Thursday, December 23, 2004
Jumping off the ledge: I am annoyed, frustrated and generally disgusted (wow, that has a nice rhythm to it...). Pitt hired our buddy Wanny to coach the football team. How could they have let this happen? Say goodbye to Pitt football's elite status.
Now, I am originally from Pittsburgh and my father is a Pitt grad so I have some attachment to the Panthers. I grew up listening to stories of Tony Dorsett and Dan Marino and even Da Coach (Mitt Ditka is also a Pitt man). The 1976 National Championship team added to the aura of the city (the Steelers had just won their second of four Super Bowls in six years and the Pirates were a perennial playoff contender with another World Series title on the way).
Wanny may be a Pitt man and available right away -- the other candidates had NFL responsibilities and likely could not start recruiting until late January -- but Wanny has proven he cannot produce a winner on his own. I don't know after watching his fall from grace with the Dolphins and his complete destruction of the Bears how any big time football player would want to go to Pitt now. Walt Harris brought a big time offense. Wanny is a defensive coach and I just don't see him succeeding there. Has he ever had to recruit players before? The Fiesta Bowl appearance is not going to grab big players forever, and it already is tough to get players from western Penn. to stay close to home with big-time programs like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, and I dare say West Virginia and Penn State not far away.
Maybe this is what Joe Paterno needs to get the Nitnany Lions back to prominence. Pitt had been beating them up lately.
TJ is right -- at least he didn't go to IU.
Now, I am originally from Pittsburgh and my father is a Pitt grad so I have some attachment to the Panthers. I grew up listening to stories of Tony Dorsett and Dan Marino and even Da Coach (Mitt Ditka is also a Pitt man). The 1976 National Championship team added to the aura of the city (the Steelers had just won their second of four Super Bowls in six years and the Pirates were a perennial playoff contender with another World Series title on the way).
Wanny may be a Pitt man and available right away -- the other candidates had NFL responsibilities and likely could not start recruiting until late January -- but Wanny has proven he cannot produce a winner on his own. I don't know after watching his fall from grace with the Dolphins and his complete destruction of the Bears how any big time football player would want to go to Pitt now. Walt Harris brought a big time offense. Wanny is a defensive coach and I just don't see him succeeding there. Has he ever had to recruit players before? The Fiesta Bowl appearance is not going to grab big players forever, and it already is tough to get players from western Penn. to stay close to home with big-time programs like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, and I dare say West Virginia and Penn State not far away.
Maybe this is what Joe Paterno needs to get the Nitnany Lions back to prominence. Pitt had been beating them up lately.
TJ is right -- at least he didn't go to IU.
Back to the Ledge!
I feel your pain: While Derrick tries to drive through Indiana and Ohio to get to Pittsburgh for Christmas, it looks like Dave Wannstedt has made it there, and will stay to coach the Pitt Panthers.
So I retract this post with my deepest regrets. Hey, at least he didn't go to IU, right?
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
So that's what happened!
Indiana basketball is not struggling... Pay no attention to Hoosiers' fifth straight loss Sunday. Pay no attention to the fact that getting hit over the head with a sledgehammer 340 times is more enjoyable than watching a game.
The Hoosiers are actually the product of a "Pimp my Team" special...
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Down from the ledge!
That was close, eh? Derrick Gingery and his Pitt-educated father can stop panicking. The Panthers will not be coached by Dave Wannstedt.
It looks like he doesn't want any college job, which is good considering Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star listed him as a possibilty to replace Gerry DiNardo at Indiana as well.
Who will Indiana pick? My bet is on Rick Neuheisel, no pun intended.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
The bottom line
My mailbag ... How incensed was I about Indiana's firing of Gerry DiNardo with two years and $1 million left on his contract? Well, in addition to ranting about it here, I also sent a letter to IU president Dr. Adam Herbert.
...I am uninterested in giving to the Alumni Association, IUSF, the library, the School of Journalism, the Varsity Club, the athletic department and any other Indiana University-related endeavor until further notice....[N]othing warms my heart more than seeing IU fire Gerry DiNardo after just three years on the job (and he had a short recruiting year his first season), and two years left on his contract. As unfair a decision I believe it was, it was even more fiscally irresponsible. Just how many coaches and ADs have been fired over the past seven years with significant money left on their contracts......I had high hopes when you came in as IU President, and I still hope you can lift the sagging academic reputation of the school. But when you allow an athletic department to swallow as much money as it does, I have to wonder.....I hope you and Greenspan find that special football coach that will lead Indiana to the promised land of the Motor City Bowl, because nothing is more exciting than a bunch of university boosters spending Christmas Eve in Detroit. As your athletic director expected bigger miracles from DiNardo than Notre Dame's Kevin White expected from Tyrone Willingham, let me recommend a Franciscan Friar or a Carmelite priest......P.S. I enjoyed watching my wife's alma mater make the Sweet 16 in both men's and women's basketball. While her school's football team needs some work, they're no worse than Indiana. Her school at least had the good sense to swallow the athletic department into the university's control. Costs are down. And Vanderbilt doesn't get public money.
Well, I received a response from Curtis Simic, the president of the IU Foundation, the school's fundraising department yesterday. I thank him for responding, but he has some flawed logic. Among the highlights:
...What is indisputable is the fact that attendance last fall at all football games was the lowest since 1962, homecoming drew only 22,000 and the average home game attendance was 28,000. Athletic income is driven by football and basketball revenues, so something had to be done to improve those figures...
Attendance has been down since Bill Mallory has been head coach, but figures have never been this dismal. I agree something has to be done. Here's a solution:
- Ease alcohol restrictions around Memorial Stadium. With a better "party atmosphere" surrounding football games at IU, more students, alumni, IU fans and opposing fans will be more likely to attend games when they don't have to worry about excise police.
- Become friendlier with fraternities and sororities. As it is, fraternities have to dance around a zillion rules that didn't exist when I was there when entertaining alumni. Alumni get uncomfortable with all kinds of rules because they'd just as soon not be liable for any rule breakage. Thus, they'll prefer to stay home
- Hold six major concerts at IU in the spring and summer. No one uses the football stadium from March until August, when Bloomington is gorgeous. You could put a major concert in there, charge $75-$100 a pop, and fill the stadium. Ticket prices for football games average $30 at IU. The concerts could bring in almost as much money as football games.
There. Now that I solved that problem, let's read on:
It is unfortunate that you think IU's academic reputation is "sagging." It is not a generally-held belief. National rankings are elusive at best, but we seem to be doing fairly well in most areas. We are aware that competition is constant and hard work goes into just "holding our own" in some fields.
To start with, Simic's contention that my belief is not "generally-held" is laughable. Generally? What does that mean? It's a vague term, because he has nothing to back it up. Ahh, he mentions national rankings. I did some research, and found the 2005 U.S. News and World Report's college rankings. U.S. News and World Report's rankings are "generally" regarded as one of the leading indicators of a college's reputation.
Let's see where IU ranks in the Big Ten, minus University of Chicago, which still belongs to the CIC, the Big Ten's academic arm. National rankings are in parentheses:
- (11) Northwestern
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
We are no. 11 nationally in Fulbrights. Over the past three years, we've had two Rhodes Scholars, four Nobel and two Pulitzer prizes, and 17 fellows of the National Academies of Sciences. The Kelley School [of Business], Music School, SPEA [Public and Environmental Affairs], Education and many COAS departments (and the School of Journalism) consistently rank among the best in the nation. The list goes on.
OK, fair enough. But it's a bottom-line business, isn't it? IU is the worst university in the Big Ten. It's a good thing the academic types do such meaningless work compared to the athletic department. Otherwise, they'd all be fired.
Let me also add that the football team beat two ranked opponents, including one on the road. The football team was on national TV several times and players this year earned Chevrolet Player of the Game, or whatever honors ESPN and ABC give out. Experts like Brent Musberger, Lee Corso and Mike Gleason have said great things about Gerry DiNardo's program. Indiana was ranked in the top half of Division I by the Sagarin Ratings. Over the last five years, IU has produced three NFL Pro Bowlers, a Heisman Trophy finalist, a Silver Football winner, and an NFL offensive coordinator. Indiana led the Big Ten in scoring in 2001. By those standards, Indiana's football program is as wildly successful as the university.
Monday, December 13, 2004
He LIVES here?
(Or my wife, the Beltway insider): The scene: Friday night, Northbrook Court. After a quick dinner and some Christmas shopping, Joanna and I stopped in the Cingular Wireless store so Joanna could extend her contract and get a new phone. As the salesman was showing her phone at the counter (I stood next to her), a couple entered the store.
My eyes darted over there and immediately the man looked familiar. Very familiar. So familiar and recognizable, I looked him over again and again to decide if it really was who I thought it was, so I could point him out to my wife. I looked once more and as his eyes glanced up, I decided that there was no way it could be him. Instead, Joanna and I walked over to the opposite end of the store to look at some Blackberry-type phone. After a few seconds, we had all the fun you could have with a display device, and headed to the exit.
That's when the man in question stopped us. "Joanna?" he said.
By golly, it was him: U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), our Congressman. Joanna had covered Kirk's office during her time at Pioneer Press, and developed a good rapport with his office. She even had an opportunity to canoe down the Des Plaines River with Kirk and a few people from the Sierra Club.
I had never met Congressman Kirk until Friday. I always half-jokingly told Joanna to grill him on various issues since I never found him conservative enough. And it's true: I wish Kirk would see things my way on gun rights, abortion, and some environmental issues. So I had a private audience with him. What questions did I have for my Congressman?
Sadly, I had none. Rep. Kirk was headed to Iraq over the weekend, and Joanna mentioned that, so I offered my best wishes. Other than that, I was too starstruck by the sight of my Congressman, standing in a cell-phone store with his wife, 2 feet in front of me. I was hardly able to answer his question of where I worked. I had a "Fast Times in Ridgemont High" moment where the high school's star fullback appeared at the mall, and a bunch of friends gathered around. A younger kid saw it and remarked: "He lives here? I only thought they flew him in for games."
As for Kirk not being conservative enough for my tastes, I do want to add one thing. He's hardly a RINO (Republican In Name Only). He votes with the party about 70 percent of the time, which is strong enough for me. He's stood for strong defense, lower taxes, and he's been loyal to the Republicans both nationally (where that loyalty is deserved) and locally (where he risked a lot to support people like Phil Crane and others).
He's a hell of a nice guy, although that's hardly a requirement to be in Congress.
NASCAR?
Whaaat? You watched a NASCAR movie, Derrick? You watched a NASCAR movie?
You watched an ESPN Entertainment production?
You watched an ESPN Entertainment production about NASCAR?
I'm less concerned about the quality of the movie (the fact it's about NASCAR and produced by ESPN says it all to me), than the fact that YOU watched it.
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Ernhardt errors: ESPN's movie "3," based on the life of NASCAR driver Dale Ernhardt, would have been a good movie to watch if it wasn't interrupted by commercials every 10 minutes. I'm not sure if it was just a ploy to get people to buy the DVD or not. After the first 20 minutes were not interrupted, a commercial was run every 10 minutes for the next hour or so. And they were nearly all the same commercial. I knew every kiss began with K (as in the jewelry store) after the first 15 times I had to watch the commercial. I also did not need to see the 200 million ESPN commercials for a new original series, which I already knew was coming in January.
I think it was a disserve to what could have been a good movie to run so many commercials. It made the movie look disjointed and seem to lack any kind of flow.
I think it was a disserve to what could have been a good movie to run so many commercials. It made the movie look disjointed and seem to lack any kind of flow.
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
What I did on my NHL lockout
Not in hockey shape: Chris Chelios, Darren Hatcher and Nick Lindstrom are not hoping for a quick end to the lockout. It doesn't look like they're in hockey shape.
But they do know how to party like rock stars.
Thoughts on the Browny Championship Series: T.J. -- Your idea is smart, logical and a sure money maker, which is exactly why it will never be implemented. But nonetheless I have a few criticisms.
The playoff calendar is too long because it has too many teams. The format for the NCAA basketball tournament works because you can play two games in three days. Because football requires a week in between each round, having that many teams would take too long.
I propose starting with the BCS conference champions: Pitt, Michigan, USC, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and Auburn. Then add two at-large selections: Cal and Utah. The eight team tourney would require three weeks to finish (ideally having a Jan. 1 title game) and would still maintain the "every game counts" mentality of the regular season. The BCS rankings still could be used to determine who gets in and the minor bowls not included as tournament sites could take all the teams left out.
Round 1: USC-Pitt, Oklahoma-Virginia Tech, Auburn-Cal, Michigan-Utah
Round 2 (in my world): USC-Auburn, Virginia Tech-Utah
National Championship (because I hate the BCS rankings): Auburn-Utah
Can you imagine the revenue generated by an USC-Auburn or Oklahoma-Michigan matchup in the second round? If they played it in Jacksonville or Houston (both NFL stadiums) the university presidents could make some serious money, not to mention placate football fans around the world.
Plus the problem presented this year (three undefeated teams from major conferences) would be solved. If Auburn can't get to the title game, then at least they proved it on the field.
The beauty of the system is it can be completed before the NFL playoffs begin. Most pro-sports want an entire month strictly devoted to their playoffs: baseball-October, NFL-January. College football could have December. This year, Christmas Day would feature the Final 4 matchups. How about that as a present under the tree...
The playoff calendar is too long because it has too many teams. The format for the NCAA basketball tournament works because you can play two games in three days. Because football requires a week in between each round, having that many teams would take too long.
I propose starting with the BCS conference champions: Pitt, Michigan, USC, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and Auburn. Then add two at-large selections: Cal and Utah. The eight team tourney would require three weeks to finish (ideally having a Jan. 1 title game) and would still maintain the "every game counts" mentality of the regular season. The BCS rankings still could be used to determine who gets in and the minor bowls not included as tournament sites could take all the teams left out.
Round 1: USC-Pitt, Oklahoma-Virginia Tech, Auburn-Cal, Michigan-Utah
Round 2 (in my world): USC-Auburn, Virginia Tech-Utah
National Championship (because I hate the BCS rankings): Auburn-Utah
Can you imagine the revenue generated by an USC-Auburn or Oklahoma-Michigan matchup in the second round? If they played it in Jacksonville or Houston (both NFL stadiums) the university presidents could make some serious money, not to mention placate football fans around the world.
Plus the problem presented this year (three undefeated teams from major conferences) would be solved. If Auburn can't get to the title game, then at least they proved it on the field.
The beauty of the system is it can be completed before the NFL playoffs begin. Most pro-sports want an entire month strictly devoted to their playoffs: baseball-October, NFL-January. College football could have December. This year, Christmas Day would feature the Final 4 matchups. How about that as a present under the tree...
A modest proposal
College football madness: You have 11 conference champs. Take them and 13 at-large teams and you have 24 teams for a tournament. Who would we see in a tournament this year?
Automatic selections (11): Virginia Tech (ACC), Oklahoma (Big XII), Pitt (Big East), Michigan (Big Ten), Louisville (C-USA), Toledo (MAC), Utah (Mountain West), USC (Pac 10), Auburn (SEC), North Texas (Sun Belt), Boise State (WAC).
At-large selections (13): Texas, Cal, Georgia, LSU, Iowa, Miami (Fla.), Tennessee, Fla. State, Wisconsin, Virginia, Arizona State, Texas A & M, Texas Tech.
Snubbed (31): Florida, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, West Virginia, Boston College, Colorado, Memphis, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Miami (OH), Troy, Fresno State, UTEP, Notre Dame, Navy, North Carolina, G-Tech, Clemson, Syracuse, Connecticut, Minnesota, Iowa State, Southern Miss, UAB, Marshall, Akron, Oregon State, UCLA, Alabama, South Carolina, Hawaii
(You could take care of eight snubbed teams by eliminating the first-round bye, expanding the tournament to 32 teams. And picking eight worthy teams out of that heap wouldn't be too difficult. But that's for another day.)
OK, time to seed these guys...
No 1 seeds:
Gator Region: Cal
Peach Region: Auburn
Fiesta Region: USC
Cotton Region: Oklahoma
The rest of the seeding:
Gator: (2) Utah, (3) Boise State, (4) Tennessee, (5) Virginia, (6) Pitt
Peach: (2) Va Tech, (3) Louisville, (4) Michigan, (5) Texas A &M, (6) Texas Tech
Fiesta: (2) Texas, (3) LSU, (4) Florida State, (5) Wisconsin, (6) Toledo
Cotton: (2) Georgia, (3) Iowa, (4) Miami, (5) Arizona State, (6) North Texas
OK, now we have to schedule these 23 games...
First Round:
Nov. 24
Emerald BowlBoise State vs. PittMP Computers BowlNorth Texas vs. Iowa
Nov. 25
Fort Worth BowlFlorida State vs. Wisconsin
Nov. 26
Las Vegas BowlArizona State vs. MiamiHawaii BowlTexas Tech vs. Louisville
Nov. 27
Motor City BowlMichigan vs. Texas A&MInsight.com BowlTennessee vs. VirginiaIndependence BowlToledo vs. LSU
Dec. 1
Alamo BowlUtah vs. Emerald Bowl winner
Dec. 2
Liberty BowlGeorgia vs. MP Compiuters Bowl winner
Dec. 3
Houston BowlOklahoma vs. Las Vegas Bowl winnerSun BowlTexas vs. Independence Bowl winner
Dec 4
Holiday BowlUSC vs.Fort Worth Bowl winnerMusic City BowlAuburn vs. Motor City Bowl winnerOutback BowlCal vs. Insight.com Bowl winnerCapitol One BowlVirginia Tech vs. Hawaii Bowl winner
Dec 11
Peach BowlCapitol One Bowl winner vs. Music City Bowl winnerCotton BowlHouston Bowl winner vs. Liberty Bowl winnerGator BowlOutback Bowl winner vs. Alamo Bowl winnerFiesta BowlSun Bowl winner vs. Holiday Bowl winner
Dec 24
Rose BowlGator Bowl winner vs. Fiesta Bowl winnerSugar BowlPeach Bowl winner vs. Cotton Bowl winner
Jan 1
Orange BowlRose vs. Sugar winners
And the rest of the day Jan. 1 could be taken up with a bunch of new bowl games so we can see all the snubbed teams play. Can you imagine the payouts? How about it?
Sunday, December 05, 2004
You should be outraged: How any Auburn fan managed to watch the BCS selection show without choking is mind boggling. Auburn finished the season undefeated, winning the SEC title game Saturday night. Then they found out they are not going to the national title game. They will play Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl and watch USC and Oklahoma play for the title.
Is there any more reason to have a playoff, just like EVERY other level of football? How can you say I won all my games, but I didn't even get a shot at the title. Joe Paterno has the same beef -- in 1994 he won all his games, and won the Rose Bowl convincingly over Oregon, but was not given even a piece of the National Championship.
This is disgusting. Instead of letting a group of coaches and writers decide who the best team in the land is, let the teams decide it on the field. How can anyone argue Auburn is less deserving of a shot than Oklahoma or USC for that matter?
What's really sickening is that the university presidents, who decide these types of things, say they are not thinking about the money when they say they don't want a playoff. It's probably true, a playoff system would generate millions more for the participating schools and conferences. But once again logic does not apply. No other NCAA sport has split championships. Can somebody explain this to me?
Is there any more reason to have a playoff, just like EVERY other level of football? How can you say I won all my games, but I didn't even get a shot at the title. Joe Paterno has the same beef -- in 1994 he won all his games, and won the Rose Bowl convincingly over Oregon, but was not given even a piece of the National Championship.
This is disgusting. Instead of letting a group of coaches and writers decide who the best team in the land is, let the teams decide it on the field. How can anyone argue Auburn is less deserving of a shot than Oklahoma or USC for that matter?
What's really sickening is that the university presidents, who decide these types of things, say they are not thinking about the money when they say they don't want a playoff. It's probably true, a playoff system would generate millions more for the participating schools and conferences. But once again logic does not apply. No other NCAA sport has split championships. Can somebody explain this to me?
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
FW:
IU, Don't Even Bother: Don't call me for money. After I graduated from the school, all the folks at IU have done is stick their hand out, even while I toiled at the best job my IU Journalism degree could get me: a $310 a week sportswriting job in LaPorte, Ind. I'd manage $25 here and there, and gave some more as I made more money. But no more.
The athletic department is in debt, and to close its annual deficit, the shool has imposed a $30 "fee" on the general student body. They're also paying so many people not working for the athletic department anymore: Ron Felling, Jim Izard, Bob Knight, Mike McNeely, Clarence Doninger, Kris Kirchner, etc. So many people let go before their large contracts were up. Izard sued the school for gender discrimination, and settled with the school. Knight's lawsuits are ongoing, and testament to the school cutting corners when offing him. Former university President Myles Brand parlayed the Knight axing into a job with the NCAA in Indianapolis, and the school UNBELIEVABLY decided to honor the remainder of his contract. There was even talk of leaving Brand's post open if he chose to return. Thank God that never happened.
Of course, now IU fired Gerry DiNardo after giving him a whopping three years to turnaround a program that hasn't been to a bowl game in 10 years. Three years is quite a long time, isn't it? Especially when his first year was a short recruiting year for him, and he had a hard time getting enough players suited up that first season. He never had a chance to coach his first recruiting class as seniors. Shameful.
But at least he'll be paid for two more years.
It won't be my money. The university has done enough in letting the school go to Hell to depreciate the value of my degree. As far as reputation, I might put IU ahead of Ohio State in the Big Ten. Maybe. It carries nowhere near the prestige of Northwestern, Penn State, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa, Wisconsin and even Minnesota.
Maybe I was sorely mistaken, but I thought when I made the choice to attend IU, it was among the best in the Big Ten. It wasn't a Northwestern or Michigan, but it was as good or better than just about any other Big Ten school. Academically, that is. (Meanwhile, they were competitive on the football field and basketball court.)
I hope some IU telefunder calls me. I hopefully can be harsh enough on him or her to cause said telefund student to quit.
And by the way, Notre Dame is just as nuts for canning Willingham with three years left on his contract.
The athletic department is in debt, and to close its annual deficit, the shool has imposed a $30 "fee" on the general student body. They're also paying so many people not working for the athletic department anymore: Ron Felling, Jim Izard, Bob Knight, Mike McNeely, Clarence Doninger, Kris Kirchner, etc. So many people let go before their large contracts were up. Izard sued the school for gender discrimination, and settled with the school. Knight's lawsuits are ongoing, and testament to the school cutting corners when offing him. Former university President Myles Brand parlayed the Knight axing into a job with the NCAA in Indianapolis, and the school UNBELIEVABLY decided to honor the remainder of his contract. There was even talk of leaving Brand's post open if he chose to return. Thank God that never happened.
Of course, now IU fired Gerry DiNardo after giving him a whopping three years to turnaround a program that hasn't been to a bowl game in 10 years. Three years is quite a long time, isn't it? Especially when his first year was a short recruiting year for him, and he had a hard time getting enough players suited up that first season. He never had a chance to coach his first recruiting class as seniors. Shameful.
But at least he'll be paid for two more years.
It won't be my money. The university has done enough in letting the school go to Hell to depreciate the value of my degree. As far as reputation, I might put IU ahead of Ohio State in the Big Ten. Maybe. It carries nowhere near the prestige of Northwestern, Penn State, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa, Wisconsin and even Minnesota.
Maybe I was sorely mistaken, but I thought when I made the choice to attend IU, it was among the best in the Big Ten. It wasn't a Northwestern or Michigan, but it was as good or better than just about any other Big Ten school. Academically, that is. (Meanwhile, they were competitive on the football field and basketball court.)
I hope some IU telefunder calls me. I hopefully can be harsh enough on him or her to cause said telefund student to quit.
And by the way, Notre Dame is just as nuts for canning Willingham with three years left on his contract.
