132 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(01/17/08 5:00am)
You know a movie is bad when its best parts are crammed in the previews. Although "First Sunday" has plenty of potential, it is an utter disappointment. Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan star as Durell and LeeJohn, childhood best friends and partners in crime. When Durell learns that he could lose his son if he doesn't pay a $17,000 debt, he and LeeJohn do the most logical thing they can: rob a neighborhood church. The two spend the night with church members, including Katt Williams as Rickey. Needless to say, hilarity does not ensue.\nBoth co-stars portray the same role they have been playing for years. Durell is a tough guy with surprising intellect and compassion, while LeeJohn is a village idiot. Alas, both actors are fully capable of playing characters with humor and substance, but the film won't allow it. Morgan, for example, is naturally hilarious in all his lunacy, but not when dumbed down for the sake of easy laughs. His flaw in film is akin to that of Chris Rock, who is far better in his raw comedy than in his scripted movies, which seem forced and unnatural. \nWriter and director David E. Talbert is also capable of much more than "First Sunday" suggests. Although this is his first attempt at film, he is a successful playwright who has been noted for his transformative urban plays, dubbed as inspirational and positive. Talbert lightly touches issues of fatherless sons and criminals in "First Sunday," but nothing in this film is inspirational. \n"First Sunday" is successful at being bad. And there is always a need for movies you can watch with your friends and mock shamelessly. Still, this category should usually be reserved for Lifetime movies and anything with Jamie Kennedy, instead of a feature-length waste of talent such as "First Sunday"
(11/29/07 5:00am)
Mixtape available at \nwww.wiux.org/new/wiux-mixtape/
(10/04/07 4:00am)
If one were to say that "Halo 3" is just another video game release, they'd be wrong. "Halo 3" isn't just any game; it's the biggest game in history. \nAbout 4.3 million units have been shipped with 1.7 million of them pre-ordered; within its first 24 hours it made $170 million in sales and on release day more than 1 million gamers signed on to Xbox Live to get their frag-fest on. \n"Halo 3" features a full four-player co-op campaign, similar to the two-player co-op found in "Gears of War." With a full party, you can beat the campaign in less than six hours, but by yourself it can take as long as 10 hours.\nFor most gamers, though, campaign mode isn't the point behind the "Halo" series; it's all about the multiplayer mode. Whether it's getting frags in Team Slayer or a heated game of Capture the Flag, multiplayer is where it's at, and that's exactly the area Bungie Studios expanded upon for the latest installment. Two new modes are the most noticeable: Theater and Forge. With Theater Mode, you can save your game play and upload clips of your favorite shoot-outs and various other antics that occur. With Forge Mode, you're in full control of your online experience via a map editor, which allows you to control every detail of weapon and vehicle placements, spawning points, etc.\n"Halo 3" is so big that it comes in three different editions. You have the standard game ($60); a Limited Edition version ($70), which comes in a metal case and includes a bonus disc of "Halo"-related content and an art book; and finally the Legendary Edition ($130), which is comprised of the game, two bonus discs and your very own life-sized Spartan helmet. In case you're wondering, yes, I was a big enough geek to buy the Legendary Edition, and yes, I would wear the helmet if I could. Too bad the helmet is only designed to sit on the stand it comes packaged with.\nSure, I could complain about the short campaign and the fact that it sometimes takes a while to connect to multiplayer matches (I blame my internet connection), but the simple fact is that "Halo 3" is everything I expected it to be and more. I can't count how many hours I've already put into it, but "Halo 3" is one of the best games on Xbox 360. Now, if you don't mind, I think it's time I got in a few more rounds of Team Slayer.
(09/20/07 4:00am)
The Last Word
(09/20/07 4:00am)
Last-word lounge
(08/30/07 4:00am)
All I wanted to do was soar with Bloomington's high-flying trapeze artists The Flying Haggertys. Unfortunately, trapeze flying isn't for the weak.\nI sat down in a lawn chair and waited for members of The Flying Haggertys to arrive for their daily practice. Larry, the stray dog that hangs around outside, was perched underneath a truck and barked until team member Chris Lemmon calmed him down. Lemmon looked at me and suggested I spritz bug spray on me, warning me the bugs are ridiculous outside.\nThe 35-foot-tall trapeze rig stretched across the entirety of an otherwise normal Bloomington backyard. Two swinging bars rested approximately 20 feet above a black safety net surrounded by a thicket of trees.\nLemmon and Holly Faulk, another member of The Flying Haggertys, wrapped their hands with tape and began to stretch. Marc Haggerty, founder of the team, sat down and watched them swing.\n"You're releasing too early," he said to his team members.\nAfter several minutes of performing aerial flips, Cogi Haggerty, a team member and Marc Haggerty's son, pulled up in his car and got ready to practice. Marc Haggerty, while still hollering suggestions at the three people flying over his head, pulled a pair of black spandex over his gray shorts and removed his shirt.\nHe quickly climbed the hanging ladder and placed himself on the second trapeze bar. After swinging himself back and forth for a bit, the team began flying. Each member would attempt to soar from the first bar to be caught by Marc Haggerty, then back. \nEvery time a team member would fly, my stomach would twist into knots. The pinging of the safety net against the rig made my stomach churn. "I can't do this," I thought. I kicked off my sandals and attempted to climb the ladder. Faulk said the hardest part for her is climbing the ladder. She said it exhausts her every time she does it. "She wasn't kidding," I thought.\nMy feet did not get much further than the second rung on the ladder before my arms started to feel numb from exhaustion. I attempted one more time before my arms completely gave out. I let go of the ladder and fell back to the ground.\nWhat Marc Haggerty has been doing for 20 years, I couldn't even do for one second.\nThe team's founder said his love for flying started when he separated from his wife and was looking for something to do with his son Cogi. They began climbing mountains, white-water canoeing and going to the circus. After building rapport with flying acts in the circus, Marc Haggerty was asked to go on tour with the Ringling Brothers Circus. \nThree or four years ago, Hollywood made Marc Haggerty an offer to train actors. He said he didn't say "no," but he would need to have certain living conditions in California. Hollywood has not yet returned an offer to him.\nThe Flying Haggertys have occasionally gone on tour but haven't had any recent shows. Marc Haggerty said they might start going on tour again but doesn't know when. \nFor now, they fly for fun.\nThroughout the practice, I thought to myself how cool it would be to become a \nhigh-flying trapeze artist. My lack of physical strength was not the only thing holding me back, though. I was scared. The fear of flying is something a trapeze artist has to learn to get over, Marc Haggerty said, claiming he has not feared flying in a long time. Cogi Haggerty, on the other hand, said he gets scared every time he gets up on the platform.\n"All students are afraid," Marc Haggerty said. "(You need to) build up confidence."\nLearning to fly is a process, he said. If somebody has an ambition to fly, he said he will do everything he can to get them up to the platform. And with a new wave of IU students back in town, he hopes people will join and take an interest in The Flying Haggertys.\nAfter the practice ended, I was dismayed about my unsuccessful attempt to fly, to even get up the ladder. I grabbed my backpack and made my way out of the backyard. \nFinally I returned home exhausted from not being able to fly. I quickly fell asleep, my head filled with the day's events. I woke up the next morning with about 20-something bug bites. Despite my willingness to fly, the thought of making it to the platform still scares the living bejesus out of me. And with every itch, I'm reminded of my failed attempt to fly and the fear that I never got to conquer.
(07/26/07 4:00am)
"The Simpsons" has been host to some of the best rockers of all time: Three former Beatles, Mick Jagger, The Who, The White Stripes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, etc., but some of the series' best songs were sung by the cast themselves. \n5. "The Garbage Man Can"\nHomer's reckless spending as sanitation comissioner is portrayed here in a montage so delightful that I temporarily forgot how much I hate Bono.\nKey line: "The sanitation folks are jolly, friendly blokes. Courteous and easy goin'. They mop up when you're overflowing and tell you when your ass is showing." \n4. "We put the Spring in Springfield"\nAn angry mob comes to burn down the burlesque house where Bart works and the ladies of the house have to convince the mob not to burn them down.\nKey Line: "We're the highlights in your hairdo, the extra arms on Vishnu."\n3. "Flaming Moe's"\nHomer invents an alcoholic drink using cough syrup that flames when lit on fire. It becomes so popular, this little ditty gets written about it.\nKey line: "Where liquor in a mug can warm you like a hug. Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away."\n2."We Do (The Stonecutters Song)"\nAt a men's club where they get drunk and play ping pong and have a bad ass theme song. \nKey line: "Who holds back the electric car? Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star? We do."\n1. "Monorail"\nConan penned this gem of an episode where Springfield gets conned into building a shoddy Monorail.\nKey line: "The ring came off my pudding can. Take my pen-knife, my good man."\n-Zack Teibloom
(06/21/07 4:00am)
The festival technically started when Ryan Shaw took the stage Thursday evening, but things didn't really heat up until The Roots took to the main stage Friday. From there, literally everything just kept getting hotter and hotter.\nAfter performing with The Roots, Questlove took the stage again that night with Ben Harper and John Paul Johns from Led Zepplin for the evening's Super Jam. The trio set the stage on fire for more than two hours, and the weather took notice, climbing into the 90s the next day. \nPeople kept cool by attacking the water stations, splashing around in the center fountain or just seeking every square inch of shade that was available. By the end of the weekend, the seats below the bleachers were in higher demand than those on top of them. \nSaturday brought a fat stack of music, including an afternoon set that featured Ben Harper, Franz Ferdinand, Ween and Spoon -- all at the same time. When the sun set and the heat subsided, The Police lit up the earth while The Flaming Lips aimed for the stars. \nBy Sunday, the thousands in attendance shared one common sensation: exhaustion. Bodies littered the festival grounds with more frequency than garbage. The Decembrists and Wilco had to play to half-dead crowds, but The White Stripes help rejuvinate the atmosphere as the sun set on the final day.\nIn the end, the combination of heat, lack of sleep and Zepplin jams left everyone dazed and confuzed.
(06/07/07 4:00am)
Damn those register monkeys at EBGames!" I bellowed as I put the shiny new DVD into my Xbox 360. "They gave me the first Forza instead of Forza 2!"\nOr so I thought as I played the first few races.\nAs far as sequels go, Forza 2 is more of a sidestep than any sort of evolution of the series. Several of the tracks and many of the cars from the first game are back again, the controls are exactly the same and hell, even the graphics are only marginally better than in the 2005 original.\nTo be fair, the first game was a fantastic driving simulator, at least on par with Sony's "Gran Turismo" series and even surpassed it in terms of accessibility and physics. But I had just hoped for a little bit more from second go-round (the first on Microsoft's next-gen system).\nThe tracks in the first game were great, but I would have preferred new ones instead. And while the game's career mode is lengthy, it again features a lot of the same class restrictions as the first one did. \nStill, it's not all bad. The extensive customization options are back, allowing you to slowly earn the credits to turn a four-cylinder POS into a 200-mph beast on the racetrack, complete with flame decals.\nIt's this RPG-like building process that makes "Forza 2" so satisfying, despite its shortcomings. And one of its few brand new features, an online auction house for buying and selling custom cars, only enhances this aspect of the game.\nIf you missed the first "Forza," this is a no-brainer; it's a great driving sim you need to try out. But if you played the hell out of the first one, you might be better off playing it a bit more until there's a price drop in the new one.
(06/07/07 4:00am)
On July 15, the government's Copyright Royalty Board will inflate the cost for Internet radio stations to play music, bankrupting many of them. You can stop them. Find out how at:
(04/12/07 4:00am)
Seniors Zach Pollakoff and Brian Kerr remember a scarcely attended Culture Shock from two years ago. Only six or seven dedicated concertgoers made it to the headlining band playing behind the radio station. Pollakoff says Culture Shock wasn't nearly as good in the past because it was full of bands he didn't want to see, but both he and Kerr said they are excited to see every band on the lineup this year.\nMajor improvements last year saw a big increase as an estimated 1,000 fans filled Dunn Meadow and this year looks to expand even more as Culture Shock expands into a new venue filled with national acts, adds an indoor after party and delivers a day filled with music for free. \nWith big-name national headlining acts and tent-covered stages, Culture Shock's organizers say they are getting "more excited and less nervous" as each day passes. Their event of the year takes over IU DeVault Alumni Center Field behind Alumni Hall for a full day and night of free concerts.\nMusic Director Craig Shank got on stage to introduce and welcome guests to last year's festival and hopes to see the acts, if he can make it out of his other responsibilities. Shank plans to spend this year's Culture Shock the way he spent last year's festival. A "utility man" -- hauling equipment for bands and being a runner to make sure everyone enjoys the show and it runs more smoothly. \n"We've been doing this every year since 1991 and it's kind of like a reward to everyone for working so hard," Shank said. "We don't make money from it and don't intend to. It's just a really great way to enjoy live music outside in the fresh air."\nKerr, special events director for WIUX, said the station began planning and advertising earlier than usual. The station has developed more "contacts and clout in the small little circle" of indie rock, which has allowed it to put on a festival to draw fans from all over the Midwest. \n"As cliché as it sounds, I hope everyone has a great time," Kerr said. "I feel fortunate to help bring something like this to IU."\nFans are getting excited about the soulful voiced Catfish Haven, a band that has played at the station and one which WIUX Director Zach Pollakoff called the most accessible band at the festival. In addition to their normal lineup, Catfish is adding a keyboardist and extra vocalists just for the show.\n"A lot of frat guys listen to them, but for good reason," he said.\nPollakoff also expressed excitement about a number of bands, from the jazzy styles of Nomo, who performed at Lotus Fest this year, to Sunset Rubdown, a band Pollakoff said is "worth catching for sure." \nAll those involved say this year's Culture Shock will be marked by the addition of After Shock after party. Junior Jon Coombs, who helped plan the event, said it will be a perfect extension of the eclectic group of artists at the festival and a way to see great local DJ's in addition to The Mudkids' DJ Rusty. He said he is especially excited about Totally Michael.\n"Totally Michael is a blast," Coombs said. "He's skinny as hell, 6 feet tall and wears booty shorts. He's a lot of fun."\nWhile some of the acts are local, those involved behind the concert said they expect the natural foot traffic from Briscoe and McNutt to be supplemented by fans across the Midwest. Shank said he knows of people coming in from Chicago, Michigan, Cincinnati. Senior Hannah Fidell even said her mom is coming in from New York. \nFidell said she had a great time at last year's Shock. She brought a few blankets and sat around with friends enjoying the music and getting up to dance for higher energy performers. The acts that caught her attention this year are David Vandervelde and Catfish Haven, two bands she said she enjoyed over spring break at the South by Southwest music festival.\nHer mom is coming in, as Fidell says, "to see what the hip kids are listening to these days." She plans on spending the day with her mom and her aunt and uncle going to After Shock that night, but thinks she'll be the only Fidell there.\n "I'm sure she'll be in bed by then," she said.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
Eric Gordon makes it look easy.\nHe hits threes with frequency from far beyond the arc. He blocks shots like a big man. He drives to the basket without fear, full of explosion and dominance.\nThere is nothing reckless about his game. He is smooth. He is solid. And making it look easy, well, isn’t very easy.\nKobe Bryant makes it look easy. Kevin Durant makes it look easy. \nThese are guys at the height of their basketball stations – Bryant in the NBA, Durant in the college ranks.\nGordon is almost a miniature version of Ohio State’s phenomenal freshman, Greg Oden. There is little emotion in their faces, little strain in their game. It’s just simple dominance.\nThey just go about their business on the hardwood, and do it well.\nThere almost seems to be something more impressive about a guy who can stuff it in your face and not rejoice. That takes resolve. It takes a different kind of mental fortitude. \nNow, this wasn’t all on display Wednesday night in Louisville, Ky., during the McDonald’s All-American game. Gordon missed shots, layups even. He dribbled the ball away a few times. There were others more impressive, more dominant. Kansas State recruit Michael Beasley comes to mind.\nBut with just under 13 minutes left in the second half, Gordon shook the East squad’s Austin Freeman at the top of the key, took it strong to the hole and made a layup from the right side. That is perhaps Gordon’s best strength, breaking down a defense and taking it the basket for a quick deuce.\nWatching him this year during his high school season, he’s like a stallion in a herd of mares – outrunning, outclassing and out-muscling lesser foes. \nThere will be times next year when Gordon – donned in cream and crimson – will play like Wednesday night’s All-American game. It’s to be expected. You can’t be at the height of your game every single night.\nHe is coming in next year with a tremendous amount of hype. Before even throwing on the candy stripes, Gordon is already being hailed an IU saint, set to save the program and return it to glory. \nCan he possibly live up to everything Hoosier Nation expects of him? \nNights like Wednesday remind us that at the end of the day he’s human, that he’s not without flaws.\nBut there will be times next season when he makes you stand up and shout – times when you’ll be amazed by his brilliance. It may be a block, a dunk or a long-range bomb. In that moment in time, he will revert back to his superhuman state, one everyone in the IU camp is expecting him to be.\nAnd when he does?\nIt will look oh so easy.
(03/27/07 4:00am)
Perhaps an even bigger story than Eric Gordon and his explosion coming to Assembly Hall next year is the question all IU fans are asking: Is D.J. White going to stick around next year, or is he going pro?\nLet’s see what his coach has to say about it.\n“He should explore (going to the NBA), and you have to encourage him,” Kelvin Sampson said in a news conference Thursday. “I have talked to D.J.’s parents, and I think it would be an injustice to not find out where his value stands. Sometime in April they will do a mock draft. D.J. could be a first-rounder or a high pick. If that’s what D.J. wants to do, then I will support him 100 percent.”\nThis is what a coach is supposed to do. He is not there to beg and plead with his star player to return and talk him out of a great opportunity at the next level. He is there to objectively assess the situation and help D.J. make the best choice for his life. Back in October at Big Ten media day, White spoke about his dream of making the NBA and providing a more comfortable life for his parents.\nSo, we know D.J. going pro is certainly within the realm of possibility. The question then becomes: What is the most beneficial choice for IU’s big man?\nFirst off, I and many other draft prognosticators don’t see D.J. as a “first round or a high pick” as his coach said he could become. NBADraft.net projects White as an early second-round pick. DraftExpress doesn’t have D.J. getting selected at all.\nNow, these are just projections; there isn’t always concrete validity within them. But it’s a decent barometer by which to gauge D.J.’s likelihood of going pro.\nAs for myself, I’m just not quite sure his offensive game is polished enough. He’s proven to be a consistent hard-worker, he can block shots and he plays good defense. \nHe also hits the 12-footer with frequency, not something every big man in the Association can do. Still, his offense around the rim sometimes leaves a little to be desired. \nFurthermore, second-round draft picks do not receive guaranteed contracts like those snatched in the first round. They are simply “owned by the team” for three years. If he sticks around next year, I think he can sneak into the first round of the draft and secure himself a better contract.\nHowever, is it worth risking injury and possibly never making the professional ranks to stick around and become more polished for a team that will gain a ton of national attention next year? Or is it a better idea to go pro now, get picked in the second round, with the possibility of not playing much, and maybe falling by the wayside in a couple of years? That’s not to say he can’t make an NBA squad and contribute. He certainly can. But these are the questions he, his coach and his family must wrestle with. There are no easy answers – that’s for sure.\nSo weighing everything here, I’d say – barring injury – the best option would be for D.J. to stick around next year. Even though Sampson encouraged his forward to test the NBA waters, I’d be willing to bet that once D.J. finds out his value, Sampson would advise D.J. to stay for another year.\nIf Sampson convinced White not to leave and follow Mike Davis to University of Alabama at Birmingham when he arrived in Bloomington, I think he can convince his forward to stick around for the cream and crimson next season.\nDon’t you?
(03/19/07 4:00am)
Earl Calloway on a breakaway layup, clang. Rod Wilmont on a 3-point attempt, clang. Clang. Clang. Clang all game. Until, suddenly and finally, IU arose from its slumber. \nThis is a team that succeeds, when and only when it’s knocking down shots from the outside. That didn’t happen in the first half of the Hoosiers’ 54-49 loss to UCLA on Saturday. That didn’t happen in the second half until very late. But still, it wasn’t too late. No matter how woeful this team looked on offense, still, there was time. Lance Stemler – Lance freaking Stemler! – hit two 3-pointers. Wilmont hit one, too. Suddenly, it was tied. Could the Hoosiers really pull this off, after being down by 16 points and after scoring only 13 in the first half? It was there for the taking. \nBut UCLA’s Arron Afflalo made his free throws. And after Stemler led Earl Calloway a bit too much on IU’s third inbound attempt with the Hoosiers down two points and 35 seconds remaining, Darren Collison made his, too. \nA furious late rally by IU aside, that was it, the game was over. UCLA was too strong, too athletic and too experienced in the end for IU. \nAfter the game, IU coach Kelvin Sampson had this to say: “I’m really proud of my team. In a lot of ways, this game embodies what this team is all about.” \nI couldn’t think of more fitting words to qualify this game. \nThis was IU’s identity all year. Overcoming all its deficiencies on the court, and somehow, someway still being within striking distance for a win. IU – save for one game at Purdue – never lost a game all season by more than eight points. That’s pretty impressive. \nAt Duke, with some of IU’s studs on the bench, a freshman and a former walk-on brought the Hoosiers back from a nine-point deficit in the second half. Those two – Armon Bassett and Errek Suhr – each had 3-point attempts to tie the game in the final seconds. \nAt Kentucky, this squad missed 50 shots, but somehow, someway, was in position to force overtime with the ball in its hands, down three, with seconds remaining. \nBut that was IU all year, on the verge of being a great team, but failing all too often. Great teams find a way to win those games. Pretty good teams sometimes do, sometimes don’t. IU was a pretty good team this year. \nThe Hoosiers achieved as they were supposed to – 21 wins, third place in the Big Ten and amongst the top 32 teams in the nation. \nThey didn’t quite have enough talent to get any further. There were obvious dents in IU’s armor, especially on the front line. But this team never gave up and always competed. IU never played scared. There were no deer-in-the-headlights moments, so much a part of this team’s identity under Mike Davis. It’s a credit to Sampson for bringing in a new mentality in his first year at the helm. The Hoosiers – though at times didn’t show it – bought into his system. But it’s hard taking a group of kids you’ve never before met, who know of only one coach and one style, and breaking them of it. Sampson tried. Boy, did he try. \nHe’ll try with some of his own recruits next season – a talented lot – and for years to come. They’ll get it. With his ability to recruit, if Sampson gets players of a higher skill level to compete and give as much heart as this squad did, the future looks promising for a program now 20 years removed from its last national title. \nYou’d be a fool to think any different.
(03/09/07 5:00am)
When Kelvin Sampson arrived on campus almost a year ago, there were two things his teams were known for: good defense and rebounding.\nBut if you actually look at the numbers from this year’s IU squad in the Big Ten season, you’ll notice that hasn’t really been the case.\nTo wit: In defensive field-goal percentage, IU is eighth, letting 45.1 percent of opponents’ shots drop. The Hoosiers rank eighth as well in scoring defense, allowing 64.6 points a game. They are seventh in opponents’ points per possession at 1.03. \nFor a frame of reference, Illinois led the conference in that department, giving up 0.92 points a possession. One stat IU actually ranks near the top of is defensive 3-point field-goal percentage, ranking third at 32 percent.\nIn the rebounding department, IU grabbed 33.2 a game, good for only seventh place.\nPhew. Take a breather, everyone. That was a lot of numbers to swallow. We good? Great.\nObviously, the Hoosiers aren’t quite the defensive team many have purported them to be all season. However, they have shined with the ball in their hands this season. Here are some more stats, probably ones you’ll enjoy digesting more.\nThe Hoosiers were flat-out the top scoring team during conference play. They averaged the highest points scored per game at 70.3. \nAnd we all know they’ve lit it up from beyond the arc this year. IU made 40.7 percent of its 3s this year, good for tops in the conference. Looking across the country, IU’s mark from the arc only puts them at No. 38. But any team that splashes more than 40 percent from 3-point land is doing something right.\nJust because IU’s defensive numbers rank low in conference doesn’t mean the Hoosiers are an awful defensive team. But to me it does mean they are a very average one, a team not quite living up to the expectations of a traditional Sampson squad. \nWithout IU’s hot outside shooting and scoring prowess, we might be looking at a team with a few more tallies in the loss column. Numbers don’t tell the whole story, but in my opinion, they tell most of it.\nI don’t know if I can point to one reason for this occurrence. Perhaps it’s because Sampson inherited all these players. None are his recruits, except for Lance Stemler and Mike White. Maybe his handpicked players will fit more into his defensive mold in years to come. I don’t really buy that school of thought, though.\nI don’t know if there’s a right answer for these average defense numbers, other than they are what they are. An off-year, I suppose.\nSo, what have we learned here today, kids?\nIU’s defense: OK.\nIU’s offense: Pretty darn good.\nClass dismissed.
(03/05/07 5:00am)
Less than a minute in, Earl Calloway was finally back in the building. \nAfter senior guard Errek Suhr’s rebound, Calloway got a feed on a fast break, dribbled the ball up court, put it between his legs, pulled up and hit a jumper in the lane. 2-0 Hoosiers.\n“I was confident (Saturday),” said the senior guard, who racked up 15 points in IU’s 94-63 win Saturday night against Penn State.\nThat’s a refreshing statement and stat line for Hoosier Nation. Calloway’s mild right shoulder separation he suffered against Purdue kept him on the sidelines for three straight games. He saw limited action against Northwestern on Wednesday night, struggling through nine minutes of play. But Saturday night, he was his old self, scoring where he saw fit and distributing as needed. \nAnd speaking of distributing the rock, Calloway dished out 11 assists last night – a career-high mark.\nOn a night when fellow senior guard Rod Wilmont shined and played to the crowd, and senior Errek Suhr received cheers each time he touched the ball in the second half, it was perhaps Calloway whom fans should have lauded the most.\n“Earl brings a lot to us, especially when he pressures the ball,” said Wilmont, who notched a double-double Saturday night. “When he’s up there on top of the key, pressuring the ball, everybody else gets real energized. Having Earl there to hit shots and stuff like that, that’s huge for us.”\nRight he is. \nNow, maybe it had more to do with it being senior night and IU’s final home game of the year, but there seemed to be a newfound energy within IU’s play Saturday night. \nBut I do think, as Wilmont said, Calloway had a hand to do with IU’s enthusiasm as well. Saturday night in the first half, as Calloway pressured the ball up top, he had a rather intense look to his eyes, reminiscent of that famous Michael Jordan clip. You know, the one where M.J. is D-ing up the Lakers, body firmly entrenched in a defensive stance, eyes looking upward defying you to get around him. That was Earl Calloway on Saturday night.\nThere are still questions about his shoulder, though.\n“It’s always going to be a factor, you think about it as a player,” he said. “But you have to just be cautious and just play with confidence.”\nIU coach Kelvin Sampson had this to say after the game: “Earl’s shoulder probably doesn’t hurt as much tonight as it will tomorrow.”\nBut Calloway will have a time to rest it. IU’s next game is Friday night; its first game of the Big Ten Tournament.\nIn 2005, the Hoosiers stormed onto the United Center court in Chicago for their first game of the Big Ten tourney, the place where the aforementioned M.J. called home. Almost the entire team shaved their heads, as an ode to His Airness. They fell flat against Minnesota, losing by 16.\nFriday night, Calloway’s imitation of Jordan should serve the Hoosiers much better.
(03/02/07 5:00am)
Saturday marks the culmination of the Big Ten season. And, as of now, it’s looking like IU will most likely snatch third place in conference with a 10-6 mark.\nNow, was this because IU was, in fact, the third best team in conference? Or was it simply because the Hoosiers didn’t have to play Big Ten powers Ohio State and Wisconsin more than once each?\nLet’s examine this, shall we?\nIllinois, Iowa and Purdue will likely finish right behind IU at 9-7 on the season. Iowa played Wisconsin twice and Ohio State once. They lost all three games. \nPurdue had the Buckeyes twice and the Badgers once. They lost all three as well. \nIllinois had Ohio State and Wisconsin once each at home and lost both.\nIU, as we know, had Ohio State on the road and Wisconsin at home, splitting the series.\nNow, say, if IU had Wisconsin on the road as well and one fewer home game this year, it’s likely IU finishes 9-7 on the year, and we get into a whole mess of tiebreakers. \nAnd what if Ohio State came into Assembly Hall to play this year? Would IU have been able to topple both the Buckeyes and the Badgers? Would they have finished 8-8 on the year and finished smack in the middle of the Big Ten standings?\nMaybe, maybe not.\nI know scheduling for the most part is cyclical. IU, due to previous seasons, was set to only play Ohio State and Wisconsin once each this season. And the Hoosiers did a good job of defending home court this year, especially against Wisconsin. That has led them to where they are.\nKelvin Sampson has said the last few weeks that, after Ohio State and Wisconsin, the remaining five or so teams after them in the conference are pretty darn equal.\nThanks to some favorable scheduling and playing Wisconsin at the right time, the Hoosiers are most likely going to stick their heads just above those middle teams. \nAnd hey, I know this column is a bunch of hypothetical malarkey, but I still think it’s worth exploring.\nBut back to my question at the beginning of this thing. Is IU the third best team in this conference? It’s debatable. I think if this team plays at its very best, then yes, it’s better than a Purdue or a Michigan State.\nThe Big Ten tournament in Chicago will be a good indicator of what this team can do in the NCAA tournament, and just how good they are in regards to their conference counterparts. \nAt home, they’ve ruled. At opponents’ arenas, they haven’t. But what can they do at a neutral site? We have to go all the way back to the beginning of the season to get an indicator of that, when they played in Indianapolis at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament. Even still, this is a much different team than what it was in November, so I don’t know if that’s a fair set of games to judge them by.\nIn any event, after this team has come under such constant scrutiny from media and fans alike the last few years, the way its schedule and season have played out thus far, it’s exactly what it and its first-year coach deserve.
(03/02/07 5:00am)
Usually in this space, I give a brief analysis of the game. \nNot this time. \nIU will beat Penn State. We all set on that? Good. What I’m going to instruct you all to do is to show up to the game Saturday at 8 p.m. \nI usually don’t do this sort of thing because it’s your prerogative whether or not you show up to a game. It’s your money and your decision, and I’m really of no authority to tell you anything different.\nBut come on, folks. It’s senior night. And you should be there to send off Rod Wilmont, Errek Suhr and Earl Calloway, three guys who have busted their humps their entire careers for your Hoosiers and three guys who exemplify what it means to wear cream and crimson. \nThink of it as a nice little pre-game to a Saturday night out. OK?
(03/01/07 5:00am)
EVANSTON, Ill. – D.J White had all but sealed the deal.\nWith 2:42 to go, White nailed a layup, getting fouled in the process. He hit his free throw. IU grabbed an 11-point lead. Under three minutes remained in the game. It was over. Right?\nWell, nobody told Northwestern forward Tim Doyle that on his senior night. He’s the Wildcat player with slicked-back hair, two knee braces and a hook shot reminiscent of the ’50s – a time when basketball was more about jump shots than dunks.\nAfter White’s free throw, Doyle stormed down the court and missed a layup. He fell to the ground. But as Armon Bassett took the ball up court after an IU rebound, Doyle lurked close behind. He swooped the ball out of Bassett’s hand and fed teammate Craig Moore for an easy two. He wasn’t done there.\nAfter another Northwestern steal, he hit a layup. Then, he stole the ball, hitting another layup in the process. He fed teammate Sterling Williams a 3-pointer. Another layup followed soon after that.\nMind you, this was all within a span of two minutes.\nBut alas, for as hard as Doyle and his teammates fought to crawl back into this one, you just knew the Hoosiers would emerge victorious. They did, wining by a tally of 69-65.\nAfter the game, Kelvin Sampson described Northwestern’s play as unorthodox. Was it ever.\nWildcat coach Bill Carmody runs a slow, methodical offense he picked up from his days coaching at Princeton. It’s just real odd-looking.\nNorthwestern threw a 1-3-1 zone defense at the Hoosiers all night, with who else but Doyle playing out front. He kept IU out of the lane, trapped them in the top corners and forced the Hoosier offense to gun threes all game – a whopping 32 on the night. They made 13. Nine of those came from Rod Wilmont, and with it, setting the IU school record for threes made in a game.\nWithout Rod’s heroics, we may be talking about an IU team upended by lowly Northwestern, a squad that finished 2-13 this Big Ten season. We may be talking about IU as a bubble team with a tough shot at making the NCAA tourney.\nBut instead, we’re talking about a squad one win away from 20 – its highest win total in the regular season since 99-00, Bob Knight’s last year at the helm. We’re talking about a team that will most likely finish no worse than third in the Big Ten Conference. A team that’s finally starting to get playing time out of Earl Calloway again – no matter how poor he played Wednesday.\nAs the final buzzer sounded and the Wildcats down four points, Doyle grabbed A.J. Ratliff’s missed free throw and heaved a desperation 3-pointer into the air – a good 75 feet from Northwestern’s basket. It hit the front of the rim, and looked like it might drop in. No such luck. Game over. \nIt was just that kind of night for Doyle and the Wildcats.
(02/28/07 5:00am)
We’re going with a win tonight, boys and girls. \nAnd why is that, do you ask? \nWell, seven Big Ten squads have sauntered into Welsh-Ryan Arena this season looking for victory. Six have come away with a win. The only team that lost at Northwestern? The Penn State Nittany Lions, a team that is 1-13 this year in conference. \nThis game may be a bit infuriating to watch. Bill Carmody and the Wildcats run a slow, methodical offense and it should keep this game somewhat low scoring and close. \nBut, in any event, if the Hoosiers can’t pull this one out, we may have to start realistically putting the NIT into the realm of possibility for IU’s postseason hopes. And you wouldn’t want that, would you?
