Even more comments - "ridiculous meeting"..

http://peoriastory.typepad.com/peoriastory/2012/02/riduculous-meeting-unhappy-audience.html

More ridiculous acts and corruption in Peoria's District 150

Opinion only in this blog entry - everyone is free to believe what they wish about this topic...

The key words in this entry are Grenita Lathan, Kevin Curtin, Peoria, District 150, school board, demotion, corruption, racial discrimination, lawsuit, and Key Royster.
The reason these are listed up front is to assist people doing searches.


Here's more evidence of the corruption and personal sideswiping and career torpedoing that takes place in Grenita Lathan's District 150 system.

And note that I am simply an interested observer, I have no dog in this fight.
I have no children in District 150 - never have, and do not live in the district...but I stand for decency and truth wherever it is lacking and surely Grenita Lathan is currently the epicenter of indecency and lies with what she's doing in Peoria's only public school district.

Last night with the help of a few of her corrupt ilk on the District 150 school board, she engineered the demotion of three of the finest principals and finest people Peoria may have ever known....does she fear these fine, upstanding, well-loved principals?
Does she feel threatened because they know far more than she does about running schools and even school districts?
Their track records are impeccable - Lathan cannot possibly name a single thing that they have done wrong (and of course she hasn't) - except in her eyes they have been a little too good, too successful - and their accomplishments cast a light that exposes Lathan's own failures.

Does she fear they could probably even do her job way better than she does and likely even do it with one hand tied behind their backs?

You have to wonder why 200 people would show up to support Kevin Curtin, Paul Monrad, and Annette Coleman...and waited two hours just to get a chance to voice their strong opposition to those moves by Grenita Lathan.
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1679920525/Crowd-shows-support-for-two-principals-at-District-150-meeting

Lathan's puzzling yet predictable actions show her to be racist as well as biased in other ways -- and it'll become even more obvious when she chooses their replacements...

BUT - mostly you have to wonder - especially in the case of Kevin Curtin - why would she do this???
Curtin is a tremendous principal, loved by everyone, a MULTIPLE AWARD WINNING educator who has improved EVERY school he's ever worked at.

By the way -- just to show how hypocritical Grenita Lathan is - we will use her own words to discredit her...
A year ago - she meddled with Curtin and his position - at that time saying...
"District 150 Superintendent Grenita Lathan says the changes are only to advance-- not penalize-- the principals and their schools.

"None of the changes were to punish anyone," said Dr. Lathan. "These were not reassignments as far as in reference to job performance or lack there of."

"That becomes the bitter part of it-- is to say goodbye to all those families and those children," said Kevin Curtin, principal of Garfield Primary School."
http://www.centralillinoisnewscenter.com/home/Principals-React-to-Dist-150-Changes-118951674.html?m=y&smobile=y

And just a couple weeks ago - Grenita Lathan stated openly and publicly that the parents SHOULD have a voice and should have a say in these kinds of decisions - then she failed to answer anyone's questions last night and basically shoved it in the parents' faces saying in effect "I will make these decisions and damned any parent who thinks otherwise"
It's as if she's saying "to hell with anyone who wants to oppose me"...
http://peoriastory.typepad.com/peoriastory/peoria_school_district_150/

All you need to do is read just a few of the articles detailing how Kevin Curtin has turned around some of the WORST schools and students because he has bright, innovative ideas and an amazing passion for young children.

Just read these stories...
http://peoria.medicine.uic.edu/1234/
http://www.cinewsnow.com/home/Partners-in-Peace-Honorees-118947144.html
http://emergepeoria.blogspot.com/2012/02/teachers-are-praying-that-board-of.html
http://www.cinewsnow.com/home/Parents--staff-object-to-potential-reassignments-of-principals-140667543.html?m=y&smobile=y
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&gbv=2&q=cache:kNBEdVwRreQJ:http://www.tailoredprinting.net/HOIUW/whatmattersJanuary2009.html+%22kevin+curtin%22+and+%22principal%22+and+%22cancer%22&ct=clnk

Here just a few of Kevin Curtin's outstanding accomplishments are named --
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1664572360/Curtailing-bullying-this-years-goal


So I will do my part to expose the idiocy and corruption inside District 150 - the top dogs feel threatened by anyone who gets things done the right way - and they worry their jobs will be in jeopardy if someone under them is doing a way better job than they are.

So their solution is get them out of there -- kinda reminiscent of the scene when the young Darth Vader (Anakin) wipes out the entire nursery where the "youngling" Jedi children are being nurtured - just to destroy anyone who might be a future threat!




For anyone interested - just more on corruption and Grenita Lathan...
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x88774728/Lathans-appointments-approved

http://www.peoria.com/messages/got_a_good_gig_spread_the_wealth.php?message_board_parent_id=267952&vpage=

http://peoriastory.typepad.com/peoriastory/2011/09/to-peoria-district-150-school-board-youre-wasting-money.html

http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/State-of-the-Schools-121665744.html

http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/State-of-the-Schools-121645634.html


Keep in mind that all this comes on the heels of Peoria's District 150 hiring then firing a very similar Superintendant in Kay Royster - see below....

Not to mention that Grenita's District 150 had to pay off a $450,000 settlement in a racial discrimination case where the administrators racially discriminated against WHITE employees....duh....does anyone see a pattern here??
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x603497261/D150-settlement-was-for-450-000

And this isn't the ONLY such discrimination lawsuit that District 150 is facing or having to pay off...there's actually MANY!!!!
Is this where you want your money going, Peorians??
http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/Lawsuit-Filed-Against-District-150-125665113.html
http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/44027162.html
http://centralillinoisproud.com/fulltext?nxd_id=228952


In other words -- if you are white, and if you do good job in Peoria's District 150 then watch out -- your job is in jeopardy -- you are a threat to Grenita Lathan!!

Sadly - in the end it is the very people that District 150 should be helping and serving that get cheated and who end up with a horrible and corrupt school system -- the children and the families suffer. But Grenita doesn't care -- she's doing just fine...making plenty of money ...
http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/85012232.html
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x633532886/District-150-School-Board-OKs-10-000-bonus-for-superintendent


All the while, more and more problems back in the San Diego schools are being discovered that were left behind when she came to Peoria...
http://emergepeoria.blogspot.com/2012/01/superintendent-grenita-lathan-being.html

Even the past District 150 superintendants all get fired for corruption then sue the district!!
http://www.personalinjurylawnews.com/royster-files-lawsuit-peoria-journal-star/
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-16/news/ct-met-superintendent-severance-20110716_1_severance-package-veteran-superintendent-board-president/3


But Royster just moved on to another school district where she took her corruption and got fired again --amazing...
http://peoriachronicle.com/2008/02/05/kay-royster-fired-from-another-school-district/


Even MORE on District 150 improprieties and corruption...

http://emergepeoria.blogspot.com/2012/02/over-200-people-in-attendance-at.html

http://emergepeoria.blogspot.com/2012/02/still-trying-to-understand-it-all.html

http://emergepeoria.blogspot.com/2012/02/just-trying-to-understand-it-all.html

http://emergepeoria.blogspot.com/2012/02/when-comments-from-spam-make-blog.html

http://emergepeoria.blogspot.com/2012/02/teachers-are-praying-that-board-of.html

http://emergepeoria.blogspot.com/2012/02/saga-of-mary-davis-continues.html

http://peoriastory.typepad.com/peoriastory/2011/09/to-peoria-district-150-school-board-youre-wasting-money.html

http://emergepeoria.blogspot.com/2011/10/district-150-expected-to-terminate.html

http://emergepeoria.blogspot.com/2011/09/district-150s-excuse-for-not-having.html

A few BU news items and more...

Some new items .. now that the regular season is over...


Taylor Brown's injury - to a ligament in his foot - is reportedly severe enough that to risk playing again this season would be unwise, so Taylor Brown is not going to play any more for Bradley and his season is over.

He completes his Bradley career with 903 points in 91 games...
He averaged 14.8 ppg this year and 6.4 rebounds.
It is really unfortunate that we never got to see how well Taylor could have done with a full four years HEALTHY at Bradley....he may have been one of Bradley's best players ever.
Hopefully he will have a fine professional career....watch for TB to attend a few professional events and workouts and shoot for a chance at the NBA.



Jim Molinari has his WIU Leathernecks doing well - and locked in as the #4 seed in their tourney - sitting in 4th place in the Summit. They were picked by everyone to be last or next to last - so Mo has done a great job with his team even though he's been shorthanded with injuries and player departures every year since he's been at WIU.
It'll be fun to see how next year goes, they will get previous Bradley recruit Michael Ochereobia, and Billy Molinari will be back.



UC-Davis WON again last night - they are, right now, the hottest team in the Big West!! (4 of the last 6!)
They knocked off one of the Big West leaders - CS-Fullerton 78-75!!
Once again Tyler Les played well - 14 points - hitting four more 3 pointers - making it 76 made 3-pt FG this season, Tyler's sophomore campaign, and they drew 2404 - one of their largest attendances at home in memory!!
NOBODY in the MVC - not even Colt Ryan (68) has made anywhere near as many as Tyler has made this year.
UC-D also moves past CS-Northridge in the standings - and nobody - not even a week ago would have expected UC-Davis to finish anywhere but last place - they are now hoping to finish strong & make some noise in the tourney!
Their RPI should move up quite a bit as well and they are now well above the bottom of the RPI standings...



Northern Iowa has had serious budget issues the last few years...they've cut programs, dropped baseball, and now they have even more issues.
$500,000 will be cut from the athletics budget - surely this'll make Ben Jacobson a bit perturbed...
http://www.indystar.com/article/D2/20120224/NEWS02/302240020/UNI-cut-athletics-budget-close-museum-plan-save-1-million?odyssey=nav%7Chead



Interesting happenings at University of Illinois...
lots of people want the University President out!!
Seems a whole lot of faculty think the Prez is doing a pretty crappy job...
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2012-02-24/faculty-trustees-ask-hogan-resign.html



Any more remarks by anyone that Bradley's talent gap is wider than the Grand Canyon?
I think BU proved they DO have the talent and they did it against UNI, against Indiana State, even against Creighton and a few other opponents.
Yesterday, it was not the talent that was the difference - but there were a few factors...like a single missed free throw, then the LACK of a time out that forced Bradley to get less than desirable shots on the final couple possessions, and forced Bradley to make a play after Ekey's missed free throw - without a timeout to set it up. It sure is tough when the game comes right down to the end and you don't have a time out because they were all used up earlier.

Then one has to wonder what is going on that we have such clock issues at the end of games....
Keep in mind that when that clock started early it forced our guys to make a play in LESS time than SHOULD have been on the clock,
The proper call would have been to replay the entire final 4.2 seconds....not just add 0.4.
In fact, even Jank compared the restart to the Olympic game - but that comparison is invalid because in that game the entire final segment was replayed not just adding a useless 0.4 seconds.
All the fans and even the coaches ask is that the guys paid to do their job at the scorers table get the job done. Please...



Ex-BU recruit Paris Gulley had a great game yesterday - 19 pts, 6 rebs in a win over Loyola.



Anyone think this site must be a little outdated???
Look who they list as President of Eastern Kentucky University...
http://www.onveon.com/college/profile/eastern-kentucky-university-40475.htm



PS _ Chicago State gets beat by a D-II - http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201202250112



If Chris Lowery is gone at SIU - could BU land Bobo Drummond???



Finally - Go Bradley win Thursday and keep going - we're behind you, Braves!!!!

Get a kick out of the new PJS and their sudden Koolaid coverage...

Disclaimer - this is an opinion about the newspaper coverage Bradley basketball gets...
I will simply state the case and you can decide....this is not about Bradley basketball and is meant only to highlight an overwhelmingly clear trend to treat Bradley basketball when it was under Jim Les quite differently and unfairly.
I love that just maybe the media is trying to be more fair and positive - but by contrast - it is clear they went way overboard to treat Bradley in the JL era as harshly and unfairly as possible. Someone simply needs to call them out on it and show their bias and their agenda against JL and BU basketball the past several years.


Here's just a simple statement - that the PJ Star people have treated this year's Bradley Braves quite differently than past year's.
I guess I am OK with the fact that the PJS writers have gotten religion or something and suddenly started writing nice things.

Just read the titles or if you want - look the articles

Senior stories are compelling trilogy
Reynolds: BU’s silver lining gives hope
Braves accentuate the positives down stretch
Reynolds: Bradley building through victories
Reynolds: Big things lie ahead for Braves
Another moral victory in season full of them for Bradley
Wessler: Braves proving they’re capable
Redshirt freshman Nate Wells getting bigger, making great strides
Wessler: Bradley has pep in its collective step
Lemon adjusting well to new role as point guard for Bradley
Wessler: Braves still trying to find themselves
BU rebounds, at least competitively
No reason for Bradley to feel blue
Wessler: Bradley not scared to compete
Wessler: BU performance fun, if not pretty
Bradley on rebound after break up in Wyoming
Reynolds: Bradley taking on new heights
Wessler: Braves come away with hope, if not wins
Wessler: Effort first, execution will follow
Wessler: Braves prove you can’t win by half measures
Bradley stepping forward with a look back
Wessler: A start to look the part
Bradley ready, willing
Thompson seeks renaissance under new Bradley staff
Plenty of promise in new point guard Walt Lemon
Veteran Braves looking for fresh start under new coach
Five freshmen give Bradley a new look
BU basketball: The first of many,well, firsts
Reynolds: BU ‘family ’is in this together
BU basketball off to fast start
Bradley 's incoming freshmen showing compatibility, athleticism


....did you see even one that sounded down or negative as ALL the columns were in the Jim Les era?? Last year is was a daily attack-fest ...

But, then this is what we have seen for years from a staff at PJS that never wanted to see JL as head coach and who always have a man-love-affair with the guy over whom JL was selected.



One comment about Lamar's head coach, Pat Knight, son, long time assistant to, and protege of Bobby Knight.

Some comments from his rant where he attacked and threw his own players under the bus have not all been made as widely known as other comments...

BUT - here's one comment quoted directly from Pat Knight's public press conference after the game...

"We've got the worst group of seniors right now that I've ever been associated with. Their mentality is awful. Their attitude is awful.

"I feel sorry for the fans. I feel sorry for this school. I mean these kids are stealing money by being on scholarship with their approach to things."

"We've had problems with these guys off the court, on the court, classroom, drugs, being late for stuff.
"Usually you have one or two guys that are a problem. We have an infestation of guys that are hard to coach."

"When I played, if you acted like the way some of these guys did, you got shoved in a locker with a forearm up against your neck and told, ‘You don't do that. That's not how we do things here at Indiana.' And that's what we need."

http://www.ksla.com/story/17012010/pat-knight-rails-against-players-after-loss-to-sfa


I can appreciate that maybe some of the players are spoiled and lazy but does a coach really need to detail that exactly what he should do to his players is...

"shove then into a locker with a forearm up against their neck and say ..
'You don't do that'"?

I think what this shows to me is a real serious personality issue on Pat Knight's part --
..first because he grew up around Bobby Knight - he thinks the way to deal with issues is get mad, and get violent...
after all that's what we saw from Bobby Knight for the better part of 40 years...
Throwing objects at referees, choking his own players, attacking innocent janitors in Puerto Rico, and then all the verbal berating and bullying.

Now Pat Knight thinks the baton has been passed to him and it's now his job to be college basketball's worst and most arrogant bully?
What a jerk - maybe if he had the coaching resume to back it up but then he was handed a team that was built, recruited, and designed by a Hall of Fame coach and Pat turned Texas Tech into a laughingstock in the Big East.

Pat Knight's record at Texas Tech is horrible.
It's buoyed by a whole bunch of cushy and easy pre-conference softies, and even despite that he's way below .500.
He's 50-61 overall up thru 2011 but his Big 12 record is hideous...
In the year he took over for his daddy they went 7-9 in the Big 12, but that's deceptive as they pretty much only beat the bottom dwellers - and under Pat they lost in record-braking fashion 109-51 to Kansas and 98-54 to Texas A&M...and he guided them to just 4-7.

The next year - Pat's first full year on his own at Texas Tech - they went 3-13 in the Big 12, but the non-conference was fattened by the likes of games against completely unheard-of DIII opponents like East Central University -
who they beat 167-115 - believe it or not!!!

Then same thing in 2009-2010 - they went 4-12 in the league but walloped all their softies in the non-conference games.

Then 5-11 in 2010-2011...so overall 16-43 against Big 12 opponents.....way, way worse than Bradley's record against Big 12 squads in that same time span....
(recall Bradley beat several Big 12 teams including Kansas, Iowa State, ...

-- oh - and BTW -- just as a final bit of evidence - Texas Tech is 1-14 in the Big 12 with what Pat Knight left them....so now he wants to throw all the Lamar kids under the bus and go out and get more players - yeah, right.....REMEMBER -- Texas Tech is 1-14 with Pat's players that HE recruited....this is even worse than Bradley's conference record!!

Whether Pat Knight or even his dad in the end is considered a good coach has to be looked at in the light of how they did when they didn't have the immense recruiting prowess that came from being at Indiana. Just look at the Texas Tech numbers and it's a bit harder to say either of them was much better than mediocre.

Some followups on BU guys and also some ex-BU recruits who could be playing a ton had they not aimed too high...

Lawrence Wright had ANOTHER monster game last night - he's had quite a few!
He carried his Halifax Rainmen to a 104-78 win over London scoring a game high 27 points!

The Canadian League All Star Game voting is going but since Boogie is NOT one of the native Canadians, he isn't getting much voting - so let's get busy and help!
As many times as you open the window or click on this link, you can vote!!

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=251820#post251820


Marcellus Sommerville carried his team Le Mans to an overtime 85-83 win against Gravelines (the team that booted OE), with Cellus getting 16 pts, 9 rebs, 2 asst.


Patrick O'Bryant is keeping his team in the upper division of the Greek League - shooting around 50% and averaging 10 pts, 6 rebs, 2 blocks


Eddie Cage's Andorra squad sits alone in 1st place - 3 full games ahead of their nearest opponent, in the Spanish LEB Silver - with Eddie playing a key role off the bench averaging 8 ppg, 4 rpg, and leading the entire LEAGUE at 91% FT shooting.


Andrew Warren's Taipans are in 4th place in Australia, but only 1/2 game out of 3rd and just 3.5 games out of 1st place, with Andrew averaging 14 ppg, 3 rebs, and 37% from 3-pt.


In the NBDL Zach Andrews is still playing well - averaging nearly a double double 11 pts, 9 rebs. Zach starts for the hottest team in the NBDL - the D-Fenders, who have won 8 straight and who are in 1st place with the best record.

Chris Roberts' Texas Legends just killed the Rio Grande Vipers 130-97 with CRob getting 17 pts on 7-9 from the floor and 3-5 from 3-pt.
In addition to shooting well from 3-pt range, Chris also hits 76% on FT's.



Creighton assistant coach on women's basketball team arrested - DUI
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/womens-basketball/news?slug=ap-creighton-coacharrested


Speaking of arrests, this head basketball coach was not only arrested but stepped down after an ugly, perverted incident of exposing himself....with the 65 year old pervert undressed in his car in a park with a 17-year old female student at the school!
What's interesting is that this high school in Martinsville, Indiana is John Wooden's alma mater and the home court is named after Wooden.

http://www.wthr.com/story/16935452/martinsville-coach-resigns-after-indecent-exposure-arrest

http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-tim-wolf-questions-surround-investigation-of-martinsville-high-school-coach-tim-wolf-20120214,0,1936169.column


Anyone see the Indiana-Iowa game last night - Iowa played well and nearly blew #20 ranked Indiana out.
Matt Roth played 15 minutes as a spot sub and again when IU was desperate and needed 3-pointers. He made 4-4 proving again he's a great shooter and should be playing more and have the opportunity to score!
Also in this game, Iowa's Matt Gatens was 7-10 from 3-pt range and ended up with 30 points.
The HUGE difference is that Gatens starts, plays the entire 40 minutes, and is the KEY player for Iowa.
Too bad Matt gets so disrespected at IU - some games he barely plays at all - like the 4 minutes he got last time against Iowa or the 11 minutes he got in Indiana's loss to Michigan where Matt was scoreless while Michigan's Zach Novak - a similar player - got 36 minutes and was 3-5 from 3-pt range.
Indiana is already oversigned for next year so it's pretty much a given he's not going to get his scholarship re-upped - again even more disrespect....he should look to play his final season a closer to home for a program where the fans and staff will appreciate him.

One other player who needs to look elsewhere is James Siakam - one of the top high schoolers out of Illinois a couple years ago who went to Vanderbilt.
After redshirting last year he still hasn't played hardly at all - only 20 minutes in garbage time total all season...although he hasn't missed a shot he's taken since Thanksgiving!
He needs to get out while he has time to re-establish his career where he can play.

You can tell a lot about people in the words they use, and some comments from Geno..

We've always heard that you can learn a lot from the words people use, but here's one more study that helps define who has serious problems, who has major ego-issues, and even who might well be the suicidal people...

http://hbr.org/2011/12/your-use-of-pronouns-reveals-your-personality/ar/1

Simply put - by analyzing the use of pronouns that people use, you can learn a lot about their personality and their problems.
People who are depressed, unstable, even suicidal...
tend use the words "I", "me", "myself" and self-centered pronouns dramatically more than other people do.

http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/02/03/what-our-words-say-about-us/

You can even use this data to tell when they are LYING or making things up...

BUT - the most substantial part of this research is that those people who focus on themselves, those who talk about "me" and "I" incessantly, those who always dwell on what THEY WANT and what THEY LIKE and what THEY THINK...are people who are deeply disturbed, self-centered, and who often have a remarkable weak self-esteem and who clearly know they are inadequate and have weak intellects.
But the most important impact of this research is that using this data - they were even able to make the strong link between the use of certain pronouns to excess (like me, myself, and I) and the tendency for those people to commit suicide in the future.

That's absolutely amazing - but not totally surprising - as such use of totally self-centered wordage clearly shows WHO those people put at the center of the universe.
They put themselves there and think only of themselves as important. They look down on everyone else - even though deeply they know they are the inadequate ones with weak personalities - and at some point down the road it unfortunately catches up with them and they realize the futility of their charades. It's sad - but then part of the research speculates that those people also won't bother to respond to helpful guidance or criticism because they are so self-centered.
They ultimately destroy themselves. Their best path right now would be turn their attention toward others and help others. Give of yourself, your time, your money - and help better someone else's life - maybe someone who is less fortunate and who has perhaps a few gazillion less blessings than they have. It's a formula that has always worked - and now even this Harvard scientist proves it. I wonder if Jeremy Lin was ever a student of this guy as he seems to be the exact opposite of those who put themselves at the center of the universe. Lin, of course a Harvard grad, seems like a truly nice and self-less guy!



There was a comment on an older chat in this blog yesterday...now we have a story today that Geno answered a few questions and his responses were referenced in the paper -

...but of all the things people ask when given the chance to get a question directly to the head coach - why is it they invariably ask the same question in several variations that the coach really cannot answer?
They always ask about recruiting and since Geno CAN'T talk much on details because it's an NCAA violation, and he WON'T talk much on details because recruiting is a super-confidential part of being a coach and you never want to tip your hand so the other schools know your game-plan....then he can only answer is broad generalities.
SO - in the end, Geno (or any other coach who is ever asked about recruiting) always simply states - "sure, we're still recruiting"...
..and of course that's pretty much all he said.

Likewise he isn't going to reveal details as to why some players play more than others even tho people ask anyway.

Then there were a few questions if Geno regretted taking the BU job or how's he handling the poor W-L record....and I cannot imagine even if the answer was "yes, I regret it" that he'd say it to a newspaper reporter -
Inistead Geno enthusiastically re-affirms that he loves being here and has great plans for BU.
I love this and am happy he's so dedicated to our program - GO Braves, and Go Geno!!

But...nayway...if I am not mistaken there's about 300% more of a pretty good reason for GF to be here than to be at KSU...and Geno likes the fan base at BU.
Geno greatly compliments the Bradley fans - so I think each of us can feel appreciated! The sentiment is mutual as Geno is a really likeable guy.

Then I guess there was a question sort of along the lines of what's the timetable for Bradley being good again...
and the vague answer was "no timetable...it's going to be a process"

And I guess one question baited Geno to see if he'd say that what's being said on message boards bothered him - and....
you can tell by the way the question was asked that this was clear in its intent to provoke some negative comment about certain message boards...
.. BUT - Geno threw that question right back into the guy's face and said NO -
he loves the passion and enthusiasm those people bring - he LOVES the blogs and message boards! This is the same kind of answer as the one I referenced yesterday when someone tried to provoke Geno last summer into a certain answer about one group of fans and he instead gave the exact opposite response as was hoped for by the asker of the question!
Looks like Geno's quite a bit smarter than some of those guys give him credit for and he knows when he's being baited. Great job Geno!

But Geno did make ONE strong point about message board comments - and it's exactly the same point many on BradleyFans.com have made for years -- but it's a point that is so obviously and blatantly ignored on other message boards...

-- That sharp and bitter criticism of the players is shameful and WRONG and should be off limits - AS IT IS by rule on BradleyFans but unfortunately it appears all the time and is even encouraged on un-moderated boards.
So surely since Geno does not see such criticism on BradleyFans - then I kinda know where he must be seeing it!!

A story about some of the fine Manual kids - and be careful what you wish for...

I bumped into an old acquaintance that I have known for many years - since coaching basketball travel teams and summer tournies as far back as in the 90's & early part of the past decade...
He is a long time area sports guy who not only coached his own kids but who also gave of his time extensively to coach disadvantaged kids from the Peoria area.
He was also active as director of the sports programs thru the Salvation Army (you know where that's located over on the west side of town and many of those kids end up at Manual HS), and also through the Christian Center. He even coached both Shaun Livingston and Ben Zobrist when they were just elementary school-aged kids.

Anyway - he told me of all the Manual kids he's had the opportunity to coach over the years, and a couple of the current Manual team members are among them...but the story he tells is also a sad one...
He says that more than half of all the really talented kids he has had in that west-side area of town, ended up never being successful later in basketball. The talent was still there but because he maintained a good, close relationship with many of the kids and their families, he saw first hand how so many of them fell victim to the lure of drugs, booze, gangs, and ill-informed advisers, and many dropped quickly off the map. Some simply became lazy because they thought their talent would carry them to future success without even showing up for practices.....a common concept that any high school coach would, of course, laugh at.
He even went so far as to say Manual would be a state champ multiple times if only that talent they have flowing into their school from the elementary school level could stay on track, get and heed GOOD advice and guidance, and stay away from the bad element in the community. Traically that is a probelm that goes way, way beyond just sports - and it hurts the kids, the families, and the community. Of course that's the exact hope and mission that the Salvation Army promotes (and the Christian Center as well - building families and better character), but they can't force kids to follow...and sadly so many squander such fine talent.
Many of us can and should do more to help and there are ways even if you can't think of a way to help.



I had to really laugh when I saw the obvious ironies on the front page of today's sports section...

First - let me say -- I love these guys we have on our Braves basketball team, and I am still going to support them 100%...they deserve it and they really are working hard..
I have not and WILL not let up on my support just because it's a down year, and I hope others follow suit.
(ps- I am still hoarse from last night, and encourage others to let them know we still support them.)

I DO see a couple silver linings and here they are...

-already mentioned - our guys are working hard and I think the shots will start falling....we can surprise someone in St. Louis, plus we still have that opportunity to be the ones who burst ISU's bubble.
We have some talented and entertaining players and I am going to continue to be a strong supporter!

-one other silver lining - even though I hate losing - is that the loss to Drake actually pushes Drake a little higher up than ISU would have wanted -
meaning that our game against ISU is ALL THE MORE LIKELY to be able to knock them into a Thursday spot. (Which of course would mean we would get to play them again in St. Louis.)
I look forward to the chance to be the team that eliminated whatever remaining possibility ISU has to play in the post-season even if it is just a remote chance of playing in the CBI or CIT.

-BUT...I did see a couple ironies on the front page of today's Sports Section...
..one was a reference to a chat session with Geno Ford which reminded me of the last chat (last summer) where some "caller" - who just happens top be one of the well known anti-BU posters and haters on the other message board (PM me if you want to know names) asked Geno during the chat what's Bradley gonna do for those fans in the cheap seats, "the nosebleed section", the ones who lay claim to being the fans that most demanded the changeover and who were "responsible" for Geno getting the spot at BU..
They were the JL-haters who even went so far as to root for Bradley to LOSE in St. Louis last spring - literally root against their own team, just so they could have more certainty of JL getting fired.
Those fans who labelled themselves as being in the nosebleed section were intentionally calling themselves that - so as to separate themselves from the fans who generally have good seats and who give good money to BU - who they saw as the ENEMY who were the JL-supporters!

-I found that thought absolutely humorous in light of the other irony in KW's column....
Here are KW's own descriptions of the fans in the nosebleed seats last night (and really any night now...)
"Last-place team and the proof is in the stands.."
"It has been 20 years since so many empty seats watched the Bradley
Braves play basketball games on their home court. Not just from the student
section, but from all sides and corners of the arena.
..sadly, until the repair job is underway with better recruits, Carver Arena will
continue to have a lot of empty seats."

In other words - they aren't there - they have abandoned their team, they have lost interest or become unhappy about the outcome that THEY actually asked for.
It's like pulling up to the drive-up window at McDonalds and rudely giving them a big order, then just when they get it fully prepared - you put it into drive and race out of there leaving your mess sitting there for someone else to have to clean up.

Interesting - the guy who wanted Geno to pick the nosebleed fans as his favorite group was about as wise as the Occupy protesters who thought that their hate, violence, and bitter rhetoric would catch on with the HUGE majority of reasonable and intelligent people - WRONG!!!
The guy apparently thought the bandwagon fans who just as quickly jmp off and on and who are only happy when winning were going to be Geno's favorite folks.
Even worse - look at what the Occupy people are doing now that they see their tactics failing - they double down and even get MORE hatefull and hostile. We are also seeing that among the haters on certain message boards - turning on each other and other fans, turning on the players and just about anyone they can think of to hate on.
It is sad - even though I never go to certain hateful message boards, people tell me all the time they went to check what was being said and they found so much vile that it made them sick.

Those fair weather fans are always welcome back as Bradley fans -- we do have the empty seats and they can come back any time - but watch -- they won't -- they only care about themselves and only feel good about coming when BU is winning.
Every team has fans like that so in a way this is nothing new....but their hate and vitriol against BU and against Jim Les were inexcusable and it's almost funny were it not so sad that their own actions are what have resulted in so many records in futility being set lately by BU, records like the 1st time ever in deep last place, most losses, worst shooting, 0-20, most 30 pt blowouts, etc.
Even KW kinda touches on this when he cites that as badly as BU played last night without their best player Taylor Brown could b an ominous sign of what's to come - and it may indeed be even MORE fallout from what transpired.

"Without Brown, Bradley’s offense was reduced to the fabulously athletic but often wildly erratic Walt Lemon Jr., and the frustratingly inconsistent Dyricus Simms-Edwards — and prayers that a 3-pointer or two might go in.
With Brown gone, the task got even tougher. Only Lemon, with his ridiculous speed, was able to score consistently.
That’s a problem with no easy fix. And sadly, until the repair job is underway with better recruits, Carver Arena will continue to have a lot of empty seats."

so - as much as some fans thought we'd be better right away - it looks like it's going to be a long, long time....
remember the stupid statements people made last spring after JL was fired like...
"We're bound to be better right away. How can we be worse - we were a last place team...etc"

Hmmm...so be careful what you wish for -- and certainly be careful about bragging that YOU were the one who wished for for such a disastrous outcome because you now identify yourself for what you are, a cancer among the fans.

TB injury? ..and more...

I guess I am stumped...what's going on? - very little said and what's said is contradictory...
BUT - Taylor Brown is only 4-31 shooting over the past 3 games, and is 15-59 (25.4%) shooting since the SIU game (3 weeks)...and only 3-16 from beyond the arc in that same time span - so something's going on!

In days past the beat writers for the PJ Star used to DEMAND accountability - even to the point that when they felt that the BU coaching staff was not up front or fully open, honest, and revealing on injury situations, they even resorted to name calling - calling Coach Les an unethical liar one time.
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=55355#post55355

Funny how tandards change at the whm of the writers...

Now... way back on January 26, a tiny mention at the tail end in an article said Taylor Brown had hurt his wrist way back on Jan. 24 in the SIU game and it was bad enough to sit out the next day's practice.
http://www.pjstar.com/bradleyhoops/x430726950/Reynolds-Things-are-tough-all-over-for-Bradley?zc_p=1

Then a discussion by fans on the message board began both before and after the Missouri State game about Taylor's poor shooting and his wrist being wrapped - now today we have another comment in the paper that the wrist was injured on Feb. 1 (now no mention at all of the late January injury) in the Evansville game....but that writer never even mentions and doesn't even seem to remember that he had previously said the injury occurred back against SIU.
http://www.pjstar.com/bradleyhoops/x1341779421/Braves-accentuate-the-positives-down-stretch?zc_p=1

Or are we dealing with TWO different injuries - or is it MORE than is being let known?? This is mportant - Taylor Brown is our best player and the injury is having a HUGE impact. Isn't this the very same setting that provoked one local newspaper writer to go off on a long rant about the dishonesty of the head coach for not revealing every tiny little detail of injuries and not telling in advance who's gonna start and who's gonna have a bad game because he was secretly injured.
I guess I kinda get a kick out of how things are covered and NOT covered so much differently now than before.
I guess I'll have to rely more on the message boards and blogs to get the accurate info.


As most now know - one BU recruit Michael Ochereobia is now verballed to Jim Molinari and WIU. But - they are also going strong after another BU recruit - Coach Mo was and still is pushing hard to get the interest of Tanner Williams and will continue to follow him at prep school.
Tanner, from Orion HS, will be playing with the Peoria Irish this summer.


Ka'Darryl Bell and his team played one of their toughest opponents last night in a battle for conference supremacy. Oak Park faced York with D-I recruit David Cohn and did a nice job shutting them down.
Oak Park won 57-35, with OPRF's Gabe Levin getting 19 pts, 10 rebs. Ka'Darryl had 11 pts, but it was a nice team effort guarding Cohn and forcing 17 1st half turnovers from their effort to try to get the ball to Cohn.
http://riverforest.suntimes.com/sports/10650718-419/huskies-put-clamps-on-cohn-dukes.html


Dodge City is coming off a win over Colby with Tyshon getting another double-double, 12 pts, 12 rebs, they play again tonight.
http://www.dodgeglobe.com/sports/x1341776575/Not-horsing-around-Men-take-down-Trojans-to-end-streak


Here's why it's nice to have a football team - even if it's just a mediocre one or one that can never beat a BCS team...
Northern Iowa is going to ply at Wisconsin next season, likely gonna get beat up bad, but look what they get to take home...
Almost half a million bucks......
https://twitter.com/#!/AndyBaggotWSJ/status/169535415387295746


New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin knows who to give the credit to...
but it's funny how so many different groups are trying to claim him...
Asian-Americans, Califronians, Chinese, etc...all hooting that he's one of them.
But the group Lin most closely associates hmself with is the same group Tim Tebow associates himself with and this seems to cause the press to go bazonkers. They appear to really dislike anyone saying anything religious.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/jeremy-lin-storybook-run-ny-knicks-a-miracle-god-article-1.1022356


Chewing tobacco - a bad decision for young people - claims another victim (not fatal, fortunately) in baseball great Tony Gwynn, who just was diagnosed and underwent surgery for cancer inside his mouth caused by the tobacco.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/14/tony-gwynn-has-cancerous-tumor-removed-from-mouth/


Several of TCU's athletes caught - serious drug dealing issues...
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/02/15/3736441/many-current-tcu-students-arrested.html


Coach Les and the UC-Davis Aggies won again last night -- they are actually getting relatively hot at the right time and they inch towards their conference tournament - perhaps they can pull some upsets!
They are using Coach Les' 4-guard lineup!!
Tyler Les continues to shoot very well, hanging around 50% from the 3-pt arc, leading their conference and among the nation's leaders.
we really could use some consistent outside shooting like that!
http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/aggies/ucd-men-show-pacific-no-love/


Is this the stupidest idea you've heard?
I'm sure this is gonna produce well educated, hard working, motivated future leaders...
http://www.wlky.com/r/30463621/detail.html

Catching up a bit more...

Coach Jim Molinari at WIU is getting some mentions regarding Summit Coach of the Year.
Nobody is saying he's going to GET the award - just that he has to be considered among the candidates since his team has done so much better than was expected. His team was pegged by everyone to finish 9th 0r 10th in the conference but currently they are one game out of 4th place and 2 games out of 3rd at around .500.

Here's the beat writer that covers WIU saying he thinks Coach Mo deserves consideration...

"Western Illinois is fourth in the men’s standings, tied for sixth in the women’s standings.
It’s easy to make the case that men’s coach Jim Molinari and women’s coach JD Gravina should get serious consideration for the conference’s coach of the year honors.
With a winning overall and conference record, it’s easy to make the argument for Molinari, especially after last season’s struggles.
Coach of the year honors usually seem to find their way into the hands of the coaches of the conference regular-season champion.
But there’s no question that Molinari and Gravina have done excellent jobs with their teams this season."
http://www3.thehawkeye.com/bohnenkamp_blog/?p=1919



Dr. Michael Cross is being mentioned in the news...
The BU Athletic Director played basketball at Buffalo and is a Buffalo native.

Buffalo AD Warde Manuel stepped down to take the position of new Athletic Director at UConn...leaving open the senior spot in the Athletics Dept. at Buffalo...
http://proxy.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7571366/new-connecticut-huskies-ad-warde-manuel-academic-issues-define-university

One of the first names brought up in the comments below the article is....

"Michael Cross: AD Bradley University…previously at Princeton and Michigan, former basketball player, from Buffalo.."

http://mobile.ubbullrun.com/2012/2/12/2793997/what-warde-manuel-did-for-ub-athletics

But another story this morning out of Buffalo, NY also names Bradley's Dr. Michael Cross as possible replacement candidate at Buffalo
http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article730624.ece


Also - recently Dr. Cross talked with FoxSports and clearly opposes the NCAA's new proposal to allow every member school to give $2000 in "spending money" to each athlete -- as that would hurt smaller schools..

"Certainly, most recruits with a choice will follow the money."
"There are a lot of schools that are struggling with budgets, not just athletic
budgets," Cross said. "They're laying people off, making bigger classes. It's
going to be tough to justify giving additional aid to athletes."
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/WITH-THE-BRAVES-Academic-standards-OK-by-BU-08492474

But Dr. Cross does think that the other new proposal that would allow a school to offer 4-year scholarships instead of just 1-year deals - might end up benefiting some smaller schools..
"Like a professional athlete considering a multi-year contract, a student-
athlete might get a one-year offer from Illinois, but a four-year deal from
Bradley. That's definitely a factor for the marginal high-major recruit to think about."

Personally, I am not sure - whatever incentives can be used to lure recruits - it always favors the bigger schools that have the most money - always ...



There's an interesting story out of Kent State and there's a mention (not too complimentary) of Geno Ford and their lawsuit issues.

A big time, rich donor pledged $1 million for upgrades of athletic facilities and for the naming rights of the new home court.

The money was being given by a Kent State alumnus who is a multimillionaire who made his money through commodity & stock brokering...
However - the guy has been caught defrauding investors and is in trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission...

But -- despite the guy's past - Kent State accepted the money and was going to honor him by naming their home court after him...even though there's evidence via e mails that the school might have known about his "checkered past" and the controversy it might cause - after all, it's a lot of money and they really need it!

Then the local student paper began to investigate and publish the story and the guy gets ticked and suddenly withdraws his donation - decides he isn't giving a penny!

University officials now have some explaining to do since they have "wined and dined" this "crook" and his wife for the better part of the last year and now they're not getting the donation!!
http://kentwired.com/the-courting-of-jason-cope-behind-the-scenes-of-a-$1-million-withdrawal/
http://jimromenesko.com/2012/01/10/kent-state-alum-pulls-1m-gift-after-student-paper-asks-questions/
http://kentwired.com/our-view-fraudulence-shouldnt-be-overlooked/

Now the student newspaper writer is getting hammered as costing the school a seven-figure gift!!
http://dougbrown8.com/

This just goes along with all the other stories that show how desperate schools are to land funds & donations...they're even willing to deal with shady characters...thankfully Bradley has such great supporters and donors and has never had sleazy stuff like this...



I don't know about anyone else - but often my morning newspaper doesn't come until well after I have left for work - and as was the case last Friday -- I occasionally simply don't get one at all. Since they habitually come late - it's hard to know until at least 9 AM if I have not gotten one - but, as noted, by then I am already gone to work and don't find out if I actually got one until I get back in the evening. Of course by then there's nobody manning the phones at PJS or in their circulation department - so there's nobody I can talk to regarding this annoying and repeated scenario.

Anyway - there's a lot going on that might explain their haphazardness...

All the newspapers in Central Illinois have a new chief - head editor..
http://www.reviewatlas.com/news/x962226972/R-M-editor-named-GateHouse-regional-editor

Maybe he just doesn't know what's going on yet???

The PJS also now moved all their printing operations to new locations - this must be terribly confusing..
http://news.bostonherald.com/jobfind/news/media/view/20220213gatehouse_media_consolidates_news_production_in_mass_ill/srvc=home&position=also

But it's also somewhat secretive - what gives...why all the hocus pocus and secrets??
"The newspapers' printing will be moved to other GateHouse printing plants, which the company declined to name."
http://journalstar.com/business/local/maverick-media-printing-plant-closing/article_d19007a1-bd78-5ece-b9a1-d327baef55cc.html

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x58623157/Illinois-GateHouse-newspapers-to-centralize-page-production



I can't imagine the papers are going broke, though, as long as there's willing dopes like this spending huge sums on wasteful advertising...
The city of Galesburg spends THOUSANDS running ads trying to convince Caterpillar to re-locate their plants there -- seriously!!!
They think if the new plants are being built in Peoria, that somehow Galesburg has an advantage?? Gimme a break!!
http://www.wgil.com/localnews.php?xnewsaction=fullnews&newsarch=022012&newsid=42

Never the less - they're still cutting staff and laying people off like crazy -- sounds like they've really mismanaged their funds...
"Sources said that GateHouse, which owes its creditors more than $1 billion, is consolidating copy desk functions at all of its newspapers.

“It was terrible,” one source said. “One staffer used the word ‘dismantle’ to describe what they were doing.”

http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-9568-sj-r-to-lay-off-copy-editors.html



Mitchell Anderson, Jr. had yet another double double last night - 10 pts, 12 rebs - he's had 3 Double Doubles in the past four games and has his season's averages up to 11 ppg, 6 rpg


SIU transfer to Iowa State, Anthony Booker must be wondering why'd he ever leave the fine company of Chris Lowery!
After sitting out a year figuring to play a bunch at depleted Iowa State, Booker does get into every game, but does not produce diddley-squat!
Again last night vs. Baylor, he played 7 minutes and was scoreless.
His averages are roughly 3 pts/ 2 rebs, but he often gets just a few minutes, and it won't get any better next year with better players coming in.
He still keeps launching 3-pointers at a 25% rate.


Northwestern dropped to 15-9 and just 5-7 in the Big Ten with their loss to Purdue.
If they don't make the NCAA this season - then their hopes sure do not improve with the loss of John Shurna...
BUT - they look to finish possibly just 7-11 or maybe optimistically 8-10 but look for the NCAA to give them a bid anyway --
and if it happens, it's just more proof of BCS bias as Northwestern has not been particularly impressive to deserve a bid.
They beat a bunch of nobodies but got annihilated by Baylor, Creighton, Ohio State, and just about any decent team.
If the NCAA allows their win over inconsistent Michigan State to be a determining factor then Illinois should get the same nod.


5th year at ISU - and Tim Jankovich has never won at Cedar Falls (vs. UNI)!
Jank holding at 99 career wins will he get his 100th today at Indiana State?
John Wilkins is hampered with an ankle injury, not known how much he can play.
ISU is only 1-6 in conference ROAD games and just 2-7 overall in road games, winning only at Morehead State and MSU.


Tom Crean = whiner ?? He's still pleading with the Big Ten to smack down Illinois' Meyers Leonard for rough play against his boy Cody Zeller.
https://twitter.com/#!/JeffRabjohns/status/169218525636988928


Peyton Allen is visiting Bradley tomorrow...and taking in the game..along with a couple of his Jets teammates.
https://twitter.com/#!/swjetsbbclub/status/169162739317616641
https://twitter.com/#!/Dwilliams1515/status/169445421888978944

I am curious and would love to know why he switched AAU teams and left the Illinois Wolves who are perhaps the most successful and reputable program in the nation!!

BTW -- here's a nice new article on Peyton Allen - I cover it a bit more thoroughly on the Facebook site.
http://illinois.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1330912

The Facebook site - LMK
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001456727547


BTW -- a few people point at UC-Davis' record and poke fun at Coach Les .. but they obviously are so mis-informed...
nobody expected UCD to do anything this year then they lost 3 of their best players for the entire season and were forced to play a ton with new players and freshmen...
But despite all the losses, most have been close!!
four of their last 7 losses were just a single possession and ended with only a few points losing margin.
And of their 22 losses with players everyone agrees are inexperienced - they STILL have lost a bunch by 30 points as some teams have done...
The only big time losses on that scale were at Stanford and at UCLA...
They're battling and they might make some noise in their tourney...time will tell.

Catching up with Ken Kavanagh

Disclaimer: I am friends with Ken Kavanagh and I like him, so what I write will reflect that fact. So if you have some biased, negative opinion of Ken, then don't bother reading this because it will force your mind to become uncontrollably and unreasonably negative, and you'll attempt to attack the messenger or go ballistic and blame Ken for everything you now don't like about Bradley.


Anyway -- Ken is being hailed as a HERO - saving the people at Florida Gulf Coast University MILLIONS of dollars, saving taxpayers millions as well and keeping them from having to settle a warped and selfish lawsuit settlement driven by greedy disgruntled employees and ambulance-chasing lawyers....and on top of that what Ken and his associates did was simply the BRAVE and correct thing to do - to stand up and FIGHT against greed and corruption.

Just before Ken Kavanagh was hired at FGCU, the university was forced to fight then pay off and settle "three expensive discrimination lawsuit settlements."

"Women coaches and a lawyer claimed a good old boy network was keeping them down.
Settlements totaled $4.2 million."

"Then came a new administration, led by a new president and athletic director, Wilson Bradshaw and Ken Kavanagh, respectively. When yet another civil suit was filed by a former provost, also a woman, in 2009, FGCU leadership had a decision to make — settle again or stand and fight.

Those officials fought, and won, prevailing over claims of mistreatment and male bias."

Now - the local newspaper has gotten hold of the inside and previously secret & confidential court documents and has gone public in expressing their opinion on the actions of Ken Kavanagh and the others...

And Ken's actions are being PRONOUNCED GOOD!!
The officials at FGCU are being hailed as HEROES for standing up and fighting this silly lawsuit and eventually winning and saving everyone involved MILLIONS of dollars.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/jan/26/editorial-fgcu-did-what-it-had-to-do-with/?print=1

The editors of the Naples News are saying that Ken's actions saved the university's reputation and took stamina and shows INTEGRITY!
The editors pronounce Ken's (and the others') actions GOOD!!!

GOOD for FGCU!!!

(btw- Ken says this kind of lawsuit and others, like Title IX suits and challenges are becoming ever more common as disgruntled coaches, athletes, and employees go for the deep pockets. His warning sounds legit in that Bradley just added another men's sport - track & field - and already has some grumbling heard from the Bradley women's soccer club team that argued for use of Shea Stadium facilities and want school support)
http://www.bradleywomensclubsoccer.com/

Ken is currently in the 3rd year of his tenure at Florida Gulf Coast University - a school that is new to Division I...
Here are but a few of Ken's accomplishments in that short time span - in addition to being courageous and fighting that stupid lawsuit and slamming the door in the ambulance chaser's face.....

-Their athletic programs won FIVE different conference titles in the first two years Ken was there! FIVE -- that's WAY, WAY more than Bradley has won in all sports since Ken left!

-their entire athletic GPA was 3.17 - average among ALL scholarship athletes - incredible!

-men's and women's basketball, and men's and women's soccer have all seen tremendous successes and marked rise in attendance.
Men's basketball with their new head coach in a year that was expected to be a bad rebuilding year - unexpectedly however are doing way better than expected - 12-12 and 7-6 in conference -- whoa! they even played to within ONE point of beating a Big Ten team, and came within 6 pts of winning AT Maryland!

-last year's men's and women's soccer BOTH won the A-Sun regular season championship - as did women's basketball and in Ken's very first year there, they had almost as much success.

-Volleyball is currently 10-3 in conference and looking to be the champs, softball last spring won 31 games against a schedule of teams such as Georgetown, Michigan State, NC State, University of Florida, USC, Villanova, Iowa, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Creighton, etc...

-Golf (both men's and women's) have consistently finished among the leaders and women's have finished Top 3 the last couple years.

-baseball has NEVER had a season where their team batting average was less than .306, they won 38 games in 2010, they're an amazing 331-165 since playing at the D-I level, (they became full fledged D-I members just in the past 2 years), they've won their conference title 3 of the past 4 years, and they have an all-time winning record against every single one of their conference opponents.

-simply put, they have enjoyed more success than just about any school every in their first few years of D-I competition!


http://www.fgcuathletics.com/athletics/directory/1320/ken-kavanagh/

Flashback to =what was happening a couple years ago...and some media and charity dishonesty

So what was happening two years ago at Bradley in the Athletic Department...
well...the brand new Athletic Director Dr. Michael Cross was giving his first extended interview to the local newspaper...

Just a few weeks earlier - Bradley had just hired a NEW Athletic Director after Ken Kavanagh left Bradley 7 to 8 month earlier.
As you will recall (or can be reminded by the links below) Dr. Cross was introduced in early December 2009 and never once was any hint given in advance as to who the new AD was going to be, who was considered, who was interviewed, who the other canddiates (if any) were, and what process was used to make the selection.
After BU went more than half a year without an AD, suddenly there was a press conference and Dr. Cross was introduced.


http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13897

Kirk Wessler described the hiring as
"hiring process done by a committee of one"

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/bradley/x1171011505/Wessler-A-hiring-process-doneby-a-committee-of-one


OK - here's the first major interview after Dr. Cross was hired....I will highlight only a couple comments...

"I’d love to play Villanova."

"I have friends and colleagues all over the country who might go, “We’d love to play you guys.” Some of those conversations already are happening, although I can’t say with whom. You have to think creatively."

"..the quickest way to get BU noticed nationally is success on the playing field.
The easiest way to the NCAA's is by winning the Valley.."

"You can go to the NCAA tournament in any one of our sports in one of two ways: at-large bid or win a Missouri Valley championship; which would you choose?” — I have to imagine it would unanimously be, “To be the best in the Valley.”

"That, then, gives you the opportunity to go on the national stage and compete against the best of the best. It gives you a chance to compete against some of the people who just refuse to play you, and it becomes your opportunity to take advantage of that."

"..high aspirations and won't settle for mediocre.."

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=204881840


Lastly - one well known poster on Bradleyfans summed up Dr. Cross' words in this interview thus...
"Attendance IS down. ANYONE that tries to blow smoke up your behind with this ticket sold number is doing you and BU a disservice. There is a problem and instead of burying our head in the stands SOMETHING needs to be done to fix it. As I have said time and time again...Ray Charles could see something ain't right in the river city.
Not only is attendance down but the atmosphere is fast appraoching an all time low. Like many of you I have been going to games for 20 + years and I have to think back to the final years of Albeck to recall it this dead.
That is an undeniable fact.
I may not know X's and O's as well as some but I know crowds and excitment. I LIVE for a full house like the MSU game a few years ago and for the Days of Hawk and our own Jim Les. If anyone missed those days...WOW."

"The BU "product" just isn't real good right now (and that pains me to say it) and people will use all those other excuses NOT to go.
Mr. Cross needs to see some tapes of what the Arena CAN be like and HAS been in the past. BU has great fans but MANY...WAY to many are staying home and MANY that ARE there are losing steam."

....boy -- I sure hope that fan is watching what's going on now.....




I hate to go off topic again but someone has to do it - when we hear so many lies and deceptions in the media, someone has to step forward and give the evidence of the truth.

We've all heard a ton lately in the news about the Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood.
Here's just sampling of what's in the news...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/supporters-rally-around-planned-parenthood-after-komen-decides-to-cut-breast-screening-grants/2012/02/03/gIQAhyZFmQ_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop

And in amongst all this stuff are two claims that simply cannot be supported by any facts...

First - the Komen people claim their efforts have made a positive impact on breast cancer rates and are improving overall statistics on breast cancer and survival.

Second - the Planned Parenthood people claim their efforts in offering medical care and "Pap smears" have made a positive impact on cervical cancer and are improving overall statistics on cervical cancer rates and survival.

BUT - what are the actual facts? -- I will simply present the facts and if you care to decide, then I will leave it up to you. Maybe a lot of people don't think this affects them, but these are two of the biggest cancer-related concerns that exist - obviously more so for women than men but these diseases affect everyone who is a woman or who has a woman as a mother, daughter, sister, girlfriend, wife, or acquaintance.

Here are the facts on the first point-
"American women have the highest incidence rates of breast cancer in the world"

http://themoderatevoice.com/137255/ill-never-look-at-a-pink-ribbon-the-same-way-again/

..this is undisputed and strangely there's hardly anyone who wants the reasons to be known - but I do and I will give the reasons.
BUT -- even worse...EVERYWHERE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD breast cancer rates are rising!!
So are cervical cancer rates...again - this is undisputed!!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/sep/15/breast-cervical-cancer-rising

So if breast cancer rates are rising and the rates are higher in the US than anywhere else in the world - one really has to question the premise that the efforts of the Komen folks are doing any good at all!!!
It is true that women who get mammograms do find their cancers earlier and thus they have better survival - BUT -- the VAST majority of all the IMPROVEMENT in cancer survival statistics took place between the 1960's and the 1980's.......the survival rates have continued to improve slightly since then but remember MOST of the statistical improvement in survival rates took place LONG before the Komen folks really ever got involved in all this!!!!!

It is flat out dishonest for them to take credit for something they had NOTHING to do with!

Susan Komen lived in Peoria and got breast cancer at the age of 33, she died from the disease in 1980, and the foundation that bears her name was started up in the early 1980's by Komen's sister, Nancy Goodman Brinker.
It wasn't until the late 80's and 90's that any significant nation-wide impact of the Komen Foundations effort have been felt.

BUT -- in the meantime - the single risk factor that leads to BREAST CANCER - is hardly mentioned. I'll bet many reading this blog do NOT know what it is.
If a single risk factor is as powerful as all the other preventable risk factors combined - don't you think we ought to know it LOUD and CLEAR so women can take the steps to avoid this risk factor.
That factor is hormone use by women which has plummetted since the 1980's because of factors again UNRELATED to Komen or any of their efforts -- it was DOCTOR groups who did studies and showed the links between hormones and cancer rates and who refuted the pharmacy industry and the women's advocates who have ALWAYS pushed for easier access and wider use of hormones in women (both post-menopausal and in the form of birth control pills).

ALSO -- Komen has essentially NEVER, EVER addressed this other risk factor....and as for why they don't that's a topic for another whole blog entry but they simply DO NOT tell women about the single thing that might CHOOSE which will drop their cancer risk in HALF!!

The answer here is, of course, HORMONE use - specifically estrogen hormones that are prescribed for women.
Women have their own natural estrogens up through about age 45 or 50 then they naturally lose their hormones. There are basically TWO ways they can get or take extra hormones...
-doctors can prescribe hormone supplements to women who lose their natural supply and this does happen quite a bit as many women's groups have touted the positive aspects of hormone use.
-also doctors and health clinics like Planned Parenthood can prescribe "birth control pills" which are generally powerful estrogen hormones that end up being used often by very young women - for decades at a time - so that by the time those women are in their 50's they may well have taken powerful estrogen drugs for 3/4 of their entire lives!!

Anyone want to know what all those powerful hormones might do to the female body??
Well - here's the evidence - that those hormones, especially in certain women whose genetics might predispose them to cancer - appear to accelerate the risk of breast cancer TREMENDOUSLY.

Just read for yourself...these various forms of hormone use by women may increase the risk of breast cancer (and cervical cancer as well) by as MORE THEN 600 percent!
SERIOUSLY - it might double, triple, quadruple, or even increase a woman's risk of cancer by SIX FOLD!!!!
"...a wealth of statistical data from various sources to support a fact that is known by the medical community to be true yet is rarely acknowledged: use of the pill has been strongly linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. The pill is also believed to increase the risk of cervical cancer and liver cancer.
“This stuff is not new... linking pill use to the 660 percent rise in non-invasive breast cancer since 1973."

http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2010/12/kansas-senior-arrested-and-50-years-but.html

http://www.lifenews.com/2010/12/03/nat-6908/

Also - the post-menopausal use of estrogen is also highly associated with increase breast cancer rates - and in fact, VIRTUALLY all doctors have all but STOPPED recommending or prescribing hormones for post-menopausal women because of these cancer risks. So why do organizations like Komen and Planned Parenthood still push these killer hormones?? They somehow think they know better and still tell their clients and even prescribe for them these powerful hormones that cause cancer and can kill them - but it's because both organizations promote and even celebrate a free lifestyle where they want their women to do as they please and behave as they wish!!

It's almost unparallelled anywhere else - they are promoting the very drugs that keep causing the cancer that justifies their existence!! Could it be that they knowingly push the very product that keeps them in business and keeps their services on the front page?
Could they be that self-serving or is it ignorance?

Some, in fact many, wise doctors have known this all along and have NEVER followed this risky pattern of putting women on unnatural hormones for unjustifiable reasons - given the risks. And the few who used to now greatly regret having done so and have changed their opinions 180 degrees.

http://articles.philly.com/2010-10-21/news/24981656_1_rowan-chlebowski-breast-cancer-hormone-therapy

So - in conclusion - the data is clear -- breast cancer rates are INCREASING (not decreasing), and hormone use is the single greatest factor accountable for this - yet virtually nobody will tell you that, least of all the folks at Komen or Planned Parenthood, and all their push to panhandle contributions and use the money to make mammograms more available have resulted in little benefit that wasn't already fully achieved between the 60's and 80's BEFORE Komen ever came into being!
Boiled down, they are causing way more cancer that they are helping!


Then we tackle the issue involving Planned Parenthood. We already showed hormones increase cervical cancer - but Planned parenthood claims their efforts help reduce cancer concerns because they promote women's health and Pap smears.

Well, again, the facts call them LIARS!!
The HUGE drop in cervical cancer rates took place between the 1950's and 1980's when the factors were identified and Pap smears became popular. Every women who ever sees a doctor for a Pap smear, or who sees a doctor when she gets pregnant or has a baby - gets screened, and thus many cancers are prevented.
Planned Parenthood simply CANNOT claim credit here since the reduction in cervical cancer took place BEFORE they were active in this area or providing widespread Pap smears.

BUT - whatever good they might do with their Pap smears - they more than offset with their other recommendations...
They put millions of young women on hormone containing birth control pills which have been proved to INCREASE cervical cancer rates substantially.
BUT - even worse - they promote widespread, prolific, casual and promiscuous sex which happens to be .....

The #1 cause of cervical cancer!!!

EVERY SITE THAT DISCUSSES CERVICAL CANCER RISKS ADMITS THIS IS TRUE.
It is due to exposure to the Human Pappiloma Virus that is transmitted sexually.
"Having unprotected sex, especially at a young age, makes HPV infection more likely. Also, women who have many sex partners (or who have sex with men who have had many partners) have a greater chance of getting HPV."
"For cervical cancer, the most important risk factor is infection with a virus known as HPV (human papilloma virus). HPV ....cause(s) cancer of the cervix.
HPV is passed from one person to another..In fact, doctors believe that a woman must be infected by HPV before she develops cervical cancer."

http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CervicalCancer/OverviewGuide/cervical-cancer-overview-what-causes

So there you have it - overwhelming evidence that both the Komen folks and the Planned Parenthood folks are doing NO good at all and are actually making things worse by promoting (and failing to help contain) all the major risk factors such as hormone use, casual prescribing of birth control hormones, encouraging prolific sex and ignoring the real causes such as the sexually transmitted viruses and other factors - even abortions, which increase cancer risks.

I have no dog in this fight - I am not biased, I do not work for nor get paid by either side of this argument, nor does anyone in my family have any of these health concerns -- so check the evidence for yourself and make wise decisions, but the facts prove that Komen & Planned Parenthood in conjunction with a gullible and sympathetic press are LYING to you.

Flashback 11 months ago...

Here are just a few posts I culled from the "Jim Les Fired" thread 11 months ago --

[QUOTE=BradleyJD]
How far back could we go? We were 4 - 14
[/QUOTE]
...Answer - we could be way worse than 4-14 - in fact we might be 1-17

[QUOTE=Braves4Life]
Let's face it, we've got nowhere to go but up ......
[/QUOTE]
...Care to rethink that comment??

[QUOTE=Da Coach]
The team next year will bear very little resemblance to anything we now see.
[/QUOTE]
...well at least some people saw things clearly - this poster also accurately predicted that Sam, Remy, and SH would be gone..

[QUOTE=CE Braves Fan]
..BU basketball will be 3-5 years away from being competitive again.
[/QUOTE]
...most people were actually saying we'd be better right away - but this guy is saying 3-5 years -- even if he's right, how can any true BU fan relish that prospect for the next 3-5 years?

[QUOTE=BradleyJD]
We should compete, to be sure. The first year could be rough, if you have defections. However, I would still expect better than 4-14.
[/QUOTE]
...I suspect it's rougher than you thought...


..but there were plenty more saying we'd be great this season, the fans would come roaring back, and that by this time in 2012 we'd have gobs of top recruits coming in....
Ahem........really??

Catching up with Ken Kavanagh

Disclaimer: I am friends with Ken Kavanagh and I like him, so what I write will reflect that fact. So if you have some biased, negative opinion of Ken, then don't bother reading this because it will force your mind to become uncontrollably and unreasonably negative, and you'll attempt to attack the messenger or go ballistic and blame Ken for everything you now don't like about Bradley.


Anyway -- Ken is being hailed as a HERO - saving the people at Florida Gulf Coast University MILLIONS of dollars, saving taxpayers millions as well and keeping them from having to settle a warped and selfish lawsuit settlement driven by greedy disgruntled employees and ambulance-chasing lawyers....and on top of that what Ken and his associates did was simply the BRAVE and correct thing to do - to stand up and FIGHT against greed and corruption.

Just before Ken Kavanagh was hired at FGCU, the university was forced to fight then pay off and settle "three expensive discrimination lawsuit settlements."

"Women coaches and a lawyer claimed a good old boy network was keeping them down.
Settlements totaled $4.2 million."

"Then came a new administration, led by a new president and athletic director, Wilson Bradshaw and Ken Kavanagh, respectively. When yet another civil suit was filed by a former provost, also a woman, in 2009, FGCU leadership had a decision to make — settle again or stand and fight.

Those officials fought, and won, prevailing over claims of mistreatment and male bias."

Now - the local newspaper has gotten hold of the inside and previously secret & confidential court documents and has gone public in expressing their opinion on the actions of Ken Kavanagh and the others...

And Ken's actions are being PRONOUNCED GOOD!!
The officials at FGCU are being hailed as HEROES for standing up and fighting this silly lawsuit and eventually winning and saving everyone involved MILLIONS of dollars.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/jan/26/editorial-fgcu-did-what-it-had-to-do-with/?print=1

The editors of the Naples News are saying that Ken's actions saved the university's reputation and took stamina and shows INTEGRITY!
The editors pronounce Ken's (and the others') actions GOOD!!!

GOOD for FGCU!!!

(btw- Ken says this kind of lawsuit and others, like Title IX suits and challenges are becoming ever more common as disgruntled coaches, athletes, and employees go for the deep pockets. His warning sounds legit in that Bradley just added another men's sport - track & field - and already has some grumbling heard from the Bradley women's soccer club team that argued for use of Shea Stadium facilities and want school support)
http://www.bradleywomensclubsoccer.com/

Ken is currently in the 3rd year of his tenure at Florida Gulf Coast University - a school that is new to Division I...
Here are but a few of Ken's accomplishments in that short time span - in addition to being courageous and fighting that stupid lawsuit and slamming the door in the ambulance chaser's face.....

-Their athletic programs won FIVE different conference titles in the first two years Ken was there! FIVE -- that's WAY, WAY more than Bradley has won in all sports since Ken left!

-their entire athletic GPA was 3.17 - average among ALL scholarship athletes - incredible!

-men's and women's basketball, and men's and women's soccer have all seen tremendous successes and marked rise in attendance.
Men's basketball with their new head coach in a year that was expected to be a bad rebuilding year - unexpectedly however are doing way better than expected - 12-12 and 7-6 in conference -- whoa! they even played to within ONE point of beating a Big Ten team, and came within 6 pts of winning AT Maryland!

-last year's men's and women's soccer BOTH won the A-Sun regular season championship - as did women's basketball and in Ken's very first year there, they had almost as much success.

-Volleyball is currently 10-3 in conference and looking to be the champs, softball last spring won 31 games against a schedule of teams such as Georgetown, Michigan State, NC State, University of Florida, USC, Villanova, Iowa, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Creighton, etc...

-Golf (both men's and women's) have consistently finished among the leaders and women's have finished Top 3 the last couple years.

-baseball has NEVER had a season where their team batting average was less than .306, they won 38 games in 2010, they're an amazing 331-165 since playing at the D-I level, (they became full fledged D-I members just in the past 2 years), they've won their conference title 3 of the past 4 years, and they have an all-time winning record against every single one of their conference opponents.

-simply put, they have enjoyed more success than just about any school every in their first few years of D-I competition!


http://www.fgcuathletics.com/athletics/directory/1320/ken-kavanagh/

BU at Creighton was for "Cancer Awareness"

I read where they expect to make several thousand dollars off the pink promotion at the BU-Creighton game and that the money would go to...
"cancer awareness"
There's a million of these cancer awareness games and pink schemes from the junior hi level to the pros...anyone actually ask where the money that's raised actually goes...
Well I sure would before I blindly and naively gave money....shouldn't you??

Not to be disrespectful...but I have a simple thought about fund raisers in general - and I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way -as I know the hearts of all the people working to raise the money AND THOSE GIVING OR PARTICIPATING are WELL INTENDED....
but - just where do you mail your money when you want to help out "cancer awareness"
http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=205368982


One article says the money goes to "an Omaha-area cancer research foundation"..BUT GIVES ABSOLUTELY no MORE INFO...I don't know about you, but based on this sketchy description - I sure wouldn't give them my money...
http://www.ketv.com/r/30233874/detail.html

EVEN ALL THE MONEY RAISED AT enormous events like the Race for the Cure..
The millions the Komen raises...are never fully accounted for and under suspicion and since they are private charities they never are required to tell you where the money goes...

http://www.naturalnews.com/033783_Komen_for_the_Cure_pinkwashing.html
http://www.wnho.net/charity_fraud_sg_komen_is_pure_con.htm

..but that to me isn't the same at all as "cancer awareness" - in fact a lot of money that goes ostensibly to "research" is in fact more than a little shady -
http://healthfreedoms.org/2011/08/14/cancer-research-for-10-yrs-useless-fraud-says-mayo-clinic/
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/15/mayo-clinic-finds-massive-fraud-in-cancer-research.aspx
http://www.rense.com/general9/cre.htm

In fact - a large amount raised from these very "pink" "awareness" events is wasted on phony and fraudulent endeavors...
http://www.whale.to/a/lanphier1.html
http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/breast-cancer-business-scams
http://jezebel.com/5840564/the-breast-cancer-charity-scam

The long held safest rule of giving to CHARITIES of any kind would be to give directly YOURSELF to the charity of your choice after making sure they are legit.

If you give to some fundraising scheme then you have no guarantee and far less than moderate certainty it is going anywhere that you had intended.
Many of these "cancer research" and "awareness" drives and promotions waste gobs of valuable resources by giving them fraudulently...and there's a lot of "charity people" driving Rolls Royces as a result...