Hoosiers deserve credit for losing with class

It finally happened Saturday. In a locker room in Iowa City, Iowa, Cam Cameron finally gave me the cold shoulder. \nMe: "On the first two drives of the second half, did Iowa make any adjustments to take away Antwaan (Randle El) or Levron (Williams)?"\nCameron: (Just between me saying "Antwaan" and "Levron") "No," Cameron said abruptly before turning his cheek. \nThat was it. A one-word answer. I got the Bob Knight treatment. \nBut Cameron didn't lose his cool, and instead sat in that pink locker room that makes you want to bake cakes and play with lace-covered dollhouses, subdued as usual. All season, he's been cooperative with the media. \nWhat's more impressive is that his players have, too. Being an IU football player -- facing losing seasons, dwelling on dwindling fan support and butting heads with media that have few positives to cover -- isn't easy. \n IU is handling itself with class. The Hoosiers deserve some credit.\n Six games into a doomed season, IU has won one game and looked pretty bad in five. Saturday was a perfect example. \n After the 42-28 loss in which the IU defense couldn't stop a one-legged goat without his horns, the Hoosiers showed class. \n One after the other, Randle El and senior linebacker Devin Schaffer slowly hobbled through the pink hallway and down the steps. Then, they answered questions -- about their lackluster defense, their costly penalties, their missed opportunities, their fifth loss of the season. They handled it with style. \nTheir teammates have done the same all season. Sharrod Wallace, Justin Smith, Levron Williams, Craig Osika, Kemp Rasmussen, each has faced the virtual battering by the media, and each has ponied up, answering questions and offering explanations, but never excuses. \nHow about Saturday's defense that would have yielded 42 points to a 1-5 Pop Warner team?\n"I think it's sad," Schaffer said. "We spend all week being told the proper things to do, and then we don't go out there and do it. I can't explain it. I don't understand why we would go out there and play like that today. It gets to you. We have to dig ourselves out of a hole."\nA big hole. And no one understands how a Big Ten defense can look that unorganized. But Cameron let something out of the bag Saturday. It wasn't anything new, just the same old optimism, but he couldn't be more correct.\n"We're not buying into the 'hang your head and the season is over,'" Cameron said. "There's still a lot to play for. You may not believe that, and that's fine. We believe it, because we have to go out and represent ourselves. We'll play the next five weeks as if there's a lot to play for because mathematically ..."\nCameron tailed off, leaving the media and their readers to decide just what mathematics he subscribes to.\nBut that's what IU needs. That's what the Hoosiers must have. They have three home games -- one against a Northwestern team that just lost to a shaky Penn State bunch, and two others against arch-rivals Purdue and Kentucky. There is an opportunity to keep everyone from consistently poking fun at IU's football program. Cameron shouldn't return next season, and that mathematically possible bubble will probably be busted, but you have to give this team credit for sticking it out. \n"Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean it can't be done," Cameron said. \nDoubtful. Maybe their on-field play makes you queasy, but their off-field class shouldn't.