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(04/03/07 4:00am)
Just one year ago, Blake Powers was preparing for another season as the starting quarterback for the IU football team, and Kellen Lewis was a name unknown by many Hoosier fans.\nEntering this year’s spring practices, the story has changed for both players. Lewis is now the starting quarterback, and Powers has switched over to play tight end for his senior season.\nLewis, who started the 2006 season as the third-string quarterback, took the starting job after he came in during the Sept. 9, 2006 game against Ball State. By leading IU to a 24-23 come-from-behind victory, Lewis earned the starting position for the next week, and eventually the rest of the season. He compiled more than 2,000 yards passing and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team. After the season, Powers decided to try and help the team from the tight end position. \n“In the off season we took a step back and looked at the fact that we didn’t throw a single pass to a tight end last season,” Powers said. “I felt that was a weapon we needed in our offense, and I felt like I could help the team.”\nThe new weapon for the Hoosier offense was on display Saturday during a scrimmage in which Powers caught a couple of downfield passes from Lewis. Powers said the catches were the first he had caught since a throwback to the quarterback during his senior year of high school.\n“We’re trying to vary it up a little bit and get the tight end involved and he gives us something because he’s got good quickness and good ball skills,” said IU assistant coach Bill Lynch after Saturday’s scrimmage. “He’s been doing that in practice, so what we saw today was a carry-over from practice.”\nLynch has filled in as head coach since IU coach Terry Hoeppner announced he would sit out spring practices.\nIn addition to being a new target for Lewis, Powers still acts as a mentor for Lewis as well as backup quarterback Ben Chappell.\n“Even now, anything I see, any knowledge I can give them or any type of advice, they’re all ears to it,” Powers said. “I’m here to help them in order to help the team.”\nLewis said one of the most important things he learned from Powers about being a quarterback is how much time is needed for film study.\n“When I came in as a freshman, I used to be at the (players) apartments all the time, and he was never over there,” Lewis said. “So I never knew where he was at. I find out he was watching film everyday.”\nNow Lewis is hoping he will be able to hit his mentor for some passes once the season starts.\n“With as many packages that we have with tight ends, anytime they’re matched up on linebackers there’s a couple guys we’d like to give a shot,” Lewis said. “And Blake is one of them.”\nFor the most part, the change of positions has been easy for him, Powers said.\n“Running routes came naturally and knowing where to go is easier (at tight end) than at quarterback, because you only have one job and you just go out there and do it,” he said. “You’re just out there playing ball and having fun.”\nThe toughest part, he said, has been the blocking aspect of the position. But even though Powers thinks blocking is tough, Lynch said he has been impressed with the way Powers has caught on. \n“I think it’s the actual technique of footwork, hand placement, aim points, bringing your feet, all the fundamental techniques of blocking that you spend years teaching guys how to do and all of a sudden you’re going to do it all in a spring,” Lynch said. “That’s why I thought he caught on pretty quick.”\nLynch also added that Powers’ size and strength is helping the switch. \n“He’s a very strong guy, he’s always been a good weight room guy,” Lynch said. “I know he thinks he needs to gain a little weight. He’s 236 pounds, so he’s not a 265-pound guy like you see in the Big Ten, but he’s got good strength and leverage. We’ve had four padded practices so far, and I think he’s done pretty darn well for the first time putting his hand down and having to block people.”
(03/23/07 4:00am)
On Monday, IU women’s basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack referred to her team as the sensational seven.\nBut on Thursday night, seven dressed players were not enough for the Hoosiers, as they fell to South Dakota State in the third round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament 60-53 in front of a sold-out crowd in Brookings, S.D.\n“The magnitude of this intensity, with the student body and the way it supports (their team) – I tell you I wish we could bottle the students here up and take them back to Bloomington, because they are fantastic,” Legette-Jack said at the post-game press conference.\nSophomore forward Whitney Thomas recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Thomas was one of four Hoosiers to finish the game scoring in double figures. Junior guard Nikki Smith led the team with 12 points.\nThe Hoosiers jumped out to a 24-11 lead 12 minutes into the game, but the Jackrabbits went on a 12-0 run to cut the Hoosiers’ lead to one. IU held onto a 31-28 lead at halftime.\n“That’s our tempo,” Legette-Jack said. “The tempo was ours in the second half as well, we just didn’t make our shots.”\nBoth teams kept even with each other through the second half. With two minutes to go in the game, the Hoosiers led 53-52 when Thomas was called for her fifth foul on a shot by Megan Vogel. Vogel made one of the two ensuing free throws to tie the game. After an IU turnover, Vogel scored on a layup for the last of her game-leading \n14 points.\n“We knew Megan was fantastic,” Legette-Jack said. “We knew it would be difficult to contain her, and our goal was to try to contain her but not to put a lot of attention on her. They have seven players that really stepped up on them.”\nSophomore guard Kim Roberson picked up her fifth foul on the rebound of a missed shot by senior center Sarah McKay, and the Hoosiers had to play the last minute of the game without any reserves.\nThe Jackrabbits made five free throws in the last minute of the game to take the win and advance to the quarterfinals of the WNIT.\n“I don’t think we ran out of gas,” Thomas said. “We just ran out of players.”
(03/21/07 4:00am)
It may have been the last day of winter, but for the IU football team Tuesday marked the first day of spring practices.\n“It’s nice, it’s a beautiful day out here,” junior fullback Josiah Sears said. “It was really fun to play football again, since it’s been a while.”\nIt had been exactly 122 days since the Hoosiers’ 2006 campaign ended with a 28-19 loss to Purdue on Nov. 18, 2006. That loss left IU one game short of its first bowl appearance since 1993 with a 5-7 record.\n“Obviously the winter was disappointing since we screwed up at the end of the season to miss the bowl,” Sears said. “It’s nice to be out here getting ready for a new season.”\nBut the Hoosiers will have to go through spring practices without their coach, Terry Hoeppner, who is taking care of personal health matters. In Hoeppner’s absence, assistant coach Bill Lynch will be taking over head coaching duties. Lynch took over when Hoeppner underwent surgery in September to remove scar tissue from a previous operation in December 2005.\n“It is a resilient group, a group that has a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Hep and they have been through a lot with him,” Lynch said. “They know what he is going through and are pulling for him. Today we emphasized football and getting ready to go and do the things he wants us to do.”\nThe team was told of Hoeppner’s situation Sunday during a team post-spring break meeting.\n“For the most part Coach Lynch told everyone it was just a minor health condition and this was the best thing for him,” sophomore wide receiver James Hardy said. “After you hear that it’s the best thing for coach, there’s nothing you can really say about it. You pray for him and hopefully him and his family will take care of the rest.”\nAfter Tuesday’s practice, several players emphasized that not having their head coach there doesn’t mean the practices are different.\n“We’re thinking about him, but he needs to take this time to be with his family and recover,” Sears said. “We’re not missing any beats without him. We wish he were here but we’re still ticking.”\nJunior cornerback Tracy Porter noted the similarities between Lynch and Hoeppner.\n“There’s no difference between the two,” Porter said. “Practice is running just as smooth and just as if Coach Hep were here. We know he’s here in mind, body and spirit.”\nHoeppner was out for two games while recovering from his September surgery, but returned in time for the Hoosiers Big Ten opener Sept. 30 against Wisconsin.\n“We have high expectations for Coach Hep,” Porter said. “We know he wants to come out now, but that isn’t the case. He’s going to do what he needs to do.”\nIn the meantime Lynch will take the reigns through the entire spring, including the Cream and Crimson Spring Game on April 14.\n“One of the things you want to do in the spring is get down and know who your top 50 are,” Lynch said. “That will change between now and August, but you want to come out with a little assurance on who those guys are. You are going to go to war with those 50, so that’s what the spring is about.”\n- Staff writer Chris Engle contributed to this report.
(03/05/07 5:00am)
Exactly one month ago Sunday, senior Max Brown watched his Indianapolis Colts defeat the Chicago Bears 29-17 to become Super Bowl XLI champions. \n“To be able to be a season ticket-holder with my dad and go to all these games and see them go from 3-13 to the Super Bowl, it’s incredible,” Brown said.\nBrown, along with hundreds of others in Bloomington and around Indiana, waited outside HH Gregg at 606 Gourley Pike on Sunday to get a chance to see the Vince Lombardi Trophy.\n“I was here at 9:30. I think that says enough as it is,” Brown said.\nThe doors to HH Gregg opened at 11 a.m. Sunday.\nThe trophy was in Bloomington as part of the 50-stop Indianapolis Colts World Championship Trophy Tour. According to the Colts’ Web site, the tour started Feb. 23 and goes through March 25, making stops throughout the state as well as a couple in Kentucky and one in Illinois.\n“It’s actually been overwhelming,” said Colts marketing assistant Joe Fonderoli, who has been traveling with the trophy. “We’ve had so many people out here, and at each stop we’re averaging at least 1,000 people. You can tell by the crowd here today that was sitting two hours before. There were probably 500 people sitting outside the door before we even opened.”\nFans lined up to see the trophy long before 11 a.m. Ellettsville resident Richard Campbell was one of the first people in line, arriving about 5:50 a.m. Sunday, he said. He said that this was something he had been waiting for ever since the Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984.\n“It’s a chance in a lifetime,” Campbell said. “I’ve always believed in the Colts. I can’t wait to see the trophy and be excited about it. I’m tongue-tied.”\nBy 10:30 a.m., the line to get in extended along the front of the store, all the way to the street.\nAt 10:40 a.m., a blue Colts van pulled into the HH Gregg parking lot, and 15 minutes later fans got a first glimpse of the trophy and cheered as they watched it carried into the store. At 11 a.m., the doors to HH Gregg opened and the fans walked in. \n“A new Facebook picture for sure,” Brown said about what he thought he would get out of the experience. “Just something I can look back on. Pictures, memories, stuff you’re never going to forget.”\nFans were allowed to take one picture with the trophy. Then they were asked to keep moving, so each fan who showed up would get a chance to see the trophy.\nFreshmen Shannon Blevins and Lisa Demuth got their chance at 11:30 a.m. Demuth said they had both arrived at 10 a.m. When asked if it was worth the wait, Demuth and Blevins answered in unison, “Oh yeah.”\n“It was really cool to get to stand right next to it,” Blevins said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, probably.”\nThe stop in Bloomington lasted until 1 p.m., when the trophy began its move to its next stop on the tour, a showing at 5 p.m. in Martinsville.\nNumbers-wise, Fonderoli said, Bloomington was one of the more popular stops on the tour.\n“You can just tell by the crowd that’s outside,” he said. “It’s all the way out to the road and down the street. I feel we’ll probably get a top five out of this.”
(03/02/07 5:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS – This time around, the IU women’s basketball team would not allow Iowa’s 3-point shot to beat them. The Hawkeyes attempted 19, but only connected on four in a 67-53 Hoosier win in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament.\nWhen the two teams on Jan 11, the Hawkeyes shot six-for-ten from beyond the 3-point arc in a 71-67 Iowa victory. Thursday, Iowa took 11 3-point attempts before finally connecting for their first on attempt number 12, with eight minutes to go in the second half.\n“The first time we played them, we realized that we stood around too long on defense,” said IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack. “What we tried to do is put them on their heels a little bit by changing up the defense. And that made them take a little longer and when they had to take the shot the clock was ticking. They were a little bit under duress.”\nThe Hoosiers allowed only 53 against an offense that on Sunday scored 103 points against Wisconsin.\n“In every game, our staple is our defense,” said sophomore guard Kim Roberson. “We try to hold other teams to 50 or points or under.”\nBoth teams came out playing a tight defense and the game remained scoreless for three and a half minutes before freshman guard Jamie Braun broke the scoreless tie. The Hoosiers continued playing stingy defense, not allowing the Hawkeyes to score for six minutes into the game. During that time IU went on a 9-0 run and continued rolling, taking an 18-6 lead early in the game with Roberson and freshman guard Shanice Billington coming up big off the bench. \n“It’s all about the momentum,” senior center Sarah McKay said. “Anyone on our team can step up anytime. We’ve seen that all season long.”\nThe Hoosiers shot 46 percent from the field in the first half behind 12 points by Roberson to take a 34-21 lead into halftime.\nRoberson led the Hoosiers in scoring with 21 points, the fourth time this season the sophomore has scored 20 or more points. In addition to the 21 points, Roberson was all over the court, diving for loose balls and forcing turnovers.\n“I always try and give my team whatever I can,” Roberson said. “I’m going to play with all that so our team will be on top in the end.”\nWith the win over the Hawkeyes, the Hoosiers advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament, where the Hoosiers will take on No. 5 Ohio State, the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten. \n“We’re going to continue to ride this train until the wheels fall off,” Legette-Jack said. \nIn the Jan. 21 game between the two teams in Columbus, Ohio, the Buckeyes defeated the Hoosiers 72-62. Ohio State features center Jessica Davenport, who was named the Big Ten player of the year.\n“I go into every game the same way,” said McKay, who will be defending Davenport. “Just play hard, do what I can and know that my teammates are going to back me up. It’s just another game and happens to be a big one.”
(02/22/07 5:00am)
Every year around late February, signs of spring appear around Bloomington. The Big Ten Tournament is one of these signs for the IU women’s basketball team. The Hoosiers (16-11, 5-9 Big Ten) will begin the home stretch of their regular season tonight when they take on Northwestern (8-20, 2-13 Big Ten) at 7 p.m. at Assembly Hall. \nThe game against the Wildcats, coupled with Sunday’s road game against Penn State, are the final two games before the conference tournament next week.\n“We need to go out there and keep playing our game,” freshman guard Jamie Braun said. “We have to run our defense right and keep scoring. We shouldn’t prepare any other way than we have this year.”\nThe defense has been a focal point for the Hoosiers all year, and that was particularly evident during last Sunday’s game against Illinois. In the first half the Hoosiers allowed the llini to shoot 50 percent from the field and trailed 42-37 going into the half. After some adjustments by IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack, it was a different story. The Illini came out in the second half shooting only 20 percent and the Hoosiers took over the game, winning 81-68.\n“We really did a great job defensively,” Legette-Jack said. “I feel good about our defense finally. It’s been about three weeks since I could honestly say that. I’m really grateful that it’s coming together at this point of the season.”\nAgainst Northwestern the Hoosiers will face a team that is also starting to play well late in the season. \nThe Wildcats lost 18 games in a row, including their first 12 Big Ten games, this season before winning two of their last three games. They beat Penn State and Michigan and took Michigan State, which was ranked No. 24 at the time, down to the final minute on the road before losing 68-63.\n“They’ll definitely come out hard as well,” Braun said of Northwestern. “It’s the end of their season as well.”\nThe Hoosiers’ defense will need to cool down a Wildcats offense that has been hot the last three games, shooting more than 40 percent in each game. In the second half of the loss in East Lansing, Mich., the Wildcats shot 64 percent from the field, including 80 percent from behind the three-point line.\n“We’ve been looking at their defensive and offensive sets and try to counteract,” sophomore forward Kim Roberson said. “They’re a very good team, we can’t play them lightly. We have to go out and play our game\nAt the game, the Hoosiers will also celebrate senior night. They will honor guard Leah Enterline, center Sarah McKay and forward Carrie Smith. \n“Of course that’s in the back of our minds,” Roberson said. “But we’re going to take it like any other game. That stuff is great to do, but we need to focus on the game.”
(02/19/07 5:00am)
The IU women’s basketball team is not scheduled to play Illinois again for the rest of the regular season. But when the two teams face off again next season, the Fighting Illini now know they have their work cut out for them.\nThe Hoosiers defeated the Illini 81-68 at Assembly Hall to earn their first sweep of a Big Ten opponent this season. For the Hoosiers, it was a freshman and a sophomore who stepped up. Freshman guard Jamie Braun finished with a career high 27 points and sophomore forward Kim Roberson followed up her 28-point performance in the first game against Illinois with a 24-point game Sunday.\n“It just happens to be (against Illinois) the nights that I’m on,” Roberson said. “We were able to push the ball and seize the opportunities.” \nIllinois came out in the first half with some hot shooting and took a 42-37 lead into the locker room. The Fighting Illini shot 50 percent from the field and went nine-for-nine at the free-throw line in the first half. But as hot as the Illini were in the first half, they hit a cold spell in the second, shooting 20 percent from the field, making only six field goals.\n“We were playing defense from the outside in because we were concerned about their outside shooting,” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “We changed it up and played it from the inside out. When (senior center) Sarah (McKay) went up to the high post they killed us inside because we were so small. We made the adjustment to have (sophomore forward) Whitney (Thomas) go out in the high post and Sarah could guard anything that came inside. Once we made that adjustment, we were able to stop their inside opportunities.”\nThe two teams traded baskets back and forth in the first seven minutes of the second half, until IU took its first lead since the first half at 56-55 with less than 13 minutes left in the game following a post shot by McKay.\nA couple minutes later, McKay came down with her ninth rebound of the game following a missed Illini shot. The rebound was the 400th career rebound for the senior from British Columbia.\n“It’s neat,” said McKay, who was unaware she had reached the mark until after the game. “It’s my fourth year so it’s good to get something in the big numbers.”\nMcKay finished the game with 13 rebounds and 12 points, earning her fifth double-double of the season.\nThe Illini were able to make another 2-point basket to take back the lead, but from then, the Hoosiers took over the game going on a 10-0 run to take a 66-57 lead with five minutes remaining. IU never looked back.\n“It was a great team win,” Legette-Jack said. “We talk about the word ‘oneness,’ and we’re not sure if it’s in the dictionary, but we certainly know we want to be a team that plays as one.”\nSunday was National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and the Hoosiers celebrated their win by going into the stands to greet their fans.\n“I certainly know we have a responsibility in our community, and the women and girls are in a surplus here at the games,” Legette-Jack said. “We want them to know they can touch us, feel us, be a part of us, and that they can, too, if they believe they can be a part of something this big.”
(02/12/07 2:29am)
The situation was eerily \nsimilar, but this time it ended differently.\nThe IU women's basketball team fell behind by double digits against Minnesota on Sunday, just like they did a week earlier. But while the Hoosiers were able to escape the first meeting with a win, round two, this time in Minneapolis, was a 79-69 Golden Gophers victory.\nMuch like Thursday night's 60-53 loss at Wisconsin and last Sunday's 69-65 win against Minnesota, the Hoosiers fell behind early before fighting their way back. \nDown 11-3 early, the Hoosiers slowly clawed even with the Golden Gophers, finally tying the game at 20 just inside 10 minutes to go in the first half when sophomore forward Kim Roberson made her second 3-point basket of the game.\n"We didn't come and play with energy at first," IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. "We let them trap us and we conceded and went backwards instead of going forward. Once we realized if they're going to attack us, we have to attack them back, then we were a better team."\nRoberson's 3-pointer would be the last thing the Hoosiers had to celebrate in the first half. Minnesota went on a 15-3 run to take a 35-23 lead into halftime behind 46 percent shooting in the first half.\nThe Hoosiers continued to struggle in the second half, falling behind by as many as 18 points. \nBut once again IU fought back and were able to cut Minnesota's lead to just five points at 67-62 with 2:29 remaining in the game.\n"We're a positive team and we're going to stay positive," Legette-Jack said. "If we're down by 18 we're going to learn a lesson, and if we're down by five we're going to learn a lesson. Anytime we're on the basketball court and there's time left on the clock, we're going to think we have a chance to win."\nBut the late push was not enough for IU (15-11, 4-9 Big Ten), as it fell for the second game in a row and the seventh time in the last nine games. Freshman guard Jamie Braun's 17 points, a double-double by senior center Sarah McKay and 16 points by Roberson were not enough to counter Minnesota. The Golden Gophers had four players scoring in double digits, including Emily Fox, who finished with 23. The defeat was also the fifth road loss in a row for the Hoosiers, who are 1-6 on the road in Big Ten play.\nIU now has a full week off before its next game when the Hoosiers come back to IU's Assembly Hall on Sunday to play Illinois. The Hoosiers defeated the Fighting Illini on Jan. 7 in Champaign, Ill., 71-64.
(02/09/07 4:28am)
You win some and you lose some.\nJust one week ago, the IU women's basketball team snapped a five-game losing streak against Wisconsin, beating the Badgers 83-56. But last night, the Badgers got their revenge on their home court, taking a 60-53 win against IU.\nThe Hoosiers (15-10, 4-8 Big Ten) started out the game sluggish, falling behind 13-2. But IU was able to catch up and take a 19-17 lead into halftime behind eight points from freshman guard Jamie Braun.\n"We just kept playing defense and working hard," IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. "Just by osmosis if you shoot enough shots it should go in the hole."\nIU and Wisconsin stayed neck-and-neck throughout the second half. With two minutes left, the Badgers held a 49-48 lead, and they extended it with a 3-point shot. After a Hoosiers turnover, two Wisconsin free throws sealed the game.\n"You can't give 17 turnovers against a great team like Wisconsin," Legette-Jack said. "We're going to learn the lessons and get better from it."\nGuard Jolene Anderson led the Badgers with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Anderson scored 23 points in the Hoosiers' first game against the Badgers. These numbers were similar to those Legette-Jack saw when she coached Anderson for the USA U-19 national team.\n"That's the type of number the whole Big Ten can expect from her," Legette-Jack said. "She's the second leading scorer in our conference with 18 a pop. Any given day against any given team, she's going to score points."\nThe Hoosiers travel to Minneapolis, Minn., on Sunday to take on the Golden Gophers. IU defeated Minnesota 69-65 on Feb. 4.
(02/08/07 4:26pm)
For the past few weeks, the question surrounding the IU football team was "Will he or won't he?" On Wednesday, the question was answered.\nJerimy Finch, the No. 1 high-school football recruit in Indiana, will not be suiting up for Hoosier coach Terry Hoeppner next season.\nInstead, the safety from Warren Central High School in Indianapolis signed a letter of intent to play for the defending national champion Florida Gators.\n"We are not going to second-guess," Hoeppner said during Wednesday's national signing day news conference, where he announced 19 members of his 2007 recruiting class. "That's (the media's) job. I wouldn't change anything we did as a staff in the last month to six weeks. We're going to continue to be the guys with the white hats on and do things the right way. If that doesn't work, I'll be disappointed in the system because we are going to recruit the right way."\nFinch, who was the top-ranked player in the state and the No. 1 safety in the nation, according to recruiting Web site Rivals.com, joined a Florida Gators recruiting class ranked by many as the best in the nation.\nFinch had originally committed to Michigan, but he changed his mind after taking a visit to Bloomington in January. But after a recent visit to Gainesville, Fla., Finch's verbal commitment to IU was up in the air.\n"Right now a commitment is a reservation," Hoeppner said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald had told him. "They're just making a reservation with you, whether they keep it or not."\nDespite losing Finch, Hoeppner signed 19 recruits to play for the Hoosiers this fall, including 11 players on defense.\n"We're going to continue on the high road as we have done from day one," Hoeppner said about his recruiting staff. "There were opportunities to pick up a handful of mud and sling it."\nIncluded in the 2007 recruiting class for IU are three of Finch's teammates from Warren Central. Defensive back Chris Adkins, defensive end Jeff Boyd and offensive lineman Andrew McDonald all played for the Warriors, who are the four-time defending Class 5A Indiana state champions. \nThe class includes four other players from the Hoosier state as well as players from eight other states. The class includes five three-star recruits in Boyd, tight end Max Deadmond, defensive end Fred Jones, quarterback Teddy Schell and defensive end Eric Thomas. \n"It's a group that's already made friends within the class," Hoeppner said. "They got me pumped up and excited this morning talking to them."\nHoeppner was not going to focus on losing a player who had previously committed.\n"You analyze what you could have done better," he said. "But we're not going to dwell on the ones that got away"
(02/05/07 6:31pm)
Are you ready for some football?\nAs the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears prepare to face off in Super Bowl XLI on Sunday in Miami, campus is buzzing with one question: Colts or Bears?\n"I think its it's split pretty evenly," junior Nick Farrell said. "I see a lot of Colts jerseys and a lot of Bears jerseys. A lot of people from Chicago go here at IU."\nFarrell, a Colts fan, said the fact there are so many Bears fans at IU, coupled with the campus being just an hour south of Indianapolis, has led to a bit of trash talk for the last two weeks.\n"Rex Grossman sucks, Peyton Manning sucks," Farrell said, describing the trash talk. "I don't see how you couldn't like Peyton, though."\nFreshman Tim Perez is also a Colts fan. He said that his residence hall, Teter Quad, is split pretty evenly between fans of both teams -- and it has resulted in some verbal sparring on his floor.\n"Colts fans always say how Peyton Manning is better," he said. "And Bears fans try to argue that they have a better defense."\nIncidents around campus involving fans of the two teams have been relatively mild according to sophomore Marc Momcilovich, a Bears fan.\nMomcilovich has had four-letter expletives yelled outside his door, "but besides that it's no big deal," he said. "We'll see on Sunday."\nNot everyone at IU is a fan of the Bears or Colts.\nJunior Scott Demar is a fan of the Miami Dolphins, but said he will be pulling for the Bears and his idol, Bears quarterback Rex Grossman. Demar, who is from Florida, said he has been a fan of Grossman since he played at the University of Florida. Despite the Dolphins not making the playoffs, he said he has seen the excitement of this year from both Colts and Bears fan in his fraternity house, Pi Kappa Phi.\n"Pretty much during the playoffs, people ran through the halls any time a big play happened for either team," he said.\nKickoff for Sunday's game is scheduled for 6:25 p.m. on CBS. At the start of the game, the divide between Colts and Bears fan should be fairly apparent.\n"It's going to be pretty split," Momcilovich said. "There will be a lot of drunk people arguing."\nMuch of campus will be glued to a television, whether it's in a dorm, a house, an apartment or at the bars.\n"I don't think there's going to be any riots, but I'm sure there is going to be a couple bar fights somewhere," said freshman Pat Lisinski, a Bears fan.\nCome Monday morning, the two groups of fans will still exist. But only one group can will be able to call its team Super Bowl champs.\n"I think whoever loses is probably not going to class for a couple days," Demar said.
(02/05/07 4:10am)
John Wustrow - 11:09 p.m. - Nick's English Hut: \nSLAM!!! I think the door just shut on the Bears. Kelvin Hayden just returned a Grossman interception for a touchdown. It's now 29-17 Colts.\nGrossman responds by throwing another interception. It looks like it's going to take a miracle for the Bears to get back in this one.\nMany Colts fans didn't want to talk about the celebration until the game was over as to not jinx their team. But once the clock ran out the celebration was on.\n"It's too bad about 20 cars are going to get flipped over and burned tonight," said junior James Fleck. "I just hope its not mine."\nWell on that note I better wrap this up and head to my car to make sure my Escort is still standing. Congratulations Colts fans.
(02/01/07 4:53am)
There's no place like home. At least that's what the IU women's basketball team hopes.\nAfter two tough road losses in the last week to Ohio State and Michigan, the Hoosiers return home to Assembly Hall to take on Wisconsin at 7 p.m. Thursday.\n"We're coming back home and that's exciting," IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. "Our kids are learning their lessons from the last week, which was a tough week with Ohio State and Michigan. Our goal is to continue to get better."\nThe homestand follows a stretch of games in which the Hoosiers played at three of the toughest road venues in the Big Ten in a span of four games.\nAside from IU's Jan. 21 home game against Purdue, the Hoosiers have played on the road against Michigan, Ohio State and Purdue since Jan. 14.\n"It's good we have our fans at home," sophomore forward Whitney Thomas said. "When we're on the road it's tough with all their fans. We'll have our fans for this game and it will bring a lot more energy, which we need right now."\nIn IU's last game, a 65-63 loss against Michigan last Sunday, the Hoosiers saw an 18-3 early lead slip away. The Wolverines came away with a win in the last minute of the game.\n"We learn from every game and we know we have to play until the end," Thomas said. "It's the Big Ten and it's getting to the end of the season. Everyone wants to get into the post-season."\nThe loss against Michigan was the fifth loss in a row for the Hoosiers (13-9, 2-7 Big Ten). But despite the Hoosiers' recent struggles, they remain upbeat.\n"We still know that our hopes aren't done," freshman guard Jamie Braun said. "We have seven more games, and we've played some really tough teams. Now we're getting towards the end, we just want to play hard and see if we can get seven wins."\nOne of the keys to stopping the Badgers (16-6, 5-4 Big Ten) is containing junior guard Jolene Anderson, a player Legette-Jack knows quite well. Anderson was a member of the 2005 USA U-19 basketball team, where Legette-Jack served as an assistant coach.\n"She was a quiet kid on our team, and for some reason her and I connected personality-wise," Legette-Jack said. "I really enjoyed coaching her and know she's going to be a force for Wisconsin every year."\nLegette-Jack recalled a time when the team was in California and a player knocked Anderson down.\n"She walked over to the bench and said, 'Coach, I have these in my hand,'" Legette-Jack said. "It was her two front teeth. She had knocked her two front teeth out and wanted to know when she could get back in."\nThe coach said she knows it is this type of attitude that she will be facing from the whole Badger squard.\n"Their energy is just contagious," Legette-Jack said. "The electricity that coach (Lisa) Stone gives to her team -- they just feed off her. They don't ever die"
(01/31/07 5:30am)
It's nearly 2:30 p.m., almost the end of another school day at Bloomington High School South. As the afternoon announcements are wrapping up, the approximately 1,800 students at the school are left with a message.\n"Remember to pride yourself and the Panthers," the woman giving the announcement says. \nThe high school certainly has something to take pride in this week.\nOne of Bloomington South's former students, Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman, is preparing to lead his team Sunday in Super Bowl XLI.\nGrossman was the quarterback for the Panthers for four seasons from 1995 to 1998. Mo Moriarity was the head coach at South while Grossman played there and was an IU assistant coach under Gerry DiNardo.\nMoriarity said he knew right away he was getting a special player. The first time he saw Grossman throw was before school one February morning during the future star's eighth-grade year.\n"The very first pass that left his hand was one of those ones where that ball whistled and you knew it was something special," said Moriarity, now the head coach at Carmel High School. "I remember just going around school that day and everyone I ran into I would say, 'Hey, this kid's something else. He has a great future.' It was exciting because you know when you have something like that, chances for success increase."\nBy the time the season began, Grossman was already a member of the varsity team.\n"I think he's the only freshman in the time I was there that ever got moved up to varsity immediately," said Shannon Roberts, a former assistant coach at South. "It was just pretty apparent right away that he would be successful. Although he didn't start until the fifth game of his freshman year, we knew it was just a matter of time."\nGrossman's chance came with the Panthers sitting at 2-2 during that first year. Moriarity opted to go with his freshman phenom under center, and the move paid off. In his first start, Grossman led South to a 28-7 win against crosstown rival Bloomington North.\nGrossman never looked back.
(01/25/07 12:30am)
First-year IU women's basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack's welcome into the Big Ten has not exactly been easy.\nSo far, in the first seven games of conference play, Legette-Jack has seen two teams -- No. 23 Michigan State and No. 12 Purdue -- that are among the elite in not only the conference, but the nation. And she's had to see them both twice.\n"We're just not thinking about it," Legette-Jack said of the schedule. "We have an opponent and we're going to prepare and we're going to continue. Our kids understand there's nothing we can do about the schedule, we just got to go out there and play."\nThe recent tough stretch has brought the Hoosiers to a 2-5 start in the Big Ten season, putting a bit of a damper on an 11-2 non-conference record.\n"We're staying positive with it," senior center Sarah McKay said. "It's good to look ahead and see that we can finish strong. If we play our game we can do big things in this conference and still finish with pretty good standings."\nThe schedule doesn't look any easier, at least not yet. IU travels to Columbus, Ohio, today to take on No. 5 Ohio State at Value City Arena.\n"We're just going to get better from here," sophomore forward Whitney Thomas said after IU's 81-58 loss against Purdue on Sunday. "There is just so much that we did wrong and so much we can improve on, and we will see how we can beat Ohio State."\nThe Buckeyes are 17-1 overall, 6-0 in the Big Ten, and are riding a 10-game unbeaten streak. The Buckeyes feature center Jessica Davenport, who leads the Big Ten in both scoring and rebounding and has been named the Big Ten player of the week three of the past four weeks.\n"She's a very good player," McKay said. "We came in together as freshmen and it's been interesting to see how both our games have been developing. This will be my first chance to start against her since my freshman year, so I'm really looking forward to it."\nBut Legette-Jack knows that to stop the Buckeyes, the Hoosiers will need to stop more than just Davenport. She noted the talent of three other starters for Ohio State: guards Brandie Hoskins and Marscilla Packer and forward Star Allen.\n"We know all about those guys," Legette-Jack said. "However, it's just really about what we're trying to do. We're going to continue to stay with our defense and our push offensively and see how that measures up against the great team called Ohio State."\nThe Buckeyes bring a 24-game home winning streak, the third-longest current streak in the nation, against the Hoosiers.\n"Us upperclassmen know what it's like playing in front of big crowds," McKay said. "Our freshmen got to see it against Notre Dame and Kentucky. But it's stuff that we can't control, so we got to keep playing our game and doing the things we have to do to play well"
(01/22/07 7:57pm)
From the northwest suburbs of Chicago, junior Jon Beck has been a lifelong fan of the Chicago Bears. But he's too young to remember his beloved team defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX.\nOn Sunday, Beck was part of a group of IU students from the Chicago area on hand at Coach's Bar and Grill, 245 N. College Ave., to watch the Bears defeat the New Orleans Saints 39-14 to win the NFC Championship and earn a trip to the Super Bowl.\n"It's the greatest feeling in the world," Beck said about seeing the Bears winning a conference championship. "I'd give up my first-born for a Bears Super Bowl ring."\nThe group has come to Coach's a number of times throughout the season, and Beck said their trips to the watering hole have been good luck.\n"We're 6-0 here at Coach's, so we're going to keep the streak alive," he said. "And when we have a Super Bowl party, it's going to be here."\nA few Bears fans also took in the game a block away at Scotty's Brewhouse, 302 N. Walnut St. The fans celebrated a first-quarter fumble by Saints wide receiver Marques Colston that put the Bears in great field position.\n"Just listen -- if they score here this place is going to get loud," bar manager Matt Wattley said with the Bears on the Saints' 3-yard line. But the offense was unable to get the touchdown and had to settle for kicker Robbie Gould's first field goal of the game.\nTwin sisters Natalie and Emily McCart are first-year law-school students who enjoyed the game at Scotty's on Sunday.\n"I think Rex Grossman needs to earn his money," Emily said of the Bears quarterback after the field goal. "I don't care (that he's from Bloomington). I hope he comes back so I can tell him in person."\nThe McCarts were both not afraid to show their disapproval of the Bears' quarterback.\n"It's made me nervous all year," Natalie said of Grossman's play. "If they had a solid quarterback, there'd be no doubt in my mind they'd win the Super Bowl."\nFollowing Gould's third field goal of the game, putting the Bears up 9-0, Natalie McCart joked that Gould should make as much money as Grossman.\nBack at Coach's, Beck stood up for the embattled quarterback.\n"Robbie Gould was a construction worker six months ago," Beck said. "Rex Grossman had a couple bad games, but look at the score -- we're beating maybe the hottest team in the NFL."\nToward the end of the game, two fans wearing Indianapolis Colts apparel walked into the bar and were met by a round of "Colts suck" chants from the Bears fans.\nWith the Colts beating the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game, it should make for an interesting couple of weeks around campus, where there is a split between Bears and Colts fans.\n"Someone's going to die," Beck said. "There's going to be a fight. Tell any Colts fan I'd put Rex Grossman up against any Colts defense, and Thomas Jones-Cedric Benson is the best one-two back combination in the country. And (the Colts') linebacking core sucks. All you guys got is (safety) Bob Sanders."\nThe fans at Coach's were very confident in their teams' chances against Indianapolis.\n"If the Colts win, we will go streaking naked through campus," said IU junior Stu Lapping said. "That's a guarantee. The Coach's gameday staff will go streaking"
(01/16/07 5:41am)
From the time he was introduced as IU's football coach, Terry Hoeppner has talked about building the Hoosiers into a team that competes for Big Ten championships.\nHoeppner helped his cause over the weekend by receiving verbal commitments from a duo of defensive players with championship experience.\nTwo Indianapolis Warren Central High School stars -- safety Jerimy Finch and defensive tackle Jeff Boyd -- announced their intent to play at IU after taking official visits Friday.\nBoth Finch and Boyd chose IU over opportunities to play at bigger-name programs.\nBoyd spurned interest from Louisville and West Virginia. Finch -- the No. 1-ranked player from Indiana and a four-star recruit, according to recruiting Web site Rivals.com -- originally gave a verbal commitment to play at Michigan.\n"This is one of the biggest prospects (IU) has been able to land in the last five to seven years," said Tom Luginbill, a recruiting analyst for ESPN's Scouts Inc. "I think we've seen Terry Hoeppner and his staff last year trying to get the ball rolling a little bit, and this year doing the same. Jerimy Finch is a potential difference-maker on the defensive side of the ball."\nBoyd and Finch will be joined by two other Warren Central teammates in Bloomington. Offensive lineman Andrew McDonald and defensive back Chris Adkins have both already given their verbal commitment to Hoeppner. Finch, Boyd and McDonald were each named to the first-team all-state team and Adkins received an honorable mention.\nWarren Central is the four-time defending Indiana High School Athletic Association Class 5A state champions, the first team in the history of the tournament to accomplish that feat. Boyd says he thinks the success he and his teammates had in high school can continue in college.\n"We've been winning," Boyd said. "So we're going to keep on winning wherever we go."\nThe Warriors went through their 2006 regular season unbeaten and didn't slow down at all in the IHSAA playoffs, outscoring opponents in their six games by a score of 271-27. Warren Central coach Steve Tutsie said he believes his players' success will prepare them for what's next in Bloomington.\n"They know how to win, so that will help," Tutsie said.\nIn the state championship game, a 35-14 win over Carmel High School, Finch led the Warriors with 10 tackles and recorded one reception on offense for 15 yards. In addition, he was on both sides of the special-teams unit, taking on both punting and punt-return duties.\nFinch was unavailable for comment at press time.\nESPN's Luginbill said Finch's versatility to play at different positions could come in effect before he finishes at IU. While Rivals.com lists him as the No. 2 high-school safety in the nation, Luginbill said it won't necessarily be the only position he will play on the defensive side of the ball.\n"(Finch) could be a guy that in times grows into being an outside linebacker," Luginbill said. "You have that type of range and versatility with him to play him at multiple positions."\nLuginbill said he was surprised Finch switched his commitment from Michigan, especially since it happened so late.\n"You see a lot of kids switch their commitments late in the game, but it's usually from two programs that are on equal par with each other," he said. "Obviously, Indiana is improving greatly, and more importantly, what I think is taking place here is that Michigan is loaded up at safety right now, and I think he's looking at IU as an opportunity to play right away."\nHoeppner and his staff are not permitted to talk to the media about Finch or any of the other recruits until they sign their national letter of intent Feb. 7.
(01/16/07 4:15am)
WEST LAFAYETTE -- In its first shot against its former coach, the IU women's basketball team came up on the short end. \nComing in with new coach Felisha Legette-Jack, the Hoosiers dropped a 73-51 game against No. 13 Purdue on Sunday in a match against former IU and current Boilermakers coach Sharon Versyp. Versyp, who coached the Hoosiers last season, left IU in April to take the head-coaching vacancy at her alma mater.\n"For us it's just like going out and playing against any other person," senior guard Nikki Smith said about playing her former coach. "We have a great coach here and it would be disrespectful to her on our part to go out there and think, 'Oh my God, we're playing against our old coach,' and have all those feelings brought in. It doesn't matter if we're playing against our best friend; we're going to go out there and we're going to want to win."\nThe Hoosiers started the game slowly, allowing the Boilermakers to jump out to an 8-2 lead. Early setbacks did not shake the Hoosiers' confidence. They were able to quickly recover and tie the game at 10 after a 3-point shot by senior guard Leah Enterline. \nBut the Hoosiers could not contain Purdue forward Katie Geralds, who scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. It was the 11th straight game in which Geralds scored in double digits and her ninth 20-point performance of the season.\n"I think Geralds is one of the best players in the country," Legette-Jack said. "She has a poise about herself that even though her team seems rattled at times, she has a sense of calmness."\nEven though Purdue held the lead throughout the first half, IU was able to keep up, trailing 29-24 with a couple of minutes until halftime. But the Boilermakers went on a 4-0 run to end the half and took a 33-24 lead into the locker room.\nBoth teams had trouble shooting in the first half. The Boilermakers shot 33.3 percent from the field; the Hoosiers shot only 31.2 percent.\nIU's shooting woes continued into the second half and the Hoosiers finished the game shooting just 29.2 percent from the field.\n"I feel like we did get shots down the stretch," Enterline said. "Those are shots that didn't fall for us today, but we had them and we got to be able to knock them down."\nEarly in the second half IU looked to be making a run, narrowing Purdue's lead to 37-33. But from there Purdue started rolling, igniting a 16-4 run.\nVersyp walked away from her former team victorious. \n"It's not an easy situation, but it is what it is," Versyp said. "(IU) played very hard, but I love Purdue. Black and gold is what I bleed and these young women here at Purdue have embraced our whole staff. I'm very fortunate to be here and to have this opportunity."\nThe Hoosiers will get another shot at Versyp and Purdue on Sunday, when the Boilermakers travel to Assembly Hall for the second game of the season between the two teams.
(01/12/07 4:52am)
All week long, IU women's basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack avoided questions about Sharon Versyp.\nShe was trying to keep her team focused on Iowa, not Versyp, the former IU and current Purdue head coach. After Thursday's 71-67 loss against the Hawkeyes, Legette-Jack still wasn't ready to look ahead to the Boilermakers.\n"It's a 24-hour window," Legette-Jack said. "(Friday) we're going to get back to work. We'll start working on ourselves for a day, and then we'll start thinking about Purdue maybe Saturday."\nThe Hoosiers (13-5, 2-3 ) travel to West Lafayette on Sunday to take on the No. 13 Boilermakers (15-3, 4-1) and their former coach, who left IU after one season to take the coaching job with her alma mater.\n"That's in the past; that's her decision," junior guard Nikki Smith said about Versyp in October. "We hold no grudge. We're just looking forward to the future."\nVersyp led the Hoosiers to a 19-14 record last season as IU advanced to the quarterfinals of the WNIT Tournament. Her success was enough to get her hired by Purdue after former coach Kristy Curry left West Lafayette to take over at Texas Tech. IU wasted no time in searching for Versyp's replacement, and Legette-Jack was hired as its new head coach last April. \n"Rarely do you meet an individual with the energy, enthusiasm, purpose, work ethic and kindness that coach Jack has demonstrated," IU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan said when he introduced Legette-Jack. "Under her leadership ... we will build a strong staff of assistants that will recruit in- and out-of-state aggressively, effectively and with purpose."\nFrom the beginning Legette-Jack was able to leave that same impression on her new players.\n"I really like her," senior guard Leah Enterline said the day Legette-Jack was introduced. "I really like her personality. She is very personable. She came in and talked with us. It wasn't like she stood up and laid down the law. She sat down and told us a little about herself, and then we had a chance to converse with her. It was really nice."\nAgainst Purdue on Sunday, the Hoosiers will face the stingiest defense in the Big Ten. Not including Thursday's game against Michigan State, the Boilermakers have held opponents to an average of 52.4 points per game.\nIn addition to cracking a tough defense, the Hoosiers will need to shut down a high-powered attack. Purdue ranks third offensively the Big Ten, averaging 74.1 points per game. Leading the way for the Boilermakers is guard Katie Geralds, who is averaging 18 points per game.\nSunday's game is the first of two consecutive games for IU against their archrival. The Hoosiers will have a week off before taking on Purdue once again, at Assembly Hall on Jan. 21.\n"I don't think we have to do a lot of stuff about Purdue," Legette-Jack said. "I'm from New York, so I can't say I have experience with the Indiana-Purdue rivalry. But I know the emotions are certainly going to be all jacked up ... I'm not going to go there with this team. If they're going to have those emotions and get excited about it, it's going to be in their own internal way"
(01/11/07 5:05am)
IU women's basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack knows the importance of having a focused team.\nDuring Tuesday's Big Ten coaches conference call, Legette-Jack was asked about Sunday's game against Purdue, a team coached by Sharon Versyp, who was the Hoosiers' head coach just one year ago.\nBut Legette-Jack wasn't ready to answer questions about the Boilermakers. Her focus was on Iowa.\n"I might be too young to worry, and I think our team is too young to look ahead," Legette-Jack said. "We have a great team coming to Bloomington on Thursday and we're certainly not going to overlook them. We're just taking one game at a time and celebrating the success we're having in practice and games. We're just too young to look ahead to Purdue; we have to remember to stay in the moment."\nDespite the Hawkeyes' recent troubles, Legette-Jack hopes her players adopt this attitude Thursday when IU (13-4, 2-2 Big Ten) takes on Iowa (10-7, 2-2 Big Ten) at 7:05 p.m. at Assembly Hall. After starting the season 5-0, the Hawkeyes have stumbled, losing seven of their last 12 games.\n"You don't really look ahead; you just concentrate on a game," sophomore guard Kim Roberson said. "We really haven't looked ahead to a game after (Iowa). We're just focused on the Hawkeyes."\nRoberson is coming off a career-high 28 points in Sunday's 71-64 win against Illinois, the fifth Hoosier to lead IU in scoring in the team's last five wins. This type of balance is not unusual for the Hoosiers, who have had numerous players step up at different points of the season. Behind junior guard Nikki Smith, who is averaging 12.6 points per game, the Hoosiers have three players averaging nine points, and two more averaging eight. A seventh Hoosier, senior forward Carrie Smith, is not far behind, with 7.2 points per game. \n"I've never been a part of a team that has just one or two go to players," Legette-Jack said. "I've always been a part of a team that's well-balanced. I'm just creating what I know, and I don't know any other way."\nWith Iowa, the Hoosiers will see a team that doesn't have as much balance as IU does. More than half of the points scored by the Hawkeyes have come from one of three players: center Megan Skouby, averaging 14.7 per game; guard Kristi Smith, averaging 12.7; and forward Wendy Ausdemore, averaging 11.5.\n"All three players are capable scorers," Roberson said. "We just need to play team defense and make sure we get stops and create offense from our defense."\nWith a win, the Hoosiers would improve their record to 14-4, IU's best start since the 1993 to 1994 season.\n"We're just really excited about where we are right now," Legette-Jack said. "This season began with me being the third coach (in three years) and us trying to find our way in the word called trust. These kids have not only bought into what we're doing, but they are flying with their faith and their confidence"
