Jay Bilas Calls Rick Greenspan "Incompetent"

On Tony Kornheiser's radio show today, Jay Bilas was asked about Bruce Pearl and the Indiana job. He said, "Indiana is a little bit disfunctional right now. And, honestly Tony, I wouldn't work for that athletic director for any amount of money. I don't think he's competent." This echoes John Feinstein's sentiments when Sampson was hired.

Unfortunately, since he's on the 'blue ribbon committee,' he will certainly be around for a while. It also means that IU will take the safer (and reasonable to me) choice of Tony Bennett over Pearl.

Dick or Rod or Johnson...Johnson?

The Cubs have added the right handed Reed Johnson to platoon with Felix Pie in centerfield. A good pickup, it says here. I was at Skydome on Father's Day 2003, and Johnson hit a tenth inning walk off home run off Mark Guthrie. Is it Opening Day Yet?

With a Whimper

Other than D.J. White, Armon Bassett, and Lance Stemler, the team quit after their coach got gacked. Seems to me that they resented that their guy, Ray McCallum didnt get the job, and the new guy (and Knight guy) Dan Dakich did get the job. I think they also resented the crowd's cheering for Dakich (both in Bloomington, and in Evanston, where I saw them) after booing Sampson the way they did at the end. This was not a team that the fans liked, and the feeling, unfortunately, was mutual.

Hopefully, the new coach will be a non-Knight guy who will return the pride to this program.

As for Eric Gordon, he never recovered from the game in Champaign, which tells you a little something about his heart and mind. Luckily, he will never face that kind of scrutiny in the NBA.

2008 NCAA Tournament Map

Click the link above to see it very clearly. Where can I find the NIT and CBI maps?

Indiana to Be One of Last Teams to Lose in First Round

The Hoosiers will be losing to Arkansas in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, but the good news for IU fans is that they will get to watch almost the entire first round before watching their team lose, as their game starts at 640p (Vegas time). Your Humble Correspondent will be in Vegas, and is looking forward to betting against his alma mater, especially in the first half. We notice that Indiana started out a 2 point favorite, and it is now down to one. By the time we get out there, the will be getting points.


Disclaimer: if IU happens to win their first game, they will come close, but lose to North Carolina.

Indiana's 2009 Post-Season Destination

Get ready for the College Basketball Invitational. Having a bad season, even below .500? Doesn’t matter. Have a big name that will provide good ratings for their Television partner, Fox College Sports? Perfect.

From the organizers of the College Hoops Classic, the O'Reilly Auto Parts Classic, and other pre-season tournaments comes this rival to the NIT. While the 32-team NCAA-owned NIT now has a rule about being .500 or better, and gives automatic bids to teams that win their regular season but lose the automatic bid in their conference tournament, the CBI is all about the money.

Organizers of the CBI are trying to lure teams away form the NIT with promises of more money, home games (meaning more money), and guaranteed exposure on Fox Regional Sports affiliates. Compelling to your humble correspondent is the idea that the last two teams will play a best-two-out-of-three final.

It is also wise enough not to schedule any of its games opposite the NCAAs. All-in-all, if crappy teams can go to bowl games and sell t-shirts., then crappy basketball teams should be allowed to hang a CBI banner.

The Daily Herald is reporting that one such team is the Illinois-Chicago Flames, they of the 18-15 record. the school has signed a contract with the College Basketball Invitational.
The contract doesn't guarantee the Flames will be in the field that will be announced Sunday, but it gets them in the mix.

If UIC gets in, it requires a not insignificant investment on the school's part. The Flames must guarantee $60,000 to the tournament, with that money being recouped with ticket sales, etc. Sounds like a losing proposition to me. Missouri agrees. On the other hand, Rhode Island wants a bid. Washington is ready to be convinced.

Shithead Convention

A drunk who enables steroid users and dead pitchers, a boorish coach who calls media people whores, and then becomes one himself, and the father of a guy who starts brawls in Spring Training games.

Sean Marshall's Wife Redefines "TV Personality"

The Cubs were on WGN today, and as background noise, it was just fine. Len and Bob had a whole bunch of guests saying the same things they have said in the papers the past week, until Alexis Marshall, wife of Cub lefty (and Brian Roberts trade bait) Sean Marshall. She was flogging some food drive at Spring Training in Mesa. I suppose they were counting on the Superstation to reach the Arizona fans.

Anyway, they are newlyweds. Brenly asked if she knew "what she was getting herself into" by marrying a "major league pitcher." She wondered if he knew what he was getting by being with a "television personality." A whaaat, I thought? Never heard of her.

After a modicum of research, I found she is Alexis of Ron, Rick and Alexis on the Fox affiliate in Phoenix' morning show. Television personality? I suppose. She does not cop to the identity of her husband, but does refer to her dog, "Cubby."

What I found really compelling was her blog. She talks about everything, yet nothing at all. She reminded me of Suzanne Stone.

On American Idol: Melinda Doolittle was on set with us this morning! ...she was also such a sweetheart! She said that she’s been SUPER busy since American Idol, but loves her schedule and all the cool things she gets to do.

On Chicago (and coming to the Cubs Convention): I am going to Chicago this weekend and boy is it going to be so cold there. The high on Saturday is supposed to be 9 degrees. BRRRRR! Even though I would choose warm weather over cold weather any day, I am looking forward to a nice chilly weekend. Once in a while it’s fun to bundle up in your warmest sweater and drink hot chocolate. The good news is, I’m only going for a weekend, so if I can’t handle the Chicago weather…I’ll be back to sunny, mild Arizona on Monday.