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(06/21/09 11:03pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>From 2001 to 2006, Joe Dubuque filled his proverbial closet with nearly as many awards and championships as possible. Now he’ll try to augment his impressive collection from the corner instead of the mat.Dubuque, a two-time national champion Hoosiers grappler, has joined coach Duane Goldman’s IU wrestling staff as an assistant.“We had a spot open on our staff, and you know, we opened it up, national search, and he was one of the people obviously we were interested in,” Goldman said. “He knows what we’re trying to accomplish.”Goldman added that recruiting would be one of Dubuque’s primary capacities as an assistant.A New Jersey native who spent the last three years as an assistant at Hofstra Univeristy, Dubuque said he hopes to use his East Coast contacts to bring high school talent from that area of the country to IU. He said combining that with the Midwestern recruiting base that the team already maintains can elevate IU’s program to the highest levels.“To bring that caliber of wrestlers out to Indiana, that’s what’s going to put us over the top,” Dubuque said.One of two assistants on IU’s staff, Dubuque is not the only former Hoosiers wrestler. His former teammate and roommate Pat DeGain is two years into a stint as an assistant with Goldman and the Hoosiers.Though neither was hired specifically because they are IU wrestling alumni, Goldman acknowledged the value of having former Hoosiers on his staff. Still, he emphasized that he believes both Dubuque and DeGain were the best candidates for their respective positions. “I think it’s important for any program to get the best people available,” Goldman said. “But I believe that, in this case, both times – when it came to hiring Pat and it came to hiring Joe – the best people available were people who had wrestled here.”Dubuque said he’s looking forward to working with DeGain again.“I wasn’t scared to get in his face and push him, and he wasn’t afraid to get in my face and push me (when the two wrestled together at IU),” Dubuque said. “We’re here to get the job done.”Dubuque, who posted a 114-18 overall record during his college wrestling career, comes to IU with some experience coaching high-caliber teams. The Hofstra Pride finished 27th at last year’s NCAA championships.Goldman praised Dubuque’s work at Hofstra University, which the former described as “a good program.” Goldman cited Dubuque’s work with several national qualifiers as examples of the returning Hoosier’s coaching skill.Dubuque returned such praise, calling Goldman “a big reason why” he came to IU out of high school.“We’re gonna have that same relationship where we’re both pushing each other and we both want the team to be great,” Dubuque said. Dubuque joins a program consistently ranked in the top 30 in the national scene.Senior Angel Escobedo is a former national champion and could become the first four-time All-American in IU history. He headlines a squad that includes several other national qualifiers as well.Dubuque said he thinks one of his greatest qualities as an assistant will be helping to motivate those wrestlers, making an instant impact his first year.“I think I do a good job of motivating the athletes to work hard and get the job done and basically have them competing at another level,” he said. “I think that’s something I can bring.”
(06/14/09 10:13pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When it comes time to make the announced jump from college to professional sports, most athletes like to have some sort of draft-day routine.Most gather at their homes or a local restaurant with family and friends.Many invite reporters to come along and spend plenty of time answering phone calls from prospective employers or well-wishing friends.Joey O’Gara slept.“I was just sleeping at my house,” said the right-hander, who was tapped by the Florida Marlins in the 31st round. “I’d just woken up and I was about to take a shower, and my phone rang.”O’Gara said a regional scout for the Marlins had been in touch with him the day before regarding where Florida might take him. So he wasn’t all that surprised when the call came in, making him the sixth of seven IU Hoosiers picked in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft.The five taken in the first two days of the draft – Eric Arnett, Josh Phegley, Matt Bashore, Evan Crawford and Kipp Schutz – all either expressed their desire to sign contracts and begin their careers or have already signed (Arnett).For O’Gara, he said, “It’s kind of up in the air.”First, arguably the greatest leverage a college player has when negotiating a contract is the threat of walking away and going back to school.Unlike all of his drafted teammates save Schutz, O’Gara is a redshirt sophomore in terms of NCAA eligibility. This means that though he has been out of high school for three years and thus eligible for the draft, the Cincinnati native could play at IU for two more years, meaning he could come back next year, finish a four-year degree and still have that extra year of eligibility as a bargaining tool.Second, it stands to reason that O’Gara could easily improve his draft stock by returning for another year. He was something of an everything-man in the rotation this year, starting five games but appearing in 14 others.With Bashore and Arnett unlikely to return, there will be two spots open in the weekend rotation, and O’Gara will almost certainly be a frontrunner to win one of them. That would give him a much better stage from which to showcase his talents, starting on a regular basis.Additionally, O’Gara admitted he feels like he needs to put on some weight; the 6-foot-7 righty is listed at a slender 205 pounds. And he said he needs to work on an off-speed “out” pitch.For now, the Marlins have told O’Gara they are taking what’s called a “draft-and-follow” approach, meaning they drafted him and will monitor his performance in summer ball and make a decision based upon that. Teams have until Aug. 15 to sign their draft picks.“They’ll be following me through the summer. I don’t know how long,” O’Gara said. “I’m kind of just going to wait and see how things unfold.”O’Gara said he’s heard advice both ways – come back to school or go pro.“I think it’s gonna depend on, kind of, how much they offer me,” he said. “Coming back next year is definitely an option.”
(05/08/09 2:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A year ago at this time, an inexperienced IU baseball squad was starting a run of form that would carry it into its first Big Ten Tournament in five years.Now, fresh off only its first conference series loss, coach Tracy Smith’s club finds itself in a rather different position as it welcomes Northwestern to Bloomington this weekend.The Hoosiers currently sit at 11-6, two and a half games out of first in the conference standings and fourth in a conference that’s power-heavy among its top five. The visiting Wildcats, by contrast, have just three conference wins in 16 games, making IU the obvious favorite this weekend.Junior left-hander Matt Bashore, who will toe the rubber Saturday for the Hoosiers, emphasized the importance of not allowing Northwestern’s record or expectations surrounding the Hoosiers to cause a lack of focus.“It’s hard not to have it factor in a little bit,” Bashore said, “but we’ve just got to keep that out of our minds.”IU brings into the weekend the Big Ten’s second-best offense, buoyed by freshman Alex Dickerson’s league-best 71 hits and junior Josh Phegley’s 13 home runs.The Hoosier bats will get their chances against a Northwestern staff that’s sporting an ERA of 6.30, second-worst in conference.But defense is on the lips of coach and players alike before the weekend tussle with the Wildcats; the Hoosiers have spent the better part of the last two years struggling with the game’s third wheel.The Hoosiers finished last in the Big Ten in that category last year, and they find themselves ahead of only Purdue and Iowa this year.“We need to sharpen up our defense, and our overall concentration was a bit up-and-down last weekend,” senior Chris Hervey said. “If you improve your pitching and defense, you will be in every game.”The Northwestern series will also mark the beginning of what players and coaches often refer to as their favorite part of the season, when school ends and they can focus solely on baseball.“This reminds me so much of professional baseball, because now you can practice and work out in the morning, and guys can not have to worry about the tests coming up and the next day and stuff like that,” Smith said. “It is kind of a unique couple weeks or so.”This time last year, the Hoosiers were beginning a run that would see them win 11 of their last 16 conference games and clinch the sixth and final Big Ten Tournament spot. Now, they sit comfortably in the upper half of the Big Ten standings and are regarded as one of a handful of conference front-runners.Smith said he and his coaches have worked to keep their team focused throughout this season, but a team he described as “mature” has made that job easier.“Last year was just to see what it was like,” Smith said of the Big Ten Tournament experience. “(This year) the guys have a realistic expectation to win every time they take the diamond on the weekends.”
(05/08/09 2:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A week later, my mind is just starting to wrap itself around the idea: After four races, thousands of dollars, about 25,000 miles of training and more blood, sweat, tears and joy than I could possibly measure, my career as a Little 500 cyclist is over.I’ll never do this again, never attend another final race briefing, never leave my half-eaten breakfast on the table the day of qualifications, never feel the hair stand up on the back of my neck as they play the opening bars to “Back Home Again in Indiana” on a perfect spring afternoon.Four races, three top-11 qualifying positions, one pole, two top-15 finishes and more crashes than I care to remember – that’s how I define my time at IU.At the risk of – but heedless of – sounding incredibly arrogant, the Little 500 is not a commitment. Everyone has commitments. You can write about commitments in a day planner.What I spent the last four years doing amounts to a lifestyle. There have been weekends I literally spent more time riding than sleeping, and in no way did that make me sad.I still have cinder – the stuff they use to surface the track – littered under my skin like constellations across the night sky.Some people get tattoos – I wrecked out. It’s all good.It really is hard to explain this thing to someone who’s never gotten the chance to see the Little 500. This year, for example, 25,000 people came to watch us ride in circles 200 times. And years ago, larger venues accommodated crowds twice as big.But if you want one word to describe race day, or if I only get one, here it is: T-shirts.Little Five jersey color schemes are some of the most ridiculous pieces of clothing you’ll ever see a human wear. We have jerseys that vaguely resemble the Jamaican and French flags and others that are just inexplicably ugly.Every year, teams order T-shirts to match said jersey colors, and on race day, Bill Armstrong Stadium looks like a hot air balloon on steroids.There, amid a whirring sea of bicycles and an ocean of brilliant color, we leave everything we’ve got (including skin off my elbow, thanks) in four turns and two straightaways.It’s odd to think that we train for 365 days just to race for one. I mean, I race on the road when not specifically training for Little Five, sure, but this is my constant focus.Anything can happen on race day. Get caught behind one wreck, or ride into the turn one pole as my buddy Drew did four years ago, and your day is immediately changed.Believe me, considering some other weird stuff I’ve done in the name of Little Five, that’s nothing. Case in point: there’s more hair on my face than on my legs.But it was worth it. It was all worth it.I can’t count the number of days I swore and screamed and said I wasn’t going to do it, but I would do anything to have back those days of frustration.These past four days have been hard, knowing that I’m going to miss this so damn much.And it would be cliche to say that Little Five has given me more than I could possibly have known, or that it’s shaped a part of who I am, who I’ve become.But I’ll say it anyway, because sometimes cliches are true. This one certainly is.Looking back on the past four years, I can honestly say I have never been – and probably will never be – more proud of any single thing I’ve ever done.At some point in the coming days, I know it will finally hit me, that I never get to do this again. That moment will bring me tears, honest and bittersweet. But I will be proud too, and I’ll probably laugh.And then I’ll go ride my bike.
(10/10/08 3:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The last time I picked up a baseball bat in competition, I was 7 years old. We had all moved past hitting off a tee, but we still weren’t allowed more than one base at a time. So when IU coach Tracy Smith asked earlier in the fall if my fellow beat writer Ryan Gregg and I wanted to manage one of his team’s intrasquad Cream against Crimson fall games, the words “natural fit” came to mind. After all, those who can’t do, coach, right?Maybe not. Still, despite our relative(ly immense) lack of experience in this field, Ryan and I set about preparing as any good staff would. We debated which players we wanted, chatting strategy and working out signs. I got there late – previous commitments ran too long – so Ryan covered for the first half of the seven-inning affair, giving me a solid two-run lead. I was, sad to say, ill-dressed for the occasion. But like Schilling with the bloody sock, like Koufax through the elbow pain, like Buckner because he was Buckner, I pressed on, slipping my No. 39 jersey over my blue-collared shirt. “It looks good on you,” said senior outfielder Chris Hervey in his trademark New York accent. Then I hit the field, and my dream of making it to the majors became one literal step closer to reality. I had arrived; it was my time to shine. Maybe not. Pitching coach Ty Neal relinquished his spot at third when I finally hit the field. “Got a runner on, 0-1 count with nobody out,” Neal said. “What do you think, call a steal right here?”“Sure,” I thought, reassuring myself I had some idea of what the hell I was doing. I nodded blindly and proceeded to call a play-action pass. The steal was on anyway, and miracle of miracles, it worked. “Good call there, Zach,” Smith and Neal called from the dugout. Thank you, Brian Lambert, for making me look competent. It took two innings for me to stop giving a sign before every pitch. I probably confused half my team, and I’m pretty sure All-American catcher Josh Phegley just laughed at me and did what he thought best – which was far and away the best policy to begin with.I spent most of my three-and-a-half innings in charge coaching baseball the way comedian Brian Regan played it – not really sure what to do. At least he got a free snow cone at the end of the game. Thankfully, talent can outweigh coaching. Kipp Schutz, Jerrud Sabourin and Sterling Mack all had enough outfield power – something this Hoosier team continues to show more of as the fall progresses – to make Bobby Cox out of me in those final innings. After Mack doubled to bring home the last two runs in our eventual 6-2 victory, he trotted over from second to ask me if anything was on. I told him I taped some episodes of “The West Wing” if he wanted to come over and watch after the game, but other than that, no. Ryan and I (with a little help from Smith and Neal) made the call and relieved Kyle Leiendecker’s five-inning, four-strikeout performance with our ace-in-the-hole, stud freshman southpaw and almost-Yankee farmhand Blake Monar, to shut down the Crimson and call it a day. High fives and butt slaps all around. “Good job, coaches,” Smith said, shaking our hands. “Thanks for helping out today.”“We’ll need you again tomorrow,” Hervey told me as we shook hands with our victorious crew.A nice thought, but that was it for me. To risk one more popular culture reference, I hit my dinger, and I hung ‘em up.I hear there’s an opening in Visalia next season. You think I could make it to the show as a manager?Yeah – maybe not.
(02/28/08 6:38am)
Integrity. \nIt’s a word former IU star Kent Benson used to describe the men’s basketball program he knew, and it’s something he said has been lacking within the program for some time now. Benson was talking about the latest set of NCAA allegations leveled against former IU coach Kelvin Sampson, allegations that cost Sampson his job.\nNow, with Sampson out, former IU players have begun voicing their opinions on those allegations and the fallout, as well as their support for interim coach Dan Dakich.\nBenson, one of the leaders of the 1976 undefeated National Championship team, called Sampson’s actions “a total disgrace” but added he was proud of the way the University handled the situation. He said Sampson “never should have been hired in the first place.”\nBenson said the decision to move forward without Sampson was crucial for the future of IU basketball. He said he wasn’t sure if the program would ever be fully clean of Sampson’s indiscretions, but he has faith that IU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan would never again let the basketball program be dragged through the mud. \n“I believe with the integrity of what we now have in an athletic director, that (Greenspan) is not going to let this happen again,” Benson said by phone Sunday night.\nFormer IU guard and captain Todd Meier said Wednesday that he questioned Sampson’s hiring from the beginning because of the baggage the former coach brought with him from Oklahoma. Meier described himself as “neutral at best” when the hire was made.\n“Hiring someone who had allegations to bring with him didn’t sit well with me,” Meier said from his office in Wisconsin. “Why take a chance on someone whose carrying some allegations?”\nMeier admitted that he believes Sampson did a good job coaching the team, but that success did not outweigh his continuous indiscretions. He described his reaction as “mixed” when everything fell out Friday, when Sampson resigned and IU named Dakich as interim head coach. \n“I was glad they came to a decision and moved on it,” he said.\nDakich said after Tuesday’s win against Ohio State that several former players have contacted him to offer support.\n“I have heard from ... well, name a former player and I have basically heard from them,” Dakich said. \nMeier, who was a co-captain of the 1987 National Championship team, praised Greenspan’s decision to appoint Dakich, Meier’s former teammate, as interim head coach. \n“I think he’ll bring some unity to the community of basketball,” Meier said. “As a former player there, I was glad to see a former player there.”\nBenson adamantly supported Dakich as the right choice for the interim position and said it is time for the team to move on with its season. \n“It’s Dan Dakich’s team now,” he said. “It’s Dakich’s and Ray McCallum’s team. (Sampson’s) name doesn’t need to be brought up anymore.”\nMeier endorsed Dakich as a “very viable candidate” for the full-time position, despite Greenspan’s statement at last Friday’s press conference that Dakich wasn’t “auditioning” for the job. He said whoever holds the position should emphasize doing things the right way, which he said is consistent with IU as a whole. \n“I hope Dan would be a candidate,” Meier said. “I think they definitely need somebody in there that’s going to have that type of character.”\nBenson said he believes the Hoosiers are more than capable of winning the Big Ten and finding success in the NCAA Tournament. \n“Those things are all at their fingertips; it’s a matter of their attitude,” Benson said. \nMeier agreed that IU can still put together a deep run in the NCAA Tournament if the team stays focused on the season. \nWhen asked what he would say to this year’s crop of Hoosiers, Meier replied, “All the old cliche stuff.” Then he added, “Most importantly, continue to play hard and with passion.”\nBenson hammered on the word “integrity,” saying the University needs to get more of it back into the men’s basketball program. He commended IU for its actions so far but said it is now time to move on. \n“I am excited about Indiana basketball now and the direction that it’s headed,” Benson said. “We’ve done a complete about-face.”\nMen’s basketball reporter Michael Sanserino contributed to this report.
(08/23/06 3:53am)
IU faculty and visiting guests participated in the grand opening Tuesday of the IU's new supercomputer at the Wrubel Computing Center. \nThe computer, the fastest academic supercomputer in the country, possesses the capability to do functions in five minutes that previously took an entire day.\nIU President Adam Herbert, who helped cut the ceremonial ribbon and ran the first program on the new computer, said the computer would also be made available to IU faculty and students statewide. Herbert said he was excited about the new avenues the computer opened to IU researchers.\n"This is going to significantly enhance our capacity to engage in even more significant research, and also it will provide incredible opportunities for our students to have access to computing power of this significance," Herbert said. \nFunds for the computer were secured primarily through the Indiana Metabolomics and Cytomics Initiative. METACyt grew from a $53 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., to "advance life sciences research at IU Bloomington and in Indiana," a media release said. \nThe computer was made by IBM, which Interim Provost Michael McRobbie called "a superb partner" in his speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. \nMcRobbie said the supercomputer would be crucial in life science research and would bring new medical advancements to IU and the state of Indiana in general. \nAccording to the press release, a Battelle Memorial Institute report ranked Indiana in the top four among states with the "highest concentration of life sciences-related jobs."\nAcquisition of the supercomputer was made public in April 2006. In addition to life science initiatives, the computer will also be used in weather forecasting and physics experimentation.\nAll speakers hailed the attainment of the supercomputer as a fine achievement for IU. Bruce Cole, a former distinguished professor at IU and the current chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, called it "a real achievement in the acquisition of storage" in his speech.\nHerbert pointed out that data storage is a key in life sciences research, and the new computer brings that kind of memory.\n"One of the things that is clear is that in the life sciences, the data storage needs are incredible. ... Not only do you need the speed to analyze data, but also it's just essential to have massive storage capacity," Herbert said.\nAssistant Informatics Professor David J. Wild said the biggest advantage of the supercomputer is its speed and efficiency.\n"The really exciting thing for us is we can take our really complicated life science techniques, which do advanced data mining, and suddenly we can make them available in real time to scientists ... much in the same way as you can search Google and get some results back really quickly," Wild said.\nWild went on to say that the storage capabilities of the computer were just as beneficial, especially in terms of scientific research. The added space gives scientists a wealth of literature on biomedicine and life sciences stored in the computer. \nHerbert added to that in his speech, saying the new supercomputer continued former President Herman B Wells' principle to "dream no small dreams for Indiana University."\nHerbert said the supercomputer tied into an initiative to put IU at the forefront of the new wave of technology.\n"There's no question that Indiana University is at the cutting edges with regard to information technology," Herbert said. "We have established as a goal to be not just a national but an international leader in (information technology), and I think this project demonstrates that we're accomplishing that goal"
(01/10/06 5:27am)
The IU College of Arts and Sciences has added two new Bachelor of Sciences degrees, human biology and biotechnology. Biotechnology has been offered as an intended major since fall 2004, meaning students could declare it as their major. The earliest expected graduation date for anyone majoring in the field is May 2008 because upper-level required courses will be offered beginning in fall 2006. \nHuman biology has been offered as a certificate for students with a large blend of credit hours on their transcripts, said Program Director Whitney Schlegel. The Department of Biology is now offering it as a major as well. \n"The plan was originally to go for a major, but the certificate serves a different population," Schlegel said. "The two overlap, but the certificate is designed for students who are engaging in broader fields of study. We are offering a core curriculum that is innovative and integrative." \nBiotechnology combines elements of several sciences, especially chemistry and biology. The major requires no less than 122 completed credit hours, including 18 hours in chemistry and 43 hours in biotechnology-related courses, including general biology, microbiology, molecular biology and biochemistry, according to the IU Department of Biology Web site.\n"I think that the complex problems that are facing the 21st century mandate that we approach things from an interdisciplinary perspective. We allow students to bring together several disciplines at once," Schlegel said. "There are problems in the world today, global warming, bird flu, etc. that cannot be solved by focusing on only one discipline. Human biology is a field of study that brings together biology and humanities and social sciences to help students better solve the social and biological problems that we face today." \nThe program helps to better prepare students for the world they will enter upon graduation, said senior biology major Albert Marks. \n"For the future, you need to be prepared," Marks said. "You can't just focus on one area of study because you need to be able to relate to a wide range of people and issues in today's world." \nMarks said the human biology program was very helpful to him as a pre-med student. \n"I wish they had offered this as a major when I was a freshman," he said.\nThe program seeks to help students better analyze and critically consume the world around them in terms of everyday science. \n"We are going to foster a type of graduate who is ready to lead and excel in many different areas," Schlegel said. "They will be leaders because they can critically understand the nature of science. Students in human biology will gain a better overall understanding of what it means to be human"