Rowand44

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 09:45 AM) The valley needs a final four team, without that its just a nice story every year. Not exactly the easiest thing to when the best seed you get is a 7. It'll happen eventually but it's going to be harder for the Valley because of the seeding issues.

QUOTE(MarlinFan84 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 09:37 AM) Except no one says that. Hell, this year, IU's win over SIU is their signature victory on their resume. No one says it but are Valley games shown at the beginning of sportscenter? If we're lucky we get the last 30 seconds of college gameday. Look, me, you and others believe that the Valley teams can play with anyone and we've proven that we can, problem is from a national point of view, we're still a "mid major." That's why the conference needs to keep winning and winning and maybe eventually we'll shred that label and get some major programs to start playing our teams in 1-1's. Right now, this league has the hardest time in the world scheduling opponents because major conference teams will just not play us at home for a variety of reasons.

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 10:42 PM) Chuck Garfind from CSN just interviewed Buerhle from Soxfest and they talked and Buerhle said right now he wants to come back to the Sox, and he thinks theres a 100% chance he'll be back. However he said a deal would have to be done before the season or after the season if a deal were to get done. Says his heart and soul is for the White Sox and doesn't want to go anywhere else. Buerhle pretty much is saying all the right things as usual... hopefully KW can get something done soon. Buerhle means a lot to this organization and fan base.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 09:18 PM) Stanford over UCLA That was one of the stranger games I've seen in a while.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 06:36 PM) The point is, mid-major schools need to get rid of the little guy paranoia that thinks the term is always negative. Alright, I guess I'll continue this. It's not about paranoia, it's the fact that none of the top "mid majors" can get anyone to play them on their home court. Why would a major conference team want to play a "mid major" on their homecourt? That's why like greasy said it's looked at as non beneficial for a team like IU to play in Carbondale. Numbers wise, rpi wise, quality win wise there is great benefit to playing that game but nationally is it going to be perceived as a great W if IU came in here and won? Probably not. That's why so many SIU fans have a problem with that label, it has nothing to do with paranoia, it has everything to do with scheduling games and getting national notoriety. QUOTE(He_Gawn @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 06:43 PM) I'm not sure why they would. I don't think that team would be nearly the same without Tatum. JT is great but he is no where near the whole team. We're still returning 3 starters including the most dominant big man in the league, we have 2 real good talents coming in/back from injury, and we return everyone who matters from the bench. 8 of our top 10 are still coming back. We'll also be a bigger team then we've been in a while which should help against teams like IU. The team will be fine next season.

Anywho, I'm going to drop the argument, no need to continue it. The point is, Rex...I'm blaming you if IU doesn't come here next season.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 05:58 PM) SIU is a mid-major, plain and simple. If you don't like the tem, that's your problem. But SIU doesn't have the budget nor the advantages the schools in the big conferences have. So whether they are a a top 20 team, a top 5 team or in 10th place in the Valley, they will be a mid-major. The term does not have anything to do with the quality of the team. Lastly, there is no way IU backs out of that game. There is no reason for them to. Says who Rex? There is no true definition of "mid major" as it's basically a made up term. Problem is that most people use the term by quality of the team. Best example being Gonzaga, as most people say that they shred their "mid major" label. If you're using the term by athletic budget, then fine but most people do use it by if you're capable of playing with top teams. Lastly, I hope you are right, but to say there is no shot of IU buying out that game is completely untrue.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 05:45 PM) Enough of this ludicrous talk about IU being afraid to go into SIU. They went into Kentucky this year, not to mention Duke and UConn. IU always plays a tough schedule, so to think they would weasel out of a game with a mid-major is a joke. The only game I know that IU ever backed out of was a scheduled game at Texas Tech right after Bobby Knight was named their Head Coach. That was more of a mutual agreement between the two schools, than IU backing out. Rex, don't be surprised if they "weasel" there way out of that game. First off, like Zach said, the contract wasn't made when Sampson was there, 2nd, the contract was only made because of football considerations and third, no major conference schools ever, ever, ever come to Carbondale. I hope I'm wrong but I'm expecting IU to buy it out. Thanks for the mid major label too, I guess when you're one of 15 teams to make the NCAA tournament the last 5 years, you're a mid major.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 05:14 PM) Hello again. Tiger wins his third straight, fifth overall Buick Invitational; it's also his seventh consecutive PGA Tour victory. Insane.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 04:34 PM) This isn't football, plus the team wants to watch cable TV at night. Ha, that's an acceptable excuse. Brian is talking about your championship team in 02 though that came into Carbondale and got beat.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 10:39 AM) Why would IU buy out of it? Cause no one ever wants to play in Carbondale.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 09:19 AM) The Salukis OOC home games next year are gonna be really tough if they draw Butler, but I really like that. If they get Butler in the bracketbuster, they already have Butler and Indiana coming to the Arena, Murray State is always in the mix, and possibly St Marys again. I hope Carlton Fay is as good as Salukitalk.net thinks he is. Hopefully IU doesn't buy out of that game. As for Fay, from everything I've read he is the real deal, I haven't seen him play though.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 09:07 AM) Is it already a given that the Salukis are getting an away game? Ya. They set the home/away teams before the season starts.

So the bracketbuster games are announced tomorrow, here's a list of the bajillion teams in this thing: http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/columns/060822.htm. Overall, this event is completely watered down but the top games will still be really good. The consensus is that we're going to get Butler which makes the most sense and is something I've been hoping for, so hopefully that's how it turns out. If we do indeed get them, I'll be making the trip to Indy which should be a lot of fun. Anybody have any matchups they'd like to see? A matchup I'd personally love to see is VCU-Winthrop.

It's going to be like having my heart ripped out when I see Mark in another uniform.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Jan 27, 2007 -> 08:56 PM) Not that it would likely matter, but it would only technically be his senior year. SHOULD he want/need to play another year, getting another year via a medical redshirt from last year (he only played in 5 games) would be a no-brainer. I think it would be best for DJ to stay another year, but it really depends on his wishes and how IU finishes. If he is having fun and enjoying playing for Coach Sampson and sees the potential benefit of staying then I could see it happening. If he is solely focused on the NBA, then he may go regardless of his projected draft status. I just hope he doesn't end up like many other college underclassmen who never play in the league. Without being privy to DJ's thoughts, I'd handicap his coming back at 60/40 right now. Good point, that completely slipped my mind. Anywho, there is finally a bit of seperation at the top of the Valley(not much), with UNI and Bradley both losing tonight, SIU and CU both have 1.5 game leads over 3rd place UNI and 2 game leads over Mo State and Bradley.

Air Force falls at BYU.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jan 27, 2007 -> 06:46 PM) What are people's thoughts on DJ and next year? He's averaging 14.2 points and 7.3 boards on the season (not blow away numbers I know). It's weird, I just averaged his conference totals, and they're right on par with that (14.9 and 7.4). It just seems like he's playing a lot better with each game, maybe it has something to do with the competition. He's not on the board for this year or next on NBA Draft sites; however, I know he really wants to go. I wonder if he'd go, regardless when he got pick, or if he'd like to be as close to the top as possible. I'm kind of nervous about it right now. I'd really love to see him play with EJ, as that could make for a scary tandem. I guess it basically comes down to how IU and he does come March. Does anyone have any reassuring or not so reassuring thoughts? I really don't think he's ready, not yet. Maybe it's the t-shirt he wears underneath his jersey but I believe there are still parts of his game he needs to work on. I will say though, at the beginning of the year I was completely unimpressed by him, as of late he's looked much, much better to me. Basketball wise, I think the smart move is to stay for his senior year.

QUOTE(MarlinFan84 @ Jan 27, 2007 -> 05:05 PM) Lost in all of this is a good home win by tSIU over Illinois State. Illinois State has improved alot over the course of the season and have brought in consecutive good recruiting classes. They took the lead into halftime. BTW, I dont think Bruce's job is in jeopardy. I hope not anyway, since he wants tSIU on the schedule, and I dont think that happens...and theres a slim chance of it anyway...without Bruce there. Not really any viable candidates either. But I DO know Tubby's job down at UK is in peril, although they will let him retire or resign before they fire him IMO. And the two leading candidates to replace him, according to some little birdies, are current UMass head coach Travis Ford and Valpairiso assistant(and Homers son) Bryce Drew. Falker is getting to the point where he is unstoppable 1 on 1. Every team we play now throws double teams at him, the only way to guard him is to foul him and hope he misses his ft's(which he does a lot). The game wasn't pretty as we came out completely flat(we seem to do this against lesser opponents) but Randal, Jamaal and TY carried the team today and pulled out a W. Us and Creighton still tied atop the league at 8-3. On a side note, after diving all over for a loose ball Tatum came out holding his leg and looked like he was in a lot of pain, I nearly had a heart attack. Turned out that it was only a cramp, thank god.

Wow Brian.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jan 26, 2007 -> 10:45 AM) That's funny, because no one likes you. Ohhhhh CLAP

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jan 26, 2007 -> 10:23 AM) I'm the opposite. I hate the Man Law commercials and love the press conference commercials. I like both.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 26, 2007 -> 10:25 AM) The signing doesn't worry me at all. I like it. I'm just fearful of Ozzie's handling of it. I'm pretty sure that's how everyone feels.

Rowand.

Horrible execution by both teams down the stretch. Pitiful.