Gonzaga’s glass slipper no longer fits. Once an annual Cinderella story, the Zags have evolved into one of the top programs in the country. The northwest school that used to be regarded as the feel-good story of college basketball now has opponents worried sick about playing them. “There really is not anything that doesn’t concern us (about Gonzaga),” IU coach Tom Crean said in a Thursday teleconference. With a balanced scoring attack, talent at every position and “tremendous” chemistry, Crean said he thinks the Bulldogs have been one of the best teams in the nation for more than a decade. “I don’t think you’ll find any college basketball coach or player that has competed against them that wouldn’t refer to them as one of the best programs in the country,” Crean said. On Saturday, the Hoosiers (4-3) will try and create a feel-good story of their own when they face No. 5 Gonzaga at 1:30 p.m. in the Hartford Hall of Fame Classic in Indianapolis.
The IU men’s club volleyball team might not have the same record of dominance as the men’s soccer and men’s basketball programs, but its history ranks among the top of all IU sports. “Our alumni list is very long, and men’s volleyball is a club sport that goes back to the late ’70s, early ’80s,” said John McSorley, club president and senior. With history dating back four decades, the 2008-09 IU men’s club volleyball team is looking to carry on the tradition into the spring season.
For Tom Orr, hockey was part of growing up. As a small child on a farm in Ypsilanti, N.D., Orr watched his uncle play hockey, which was the spark that began his life in the sport. By the age of 3, he was playing in a youth league. He played other sports in high school, including baseball, football and tennis. Still, he always seemed to come back to hockey.
Last night, as with every other night the IU basketball team has played, we intrepid Indiana Daily Student folk teamed up with friends at HoosierNation.com, the Herald-Times and InsideTheHall.com to live blog/live chat the IU-Wake Forest basketball game with interested fans.
Hockey fans looking for an intense rivalry are sure to find one at the Frank Southern Ice Arena on Friday night. The IU club hockey team is looking to build off the success of its big win before Thanksgiving break when the team beat Grand Valley State in a high-scoring 7-5 match. This weekend, the Hoosiers will take on the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks, a team that has a lot of history with IU. Back during 2001-2002 season, current IU coach Tom Orr was a player on the Hoosier team that season when it faced Miami for the Great Midwest Hockey League championship. Orr scored the game-winning goal, handing the league trophy to the Hoosiers.
I was sitting in my media ethics class on Tuesday, though I wasn’t really all that awake. You can’t expect a column titled “Straight Bidness” to really embody media ethics, so I generally don’t give the most insightful input in the class. Rather than trying to figure out whether decisions are a means to an end or vice versa, (or something like that – I still don’t understand that lecture) I decided to daydream in hopes of coming up with a column idea. And then it hit me. I heard it, and it was like the angels were telling me to write this story. Someone in my class was speaking, and I heard it.
For the second straight year, NASCAR’s most popular driver won’t be taking the stage when the sport hands out the big checks and celebrates its 60th anniversary Friday night in New York City. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has been voted the most popular driver by fans each season since 2003, finished 12th in the final standings of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and per NASCAR rules, only the top 10 drivers are recognized at the Sprint Cup Awards Banquet. The banquet is held annually in the New York City at the Waldorf-Astoria to culminate NASCAR’s “Champions Week,” which sees its top drivers awarded at the banquet on television shows and other media outlets.
Even with all the warnings and premonitions of a stressful season, IU coach Tom Crean and the team’s exuberance at the start the season was contagious. But after their 83-58 thrashing at the hands of No. 15 Wake Forest, that exuberance turned to frustration. When asked how he felt his team handled playing in their first true road game, Crean responded, “I think 26 turnovers tell the story.” The 26 turnovers, along with the Demon Deacons’ 20 fast-break points compared to IU’s four, could be a result of the team’s lack of communication, Crean said. “Before we can learn to compete, we’ve got to learn to talk more to one another,” the coach added. “We’ve got to learn to listen better.”
WINSTON SALEM, N.C. – In a season of firsts, the Hoosiers set the wrong kind of milestone Wednesday. First road loss. For the third time in 10 days, the Hoosiers suffered a blowout loss, falling to No. 15 Wake Forest (7-0), 83-58, in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.
IU travels to Winston-Salem, N.C., Wednesday for the first road test of the season, taking on No. 15 Wake Forest in the annual Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The Hoosiers (4-2) will be facing a red-hot Demon Deacon squad coming into tonight’s contest at a perfect 6-0 and fresh off being crowned champions of the 76 Classic Tournament in California.
Thanksgiving week was very good to IU men’s soccer coach Mike Freitag and his team, as the Hoosiers notched two impressive home victories in the NCAA Tournament and received a commitment from one of the top high school soccer players in the nation.
Now the fun begins.
On Wednesday, the Hoosiers will face one of the best floor generals in the country. Without an All-American in the backcourt, IU plans to use a point guard by committee approach to run its offense. In search of size and depth, IU coach Tom Crean played freshman Malik Story at the point position for the first time Sunday. Story, a 6-foot-5, 222-pound freshman from Los Angeles, has primarily played frontcourt positions this season, splitting time with freshman Nick Williams at power forward. But Crean said the Hoosiers would take advantage of Story’s versatility, playing him at as many as four positions this season.
Junior Wendi Robinson (left), IU’s lone representative at cross country Nationals on Nov. 24 in Terre Haute, brought home an All-American honor after finishing 28th at the event. Consistently the women’s cross country team’s best runner this season, Robinson was an individual qualifier for Nationals courtesy of her fourth-place finish at the Great Lakes Regional Championships. Robinson posted a 20:34.1 time against 252 competitors over the six-kilometer course. “Wendi did a great job today. We had a goal of being in the top 40 and being an All-American, and she got that done,” IU coach Ron Helmer said in a statement.
At the time when most students are quieting down for the night, studying for a test or writing a paper, there is a select group whose favorite part of the day is just beginning at the IU Tennis Center. This group of late-night athletes makes up the IU club tennis team, a program that has been going strong for more than 20 years. Practicing until 11 p.m. three times a week, these students get their fill of tennis, but don’t be mistaken: They love each second of it. Club Vice President Neville Batiwalla said it’s the club’s love for the game that keeps the program on its feet and running.
Donovan McNabb is one tranquil human being. He displays the calmness of a loveable teddy bear in the face of adversity and criticism. And he’s had plenty of it. McNabb was greeted with a soothing chorus of boos the day he was drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia Eagles back in 1999, and all he did was show off that signature million-dollar smile of his. Even though he somewhat won over the Philly fans with his Pro Bowl quarterback play, the 32-year-old has yet to escape constant criticism. On the verge of winning a possible Super Bowl appearance, he endured criticism from his own teammate and the league’s biggest mouth, Terrell Owens.
