We should give you a quick background on the weekend here. MTAC JR's first birthday party was set for Saturday. The entire family comes to town and my house was overrun with visitors. My mother in law comes in with walking pneumonia, which she has had for three months, but has been on anti-biotics for. Because of the cold weather (they live out West), she has been coughing excessively. SERENITY NOW. On top of it, Thursday night, Mrs. MTAC tells me she isn't feeling well. By Friday night, she is has a terrible sore throat. We wake up Saturday morning and she says "I think I have strep." Since it's 7 am and Jr's B-day party is in four and a half hours, we go to the emergency room to get a throat culture. Sure enough, she caught the strep I have two weeks ago. So we now have to cancel his first birthday party. We end up moving it to my Aunt's house at the last minute, but Mrs. MTAC couldn't be there. It was still a good time, but clearly not the same. The other issue was my the fact that my house was a germ farm for the last week. Just what we needed.Oh did we mention how Saturday night was spent sleeping on the basement couch and between 2:30-3:45 the smoke alarm, which I couldn't locate, was chirping because of a low battery and Jr woke up at 6:15? SERENITY NOW. This is the reason there was no recap of the College Hoops games from Saturday. Instead, below the daily links, you'll get the weekend roundup.
What is Ralph Nader doing? He announced Sunday that yet again he is going to run for President and probably will throw a monkey wrench into the election one way or another. He does this, yet has no chance of winning. Why waste your time and money?
Rusty Hardin is the worst. Now that a photo has surfaced of Roger Clemens at the infamous Jose Canseco party, he has said now that maybe Clemens was indeed there. The Clemens perjury charge cannot come soon enough.
If anyone still cares about Saturday Night Live - we don't and haven't since the Farley era - Here's a recap of their return to the air and the political aspect of the show.
The Chicago Tribune's Mike Downey says The Bulls ripped the Cavs off because they dumped Ben Wallace them.
Out Like Kelvin Sampson - You know the details by now; Indiana Coach Kelvin Sampson, already under the microscope with the NCAA, has been found to have broken the same rules again, making excessive phone calls to recruits.
Many called for his head at this time a week ago, but he spent a week doing everything he could to change his critics minds without even saying a word. His Hoosiers won two games in spectacular fashion against Michigan State and hated-rival Purdue, which has put them in first place in the Big Ten. While he was booed walking out onto the court last Saturday, he was having his name chanted by the crowd late in the second half thanks to his team’s domination of the Spartans. There was more of the same Tuesday night against the Boilers. It’s amazing what winning will do for you.
But it looks as though all of that good will seems to be all for naught, as it came to an end with Sampson resigning early Friday night, with a $750,000 settlement where he would not sue the school for wrongful termination. Rumors were flying that the players threatened to boycott the Northwestern game if Sampson was fired; that a meeting was held with the players and A.D. Rick Greenspan where Forward Jamarcus Ellis walked out and others said they wouldn’t play for newly named interim coach Dan Dakich because he wasn’t involved in recruiting any of them. Six players, including star PF D.J. White, didn’t show up for Friday’s practice in protest.
The bottom line is that Sampson is now gone, and the talented Hoosiers must play the rest of the way without the coach they have come to love over the last two years. But who will be IU’s next coach? We can assure you it won’t be Dakich. No way another Mike Davis situation arises in Bloomington. Here is a name to watch for: Wright State's Brad Brownell. Xavier's Sean Miller and Washington State's Tony Bennett will get the most run, but Brownell is rising fast and must be considered.
The Hoosiers clearly looked ill-prepared for Northwestern's Princeton offense, but they managed to leave Evanston with an 85-82 win. Armon Bassett and Jordan Crawford combined for 45 points and 8-12 threes. Hoosiers star Eric Gordon said after the game about his ex-coach "He wasn't just like a coach. He was more like a father to us. We just miss him."
Many called for his head at this time a week ago, but he spent a week doing everything he could to change his critics minds without even saying a word. His Hoosiers won two games in spectacular fashion against Michigan State and hated-rival Purdue, which has put them in first place in the Big Ten. While he was booed walking out onto the court last Saturday, he was having his name chanted by the crowd late in the second half thanks to his team’s domination of the Spartans. There was more of the same Tuesday night against the Boilers. It’s amazing what winning will do for you.
But it looks as though all of that good will seems to be all for naught, as it came to an end with Sampson resigning early Friday night, with a $750,000 settlement where he would not sue the school for wrongful termination. Rumors were flying that the players threatened to boycott the Northwestern game if Sampson was fired; that a meeting was held with the players and A.D. Rick Greenspan where Forward Jamarcus Ellis walked out and others said they wouldn’t play for newly named interim coach Dan Dakich because he wasn’t involved in recruiting any of them. Six players, including star PF D.J. White, didn’t show up for Friday’s practice in protest.
The bottom line is that Sampson is now gone, and the talented Hoosiers must play the rest of the way without the coach they have come to love over the last two years. But who will be IU’s next coach? We can assure you it won’t be Dakich. No way another Mike Davis situation arises in Bloomington. Here is a name to watch for: Wright State's Brad Brownell. Xavier's Sean Miller and Washington State's Tony Bennett will get the most run, but Brownell is rising fast and must be considered.
The Hoosiers clearly looked ill-prepared for Northwestern's Princeton offense, but they managed to leave Evanston with an 85-82 win. Armon Bassett and Jordan Crawford combined for 45 points and 8-12 threes. Hoosiers star Eric Gordon said after the game about his ex-coach "He wasn't just like a coach. He was more like a father to us. We just miss him."
#2 is #1 - You know by now that Memphis' undefeated season is no longer thanks to Bruce Pearl's Tennessee Volunteers. A few things popped out as us during this game. Memphis will not win a National Title - you can book that - because they can't shoot three's, they can't shoot free throws, and when it comes down to a close finish in a half court set, they look lost. It's one on one with Derrick Rose or Chris Douglas-Roberts and that is it. Another grave concern for the Tigers has to be the fact that in a game of this magnitude against a perimeter oriented team, they were killed on the glass 46-31.
You could see the difference in these two teams at the end when the Vols half court sets worked, putting Tyler Smith in position to score in the post. Tennessee went on the road and won this game with Chris Lofton being a complete non-factor (2-11, seven points). ESPN's Andy Katz says Tennessee needs to watch out for their next game at Vandy.
KU Headed South - The 61-60 loss to Oklahoma State is disturbing on many levels. While the team was dealing with two tragic murders of family members in the past week (Darnell Jackson's cousin and Rodrick Stewart's brother), this team's lack of focus and execution was flat out awful. "We stunk" said coach Bill Self. Sherron Collins' knee is the latest in a string of injuries that has ruined his Sophomore season, Darrell Arthur cannot saty out of foul trouble (17 minutes, six points, five fouls), and Brandon Rush continues to fade in and out. Good teams close out games when they make a late comeback to take the lead after trailing most of the game. KU let Oklahoma State off the hook with lazy defense. The Big 12 and a #1 seed, once there's for the taking, seems like a long-shot.
Pac-10's Deep Middle - It should come as no shock that Arizona won at Washington State by 10 while playing essentially six guys. Oregon has UCLA for 32 minutes before the Bruins (unlike Kansas) overcame the deficit and won by by 10 (Russell Westbrook had another poster jam). Arizona State goes to Seattle and beats Washington by 14. The same Washington team that a week ago beat UCLA on the same floor. We'll say it now - this league deserves eight NCAA bids.
The King of the Mid-Majors - Sorry Butler, but Drake is the one. Going into Hinkle Fieldhouse, a place that the Bulldogs rarely lose, and controlling the game throughout is impressive. The teams play similar styles and both depend so much on the three, but Drake's athletic tandem of Josh Young and Leonard Houston were to much. Talking mid-major, you must not sleep on Kent State. Talk about impressive, they are now 23-5 after going into McKeon Pavilion and beating #20 St. Mary's.
Beasley the Beast - K-State's hopes for a Big 12 title is slipping away thanks to the fact that they cannot win road games, but this isn't stopping Michael Beasley. The best player in the country set a Big 12 record with 44 points, but his team lost at Baylor 92-86. In the crazy stat of the weekend, his teammate Bill Walker had 31 of his own, meaning the rest of the 'Cats scored a combined 15 points.
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