the Sun Times has done a great job here!!!

More props to Sammy, some D-League results, Nick Evans followup, KU scandal, Kevin Coble saga, and lots more tidbits including a really bizarre one...

Sammy Maniscalco got a nice writeup by the Massachusetts press as "Player to watch"...
http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/11/hall_of_fame_tip-off_players_t_5.html



Did you see this??
Big Ten's Northwestern went all the way down to Edinburg, Texas to play on the road at Texas-Pan American, and their massive home crowd of 1600...
..only a few steps from Rio Bravo, Mexico
A couple ex-Bradley recruits started...
Drew Crawford logged 37 minutes, 7-17, 22 pts, 8 reb
JerShon Cobb logged just 12 minutes 4 pts, 2 reb
Both John Shurna (20 pts) and Michael Thompson (17 pts, 4 asst) played the entire game, 40 minutes..
as Northwestern struggled mightily to fend off UTPA and come away with a 77-71 win..
This was close all the way with only a 4-6 point lead separating the teams..



A couple overrated players??
Ex-BU recruit -- who went to UConn then left there when he got no playing time...
Darius Smith, after 5 games at junior college (College of Southern Idaho) is averaging just 5 ppg, 50% on FT's, but 4 assists per game


So how about the ex-Saluki Nick Evans -- how's he doing??
Remember -- Nick Evans is the big, 6-11 kid who was booted at SIU -- he's now at University of Southern Indiana but did not play when they went to Illiknois for the exhibition game there.

Nick Evans is now playing and he's kinda confirming he really isn't a D-I player -- so we were not wrong about that.....
He's logged two games thus far, and isn't exactly impressing anyone..
He's averaging 3 ppg, 4 rpg, but is pretty much a foul-a-minute or a turnover-a-minute!!
He's averaged 11 minutes per game and 3.5 fouls per contest (gets in foul trouble pretty quickly), and has 5 turnovers as well....



Results from the D-League (just can't find this info anywhere!!):

Rio Grande 123 - Texas 115
For Rio Grande: Jordan Eglseder did not play -- no reason given, same for Antoine Tisby.
For Texas: Justin Dentmon 21 pts/1 asst/4 TO, Booker Woodfox 14 min, 2-5, 8 pts, no asst.
**Texas also is the first men's pro team with a woman head coach - Nancy Lieberman

Four more games tonight and 6 more games Saturday!
One game Saturday, New Mexico at Idaho (8PM Central) will feature BU's Chris Roberts on the Idaho Stampede.


Earlier this week:
Maine 102 - Springfield 88
For Maine: Jameson Curry 21

Erie 90 - Ft. Wayne 84
For Erie: Rod Wilmont 20

Rio Grande 118 - Veracruz 116
Rio Grande: Jordan Eglseder 13 min, 2-4, 4 pts, 2 rebs, Antoine Tisby 0-3, scoreless

Other Valley players and familiar names:
Evansville's Shy Ely plays for the Iowa Energy
UIC's Othyus Jeffers & Scott VanDerMeer play for the Iowa Energy
Illini Jamar Smith plays for the Maine Red Claws
ISU's Champ Oguchi plays for the Maine Red Claws
DePaul's Dar Tucker plays for the Texas Legends



Bet you didn't hear much on this one..
but lots happening in the Kansas ticket scandal and the press obviously being pretty kind to them and leaving just about all of it off the front pages..
http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/ticket-scandal-damages-kus-reputation/
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/11/18/2450838_five-indicted-as-kus-ticket-scandal.html?storylink=omni_popular
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2010/nov/18/federal-charges-filed-against-five-former-kansas-a/

When this stuff goes to trial -- there's rumors that certain Kansas head coaches and assistant coaches will be implicated in the mess that essentially stole multiple millions of dollars of tickets and sold them on the black market for cash profits..

The feds and IRS think they'll nail this one easy..
the single best line of defense those crooks have come up with yet is..
"hey wait a minute -- those tickets weren't worth that much!!"



Drama at Michigan State soph Derrick nix maybe leaving team?
http://noise.typepad.com/hey_joe/2010/11/nix-not-going-to-maui-future-with-msu-uncertain.html



And.......Drama at Northwestern...why Kevin Coble left...
and indeed all of this might well be good for Northwestern and the best thing that ever happened to John Shurna!!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/basketball/ncaa/11/19/coble.northwestern/index.html
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/18359/coble-left-northwestern-over-injury-dispute

Well..the answer just might be a little more clear -- but I am sure we'll still have some debate...

Today -- we have these new articles saying a few things that clarify what happened.....

First-- maybe Kevin Coble didn't owe anyone an explanation, but he sure did offer one -- and he did take the very, very unusual step of going behind the coach and team's back and writing a letter, via e mail, to Sports Illustrated, saying in effect the head coach is the bad guy for wanting Coble to simply be a part of the team and accompany the team on their European tour last year.

Second-- remember -- Coble was a FULL YEAR down the road from his injury and was still claiming he could NOT participate in any activities with the team because of his rehab regimen -- something I find really hard to believe...
Remember those quotes about how strangely Coble avoided many team functions and was a real "loner"...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=187590&postcount=13
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-07-27/sports/ct-spt-0729-northwestern-kevin-coble-20100727_1_nu-coach-bill-carmody-northwestern-quits

Third-- even in Coble's own words....Carmody didn't kick Coble off the team, in fact clearly he WANTED Coble to be part of the team and accompany them to Italy -- and it was OBVIOUS now that Coble simply didn't like the terms (whoa -- like a free vacation and trip to Italy!!) and up and QUIT with a capital "Q"!

Fourth-- obviously there was a lot of secret stuff going on and yet those reports of Coble's odd behavior and desire to never want to be part of the team -- were RIGHT ON -- so maybe those people who argued that we shouldn't read anything into those reports and who claimed we should just leave the kid alone because we were wrong about the story should admit that many here clearly saw this whole story for exactly what it was...



Not so sure this is a healthy lifestyle..
http://www.nbcwashington.com/entertainment/music/NATLRock-Stars-Then-and-Now-97329329.html

Keep in mind, these people have also had plastic surgery or they'd look even worse...and most of them are only 50 or so..

Have to admit Stevie Nicks and Joan Jett still look pretty nice
(fast forward to image #38 and 47)



Now -- the non-sports segment-- this one is in the really weird category that I just don't get...
But choose to believe as you want -- you simply cannot deny this is a weird one that would have never been an issue had it not been for ONE kid demanding that entire rest of the school, school district, and world change to accomodate his really unusual and even kinky demands!

This family in Maine has this boy who started to think he was a girl by the time he was a 5th grader...

so this BOY wants to use the girls bathroom...and NOT the boys' bathroom at school....regardless of what the 5th grade girls and their parents think about such a weird thing....
Of course, as expected, it causes so much disruption at the school that the school officials and other parents are outraged and DO NOT want this boy urinating in the girls bathroom!!

So the elementary school bans the kid from using the girls potty -- then the parents take it to the STATE COMMISSION on discrimination and they get the ruling overturned..but as you might guess they start filing lawsuits -- at least two already...

Then get this -- when the kid gets to 6th grade, he moves to a different middle school and they sue again to get the kid the right to use the little girls' 6th grade bathroom ...!

NOW GET THIS -- here's how far the school people actually went to try to satisfy everyone --
They even gave this boy-who-wants-to-be-a-girl HER OWN private "gender-neutral" bathroom and lockerroom facilities if he/she wanted to use them...but he/she didn't want to because he/she claims they felt that would lead to teasing from the other girls...

http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Statewide/Panel-rules-against-Orono-school-in-transgender-bathroom-access,154263


OMG -- if the kid is getting teased, it is because he is the only one in the girls bathroom with male sexual organs!!! It is the kid's and the parents' own choice that results in the "teasing"...what a bunch of jerks, making the entire world bow down to them and their idiotic and ridiculous demands for their perverted kid!
I don't condone any harassment or bullying, but this isn't too different from wearing a Bozo outfit to school then complaining if someone chuckles and calls you a clown!
If the kid is going to demand to do something so out of the ordinary and offensive to the other kids and their parents, then who does he have to blame when the other kids and parents react negatively to his actions??

Take your misguided kid and do what you want but I would never send my 5th grade girls to a school that lets or is forced to let boys use the girl's bathrooms just because the boy-with-a-penis thinks he is a girl!!

What am I missing in this?? This one should be a no-brainer -- if the kid is a boy he should follow the same common sense rules and behavior we have used for boys and girls and their privacy that have been in place for millenia!!

If you read that whole article - you see that even the thoughts and opinions of the other children in the school ticked off those parents and they wanted the SCHOOL (meaning the government) to be responsible for changing the other students' opinions about this kidd's perversion.

BTW there's dozens of reader comments - some of which are pretty good..

Here's the funniest part -- when the transgender boy was in 5th grade and the other boy followed him into the girls' potty -- the other boy (who knows he's a boy) was disciplined for entering the wrong bathroom...the same action that's condoned for the boy who wants to act like a girl.
SO -- the family of the normal BOY - who just went into the girls' bathroom as a joke - then also filed a claim that it's discrimination to allow one boy in the girls' bathroom, but disallow another boy!!!

These liberal idiots who want to create such a politically correct society that it's insane...have created a conundrum that'll never be solved now.
http://etransgender.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2088



BTW-- do you have any doubt that the perversion that causes girls like Elizabeth Smart to get kidnapped and raped, and the entire Ohio family to get murdered and their 13 year old to get raped, and same with that crippled kid Zahra Baker in North Carolina to get murdered/raped....
it's all because of the modern demands that we allow perversion in the world as it's just another way of normal expression ...this stuff not only rarely ever happened but was dealt with severely when it did...

Now, despite that it used to be rare........we have one of these perverts in the news every other day!! And it seems nobody's speaking out against these perverts -- as if there's a sort of legitimacy to their behavior!!
We now have a danged epidemic of perverts ..who all get taxpayer paid lawyers and trials and who typically get off easy.

BU 3-0, complaining persists so what's new, and this pink stuff is getting weird...

I know Bradley is winning ugly but last year we were blowing big leads, and this year we're overcoming them -- so you'd think BU fans would all be happy -- nope, again we see the hypocrisy -- still complaining....



Here's a pretty impressive dunk -- although the video is bad
http://is.gd/hmppv



Hoosier fans are having fun over this headline that called Purdue..
"PURRUDE".....it was changed right away but cached versions of the error headline are seen here...
http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=%22Purude+makes+it+look+easy+in+blowout+over+Alcorn+State%22&d=1086702028310&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=4c3f0885,3b94ee7b



There's a World Cup reffing scandal -- not being talked about much..
remember all those really bad, bad calls that cost some teams games?
Did you ever doubt the refs worldwide are crooked -- doesn't take much to prove it, just look...

Numerous FIFA officials are clearly corrupt!
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sports/2010-11/18/c_13612717.htm
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/11/08/football.world.cup.fifa.timeline/



Now the non-sports stuff.......still on the bad promotions topic from yesterday....
Life is good...amen to that?? But I think I would still enjoy life even if it were not always so good...simply because we are so greatly blessed even when we don't see it.

We are blessed just by being created, we are abundantly blessed with all that we have and are given, and then even when we make a mess of everything we get blessed again with more 2nd chances that we'd ever deserve...and can still be blessed forever because of the selfless acts of Another..


Anyway -- getting back to one reason why I love life -- it's because ...

.....it's SO ENTERTAINING!!!!!!!!!
If you don't laugh at what's going on around you, then you're missing some of the best parts of life...

Just go watch kids play soccer or T-ball, or watch some animals in a park, or just watch typical human behavior for any length of time, and I find humor in all of this.

Just yesterday in this blog, I wrote about a little chuckle I got when I heard that the normally Orange & Black-uniformed Oregon State Beavers were going to wear turquoise jerseys...but I got an even bigger belly laugh out of something similar this morning.

It's the PINK thing we see all around us...
The color pink has taken on a life and a resume of its own!!

Honestly, I have no idea how or why one single color came to mean so much and to tick off so many people!!! and the very same people show an odd hypocrisy about pink -- sometimes it's offensive, but in an identical setting it's GOOD!

First - pink has been co-opted as the honored color of the "breast cancer awareness" throng...and to some extent all women's issues....
But just do some reading and it is pretty clear that the pink-promoting-people may have pushed their pinkishness to the limit...
Just google "pink backlash"...and see how many people are getting fed up with all the pink-hype and pink-promotion -- even people who are friendly to the cause...
It's getting ridiculous and even some are warning that the stuffing of pink down everyone's throats is causing some to not only turn off to the cause but even become hostile about the whole thing.

And -- just as many had predicted, there's a pink backlash in marketing from the overuse of all the pink ribbons, pink football cleats, and pink baseball bats..
people are a little sick of it all...

Here's one person's comments...
"I get nauseated when I walk into a drugstore and
see little tins of mints in pink
“And all those pink products everywhere. You
think, ‘ugh.’ ”
..it’s a commercialization of my disease and I really
object to that.”

... scores of cancer survivors express downright
hostility at Pink October. We’re awash in it: from
food, cars and motorcycle helmets to pink cleats on
football players and pink-clad models.."

In other words -- they're so sick of it they turn it off and will no longer buy those products...
ESPECIALLY since nobody can patent the color pink (not that they haven't tried to or used bullying to try to prevent individuals from using pink) -- then some products are slyly using pink to get a boost in the sales of their products and have NO INTENTION of ever giving a cent of it to any cause...
they're simply cashing in on the commercial boost they get by going pink...so if they aren't giving anything to charity -- then why should I patronize them??
That's what's now hurting the marketing of pink things...

one other commentator says...
“If shopping could cure cancer this would be over by now” ..
...but also issues this warning...
"......be warned -- phonies are cashing in -- just
because something is pink in the store doesn't mean
the seller is doing it for any reason other than trying
to cash in on the phenomenon and sell more stuff --
but they don't give a danged thing to any cause.."


And I am confused about this whole pink thing -- because I thought wearing pink is supposed to be GOOD -- and show support for a good cause???
But not everywhere -- because here's a kid who wore pink cleats and got kicked off his team -- he had to sue (the American way of dealing with any unhappiness) to get back on the team!!
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-11-16-pink-cleats_N.htm

And these people all think that making kids wear pink is GOOD not bad like the other people above...
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2851571

But did you know this???
Displaying the color pink is a sort of hate-speech in the eyes of some!!!

Here's an example of a long held traditions being banned because involves the color pink and is perceived to MAYBE lead to teasing??
So if we ban the color pink -- that's gonna solve this bullying and harrassment stuff, right?? Gimme a break!!
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/school-bans-pink-shirts-from-pep-rally-20101117

..And of course we have this lawmaker who is vigorously opposed to the color pink -- even if it is chosen by someone else to paint a facility that they have every right to choose the color for...
because pink "promotes sexism and homophobia"!

You all remember this issue -- a tempest in a teapot over what color the University of Iowa wants to paint it's opponents' lockerroom..
http://sports-law.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/10/about-that-pink-locker-room.html

here's their weird logic...
"With a pink locker room, you're saying that 'You are
a girlie man. You are weak, like a girl,'" Buzuvis
said. "That implies that girls are non-dominant,
therefore, lesser. And that is offensive."

Thankfully Iowa did not back down..
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-10-31/news/0510310114_1_room-at-kinnick-stadium-pink-urinals

So --- how about these guys who sell pink urinals -- should we sue them for a hate crime?
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/neo-metro-urinal


So -- someone help me out here -- is pink good or bad??
The pink-pushing people are definitely shooting themselves in the foot with their clear and blatant hypocrisy!!

In some situations they wanna ban pink and claim it's offensive and borders on a hate crime, sexual harassment, bullying, and homophobia (which currently in our politically correct society is said to be a bad thing).

But in nearly identical situations elsewhere -- they wanna promote everyone wearing pink, coloring odd items ilke baseball bats, jerseys, and cleats pink, and they want to encourage everyone to wear pink -- all of which is 180 degrees opposite from those other situations!!

Here's one of those setting where they are trying to push everyone to do the pink think whether they want to or not!
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2851571


So please...someone help me out....how can wearing pink at one school promote and encourage bullying, harassment, and homophobia...
and yet wearing pink at a different school is said to be a ..
"statement against bullying.
Organized by an anti-bullying and leadership group ..
"We just want to show that we're standing up."

"Pink Day makes people realize that bullying is not right."
"Pink has been a colour adopted by anti-bullying groups since 2007.."

soo -- I guess I don't get it....but what I see is a completely schizophrenic approach to this whole thing by a whole bunch of unintelligble people promoting something they really have no clue on in ways that are totally contradictory!!

there -- now you see it clearer, right??

Anyway, there are some facts hidden in all of this that most people don't know...

--almost all breast cancer research is being done by private individuals and the drug companies and they don't ask for or get any of this money raised by all the pink stuff and "awareness campaigns".

--I dare you to try to get an answer from anyone as to where all the money goes that is raised in these "pink campaigns and events".
I guarantee you won't get an answer -- nobody really seems to know! Quite possibly it never ends up where the good-hearted supporters actually want it to.

--also, breast cancer rates are going up and nobody's really asking why or giving answers...but of course I have already told you the answer and how people can reduce their risks in a previous blog...
(scroll to the end of this page)
http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2010/10/closing-in-on-start-of-season-few.html

--deaths from breast cancer are going way, way down -- and it all is due to things totally unrelated to the pink campaigns....since it all started 25-30 years ago when mammograms and proper treatment was begun.

So if rates are going up but deaths are going down...maybe all the pink people should change causes!!!
I have an idea for them...since they purport to be compassionate people who care about cancer and suffering...

Since death rates from colon cancer exceed death rates from breast cancer--
EVERYONE should change their approach and have a promotion where all the women and men in their respective pro leagues wear brown (fecal color) headbands, jerseys, and shoes??
2007 figures show breast cancer causes 12 deaths per year per 100,000 population BUT colon cancer causes 34...and lung cancer causes three times as many...

I think for the pink people, time has come to move to a new cause, one that needs you more...



Two last pink thoughts...

--These guys, I think, really missed the boat..
Of all the "Pink"" promotions, I think this one really had the potential of being the best one yet...

Providence College swimming and diving team hosted a
"Pink Out the Pool" in their competition with Rhode Island...
I really thought we'd see plenty of photo spreads of college athletes in pink swimsuits, and a lot of pictures and coverage all over the place!!

But for some odd reason, you can't find any coverage at all on this event.
Maybe they forgot to tell anyone in the press about it...but their biggest mistake is that the only pink they wore were pink rubber swim caps, while their swimsuits were BLACK!!!

I think they totally fumbled the ball on this one..not only was this event extremely poorly covered....I tried to find even one picture of one of the swimmers in a pink swimsuit -- but alas none...they really let me down...
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/prov/sports/c-swim/auto_mainphoto/5961319.jpeg
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/prov/sports/c-swim/auto_mainphoto/5972280.jpeg
http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper332/stills/e603g2eg.jpg



-And don't you find this odd, that an entertainer whose name is "Pink" and who used to have pink hair as her trademark, and that's how she became famous -- doesn't bother to do anything pink any more??
Is she a turncoat?? A woman who shuns pink except for what it gains her personally??
I think she's a pink-hypocrite!!
But - ironically -- she will hope and pray her child is born into the world PINK>>>
because that's the color of healthy babies....it's the blue ones you don't want.. ;)
http://foreign.peacefmonline.com/entertainment/201011/107056.php



Here's another issue of inequity between the sexes...
Did you ever notice that women teachers who get caught naked with or having sex with middle school students get off easy maybe not even go to jail at all??
There have been numerous such cases...

But male teachers who simply text obscene pics to middle schoolers gets 150 years in jail!
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/teacher-gets-153-years-for-sending-nude-photos

Now, I am not arguing for leniency here -- I just want to see everyone get the same penalties regardless of sex.



Title IX issue -- of course if even one girl feels slighted in school sports, someone files major Title IX lawsuits..
but isn't what's good for the goose, also good for the gander??
So how come when boys play on the girl's sports teams, everyone who is usually a big time Title IX advocate, then goes balistic arguing that it should never be used to get boys onto girls'teams!!
I think this exposes the real hypocrisy here -- it's now about equality -- it's about feminism and power...
http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Male-star-leads-field-hockey-team-Is-he-an-unfa?urn=highschool-285871
http://title-ix.blogspot.com/2010/11/boys-playing-field-hockey.html

More promotion of unusual special causes in college basketball, some shocking revelations on the Saint Louis rape cases, and MORE...

Recognize these uniforms??? Betcha don't -- this is Oregon State....yup..
Oregon State whose uniforms are ORANGE and BLACK ---
(and their coach is Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama's brother!)
..but they're going to do a special promotion...
Now -- don't get me started....these special promotions are a little daffy -- especially the ubiquitous one where everyone wears pink, even in the NFL and Major League Baseball -- yet despite my trying for years to find an answer -- I have yet to see convincing evidence that even ONE penny of money from any of these promotions actually ends up helping people.
It is generally said that all of this is for AWARENESS!!! Hmmmm...personally I think there's a little awareness-overkill on the pink thing that causes people to tune it out and purposely ignore it all as it has become so trivialized and over-promoted.

I am not against people supporting charities -- but 99% of all this is people telling YOU to support charities while they PROMOTE and support themselves!

Anyway -- Oregon State is doing it with the turquoise uni's ....and guess what the odd turquoise color is representing...
Here is the explanation...Native American Awareness

"The uniforms are the focal point of a unique partnership between Oregon State and Nike N7 that is focused on creating awareness for the need to bring access to sport for Native American and Aboriginal youth as a means to improve their lives and create positive change in their communities. The turquoise color of the Nike uniforms is a distinct departure from Oregon State’s traditional orange and black and is deeply symbolic of friendship and community in Native American culture."

So -- let me get this straight -- this is for Native Americans and Aborigines...and turquoise is their color?? I assume it's because people market and hawk turquoise jewelry when you visit the Southwest??

Personally I would prefer to see people choose willingly to support worthy causes and charities....we do it all the time........
but this whole thing is really just a self-promotion by Nike and Oregon State in my opinion. Nobody just gives their time or money any more -- they have to make sure you see them and they holler out loud -
"look at me and look what I am doing for someone else who's in need of my charitable efforts"...

http://www.nikebiz.com/media/pr/2010/11/16_Nike_OSU_Turquoise_Uniforms.html

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=126851



News and update on the rape issues at Saint Louis University...
The press folks have gotten the police reports and figured out a whole lot more..
this gets graphic so read at your own risk...

And none of this seems to interest anyone in the regular press...at least not yet -- as it's only appearing in obscure places and blogs...

Anyway here's the skinny --
the victim claims that FOUR separate members of the Saint Louis University men's basketball team assaulted her or were involved in the assaults.
Those players were starters and stars - Kwamain Mitchell (dismissed but expecting to return and play for SLU next semester), and Willie Reed (dismissed and now at Kansas State). Plus subs Jon Smith (transferred to Ohio University) and Justin Jordan (transferred to and already dismissed from Ball State).

Read for yourself the description of what happened, but even just the title of this blog kinda tells you that some pretty seedy stuff was going on...and even the police had all the info including some pretty blunt admissions from the players, yet the prosecutors declined to even pursue this and all the players are going to get off scott-free.

BUT - note also the routine description on the police report of any and all potential "weapons" that they took into custody...
...note weapons listed are "hands, fists, feet..."
..this is just a pretty routine listing and of course would have also listed knives or guns had they been used..it's just customary on all police reports.
-- but clearly this does NOT mean those were what was used as weapons..only that they comprise all of the potential weapons in custody..

This was obvious the St. Louis press, who never did and certainly never would have concluded, then reported that the assault took place with battering by hands, fists, and feet...as some media people would conclude...
Remember -- the mere presence of those similar words on one Peoria police report a couple years ago led to our local press fabricating a story of an assault taking place via "battering by hands and feet"...
Just goes to show the difference between good and responsible journalism and the opposite.

Here's the articles..four full pages and links..
"Police Report: SLU Basketball Players Plotted "Pulling a Train" on Victim"
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/11/slu_basketball_sexual_assault_kwamain_mitchell_willie_reed.php

And the police reports...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/42690639/SLU-Basketball-Police-Report

http://www.scribd.com/doc/42775788/SLU-Basketball-Police-Report-Supplement#

Hard to imagine that it took several months before the school dismissed the players and one of them is still planning to return and play and that head coach Rick Majerus is angry that all this punishment is unfair, that the kids should get off the hook, and that all it does it hurt him and his team because they could have been good this year!
Come on Rick -- have a sense of decency -- and try to recruit some quality kids and get rid of thugs like this!



Did you see the box score on the Tennessee-Belmont game?
Weird..Tennessee won but not by much over Belmont...
Tennessee shoots 53.2% from the field, scores 85 points, outrebounds Belmont horribly (36-21), and even gets to the FT line 40 times - outscoring Belmont at the line by 13!!! -- with all of Belmont's starters either fouling out or having 4 fouls!
..and playing in front of their home crowd of almost 17,000..

Yet -- this was a 1-point game with 36 seconds left!!! AND Belmont was shooting FT's to take the lead!!!! -- and MISSED!!!
Then the refs called a foul on the rebound of the missed FT -- it was not a foul Belmont needed to give -- and the rest is history as Tennessee shot and made EIGHT free throws in the final 35 seconds -- playing with ALL FIVE of their starters in there right to the end !!
kinda sounds like Tennessee, who already lost to a D-II, is not real strong and needs help from the refs to pull this one out!



I wonder if we'll see any remaining surprises....as the Letter of Intent signing period goes to midnight tonight...



After a bad game yesterday vs. Northeastern...more bad news for SIU
Ex-Saluki Randall Falker, playing for French reigning champs Cholet...
through the first 5 games, is struggling -- 5ppg, 5 rpg..
....and he's hampered with injuries...and there's rumors the club may "move him".
...and in Europe, if a guy gets injured, many teams have the right to just cut the guy and not pay him!!



Here are some tidbits on some games played last night...

--Arizona State loses to New Mexico
Brandon Dunson injured his his left hand a couple days ago -- and although dressed, did not play.
Here's a nice interview and story about Brandon...
http://ht.ly/19W2OY

Brandon Dunson has his own college basketball blog!
http://bmdunson.wordpress.com/

NOTE that Brandon does a preview of Illinois State!
And he thinks Michigan State is better than Duke...

Hersey's son Corey Hawkins, played four minutes in the game but scoreless, so he cannot redshirt...Brandon Dunson has already used his redshirt year..

Missouri State beat Arkansas State 80-71, Weems and Mallet nice games.

At Furman -- after getting a lot of playing time since he was a freshman, Richwoods' Justin Dehm now gets far less PT as a sub, and is averaging only 3 ppg and 1.5 apg.

Ex-BU recruit Cephas Oglesby who went to Towson -- isn't playing at all, hampered with bad knees.

Matt Roth still not playing at IU -- knee injury.

Daniel West at Rhode Island is subbing as PG but doing OK..
Last night - 14 pts, 6 asst...
on the season, 9 ppg, 8 assists per game, 3.5 steals per game!

SEMO's Leon Powell's season stats thus far..
65.4% FG shooting, 18.5 ppg, 12 reb per game,

Northern Iowa beat Coe College -- had a 43-17 halftime lead..
They outrebounded Coe 46-21
Ahelegbe - 11 pts, 1 asst

Wisconsin beat North Dakota 85-53, Ben Brust 0-1 scoreless

Wichita State 79-67 over Texas Southern to go 1-0.
Big men Ellis, Stutz, and Orukpe combined for 43 minutes, but only 10 pts,
Murry had 10 pts.

DePaul loses to WCU -- 69-64
they shoot 2-13 from 3pt, only 20-32 from FT line,
ex-BU recruit Devin Hill was 0-3 and only 1-4 from the line for just 1 pt.

Nevada has 2 previously 4-Star, Top 100 transfers...
Joey Shaw
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Joey-Shaw-26534
Olek Czyz
http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=3117524

Neither one can even crack the lineup -- shows how bad some rankings are when 4-Star and 5-Star kids (like Beas Hamga) end up proving how overrated certain recruits are.

The debut of Dayton's Juwann Staten -- 4-Stars...some think even top 20..
he started, played 31 minutes and scored 11 on 5-12

some might recall this kid... John Hayward-Mayhew, the Missouri State recruit who left and was a Salt Lake CC teammate of Darian Norris...
He is now at Cal State Northridge...
and so he's a junior, juco transfer...
but even in a program that's as obviously weak at CSUN, he is unable to help much at all..hasn't made a basket yet in two games, and CSUN is 0-2 with two blowout, 30-pt losses.
Good news -- their next game is against "Vanguard"...

Here's a juco kid that must certainly get some ribbing from the fans...
His name is......
Justin Bieber -- he's a teammate at Elgin CC of Limestone's Marquis Lobdell (averaging 16 ppg!) who was a teammate of Donivine.
http://www.elgin.edu/mbasketball.aspx?id=14426
http://njcaa.org/colleges_college_player.cfm?sid=5&collegeid=1293&category=Roster&slid=2&teamid=104769&athleteid=315609

For Des Moines Area CC, Kannon Burrage, 6-3 guard, a kid from Moline that BU had looked at...is averaging 25.3 ppg thru 4 games!
(14-23, 61% on 3-pointers)