Rex Hudler

QUOTE (shipps @ Nov 13, 2010 -> 12:28 PM) Thanks guys. Does anyone know of any popular must have places to eat down there? Pancake Pantry for breakfast. Long lines on weekends and some country music stars have been known to stand in line waiting with everyone else. Great breakfast too. Definitely go downtown and bar hop on and around Broadway. Lots of places depending on your tastes. Let us know how the Opryland looks these days. It is a magnificent place and big enough to get lost in. I'm curious how it looks after all the flooding. Before, I believe there were 5 or 6 bars and 6 or 7 restaurants in the place? It's more than a mile end to end all indoors. Really cool place though and they decorate it big time for Christmas. Do you mind me asking what kind of rate you got?

Just completed my enrollment. Skipped dental this year. $5.55 a week is too much for crappy coverage. I'll pay the one cleaning a year and xrays myself. I pay $2.54/week for medical. $520/year into a pre-tax flexible spending account. $1,000 deductible on anything other than preventative care and xrays/lab tests etc. Company changed the plans in a big way this year. Vision is an extra $1.10/week. Long-term disability $4.83/week/

Evansville must remain standing!

QUOTE (chimpy2121 @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 04:08 PM) Question for the Wolverines and Illini on the board: How are Molk and Pocic looking? Molk is very good. He's the heart and soul of a greatly improved offensive line, one which actually has more than five players that can play. He's been banged up recently, but he's definitely a top level center in college.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 02:51 PM) I guess I see that, but I just don't think the Illini's recent performances command that much respect. I think the Minnesota loss would be much more of a reason to fire him than any lossess to NW or Fresno. Not making a bowl game again this year might be a reason to fire him, but then again it's Illinois football. Who else are you gonna get? With the athletes in place now, I think the future is looking up, I guess you might as well keep him. Chalk the Minnesota loss to the hangover effect from the tough loss at Michigan. Might even compare it to Va Tech's loss to James Madison after dropping a tough Monday night game against Boise. I expect Illinois to bounce back this week.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 09:52 AM) Thanks for the criticism, I'll make sure to put it in my notes on how to be a decent poster. I honestly dont give two s***s if you take me seriously when I say I am a fan of the program, I know I am and thats all that counts. I still think its funny that you are putting so much emphasis on this kid's GPA in High School now as another reason on why he's so awesome. Clearly thats enough on this subject and we'll let it all play out on the court moving forward. How is the fact that he is a good kid and the kind of kid the program needs so difficult for you to understand? And how is my stating that amongst 3 other reasons "so much emphasis"? You picked out what you want and missed the point of the post. Rock, you're an intelligent guy. If you go back and read my original post and can't grasp the concept I was relaying, then don't be a fan. Personally, I think you're smart enough to get it, so you either choose not to or didn't read it all and missed the point. It's not terribly complex.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 02:11 PM) But thats exactly what was said. And if you think that all of a sudden some of the best programs in the country are going to be shut out of Indiana you are very mistaken. Zeller is the #3 ranked prospect in Indiana regardless of where you personally think the development is for the other players. Zeller was easily the most heralded and came with the most hype. The benefit of getting Zeller for IU is as much symbolic as anything else. Yogi Ferrell has repeatedly stated he wants to play with Cody. The point is this... IU is no longer going to get run over in their own state. Will they still lose some? Absolutely! There is a ton of talent in Indiana, especially in the coming years. But since the Sampson days, IU has not been able to pull a single significant recruit from its own state. That is beginning to change. That's really all that is being said. Yet, somehow you decide to interpret my remarks about Cody being a good smart kid and the kind of kid IU needs after all of the idiots Sampson recruited, as me saying a high GPA is... whatever. That was a stupid comment and you know it. If you would have left that out of your reply, the rest of your post made halfway decent sense. But lead with that and no one will take your "I'm a fan of the program" crap seriously at all.

QUOTE (He_Gawn @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 10:17 AM) Punched a teammate, threatened to kill another teammate, and constant arguing with coaches and players during practice. That's it???

Is there a story behind Jelan Kendrick leaving Memphis? Seems strange to have a top player leave right at the beginning of the season.

QUOTE (SnB @ Nov 13, 2010 -> 06:51 PM) yeah, with a 1st and 6. I haven't been this hurt by a football game since the bears superbowl, blah. In no way am I trying to rub things in or be disingenuous but Illinois losing to Minnesota this week should not have been a surprise. There is no way there would not be some kind of hangover effect after the loss to Michigan last week. Whichever team lost that game was going to have a tough time bouncing back. Not only the 3 OT's but the pure emotional disappointment of losing a game like that. If Michigan had lost I would have fully expected them to lose to Purdue this week.

Rock several times you you have referred to "cream of the crop" but it was never mentioned in the context you are using. The original comment... "Indiana's upcoming recruiting classes are shaping up to be the cream of the Big 10" Personally, I interpret that to the recruiting classes in the next few years are shaping up to be at the top of the Big Ten. A lot of things can change in recruiting, but if you look at existing commitments and the upcoming expected pull for 2012, I think it is hard to make an argument against it. Zeller was a huge get for Indiana for many reasons including... 1. He's a great player that is likely to be a 4-year player. 2. He's the kind of player you want in your program. A great kid with a 3.99 gpa that AAU teammates love playing with. 3. The IN class of 2012 is loaded with top 100 players and IU could pull in as many as 5. 4. Lastly, and maybe more importantly, he is the first marquee name in the state that did not go elsewhere in quite awhile. It was big time important for Crean to get back in consistently with the state's best players. He won't get them all, but there can't be an open floodgate every year if IU expects to return to competing for Big Ten and potential National Championships again. Combine all four and Zeller was the biggest get for IU in MANY years. He doesn't have to be the greatest player to earn that label.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Nov 13, 2010 -> 02:38 PM) How did Wisconsin run up the score? Should they have kneeled the ball the entire game? And against Minnesota they went for 2 in a situation where they probably didnt need to, Im not sure thats running up the score. Not the entire game, just the entire 2nd half. The Minny deal wasn't running up the score, just tacky and stupid.

QUOTE (He_Gawn @ Nov 11, 2010 -> 12:39 PM) Zeller is a Hoosier. Look for IU to pull in the number one class in the country in 2012. Glad to be relevant again. It's been awhile. Too long....

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 10, 2010 -> 04:33 PM) Its crazy, I've seen on 3 seperate boards that the NCAA has been looking in to this for almost a year? Could that be accurate? Since this past August, I believe. That's what makes me so suspicious of all of this. MSU reported their claim to the SEC office. Auburn was notified by the SEC since they were recruiting him. The NCAA was notified by the SEC. Yet, none of this comes out until now, when he is a Heisman front-runner, MSU is improved but people are asking what if they had Cam Newton and Florida's Tebow replacement is struggling. It also happens that MSU is coached by Dan Mullen, a former Florida assistant. I'm not one to jump on conspiracy theories or stick my head in the sand and ignore them, but this is just nuts. The timing of all of it reeks of a smear campaign. Yet, it could have happened. If it did, its possible Newton didn't know about it (or maybe he did). I don't think I can recall anything that has caught fire like this. My question is, if Newton turned out to be an average QB and Auburn was 6-3 right now, would we be discussing any of it? I highly doubt it.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 10, 2010 -> 11:29 AM) Theres a report out of Dallas that Newton is about to be suspended by the NCAA. The NCAA doesn't suspend athletes, it rules them ineligible. The school would have to suspend him if they felt there was enough that they needed to do so to protect themselves. Vegas took the game off the books. A few hours later, Auburn states there is no suspension and Newton will play. There is crap flying at a pace I don't remember seeing.

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Nov 10, 2010 -> 08:03 AM) Another piece on Cam Newton. http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=13454296 There isn't much new news there. The story starts by saying ESPN says...... and another.... FBI To Interview John Bond Nov.09, 2010 in Uncategorized Various sources have reported that agents from the FBI have asked to interview John Bond concerning his recent allegations and denials. Bond’s attorney confirmed the FBI inquiry, while implying his client was misstated in the recent articles and does not have first hand knowledge of any wrongdoing, only hearsay through third and fourth parties. The agent who contacted Bond told him (according to TMZ.com), “We are interested in whether young men are being shopped to colleges.” I'm not going to say that I don't believe something may have happened. I just tend to not to crucify someone until more facts are known. There are too many questions about why this is all coming out now and who is behind leaking all of this information for me to believe a bunch of he said/she said at face value.

I guess it just depends on who you want to believe.... from auburnsports.com Two independent sources with detailed knowledge of the UF academic discipline system during the period in question have disputed the Evans story. According to the sources, no allegations of academic impropriety regarding Cam Newton were sent to the Florida Student Conduct Committee at any time either during or after Newton's time at UF. "Nothing was reported, officially or unofficially" says one source, who did not wish to be identified. "The formal process is for allegations to go through the Student Conduct Committee. If [any allegations against Newton] didn't follow that process, then they didn't follow the rules." Newton enrolled at Florida in the spring of 2007 and transferred to Blinn College in January of 2009. Per the source, no charges against Newton were ever brought to the Student Conduct Committee during that time. The source also indicated that no Florida football players have ever been officially reported to the UF Student Conduct Committee for academic violations during Urban Meyer's tenure. According to the source, student arrests are subject to additional discipline via the Student Conduct Committee, but it is not uncommon for students in such situations "to cut a deal with the Dean of Students' office before coming to the Committee." At the time of Newton's enrollment at UF, if attempts to informally settle academic disputes failed, academic violations issues were referred from the Dean of Students office to the Student Conduct Committee, where a hearing chaired by a member of the UF Honor Board would be conducted. No charges against Newton, to the first source's knowledge, were ever sent to the UF Student Conduct Committee. A second, independently verified source, also with detailed knowledge of the Florida student disciplinary system, took issue with Evans' assertion that Newton, had he actually been charged with academic misconduct, would have been in danger of expulsion. "I worked ten or twelve cases," the second source says, "and I never saw anyone get expelled." The second source, who also declined to be identified, also says no charges regarding Newton were ever brought to the Student Conduct Committee, noting, "If Cameron Newton would have come before the committee, we would have known about it." The second source also expressed indignation over the possible leak of student information to the media. "That is completely confidential. We're not allowed to say anything to anyone. "The person that was in charge of [students'] academic records is a very ethical person. Someone like him would never have released anything."

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 9, 2010 -> 10:27 PM) http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5786315 So Oklahoma finds nothing abnormal. MSU reports this months ago, the NCAA got it in August, yet ESPN digs all this up this quickly? My questions are why now? Who is leaking the information? What do they have to gain? Is it sour grapes since Auburn is undefeated and he is a Heisman candidate? Why did this story break in August or September? Would it have ever broke if Newton was an average QB? It could be true, but forgive me for questioning the motives of the sources. Again, I could care less about the academic stuff at Florida. I find it appaling that private information is revealed. He's eligible per the NCAA at Auburn. Why do I care about a test or paper he supposedly cheated on? I find it interesting that the Fox Sports "writer" agreed to come on to the morning show here in Birmingham today, yet bailed at the last minute texting the producer that he was "hospitalized". Right now all you have are rumors and he said/she said. All of it seems to come from Miss State, yet Oklahoma says nothing was abnormal at all? Do you not think other schools would have reported it if they were told it would cost money? Too many questions not answered. Even if it is all true, I'll stick by my position at this time. It sounds to me like a helluva lot of sour grapes.

QUOTE (Brian @ Nov 9, 2010 -> 10:26 PM) Crazy hands. Is it wrong for me to say that Grinder is the only one of the brothers that looks "normal"? Not wrong. Ready for what's next?

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Nov 9, 2010 -> 10:00 PM) Rex, I had a long post typed out. But I'll keep it short. IF these allegations are found to be true, can you at least agree that the kid is a piece of crap? I do agree that allegations that haven't been backed up with facts yet get passed around rampantly in the media these days, especially in SEC football circles. Which allegations? The ones that came out today about him turning in a paper he got off the internet and putting his name on another student's paper? Not one iota. First of all, it smells. How do you put your name on another student's work and that student not know it? And the other student's name wasn't on it? The story is fishy. But say it is true. I'm not condoning cheating, but I can think of a million things worse than cheating on a term paper. Hell, LaMichel James was suspened for what? Domestic abuse with his girlfriend? Which is worse? That's a no brainer if you ask me. Kids do stupid things. Kids make mistakes. I know nothing about Cam Newton and his background. Maybe he is an ass (though no one locally has given that indication even before the season started)? Maybe he rebelled because he's a preacher's kid? Maybe he was/is a thug? Or maybe he just did some stupid things, thought way too much of himself and has had to learn a lesson. Going from Florida to Blinn JC has to be a wake up call, does it not? If you're talking about the allegations about the money, no one has any proof at all the kid even knew. If he did, then my opinion would certainly change. But revealing petty things from his past doesn't make me assume the former is true. And for a journalist to openly campaign for other Heisman voters to not vote for the kid is tacky at the least.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 9, 2010 -> 06:27 PM) I dont care. I was just hypothesizing on what they are going to discover next on the kid, he's already shown a track record of cheating and negative behavior, its just a matter of time until something is found at Auburn. I find it sad that adults feel it necessary to dig into every nook and cranny to find info to smear a college kid. My God, did you never do anything in college that would be unbelievably embrassaing if made public? I sure did and would be willing to say that at least 75% of college kids The thing I don't get is this was turned in by Missippi State when it happened. Yet, MSU continued to recruit him. The SEC know about it and relayed the info to the NCAA in August, I believe. You think if he stuck with Miss. St they would be telling everyone about this now? Hell no! Why now? What purpose does it serve when it is still pretty much a rumor and there has been no connection to his Auburn recruitment. You say this happened at MSU and he went to Auburn so it MUST have happened there too? That would fly in a court of law, wouldn't it? There is next to zero ethics and credibility in journalism today. It used to be that a real journalist/publication wouldn't print allegations without proof. My how the world has changed.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Nov 9, 2010 -> 10:53 AM) - 12 traffic citations - 1 felony - caught cheating (possibly numerous times) - asked for large sum of money to go to Miss St. (and likely received that large sum form Auburn) Yes, what else will be discovered? I love how the person(s) revealing this stuff about Cam have turned into the "villain" here. Amazing spin... The guy is a villain because he is revealing information protected by federal privacy laws for no reason. If someone working at Florida leaked that info, they would be fired immediately. Whether he plagiarized a paper or whatver, who the hell cares? He's eligible to play at Auburn and that would have no effect on it. What is the purpose of smearing the kid? No one has proven anything about him asking for money. Either way, the academic issues at a former school have zero effect on that. Publishing federally protected information reeks of a smear campaign and bush league journalism. That's why the messenger is being blamed. I guess it doesn't matter that a former colleague at the NY Times had the info first and the NYT would not allow it to be published? It's total BS. Let's also keep in mind the felony charges were dropped and they were 2-3 years ago. He went to JC and was admitted to Auburn, cleared by the NCAA to do so. None of that matters. And traffic citations? You have to be freakin kidding me!!! This is exactly why I will never become a fan of an SEC team. I live in the middle of it all, but it is completely ridiculous. Coaches are constantly whining, turning each other in for cheating while finding ways to "stretch" the rules themselves. The whole things is so hypocritical its ridiculous. If you can't win games, tear down the other guy is the league motto apparently. Now if you can find me real evidence that Newton was invloved in these strangely timed allegations or is cheating at Auburn now, I'll be interested. Until then, posting about traffic citations and this BS from FOXSports today is simply ridiculous and sad.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 11:17 PM) Who is blaming Utah? Utah came to play that night and Alabama didnt want to be there so they got embarrassed and deservedly so. And it's not a SEC thing. It's a college thing and we see it all the time since we're dealing with 18-22 year olds. One week a team will win or lose a big game and then they sleep walk through their next game since they are playing a bottom feeder. Remember last year's Fiesta Bowl with TCU/Boise? Everyone was pissed about those two being matched up against each other. You cant tell me they wanted to be at that game playing each other instead of playing a BCS team. And we as fans get stuck watching a horrible game. The point is the inference was made that Alabama gets off the hook or Utah's win doesn't count enough because Bama didn't want to be there. I say that's horses***. It IS an SEC thing. SEC fans want to tell everyone how good they are but then make excuses when they lose. There is always some reason they lost other than they just flat out got beat.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 05:33 PM) Garbage based on what? Alabama took a 4th quarter lead against the eventual national champs in the SEC title game before losing. Utah jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of that Sugar Bowl. You really think Alabama was excited to be there that night? The only thing Alabama was looking forward to in the weeks before the bowl game was the free gifts they were going to get. You can't blame Utah for Bama having its head up its ass. If a team can't get their heads straight a month after their last game then they should just go to the GMAC Bowl and save everyone the trouble. Alabama gave a horses*** effort and its their own damned fault. Utah came out and hit them in the mouth and Bama folded. I hear that crap all the time. The SEC beats up on each other all year and they just aren't in it when they go to bowl games and play lesser competition, so they lose some. That's the biggest load of crap. Man up and play the damned game. If not, save us the time and skip the bowl game. Either way, no excuses. You win or lose on the field! /off soapbox

I watched late last night/this morning for about 2 hours. I enjoyed watching it, but couldn't have made a day of it. The stamina and mental focus you have to have to last in a tournament like this amazing. I believe they played for 14-15 hours yesterday to get to the final two. I only saw one player eliminated so there wasn't a ton of action or big swings. Doubt I'll see too much of what I saw on TV.