Rex Hudler

I got my five this week. Still a LONG ways to go. Hang in there Jim. This just has you primed for a big week next week.

Based on the assumption that you want and need to keep this employee - which you inferred - here is a perfect situation for what I call a Handshake Meeting. It goes something like this. Find a time to talk to her privately. Whether in your office, off site (lunch?) or wherever you can not be interrupted. Tell her you appreciate the work she does and want her input. Ask her how she is feeling about the current situation. Ask her what her long term goals are. Ask her how she views her role within the company. Ask her if there is anything you (or the company in general) can do to make it a better workplace. Ask her what she likes about her job. Just stay general and try to get her to open up and talk honestly without challenging her. Make no mention of the email at this point. Do so in a casual way showing appreciation and that you value her. Hopefully you already have created an atmosphere where employees feel comfortable talking to you. Get as much information as you can without being confrontational and finish by reiterating the fact that you feel she is valuable to the organization. Be prepared if she asks for a raise on how you will handle that. I will say that many employees leave and they tell you it's because of the money. But most of the time, the money is not the bigger problem. Making employees feel valuable, communicating clearly with them both positively and negatively when corrections need to be made and a positive working atmosphere where they feel they can succeed are far more important. Do those things and the money becomes an issue much, much less often. Lastly, based on how the meeting goes should determine your next step. I would not divulge the email issue at that time. However if the meeting doesn't go in a direction you want it to, then you have a responsibility to the company to address the issue. I'd give it a few days before you do that unless circumstances dictate otherwise.

I weigh in about 5 1/2 hours. I've done very well the past week. Hoping for a loss of 5 lbs this week! I'm off to bed

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 7, 2008 -> 11:31 PM) Agreed, but he's still a top 10 lock pick, and the odds say more than likely, almost for sure, he will go pro. But I think he needs another year too, he's proven at times this year to be a bit mentally weak, not a good thing to be saddled with heading into the league. Keep in mind though he's playing with a hairline fracture in his left wrist that Indiana won't admit exists, so that is hidering his play (he may be a bit mentally weak, but not at all physically). I figured you for being smarter than this. IU CANNOT admit anything exists. Unless the Gordon's talk aobut the injury, you won't hear anything. Remember the law passed a few years ago to protect the privacy of student-athletes???? That's the 3rd or 4th time I have read someone make such a comment inferring IU was "hiding" the severity of the injury. All were from Illini fans, not sure what that says. But it would just be nice for some to be objective enough to know what is actually happening rather than taking every shot they can at IU. But if that makes you feel better.........

Btw, I know the chances are extremely slim it happens, but I will go on record saying that Eric Gordon..... needs another year of college. He's not ready to contribute in a big way in the NBA yet. Just one man's opinion.

It was ugly, but I'll take it. You guys fight about all the nonsense.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Feb 7, 2008 -> 07:14 PM) Gordon deserves everything booing and heckling wise that he gets, as does Sampson. I'm not wishing injury or anything out of line on Gordon, but if it's hell for them to listen to all night, that's deserved, and to think it isn't is ignorant. Agreed. If I were an Illini fan and in the stadium tonight, I'd be all over Gordon and Sampson. Of course I could do it in a reasonably classy way but that's me. Illini fans should try to make life hell on them and the rest of the team. I'm guessing tonight's comments will become much more personal that necessary, but if they are just words, so what. They're big boys, they'll get over it! GO HOOSIERS

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 7, 2008 -> 04:14 PM) Oh it'd be funny, but it won't happen. This team can't beat Penn State, Miami of Ohio, or Tennessee State at home, so they certainly won't beat IU. It'll be close for a while as always, but talent (IU) will prevail. I'm glad you are so confident. I certainly am not. Illinois plays tough defense and makes it hard for team's to play well on offense. IU has had a habit of getting discombobulated (sp?) on offense at times and with an extremely charged atmosphere tonight, I can certainly see it going the wrong way. I'd say my confidence level on tonight's game is 30%.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 11:16 PM) Youngblood...if anyone knows what that is Good movie. Another good one is Vision Quest with Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino.

A few Wolverine recruiting notes... McGuffie got a little cold feet at the altar, but this evening decided his first choice was the best one, not the sexy new girl that walked by. He signed with Big Blue. Michigan "stole" 4-star OL Ricky Barnum from Florida, 4-star athlete Michael Shaw from Penn St and 3-star WR Roy Roundtree from Purdue. All signed with the Wolverines today. As far as Pryor goes, I can see where his indecision is coming from. I believe all of his options are good ones for different reasons. Mich - Offense fits, chance to play right away, solid relationship with RR, academics, Big House, tradition, blah blah blah OSU - Program on top, chance to develop at a slower pace, which may or may not be better for him long term, relationships with incoming recruits, tradition, blah blah blah Penn St - lure of staying "home" and playing for State U, respect for Joe Pa and the program, opportunity to play, dad thinks they should be considered, tradition, blah blah blah Oregon - new kid on block, offense fits, unbelievable facilities, chance to get away from all the pressure and be himself, unknown intrigue (hasn't visited) One could make an argument for all of the above. Given the fact that he had exactly 2 days between the end of football and basketball he hasn't had as much time as other kids. He also doesn't HAVE to decide right now. I do agree that he is the type that doesn't want to disappoint anyone and all of this is probably a bit overwhelming. He'll do what's best for him at his own pace. I actually admire that.

I'm in.... accountability is good.

Hoosiers Rudy Bull Durham Major League Caddyshack Lots of other baseball movies...... that's all off the top of my head.

ss2k5, I think you put it very well. I grew up an IU fan and very much of Bobby Knight fan. I have always admired what he got out of kids, how he shot straight with people and how his programs stood out for doing things the right way. Players graduated and stayed out of trouble. However, I got tired of his boorishness late in his time at IU. I never liked how he treated the media. What made him great was that he was in total control of his world. What caused him problems is that he could not handle when he wasn't in total control of his world. You can't go two years without even speaking to your boss. He was unfailingly loyal if you were loyal to him. But as soon as you did something he didn't like, that loyalty would turn on a dime and he would treat you as if you didn't exist. There were a lot of great things he did, some reported, many were not. But his methods were questionable. Bobby Knight never cared for other people. Never respected that others have a job to do as well. Never carried himself with class. Always acted as if he was above you. It's a shame because with all of his abilities, if he could have had some more respect for others around him and been a bit more forgiving, he would be universally loved - except by Purdue fans, of course.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 09:05 PM) Farrell also reported the exact opposite right after. He has a press conference scheduled for tomorrow, hes declaring. Don't be so sure about that....

QUOTE(Jimbo's Drinker @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 12:22 AM) I would love to help anyone who needs guidance/counseling. I am in tip top shape......work my ass off to stay fit, and I eat really healthy. Motivation and commitment is necessary. I also have some awesome workout routines. I'll bite. Aside from the obvious walking, what do you suggest for workout routines without access to a gym?

No s***.... anyone that has mentioned in this thread that they need to gain weight should be locked out! I have no clue how to do a sig, but if enough people will commit I will do so too. I weigh myself every Friday morning. I am the large guy in the group so I need the most help. For the record, I am 5'9 and 349. I carry it as well as you can as no one would guess I am that heavy. Most guess 250-275. As I said, my sophomore year in college I was pitching somewhere between 180-190. The lowest I can actually recall weighing is 181. I just recently bought a scale with enough capacity to know how much I weigh. It has been a long time since even a doctor's office scale went high enough to tell me. I have no clue what my highest weight has been, but I'd guess it was near 375. On Jan 5th I started at 362.8. All at the same time, one big collective.......... wow

QUOTE(iamshack @ Feb 4, 2008 -> 08:06 PM) Why the no food after 9 pm or 10 pm or whatever? I hear that theory is bs...can anyone explain to me why it's not? As for the diets...be careful how hard you go on yourself at first. Work your way into it. If you go from eating like crap to suddenly cutting out EVERYTHING, you'll just go back and binge on all that stuff eventually and ruin all the hard work and suffering you've put yourself through. Make small changes to your diet- but make them permanent. The best thing to remember is probably just "everything in moderation." The theory is that your metabolism is slower at night while you sleep so don't eat late. But the reality of it is, you lose weight by eating less calories than you burn. What you eat and how you exercise can certainly affect how much you burn, but if you are eating right, what time you eat is inconsequential. I used to work with a trainer (about 11-12 years ago) and he used food to fuel the metabolism (along with cardio and weight training) and he didn't care what time I ate, as long as I ate to the levels I was supposed to. I'll be honest that it was sometimes hard to eat that much food, but I lost 2-3 pounds a week, every single week. He was a huge proponent of one big cheat meal a week and pushed you to pig out big time. His theory was that if you ate a meal high in sugars and/or fat that it would shock your body and trick your metabolism to rev up even higher for about 48 hours. Therefore if you went right back to eating right, you would end up with a net "gain" in terms of lost calories. I will say this, I'd weigh in every Friday morning when I woke up and every Friday I'd be 2-3 pounds lighter. Sometimes I would cheat and weigh myself Sunday or Monday morning and sometimes I'd be 2 pounds heavier. But by Friday, it was always back down. The problem with that program is that when my lifestyle changed and I no longer had (or made) the time to properly prepare foods or workout, my high metabolism got me to eating everything on the planet and the weight started to creep back. Two or three years later those 60 pounds were back.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 4, 2008 -> 07:54 PM) If you're not a vegetable person, one thing that's worked well for me is adding in the fruit. Just replacing part of my usual lunch with an apple has worked quite well as far as I can tell. I have done that some and am getting better at it, although I didn't do well in that regard today. I bought fresh pineapple chunks, apple slices (I'm not big on raw apples - it's the skin!), and fresh cut mango. Also trying to snack on foods that may have carbs, but not much sugar such as graham crackers. Dry roasted peanuts too. Like I said, I am trying to make better decisions within my limitations. I would not have lost 13 pounds without some kind of plan, it's just not real detailed right now.

Another report from Rivals..... Terrelle Pryor still may not sign on Wednesday. Other media outlets reported Monday that Pryor was 80-90 percent sure he would sign on Wednesday and that he had eliminated Oregon. But according to Farrell, nothing has changed with Pryor. The quarterback from Jeanette, Pa., said he has no definite plans to sign with anyone on Wednesday. "I spoke to Pryor, and he said the report was incorrect," Farrell said. "He said was still 50/50 whether he'd sign or not, and Oregon is not eliminated. He said it's still Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State if he signs Wednesday, and Oregon is in the mix if he waits."

I'm saying 52/48 he goes to OSU. I'm not sure how bad Michigan really needs him per se. They really need to QB's. It's not a given that he would start as a frosh, nor is it a guarantee that would be a good thing. But either way, they can't win with only 2 1/2 QB's on the roster. Don't get me wrong, UM wants him and could definitely use him, but I don't think they are as desparate as many may think. They have many other weapons, although many of them are young as well.

Count me in.... I've REALLY struggled all my life with extra weight. A few times I have dropped big numbers only to regain it after some kind of lifestyle change. My eating habits are my biggest problem. I'm (and always have been) an extremely picky eater and that unfortunately I do not see changing any time in the near future. Green beans are the only vegetable I eat. Yep, that's right. No salads, no corn, no broccoli..... So dieting is difficult for me, though not impossible. I'll just say that I have lost 13 pounds since Jan 5 doing nothing more than trying to be smarter about what, when and how much I eat. I really need to kick things into gear this month and start exercising, but have yet to get over the bulls*** hurdles (excuses) I claim. My original goal was to lose a pound a day for the month of February, but I don't see that happening, so I need to figure out a shorter term goal and maybe one not quite so agressive. Though if I get my s*** together, that could be a realistic figure. I'm almost 40 so I need to do something big. I played in college at 180-185 pounds and could easily run 3-4 miles feeling stronger at the end than when I started. Now I couldn't run 40 feet.

You Bucknuts still think you are getting Terrelle Pryor on Wednesday? It sounds as if he is going to decide and announce on Wed. now, when it looked as though he was going to wait.

Where the hell is palehose when you need him? When you get here palehose, we need the dirt. Why now? What's happening at TTU?

IU beats Northwestern today 75-63. Gordon has a huge game with 29 points and gets to the FT line 8 times, which is an improvement in that department as of late. Granted 4 of those attempts were in the last 5 minutes, but I'll take whatever small victories are available. DJ White chipped in 26 points and 13 rebounds. There is no doubting he has completely taken his game to a new level and it is a pleasure to watch. Now IU goes into their rough stretch on the schedule with its next 5 games: @ Illinois @ Ohio State vs. Wisconsin vs. Michigan State vs. Purdue Win three of those five and a Big Ten Championship is still possible. Win 4 of 5 and the Big Ten title looks very good. Win two and here comes a 6 or 7 seed in the Big Dance. I'd like to see more balance and the scoring not be so top-heavy with Gordon and White. We shall see.

QUOTE(Brian @ Feb 2, 2008 -> 06:54 PM) Just because... I'm totally smitten!