Rex Hudler

Nice win by the Illini

I don't understand the vitriole for Lloyd Carr. I'd have no problem with him continuing as Head Coach. He may be a bit conservative, but he runs a good program, cleans up the problems they run into, and wins. Granted they aren't 11-1 every year, but what program is.

Sometimes early season injuries like that can help a team in the long run. They will now have to find other ways to score and other players to rely on, while building depth at the same time. Survive early and they will be stronger later in the year.

Geez, I'm gone for a day and miss an Indiana love fest??? Heck, I just can't resist adding my two cents.... While it is nice that everyone is so high on my Hoosiers, I am not quite so convinced. I think this team will score points, but how well will they defend? I am not so concerned about height, but more depth on the front line. Having 6'8 guys doesn't scare me, its just that you have DJ and several role players. An injury or foul trouble can make things pretty dicey. As far as DJ, I think it is fair to say that he is/will be a very good college player this year. I am no NBA scout, but I am not 100% convinced he is 1st round material either. But a guy doesn't have to be a great NBA prospect to help a college team win a lot of games. I think this team has lots of potential, but there are so many new players, it is scary to me to predict how they will play together and ultimately succeed. Gordon is so good because he can do everything. He can score in so many ways. Jordan Crawford has been very impressive as well, but he's not going to be a scorer like he was the first exhibition. Jamarcus Ellis may just be their unsung hero. I can see him averaging 13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and a couple of steals. He can mix it up inside as well as go outside. I'm not ready to annoint them Big Ten Champs, but I like their potential. All I can say is: Let the games begin!

A writer's strike??? Great, more reality TV.

My vote is and always will be for Erin Andrews. I am completely smitten! Almost as much as the dancer named Edyta on Dancin with the Stars. palehose, please tell me you were kidding about Doris Burke? Next thing you will be asking for Holly Rowe!

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QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Nov 4, 2007 -> 09:07 PM) Several sources saying Zeller to UNC. We will see. Would be a huge get. That would be my guess....

About bowl eligibility..... Is it true that the Big Ten could have 10 bowl eligible teams this year? And the SEC could have 11?? How is that going to affect a team like Indiana since neither conference has near that many bowl tie-ins?

QUOTE(Brian @ Nov 4, 2007 -> 10:13 AM) Really? I would of been pretty disappointed if SIU lost to King last night in an exhibition game. Let me clarify.... I'd have been disappointed to if it were IU (or Evansville - they won theirs by 37). But to me it's not something to get worked up over or something that will have any effect on how good a team they can be. Anytime you are playing a lot of young guys in an exhibition game, you never know what you are going to get. I also wouldn't consider it fodder for opposing fanbases to get too worked up over. Especially in basketball, where getting upset isn't as big a deal with so many games in a season.

QUOTE(Brian @ Nov 4, 2007 -> 09:14 AM) Is it true Michigan State just lost an exhibition game to a D2 school? Yes, Grand Valley State in 2OT. But it's just an exhibition game, so no biggie.

I hope you guys were watching the Bama-LSU game. That may have been one of the best college football games I have ever seen. LSU pulls it out despite not playing very well (3 TO's and 130-something yards in penalties), but Alabama made big plays and LSU hung in there well enough to make a play or two themselves to pull it out. An unbelievable game!

Okay, what the hell is going on in Kansas? Kansas has hung 48 on Nebraska with still a little over a minute to go in the freakin 1st Half!! Kansas 48 Nebraska 21 Are they all going to be too tired to score in the 2nd half???

How weird is it to watch Gameday in the dark in Eugene??

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Oct 31, 2007 -> 10:28 PM) Nah, I skipped it because no matter what, I will never agree with you and vice versa. Its just the way of the sports world. I think we can both agree that each of our teams is better than the others. When OSU and UM fans start agreeing on this subject, its when you know some ghostbuster out there has crossed the streams. Good point lol I'm still disappointed you weren't online last night and we couldn't fight. We could have provided some good early morning reading for the rest of our college football bretheren. Oh well, moods subside, so I will go back to being a normal irrational, yell at the TV, plan my week around this week's game fan. I'm just disappointed that ABC picked up Michigan at 2:30 because that conflicts with the 4:00 LSU - Bama kickoff. I can either watch the UM game later, or choose to stay at home by myself and skip out on what should be a lot of fun in a really electric atmosphere in a good sports bar!

I stopped reading right there. I would have an intelligent debate about this but obviously you are incapable of doing so. I find it funny that I need to past my love of IU yet you bring such objective terms as Samscum and frivolous "dirty for years" accusations. At this point, I don't feel the need to comment further, whether intelligent debates or not. Let's the games begin!!

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Oct 31, 2007 -> 11:51 AM) Rex, Lets look at a similar real world example. If you are convicted, you some times are given a second chance called parole. Part of your parole is that you have terms that you have to follow, such as checking in with your Parole officer on X day at X time, or taking a mandatory alcohol/ drug test, there also could be job restrictions etc. None of these rules apply to a regular citizen, but if you are parole, they apply to you. And Im pretty sure that if you blatantly violate your parole 18 times or so, the govt would not take the excuse: "Well every other citizen doesnt even have to follow those rules" Well no, the reason why you have those rules is because you broke other rules in the first place. Had you always followed the rules, then there would be no problem. But Sampson has violated the rules, and then was given a new set of rules so that he could still coach, he once again violated them. Even worse is in the real world we have respondeat superior, in which the master is liable for the torts of the servant. Sampson should be responsible for what the staff below him does, in the end he is the one that is accountable. If you let Sampson off the hook because it was one of his servants, than all it does is set the precedent for creating a fall guy. Every coach will hire an assistant to bend as many rules as possible, and then play dumb when the NCAA comes calling. Hope for Indiana that they have the cache to make the NCAA not really devastate Indiana, because I think that would be the only way to send a message to guys like Sampson. 0 calls is permissible, not 1, not 2, not 10, not 18, 0. And I dont buy the argument that if he really was breaking the rules he would have just done it blatantly and much more often. Thats not how criminals act, thats not how rule breakers act, they break the rules only when it is necessary, so those 18 or so calls were probably the most necessary times to do it. Not to mention, what number is exactly a number that isnt just a mistake? To me that number is 1, maybe I could give him 1 mistake. But 18? You might as well have 50 mistakes, 100 mistakes, because really whats in a number. Badger, thanks for an intelligent, rational argument. I don't fully disagree with you, but see things a bit differently. We could take a look at a more realistic real world example since he did not commit a crime and was not on parole. Let's say he got into trouble at work and was written up and disciplined. He slipped up again and the company decided to discipline him further rather than terminate him. That happens in the real world every day. To say Sampson is getting off the hook is not accurate. This mistake cost him a half million dollars. It cost him a valued assistant coach. It limits his program because he now has a new assistant coach with restrictions that cannot make calls or recruit off campus for a year. So not only was he hurt financially, he is working with more restrictions than other teams, making it more difficult for him to do his job. If any of you have actually read what I originally typed about this, you would know that I am not condoning what he did. He got punished and deserved it. Like I said, I have read the reports and understand more than just what the average internet reader gets by reading a columnist spewing out half-truths. Pardon me if I don't think that every crime is equal. If an employee is habitually late, you deal with it. But you also deal with him differently than someone that doesn't show up at all, and differently than someone that is insubordinate. I'm not happy about this whole situation, but forgive me if I don't want to give the guy the death penalty for petty theft (not sure that is a perfect analogy, but hopefully you get the point rather than honing in on my crime of choice). I will stop wasting my "breath" with this because I can't win. I don't to win either. I would just think some people could be objective enough to realize this isn't a capital crime. One can argue that a petty thief will become a murderer in time, but I think that you have to wait until that happens rather than sending the petty thief away for life. At this point, I will refrain from responding to anything relating to this topic. It's time for basketball season and to focus on on the court happenings. I think I shall do that from this point on.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Oct 31, 2007 -> 12:02 PM) I wont even respond to your Maize and Blue blabbering. If UM ends up a top 5 team I will hereby bestow some free tix on you this upcoming season. But if you'd like a side bet on the OSUvUM game, im up on that too. You cant be too confident with the thrashing you have taken the last several years. I'll take the fact you completely skipped past the parts where you were wrong and went straight ahead to zeroing in on the game in three weeks as an admission of guilt. As far as the game in three weeks, I like our chances. I certainly wouldn't call myself confident, because that is not my nature. If I am confident, I am confident quietly, nervously. I was just in the mood to pick a fight last night. The fact remains that OSU has to come to the Big House and Michigan is on the verge of playing the way they should have from week 1. Ask me in two weeks and maybe I will be more confident, but I doubt it. Bottom line is I am confident in the direction UM is headed and they are playing much, much better football.

Man I was fiesty last night. Anybody ready to go 15 rounds???

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 30, 2007 -> 11:34 PM) Which would be the rules that the NCAA laid out for him, hense he committed NCAA infractions. nope, not the same thing.......... stretch it how you want, but Sampson's actions were not NCAA rules violations. All other coaches are allowed to do what he did. He violated personal sanctions placed on him. There is a difference. If you don't get it ask the lawyers who did the investigation and the school why they had to do two separate reports to turn over to the NCAA. It's because they aren't the same. Try and keep up, will ya?

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Oct 30, 2007 -> 09:34 AM) Funny, I dont recall ever mentioning USC. Their jump from 20-12 was a little much. Teams like Hawaii, UCONN, Bame and Texas should have been above them. There was no reason for Mich to leapfrog teams that also played well and won. And every team in the nation is not the same team that started the season. If they played App St right now they would probably smoke them. Time to get your facts straight. I mentioned USC, you didn't which is why you don't remember it. But I am not sure how that relates to anything. How was Michigan's jump from 20-12 too much? Let's analyze.... The teams above them between 20 & 12 last week were: 12. USC - lost and fell 13. Missouri - won and improved - still ahead of UM 14. Kentucky - lost and fell 15. Virginia - lost and fell 16. South Carolina - lost and fell 17. Hawaii - this is the BCS. They aren't going to make large jumps, nor should they IMO regardless of what team is leaping them 18. Georgia - won and jumped way up - still ahead of UM 19. Texas - played a very lackluster game against reeling Nebraska - not the kind of thing to impress voters. Now, let's look at some of those other teams you mentioned that Michigan should not have jumped: UCONN - They jumped from 23 to 13. According to my math that is a larger jump than Michigan's and they started from BEHIND, so UM didn't leapfrog them. Maybe I should check my math. BAMA - Jumped from 24 to 17 without playing. Not sure how that qualifies as UM leapfrogging a team that played well and won. So basically, I can't find anything in the above post you got right! I guess the astute point you made about no team being the same as when they opened the season. Duh! But if you would actually watch games rather than just toss out anecdotal blather you would see that Michigan is a VERY different team. They are actually quite close to being Top 5 or 10 team people expected them to be before the year started. I guess you won't be convinced of that until your Bucknuts come to Ann Arbor and go home with their collective tails between their legs! /gauntlet throwing

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Oct 30, 2007 -> 07:41 PM) personally, the only fallout i see happening is perhaps some damaged recruiting relationships with some of the east coast kids senderoff was after. from what i've read, he was the lead recruiter on ebanks, lance stephenson, and a few others. so, possibly there are issues there. otherwise, i don't really expect much. the ncaa isn't quite as punitive as it used to be, so i don't expect a severe punishment. a worst-case would probably be a postseason ban next year. There will be no post-season ban. This stuff just isn't that large enough to warrant anything close to that. If anything, they may restrict Sampson even further.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Oct 30, 2007 -> 03:13 PM) Has the NCAA said anything regarding these infractions yet? Or is Indiana trying to stem the tide before the crap hits the fan? I just wonder why Sampson is able to repeatedly skate on these infractions if he keeps getting busted for the same thing over and over? FWIW, Im looking at this as an outsider. I havent read into it too much, but it has gotten so much airplay recently that i am starting to become curious about what is really going on here. Kelvin Sampson did not commit any NCAA infractions. Rob Senderoff, who resigned today, did. Sampson is tied to between 10-18 "3-way calls" (the # depends on how you count them) that are not NCAA violations, but were impermissable under the sanctions he was under from his deal at Oklahoma. People can trash IU, Sampson, me, whoever they want, but I feel I can objectively say that if there were only between 10-18 issues where a call came and and it was patched through to Sampson (he did not make the calls) then it is a matter of carelessness. If he truly felt "above the law" or felt he wouldn't have gotten caught, then it sure as hell would happen a heckuva lot more than 10-18 times in 365 days!! Granted, perfection is expected with the previous issues, which is why he got smacked. But to act as if this is an act of blatant cheating is comical to me. s***, if you asked me for details on 10+ phone calls over the past year when I take thousands, I'd have no freakin clue of any details. Yet everyone expects Sampson to remember each in detail like they were yesterday. And for those of you not aware, it is about normal for a Division I NCAA school to self-report 40-50 secondary violations (which Senderoff's are) per year. Secondary violations are a common occurrence. Not that matters with the IU case, but it helps illustrate that all schools have issues like this. Not all have a coach being sanctioned for prior offenses I know. But very few of these secondary violations ever hit the news because they are commonplace.

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QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Oct 29, 2007 -> 10:42 PM) Don't be so sure. However, honest question, wanna get Michigan fans' take on this. Why hasn't Chad Henne improved over the last 4 years? He really seems like the same guy, more or less, that he was freshman year. Just my opinion from watching hm. I thought he'd eventually really challenge for a Heisman when I saw him freshman year. That is a common conception and while I think it is fair, I'm not sure it is accurate. Part of Henne's problem is he was so good as a freshman. He is a quiet, steady player, not the vocal leader like Hart. I think Henne has gotten better, but its fair to say most thought he would be better than he is. He had a rough first game and a half before he got hurt. Keep in mind he has had Hart to lean on for four years. His best season was arguable his sophomore year when Hart was hurt. They've added the shotgun and some 4 and even 5-WR sets, yet he's been hurt so he hasn't really gotten the chance to dig into them. I'm hoping you will see Henne put it all together as he finishes his senior season. Watch to see how he plays against Wisconsin and Ohio State and that will be more telling.