Watch Oak Park River Forest HS play Peoria Manual at the Pontiac Tournament

Watch Ka'Darryl Bell's Oak Park River Forest team play Peoria Manual at 7:30PM tonight - should be great game! -
http://www.highschoolcube.com/schools/oak-park--river-forest-high-school-oak-park-illinois

I guess I expected this....

I guess I expected it - but now the BU bashers have stepped it up a notch..
one even signed into the chat last night using my screen name and acted like a total jerk thinking it was funny...that poster (b4L) has now been banned..
He was trying to deflect attention from the fact that the total collapse we saw last night was in part the fault of those very people demanding we make the changes that were made!
In other word - that poster trying to make a mockery of our embarrassing loss was more responsible for that loss than the players he's trashing! He's one of the ones that asked to be where we are...hey - look in a mirror!

Can you spell FALLOUT???

But note all the attacks on the players...here and on other boards -- nobody can admit that this is NOT the players' fault ..there's way more going on than players playing poorly...
This is a program in turmoil -- and despite the overwhelming evidence some are still reluctant to cite the obvious ...
These are the very same players who took ranked Michigan deep into the 2nd half and drew major praises from the Michigan players and coaches...
The same guys who did some decent teams earlier in the year....

Now we have people in threads apparently encouraging players on the team to transfer...one guy even claiming that since players like Donivine and Devon have played only 7 games or less - that they can still redshirt and/or transfer before 2nd semester...
But that's so wrong on so many fronts!!! A player can't redshirt after he's played even ONE minute -- and even if that poster massively confused a redshirt with a medical waiver - he still has his facts all wrong -- you can't fake and injury or claim a medical redshirt when there is no injury - I can't believe someone has to point that out to a guy with a gazillion posts on a message board...??

This thread about players 7 games into the season choosing to redshirt really has to be one of the funniest and most ridiculously ignorant threads ever seen on a message board anywhere - and yet not one other poster figures it out and corrects the guy!

BUT if you can't believe those asinine statements - there's even more...
.. one of the posters ("over there") who was vigorously in favor of all the moves that brought us to this point - now claims "I wanted my PROGRAM to do better"...and is suddenly silent with his boasts that he helped engineer the changes that got us here.

Somewhere a few people who knew this was coming are wondering why others were so happy to see it happening -- they have shot themselves in our collective foot!

The very people boasting on Bradley's talent after the Michigan game are now saying we don't even have MVC-caliber talent -- what bozos...do they realize how foolish they look contradicting the very things they said in their own posts and columns just a couple days ago?

Oh -- and BTW - one ball handler had no turnovers and he was the only player with an assist that didn't also have turnovers...thankfully nobody's blaming this fiasco on that guy..

It is interesting to read the Wichita writer's take on this...
He really never once tries to make the stupid claim that Bradley has no talent - he knows better...
He says it right...
"Bradley is over-matched in coach Geno Ford’s first season."
(note he does NOT say Bradley's talent is overmatched)
"Bradley accomplished enough in its non-conference play to gain WSU’s respect.
..The Braves started 3-0, played Wisconsin and Nevada, won a road game and played Michigan tough before losing 77-66 on the road. They should not have been overwhelmed by WSU..
Walt Lemon Jr. and Dyricus Simms-Edwards combined to shoot 2 of 18 from the field and commit six turnovers with two assists."
http://blogs.kansas.com/shockwaves/2011/12/29/day-after-wichita-state-at-bradley/

So just maybe it wasn't 100% the players we have but the players doing things that do not help the team...there is a difference........


ALSO - THE ATTENDANCE of just barely over 7000 for a home conference game in mid-season is astoundingly small - also solid evidence of what many won't admit - that recent moves have hurt way more than helped...


Hey - at least we didn't lose as badly as one other local game last night...the Olympia girls basketball team lost 50-3!!! Ouch...
http://www.sj-r.com/sports/x1980204697/Girls-basketball-Southeast-falls-in-OT-to-East-St-Louis


Some other observations from last night...
Meyers Leonard watched the game from Pete Vonachen's season seats - sitting with Pete's granddaughters and also with his date Elle Bielfeldt.
Poor guy couldn't get a decent break in the treatment from fans who kinda bothered him all nite and pestered him to pose for pictures.... Meyers was actually pretty good about it but come on BU fans - give the guy some privacy when he's with a gal...


Speaking of Illinois -- Carl Maniscalco was at the Bradley game last night -- wonder what he's thinking after seeing that mess -- gotta believe he's about as thankful as possible.

Oh - and yes - Larry Austin saw this game -- ahem.....

But I am still 100% pro-BU and I hollered and encouraged the team - and I still have hope they'll have successes before the season is over...but unfortunately I don't hold out too much hope of those fans who demanded this change actually sticking around long enough to support the team through the horrible period that hose changes have caused.

Also - did you see that Bruce Weber got quoted saying that if he had known Crandall Head was so miserably unhappy about the playing time he was getting that Bruce would have played him more....apparently to cave in and appease the guy??
Bruce Weber actually says that had he known how unhappy Crandall Head was with his playing time - and that he was on the verge of leaving Illinois - then Bruce would have played him more!!
That's an astounding statement - that basically says if a guy bitches up a little bit and makes his beefs known to the coach that the coach will comply and hand the guy more playing time!



BTW -- I noted Indiana got whupped - kinda bringing most but not all Crean-lovers back down to reality..
Hmmm...just maybe that SOS of 255 set the stage for this - and the fact that they played so few road games in preparation for the Big Ten season was poor planning....
Matt Roth did get a chance to play and hit a couple shots in 18 minutes.


Northwestern again showed their lack of athleticism against a superior team as Ohio State absolutely killed them last night. They'd better hope those 10 softy non-conference wins hold up come Selection day...


More evidence of why newspapers are doing so poorly...
Here's the New York Times -- the New York Yankees of newspapers and look at the really stupid moves they make...

-They erroneously send discount e mails to millions - then they refuse to honor the discounts that they just offered...
Gotta wonder how many people were amused by this idiocy...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079826/New-York-Times-emails-millions-discount-offer-meant-hundred.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

-The jettison and leave many smaller newspapers to be hung out to dry...
http://flaglerlive.com/32663/news-journal-nyt/comment-page-1

-but like most really bad news sites (and this one is from msnbc) they sure have the endless time and space to devote to and promote the really ignorant and laughable stories like this one -
http://scoop.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/29/9797787-new-details-on-drug-run-that-ended-sinead-oconnors-16-day-marriage

Followup and more on a great Bradley University grad and Braves fan...

The blog entry from a few weeks ago dealt with Joe Chamberlain - one of Peoria's finest natives and Bradley's finest and most accomplished graduates, even though many had not known of him.
He never really sought fame or success and the facts bear that out.

Here is that blog entry from December 1...

http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2011/12/joseph-joe-miles-chamberlain-remarkable.html

Now Joe has been laid to rest in a local burial gardens - right next to Philip Jose Farmer. This is so ironic on a couple fronts....first because Farmer is a world renowned writer of science and so is Joe Chamberlain (more on that below) but Joe never received the media attention and widespread name recognition.
Farmer is famous for the science FICTION variety. Joe Chamberlain was world renowned in science FACT although not well known even in Peoria. The other big difference dealt with their spiritual beliefs...with Farmer not only being an outspoken atheist - but even notably hostile and ridiculing of anyone of faith and often debating people of faith by attacking them personally as superstitious and shallow-minded.
BUT Joe was quite different - and now is getting more written on him than ever during his life. Although Joe could debate any point he chose to quite well and was an expert on many phases of science - he was one of the most congenial, polite, and courteous - thus often complimenting anyone he might debate or discuss with yet provide a powerful argument.

The New York Times did a major piece on his passing..as did all the other New York papers..
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/science/space/joseph-m-chamberlain-dies-at-88-led-hayden-and-adler-planetariums.html

And so did the Boston Globe that also noted that Joe helped guide CBS' Mike Wallace when the network did a special series of shows back in the 1960's on the planets and solar system...
This story from the Boston Globe even pictures Joe with CBS' Mike Wallace...
http://articles.boston.com/2011-12-13/bostonglobe/30512730_1_planetariums-new-era-natural-history

But the real proof that finally someone has noticed is that Phil Luciano honored Joe this morning with a nice column on the front page, that I enjoyed.

Here is that piece by Phil Luciano ..even noting a little known story about a stolen ruby that Joe was involved in..
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x2023107345/Luciano-Peoria-native-had-true-star-qualities

Here are a couple more sources that detail the fantastic jewel heist at the museum and the story of how Joe retrieved the ruby...

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2001-05-02/news/18174328_1_carat-ruby-gem-magazine-writer
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ns4VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jxEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5088,364030&hl=en
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0cQiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OLcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=911,938250&hl=en

BTW - one source says..
"The heist was the subject of a 1975 movie, directed by Marvin Chomsky, called "Murph the Surf". The movie starred Robert Conrad, Burt Young, and Don Stroud (as Murphy)"...but unfortunately Joe must have been left on the cutting room floor!


I might point out that Luciano uses a few phrases that seem directly taken from the other sources - with minimal alterations in the words (read the NYT and Globe pieces and see..) but it's a pretty good column nonetheless.

Getting back to the point I made above - the Farmer was a writer of science fiction while Joe was a writer of science fact...one last little known thing about Joe Chamberlain was that he was also best-selling writer - although perhaps not on the scale of Philip Jose Farmer.
Back in the late 1950's and early 1960's, when the world's interest in outer space and planets was piqued by the launches of Sputnik and American efforts to get a man into space...
Joe wrote and published a book that he was told would never sell.

Now, remember, this was 20 years before Carl Sagan and his PBS series "COSMOS".... and Joe was warned by publishers that although good science FICTION books with good stories about outer space would sell, BUT books that contained facts about outer space would be dry and uninteresting and would NOT sell.

But.... Joe proceeded to write and publish his book anyway and it became the biggest selling non-fiction science book of the race-for-space era of the late 1950's through 1960's.
The book is called "Planets, Stars and Space"..and copies of it can still be purchsed easily on ebay, Amazon, and other book re-sellers.

Here is a photo of the cover...
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Planets-Stars-and-Space-1962-Joseph-M-Chamberlain-/00/$(KGrHqF,!jME2HeCqLPYBNvuMV4E9Q~~_12.JPG

Note that unlike any other book you will find, Joe chose not to even place his own name as author on the front cover - that's just how modest and unassuming he was - preferring to shine a light on the title, the topic, and the American Museum rather than himself!

And although the proceeds of this book made Joe set for life - he also gave plenty of the proceeds to great causes - some of which he founded himself or helped found, such as...
The Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society
http://dps.aas.org/history/chamberlain_cruikshank_1999

The Committee on Planetary Science of the American Physical Society ..
http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4211/ch9-7.htm

And American Astronautical Society...


In any listing you might find of great people who are graduates of Bradley University - you'll find names such as...

Robert H. Michel
General John M. Shalikashvili
Jack Brickhouse
Philip Jose Farmer
Jerry Hadley
David Horowitz
Chick Hearn
Charlie Steiner
Hersey Hawkins
etc...

BUT -- I find it odd that none of those listings mentions Joe Chamberlain, a man who through his own hard work, dedication, and giving has actually had a considerably MORE accomplished career and life than many, if not most, of the Bradley grads who are listed. But this would be just as Joe might have wanted it - that the only recognition he ever sought was from his family and loved ones, which all the more embellishes his overall success.

Bradley loses at home to WCU

Not only did we lose a very winnable game, we really didn't exploit the matchup difficulties WCU would have had in the paint, we didn't make FT's, and at times didn't play as smart and as energetically as they did.
All of these opinions aren't just mine - but they are echoed by numerous other people who have stated their opinions - even the guys on the post game radio show.
We still have a long way to go....

Its a rebuilding year and I can be patient -- but clearly we are seeing more of the fallout from the coaching changeover - we just don't have good PG play (last night out PG had one assists) and we don't hit the FT's (Walt's misses really hurt) or the open jumpers.

BUT - a few things being said are astoundingly stupid and need debunking.....
..we have a few comments from people who claim they saw the same game and yet they say some pretty astounding things!

Here are just a few of the ridiculous things I have seen or heard since last night...

First - someone last night said to me ..
"we're getting better"....
..but nobody else sees it - we're actually struggling - and that's exactly what many others saw and agree - and even the coach's post game comments echo that - and point out that we NEED to get better...
In many respects - outside shooting, FT shooting, PG play, turnovers, etc...we are not seeing improvement yet.
I still strongly support these guys and am 100% behind them and cheering - but let's open our eyes and be realistic -- we're a long way from where we want to be.
We have the personnel to do way better.


Then I saw someone who decided that this must all be Jim Les' fault with this comment..
"how incredibly stupid Les was for scheduling a 2-and-1 with a SoCon team"
....I fully expected some to blame it all on Jim Les - but this is pretty silly - we need to play games like this - winnable home games against decent teams....
I suppose we should have done what ISU does and scheduled Chicago State instead? LOL


"I think there were any number of encouraging things you could take from the game"
...strangely the guy who says this then fails to actually name anything encouraging but instead notes a few pretty negative observations.


"I didn't think it was ugly.....I am seeing some progress."
...keep whistling...I am as big of a Bradley fan as exists - but I thought it was unfortunately an ugly loss and so did Dave Reynolds...
"For Bradley to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory — as the men’s basketball team did .. — took poor play in several phases of the game."


Then I saw where the old injury argument got dragged up again and someone says this..
"Creighton lost Nate Funk for a whole year and still finished ahead of us in league play."

..Well... but this same person repeatedly points out we never finished higher than 4th so how impressive is it that Creighton did the same thing that year?
Anyway - someone has to shine a light on ignorance so I suppose it has to be me since nobody else bothers to straighten out this asinine comment..

The facts will easily prove that Creighton's loss of Nate Funk that year was HUGE and cost them dearly.

First - Nate Funk never missed "a whole year". He did only play 6 games in 2005-2006 so I suppose that's the year referred to - but in those 6 games, Funk averaged 17 ppg and Creighton went 4-2 in that stretch BEATING Dayton, beat a 19-win Nebraska team, and CLOBBERED GEORGE MASON by 20 points!!!
Remember - George Mason was a team who went 27-8 that year and made the FINAL FOUR!
They were very, very good and obviously Creighton was likewise VERY good when they had Funk!

In other words -- Creighton was just maybe George-Mason-good with Nate Funk and showed beyond question that had the talent to possibly go deep in the NCAA Tournament or even be a FINAL FOUR team!!!
Everyone in the universe agrees that with Nate Funk in 2005-2006 Creighton was at least a 25 win team - and would have won the Valley and gone deep into the NCAA!

BUT - without Funk - they finished out the rest of the season going just 15-7 and got hammered badly by Bradley in the MVC Tourney.
Not to mention BU finished pretty close to Creighton that year had a better RPI, got an NCAA bid while Creighton did NOT.

So...
Without Funk they finish 20-10 overall, lose several games they should have won and get knocked out of the MVC Tourney by a lower seed!! - scoring only 47 points...
they then falter in the NIT while BU makes the Sweet Sixteen -

Had they had Nate Funk - this might well have been their best year ever at Creighton basketball!
So how can anyone say or even hint that in 2005-2006 Creighton did just as well without Nate Funk as they would have done with him?
CLEARLY - in the context this argument is being thrown around - YES you can blame injuries because they do account for MASSIVE changes in how a team does.

BTW - the very next year when they did have Nate Funk - the won the Valley, swept through the MVC Tourney easily and went to the NCAA Tourney...case closed on another mindless comment.


OK -- just a few more comments on what might have been...

One kid who really wanted to be at Bradley but landed at ISU when BU had a coaching change back in March...
is Tyler Brown...who last night single-handedly saved ISU from an embarrassing home loss to UALR.
Brown scored a career high 23 points hiting 50% on his 3-pointer and all 6 of 6 of his FT's.
For the season Brown is hitting 48.3 of his 3-pt attempts, 80% on FT's, and is arguably their BEST player right now - averaging 13 ppg, 4 rebs, 3 asst - all of which would put him among BU's leaders - and he really wanted to come to BU - settling for ISU only as a 2nd option given circumstances.
Unfortunately nobody really saw Brown's fine performance last night - as their claimed attendance number of 3100 is roughly 2000 more than believable - and here's a ton of photos to back that up...
http://www.goredbirds.com/view.gal?id=108954


Here's another - last night Tyler Les - who would have been here had JL had his own way - equalled a SCHOOL RECORD eight 3-pointers and 24 points...whoa - we coulda used that!!
He was 8 for 9 from beyond the arc and moves his season's shooting pct. on treys to 44% (31-71) and scoring average to 10.1 ppg.
Sadly UC-Davis doesn't have much else this year and are rebuilding.
http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/122111aaa.html


Wow - UNI sure got hammered at home last night against Ohio.
Outside the top two Valley teams were may not be as strong as some are saying.


NIU drops to 0-11 - and their team is in shambles. Recall their new head coach Mark Montgomery was one of the first choices for the BU spot but declined in favor of taking the helm at NIU.
Their heralded freshman Abdel Nader - who some hyped as an immediate impact player - is also struggling. He averages 9 ppg but takes 12 shots per game to get those meager 9 points. Meanwhile his Assist to Turnover ration of 0.25 is telling.


In NBA play - Anthony Parker had a nice game for the Cavs as they lost a 1-pt decision to Detroit. AP had 12 pts, 5 rebs, 2 asst. Hi snumbers were considerbly better than the two guys hyped in the press - Brandon Knight & Kyrie Irving.

The Bulls won again over the Pacers - 93-85, Rose 12 pts/9 asst, Rip Hamilton 13 pts, 6 asst, Danny Granger had a bad game 12 pts, 1 reb, no assists.

BU has GREAT fans and needs more!

I just don't get it ....
I'd love for BU to be undefeated but I can handle the current situation -- we're getting better and learning the new system.
BUT -- TEN games into the Geno Ford era at Bradley and there's already some calling themselves fans who are angry and starting arguments over non-existent issues!

It's hardly a secret that most are the very ones who have been so chronically miserable and were so incredibly critical the past few years - ripping on Jim Les & the past couple years' Braves and demanding JL's firing and replacement!
These are the very people who ought to be MOST happy to have what we now have, because they kinda got their way...and yet some are still miserable!
And I can see from their posts that they admit to being miserable and are proud of stirring up arguments!

First - they're trying to find every current flaw and loudly proclaim it as JL's fault still nine months after Coach Les is gone.
Then they start arguments in every discussion about the current team!

What gives???
Everyone pretty much agreed BU was picked last and yet we've won just about every game we'd have been expected to win given that positioning...

PLUS -- we don't have ANY of the horribly embarrassing losses and home humiliations that a few other Valley teams have like...

-ISU losing at home and scoring only 54 against UNC-Wilmington and 47 at Fresno

-Evansville losing to UIC & Tennessee Tech and only one decent home win

-SIU losing at home to Ohio (who the heck are they) Dominican and scoring only 43 at WMU

-Drake getting humiliated by 44 points against Boise State and by 14 to Iowa who Creighton demolished

-Even Indiana State barely staved off tiny Maryville at home last week...trailing in the 2nd half and needed to rally to take the lead late...

So guys -- give it a rest -- you are embarrassing your university -- and making incredible fools of yourself in the process.
Get on board and support your team - come to the games, that's the least "fans" should do...
The most vocal critics the past year or two are nowhere to be seen at many games - preferring to "boycott" (their exact words) rather than be supportive of the current Braves.
Don't start going Salukifan on us and turning viciously against your own players & team and other fans....looking for everything and anything to rip on...
Do the search on the message boards and find that some have even gone so far to say that Walt reminds them of TCS!!! What the hey are they looking at??

Even in a loss - I feel every fan still needs to be supportive of the team. It's ok to talk about the games' specifics and the fouls, the missed shots, the turnovers...but it crosses the line when insulting direct shots are taken -- especially the intentional shots made just to start arguments.

I expected some of this and cited it would be part of the fallout -- but seeing this much so early is astounding....
(most all of it has already been removed and axed from the best message boards so you won't find it now, thankfully - and some have banned over their constant arguments).

I knew the fallout would include a drop off in fan interest and attendance and we're seeing it...and guess what --
we're going to keep seeing it for some time to come... winning will correct that.
BUT -- nobody's been more precise and more accurate in predicting all of this.... than I have been - predicting the attendance dropoff, loss of fan interest, departure of players and recruits, the selfish and egotistical "boycott" some false-fans staged for the game at Renaissance Coliseum, the bickering by some who want to find a scapegoat and attack players, coaches and other fans, and significant dropoff in ability to put points on the board given the full turnover in coaching staff...

BUT -- I am still on board and 100% supportive and cheering for our Braves...even hitting the road and catching the games away from Carver!!
Those who support the team with more than just their words - with their time and attendance even at games away from Carver and with their financial support - those are, by far, the very best BU fans and I admire them!
Thankfully the best part of BU's fan base are also still on board and fully supporting their team. But it's disturbing to see those who must want to get included in Time's Man of the Year as a "protester" by protesting and trashing BU and its fan base the way the "Occupy protesters" have trashed the parks they're squatting in with their excrement.

BUT -- I really expected a few of those who called themselves fans and wanted JL out would at least give Coach Ford a dozen games or more before losing it and acting like crying babies whose lollipop has been yanked away.

Take a look in the mirror - here's what you see-

Too much of this

When we should be seeing more of this-

Lots of miscellaneous basketball news and followups..

Ex-BU favorite - Chris Roberts has now left his Mexican team, Fuerza Regia after leading them to 1st place and a record of 27-6...
Chris will now return to the NBDL Texas Legends in hopes of getting a shot at an NBA roster.

The LA Lakers held a public intrasquad game - a Purple & White game...
..and Bradley's Zach Andrews impressed!

Here's what was said about Zach on the official NBA Lakers site...
"Those that took the time to watch the L.A. D-Fenders open 6-2 in the D-League got to see Zach Andrews get all nasty on a bunch of dunks. He here added a few more, highlighted by a sick baseline reverse that came just after former NBA dunk champ Gerald Green missed his own attempted hammer dunk on the other end."

Other commentators said this about Zach...
"D-Fenders callup Zach Andrews impressed with his size, athleticism and defense. Andrews had the two best dunks of the afternoon...I wouldn't be surprised if Andrews made the roster with Derrick Caracter out."

and..
"Zach Andrews - Active, live big body. Nice offensive rebounding and hustle. If consistent, may have an outside chance to make this roster.
Andrews..had two really sick dunks..probably the highlight of the entire scrimmage."


The Philly press gives Bradley zero credit for fighting back last night and making the game close --
they just say Drexel let BU back in the game..
http://articles.philly.com/2011-12-17/news/30528930_1_samme-givens-drexel-dragons


Here's a great old video for anyone interested - BU vs. UTEP in the 1986 NCAA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOny-uUN09U&feature=player_embedded


In the NBDL - Zach Andrews' old team the LA D-Fenders absolutely annihilated Osiris Eldridge's team, Bakersfield.. 96-68 with King O scoring only 8 on 4-15 and only 1 asst & 1 rebound.
this comes on the heels of an incredible game for King O...
he put up 52 points against a Zach Andrews-less D-Fenders --
http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20111216/LADBAK/gameinfo.html

Some people have been touting Osiris as an NBA prospect - and this game might open some eyes....but if he's going to play in the big league a 6-2 shooting guard is gonna have to shoot better than 32% from 3-pt range...


Here's a funny headline to a story...
"Surging Loyola Hosts Rockhurst In Final Home Non-Conference Game Of 2011-12"
http://www.loyolaramblers.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/121811aaa.html?source=rss_teams_Loyola-Chicago_Ramblers

Are they serious?? Loyola is doing terribly - they are 3-7 and have beaten only 3 really low-level opponents like Chicago State, they've been scoring in the 40-point range in some games, even losing to EIU, and the next game is against an obscure non-D-I Rockhurst!!
Nice spin on the situation, though...


Pac-10 continues to really stink big time...
Last night Arizona State lost to newbie D-I Northern Arizona and USC lost to Georgia.
Meanwhile UCLA finally finds someone to beat playing rebuilding UC-D.
Arizona lost as well.
Pac-12 current record as a conference is 68-46! Seven teams have 4 or more non-conference losses!


Indiana wins again - with 10 different players getting time - and Remy Abell getting a nice put-back at the halftime buzzer to send the Hoosiers to a halftime lead of 26-20 - however, Matt Roth never got even a second of playing time..what a waste --
Memo to MR -- you can transfer without any penalties!


One more interesting game yesterday -- Dayton was losing to FIU 30-22 at half then outscored Isiah Thomas' squad 39-10 the rest of the way to pull it out.


BTW -- for those who predicted Jimmer Fredette would fail in the NBA -- hasn't happened yet...
last night in preseason play he was 4-6 from beyond the arc, 7-11 overall, and finished with 21 points, 4 asst, 4 rebs.


Ex-Richwoods SG Mason Alwan still struggling - shooting only 29% from the field and 22% on 3-pointers...takes a ton of shots though for Lincoln Land - 16-18 per game!


Ex-St. Pat's SG who BU was pursuing, Jacob Williams, is hitting 50% on 3-pointers (11-22)


Lastly -- so Jim Les didn't recognize talent??
He was one of the only coaches in all of D-I to pursue and offer this kid who is leading all of Division I in scoring...
Damian Lillard of Weber State -
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/15/SPR31MC5US.DTL


The letter to the editor this morning in the local paper regarding the media's treatment of Tebow was written by the mother-in-law of an ex-Bradley basketball player!


Reknowned atheist dies...
..perhaps the 2nd most outspoken and widely known atheist just died
Christopher Hitchens -- everyone calls him an essayist, literary critic and journalist..but he's most well known for being the 2nd most visible (besides Richard Dawkins) atheist who was always on TV and writing pieces to attack God and people of faith.

He died at just 62 - of esophageal cancer..was a far left liberal -
his book "God Is Not Great" became the bible of the atheists the past few years...
BTW - esophageal cancer's two main external risk factors are drinking and smoking and Hitchens was prolific at both...

BUT -- he was not just an atheist -- he was a self-described ANTI-THEIST...
meaning he was so openly hostile towards God and anyone who believed in God, then he felt it was his life's purpose to try to attack and destroy anyone who expressed belief..
He even openly attacked and insulted people such as Mother Teresa (calling her a fake and a fraud) and saying about Ronald Reagan - "The world would have been better off had he been assassinated early in his Presidency" and was well known for his attacks on Jerry Falwell and even CHEERING Falwell's death on NATIONAL TV when Falwell died...saying if there is a HELL certainly Falwell is there and deserved to be there...
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/naked...lls-death.html

And he called organized religion "the main source of hatred in the world" and said...
"The real axis of evil and hatred is Christianity and Judaism..."

Watch this video of a confrontation between Hitchens and Al Sharpton where Hitchens cites religion and belief in God as the worst force in the history of the world..

"... God and religion is a malignant force in the world, citing numerous historical instances in which sexual repression and outrageous acts of violence have been committed in the name of God. At the same time, he proposed that science and reason could replace that..."
http://gothamist.com/2011/12/16/video_hitchens_vs_sharpton_on_wheth.php

Wow - is this guy misinformed....
does he not know that all of the world's worst murderers and tyrants were GODLESS people who slaughtered independently of any sense of faith or religion...
Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, and many others were all atheists or godless men...
..even the worst individual murderers in history were godless people - John Wayne Gacy, Wayne Williams (Altanta murderer), Gary Ridgeway (Green River Killer)..

In fact, this mantra the atheists babble about how religion can be blamed for gobs of offenses is so ridiculous that someone has to take a stance and expose it...

Pretty much anywhere in the entire world - wherever Christianity abounds, then the treatment of women improves, lawlessness and oppression declines, and the standards of living improve.
Without organized Judeo-Christian religion - we'd still pretty much be living in the dark ages with the likes of Attila the Hun, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, and Hitler ruling over our every move...

More major newspaper woes - gonna be harder to know what we can trust

I have heard the argument many times and I bet you have too....
that newspapers are the supposedly best source for news and info because they are objective, fair, unbiased, and ethical! yeah -- rrrrright.....this is so easy to prove WRONG.

Then the same people who blindly follow and support everything written in newspapers as gospel, tell everyone else that every other source on the internet is unreputable and biased. Message boards and blogs are especially worthless, they say, because it's not required to be balanced, fair, or accurate -- it's just hype, opinion, and propaganda. but let's actually look at facts - read on...

Well - regardless of this age-old claim - I still have plenty of points to counter with ..

First - aren't people allowed to be smart and think for themselves and make the decision on their own? Why do we need others who claim to be unbiased tell the masses what they should read and believe - that's kinda how it is in Communist China and I don't want that here.
Let people just read and decide fot themselves! To heck with this claim that we need to reign in or regulate what people say on the internet....after all then the same rules need to apply to newspapers and yet those folks claim a Constitutional Amendment to protect them from any "regulation".

Second - most newspapers are really hurting and going bankrupt - this is hard to deny and they're getting way more desperate and making major changes that affect their accuracy.
And there's a whole lot more on that topic below...
So if they are going under and desperate for more money - then it is obvious and it is even being reported that they are making major changes in order to get more advertising revenue and make more money in other ways.

Along that line they are kissing up to advertisers, influential people, and the public in general so they can position themselves to make more money...and guess what -- they're changing to become more like blogs and message boards and posting way more info electronically...info that in THEIR CASE - is apparently way more likely to be erroneous and inaccurate as I have readily shown many times recently!
In fact some recent stuff in the "standard" press makes bloggers look like fact-checkers.

Just check the most recent entry in this blog and note how badly the local newspaper in Peoria mis-reported the information regarding Ka'Darryl Bell's injured wrist.
In Peoria it was reported as an injury to his non-shooting wrist - but everywhere else in the universe it was plainly being reported as his right wrist - his SHOOTING wrist - a fact which makes the story incredibly more important and different.
So why so wrong?? Wrong... like reports that John Wilkins signed with Iowa State and more recently a full story on a local high school basketball tourney that totally misreported who won the tourney and took home the trophy!!

So - it's obvious that their money woes force them to lessen their standards (what standards they had) so as to cater to more sources of income, and save money.

But back to the main point --- as newspapers, especially the print versions, lose more and more money - you have to ask TWO MAIN QUESTIONS??

-How CANey lose this much money regularly and repeatedly?? -- we're talking BILLIONS of dollars!!! Where's it going??? How many people does it take to write a few stories that they mostly just recopy off the AP newswire??
Maybe the biggest story they could cover is where's all the money going - after all they're laying off gobs and gobs of people and outsourcing all their work!! (see below)

Any other business that loses BILLIONS of DOLLARS gets writeups in the paper and someone questions where's the $$ going and could there be something more ominous to explain such huge losses that rob shareholders of their savings and employees of their pensions?? Maybe this does deserve further inquiry?? Wouldn't you think so?

-Then if they are this monetarily bankrupt then clearly that would affect their accuracy, reliability, and their motives!! They simply wouldn't have the resources nor help to get things right...and they kiss up to advertisers!

If they are that cash strapped then just perhaps money becomes a bit more of an influential factor in how they run things. Maybe the $$ end of it runs all their decisions!! Money has a way of changing things and changing people.

Even their own reports on their own economic failures state clearly that they are making CHANGES, they are reorganizing, going different directions, changing journalism, and they are trying things and doing things differently in order to appeal to advertisers and make more money! They're trying whatever sells - simple as that!

Whoa...you mean they are selling out more??? That's exactly what they're admitting - they're cowtowing more and more to those who might advertise so they can get more ad revenue.
How ethical is that???

At least bloggers and message boarders have no biases like that -- they aren't saying what they're saying to get more money. Greed and money-seeking has to be one of the single MOST powerful influences that would alter the content of the newspapers...but NOT bloggers and other internet sources. Just maybe the internet sources ARE the new journalism....the best source for the truth and the watchdogs of society.

And it fits with what I have witnessed...many hot stories that are RELEVANT to Peoria get reported elsewhere but in Peoria they are not even mentioned because they make the biggest local advertisers look bad!
Here are just two examples of MAJOR stories that somehow got missed by the local Peoria newspaper - and coincidentally these stories are NOT good news for one of the PJS's top advertisers!!

http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2011/08/reuters-reports-on-financial-troubles.html

http://zimtribune.com/?p=6783

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/520530


And here's more on why newspapers are likely getting more desperate and sacrificing accuracy and truth for profit and ad revenue....

Just the past week....

-The Pantagraph's parent company is filing bankruptcy - more than $1.3 BILLION in debt!!!!!
http://centralillinoisproud.com/fulltext?nxd_id=216797

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-14/post-dispatch-owner-lee-wins-approval-of-bankruptcy-loan.html


Add to that, this Bloomington local radio station, WJBC-1230 - the FLAGSHIP station for ISU Redbird basketball also just filed for bankruptcy!! ($0.211 BILLION in debt)
http://www.pantagraph.com/business/local/article_1a83614a-256f-11df-82d0-001cc4c03286.html

Whoa - what's going down in Bloomington? - soon there'll be no place left to find out anything -- just maybe the unpaid bloggers and folks who run message boards will be picking up the slack? At least they aren't so totally consumed with money issues and making a profit!!

BTW -- the Pantagraph's parent company, Lee Enterprises, also publishes the St. Louis Post Dispatch!


One other major media mogul, Gatehouse Media - also just announced "changes to it organizational structure"... ..in hopes of avoiding the same fate!
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gatehouse-media-unveils-new-organizational-structure-135253663.html

One local effect may be this...
that the PJ Star and Springfield newspapers are "outsourcing" more and more jobs...
before long all the reporting of Peoria news will be done by people in maybe Hong Kong?...
http://capitolfax.com/2011/12/01/report-sj-r-may-sell-its-building-as-parent-faces-a-billion-dollar-debt-payment/

Geez...just how freaking accurate can news and info in Peoria be if the reporting of some of this stuff is outsourced?? Do you even believe what you are hearing or seeing any more??

Here's more on Gatehouse...
"GateHouse stock, which sold for more than $20 a share during the initial public offering five years ago, is virtually worthless, selling for as little as four cents a share last week. The company has more than $1 billion in debt due in 2014."
http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-9382-has-lincolnrss-train-left-the-station.html

So this isn't just the business of the newspaper people - it's cheating the commoner and average folks by stealing the value of their stock holdings!

So... Gatehouse is also going down the tubes, their stock is worthless, and they are billions in debt?? How did it get this way?? Their own greed has driven them to where they are -- they are profit making companies and their lust for profits have been obviously quite a bad influence on their ability to appeal to a public that just wants a fair and honest press!

I'd go so far as to say this...
of all the motives that might drive someone to be dishonest or unethical -- I'd count greed and money-lusting at the top! Obviously cash-strapped companies that are changing the way they do things to appeal to more advertising revenue cannot be trusted to be fair and accurate! They are obviously biased and some crooked - and likely way, way more biased than the very people that newspaper-defenders always attack - the bloggers and message boarders.

So just who, then, appears more reputable??
Is it the guy whose words are heavily influenced by profit, greed, and trying to appeal to advertisers and sources of revenue...

OR is it the guy who willingly - for NO profit motive nor any other unethical motive whatsoever - states what he knows to be the truth...? ...then leaves the rest for th reader to judge....
I think you'll have an easy time answering this question.

Ka'Darryl Bell injures his right wrist

But how come the various reports differ??
All the reports coming out of Chicago and Oak Park say he injured his RIGHT WRIST - and that is his shooting wrist.

BUT...
In Dave Reynolds' statement in the PJ Star, he says the injury is in Bell's NON-SHOOTING wrist..
BUT - here is the proof all the other reports differ...so who are we going to believe?
Remember - several of the other people in Oak Park are quoting directly from the Oak Park head coach and some even saw the injury occur - so is the report from the PJ Star accurate??

but all the other reports out of Oak Park say it was his right hand and video seems to show KB is right handed...so I don't know...

Dave Reynolds said - 12/9 at 12:22PM
".. a torn ligament in his non-shooting wrist"

All the other sources in Oak Park such as this one say it was his right wrist...
Brad Spencer of the OakPark.com - 12/9 at 11:19AM
".. torn ligaments in his right wrist, according to a report by head coach Matt Maloney Friday morning"

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/12-09-2011/OPRF_boys_basketball_starting_guard_Bell_has_torn_ligaments_in_wrist

Here are other reporters who also say it is his right wrist
http://oakpark.patch.com/articles/oprf-vs-york-basketball
riverforest.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/index.html?story=9235992

The Oak Park River Forest school FBwebsite says "right wrist"
www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=148221288613830&id

and this site says it IS his shooting wrist, not his non-shooting wrist
https://twitter.com/#!/OakParkSports/status/145194111396352000



But, I think the difference between someone's right and left wrist - and the difference between his shooting hand in a cast vs. his non-shooting hand is an enormous difference...so I am stumped...which is it and who do we believe??


Or...is DR saying Ka'Darryl is left handed - but elsewhere I have posted links where you can watch his games..

here's one such link - feel free to watch and confirm that Ka'Darryl dribbles a lot with his left hand but...shoots with his right hand..
http://www.highschoolcube.com/schools/st-patrick-high-school-chicago-illinois/video/saint-patrick-tournament-2011---varsity-basketball-st-patrick-high-school-vs-oak-park-and-river-forest-high-school-201221

The media is keeping us in stitches, some followup on BU players, and some really funny comments from the "experts"...

WE WERE JUST DISCUSSING THE IDIOCY of some media "experts" who do not know and cannot figure out the difference between millions and BILLIONS!!

http://is.gd/Hmq3Ug

And note that this column was written a couple months ago and so surely they could at least correct the tremendous & graphic errors they have made.
PLUS - they must not have proof readers!

But -- Here's another entry in the "Anyone see anything wrong with this?"
and the fuzzy math column.........

Here are three separate quotes directly from the local paper - same section, same staff of writers - over the last couple days...

Dec. 5 ......
"Michael Berg put on a show Friday night. The 6-foot-5 forward scored 37 points and grabbed 31 rebounds" -
http://www.pjstar.com/sports/preps/x1712041946/Duvall-Henry-coach-glad-he-s-back-on-bench

Dec. 7 ......
"Michael Berg of Midwest Central is pretty good at basketball.
He’s latest effort of 39 points and 19 rebounds came in Tuesday’s 70-66 win.." - http://blogs.pjstar.com/prepsplus/2011/12/07/micael-berg-video-of-his-30-30-game/

Dec. 8 ......
"Michael Berg, Midwest Central: The Raiders senior is averaging 38 points, 20 rebounds ..in MC’s last two games" -
http://www.pjstar.com/sports/preps/x1719674549/Preps-daily-Thursday-Dec-8

Hmmm...wow, how can they not see their error? Did they add the rebounds, 31+19 and come up with 40 then find the average to be 20?
Or did they just think the average of two game that total 50 is 20?

Hmmm....at least they got half the simple math problem right - unfortunately a 50% score in my kids' school is way below a failing grade!



Here's some followup on ex-Braves players.......
Boogie had yet another fine game as Halifax beats Summerside 97-96
18 pts, 6 rebs, 3 blocks

AND -- Zach Andrews getting a chance!! He's been invited to the Los Angeles Lakers' training camp!! Congrats Zach...who is currently averaging 12 ppg, 9 rpg in the D-League
http://www.lockerpulse.com/News/Sacs-Zach-Andrews-invited-to-Lakers-camp-S2422505/



Nice article originating in the west coast press...on Jim Les
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/16367881

This kind of stuff is scarce in some markets that play to the hostile element of fan bases...
can you imagine the local press in Peoria ever writing a fair, complimentary story like this?? I sure can't...
..and I am sure Dick Lien, Phil Theobald, and Kirk Wessler never could either...



Here's the Cav's owner's own words... on the blocked trade that would have merged Kobe Bryant with Chris Paul in LA..

"It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed.
This trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets.

Over the next three seasons this deal would save the Lakers approximately $20 million in salaries and approximately $21 million in luxury taxes. ..

I cannot remember ever seeing a trade where a team got by far the best player in the trade and saved over $40 million in the process. And it doesn’t appear that they would give up any draft picks, which might allow to later make a trade for Dwight Howard...

I just don’t see how we can allow this trade to happen.
I know the vast majority of owners feel the same way that I do.
When will we just change the name of 25 of the 30 teams to the Washington Generals?

Please advise…."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ys-nba_dan_gilbert_email_lakers_hornets_trade_120811



Sad to hear this....Portland Blazers All Star Brandon Roy to retire??
http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/7335092/brandon-roy-portland-trail-blazers-retire-due-knees-sources-say



I know we talked about this in a couple other threads....(see the message board thread on the Manual-Lanphier game being moved)

BUT based on an NCAA ruling that penalized Lute Olson at Arizona for hosting high school games on campus as a recruiting ploy...

Some have interpreted the NEW NCAA rule to prohibit using your own campus and home floor to host games as a recruiting tool...
...as also prohibiting all high school games that are held at your home venue.

Thus the University of Illinois' Shootout at the Hall - held in Champaign's Assembly Hall, and even the River City Shootout - this year called Riverfront Roundball -
have to be either cancelled or moved elsewhere because Bradley's home floor is at the Civic Center and somehow someone must think this is an unfair advantage for BU and has to be reigned in!!

BUT - here's where this argument is going to have many serious problems...

-1st - in many smaller cities with colleges, the college basketball floor may be the only good place to hold high school games, and if it isn't allowed, then games will have to be moved to horribly inconvenient places.

-also if this holds true for basketball, then what happens when we get to the HIGH SCHOOL soccer season, swim meets, or even golf tournies???


Bradley's home soccer field has been used by many local high schools -
http://is.gd/xsdIw0

..and lots & lots of colleges let high schools use their swimming pool for meets and tournies because so many smaller high schools simply don't have one.
AND - the college's own HOME GOLF COURSE might be the only one in town!!!
Where are high schools gonna play if they can't play there?? This rule is going to get ridiculous...

-Then - they're obviously going to have to make exceptions for Regionals, Sectionals, and the STATE TOURNEY because every kid that ever plays in IHSA's March Madness in Peoria in March is playing on a floor that says BRADLEY UNIVERSITY on it...so is that going to be a HUGE violation???



IHSA's latest listing of enrollments & classifications shows some interesting movement...
...and several area schools have changed classes....meaning they will now compete in a completely different class size come basketball state playoffs....

In boys basketball, here are the schools of interest that will be changing classes...

-Putnam County moves up from 1A to 2A
-Illini Bluffs (Jeremy Crouch's school) moves up from 1A to 2A
-Canton moves back from 2A to 3A
-Chillicothe/IVC also moves from 2A to 3A
-Rock Island Alleman moves from 2A to 3A

But here's the silliness of it - because of the new cutoff determination and waiver deal - many schools will be playing in different Classes in the same sport - between the girls & boys..

for example...
IVC is 3A in boys basketball and only 2A in girls basketball
Illini Bluffs is 2A in boys basketball and 1A in girls basketball
same with Putnam County...
Normal West is 4A in Boys basketball and 3A in girls basketball
Rock Island is 4A in boys basketball but 3A in girls basketball
Sterling Newman is 1A in boys basketball but 2A in girls basketball
Tuscola is 2A in boys basketball and 1A in girls basketball
Marian Woodstock is 3A in boys basketball and 2A in girls basketball
Chicago De La Salle is 4A in boys basketball and 3A in girls basketball

...and on and on....



I get a laugh occasionally out of what people say on message boards...everyone thinks they are a Rhodes Scholar...
I do read some other boards but don't usually give a hoot about what other people - in their totally uninformed and ignorant states - ever say...
but some sure do care what other people say on BradleyFans.....and you can kind of identify that those who care the most about what people say on the Bradley message board are the anti-Bradley folks...
... always looking for something to trash Bradley over - or the coaches or players or even the other fine fans. But most often they come out looking foolish...

But someone told me about one thing that some obscure and uninformed poster said about a recruit that's not real familiar to Bradley folks...so let's clear this up.

The kid is Tyler Brown - he's a juco kid who is now at ISU and he's actually one of their 2 or 3 best players - and perhaps their best outside shooter - something Bradley sorely needs. Wouldn't it have been nice if BU had a 50% shooter from the arc.
(Tyler Brown is shooting a remarkable 24-48! And he could have been a Bradley Brave!)

But this kid was all set to come to BU and wanted badly to come to BU and was a possibility to sign last spring with us - but...on March 6th, Jim Les was fired and all of that changed. Up until then ISU wasn't even in the picture but after Les was fired, the kid has now landed at ISU and actually is one of the Redbirds' bright spots and makes Jankovich look pretty good in landing him.

BUT here's what one really lame brain poster says...
..that he has proof that Tyler Brown was not considering Bradley and that he was leaning to ISU anyway...then guess what he gives as his proof...
he gives some article from April of 2011 saying ISU was one of Tyler Brown's favorites.

Duhhh..does this bozo realize what he's saying?? He's basically confirming the very fact he thinks he's refuting...
He's using an article from AFTER JL was fired to prove that Brown favored ISU before JL was fired.... ahem -- it just can't work that way as most informed people can easily see.

Thus you can add Tyler Brown to the lengthy list of fine players who would surely be helping Bradley had it not been for the events of the past year and especially last spring....players like Remy Abell, Sam Maniscalco, Sean Harris, even Tyler Les - who has said plainly he wanted to stay and play here had he been "allowed"...and now Tyler Brown. Can you spell F-A-L-L-O-U-T ?



Saw more on druggies, thugs, and crooks - ex-D-I basketball players getting arrested...
Can someone explain to me why every one of these guys hitting the news by getting himself arrested for drug and gun crimes is always an ex-player for the same few basketball coaches...
I just can't figure why???

Bruce Pearl always catered to the thugs and criminals..
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111208/NEWS03/312080076/Former-Vol-J-P-Prince-arrested-DUI-Nashville?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cp

http://www.wvmetronews.com/news.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=49670



I picked up a weekly news magazine that was sitting under some stuff on my desk......
...and began to read -- I knew it wasn't the most recent issue but...
The news seemed so current...

-Iran flaunting their nuclear capability and thumbing their noses at the rest of the civilized world..

-the president talking about how we need more stimulus handouts to spark the economy

-more and more street drug victims and crime...

-impasse in congress

-President talking more taxes

-scandal -- as top politicians are discovered to be getting rich with insider information and their connections to banks and investment firms..

-Hollywood millionaires going public with their loony statements about the environment and politics and acting like they are the representatives and spokespeople for all the rest of us...

-fraud and scandal as new info and new hacked emails reveal the global warming promoters are lying, falsifying data, and hiding the facts that they are lying..

-Barney Frank claiming he was not responsible for the failures and corruption in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (but he actually is)...

...such current news.....and so about 1/2 way thru the issue I thought to myself -- wow - this news is all so current - how can that be as this is not a new magazine...so I turned back to the front page and it was an issue from January of 2010 - nearly TWO full years ago...

Wow - how things have stalled out and this currently elected government and our choices to lead this nation have DONE NOTHING in the past two years -- especially those who have been in power for a long time --
I say vote all those crooks out!



Here's an interesting quote from today's Peoria Journal Star for those who think the Federal government's job is to run education in the country or to fund it ....
"A country spending twice as much per capita on education as it did in 1970 with zero effect on test scores is not under-investing in education. It's mis-investing."

Pearl Harbor Day - The USA is and should be all about freedom and not laying down our weapons!

Today they re-ran the editorial from December 7, 1981 by Chuck Dancey -- you gotta read it...it is awesome and right on!

Past editor Chuck Dancey takes an incredibly STRONG, conservative, pro-strong defense position and says that the USA should never let it's defenses down nor yield their position as a strong WORLD power....

http://www.pjstar.com/opinion/columns/x1178220388/Our-View-Pearl-Harbors-aftermath

Yet contrast that to this modern Pearl Harbor Day speech by our current President...
telling the entire world that Freedom, free markets, individualism, encouraging people to work for themselves and SUCCEED, and the freedom for businesses to operate without intrusive government regulations
...HAS NEVER WORKED!!!

IT HAS NEVER WORKED and is a failure -- did you see that = freedom, he says, is a failure! We need more government intervention!!!!

Here are the exact words from the speech's text...
Speaking of a free market environment and economics that allow people to buy and sell without constant government regulation, intervention, and control...

"It's a simple theory - one that speaks to our rugged individualism and
healthy skepticism of too much government. It fits well on a bumper sticker.
Here's the problem: It doesn't work. It's never worked."

He takes this solemn day in our history to preach a message of how America is bad and what it fully stands for is bad and has never worked....and everything that it was founded on - the freedoms to pursue whatever endeavor people want - DOES NOT WORK -- it needs to have the government step in and make the decisions for folks!!
The government apparently think that people are just too stupid to think or function by themselves!!

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/07/obama_in_kansas/

Our Constitution is all about the very freedoms that our government seems now to want to abolish...they want no more free market, individualism, or anyone who dares be skeptical of the GOVERNMENT!!!
BUT isn't that exactly what the American Revolution, the formation of our new & unique nation, and our entire CONSTITUTION are all about?

I say we are headed the wrong way...
Our nation swooned and voted for this guy once without using their heads - now I pray we do not do it again!

Joseph "Joe" Miles Chamberlain - a remarkable person and outstanding Bradley graduate

Probably most will not be familiar with this name and also probably didn't note the obituary in the paper.
He passed away Tuesday at the age of 88 and a half..residing lately at Lutheran Home/Hillside Village.

BUT -- Miles Joseph "Joe" Chamberlain was not only a big Bradley basketball fan, he was also one of Bradley University's MOST distinguished graduates EVER!
So, who was he??

-First - he was an amazingly intelligent and productive student - born in Peoria, then serving in WWII contributing major advancements to Naval intelligence and navigational technology.

-After WWII Joe returned to Peoria and completed his studies at Bradley - graduating alongside his close, lifelong friend and Bradley Uhniversity classmate, Robert "Bob" Michel.

-He then went to Columbia University and got his doctorate in Astronomy and Celestial studies and was considered to be one of the top two or three most reknowned people in his field - later, in the 1960's Joe's name was often mentioned as one of the top two in his field alongside his close friend and Cornell grad Carl Sagan.

-Joe's skills and knowledge were in high demand and after a couple years teaching he was hired as the Chairman then Curator of the American Museum and Hayden Planetarium in New York.
When the same position opened at Adler Planetarium in Chicago he jumped at the chance to get back to the midwest.
After almost a quarter of a century as the Curator, President, and Director of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago - he retired in 1991 and has been living with his wife in Peoria ever since. For a while he lives right next to the Molinari's in a subdivision in North Peoria.
His stint at Adler made him known in Astronomy circles as literally being Mr. Planetarium and his efforts kept the planetarium successful and relevant while many other similar endeavors around the nation faltered.

-During his career he did research, published articles, helped make major discoveries, and worked alongside some of the world's top physicists and astronomers...including Sagan ..as this column & interview mentions....
http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/23364.html

He authored MAJOR textbooks on astronomy, space, planets, and the like - some of which are still current and used today!!
http://www.amazon.com/Chamberlain-Nicholson-Astronomer-Museum-Hayden-Planetarium/dp/B000R8AIP2

-Joe was my wife's uncle and an amazingly interesting and engaging person to talk with and listen to. He was also a tremendous, humble, generous, and friendly man who never sought to make a name for himself but instead to help advance the causes for which he worked. He will be missed, and although his time at Bradley predated most of us, and his work worldwide has only rarely been noted anywhere in Peoria, nor acknowledged by Bradley - he was and is one of the finest, most accomplished, most successful graduates ever produced by Bradley in any field.

Hopefully Bradley University should see fit to honor Joe in some way.

http://campaign.bradley.edu/updates/oldfogies.shtml

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pjstar/obituary.aspx?n=joseph-chamberlain&pid=154838943

http://wwwdev3.bradley.edu/about/centurion_society.shtml#TB_inline?height=300&width=300&inlineId=Chamberlain


Other references of Joe's works...

http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf2p300278;style=oac4;view=dsc

http://aas.org/taxonomy/term/16?page=31

http://www.astronautical.org/about/history


PS -- Joe's sister is Barbara Abegg - wife of Dr. Martin Abegg - past President of Bradley University.
One of Joe's nephews, Martin "Marty" Abegg, Jr. is one of the top and world reknowned experts on the Dead Sea Scrolls - writing books and traveling the world speaking on the subject...

http://twu.ca/academics/faculty/profiles/abegg-martin.html

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Sea-Scrolls-New-Translation/dp/006076662X

http://www.twu.ca/academics/graduate/biblical/dead-sea-institute.html


Joe's life spanned from the early 1920's - the tail end of the era of horse drawn wagons - all the way into the 21st century....a span of incredible advancement and achievement! And yet Joe always knew that no matter how powerful man may think he is and no matter how much man may think he knows, the amount NOT KNOWN is still infinite!

Even with all the advancements in technology & understanding, we seem to have gotten no closer to knowing all the facts....and the more we see discover and learn the more it proves to us how much we DO NOT KNOW!
Only an infinitely knowledgable and powerful intelligence can be at play here - and anyone who doesn't concede that fact is denying the obvious.

Even more familiar names showing up in the headlines

Of course the one familiar name in the most headlines in Sam Maniscalco...

"Maniscalco is the Man" headlines say...
http://www.illinihq.com/sports/illini-sports/mens-basketball/2011-11-29/maryland-maniscalco-man.html

Paul Klee even pleads "mea culpa" to underestimating Sammy's skills and guts!
But here's a funny line from writer Paul Klee..........
""It's kind of hard to understand how he can get in there
and make layups," said Bruce Weber, whose program is fortunate
Maniscalco was available on the college free-agency market."

Hmmm...so is anyone else gonna come checking Bradley's roster for more "free agents"??? - LOL

And one more that hits home...
"Consider Illinois' fortunes so far if Maniscalco had stayed
at Bradley for his fifth season. Tuesday marked the third tight game
where he made the biggest plays.."

"We should be proud to wear this (Illinois) jersey," said Maniscalco,
..."It's a privilege to put on this uniform."


Zach Andrews is among the leaders and also blocks & double doubles..but showing his maturity as a player he's nowhere near the leaderboard in fouls!

Zach Andrews is 3rd in rebounding among the players who have played more than 2 games...

Ex-ISU signee Justin Dentmon leads all of the NBA D-League in scoring at 28 ppg, and Ex-Missouri State Bear Blake Ahearn is 6th at 26.7 ppg.
Osiris Edlridge is also in the top 30 at 17 ppg.

Dentmon is also in the TOP 10 in 3-pt shooting at 62.5%

Blake Ahearn is averaging 8 assists per game ranking him in the Top four.
Dentmon at 7 apg is 7th.

Ahearn at 32-33 (.970) is the leader in FT shooting...and he's also the D-League leader in Pts-Rebs-Asst combined.


Nice article on BU recruit Tanner Williams
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=571723&query


POB's team Kavala just knocked off the #1 team - Panathinaikos with POB playing a really key role!!
http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Greece/2011/1127_8937_92.asp

Following up on some familiar names

Several ex-Braves are doing very well in their professional careers...here's just a sampling.....

Patrick O'Bryant's current pro team, Kavala in Greece's top pro league, which was one of the bottom dwellers last season, wins again...
as POB had another solid game, 10 pts, 7 rebs..
..at 4-2, Kavala is just one game out of first place...and POB still leads the league with 2.8 blocks per game, and ranks 6th in rebounding with 7.3 rpg

Marcellus Sommerville also had another great game and his Le Mans team beat Poitiers 106-95, Cellus had 19 pts, 7 rebs, 5 asst, and a steal!

Eddie Cage had a fine game Saturday with 19 pts, 4 rebs - making all NINE of his shots including 1-1 from 3-pt...his Andorra team is tied for 1st place at 5-2

Lawrence "Boogie" Wright's Halifax Rainmen (Canadian National League) win again 115-111 - Boogie had 15, 3 rebs, 3 asst and they are battling for 1st place.

Chris Roberts' Fuerza Regia won yet again Sunday - with Chris getting 19 pts, 3 rebs, 3 asst..and are on top of the league.

Andrew Warren was the subject of this article...silencing critics who said he was inconsistent, but he's now doing very well.
His team, the Taipans, who have been a long time bottom dwelling team - is now competitive.
http://www.nbl.com.au/taipans1/news/article/2011/november/warren-silences-critics-as-cairns-taipans-get-revenge/

http://www.nbl.com.au/index.php?eID=tx_cms_showpic&file=uploads%2Fpics%2Fdrew.JPG&md5=03d69b73dd879b68843f2eac8adf7265459fea4e¶meters[0]=YTo0OntzOjU6IndpZHRoIjtzOjQ6IjgwMG0iO3M6NjoiaGVpZ2h0IjtzOjM6IjYw¶meters[1]=MCI7czo3OiJib2R5VGFnIjtzOjQyOiI8Ym9keSBiZ0NvbG9yPSIjZmZmZmZmIiBz¶meters[2]=dHlsZT0ibWFyZ2luOjA7Ij4iO3M6NDoid3JhcCI7czozNzoiPGEgaHJlZj0iamF2¶meters[3]=YXNjcmlwdDpjbG9zZSgpOyI%2BIHwgPC9hPiI7fQ%3D%3D


Bradley's two recruits for next year are also doing very well.
At Dodge City Community College - Tyshon Pickett is putting up double-doubles consistently and is averaging 14 ppg, 10 rpg, hitting 64% of his shots.

PG Ka'Darryl Bell just completed a big time Chicago area Holiday Tournament at st. Patrick's -leading his team won the Championship and playing three great games...
The games are available per online video at the link right below...
Ka'Darryl's averages are 13 ppg, 6 apg
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=19772


Here's a couple followups on other players..

-Andrew Bock - who was one of Dana Altman's premier recruits to Creighton -a Top 100 kid who was rated as high as 4-Star....a sure fire star - who flopped royally at Creighton and was ushered out to free up a scholarship.
He transferred to Pacific and after sitting out a year - and after getting the chance to start..he has now kinda bombed there as well.
He's playing now as a sub and getting a couple points per game.

-Michael Ocereobia is probably falling deeper on the list of possibilities for BU.
He's been hampered by injuries but he's not putting up great numbers..
6.2 ppg, 58% field goal shooting, 5.5 rpg.

-Robert Goff - a big man that was once on Bradley's radar screen - played his cards - held out and was at one time last year the hottest BIG MAN commodity getting big time offers from Big Ten, Big 12, & Big East schools.
But then most schools backed off a bit due to his academics and he settled for Marshall.
Surely he should be doing great at Marshall, right?
well...not really - 9.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, and averaging 4 fouls per game.

-note the discussion on Reggie Hamilton...the point guard from Illinois in Class of 2007 who wasn't even listed inside the top 50 players in the state (others in the Top-10 just to remind you - Sam Maniscalco, Evan Turner, Demetri McCamey, Mike Tisdale..)
this kid is one of the best players in the nation now, scored 35 points last night to beat Tennessee, and yet was overlooked by everyone!
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=19810

-NIU is really woeful under new coach Mark Montgomery. At 0-6 they really haven't been in a single game yet...
They have a kid who was hailed as a BCS caliber recruit, a difference maker, Abdel Nader..
But Nader is struggling a bit - needing SEVENTEEN shots last night just to score 8 points!
Ex-BU recruit Tyler Storm - who doesn't get a lot of chance to play needed only 4 shots to make 5 points.
Nader's FG shooting is just 33%, and only 50% on FT. He's also averaging 4 turnovers per game.

-Hersey Hawkins' oldest son Brandon Hawkins - was listed as a walk on at Portland State but now he's no longer listed on the roster and is apparently no longer playing.
Hersey's 2nd son, Corey is sitting out a year after transferring to UC-Davis to play for Coach Les.
Hersey's youngest son, Devon, plays high school ball for West Linn HS in Oregon.
Here's a video of Devon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDSEJIfArrs&feature=related

-Manual HS's Marvin Jordan - now at Niagara is averaging 11 ppg, 3 rpg, 2.5 apg.
Maybe 2.5 apg doesn't sound like a lot but consider this...
That figure would easily lead the main point guard at BU who is averaging 2.16 apg.

-Anyone recall Larry Anderson? He's a recruit that Bradley battled right down to the finish and was one of Anderson's final two choices before he decided on Long Beach State. At the time it was made clear that the facilities were the main deciding point and Larry Anderson spurned Bradley because of the the aging on-campus facilities.
At Long Beach State - all he's done is become the team leader in just about everything.
A senior this year - he's averaging 15 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.5 apg. He'd have been a ton in the Valley - too bad we missed on him.

-Big game tonight (6:30PM) Illinois playing at Maryland, part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. It'll be interesting to see how Sammy does.

-Evansville hosts Alabama State 0-4 - should be an easy win.

-One last followup...
Drake's Josh Young - the sharpshooter who always played well against Bradley - is in Germany playing professionally.
He has turned into a prolific scorer.

Last year he played in the Pro B division in Germany - the 3rd tier of professional play and averaged 26.7ppg, 6.4rpg, 3.0apg, 2.3spg, shooting 3PT at 45.3%!!
Pretty amazing stats that allowed Josh to negotiated with a bigger, stronger team.
..and so far this year at the highest level of Professional ball in Germany, with the WALTER TIGERS Tuebingen team, he's averaging 11 ppg, and 35% from 3-pt, and 82% on FT.

Bradley's now 3-1

It was a winnable game last night but Bradley's lack of depth showed...no consistent shooters, and needing to use deep bench players and walk-ons...
But -- what did anyone expect....they were warned of the fallout and yet we still see some who must not have gotten the memo - laughing and mocking as if there is no fallout...
We are missing at least 3 solid players who would be helping us a bunch - SM, RA, and SH...but even an idiot can't miss that the attendances of only about 7000 are far, far below what we have seen at this point in every regular season since we moved to the Civic Center...
Even last year - when people were unhappy, there were complaints about attendance being down, and Bradley was losing - we drew over 8000 for a home game just before Thanksgiving.

And wonder of wonders.....Geno Ford loses one game and the same, chronically unhappy segment of BU's "fan base" is filled with rips and complaints...even to the point of turning on each other, calling each other names, and acting like children having tantrums.
But then what's to be expected - the name calling and infantile personal attacks are routine.

Did anyone think we'd go undefeated? Is 3-1 at this point in the season so far from what anyone would have thought we'd be?
We lost to a team where their guy was launching distant, fall-away shots that any other time would have been labelled ridiculous -- but they happened to go in.
Sometimes that happens...I am still happy our guys kept fighting and playing hard.
But then, I guess that's what clearly shows that I am a fan, I support the team, and I don't think just of myself and how I could have done it better, as some so-called fans rant.

Like it not, this loss is part of the fallout of making so many abrupt changes that we don't have the depth, the players, and have NOT had the time for Geno to get out on the recruiting trail and haul them in. His recruiting in the short time he's been here is as good as can be envisioned...but how can anyone see that Geno is hampered by the situation -- the fallout of the sudden changes.

And we are going to be big underdogs against Wisconsin - but it would not surprise me if we play them closer than UMKC did since we have better athletes.
Regardless - I am stumped as to how 4 games into the season we can have "fans" throwing Geno and his players under the bus already except that such is the character of the very people claiming to be fans but who seem to attack at every opportunity as if filled with intense bitterness...immaturely seeking someone to blame at every opportunity.
But then..given the past record of fans attacking every previous coach ...does it surprise that they're at it again already?



Here's a very interesting story developing around the sexual perversion issues at Syracuse involving one of the Syracuse basketball assistants..
Seems like the local police department is hindering the District Attorney's efforts to investigate...
so what's the deal? Do the police have some vested interest in protecting the Syracuse program and the perverts in it?

http://is.gd/cnjIf3



News alert for those who ragged on Wisconsin-Parkside and claimed they were a bad team because someone thought they would be last in their league..
They have NOT lost yet...they are 4-0 with an average margin of victory of 18 points and a couple of their vanquished foes are getting votes in the polls!
(Plus they almost beat UW-Milwaukee in their other exhibition!)

So how about Bradley's other exhibition opponent...
Well...Wooster hasn't lost yet either --
since the exhibition game at Bradley, they have won two straight averaging a 20 pt margin of victory!!



Lastly -- have to give a B- grade to Quick Change. I have now seen them at least 5 times as the halftime act and not only have they NOT changed or added to their act over the past 3-4 years...but I don't even think they are as good or smooth in performing it.
I still enjoyed them but several times we saw the other colored glove sticking out of the top hat and have to be cleverly pushed back in by the man, and we also saw the dress completely unfold from top to bottom one time when the covering that was meant to hide it from view failed.
Also - the corny fake flowers from the bottles and other hiding places are not even amateur-level trickery and need to be upgraded.
As for the guy on the message board who claims they accomplish their trick with some kind of high-tech fabric that changes color via electronic gadgetry -- take a hike -- that's not even the least bit plausible.



Getting back to the perversion/sports stories -- this should never be about sports or football or basketball...
this ought to be about finding, identifying, and nailing any and every pervert or predator in this or any other endeavor and keeping them away from kids.
This kind of story where Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim is unconditionally supporting his assistant even if there's solid evidence that the guy is a pervert and preying on kids -- this is sickening.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7270237/syracuse-orange-jim-boeheim-reiterates-support-assistant-bernie-fine

This kind of absolute crap reminds me of all the time after horrific murders - like the Caylee Anthony case, like the John Wayne Gacy case, like the mothers who drove their kids into a lake or drowned them in the tub, like the Columbine murderers or the Gabby Giffords shooter, like filthy-minded perverts in any profession who prey upon innocent kids....
and how right after the horrible facts and details of the crimes are revealed someone always comes forward and says...
"oh but he's (or she's) such a sweet person and I can't imagine anything like this happening" or "it can't be - I have never seen that side to him (or her)...
I guess it only shows a degree of stupidity that I cannot fathom.
Sadly - I think there's more of this to come - since everyone in the media, in Hollywood, and elsewhere preaches that "anything goes"...and that all forms of lusts and perversions aren't really bad at all.......this same kind of perverted stuff is the makeup of jokes and skits on Saturday Night Live -- like it's harmless and no big deal...

BU 3-0

Nice start so far but 3-0 is where BU should be and was expected to be .. but a few nice surprises....Taylor Brown's production already, Jordan Prosser's scoring and rebounding, and Jake Eastman's contributions.
Sadly there are still folks who can't see Jake's benefit to this team...
Prosser is ranked among the Top 20 nationally in rebounding and FG percentage, and leads the MVC in rebounding.

The faster style of play has lead to a few turnovers but oddly -- BU is still averaging at this point only 13 TO per game - still not bad and hopefully should get better.
This team is fun to watch and any good Bradley fans will enjoy them - even if they don't win the Valley....
considering everyone is picking BU last - this 3-0 start kinda has many talking that BU should do better than 10th -- duhhh....as if the gurus were blind, deaf, and dumb and didn't know who Taylor Brown was, or that DSE, WL, JE, and JP actually had some talent!

One down side - and the most obvious evidence of fallout other than the missing 3 players who would have certainly helped us this season (RA, SM, and SH) - is that the attendance thus far is the lowest at this point in the early season as it has been since BU moved to the Civic Center! Way more empty seats than even I expected....
Sure, there are a few season ticket holders who failed to renew - I expected that...but seems the biggest part of the drop-off are the supposedly loyal fans who threw a tizzy fit about the one game being held on campus and proudly "boycotted" even bragging about doing so!
There are quite a few faces that I used to see at games that I simply do NOT see thusfar this year -- some kind of fan that must be....
So much for those guys laying claim to being good fans!

But, as I have always said there are different kinds of fans - some better and more loyal -- and nice that Geno gave some kudos to the former on the radio today for supprting this team think and thin and showing up when nobody expected BU to be 3-0.

Come on out and watch & support the Braves.....and keep logging onto the best and busiest fan message board anywhere in Central Illinois -
www.BradleyFans.com

Busier, more info and interest by far than all the other Valley sites, and busier by 160-3 margin on any given day like today! Check it out...and it's not a subscription site run by ISU fans! Just folks who have full time jobs and families but who still find and post all the most useful news and breaking info on Bradley basketball. Every tidbit of info or news on Bradley shows up there first thanks to the great informed fans base on BradleyFans!
Singlehandedly saving many people $250 per year trying to find any info somewhere else!

The Great Success at Renaissance Arena

Bradley held their first Division I game on campus in 30 years last night and it was a tremendous success. In fact it was a TREMENDOU SUCCESS. Ticket sales were slow at first and a few people grumbled - none more prominently than one local newspaper sports editor who proclaimed repeatedly this was a bad idea.

BUT - it turned out to be wildly successful, much to the chagrin of those who have dissed on the whole idea since it was first proposed more than a year ago - and was announced as planned several months ago.

Here's just a little sampling of how successful it was..

-the players and coaches all unanimously agreed it was wildly successful and was a great idea. NOT one negative comment from anyone who was there at the game except one (see below).

-1400 Bradley students bought tickets and attended the game -- 1400 -- that's probably MORE Bradley students in one building that has occurred in many decades.

-1400 Bradley students may even be MORE than there are attending classes on some nice days in the spring!

-everyone who bought a ticket and attended - even season ticket holders, sat in a seat that was NEW to them - a new experience, with many new or different people sitting nearby from what they were used to. This was great as it gave a chance to see and meet new Bradley fans...and enjoy a NEW experience.

-the place was, of course, packed and tremendously loud. Loud enough so that you couldn't even stand face to face and talk to someone - you had to lean over and shout directly into their ear.

-the fans were wild, too -- standing and cheering - not just the students..very few blue hairs staying in chairs.

-the message boards are filled this morning with numerous threads discussing the success of this event - at least half a dozen different discussion threads - all noting what a great time everyone had and what a success this was right from the very idea.

-you practically can't find a single person with anything negative to say...practically - except for that very same local newspaper sports editor who has been dissing on this whole idea for months -- somehow he saw this game very differently from the thousands who were all there enjoying it...and his column had at least a dozen rips on this game, the students, and the whole idea.
Somehow he seemed to have a bad hair day with this game while over 4300 were having one of the best times of their lives.
Does this maybe say something about his perspective and how negatively biased this writer must be? What's the basis for his negativity and grudge against the school he claims to be a 3-generation devotee of?

Why comments like this about the surprisingly HUGE mass of 1400 students in attendance..
"a couple or three hundred students left at halftime and did not
return. Must have had to get to their 8:30 night classes. Or something."

And instead of a compliment to the BU administration for all the hard work in making this a success, he never mentions that and instead says..
"..it wasn't the mighty roar that drove generations of Peorians to
premature hearing loss from time spent at Braves games in old Robertson
Field House.
..they need the administration to care about the students again. The sad
fact for too long on the Bradley campus has been that the basketball program
is invisible."
"One game played in Renaissance, a campus arena much too small for the
season-ticket base, won't fix that."

I don't get it --- does this writer go to a restaurant and ask to be served - then when he gets a great meal JUST AS HE ASKED -- he responds..
"..This won't cut it -- this is only one great meal - I need something like this many more times before I am satisfied.."

Oh well......the people that Bradley did this for sure appreciated it...the students and the rest of the fans.......
I got a laugh seeing a 4-page thread on one message board about this game -
gotta see -
BUT -- the first three pages of posts are from BEFORE the game was played, and are gripes and complaints about this being a bad idea and even predictions that it'll be a flop!

Then one guy who I talked to at the game and who was having a GREAT time with front row seats....posts how everyone was wrong and they missed a great game - then the whole thread goes silent - nothing -- only 2 posts were made from after the game and neither actually discussed how great the whole game and event was!!!
I guess the certain negative aspect of the fan base there is stunned by the facts and doesn't have any more defense for their gripes.



Getting to the game itself......

We still lack a consistent outside shooter but Shayok Shayok nailed a couple outside shots and made the defenses pay.
Jordan Prosser filled the middle and nearly had a second double double with 15 pts, 8 rebounds.
Walt Lemon kept his fouls and turnovers down and contributed significantly to the offense.
The lack of depth at the post forces Prosser to avoid tight defense - giving opponents some pretty good looks down low...
I think using AT or even DH early in the game to lay some hard fouls on their post players might send the right message and keep them out of the paint.
Dyricus keeps having leg cramps -- I need to tip him off to a little traditional cure...

Even the cheerleaders came well prepared in older throwback uniforms.

Hot dogs were 50 cents...and there's plenty of concessions and restrooms so even a packed house had little to complain about.

All in all it was a 100% POSITIVE experience - so I am simply stunned that there are still a handful who find things to gripe about.
Some of the gripers say they do not read this blog but they always seem to know what I am saying - so I expect they will read this and know who I am talking about.
Misery loves company and bitterness destroys the vessel that holds it...
give up the griping and be a fan.....4300 people will tell you it was a truly great experience - sorry you missed it.

Lots of interesting Valley News

There's a lot to talk about in the Valley, some good and some bad...First, the good!

Bradley returns to campus for a home game tonight. Although Bradley has played numerous preseason exhibition games on campus in recent years, this is the first regular season game since Bradley beat Illinois Wesleyan in the old Fieldhouse on December 1, 1993, an 81-63 win in front of 5205 fans.The last game against a D-I opponent on campus was March 18, 1982 which was a 3rd round game in the NIT.Bradley won this game over Tulane 77-61 on their way to the NIT TITLE a week later in New York.>>

The last time Bradley played a regular season game against a D-I opponent on campus was February 27, 1982 - the final regular season game of the 1981-82 season, a tremendous game that I recall well - but a heartbreaking OVERTIME loss to #8 ranked Tulsa 82-79 that hurt BU's chances of an NCAA at large bid...but set up a memorable run to the NIT Championship.>>

This will be an exciting game against decent opponent tonight, SEMO - who have some fine players. However -- I am puzzled why we have to pay them so much to come and play us in Peoria. This is a team that would have probably come for a dime just to "play up" against Valley opponent.$70,000 sounds like a lot of money - http://www.semissourian.com/story/1784881.html--

But Bradley also has some very fine players....with Taylor Brown, Dyricus Simms-Edwards, Jordan Prosser, and even a couple freshman excelling and standing out thus far. It's beginning to look like just maybe the players we had already in the fold at BU were not so bad as some whined about. It's becoming pretty obvious that it was just the injuries that hurt BU.--

AND TONIGHT -- we need a great crowd - but thus far crowds have been down -- obviously a part of the fallout from last spring that doubters simply don't want to see.


More good -- the Valley still is getting some pretty good press - some saying we're going to get multiple NCAA bids...and I certainly hope so....as long as the negatives coming out of the Valley don't hit the national newswires....http://is.gd/LuGjVt

The Evansville win vs. Butler and Drake win vs. Iowa State helped a bunch but we need some more BIG wins -- GO Aces tonight against the Hoosiers!

More good - for BU fans - after 5 games BU recruit Tyshon Pickett is hitting 65% of his field goal attempts, hauling down 10 rebounds per game, getting 2.2 blocks.

In the MVC stats - Jordan Prosser leads in rebounds and is 3rd in the NATION, while two of the top four scorers in the Valley are BU players (TB &DSE).


Now the bad - First - a mention of the passing of Bradley basketball legend Bob Carney -- a truly great player but also a great man and incredibly well loved by everyone who knew him - he has already been missed, as I have the pleasure of sitting two rows in front of his season tickets and have enjoyed many chats with Bob & his wife - and have already missed seeing them. RIP.


And the really bad Valley basketball news........I don't think I can recall a team in the Valley in any recent decade that is as bad as SIU looks right now.They lost on their home court to a bad, transitioning D-II team - a team that went the next night to another D-II school and got blown out.
BUT SIU lost looking really bad .....Then last night they not only lost to Saint Louis -- they embarrassed themselves and the Valley. They were never even close - they trailed by 20 early and the final score would have been a 25+ point margin had Rick Majerus not flooded the floor with deep subs.
And SIU simply doesn't play the kind of ball that's going to win games. Everyone just dribbles and shoots - no passing - totally selfish play. They had ONLY one assist in the entire game - how is that possible?

That may just be some kind of all time MVC or NCAA record - and if not it is only one away from the record!!!


BUT -- you haven't heard the worst -- as bad as SIU is - they do have two legitimate D-I players in Bocot & Seck - but both are seniors and will be gone next year. How are they ever going to find anyone they can schedule and beat next year?

Since the Rich Herrin era - SIU has had only 3 losing seasons and all three have now occurred under Lowery's watch and the spectre of several more loom large!
AND yet - the usual crowd who dissed on Jim Les used to praise Chris Lowery endlessly - even our local press did as if they'd have traded what we had in a heartbeat to get CLo! Can you imagine -- Lowery never even had injuries that might have accounted for his team's dismal performances. There's really nobody the SIU fans can blame except Lowery and whoever gave him a 7 year extension at 3/4 mil!

Then we have the two ISU players arrested for assaulting an apparent downtown bar patron at 2AM last Sunday morning..Now I don't want to get into a terribly big argument but this comes on top of numerous other alcohol issues and arrests, DUI's, robberies, player dismissals for arrests, even child rapes at - among the basketball players at ISU recently -- they even had a stretch with Levi Dyer & Brandon Sampay of TWO DUI's concurrently that Jank said he'd penalize strictly yet none of those guys ever missed a single game or even a practice as has been thoroughly documented.I agree BU players have had some issues - but all have FAR more minor and almost trivial in comparison.

Although I saw all this coming years ago - with the behavior and the poor scheduling, poor recruiting, and terrible performances - that ISU and SIU have clearly defined themselves as the BOTTOM of the Missouri Valley. Their fans have tried like crazy to fire slurs and insults at BU and the Bradley players and even the Bradley fans - but the facts clearly define otherwise. Where some fans were saying the Valley should dump Evansville a couple years ago - I think now we need, unfortunately to look at SIU & ISU...they're both scheduling and playing worse than D-II's and their criminal and arrest record is hard for the rest of the nation to miss. I guess I'd feel sorry for their good and loyal fans - but there don't seem to be very many. Thankfully most fan bases are more upbeat even when their teams falter or suffer through injury.


Here's a laughable bonehead comment by our President -- but here's the odd thing...If George Bush, Gerald Ford, Dan Quayle, or even Michelle Bachman had made this comment, it would have been on the front pages of newspapers and on Saturday Night Live for YEARS!!!And yet HERE is OUR President - who was BORN (supposedly) in Hawaii -- and he doesn't even know that Hawaii is part of AMERICA!!!He says Hawaii is part of ASIA!!!Is this profoundly stupid or what??
http://is.gd/IudeJV


Just as predicted - the Wall Street movement people are suddenly realizing how stupid their demands are -- that they want money handed to them and taken away from people who worked to earn it.Al a big blow to their cause - yesterday the New York Supreme Court ruled that they cannot "occupy" the public park - that it is illegal for them to claim as their own the property of the state!So most have packed up and gone - leaving behind their filth, waste, drug paraphernalia, condoms, and rubbish...and now there's only about a dozen of them left.BUT - never underestimate the wackiness of anarchists and lazy people who want others' money! They'll be back or they'll simply start taking over houses in your town!
http://is.gd/pvjUHs