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(11/02/09 4:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Superman, Optimus Prime and Hannah Montana came to Assembly Hall on Saturday. At the Haunted Hall of Hoops, children trick-or-treated with the IU men’s basketball team. Dressed in costumes, children came with their parents to meet the team and watch a scrimmage afterward. Junior guards Jeremiah Rivers and Brett Finkelmeier sat at one table together signing autographs, handing out candy and talking to children. One father asked his little girl who Rivers was, but she didn’t know. “It’s a religion in our house,” he said. “You should know all their names.” Snow White, Harry Potter and Peyton Manning also came on Saturday. Most of the children were hesitant to approach the players, so their parents encouraged them. A medieval knight no more than eight years old came up to Rivers sucking his thumb. Rivers asked him, “You all right? You want some candy?” The former redshirt player answered many parents who asked him if he is ready to start the season this Wednesday. “It’s been a long time,” one fan said. “Too long,” Rivers replied. Rivers said he enjoyed interacting with the children, a different group of fans than the team usually sees. “It brings back the days when I was a little kid,” he said. Rivers and Finklemeier were the last ones to sign autographs, down to the last fairy princess with butterfly clips.The Halloween atmosphere continued on Branch McCracken court, where holiday music played during timeouts. There were also shooting contests between ninjas, jokers and little devils who later took the court for a parade.Outside of the Halloween antics, IU played a fast-paced scrimmage with dressed referees and a crowd of scattered Hoosiers on hand. Missing from the contest between the red and white teams were a number of IU guards who were all out with injury. Rivers was hurt in practice for a second time, senior Devan Dumes rested a sore knee and sophomore Matt Roth had his nose patched up on the sideline. He was recovering from surgery, Crean said. On the court, sophomore guard Verdell Jones and freshman Jordan Hulls shone alongside one another. The tandem ran the team by finding open players and hitting layups and 3-point shots of their own. Crean said Hulls was one of the more steady players in practice and performed well on Saturday. “He did a nice job,” he said. “He made shots and he ran his club. And I think he’s definitely been a big part of practice already, but with injuries to four guards it’s even turned the microscope up on all the other guards in practice, including Jordan.”The teams traded buckets for the entire intrasquad scrimmage, but a late surge by freshman guard Maurice Creek changed that.He scored layups, made passes and converted pull-up 3-point shots while leading the white team to a 46-40 win in the 20-minute scrimmage.Freshman forward Bobby Capobianco was one of the players running the floor with Creek. He scored outside shots and paced in front of the crowd to score in fast-break situations.While the game wasn’t an official contest, the IU men’s basketball players played as if their season record was on the line. Capobianco was one of the players leading that effort, and he said any time spent on the court is important to his young team. “Every time you walk out of the locker room, it’s an audition,” he said. “You’re fighting for a spot.”Crean said the day was another step for an IU team still trying to find its way.“It’s just another day in the process of this program getting built back up,” he said.
(10/30/09 4:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Before IU coach Tom Crean spoke, he went to look out the window. “It’s a great view, isn’t it?” he said, looking at the football field in Memorial Stadium. Crean stood at the window for a few seconds, before heading back to the sea of crimson fans. He was at the North End Zone facility Thursday for a tip-off pep rally. Six hundred and fifty Varsity Club donors, season ticket holders and other fans came to hear him speak and meet the 2009-2010 men’s basketball team. It was the fourth-annual pep rally, but the first in the North End Zone. IU play-by-play announcer Don Fischer, team doctor Larry Rink and IU Athletics Director Fred Glass spoke before Crean. Glass introduced a video that showed the future basketball development center that will open this summer. “It’s all up to you guys, but we’ll support you,” Rink said. The shadow of former IU men’s basketball coach Bob Knight sifted during the speeches. Rink told a story of becoming team doctor during Knight’s reign. Before the pep rally, Glass answered questions about Knight’s decision not to attend the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Glass said Knight sent him a letter declining the invitation, saying that he didn’t want to create a media circus that would distract from the other inductees. IU Athletics invited Varsity Club donors and season ticket holders to the event, but there was no admission fee or ticket required. The event was just one of several pre-season activities to drum up ticket sales and team interest.Associate Athletics Director Scott Dolson said student season ticket sales are close to being sold out and are up 56 percent compared to this time last year. Main and club level regular season seats are sold out. But players encouraged those who hadn’t bought tickets to get them soon. “Once this train starts going, there’s no stopping us,” sophomore guard Verdell Jones said. Junior guard Jeremiah Rivers injured himself in practice on Wednesday and did not attend the pep rally.“It wasn’t Tijan Jobe, but it was Bawa Muniriu,” Crean said, saying the freshman had injured his teammate. Rivers did not attend Big Ten Media Day, either. Crean told the crowd to head to Bill Armstrong Stadium to watch the No. 23 women’s soccer team take on No. 25 Penn State. IU football coach Bill Lynch and women’s basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack also attended, emphasizing the IU Athletics slogan Crean mentioned, “24 sports, 1 team.” He also took time to thank his own players. Crean praised freshman forward Derek Elston and sophomores Tom Pritchard and Matt Roth for not decommitting after the Sampson scandal. “They didn’t have to stay,” Crean said, “but they did.” After Crean’s speech, a montage set to “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon played. The video featured scenes from scrimmages, workouts and last year’s games. Players then signed autographs and talked to fans. Patrons could purchase posters for $3 and $5, sign up for season tickets and pick up team schedules. Crean said the atmosphere in the North End Zone was one of hope for the future. “We got to get Indiana back,” he said. “This is a national program.”
(10/28/09 4:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Tonya Mitchell and Annie Herchen are tired. It’s after a recent home game when most IU students are only beginning to go out. But more than three hours of twirling, dancing and marching can take it out of someone. The two are drum majors for the Marching Hundred, and a football game just ended. They spent most of their Saturday, from 3 to 10 p.m., at Memorial Stadium. And now that it’s done, they’re exhausted.There are more than 200 musicians in the Marching Hundred, but on the field and in the stands, the drum majors stand out.“We’re the only ones wearing white uniforms in a sea of crimson,” Mitchell said. “We’re doing fun stuff that’s getting the crowd riled up and getting students to stay for halftime.”The Hundred sit in the North End Zone during most of the game. They play popular music and fight songs. Herchen and Mitchell are the leaders, sitting in the front and dancing to the music.Herchen, a senior, and Mitchell, a junior, have livened up the Hundred in their first year as drum majors, adding more dances and skits to the halftime show. The group did a boy-band skit during one game, and Herchen choreographed and performed a salsa dance for another.“We’re really trying to put on shows people will sing along with, they’ll clap with, they’ll hoot and holler,” Herchen said. “Anything to get people involved.”It’s not the first time IU has had two drum majors or even a female drum major, but it is the first time the Hundred has had two female drum majors.In the stands, they dance and cheer along with the fight songs. On the field, they swing dance with each other during “Sing, Sing, Sing.” They use props, hats and costumes – anything that will get the audience to stay in their seats.Herchen and Mitchell are united in their antics. It doesn’t matter if they’re wearing Chiquita Banana hats with fake fruit, imitating a bull and matador for a couple of Latin numbers or dressing in sparkly costumes for a Las Vegas theme.“We’re always on the same page,” Herchen said. “No matter how crazy it is.”Being a drum major not only requires creativity, but responsibility. Being leaders means pressure on the two, who are in charge of keeping time for the band during practices and games.Mitchell said it’s important to convey confidence to the band, who watch them for their cues.“We have to act like we know what we’re doing all the time,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes we really don’t.”Herchen had experience being a leader of the band before becoming drum major. She was an undergraduate assistant, meaning she helped her section during practice. Mitchell was the drum major of her high school marching band. For both, the chance to lead a group of people – their friends and colleagues – was the reason for taking the position.“We’re actually out to make the band better,” Herchen said.Being selected to be a drum major is like being picked to sit on the Supreme Court: Once you get it, you have it until you graduate. For Mitchell, that means she has another chance next year. For Herchen, that means she only has two games left. She said because of that, she’s more willing to be brave when it comes to new ideas and planning for halftime.“It’s easier to take a risk,” Herchen said.Herchen and Mitchell are both music education majors and said they hope to be band directors, and this semester is preparing them for what they hope to do in the future.At the end of the game, Mitchell changes out of her uniform and talks to her family, who came from out of town to visit. Herchen talks to a few friends in the band. The night is still young by IU standards, but both are exhausted. The next day is set to begin early. Their coed music fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi, with sister sorority Tau Beta Sigma, picks up garbage at Memorial Stadium at 7 a.m. on two weekends to raise money for the groups. Only 20 or so members of the Hundred who are also active in the fraternity and sorority are at the cleanups. A few hours of sleep later, they are back to the stadium.
(10/26/09 3:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It was an NBA game, but it had an IU feel.Friday’s Pacers preseason game against the Spurs at Assembly Hall was the first NBA game in Bloomington since 1972.It combined the enthusiasm of college and professional basketball – an NBA game in a college arena.One example came right before the fourth quarter. The IU cheerleaders ran out with flags spelling “IU” and “Hoosiers,” but another set spelled out “Pacers.” The Big Red band played “Our Indiana.” Some fans wore Pacers jerseys, but others kept on their IU sweatshirts. The Pacemates performed during time-outs, but it was the local cheers that warmed the crowd.Student tickets sold for $10, and 8,025 fans filled Assembly Hall for the game.Rookie power forward Tyler Hansbrough graduated from UNC last year and enjoyed coming back to a student crowd.“It’s always cool to come back to an atmosphere like this,” he said.Wake Forest grad and Spurs power forward Tim Duncan also liked being in the student environment.“It always feels like basketball is more pure in these situations,” Duncan said.Indiana native and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he enjoyed his homecoming. Originally from East Chicago, Ind., “Pop,” as he’s known in the league, said he still has friends in the state. Like his star power forward, he appreciated the change of setting.“We get tired of the same arenas in the NBA,” Popovich said.He said when the team comes to Indiana, they usually try to stop by Hinckle Fieldhouse at Butler University in Indianapolis.“You’re probably too young to know what that is,” he said.The crowd jeered Pacers power forward and former Blue Devil Josh McRoberts, a 2005 graduate of Carmel High School. But the cool reception didn’t faze McRoberts.“They hate me a lot,” he said. “I know that. I’m used to it. It makes me feel at home.”Former IUPUI player and Spurs guard George Hill received a warm reception following the game, with family and friends surrounding him afterward. Larry Bird, Pacers president of basketball operations, returned to Bloomington. He first came to IU in 1973, but was intimidated by the school’s size – the enrollment of 33,000 was more than 15 times the size of his hometown of French Lick, Ind.IU fans were receptive to Larry Legend on Friday night. With nine minutes remaining the fourth quarter, the south section of Assembly Hall began chanting “Larry Bird.” They continued cheering throughout the fourth quarter.Hansbrough said none of his Duke teammates have given him flak for his alma mater. He said he doubts that will change once the college basketball season starts in November.“We’re Pacers now,” he said.
(10/19/09 4:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It began with the fans – the ones who arrived early, the ones who drove from miles away and the ones who disobeyed doctor’s orders. Students, alumni and Indiana residents came out to Hoosier Hysteria on Friday to see the start of the IU men’s basketball season. “They know the history,” junior guard Jeremiah Rivers said. “They know what Coach Crean is building here. They know what we’re trying to do here.” The men’s basketball season began on Friday with fireworks, the Big Red band and 13,321 fans. The evening was a combination of new players and old traditions. A new “Mop Lady” emerged on Friday, despite many students not knowing about the old commercial. Friday’s Hoosier Hysteria ranged from the typical dunk and 3-point contests to the bizarre – a scrimmage against singing group Straight No Chaser and an appearance from Jared “the Subway guy” Fogle. Crean also acknowledged older fans, like 82-year-old Wes Hovis. Crean introduced Hovis, who has stomach cancer, to the crowd. Having been sick for the past six years, Hovis ignored his doctor’s advice to stay at home. A resident of Muncie, Ind., Hovis went to his first Hoosier game when he was in his 20s. Sixty years later, he is still a fan. “I’m an IU nut,” he said.Rivers said the team was excited to see the fans and that their encouragement was uplifting. “We were missing dunks, missing 3s,” Rivers said. “They were cheering like we were making them the whole time.” One fan sign said, “I scream, you scream, we all scream for Tom Crean.” The sentiment was true, as Crean received more cheers than any of the players during the introduction. During his on-court speech, he acknowledged that the team will have growing pains this season, and he said they should not be discouraged by any losses. Fewer than 1,000 student season tickets remain for the season, with the first exhibition game little more than two weeks away on Nov. 4. Sophomore guard Verdell Jones said the turnout was another example of community support. He said fans give him positive feedback on a regular basis. “Around this time I think Indiana just changes over,” he said. “It’s like it’s dormant for a while, and then basketball season hits and it gets wild.” Scott Sullivan of Vevay, Ind., was one of many fans who came down to Bloomington after being hit by basketball fever. Sullivan drove almost three hours with his three sons. “It was frustrating at times,” he said of watching last year’s team, “but I stuck with them like they won every game, like they was undefeated last year. That’s what you do when you’re a fan.”
(10/16/09 5:52pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s been more than four years since late IU coach Terry Hoeppner took a piece of limestone and made it into a symbol. It’s been more than two years since Hoeppner died, before he could see his team reach a bowl game. But in the years since, the Rock still acts as the stationary mascot for the football program. Before every home game, the football team touches the Rock.“Coach Hep started something, and it’s just carrying on and getting stronger and stronger every year,” senior cornerback Ray Fisher said.Both Fisher and senior defensive end Jammie Kirlew said the Rock means more to them now that they are seniors and have been at IU since the Rock was introduced.“Every game reminds us of (Hoeppner),” Fisher said. “Before every game I pray and say something about him.” IU is famous for lacking a traditional mascot; someone to dress up in a furry costume and wave to the students. Instead, the team has a personal reminder of a man who gave his last years to the Hoosiers.“He told me when I got here as a freshman, he pointed me out and said, ‘You know what? You’re going to be a leader before you leave here,’” Kirlew said. “That was something special to me that I always kept close. And it turned out to be true. I’ve always had that leadership in me, and I’m a leader now on the team. It definitely reminds us of Coach Hep.”Hoeppner came up with the idea for the rock after an off-season meeting in 2005. Walking outside in the sunset, Malibu Grill owner John Bailey noticed that Memorial Stadium looked like a big rock the way the sun hit the stadium. In a 2005 IU Athletics press release, Hoeppner said, “All along, I felt that this program needed a unique identity, something that the players and fans could relate to.”Kirlew said “The Rock” is an important part of the football tradition.“You must touch the Rock,” Kirlew said. “It’s a reminder that you’re home, you have the home-field advantage, your fans are here. This is your house. This is where you practice everyday, where you sweat, bleed.”
(10/16/09 5:07pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Colonel is alone. Amid 23 piccolos, 27 clarinets, 26 alto saxophones, 10 tenor saxophones, 48 trumpets, 19 horns, 30 trombones, nine baritones, 22 sousaphones, 25 percussionists and 22 Redsteppers, the Colonel is alone.It is 4:15 p.m. on a Monday, and David “Colonel” Woodley, director of the Marching Hundred, is observing band practice on the parking lot at the north entrance of Assembly Hall. The Colonel sits on top of the hill overlooking the players. The 262 musicians are divided up by instrument into sectionals. He watches for half an hour before assembling them into one large group. Before he does, the music professor takes a sip from a cobalt plastic water bottle. It rained earlier in the day, and the humidity lingers in the air like perfume. He sits in a fabric folding chair wearing red basketball shorts, an IU T-shirt and a crimson baseball cap. His white socks peer out of his worn black New Balance shoes. He looks like he belongs inside Assembly Hall, not on the hill overlooking its parking lot. As sectionals end, the Colonel stands and attaches a headset. The now-assembled students turn to face him, still on top of the hill.Unlike the connotations that come with his nickname, he doesn’t bark orders. For 50 minutes, the band stands in a semi-circle facing him. He uses humor and sarcasm to keep the band’s attention.He asks the band to do a new formation.“We’re going to do the dead Michael Jackson spread. And then my hair will catch on fire.” He quiets the group, focusing on only one section.“Brass, relax. Contemplate life for a little bit.”He tries to loosen them up.“Woodwinds, let’s get you in the island spirit.”He didn’t get his nickname until he came to IU in fall 1993. But the story begins at the University of Louisville, where he became an honorary colonel after performing in a parade at the Kentucky Derby. When someone at IU noticed the “colonel” sign in his office, the nickname stuck.“A lot of people used to think that Bob Knight was the General, and I couldn’t be higher ranking than him so I was just a Colonel,” he said. “It’s unrelated, but a good story.”After graduating from the University of Iowa in 1985 with a master’s degree, he immediately joined the staff at the University of Louisville. Since then he’s spent his career directing their college bands.“I’ve never graduated,” he said.He said it only took him a year to fully support the Hoosiers instead of his Big Ten alma mater, Iowa.“I fell in love with this place,” he said. “I don’t even remember or care about Iowa that much anymore.”Some old members of the Hundred started a Facebook group dedicated to his jokes, known as Colonelisms.They range from the almost-obscene to the parental. But they all have a twinge of Colonel humor.One comment said, “Remember: bowl trips can last a long time. So don’t go crazy the first freakin’ night, because then Tuesday rolls around and you’ve already shot your wad.”And another, “If you kids didn’t smoke so much pot and play all those video games, maybe you could remember the drill we learned yesterday.”The Colonel’s love for humor is only outmatched by his passion for the band. His anger is rare, but when he senses the band isn’t focused, he lets them know.“It’s scary when he’s mad,” drum major Tonya Mitchell said. “I just stand silently.”Fellow drum major Annie Herchen had blue hair when she first joined the Hundred. The Colonel came up to her and asked her why. Scared, she said it was just something she always wanted to do. The Colonel said OK and walked away.“He was cool with it,” Herchen said.At the bottom of the hill, the Colonel looks small.He is anything but.His voice – booming through the loudspeakers – carries through the entire lot. They stand in the parking lot and look up at their half comedian/half enforcer. With his sunglasses on, the band can’t see his eyes.The sun is beating down on his neck. But the Colonel still stands.
(10/16/09 3:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“The Next Generation” is here.
If you visited the IU Athletics home page sometime this week, you would
have seen an ad for Hoosier Hysteria. At the bottom of the page, there
was a countdown marking the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the
start of the event.
And if you waited until the very end, a picture of the men’s basketball
team in a huddle would have popped up with the tag “The Next
Generation.”
After last season’s 6-25 record and last-place finish in the Big Ten,
this year’s Hoosiers are looking for a fresh start with the help of new
players.
Fans will see that at 8:30 p.m. today during Hoosier Hysteria, the annual start of the men’s basketball season.
Bloomington native and freshman guard Jordan Hulls – like a few of his teammates – is excited to have a hometown crowd with him.
“A lot of friends and family will be there for me, since I’m from
here,” Hulls said. “It’ll be a big moment for me and my family and the
rest of the guys as well because it’s the start of a new season.”
Fans will also see the IU volleyball team, which begins the evening
with a match against Iowa at 5:30 p.m. The men’s basketball team will
sign autographs at 6:30, before the women’s team scrimmages at 7:45
p.m. Admission is free, but IU Athletics is encouraging people to bring
one canned food item for the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.
Also, people are encouraged to wear pink for the volleyball game.
For junior guard Jeremiah Rivers, Hoosier Hysteria will be his second.
But unlike last year, his basketball season will continue after Friday.
“Hoosier Hysteria won’t be different,” Rivers said. “Last year, the
team really made me feel like I was playing. Until that first game hit,
then I realized ‘man, I’m really not playing.’”
IU coach Tom Crean said while there is plenty of excitement for the
scrimmage, he is still waiting for all the fans to return who supported
the team before 2008’s losing season.
“We’re not all the way back yet,” Crean said. “We don’t have all those
student tickets sold. We don’t have it full throttle packed yet,” he
said. “It’s got to be at a fever pitch.”
(10/08/09 4:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>INDIANAPOLIS – A sign at Wednesday’s Game Four of the WNBA finals said, “We’re not going back to Arizona.” If the Indiana Fever want another chance at winning, the team will have to. The Fever have another chance to win at Phoenix on Friday, after losing 90-77 to the Mercury in Indianapolis. Fever fans came in droves Wednesday, each point or rebound sparking cheers that could have probably reached Lucas Oil Stadium.Some fans were dressed in Pacers or Colts gear, but most were in yellow or red T-shirts. Fans with noisemakers, plastic clappers and handmade signs hollered for the 11 players on the home team’s roster. A sign meant to spell out the acronym ESPN said “Fever Spank Phoenix Now.”Ten-year-old Tyra Edwards, with a face-painted Fever logo, used washable markers and yellow construction paper to make a “Got the Fever? I do! Burn fever burn!” sign. Nida Tansinsin came to support not just the team, but her former teammate and current Fever player Katie Douglas.She and 13 friends and relatives wore handmade T-shirts that said “KT” on the front with the Fever logo and “23 Douglas” on the back. Tansinsin and Douglas played together at Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis. “She took my starting spot in my high school from the moment she stepped in the gym,” Tansinsin said. Wednesday’s game was a sell-out, with 18,165 fans in attendance. “I’ve been coming to Fever games more since she started and to see the amount of people here is phenomenal,” she said. Wearing a T-shirt that read “Our time is now,” teacher Deborah Kerr-Brenner drove with her husband from Cincinnati to watch the possible championship game. Like many of the fans, Kerr-Brenner was happy to see Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird support the team by attending the game. The large crowd showed that a WNBA team that wins can attract fans. “It’s major,” Kerr-Brenner said. “It’s major, and it’s fun.” Tansinsin said the turnout proved a good women’s team will sell. “This is definitely the biggest crowd I’ve seen,” Tansinsin said. “Whether it’s minor, these girls are big-time players.” Indianapolis resident Barbara Page came with a friend and sat behind a hand-made sign. She said that Indianapolis isn’t solely a Colts or Pacers community. “We’ve got Fever mania,” Page said. “We support whoever, 100 percent.”Fever forward Ebony Hoffman said the team was grateful for Wednesday’s turnout. “They’ve rallied behind us to a point when we couldn’t imagine seeing 18,000 fans in Conseco Fieldhouse, especially in a WNBA game,” she said. “There’s so much talk about us that you know that we’ve got people coming and showing their support and buying tickets. Those weren’t free tickets, those were bought tickets.” Despite a possible loss Friday, in Phoenix, where the final game of the series will take place, Tansinsin said this season won’t have been for nothing. “I still think they kind of represented what Hoosier basketball is about,” she said, “and how much we can build up the WNBA here.”
(09/24/09 4:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The cheers began before he walked onto the stage. The clapping and hollering continued as IU coach Tom Crean, clad in stone-washed jeans and an IU zip-up, entered the IU Auditorium on Wednesday. As the pep band played the alma mater and the IU logo flashed on the gold curtains, Crean walked across the podium, clapping with them. And while the audience only comprised one-third of the room, Crean had their attention. His voice boomed, a combination of enthusiasm and audio projection. The attendance of 980 was a jump from last year’s 800 who showed up for Crean’s inaugural year. He began his speech discussing last season. He didn’t dance around last year’s 6-25 record, saying how hard the situation is. “What we inherited a year ago, I don’t think anyone could put in context what that was,” Crean said. “(Athletics Director) Fred Glass said, ‘You’re dealing with the equivalent of a death penalty in basketball.’” But Crean was upbeat. He turned around and pointed out the back of his zip-up, adorned with the five national championship banners. From alumni to students – including the famous gorilla – he addressed them all. During the question-and-answer portion, students mostly heaped praise for Crean. But there was the inevitable question of a student section.Crean acknowledged how important the fan support has been, especially since students make up more than twice the audience in Assembly Hall as students do in other Big Ten schools. Aside from basketball questions, Crean offered advice to the students. He talked about going to junior college before attending Central Michigan, about taking 20 credit hours while working two jobs and about moving away from home. “You have got to find a way to separate yourself,” he said. “Because in this world now you’re supposed to compete until that bell sounds.” IU fan Ted Harvey, now in his 31st year of celebrating Hoosier basketball, said it was tough to watch the team struggle last year. But he remained supportive of Crean. “The team played hard, and that’s because of Coach,” he said. With Hoosier Hysteria more than three weeks away and the first exhibition game six weeks away, Crean’s enthusiasm is early. “One of the greatest stories to ever hit sports,” he said, “is when we get the comeback of Indiana basketball.”
(09/17/09 4:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>NCAA president and former IU president Myles Brand died Wednesday. Brand, 67, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died in his home in Indianapolis.Brand announced in January he had the disease and acknowledged that his prognosis was “not good.” He continued to run the NCAA. Brand appeared at the Final Four in March in Detroit and spoke at this year’s NCAA Convention.Brand became NCAA president in 2003, the first former college president with that title. IU women’s tennis coach Lin Loring said Brand’s resume gave the NCAA more credibility among other college presidents. “I think college presidents have always been a little leery of college athletics and the NCAA,” Loring said. “When one of their own became president, I think it really helped as far as the institution of the NCAA.” He joined IU as its 16th president in 1994. Brand will be remembered for creating the School of Informatics. Board of Trustees member Patrick Shoulders said Brand’s influence can still be seen in the area of information technology. On Sept. 10 the University announced a $10.1 million grant that would develop a program used to run supercomputers. “You can trace that right back to Myles Brand’s leadership,” Shoulders said. Brand was in charge when the University received a gift to one of its most prestigious schools. Ed Kelley donated $23 million to IU in 1997 for the Kelley School of Business.IU men’s soccer coach Mike Freitag, an assistant coach during Brand’s reign as president, said Brand was always dedicated to improving IU’s academics. Even though Brand was president of the NCAA, Freitag said he was also respected by people outside athletics. “I think he’s a man who had a vision about what the University was about – about academics,” Freitag said. “He knew athletics was important to IU. He tried to make the commitment to both.”Brand also began the post of vice president for diversity, now known as the vice president for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs. “Myles Brand was an extraordinary visionary who understood better than any higher education leader I know the confluence between excellence and diversity,” said Charlie Nelms, the first IU vice president for diversity and current chancellor at North Carolina Central University, in a press release.Brand received national media attention in 2000 when he fired former IU men’s basketball coach Bob Knight.Students protested Knight’s firing and burned representations of Brand at Bryan House, the president’s home. But others saluted his commitment to protecting players.“He was a gentleman who stood up to his word,” Freitag said.Shoulders said Brand will be remembered more for his academic initiatives than for his decision to fire Knight.“His contributions to IU will transcend that,” Shoulders said. Mike Davis, men’s basketball coach for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, replaced Knight in 2000. He resigned from the post in 2006.“I was very sad to hear about the passing of Myles Brand,” Davis said. “He was a great man.” Brand is survived by his wife, Peg, and his son, Josh. “We’re saddened by his passing,” Freitag said, “but we’re fortunate to have him for the years we did.”
(09/10/09 4:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Woodburn Hall was evacuated Wednesday afternoon after a motor belt malfunctioned in the basement.Staff members reported an odor at about 4 p.m. and police officers and firefighters were called to investigate. Firefighters pulled an alarm and evacuated the building. At 4:48 p.m. IU Police Department Sgt. Don Schmul blew the whistle to signal it was safe for students, faculty and staff to return to the building.IUPD Lt. Tom Lee said a motor belt in one of the air handlers in the basement burned up. Lee said the accident was not hazardous and no injuries were reported.Five police officers and eight to 10 firefighters conducted a room-by-room search, patrolman C.J. Werner said. Officers, firefighters and IU officials examined the building for the cause of the smell, Werner said. As the smell spread through all floors of Woodburn, computer technician Steve Flinn said he tried to determine the source of the smell before he and others called the police and fire departments.Dan Knudsen and Barbara Breitung, who work in the international studies department in Woodburn Hall, both said they smelled “burning plastic” on the third floor 15 minutes before the building was evacuated.
(09/02/09 3:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Glass cases stand in the north entrance of Assembly Hall. One of the shelves holds seven championships from the IU men’s soccer team. A ramp on the left side leads to the soccer offices, where former IU forward Aleksey Korol is making photocopies in late April, three months after returning to IU. But, if he needs a reminder, two of the championships he won are only a few yards away. Korol, a former Big Ten Player of the Year, returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach in February, less than 10 years after winning his second NCAA championship.Even as a professional athlete, Korol knew he would return to IU as a coach. “I always thought Indiana would be the perfect situation for me,” he said. Originally from the Ukraine, Korol came to IU after four years of high school in upstate New York.At IU, he became one of the most efficient players of the 1990s. Korol was the first player in a decade to net 50 points. “Soccer America” named him to its All-Decade team for the ’90s. After playing professionally in the MLS, United Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League, Korol took a job coaching at the University of Illinois-Chicago. He replaced former teammate and assistant coach Phil Presser, who had gotten a job at IU and recommended the assistant coaching job at UIC to Korol. When assistant coach Todd Yeagley left in December to become the head coach at Wisconsin, Korol came home. His return is well-timed. In the past three seasons, IU has struggled offensively. From 2006 to 2008, the Hoosiers have broken the record for least goals scored in a season.“Aleksey was brought in to increase offense,” Presser said.After his decade-long hiatus, he will become part of another IU soccer season that begins Sept. 4 against St. John’s, who defeated the Hoosiers in the NCAA tournament in 2008. IU coach Mike Freitag, who was an assistant coach when Korol was a player, said Korol was one of the first people mentioned as a replacement. “Aleksey fit in perfectly,” Freitag said. “I think he fit the void we had – the need we had.” Presser and Freitag both said Korol’s candor is helping the players.“Sometimes coaches want to sugarcoat the truth,” Freitag said. “Aleksey tells it like it is.” Korol also has the pedigree and credibility he earned while playing for IU legend Jerry Yeagley. “He’s always got that over their head,” Freitag said. “If he tells them something, it’s ‘I’ve won a ring, have you?’ That’s part of the whole reason I brought him back.”It took Korol a few years to let go of his professional dreams. Now, he is ready to lead a group of young players trying to bring an eighth championship to IU.“I’m trying to give the guys much more productive information, instead of competing with them every day on the field,” Korol said.Because he is still close to them in age – almost 20 years younger than Freitag – Korol is more like a big brother to the team.“I don’t feel old,” he said. “I can still play and jump in a lot of activities.”The players and coaches agree Korol’s energy lifts the staff.“Everyone seems lighter, happier,” Presser said. “He just brings a cheer that keeps you going every day.”But he is still a competitor at heart. Korol said he was taught that nothing was ever good enough, which carries into his coaching.“If he’s not on your team, he won’t talk to you,” Presser said. “That’s how competitive he is.”In his six months back at IU, Korol has brought a fresh view to the coaching staff. Presser credits Korol for Alec Purdie’s emergence. The redshirt junior didn’t play much until the spring season, when Korol recognized the forward’s talents.Purdie said he’s enjoyed having a coach just for the offense.“When he’s around, we’re nothing but sponges,” Purdie said. “We’re just soaking everything he has to say.”
(08/25/09 12:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Before the Hoosiers take the court, another team will have its chance at Assembly Hall. The Indiana Pacers will play a pre-season game Oct. 23 in Bloomington. The team will take on the San Antonio Spurs in its first game at the Hall since the early 1980s, according to the IU Athletics Department. It is the Pacers’ fifth exhibition game at Assembly Hall. The game will be the Pacers’ seventh and last pre-season game before their regular season begins Oct. 28 in Atlanta.Athletics Director Fred Glass said he wants the Pacers’ appearance to create excitement on campus. Details about any possible Pacers events on campus will be released at a later date. Glass also said he hopes the game will remind fans that IU basketball is around the corner. The game will be a week after Hoosier Hysteria and less than two weeks before IU’s first exhibition game against Grace College on Nov. 4. IU Assistant Athletics Director for Media Relations J.D. Campbell said ticket information will be released sometime this week. IU students might receive discounted tickets for the game. “It will be significantly lower than attending an NBA game in any NBA facility,” Campbell said. Pacers Sports & Entertainment’s Chief Operating Officer Rick Fuson first contacted Glass about setting up the game.“As part of the great basketball heritage here in the state of Indiana, we are excited to play a game in Bloomington,” Fuson said in a statement.Glass said Pacers and IU basketball season-ticket subscribers should get preference before tickets go on sale to the public. “We want to make this as accessible as possible,” Glass said. “Our goal isn’t to make a lot of money.”
(07/22/09 10:58pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>MEMPHIS – It’s rare that Memphis lawmakers make the news for something good. Usually, it’s for an indictment or a sting operation with the FBI. But now, Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen is asking to meet with NBA officials to discuss the 19-or-older age requirement the league compels players to follow. Cohen points out that the players talented enough to go to the NBA usually only stay their freshman year before bolting for the draft.While NBA Commissioner David Stern would be interested in extending the age requirement to 20, Cohen wants the league to reconsider the rule, which expires in 2011. The rule doesn’t just affect NBA teams looking to get a lottery pick. It also affects coaches and recruiting. Do they go after players like Memphis’ Derrick Rose or IU’s Eric Gordon – those good enough to skip college basketball – or do they recruit players who will help the team for three or four years? How do they choose between talent and longevity? They can’t. In the case of Memphis and IU (and USC and UNC and any other basketball-crazy school) they choose the one-and-done player, the one who will bring them preseason rankings and sold-out stadiums and spikes in merchandise sales. How can they resist? The coaches recruit the players for marketing and a chance to win. The players go because they have to. Cohen’s right. The NBA’s rule restricts the player’s right to choose where he wants to play. There’s no rule enforcing me to go straight from high school to whichever assortment of odd jobs I can find. Why should talented players be forced to sit through finite math because a 66-year-old law-school grad decided that 18-year-olds are not ready for the 82-game NBA season? Maybe Stern will listen to Cohen, a 60-year-old law-school grad. The NCAA would benefit if the NBA rescinded its rule. The college game would become more focused on the strength of teams than that of individual players. Coaches would not have to worry about their star players only using college as a pit stop before the June draft.When the rule was enacted, Stern wanted to make sure players coming to the league were ready to handle its rigors. But he didn’t consider that all those standout high school seniors would become freshmen who would change college basketball.Before the age requirement expires in 2011, Stern and other league officials need to figure out what’s better not only for the NBA, but also for the NCAA.
(07/19/09 11:00pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>MEMPHIS – Sports are for the young. But on Sunday, 59-year-old Tom Watson proved that even the soon-to-be-eligible-for-Social Security crowd can compete for championships. Watson had the chance to become the oldest Major winner but lost to Stewart Cink in a four-round playoff at the Open Championship at Turnberry. Watson missed his chance with a bogey on 18. He finished six shots behind Cink. The win would have been Watson’s sixth Open Championship and ninth Major. It also would have tied him for seventh in all-time Majors. Despite the loss, Watson showed how golf is unique from other sports, where age ultimately forces players to retire. He proved – despite his playoff collapse – that no player, especially a former great like Watson, can be written off. His second-place finish is an inspiration to other baby boomers about to retire. Last year Watson missed the cut at Royal Birkdale. In 2006 – he skipped the 2007 tournament – he tied for 48th. His last Open win was 26 years ago, when Cink was 10 years old. One storyline that dominated Watson’s four-day travel back in time was his 1977 win at Turnberry, where he defeated Jack Nicklaus. Cink was only four years old. But the familiar location brought a different result for Watson. College basketball is dominated by underage recruits. The average NFL player only competes for three seasons. Thirty-somethings are old farts. Especially in college, we’re constantly surrounded by our peers. Anyone older is usually a professor, administrator or graduate student. Age is noticeable. Sports are the same. They are more about drafts, breakout stars and prospects. They are about upside, potential and future goals. That’s why it’s so impressive and captivating when older athletes are successful in a young man’s world. Watson won’t be alone as he continues his golf career. He has other famous, successful and older athletes to admire.John Elway was 38 years old when his Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl 10 years ago. Dara Torres was 41 during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in which she won three silver medals. Jamie Moyer, 45, is the starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, last year’s World Series winners.While fans are always looking for the next young star, it’s nice to see the older generation hanging on for another chance. My mother always says to me, “Life begins at 40.” This would make Watson barely 20 years old. Of course, it would also make Cink -4. Not bad for his first Major.
(07/15/09 11:29pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>MEMPHIS – Barely halfway through the Tour de France, and he’s still got it. Four years removed from his last victory, and he’s in third place. Eight seconds behind leader Rinaldo Nocentini, he still has a shot. Lance Armstrong retired from cycling in 2005, after his seventh Tour de France win. But, as athletes are prone to do, he came back. And his results so far show that maybe Armstrong left the sport too early. Like most athletes who return from retirement, Armstrong returned to cycling with the same goal: to win. He recently said this year’s race will probably not be the last he enters. With a third-place showing so far, it makes sense that Armstrong feels confident enough to compete in the future. Does anyone take retirement seriously anymore? One of the most famous retirees, Michael Jordan, left the game twice but returned the first time to capture three more championships. Last year, Brett Favre bawled as he announced he was leaving football, only to change teams and return as a New York Jet. When Armstrong retired, did people really think he would be gone? For athletes, their work is not something they want to abandon like a nine-to-five job. Even when athletes – especially successful ones – leave, their desire stays. The question remains, from both fans and critics: Does it count as a comeback if Armstrong doesn’t win? He has won seven Tour de France races, the most in history. But will his legacy – like that of Jordan’s or Favre’s – be tainted if he doesn’t leave Paris as the winner? Fans admired Jordan for leaving in 1998, having just won his sixth championship with the Chicago Bulls. But many were shocked when he came back in 2001 to play for the Washington Wizards. He was 38 years old and, at the time, an executive with the Wizards. He left two years later, having missed the playoffs both seasons. Jordan didn’t ruin his legacy. He is still remembered as the greatest player in NBA history. But it took a few years for people to forget about his two-year experiment and focus on his two three-peats.Even when Favre decides to retire for good, fans will eventually remember his accomplishments as a Packer. The question that remains for Armstrong is, will the public be satisfied with a third-place finish when it is used to a first? Will they remember his feats and forget anything below their expectations? Do people lower their standards for athletes the second time around? If anything, at least he’ll be in the company of a few other greats.
(07/12/09 11:49pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>MEMPHIS – Backstabbing hurts. And this week, even soccer superstar David Beckham was not immune to the “Mean Girls” treatment.Beckham’s current Los Angeles Galaxy teammate Landon Donovan called him “unprofessional” in an interview for an unofficial book about Beckham. Criticizing a teammate isn’t anything new. Shaquille O’Neal seems to do it every time he switches teams. Kobe Bryant also ripped current Lakers center Andrew Bynum a new one in a now-infamous YouTube video. U.S. soccer goalie Hope Solo also bashed a teammate when she was subbed out of a game.But to what degree does insulting a teammate help or hurt? Does it motivate them? Does it only reveal the accuser’s faults? Most importantly, does it ruin any chance of them working together?With middle school recreational basketball, high school mock trial and now the Indiana Daily Student, I’ve had to work with people I respect and people I don’t. During every extracurricular activity in which I’ve been involved, I’ve had to work with close friends. But I’ve also had to work with people I disliked.I’ve seen what happens when you have to try to forget personal problems and focus on professional pursuits. Those problems are hard to ignore – especially when they’re being fueled on a constant basis.Having experienced that personally, I would recommend to Galaxy management that they separate Donovan and Beckham.I understand the two say they can play without those comments affecting the team. I once said that too. And I meant it at the time. But sometimes, the other person can’t let those comments go. Sometimes you give up trying to form a manageable work relationship. And when you stop caring about your co-worker, other people will notice.When you stop respecting the other person, you have to sever ties. When they stop respecting you, you have to find someone else with whom to work. And when both of you hate each other, it’s up to your superior to cut the cord.I know this isn’t the best time for the Galaxy to remove Donovan or Beckham. Right now they have two feuding stars trying to lift their fifth-place conference team to championship levels.But how much can they accomplish like this? Beckham’s retaliation to Donovan’s comments somehow reminds me of a catfight between two girls going through puberty.“You’re unprofessional.”“No, you’re unprofessional.”“No, you.” Unless they are both ready to have an open-minded talk about their relationship and are ready to dismiss Donovan’s comments, they won’t be able to move on. They also can’t forget that any comments made will always find their way to the public.Next time, Donovan, keep it in the slam book.
(07/08/09 11:56pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>MEMPHIS – Last night, I was flipping through the channels trying to find something to watch. I was going to settle for some late-night “Golden Girls” until I saw NBA TV was replaying the NBA playoffs. Specifically, the Lakers-Rockets series. I was intrigued. I didn’t get to watch most of the playoffs while I was in London, and I’d love to see how Kobe & Co. managed to eventually dismantle Houston on their way to the conference finals. But for some reason, I had the urge to flip the channel. My mom stopped me. Even though she had seen every Lakers game – including pre- and post-game commentary, highlights and interviews – she wanted to watch. I didn’t understand it. “What’s the point in watching if you already know the end result?” I asked her. “So you don’t have to worry about the end result,” she said. I thought about her comments. She and my dad both get very nervous and uptight – well, so do I – when they watch Lakers games. Sometimes I worry whether my dad will have a heart attack. When it gets really bad, they turn off the TV so they don’t have to watch a loss. But that’s what I love about sports. It’s what most people love about sports. You never know whether your team will demolish an opponent by 20 points or whether the star player goes out with an injury late into the second quarter. You never know what will happen in sports. That’s why it’s boring for me to watch a game when, even if I might not remember the final score or how many points Kobe had, I still know which team won. Where’s the fun, excitement and adrenaline there? How can you really appreciate a game when you know how it’s going to end? I noticed later that NBA TV was only showing the games the Lakers won, skipping over the defeats that made me and other fans question whether they would win or even make it to the finals. That also bothered me. I am a true fan. I will see my team through losses and wins, through games that make me scream and cry to games that make me jump so hard I hit my roommate (sorry, Katie). As painful as it is to watch my team suffer, without those losses, we wouldn’t be able to appreciate the wins. Without the largest comeback in playoff history by the Celtics in 2008, I wouldn’t be able to relish the Lakers’ 15th franchise win. Without them not making the playoffs in 2004, I wouldn’t be able to watch Andrew Bynum blossom into a possible young Shaq.And without those losses NBA TV is choosing not to show, I won’t be able to appreciate how much my team grew over the course of a series. You can’t filter sports. You can’t take away the steroids scandal in baseball or the “basketbrawl” from the Pacers. But you can appreciate the good moments, the next win, the rebuilding process. Or you can flip the channel.
(07/05/09 10:59pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>MEMPHIS – This is the match that never ends. It goes on and on my friends. Andy and Roger started playing, not knowing when it’d stop. And they’ll just keep on playing for a Grand Slam, just because. This is the match that never ends ... Seriously, did anyone think that match was going to end? I thought Rafael Nadal’s 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 victory was intense, but this bordered on painful. Roger Federer’s 15th major win put him past Pete Sampras, who was in attendance Sunday at Wimbledon. For the past eight weeks, I have been writing this column from my cramped flat in central London, only about an hour away from the All England Lawn & Tennis Club. But as of Saturday, I had come home. It’s ironic I returned to America the same day the country celebrated its independence from a country that I considered home for two months. And ironic that I was in England for all of Wimbledon, save for the last match. Now that I’m back, my daily sports news will be filled with MLB scandals, NBA trades and NASCAR. I won’t pick up a paper or go online to see news of rugby, cricket or football – wait, soccer, that is.I sat in my kitchen watching Wimbledon, an event that I had the opportunity to attend in one of my last weeks in London. I cannot imagine what the atmosphere is like in Centre Court, but I can imagine what the weather is like, how everyone is probably sweating through their polos and sundresses. I can’t imagine how those fans sat through a four-hour match, let alone how Federer and Roddick competed in it. But I already feel like I’m back. In London I watched Wimbledon from our lumpy red couches on BBC1, with no commercial interruptions. Here I watched on NBC with Geico and ING ads every few minutes, disrupting the coverage of Roddick and Federer’s epic five-set heartbreaker. It’s strange watching Wimbledon in the United States. This is England’s most prestigious sporting event, but it’s also one that Americans care a great deal about. Both ESPN.com and Yahoo Sports have Federer or Roddick as their main image, as do The Guardian and the BBC Web pages. Watching Federer win was painful, but it seemed almost inevitable. Just as Roddick couldn’t break serve against Federer, I couldn’t extend my trip. After getting his runner-up trophy, Roddick spoke with a sideline reporter who told him the game of tennis is “cruel, sometimes.” He responded, “No, I’m one of the lucky ones.” That’s how I felt. Though it was sad to leave London – my third home after Memphis and Bloomington – I was lucky enough to live in one of the greatest cities in the world for two months. And while Roddick can’t be sure of when he’ll return to the finals of Wimbledon, I have no idea when I – and my wallet – will be able to go back to London. But there are always other things to look forward to, other matches for Roddick. But next time, Andy, keep it short.