More thuggery under John Calipari...and renegades in the Valley, and the new arena..

John Calipari effect??
One of University of Kentucky's stars...
Darnell Dodson, was first suspended, then booted, now he's arrested...
4:30AM outside of a bar...
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5430024
http://www.allkyhoops.com/2010/10/calipari-confirms-darnell-dodson-no.html
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20101015/SPORTS03/310150055/Former+Kentucky+basketball+player+Darnell+Dodson+arrested


How many people remember this...?
Two players on Wichita State were arrested late last year -- one is still with the team, but there's been little mention of Blair getting a suspension this season to correlate with his indiscretion..
With all the arrests and expulsions at ISU and SIU lately, surely they are in a heated battle for #1 renegade program in the Valley -- but if WSU fails to properly followup and discipline their offenders, then they'll move intio the top three.
(but they appear to have a way to go to catch Saint Louis University!)
......Gabe Blair, Clevin Hannah...arrsted..
http://www.kansas.com/2010/05/11/1308121/basketball.html



Here's a little blurb on BU's arena and why it's only 4200 seats..
=tornado][QUOTE=BradleyBrave;193902]...Tell me again why they couldn't add 1,500-2,000 seats above the lower bowl? ....[/QUOTE]

There is basically one reason...
that if you go to build such a thing as BU did, you HAVE TO approach the city and the numerous committees, legal representatives, and governing bodies,
as well as the represntatives of other people in the region who might oppose your plans...then...submit them and request approval.
The city decides things based on what they deem best for the applicant AND the city and especially the surrounding neighbors, infrastructure, facilities, roads, homes, etc...

And then when you've done the best you can do, and gotten approval to build an arena with 4,200 permanent seats (and 4500 total seats maximum - see legal approval links below) and enough room to maybe even fit an extra 1000 in there, then you do the best you can do.

But if you forge right ahead and build an arena for 6,000 when you only have permits and approval for 4,200, then you are not only being stupid, you are violating laws and ordinances, and setting yourself up for fines and lawsuits. It continues to be patently absurd that people keep asking why we didn't do it since we didn't have permission nor legal right to do it!!

Here's another example, maybe it'll be understandable...
if the city approves you a permit to build a theater with a seating caopacity of 1000, and a maximum occupancy on 1200, but you decide eggheadedly to ignore the advice of lawyers, builders, and city officials, and forge right ahead and build a theater with 2500 seats, wouldn't that be about the absolute dumbest thing you could do??
Then all the people over on the message boards would be ripping into you for doing such a really stupid thing.

Here are just a few of the proceedings by the city that have limited what BU could do -- so BU did everything they could -- they should be applauded for getting the project done given the limitations and restrictions...
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:b-4iLUpIAcIJ:www.ci.peoria.il.us/officials/clerk/Agenda/MG49764/AS49768/AS49775/AI49915/DO49936/DO_49936.pdf+%22www.ci.peoria.il.us%22+and+%224500+seat+arena%22&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShd36Pyuf3djpBJsL1xfusDFX3PQyr5VUuaeUW9epfoWvTE1N_xIhjY-zcnOACv08eloLSWZq2XZz-azxOmpqPZeeOahXzZgXxCCLpS5bscHW4qgn7uJXIa5OCh1hb9vrUMXfwE&sig=AHIEtbRIFpcrh2xkbb9wPX_GKEPw2YBYtg
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:H9fANoYY98IJ:www.ci.peoria.il.us/officials/clerk/Agenda/MG57070/AS57074/AS57081/AI57119/DO57127/DO_57127.pdf+%22bradley%22+and+%22arena%22+and+%22peoria%22+and+%22approval%22&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjo-OVTbfF7CeA_pnZpnlqL6oJp6Q68i_xim8K1bLgUWBIQEMmZTYlr8MLdXJ1X4NHcaS0DFSi2dwCnbgeYuBwAsyrRJxi0Fcayx8-uZCwPXbl_w_mkh24fv2mEMb0bhHrxaG2y&sig=AHIEtbTHfd3r4v50UKe9zjmqGZGXLlwbjQ
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:fGRQXArA7RgJ:www.ci.peoria.il.us/resourcesmodule/download_resource/id/2575/src/%40random477cfc5f338a1/+%22bradley%22+and+%22arena%22+and+%22peoria%22+and+%22approval%22&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShYcdKERrXrNlPJk1obd4rGNsxXkZkBoD7nS7RmDCkgw60AMnKiotohvhxP18SWPtjMUL9So7VgGsNzia_Ja5osZ58MFkAPs_TYNuv280W8faex71bdMH7uJB1f_2u2zi_29pla&sig=AHIEtbTWHK9_tv5jN2HSe9WYMWlx7oDIUghttp://www.ci.peoria.il.us/city-clerk-minutes
http://www.ci.peoria.il.us/2006


Quoting the 1st link above...here is exactly what BU had permission to build, and nothing bigger could have possibly been built...
"130,000 square foot facility"
"4,500 seat arena" (4200 seats are permanent seats)
"parking deck - five story, 620 parking spaces - not to exceed height 66 feet"
..then the document goes on to describe the changes required and limits to the traffic patterns, traffic signals, lighting, lane additions, pedestrian lighting, fences, screens, sidewalks, lighting improvements, landscaping, and other safety, neighborhood concerns, etc., etc., etc.....

Lots of Madness...

Here are just a few of my observations on BU and on Hoopla...

--The BU women's team are a great group and they really have some size with a couple 6-3 kids. I hope they draw well and have a great season.

--There is something going on with Taylor Brown's eyes, he was wearing prescription shaded glasses...I hope he does OK with them.

--Sam Maniscalco, Taylor Brown, and Anthony Thompson were all mentioned previously to be battling nagging injuries, and none of them did much more than saunter through the layup line once or twice.

--At one point Dyricus put on a little dribbling display -- he's good and might just be a commendable PG when we need one.

--Anyone who said Walt Lemon would redshirt will be wrong. He will battle for some of Chris Roberts' playing time.
Here are some pics of his game-winning dunk...
Pics of Walt's dunks

--Both Will Egolf & Andrew Warren got up off the ground better than I had ever seen them -- I think both have added to their vertical leap.

--Andrew Warren likes the fans' enthusiasm...
http://twitter.com/#!/drewwarren24/status/27515831393

--so does Will Egolf
http://twitter.com/#!/willFREEMAN21/status/27507496718

--so does Dodie
http://twitter.com/#!/dodie_dunson/status/27508441665

--It was entertaining, but I am still very hungry for some actual basketball!!!



BTW - the mid-major legacy countdown still continues, with Bradley inside the Top 15, but still not revealed yet!


POB in China...
http://plixi.com/p/50965476


Around the Valley -- click on the text to see more...

--Creighton held Bluejay Madness...
...crowd looks pretty good.
Here's more...

..in the video of newcomer Greg Echinique -- he takes about 20 shots in warmups and during the scrimmage, and makes every one that is a dunk and misses every one that's not a dunk. Hopefully, if we defend against the dunk we have him covered...

--Drake apparently doesn't have much until an open scrimmage on Oct. 21.

--Evansville gets a verbal from a 6-8 guy...
...but no mention of their opening of practice.

--ISU had their Hoopfest...here are a couple observer reports but strangely very little and you'd think they would be discussing Wilkins and their new guys...
...The Pantagraph has a little more...
...also, no mention of how well attended it was, but from this picture it looks like they had a few less than the 1,614 that Bradley had!
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/pantagraph.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/4/9a/607/49a607a8-d8e2-11df-9dd5-001cc4c03286-revisions/4cb9316ba60b3.preview-300.jpg

Here's the official story and the box score of the ISU scrimmage...
A lot of the new guys, Upshaw, Ekey, Threloff went scoreless!!
http://www.goredbirds.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/101510aac.html

--Indiana State held an open practice they called "The Big Blue Block Party"..
Here's a mention of it...
Their blogger talks Valley basketball but nothing yet on their open practice...

--Missouri State held closed practice but they do have a new walk-on..
http://www.missouristatebears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=59268&SPID=6484&DB_OEM_ID=13800&ATCLID=204990662&Q_SEASON=2010

--Northern Iowa has closed practices and no madness

--Salukis decided this season just to hold a closed practice and are not doing their perennial "Maroon Madness"...

--Shocker Madness was not last night but instead is being held tonight...
...btw Wichita State gets a Sports Illustrated mention as possibly this year's Mid-major darling...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/seth_davis/10/14/burning.questions/1.html



Here's a bunch of pictures from the Ilini Madness...



Many other schools did open practices and Madness events....
Kentucky always has a huge produciton, and it was attended by actress Ashley Judd...showing off some of her surgical results...



Older pictures of Ashley show a much "thinner" look...


Here's a mention of Tyler Les...

DePaul adds an assistant coach..
http://www.depaulbluedemons.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/101510aab.html

The Indiana Hoosiers held Hoosier Hysteria, but they're alreasy talking post-season??

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/491749-season-on-the-brink-hoosiers-primed-for-postseason-birth?source=rss_teams_Indiana_Hoosiers
..IU had 13,000
http://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1139958

Memphis drew over 18,000 to their Madness...


AAU Illinois Wolves' Mike Mullins gives a shout out to Sammy Maniscalco's brother for his fine work....Carl & Sammy were at Madness last night..
http://twitter.com/#!/wolves10/status/27505624029

A great Bradley Hall of Famer Passes...and a puzzle about Track & Field records... plus lots more...

Jack Heintzman, long time Peorian, Peoria HS grad, Naval and WWII vet, Bradley grad and Bradley Hall Of Famer in Track and High Jump..who competed successfully at the WORLD level in his events...
passed away Tuesday......... I knew the family and they were all fine people......

Jack had a large picture and display in the old Fieldhouse lobby that many will recall.....
http://www.legacy.com/pjstar/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=145975109
http://www.gpshof.org/Inductees/heinzman.html

Jack Heintzman was a great high jumper for Bradley...but that got me thinking...about high jump records, and I have noticed something that's puzzling to me.....

Virtually every single event in all of track and field has had the all time records broken over and over and over...
and the current record for almost all events is way better than what people were doing 20-30 years ago....

EXCEPT HIGH JUMP!!! (and triple jump)

Can anyone come up with a logical explanation why high jump records peaked about 20-30 years ago and not only have people not done better...
they really can't even get to where we were 20-30 years ago...


Here's evidence...
check the all time best high jumps in the STATE of ILLINOIS per IHSA...
http://www.ihsa.org/activity/trb/records/atop.htm#0X1500

NOT ONE of the best 15 heights ever jumped has occurred within the past 15 years...
and the vast majority of ALL of the best 50 jumps in IHSA/Illniois high school history are from the 1980's and earlier!

Why is that?? It isn't true for any other events except the jumps (high jump, triple jump, long jump). The best pole vault was in 2010, and all running events have some recent runs in the top 10..

So has gravity gotten stronger?? Do kids just not try as hard on the jumps??

You can also check college and pro records as well, and see that only rarely have the top jumps ever been as good as dozens of the best jumps from the 70's and 80's.
the two oldest NCAA field records are the high jump & triple jump set in the 1980's and not broken since...
http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/tfn/records/records.jsp?listId=5

So.... what gives?



Here's breaking news...next year in 2011, Creighton will be playing against Iowa at a neutral site game...they get Iowa at the big arena in Des Moines...
http://creighton.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1139437



Yet another player gets a transfer waiver....Jay-R Stowbridge - who transferred twice from Nebraska to Jackson State, and now to Dana Altman's Oregon...but if he sits out this year his eligibility will run out...so he pleaded his case and the NCAA gave in for no clear reason except that Oregon is going to be devastated this year with no players....
This call by the NCAA is flat out unprecedented, since this kid chose to transfer TWICE -- it was his own decision both times.
http://www.goducks.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205012392



USC publishes it's new practice policy -- and as part of their softie NCAA penalty -- every single football and basketball practice for the next FOUR YEARS - this in effort to keep agents away! wow, this is serious punishment!! It's a fact that almost all schools already close their practices for privacy, security, and distraction reasons.
http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/101410aab.html



UConn spent the day yesterday grovelling, begging, pleading, and kissing up to the NCAA in hopes of getting off easy as IU and USC have despite all their cheating...
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/14133395



Meanwhile UNC is whistling in the dark hoping the NCAA doesn't turnover too many rocks...
http://acc.blogs.starnewsonline.com/16791/williams-confident-no-unc-hoop-players-involved-in-ncaa-probe/



Our old buddy Larry Eustachy claims again for about the 5th straight season...
"This year is definitely the year!"...even tho his horribly weak schedule the past several years still hasn't helped them go anywhere...
This season Eustachy has another FOUR NAIA teams on the schedule...
including obscure William Carey, Spring Hill, Cal State-Monterey Bay, etc..and a host of other horribly weak D-I teams like McNeese, Alcorn State, South Alabama, Mississippi Valley State, and Savannah State -- a plethora of the historically worst D-I teams ever!!
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20101015/SOUTHERNMISS/101014020

Larry's roster has a few troubled kids as well....
Well-travelled Gary Flowers who graduated from high school in 2004, then spent two more years at two diploma factory prep schools that have been closed down, then a couple more years at juco and then even sat out a year in there...so the kid's almost 25!
Virtually every other player he has is a well travelled prep schooler, juco kid, or D-I transfer (only 2 of his scholarship players came straight from a standard high school).

Nice to read some good coverage somewhere...

SIU had their media day...here are the articles...they are all quite nice...
the kind of coverage that ANY fan would read and enjoy -- no effort by anyone to stir the pot or cause a controversy.
http://thesouthern.com/college/siu/article_feb7c322-d741-11df-8a65-001cc4c03286.html
http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/101310aaa.html

ISU also had their media day....and not only did the Pantagraph cover it..
http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/article_0fd4b0ec-d73e-11df-95c9-001cc4c002e0.html

..but even the PJ Star covered it and it's NICE -- literally 100% nice, positive, and nowhere close to the hit pieces we're used to getting in Peoria...
http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x549826253/Redbird-basketball-plans-to-pick-up-the-pace

And Drake had their media day and lots of other programs did as well...
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2010/10/13/phelps-prepares-to-guide-his-touted-recruits-into-the-valley/
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20101011/SPORTS020403/10120350/1097/SPORTS0204/Drake-Basketball-Bulldogs-look-to-improve-on-Valley-record?GID=s3zlKwpzQfJYth9GxpFXfg4238F/Vs/BuwtdHb41k8c%3D

And I have recently referenced many stories done by medias in college basketball towns that cover fairly (see yesterday's blog) even when there are some negatives that could have been dragged out...


And ESPN even has a really nice, long interview with Coach Les...
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16467


So -- not to beat a dead horse...but I am going to express my opinion again...something that seems to rankle some....
but the thing that I note the most is that all those articles are 100% positive, fair, and what the people want!!

BUT recall -- BOTH SIU and ISU had really bad things happening in the off season and past year...players arrested, players booted, players leaving and transferring, players with other legal issues in court almost daily, players with serious FELONIES, bad scheduling, poor performances, and lots of other troubles...
and the single standout thing about all those articles is that NONE of that was even hinted. There obviously was NO NEED to drag all that stuff out and rehash it all again. Just common sense and decent journalism...only someone on a tirade or with a grudge or agenda would have tried to turn that coverage negative and dwelt on the past...
But that's exactly what we are used to in Peoria with any coverage of Bradley basketball -- and Bradley hasn't had any of those negatives to the degree that both SIU and ISU has had them.

You could say the press was being kind if you compare to what we see locally in Peoria...but I see it more as just being fair..
Why do a hit piece when you cover good stuff???
Why drag out and rehash all the old bad stuff, player departures, arrests..etc..
it is BAD journalism and it just isn't done anywhere except in Peoria.

I don't expect things to change - except that the pages are getting tinier and the print is cheaper, but someone has to point out the stark difference in the coverage D-I college basketball gets in Peoria with the coverage it gets in any other city. Here it's always slanted to the negative, and over and over the old stuff is brought out and thrown into the discussion all over again almost in a blatant attempt to load up the negatives in every article and coverage.
Remember, BU hasn't had ANY felonies, and no DUI's, and nothing of the serious nature as has happened at SIU and ISU, yet the coverage here dwelt endlessly on incredibly minor issues with tweets and ridiculously minimal misdemeanors...
Even the latest "hot seat" story used the few player issues as being a factor in JL feeling the heat...
I seem to recall certain local newspaper employees getting DUI's and arrests...and even at least one whose kids had all those same troubles....maybe there's a desire to deflect the obvious onto the BU players??? Just asking for fairness.........
Funny how just asking for what's present daily in almost every other city covering D-I basketball seems like asking too much....like I don't have a right to simply say what I'd like to see or read.

A bit of recruiting news, POB, lots of Illini stuff, other college basketball news, and yet more ugly cheating scandals!!

Here's a kid that BU likes...
He has actually grown and is 6-2 and has several Valley schools pursuing him...
...Bradley is recruiting Ja'ln Williams, a 6-2 PG from Wichita East High School.-
http://www.shockernet.net/sn/viewtopic.php?p=340100#340100

http://rivals.yahoo.com/jucojunction/basketball/recruiting/player-Ja'ln-Williams-115577

http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams/default.asp?u=HMCSELECT&t=c&s=basketball&p=profile&playerID=42435&gametype=REG

He is the 2nd guy from the left here-
http://kcprephoops.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/images-1.jpeg

He is picked as 1st team all Wichita (scroll down about 2/3 of the way to the Wichita city section)-
http://kcprephoops.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/wichita-and-kansas-city-high-school-basketball-pre-season-all-area-teams/

But there's another name from the Wichita area that would be cool for BU to recruit-
http://www2.ljworld.com/photos/2010/jan/22/185358/
Anthony Buffalomeat would definitely make anyone's "all name team".



Patrick O'Bryant is off to China in two days -- and he expects to get tons of playing time. If he isn't used to being the tallest guy in the elevator by now, then not sure what to do....?
http://13pob13.blogspot.com/2010/10/so.html?spref=tw



Kansas' Bill Self appears to know something -- that his 5-Star point guard might not be eligible...
http://twitter.com/#!/xb7/status/27254402576



Here's a really nice writeup for Iowa's new head coach ...contrast this to what we see elsewhere........
http://qctimes.com/sports/football/college/big-10/iowa/article_f4d850f0-d3f0-11df-bf67-001cc4c03286.html



WIU is in this year's Cancun Challenge...and the pairings and brackets are finally set...

They first go on the road for two games at Missouri then Wyoming - a game they might have a shot at although they will be the underdog in both games...
then the rest of the tourney moves to Cancun, where the big name teams compete for the title of one division...

Then the smaller schools compete for the championship of the "Mayan Division"...
So Coach Molinari faces Morgan State in Cancun on Nov. 23, then if they won, they will advance to the title game against the winner of the other semi between North Florida and Prairie View A&M...
I think WIU has an excellent chance to win their bracket and bring home some hardware...so go MO!
http://www.goleathernecks.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12000&ATCLID=205010682



Speaking of Wyoming...the Mountain West Conference selected their preseason picks...in their Media Day yesterday.....
Wyoming was picked 8th in the 9 team conference...

San Diego State was picked as the preseason favorite to win the league...
then after the top spot, came BYU in 2nd, New Mexico in 3rd, UNLV in 4th, then Colorado State, Utah, TCU, Wyoming, and lastly Air Force.

Their preseason All-Conference 1st team consists of BYU's Jimmer Fredette (POY), UNM's Dairise Gary, SDSU's Kawhi Leonard & Malcolm Thomas, and UNLV's Tre'Von Willis.

New Mexico's Drew Gordon was picked as Newcomer of the Year & BYU's Kyle Collingsworth Freshman of the Year.



The Illini had their media day....lots of articles, some of the best coverage is premium...
http://illinois.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1138507
http://illinois.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1138360
http://illinois.rivals.com/photofeature.asp?SID=922&fid=34741

Here are some nice pics...
http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/922/F736479.jpg
http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/922/F736485.jpg
http://illinois.rivals.com/photofeature.asp?SID=922&fid=34741

Here's a nice long interview with Bill Cole
http://illinois.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1138458

here's a bit of what it says if you can't get it...
"Can you see a difference in the team this year compared to last year?
Bill Cole-Yeah, I see a big one. We are older and more mature now. This team has talent at every position and it has us being much deeper. I really believe that you could go nine or ten deep on this team and you would still be talking about some of the better players in the Big Ten. We look at it that way and we're not going to back down from anybody. This year's team we want to take it to them.

Do you ever talk to guys about buying into a role and not worrying about putting up gaudy stat lines?

Bill Cole-I do. A lot of people, especially the younger ones look at it backwards. They think that if they go out and score 30 points a night then they will be helping their team win. The good players can help their team win in other ways besides just scoring. If you're trying to be something that you are not, then Coach Weber isn't going to let you out on the floor because you aren't going to help the team be successful. It's all about your attitude. What's more important; putting up numbers or winning games?

I know you just talked about playing your role, but are you trying to include more offense in your game this year?

Bill Cole-Definitely. Part of my evolution has been to look a little bit for my three. I started to get comfortable towards the end of last year and I was going to my shot more. I like to look for screens and come off of those firing now. Last year I was mostly a spot up shooter but this year I want to do a little more.

I'm sure you want to get on the court and play, but looking at it as your last season, are you taking it day by day?

Bill Cole-I'm trying to soak up as much as possible. I had a great opportunity to play here and I want to look back and say that I gave it my all. I am getting tired of playing these guys though (laughing). As a competitor, you want to go out there and play the best that there is. I get to play against great guys in practice, but at some point, you want to take on some new players. I can't wait to get going, but I'll make it count."



One of DePaul's key returnees, Eric Wallace , is out for the season..
http://depaul.scout.com/2/1011322.html


Chicago State is making some effort to build their long crumbling program -- trying to get students interested in coming to games!!
Free T-Shirts!!!
http://www.gocsucougars.com/news/2010/10/12/MBB_1012104020.aspx

And if any student thinks they're good enough they can step it up a notch from being a student-fan and they could actually be ON THE TEAM!
http://www.gocsucougars.com/news/2010/10/12/MBB_1012102556.aspx



Yet another grade-changing scandal....and oddly this is one that's yet to get much publicity - but we're always ahead of the curve on breaking the news.....

Recall the Chicago Public Schools and the grade changing that benefitted Derrick Rose and three other teammates...
and of course there was the scandal where Kansas' Darrell Arthur's grades were altered by the Dallas school people in order for him to be eligible....
and also there was the recent Eric Bledsoe grade-changing scandal involving people in Birmingham, AL.

Well, here's the latest, and it may involve many, many current college athletes!!!
It involves massive scandal and grade & test score fraud by people in the Atlanta schools.

Now before we go any further.....
this scandal involved 2008 and 2009 grades and test scores..and ...
NO player on Bradley's roster attended Atlanta area high schools in that interval...
Notable basketball players like Al-Farouq Aminu, Wesley Witherspoon, Derrick Favors, Glen Rice, Jr., Wichita State's Jerome Hamilton, Northwestern's Jershon Cobb, Tennessee's Jordan McRae, Kevin Ware, and Trae Golden all did.......as well as many football athletes and athletes in other sports.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/atlanta-public-schools-investigated-in-standardized-test-cheating-scandal/19670981

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/feds-probe-atlanta-schools-633239.html

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/24670682/detail.html

Strangely, this scandal has yet to make the news to the degree the others did, but it may be the biggest one yet!!!
The grade changing was done without the knowledge of or involvement of any students but obviously some student athletes might have benefitted.

It was done in an organized fashion by administrative personnel at the schools in order to get higher overall GPA's and test results and thus boosted federal and state funding that would accompany better performance levels..
In other words....monetary greed!!!

The school officials went to extremes and cheated in order to...
"earn those schools additional federal money, which principals can spend for almost anything they wish."
Let's see if the NCAA realy cares...probably not unless some kid at a mid-major school beacomes a star, then they'll start digging fast.



Speaking of cheating and sleaze.....
Baylor is being investigated by the NCAA.
Baylor might be in trouble for recruiting violations with Hanner Perea
http://www.insidethehall.com/2010/10/12/baylor-in-hot-water-over-perea-recruitment/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+insidethehall+%28Inside+the+Hall+%7C+An+Indiana+Hoosiers+basketball+blog%29&utm_content=Twitter

There have been numerous other reports of Baylor and their sleazy recruiting tactics...
it only goes to show no matter how good of a guy you are like Drew...that if you have to compete toe to toe with sleazy guys like Self, Sampson, etc...then you'll ultimately stoop to their tactics..

Here are lots of articles on Drew's slimy recruiting and actions..
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncb/columns/story?columnist=caplan_jeff&id=4979714
http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/barnes-has-stern-words-for-baylor/
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/solomon/6922078.html
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13039577/drew-baylor-just-win-and-bear-it-despite-the-aspersions

I think we have answered the oft asked question of how did Baylor get so good so fast and land so many top players...
it's because they cheat and use the sleaziest methods.



More cheating topics......
Kentucky's John Calipari says he "screwed up" and "overscheduled" such that he thinks he is going to "lose early" and not be as successful as last year's team
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/39641454/ns/sports-college_basketball/
(any discussion of John Calipari is tied in with cheating)

And -- Even more revelations of Tim Floyd's sleaziness while he was at USC...
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/New-book-paints-unflattering-picture-of-UTEP-coa?urn=ncaab-276506&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

This guy was already one of the top 3 or 4 sleaze guys in all of college basketball -- even before this stuff!



As for all the cheating going on at the BCS schools, now some of the very guys who gave the players money are stepping forward and spilling the beans!
This is more football than basketball related but relevant nonetheless...
Here's what an agent says -- and he freely admits paying plenty of college players..
(and Charles Barkley confirms basketball players have been paid as well)
...and of the dozens and dozens of players this guy admit and says he paid...many have been asked and interviewed and not one actually comes right out and denies those facts...NOT ONE!! Some confirm it - but the only thing close to a denial is when someone's current agent speaks for them to give a vague denial of sorts..
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/magazine/10/12/agent/

Now sure how the NCAA can keep ignoring all these facts proving all the BCS schools have been cheating on a massive scale and letting these guys remain eligible even though they are being paid as professionals....for decades...but for the most part they're still ignoring it all and only going after select violators.....maybe it's a manpower shortage?



Warning -- the next segment might be construed to be political but is not...

Is journalism descending to even lower levels of integrity??
--In the latest push to drag broadcast journalism down to the lowest level imaginable...
Chris Matthews, who wouldn't have a job if he'd apply at a real news network, and who gets all tingly-legged when certain people speak, says...
.. he thinks Nazi uniforms are homoerotic...and hints that anyone who has interest in history, re-enactments, or the uniforms of Nazi's must be gay...
http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/10/12/chris-matthews-wonders-if-rich-iotts-nazi-reenactment-was-homoe/
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/matthews-on-nazi-re-enactment-is-this-some-homoerotic-thing/

BTW -- the designer of the Nazi uniforms was well-known fashion designer Hugo Boss, whose worldwide retail empire sells billions of dollars in clothing....so just curious -- why don't we go after him and his sales empire and blacklist them??
http://www.no1-in-beauty.com/Articles/hugo_boss.htm

Can't hide from facts, even tho some try..

So I am told some don't believe that there were reports of JL being fired back in March...even reports by people claiming they not only knew it was true, but were willing to stake their reputation (FWIW) on it..
I didn't give the links originally because I thought it was beyond dispute that some fell for the rumors then ran with them as if factual...
Funny how some people's minds seem to fail so conveniently, but I do have the links...
some of the links, however, were deleted because the facts were indeed so incredibly wrong with this false rumor..
http://www.pjstarforums.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=79449
http://www.pjstarforums.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=79219&p=1069682#p1069682
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15354

Closing in on the start of the season, a few tweets from Coach Les, and lots of other news - basketball & even tips that can save lives!

Let's start with constant talking up of the "hot seat"...it never ends....
it does get pretty annoying, and is never accompanied by anything positive....

And I have shown multiple times that every other MVC city has press that's busy writing about the players - mostly GOOD stuff, the new guys, the prospects for the season, the upcoming games and road trips to places like Duke, the returning veterans which BU has a bunch...etc....
There's really a whole lot of good stuff to write about but we never see any!

This morning...we see that based on a tweet from our head coach, that Jim Les is making himself available and having lunch with PJStar staff!! So what's the response from those who claim our staff never make themselves available??

It sure doesn't sound like he doesn't make himself available -- sounds like he's taking the initiative to meet with the press.

Also note he obviously reads and appreciates all the support he sees on the boards!

Also- from another tweet, JL just recently visited his son Tyler at UC-Davis
http://twitter.com/#!/CoachJimLes/status/27090546669

And he had some really nice words about all the players at the end of "boot camp"..
http://twitter.com/#!/CoachJimLes/status/26651336720



There's one site that's currently in the process of ranking all the nation's Mid-major programs from #100 down to #1 in regard to their success and legacy. Even many nearly unheard-of programs have already been listed.
Of course BU has tons of legacy and success back in the late 40's, 50's, and 60's...but this ranking ignores all that and only includes a reckoning of what's happened in the past half dozen years...
Still -- their count is all the way down to #20, and MVC schools like Creighton, Missouri State, Drake...have already been named...and it is obvious that Bradley is still yet to come, meaning that BU is, in all likelihood, going to be around the TOP 10 -- and way higher than almost all other Valley programs. Wonder how the anti-BU folks will respond to this??



Here's some guy's ranking of college basketball's TOP 10 Dirtiest Coaches!!
The list has a lot of familiar names...Bruce Pearl, Jim Calhoun, Tim Floyd, Eddie Sutton, Kelvin Sampson, Jim Harrick...
But #1 is John Calipari -- well deserved for all his vacated Final Fours...
but also note, that THREE different Kentucky coaches made the Top 10, Cal, Sutton, & Hall!
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/488568-college-basketballs-10-dirtiest-coaches?source=rss_teams_Kentucky_Wildcats



I am not really a Wisconsin fan, but some say they run a clean program -- although they have had multiple DUI's (JP Gavinski) and girlfriend-choking incidents that DID have ligature marks (Boo Wade)...

Anyway.........here's a nice, long article about Bo Ryan, the Wisconsin team, and a lot of things about this upcoming season...it's a nice piece...and example of fine coverage!
http://host.madison.com/sports/college/basketball/men/article_7425fea6-d591-11df-b64c-001cc4c002e0.html


In this story Bo Ryan offers a funny take on the old "glass half full-half empty" argument...
The Wisconsin head coach looks at his current team and says this.......

"UW men's basketball: Ryan optimistic despite losses at guard........
..another Bo Ryan parable from his days growing up in Chester, Pa., to help describe the next University of Wisconsin men's basketball team.

...driving through south Philadelphia with a buddy and spotting a homeless man walking with just one shoe. Ryan's buddy immediately pitied the man because he believed he had lost a shoe. Ryan saw it differently.
"I said, ‘You're wrong, he found a shoe,'" Ryan said. "He was halfway there and he was looking for another one. I think the guy was lucky that he found one. That's how I approach coaching."

So...Bo Ryan is saying he really only has half of what he'd like to have???
Hmm....

First -- a new story on draftexpress.com named one of his players, Jon Leuer, as one of the top 10 NBA prospects....TOP TEN!!

Then -- a brief look at his current roster makes you wonder why he's worried....
sure he lost Jason Bohannon, but he has four fine freshmen coming in - including Ben Brust who Bradley really pursued...

Also -- if you look down the bench and include the experienced players he has returning, he has five 4-Star kids....FIVE!!!
And all the rest are highly rated 3-Star kids...

PLUS -- his roster includes no less than SIX kids who are 6-8 and bigger, NINE who are 6-6 and bigger......AND four of the kids are 6-10 and bigger, including three who were the 4-STAR blue chippers.

So -- don't start getting teared up for Bo Ryan....he might talk like his glass is only half full, but he has a fine roster of players, and is being picked by many to be top 40 ...
http://thehoopsreport.com/article.aspx?id=553

And -- one of his starters was named Most Impressive at the Team USA Camp
http://www.thesportsbank.net/wisconsin-badgers/jon-leuer-most-impressive-in-team-usa-workouts/




Then -- this segment is non-sports...but watching sports you can't help but notice all the pink stuff...
Pink baseball bats, pink sox, gloves, shoes, even pink uniforms everywhere -- all for "breast cancer awareness"....
Some think the whole pink thing is overdone to the max and is turning people off. Some question where does all the money go that's supposedly raised by all this pink merchandising and promotions???
Everyone knows that almost all the cancer research is funded either by the government or by the drug companies that are trying to find new treatments that they might hold the patent for.
I cannot find a single thing that's been done using these "charitable funds" and pink money that's ever really benefited the cancer sufferers.....
Go ahead help me out here, but I think a lot of this is kinda shady....

BUT -- if we are on the topic of shady, this story really belongs there as well.....

Here's an article that claims there are three things you can choose to do and will lower the risk of breast cancer regardless of family history or genetics...

They list
"3 ways to lower breast cancer risk, despite your DNA"
--getting regular exercise
--limiting their alcohol intake
--and maintaining a healthy body weight

and claim doing all this ...
"lowered their risk by about one-fourth"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39629404/ns/health-cancer/

Sounds pretty legit, right??? But -----

BUT -- why is it that they completely ignore the TWO things that lower breast cancer risks the MOST??
...and BOTH have FAR, FAR more impact than any of those three that are listed and which supposedly combine to lower the risk by 1/4, even tho such data are almost non-existent!!

#1 risk is the extended use of post-menopausal estrogen supplements...something that was done and prescribed COMMONLY from 1960 all the way through 2000 in the era when people stupidly thought this was harmless or good treatment!
But now we know better and women should almost NEVER take this stuff!!!
Here's one study saying that extended post-menopausal hormone taking raises breast cancer risk BY 83% -- nearly doubling the risk!!
http://www.emaxhealth.com/1020/hormone-replacement-therapy-and-breast-cancer-risk-further-defined

And plenty of other studies say the same....but trust me, the Susan G. Komen people seem to ignore all this stuff.......ever wonder why???

But -- seriously -- if a woman simply stays away from estrogen -- she will drop her breast cancer risk WAY MORE than the 1/4 (or 25%) that those other things listed above will do.


Then the #2 thing they can do is simply not spoken of very often EITHER, apparently so as not to give guilt trips to the people who choose not to breast feed their babies...

BUT -- if women who get pregnant choose to breast feed their babies, they have the possibility of lowering their breast cancer risk substantially!!!
I am flabbergasted that this simple fact is hidden and virtually never mentioned despite all the plethora of info we see on breast cancer almost continually on TV, radio, in the paper, etc...
Even to the uninformed, I guess it simply makes sense -- if the organs are simply used for what they are intended to be used for, surely that must be good for them....it's a no-brainer and science has finally figured that out!!

Here's one study showing that women breast feeding their infants reduced the women's breast cancer risk by as much as 45% !!!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15265971

These are not fly-by-night studies and opinions, these are all impeccably well researched and referenced studies that are widely accepted and irrefutable!

Literally hundreds of OTHER well documented and thoroughly confirmed studies have also shown the exact same thing...
That BOTH having kids and choosing to breast feed your children will reduce breast cancer risks from 25% up to nearly 50%!!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9656285
http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/Bibliography/Diet/bib.brfeed.cfm
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/prevention/breast/HealthProfessional/print

Overall, this is astounding news -- GOOD NEWS......that women who have concerns about breast cancer can reduce their risk by 50% by simply choosing to do JUST ONE harmless thing!!
and yet nobody is bothering to make this information known...
and I can tell you why.........

First - it's because there's not a lot of money or profit in any of this news as far as the drug companies are concerned, and they aren't selling pink stuff with this news either!
In fact, any woman following these two simple steps of staying OFF hormones, and breast feeding, will actually cost the drug companies and formula-manufacturing companies BILLIONS!!! Whoa -- that's not something they care to see -- so they won't tell you this news. Note that all those studies proving this are all done independently of the drug companies or they are pure, academic studies or federally funded research.

But also -- for some reason, the people who publish this stuff, and the media who cover those reports all feel that even saying these facts might be viewed as trying to tell some woman what to do in this regard of breast feeding -- and this insane "politically correct" society tries like heck to avoid ever suggesting that anyone ever change their behavior ....

It's no different than the researchers and doctors all knowing that anal sex increases the risk of getting AIDS by over 500% yet nobody ever wants to say that out loud -- for fear that special interest groups will judge you are being anti-homosexual just by saying that!!
So let's just keep those kinds of things silent...right??
What insanity!!

So -- this might be the only place you'll hear all of this -- but feel free to tell any and every women you know that if spending gobs of time and effort just to get a 25% reduction in breast cancer risks by exercising is appealing...
then consider avoiding hormone replacement treatment and DO breast feeding your kids -- and the two of those actions combined will lower breast cancer risks by QUITE possibly almost 90% or more!!
you do the math.........



Now, just a couple news stories from this morning that struck me as funny......
This one is about a murderer.....and if you are going to kill someone, and you get all the way from April to October to get rid of the evidence...but instead stick the guy's body in your freezer...only to have it stink up like heck when the power gets shut off because you are too dumb to pay for it...then this lady clearly makes the top 10 dumbest people list..
http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article/wendy-edmond-green-charged-with-murder-in-death-of-boyfriend-david-reuben-green-jr/19666645

but probably even worse...

the guy was killed in April....or maybe even as far back as January...
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7714381

..and yet it takes 'til September before anyone notices he's missing and alerts authorities....

then, to even compound the "stupidness"...
the cops come and thoroughly search the house and don't find the dead man's body in the freezer...
only after they come back a 2nd time when neighbors start complaining of the smell of a dead man's body, then they search the house again and easily find it since the smell leads them right to it...

Although quite a sad story....this kinda has to be the biggest compounding of stupidity I have read in a while.



On the economic front --
Get ready -- biggest tax hike ever..
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/08/tax-hike-record-bush-tax-cuts-congress-expiration-consequences/


And this is the craziness of our society...
Thank goodness this wasn't a Tea Partier!!
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/national_world&id=7719757

..But notice why the guy did it...
some internet entrepreneur offered a Million Dollars to anyone who'd streak naked in front of the president with their internet site name on his chest!!

There was also another incident at this same rally - a guy threw a book at President Obama. But unlike the hysterical media reaction that surrounded the throwing of an object at the previous president....the media tried hard to ignore this book throwing.-
here's one of the only places that it is mentioned and shown on video tape...
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_101110/content/01125109.guest.html

I have no idea why this news is being ignored (or suppressed), since I think it reflects a real teachable moment. No matter what you or anyone believes, I think this kind of DISRESPECT that is shown to our president is reprehensible! People should express their opinions a bit more maturely than these bozos.



Then lastly...for the pro-or-anti-evolution crowds....
an interesting piece about Richard Dawkins..
I guess some people are all for freedom of speech and being accepting and tolerant of opposing views....unless you are Richard Dawkins, who makes a nice living selling his point of view...
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/2982315164.html

Breaking news -- the NCAA actually gets hard on some BCS guy who's cheating!!

The NCAA has ruled a couple guys PERMANENTLY ineligible for taking goodies from agents....

This is highly unusual...in fact danged near unprecedented!!!
The practice of agents giving money, goodies, gifts, etc...is said to be widespread -- but mostly in the BCS since those are the guys the agents are really after......

And -- this is unusual...that any penalty is actually being handed down while the kid is still active on the roster!

John Wall got benefits from agents & just had to repay the $$ and was docked one game --
others like Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo -- everyone knew they were getting paid and yet the NCAA just looked the other way..and only got involved later when embarrassed into acting by YahooSports writers who embarrassed the NCAA by finding and publishing the obvious evidence of the cheating.

Even Charles Barkley bragged about how everyone's getting $$ from agents for decades and nobody ever cared....
In fact -- the reason it's going to be big news is that it does represent a really new trend that the NCAA is FINALLY going after these guys.....
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/11/2299679/tar-heels-austin-dismissed-two.html

...although it still might just be token action, as North Carolina football isn't really the top echelon....and maybe the NCAA is just going to do this to send the message. But I hope they do what it takes to clean up the sport and level the playing field.

But -- as I can find -- this is quite possibly the first time an athlete currently playing and eligible was completely stripped of his eligibility just for getting goodies & having some of his travel expenses paid by an agent...
http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/13659574/ncaa-cures-its-apathy-when-it-comes-to-slimy-agents
http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/07/21/solution-long-overdue-for-problem-of-agents-and-college-sports/


The paradox in all this, is that Enes Kanter received over $100,000 and is said to about to get cleared to play at Kentucky. Renardo Sydney, whose family literally became agents and received gobs of money, then refused to even be open and honest with the NCAA - was docked 8 games but will supposedly play this year.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=AkdGzeSxam1iCycx.Yg02._evbYF?slug=jn-sidney101110

So I am yet to be convinced that the NCAA is really interested in treating everyone fairly and equally....but time will tell.

Day #200 and it's still not true, Bruce Pearl out??, some other Valley & Illini news, and an autographed basketball sells for a record amount!

Today is day #200 since the "announcement" (actually, just a false rumor) that Head Coach Jim Les had been bought out & fired...and somehow he still survives as head coach of Bradley University!!

It's also day #208 since it was "reported" that John Wilkins had verballed to Iowa State, yet the last time I checked, he was still at Illinois State.

BUT -- when it comes to rumors of departing coaches, there's a brand new one this morning...

It is being rumored heavily all throughout Tennessee that some time later this morning Bruce Pearl will step down and so will the Tennessee athletic director...
There is nothing official but....plenty of talk regarding Bruce Pearl resigning,
including a 32 page thread on one Tennessee board!!!
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-basketball/112257-rumor-bruce-pearl-resigning-monday-oct.html
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=7&f=1398&t=6511327
http://forums.the-ozone.net/messages/742192.html

It's been rumored for a while that Bruce Pearl's house is up for sale
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-basketball/110967-pearls-house-up-sale.html

But even if Pearl steps down or is fired, he'll resurface. Just as soon as Southern Mississippi tires of bad years playing numerous NAIA schools, they'll look to replace Larry Eustachy with Pearl. Or if Steve Alford jumps to the big time and becomes Tom Crean's replacement, then New Mexico will go right for Pearl to replace Alford.



Then, a bunch of U of I stuff.....

Here's a great story on Illinois sophomore Tyler Griffey -- hopefully some day we'll get reports like this!!
http://illinihq.com/news/mens_basketball/2010/10/10/whiz_kid_tyler_griffey/

Chasson Randle, an ex-BU recruit -- is down to Illinois, Purdue, Stanford..
He just visited Stanford..and I have to think he's gonna like the educational opportunity there, as Randle is an A-student...but he will also like the lure of playing for Illinois...so I think that leaves Purdue out, and he'll decide between Illinois & Stanford.

Trent Meacham going to play in Germany
http://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=12807

If you are looking for a job -- and if you know U of I sports -- the Illni scout site need a writer
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=169&f=2616&t=6510501

Yet another raw 7-footer that Indiana was recruiting commits elsewhere -- Western Kentucky
http://rivals.yahoo.com/indiana/basketball/recruiting/player-Deng-Leek-92443

As good of a college player as he was -- John Scheyer just isn't NBA caliber
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/10/09/clippers-cut-jake-voskuhl-and-jon-scheyer/



Osiris Eldridge had a good weekend playing in Turkey....
OE scored 27, 7 rebs was MVP..
His team, Pinar Karsiyaka beat Antalya BSB 81-74

More details of the UConn cheating...
UConn admits their former team manager gave $14,000 to a recruit!
...and how ridiculously soft their self-imposed penalties are..
http://www.bnd.com/2010/10/09/1431987/coach-jim-calhoun-is-in-charge.html



Here's a little followup on the story of Renardo Sydney -- the kid that even sleazy USC passed on because he was so crooked...and the details of the story confirm it even more, that he's as crooked as a supposedly amateur-kid can be...
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=Ap_RocWJddPgluXdKhEd76LevbYF?slug=jn-sidney101110



So..... what's the largest amount a signed or autographed basketball has ever gone for and whose signnature was it??

Not Michael Jordan or even George Mikan...
nope, by far the most anyone has ever paid for a signed basketball was for one signed by pop singer Michael Jackson.. nearly $300,000!!
http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2010/10/11/two-michaels-and-a-294000-basketball/

In the same auction, the Michal Jordan basketball sold for only $800!

AP, state schools tanking it, and more on UConn cheating...

LeBron moving to Miami sure has helped one ex-Bradley Brave!!
Anthnoy Parker is not only actually getting mentioned in Cleveland --
he's getting hyped as one of their NAME PLAYERS!! One of their key guys!!
http://www.fearthesword.com/2010/10/7/1736436/meet-your-2010-2011-cleveland-cavaliers-anthony-parker?ref=CBS&source=rss_teams_Cleveland_Cavaliers



Some really bad financial problem emerging at SIU -- but not a whole lot in the press about it.
..."pay cuts"...and "forced, unpaid leave and furloughs"
"..Departments were asked to cut 4 percent of their budgets while administrative closure days are expected at SIUC.
The SIU Board of Trustees gave SIUC Chancellor Rita Cheng and SIUE Chancellor Vaughn Vandergrift the ability to implement as many as six unpaid closure days if needed. The days would affect all staff on campus."
codell.rodriguez@thesouthern.com
http://thesouthern.com/news/local/education/article_ac4e9586-d28a-11df-ba28-001cc4c002e0.html

Nebraska is having the same serious problems and I think we'll be hearing a whole lot more....
thankfully Creighton isn't dependent on the incompetent people who run the state finances...
http://omaha.com/article/20101008/NEWS01/710089899/0#1-year-pay-freeze-for-state-employees



Another of Kelvin Sampson's fine recruits are in the news again...an assault charge..
http://thepost.ohiou.edu/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=32567



Dana Altman lands a 5-Star kid at Oregon......
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7020153045?Top%20Prep%20Guard%20Prospect%20Jabari%20Brown%20Verbally%20Commits%20To%20Oregon

Altman has just landed THREE top kids...
Jabari Brown, Brett Kingma, and Illinois kid Bruce Barron..
...........nice to have all those Nike $$ millions!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/prepsports/detail?entry_id=74125
http://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2010/9/25/1711294/brett-kingma-commits-oregon-ducks



The bad hits keep coming for Michigan State...
First, star Korie Lucious gets a DUI and has knee surgery...
then two more players are charged with rape, now this -- one of their top newcomers out for several months with injury..
Some are already speculating that Tom Izzo won't be able to discipline any of the offenders, since his bench will be too short...and we'll see if everyone lives up to the platitude that always gets foisted upon Bradley...
...that you can't blame injuries!!
http://www.freep.com/article/20101008/SPORTS07/10080359/1055/sports07/Freshman-forward-will-miss-8-10-weeks-



UConn has been in the news a lot lately -- mostly for their many NCAA violations, hundreds of illegal phone calls, but lately just for the fact that they keep getting left off the hook by NCAA and allowed delays after delays...yet the NCAA still seems asleep wt the wheel, as they were for 5 years during the USC investigation...
UConn's been given so many breaks by NCAA that one has to wonder if there's really any serious desire to expose the cheating and actually penalize the crook!
Even some of the local media outlets in Connecticut are beginning to pick up on the story of all these endless delays...
In addition, they are kind of admitting the evidence is massive and sort of overwhelming -- so what's the delay -- let the hammer fall!!
http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-men/hc-uconn-ncaa-violations-list,0,3746423.story
http://www.ctnow.com/sports/hc-ncaa-capsules-1009-20101008,0,6469424.story



A couple short blurbs...
Dodie keeps up the focus with his hard work.... -- "one goal"
http://twitter.com/#!/dodie_dunson/status/26742345472

And... one guy who says he knows the situation well for Matt Roth, says that owing to all the extra classes Matt has taken in summer sessions, that by the end of the summer session of 2011, after Matt's 3rd year at IU, he'll have enough credits to graduate...
thus as a grad student, he would have the option to transfer elsewhere..opening up speculation that he might.



Here's just another good cop gone bad.... (just a joke..)
http://www.ctnow.com/entertainment/la-fi-chips-sec-20101008,0,1994772.story

Reports on Bradley, other Valley teams, and a weird way to go about getting an interview....

Nice report on the Bradley basketball players taking time out to be with kids....
http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&ATCLID=205006835&DB_OEM_ID=3400


I wish this kind of thing would get a little more positive press......



There is a nice column in the PJ Star covering BU's boot camp...
http://www.bradleyhoops.com/breaking/x1423340127/Braves-marching-to-new-regimen?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Keep it up ..and get us a nice picture of those camouflage jerseys!!!

Coach Les likes what he is seeing in boot camp...
http://twitter.com/#!/CoachJimLes/status/26651336720

The players are quite pumped as well........
http://twitter.com/#!/dodie_dunson/status/26646991766
http://twitter.com/#!/willFREEMAN21/status/26417451501




Here's a little positive press for some local high school kids....in the Sun Times...

"Hard-nosed Peorians
There may not be a team in Illinois this season with a better tough-as-nails 1-2 punch than Peoria Manual's Kiki Stokes and Jacoby Roddy. These are a couple of players, who played this past summer with the Illinois Wolves, who are enjoyable to watch. What's interesting about the tandem is they may not fit a particular position right now when projecting them as college prospects, but they are both just players who battle and make plays.

Roddy, who is an athletic but undersized 4-man at 6-5, continues to show an ability to step out and knock down that 12-15 foot face-up jumper. And he rebounds and rebounds and rebounds. Stokes, meanwhile, reminds the Hoops Report of former Illinois player Chester Frazier in so many ways. While he may not be a true point guard or the ideal shooting guard, Stokes defends, competes, is about as tough as they come and finds ways to impact a game.

Kyle Heck of Metamora has been receiving some interest from college programs at all levels. The 6-2 guard opened some eyes with his play at Morris and is a solid small college basketball prospect."
http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/2010/10/a_little_flash_returns_to_even.html



Here's a real "rumor" -- actually sort of a prediction or projection by a guy on the Indiana message board...just for the sake of discussion...
so take it for what it's worth.....
"Matt Roth will graduate early, and play out his remaining eligibility at Bradley as a grad student."
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=170&f=2353&t=6484646

One followup response says they think he'll leave Indiana and walk on at ISU!



Duke was just ranked by Sports Illustrated as having the 8th toughest non-conference schedule...so you see what playing Bradley will do for a team??
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/luke_winn/10/05/schedules/1.html



The Wichita State sports writer Paul Suellentrop is previewing the Valley and ranking the teams...
He started with Evansville -- so I suspect he's putting them 10th.
http://blogs.kansas.com/shockwaves/2010/10/06/three-questions-for-evansville/

Then he has Drake...9th in the Valley...
http://blogs.kansas.com/shockwaves/2010/10/07/three-questions-for-drake/



King O having some issues??
http://twitter.com/#!/Osiris_Eldridge/status/26651997664



One of DePaul's players, a projected starter...Eric Wallace...just broke his leg...
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=430&f=2585&t=6479940



Also... this morning, in the Cue Section, there was an interview with Jay Leno...
here are a couple excerpts....see what you think, since the journalist doing the interview with Leno then turns the entire story in a completely different and bizarre direction.....

--Question: "Are you calling in from home today?"
Leno: "No -- at home? I'm at work. I get here at 7:30 in the morning."

--Question: "I saw a story on Popeater.com recently about your car breaking down. What happened?"
Leno: "It was here in Los Angeles about 40 miles from my house. I was driving a 1907 steam car, it looks like a big giant tractor. You really can't make a move here without someone thinking it's a big story. When you don't fool around with hookers or drugs or anything, I guess (a car breaking down) makes a big story."

...and there's more, but every single answer that Leno gave as recorded in the interview in the PJS seemed no more than what a comedian would give -- in fact none seemed out of line or jokes or inappropriate.

BUT --- apparently that's not how the interviewer saw it...
She then writes a companion column that is every bit as long as the entire interview....and the column is one constant and continuous rip and attack of Jay Leno!

She even seems to blame Leno for some insult another comedian laid on her apparently from some completely unrelated interview she did a long time ago...

Here are a few of Hatch's slams on Leno -- see if you think this is good journalism....even the title of her column is an obvious attempt to insult Leno...

"Leno's more ogre than loveable oaf"

"I've watched Jay Leno on television since my wee days. His big, sweet, oaf-like presence...

When his assistant accepted my interview request with him to advance his Oct. 16 performance at Bradley University, I was on top of the world.

So, why, after I hung up the phone with him, did I feel like someone kicked my dog?
"Are you calling from home today?" is how I started out.
He answered, "No - at home? I'm at work. I get here at 7:30 in the morning."

I sensed some irritation.

How careless of me. I guess I just asked out of habit, because most of the comedians I interview are just getting their day started in the afternoon.

I asked him what he thinks his legacy will be and he seemed to stumble, not sure at first how to answer.

I thought we'd bond over some car talk, since everyone knows about his extensive collection. But I made the mistake of mentioning a photo I saw of him online, in which a 1907 steam car had broken down. I thought he'd have a sense of humor about it - after all, if you go around driving century old vehicles, don't you automatically run the risk of having a little car trouble? He said he couldn't believe that made news.

...I've had bad interviews before. There was B.B. King, who I spoke with after he'd already done a few consecutive interviews. He seemed tired and distracted. There was Greg Proops, a comedian who said I could call his personal cell phone number for the interview, but that I was not to share it with anyone. He was not amused when I told him I would wait until after our interview to sell the number on eBay.

Mental note: don't crack jokes to comedians.

..It seemed like Leno was tensely on guard, waiting for me to sneak in a question or two about his late-night rival.

Sometimes during an interview I feel like a nurse with a needle, poking around someone's arm to find that nice, fat vein. I never tapped into that vein on Leno, and I didn't even hit a nerve. I just slogged through the interview that I had looked forward to with such glee just a few hours earlier.

As the late-night hosts know, a bad interview is better than no interview. And I guess I shouldn't be surprised that real-life Jay Leno isn't the same as late-night host Jay Leno. After all, this is show-business. You know, as in putting on a show? And as, it's only business?"

Read the whole interview, then read the accompanying hit piece.....
http://www.pjstar.com/entertainment/enterainmentcolumns/x1164157757/Cue-Card-Lenos-more-ogre-than-loveable-oaf



Is it any wonder why people often DO NOT LIKE speaking to the press? I have been asked several times by various media representatives for an interview -- given that occasionally a reporter wants some comment from someone in the particular field I work in. I have always refused, as I have seen time and again that no matter what you say, there's always a chance that it'll look a little different in the newspaper than you had envisioned it. And at times you literally get ambushed as Jay Leno did, when he simply complied with the interviewer's request for the interview, and then gets attacked as a bad guy.....
By all other measures, and by every single other time I have ever seen a story about Leno or an interview with him...he seems like a pretty nice guy, a fair guy, and gives a decent interview. I have seen segments on entertainment TV shows and even segments interviewing him on the History channel about his cars....and he's always in a good mood and does a nice interview. I have never heard nor can I even find a single reference anywhere - even with a Google search saying he's a bad guy, an oaf, or a phony (as in how he was criticized... "putting on a show").
And what's with bringing up some age old peeve she has with some other completely unrelated comedian named Proops, then ragging on that as if Leno was somehow also responsible for other woes she's experienced in her interviews...
In fact, it seems that about the only consistent thing in her rant is she repeatedly seems to land bad interviews with famous people - and ticks them off with her line of questioning. Hmmm...seems to say a lot more about her than about Jay Leno - so why bash Leno for her problems with BB King or Greg Proops??

After actually saying some fairly nice things about Peoria and the people here in Peoria, I doubt if Jay Leno reads this hit piece, that he'd ever want to come here again or give any interviews to reporters from Peoria.



WICHITA STATE COMES IN RANKED #46 in these guys' preseason college basketball preview and Top 99 ranking...
http://www.thesportsbank.net/college-bball/99-in-99-46-wichita-state-shockers/

They had previously ranked Bradley at #73, Creighton at #61, and UNI at #60..so they must be projecting BU as 4th in the Valley.

These guys are ranking the Top 65 teams, and have Wichita State at #40, and Missouri State at #35!
http://thehoopsreport.com/


One other site is ranking the legacy of each of the TOP 100 mid-major programs..using his own personal formula that's influenced by wins, wins over BCS schools, NCAA wins, etc...

His count is now all the way down to the Top 25, and using his point system, he's still at 73 points for the #26 team.
But Bradley should have close to 90 points, and maybe more -- and so clearly Bradley should end up somewhere considerably higher than 20th and maybe inside the TOP 10 of all the non-BCS programs.....
Gonzaga, Memphis, Xavier...they'll be at the top, but there aren't many other mid-majors who'll have scores higher than Bradley.
I see this as positive -- even if BU came in around 10, 12, or even 15 (although I have to believe they'll be way higher), I think it reflects that we have way, way more to be proud of and happy about than to be complaining about.
But then, as I have said elsewhere, if a glass of water was 99% full -- some would still choose to whine about the 1% that's not there, than to appreciate the 99% that is there.



These guys pick Illinois to win the Big Ten...
http://www.collegechalktalk.com/general/2010-11/releases/10.7.10house

Trivia answers, Valley news, and more...

Thanks to all who guessed on the trivia questions, but nobody got them all right...
the winner will thus be one reader who guessed and got two of the questions correct.
The question that nobody got was the player whose nickname was "Creep".
This player from the early 1950's was Clarence Christe....
and I have absolutely no idea how or why he got the nickname "Creep"....but that's what the 1950-1951 Media and Press Guide says about him.

Here's a couple links to sites that show Clarence as part of the teams of that era, and he's still in business in our area!!!
http://www.bizfind.us/15/516925/christe-financial-svc/peoria.aspx
http://www.gpshof.org/Inductees/bradleybasketball1949-50.html

The other answers come from the same media guide...
The 1950-1951 Bradley team had brothers Gene Melchiorre & Deno Melchiorre.
And the player guide says that Stan Albeck originally went by his first name Charles Stanley Albeck...(his father from Chenoa was also Charles). I have never seen any other source that lists him as anything other than Stan, so he must have decided to just drop the "Charles".



Wow, here's a major national article on Rivals/YahooSports...saying in effect
that the NCAA does play favorites...
they selectively enforce at their whim and leave the big boys unpunished for serious offenses, while nailing others, especially the little guys for far lesser things!!!!!

Duhhhh..who'd have thunk it?? But isn't that precisely what many have been saying about NCAA enforcement and punishment for YEARS??
this column offers undeniable proof that even DUKE players have taken cash payments and should have been declared ineligible...but even to this date, they never have been. The NCAA just looked the other way...after all this is Duke and Coach K!!
it just makes you sick....especially considering that the worst offense BU was ever even accused of was regarding a mere couple hundred bucks of debatable stuff from the early 1980's or from star Trucking, while the Duke players pocketed THOUSANDS of dollars!!
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=dw-ncaafavorites



CHN picked SIU to come in at #127 and 6th in the Valley but they just got a tiny bit weaker...
One of their walk on kids who actually played and contributed a bit last year, Caleb Long, who appeared in 7 games last season has left the team...
http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/127-southern-illinois-2010-11-basketball-preview-168687



An article about UNI's Ben Jacobson -- he's happy at UNI, but this story details how immediately after UNI knocked off Kansas, UNI needed to ink him to a longer contract or else he was going to get hired away.
But using the open coaching spot at Iowa as proof of Jacobson's loyalty to UNI is a little weak....Iowa is just NOT that appealing of a spot -- check what happened to Greg McDermott when he went to a similar situation at Iowa State.
Nope -- had a better offer come along like a top BCS school, I wouldn't have been the least surprised that Jacobson would jump quickly -- it's pretty hard to turn down more money in a single year than you're making over five years at a mid-major like UNI.
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/Ben-Jacobson-content-to-keep-coaching-at-Northern-Iowa-100410



Ex-Creighton Bluejay P'Allen Stinnett is spending his final year at Missouri Western...here's his new bio page....
http://www.gogriffons.com/roster.asp?sport=MBB&athlete=1063



One of the top players in the nation may have just severely hurt his chances of playing pro ball......
Baylor's Lacedarius Dunn....charged with felony assault, his girlfriend & mother of his child has a broken jaw...
http://www.baylor.edu/lariat/news.php?action=story&story=81243




I have no idea why, but if you do a recent Google search or news search for Diana Taurasi, you'll find a remarkably large number of recent articles and stories on her choice to pose nude for a magazine cover.
Taurasi is one of the top WNBA players....but for some odd reason she felt the need to supplement her income by posing nude.
I guess this kind of stuff always generates a little press...but this time there seems to be a disproportionately large amount of press...

And... a lot of it, even coming from the generally favorable media-types, is kinda negative.
This guy says Taurasi has really stooped to new lows.....making herself a bit of a BAD role model and giving a terrible image to young fans by selling the sex-end of her abilities....even thus cheapening the talent end of it.
http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-fitness-and-health-in-national/diana-taurasi-s-bad-example-top-player-hits-rock-bottom-with-nude-espn-pics

Don't these women who want people to accept them as true professionals and honor them for their hard work and professional skills and talent - don't they abhor people looking at them only for their bodies and sexual attributes?
Don't they hate the idea that they are sometimes considered just sex-objects or objects of lust for perverts??

So why is Taurasi doing this, as the writer clearly states...
"YOU JUST SET WOMEN BACK 100 YEARS"
"Thanks Diana - you have just set women back 100 years, women are more than just sex symbols. What does your naked body have to do with all that you have accomplished on the court? I am a diehard UCONN fan and have been since 1990 but can't get my head around the concept of why you had to pose like this."

This is bad for their marketing (aiming ads at families with kids)..and it cheapens the "integrity" of the sport.
Others are saying the same among the thousands who seem to have picked up on this story...
Seems if they can make a buck and grabs 15 minutes more of fame, then some will do it every time and the heck with integrity and honor...
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/books/blog/2010/10/diana_taurasi_bares_all_for_ma.html



If there's anyone left wondering why governments at every level are going broke..federal government, states, and local governments...
then here's another hint...
it's because the people who run governments are corrupt, crooks, and on top of that incompetent...
and even worse, the empty brains that seem to keep pulling voting levers and sending these people to the offices they hold and ending up with the others in government that those folks hire, those really stupid voters bear a little responsibility also...
Whether it's this kind of news that demonstrates how crooked some people are who hold offices and how crooked and corrupt their appointments are as well, or stories about bozos winning elections like Scott Lee Cohen and Alvin Greene...(and others) who are totally unqualified yet get elected by masses of voters who don't even know who they're voting for -- they're just picking nice sounding names off a ballot...

Either way...it kinda shows that when really stupid people do the voting then they often get the most horrible candidates elected -- and thus they virtually deserve the crooks they have in office, as they selected them!!
Lesson to be learned -- yes you have the right to vote for who you want, but maybe know something first about the dolts you vote for, so you won't regret your stupidity later!!
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/05/local/la-me-county-salaries-20101005
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/05/california.bell.council/?hpt=T2
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/04/scott-lee-cohen-divorce-p_n_450282.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/10/AR2010061002499.html



Here's an interesting debate on a Mountain West board about MWC vs. MVC....some of the Mountain West guys are a little misinformed...
http://www.mwcboard.com/www/forums/index.php?showtopic=28442&pid=496139&st=0&#entry496139



Here's Coach Les' e mail...
jles@bradley.edu

send a note encouraging them and rooting them on.......they love to hear from the fans!!

Will Franklin signs to play in 2010-2011...and more news...

Will Franklin signs with a team in Northern Africa...

Here is a story, some video, and interview of Will.....
(it's in English but the interpreter talks over and it's hard to hear -- but read the article and use the Google translater...

http://www.etoile-du-sahel.com/fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10368:basket-officiel-contrat-dun-an-pour-william-franklin-etoile&catid=906:breves&Itemid=170



Did you see.........
a few things from the past 24 hours...

Jim Les was mentioned by an NBA blogger as "Obscure" Player of the Week...
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16424

Hersey Hawkins is earning his keep and banging with the big guys in the preseason for Portland...
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16425

Here's a discussion on the upcoming Letter of Intent signing period that starts Wednesday November 10 and goes for a full week...
Bradley will expect signed Letters of Intent from Remy Abell, Donivine Stewart, and possibly some word on Sean Harris...
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16418



Here's a couple previews of upcoming Bradley opponent Loyola Marymount...
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/481362-countdown-to-tip-off-gonzaga-loyola-marymount-preview?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/blog?name=ncbexperts&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmens-college-basketball%2fblog%3fname%3dncbexperts
http://blogs.pjstar.com/pressrow/2010/10/05/watch-out-for-marymount/


Other previews of upcoming opponents...

-Duke
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/469941-2010-11-acc-basketball-preview
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/insider/news/story?id=5394780&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d5394780


-Jackson State-
http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/140-jackson-st-2010-11-basketball-preview-168671

-Indiana State - picked 7th in the Valley
http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/131-indiana-st-2010-11-basketball-preview-168682

-SIU - picked 6th in the Valley
http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/127-southern-illinois-2010-11-basketball-preview-168687

-Wichita State
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=jn-nonbigsix092810

-USC
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/440564-pac-10-basketball-on-the-rise-or-still-rebuilding
http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/120-usc-trojans-2010-11-basketball-preview-168696

-Utah
http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/104-utah-2010-11-basketball-preview-168719

-Detroit - picked #2 in Horizon
http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/93-detroit-2010-11-basketball-preview-168733
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/MWC-Preview-It-looks-like-another-four-way-batt;_ylt=AoQ.3.VPc.B4LV_FcfbSbn3evbYF?urn=ncaab-274604

-others...that cover the Valley teams...
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Missouri-Valley-Preview-There-s-a-new-favorite-?urn=ncaab-271138
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/419928-down-in-the-valley-another-one-bid-year-the-mvc