Showing posts with label Indiana Hoosiers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indiana Hoosiers. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Insight into my varied soccer resume and "expertise," gleaned first-hand from the sidelines & seats watching Pelé, the NMB Chargers, Miami Toros, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, Indiana Hoosiers and Premier League; Insightful observations and good questions from @TimothyJPratton on soccer development in the United States


@TimothyJPratt  My first story w/the Guardian asks: Are European giants exploiting US soccer or improving it?









Me, I'm the sort of soccer fan who got up very early last October to watch SkyTV's EARLY morning reporting, via my desktop, on the new English National Team football HQ at St George's Park, in Staffordshire.

The cameras literally showed the sun rising on beautiful-but-dewy empty pitches that Prince William later came by to offically christen.
So, yes, with that said, I think this article is very timely.

When I was a kid growing up in South Florida in the 1970's, my Mother worked as a secretary for Pavarini Construction as part of the Pavarini Gerrits team involved in constructing One Biscayne Tower on the corner of Flagler Street and Biscayne Blvd, the heart of what was Miami for most people I knew at the time.

One Biscayne Tower in Miami, 39 floors, 1973 Pavarini Construction, 
http://skyscrapercenter.com/miami/one-biscayne-tower/4008

That mammoth construction project was just across the street from where the office was located until the bldg. was finished in 1973, which at 39 stories, made it the largest building south of Atlanta until some time in the '90's, when I was already working up in D.C. area and not quite so aware of what new taller buildings were going up.

Their whole office could bring their families in late in the afternoon on New Years's Eve since one of the perks of that location was we could all watch the Orange Bowl Parade from their second floor balcony as it made the turn onto Flagler. That was back when NBC aired that LIVE every year across the country but the local NBC affiliate in Miami aired it the next morning, because they wanted bodies on the streets, not ratings, at the behest of the Miami business community and powers-that-be tried to put on a good face for the rest of the country.

Mr Stass had all sorts of pull and despite the great competition to get them, managed to get some tickets for the January 1975 Orange Bowl Game between Bear Bryant's Alabama squad and Notre Dame in Ara Parseghian's last game as Irish head coach. 
And he gave some of them to my Mom!
We sat in the East (open) End Zone of The Orange Bowl and we were surrounded by the extra Alabama cheerleaders, pep team, and marching band. 

For a big sports fan like me who'd grown-up watching Lindsey Nelson's ND highlight show on Sunday mornings in the fall, it was like heaven, since by then I'd already been going to U-M home games for years when Chuck Foreman and Burgess Owens played for some truly terrible U-M teams. Teams which drew so poorly that I'd often have that end zone all to myself.

Years later I often wondered whether one of the cheerleaders near me whose good looks and sweet Southern accent made me melt in my seat might've included Sela Ward.

In those days, Sela dated future Dolphin 'Killer B' defensive star Bob Baumhower. 
The romantic in me likes to imagine that Sela was sitting there, somewhere, in that row behind me, so I'd like to think that game was where I first heard and saw the wonderful Sela, whom I've admired and adored since first seeing her on the big screen in Chicago at the theatre at Water Tower in 1986's "Nothing in Common," starring Tom Hanks and Jackie GleasonIronically, a film set in Chicago. 

My mother's boss, Frank J, Stass was also a public policy, civic-minded type -back when Miami
had more of them them- who was always willing to do his part to help local Miami businesses.
When the NASL came to Miami as the Gatos, he bought some season tickets for the games at the Orange Bowl, for employees and they were excellent seats!
Right in the middle of the stadium and about 15 rows up, back when the Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Cosmos were their biggest and most bitter of rivals.

I first started going when they were the Gatos in 1971, as a ten-year old, and kept going after they were re-christened the Toros. Before the Robbies moved the Toros up to Fort Lauderdale and they become the Strikers, they played the Cosmos in Pele's first game in Miami his first year in the NASL.

For some reason that I don't quite recall, they played the game out on the VERY NICE soccer field out at FIU which later became the FIU football team's many, many years later once they got D-1 football and expanded the facility. 

(That was the best soccer field in South Florida outside of Lockhart Stadium, where my junior year at IU, 1982, we beat Duke there for the NCAA championship on the 2nd or 3rd day of my Christmas Break, which created an awesome scene back at the Yankee Trader Hotel hotel afterwards with all my close friends on the team -and their parents and the whole IU and Hoosier sports administrators, plus Indy media.)

Team photo of 1982 NCAA Champion Indiana Hoosiers coached by Jerry Yeagley

But for the Pele first match, the capacity was just over 10,000 and since we were season ticket holders of a sort, we got first dibs and I was even able to persuade my non-soccer loving father to come long. He'd come to some of my youth games once in a while but he was not someone who was a natural fan 

Yes, I think it's fair to say that from 1971 to 1976, there were few people in South Florida who 
attended more Miami Gatos/Toros NASL soccer games at the Orange Bowl than yours truly.

I witnessed all their great FEISTY and bitter games against their arch-rival Tampa Bay Rowdies back when that was the only pro team Tampa had, and their fans WOULD travel in droves and tailgate HERE. I even witnessed their heart-breaking loss on penalty kicks in the 1974 NASL title game at the Orange Bowl -televised by CBS- to the Los Angeles Aztecs. AFTER two over-times on a hot and humid afternoon! 

Somewhere, I still have the Toros game programs, esp. the ones that on the cover proclaimed Kyle Rote, Jr. of the Dallas Tornadoes as "the American Pelé." 
As many of you may recall, Rote was a tremendously talented player who understood his unique role as an ambassador for the sport, but even though I was a kid at the time, I thought that putting things like that on the cover of game programs was FAR TOO MUCH pressure for a kid just barely out of college!

Because of our location and demographics, I was fortunate to play for some very talented Optimist teams in North Miami Beach -after football and baseball season were over- that had a mix of styles and lots of telnted kids from lots of different countries, esp. Latin America.
After that,  was fortunate to go to North Miami Beach Senior High, a high school in South Florida with a great soccer reputation, despite it being only a few years old, thanks entirely to the devotion, dedication and hard work of our head coach Victor "Vic" Cappillo, who also drove the team bus to all points on the compass. 
(Coach Cappillo later wrote a letter of recommendation for me to IU.)

While I was still in eight-grade at JFK Junior High, with my personality, nose for news and media inclinations being roughly the same as they are now, just less developed, in part because I was already known to most of the players, and a friend to many, I persuaded Coach Cappillo to let me be the Team Manager, attending all home and away matches and handled calling the two Miami newspapers afterwards to drum up support in getting us some publicity.
And I was very successful.
But our great talent on the field certainly helped!

The following year, 1975-76, when I was a freshman, this good relationship continued and thanks to a historic Ciro Martinez-led last-second Charger win at arch-rival North Miami, a game whose last two minutes seemed to go in slo-motion, we eventually won the 1976 Florida high Scool soccer championship.
Days afterwards at a team dinner to honor the team and its supporters, I unexpectedly received a blue Varsity Letterman's jacket that quickly became my most valuable possession for years afterwards, despite how impractical a jacket is in NMB for most of the year because of the weather.
I'd wear that jacket every chance I had whenever it got under 50 degrees.

In 1977, with most of the team returning, one of our two arch-rivals, nearby Miami Norland Senior High School, inflicted a painful loss on the Chargers, knocking us out of the Florida state playoffs at Lockhart Stadium and ending our hope of winning back-to-back Florida state soccer championships. The Norland Vikings eventually finished as the state runner-up that year.

When Joe and Elizabeth Robbie relocated the team to Ft. Lauderdale and Lockhart Stadium for the 1977 season, much closer to my friends and I in North Miami Beach, we were ecstatic. The drive to Lockhart up I-95 was so much quicker, as we joined other "Striker Likers," eager to literally yell ourselves hoarse watching their exciting brand of soccer, esp, against the dreaded Rowdies and Cosmos! 
Oh, did we ever hate them!

(This happened to coincide with a time period when the Dolphins were less successful due to the reign of the Steelers and Raiders and the rise of the Bert Jones-led Baltimore Colts, so it was great to be able to cheer in-person at a home game and not have it be sarcastic.) 

When the NASL folded and then went indoor via the awful MISL, I never looked back at pro soccer teams in the U.S. because at the time it meant that my IU friends -and neighbors like Mike Hylla and Dave Boncek, who were always doing impressive skill and control drills in front of the swimming pool at out apt. complex- could never play for teams outdoors in their own country, as soccer was clearly intended to be played.

Even now, after all these years and all the effort they've put into trying to make it palatable, I've NEVER watched even one minute of the MLS on ESPN. 

To me, it's largely unwatchable, so I just stick to English Premier League games. 
I did go see some of the WUSA games, though, while I was in DC when Mia Hamm played for the Freedom.

I will be updating this post over the next few days, looking to include some photos.

Friday, December 20, 2013

On a truly momentous day for Indiana Hoosier fans, players and coaches, one that'll result in $40 Million making the long overdue renovation of basketball icon Assembly Hall a reality, where's The BigTenNetwork with any coverage and original content? Nowhere to be found! Isn't that supposed to be what THEY do?; @BigTenNetwork @DavidWoods007 @DustinDopirak @HoosierFaithful @IndianaMBB @insidethehall @iubbhoosiers ‏@IUBloomington @Justin_Albers ‏@OurIndiana @rickbozich



IUAthletics YouTube Channel video: IU Athletics Receives Historic Gift: Fred Glass and President Michael A. McRobbie. Uploaded December 19, 2013
http://youtu.be/ev5UgwK27PQ
"Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie today announced that IU Athletics has received a $40 million gift - the largest in its history - from IU alumna Cindy Simon Skjodt to provide much needed renovations to Assembly Hall and launch IU Athletics' ambitious and unprecedented $150 million "Catching Excellence: The Campaign for Indiana University Athletics" capital campaign. President McRobbie also announced that in honor of the landmark gift made by Catching Excellence co-chair Cindy Simon Skjodt and her philanthropic organization, the Samerian Foundation, IU will rename Assembly Hall the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall."


On a momentous day when Generosity, Hoosier Love and Big Bucks come knocking, IU Hoosier AD Fred Glass knows to open the door and welcome them in. Result? $40 Million to the IU Athletic Dept. and the over-due renovation of basketball icon, Assembly Hall. But where's the BigTenNetwork with any coverage? Nowhere to be found!

Below is the Indy Star's video of the complete 2:30 p.m. announcement, including remarks by philanthropic Hoosier Cindy Simon Skjodt, followed by links to their stories by Zach Osterman@ZachOsterman https://twitter.com/ZachOsterman

By the way, in case you were wondering about the name and any prospective name changes in the future, IU's policies rule out corporate names, so at least that's a positive.
No worry about being changed to give some PR to insurance names, car parts manufacturers, et al, like has happened at Joe Robbie Stadium, which has been desecrated with awful corporate names -including bankrupt companies- over the past 20 years, none of which I use on this blog. :)





IU's Assembly Hall: Its origin and its future 
By Zach Osterman, zach.osterman@indystar.com 
Includes renderings and schematics

IU icon to become Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall 
By Bob Kravitz and Zach Osterman, bob.kravitz@indystar.com 
8:30 p.m. EST December 19, 2013
http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/indiana/2013/12/19/indiana-university-assembly-hall-basketball/4123963/


So, did you see happen to turn your TV dial to The BigTenNetwork on Thursday to see how they were bringing its viewers around the country up-to-date on what happened in Bloomington on Thursday afternoon, a moment that could prove so very important to the future success of Hoosier Nation and its legion of fans and former players -and future fans and players- who want more consistent success, but with the requisite amount of class we've come to expect and demand?

No, of course not, because they didn't do a damn thing.
I'm writing and posting this online more than 12 hours after that press conference at Assembly Hall has been over, and there is still no original content of any kind about the story of a very generous IU alum with control over $40 Million knocking on the door and Fred Glass being smart enough to hold the door wide open.
And what might happen next as a result of that.

There's no original content of theirs of consequence about this subject on The BigTenNetwork website anywhere. 
Not even the video that most of us have now seen more than a few times.
Why?

I thought one of the principal reasons for the network being created in the first place, besides the need by the Big Ten office to make even more money from national and regional advertisers and give millions of that to the athletic departments, was to be able to directly service and connect fans and alumni from Big Ten schools, often located far from those campuses, like me here in South Florida, with what was actually going on.
The sort of thing that leads some fans to even finally start giving some money back to their schools, even if not quite $40 Million.

But here we are, more than six years after its creation, and all my doubts over the years about what they were actually doing, producing and seemingly settling for, have proven more true than I wanted in one big strikeout for Hoosier fans across the country.

The BigTenNetwork is NOT a Community College alternative radio station in the Quad Cities or a student-run newspaper run out of a Columbus office building by some silver spoon legacy whose father owns the building, they're supposed to be a professional media organization that has the resources and common sense to know in advance of a big story to ACTUALLY have people in place to cover the story and tell an original and compelling story that's different than the one told by the ambitious beat reporters for the school newspaper or the breezy comments offered by national reporters doing drive-bys on cold winter days.
So where were they?


WISH-TV, Channel 8, Indianapolis videoIU's Assembly Hall to be renamed after donation
By Jeff Wagner 
Updated: Thursday, December 19, 2013, 7:59 PM EST 
Published: Thursday, December 19, 2013, 2:38 PM EST
http://www.wishtv.com/news/local/iu-makes-major-announcement

13 WTHR Indianapolis

WTHR-TV, Channel 13 Indianapolis video: Philanthropist donates $40M for Assembly Hall renovation  
Updated: Dec 19, 2013 6:21 PM EST
http://www.wthr.com/story/24262048/2013/12/19/sources-iu-renaming-assembly-hall

My other blog, to be rejuvenated in the new year, is South Beach Hoosier:
http://southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/

Saturday, November 2, 2013

More on Hoosier Great Walt Bellamy who died this morning, a seminal member of #HoosierNation; #iubb, #Hoosiers






A starter on the IU basketball team from 1959-61, Walt Bellamy was also IU's Most Valuable Player, an All-Big Ten and All-American in his junior and senior seasons of 1960 and 1961, the starting center of the Gold Medal-winning Olympic basketball team at the 1960 Rome Olympics, and remains IU's all-time IU rebound leader. He was a 1982 Inductee into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame.

Rookie of the Year Roommates: Bellamy's freshman roommate was IU football star Earl Faison. Their first year away from IU, Faison, of the San Diego Chargers, was named AFL Rookie of the year while Bellamy, with the Chicago Packers, was voted NBA Rookie of the Year. 

More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Bellamy

I must've sat in the TV room at the Indiana Memorial Union hundreds and hundreds of times with Walt Bellamy's black & white photo right next to me from 1979-1983, watching local news, sports, General Hospital, All My Children, et al when that room was packed full of IU students and festooned with Hoosier athletic memories from decades past, from floor to ceiling, basketballs to footballs, photos and trophies.

Only one of my favorite places on campus, it was also my (and many friends') unofficial hangout in that era before cell phones made communication so easy.
And with all the long hours I put in with the Student Athletic Board (SAB)and the-then IU Student Alumni Council, (SAC), as I've written here previously, I sometimes spent more time there than I did at home in my apt.

On a huge-but-beautiful campus like we were blessed to enjoy in Bloomington, with so many attractive distractions and lots of distance sometimes between classes in my case, that TV room at the enormous Student Union, with all of its memories was one of my/our Centers of the Universe, every IU team photo, medal, football, basketball like part of our family heritage that we had an obligation to live up to.

And in my sophomore year of 1980-1981, we did, winning the fourth of IU's NCAA basketball championships, with the able defensive help of one of my friends, James "Jim" Thomas, #20, Mr. Florida Basketball his senior year at Nova High School in Davie, and a member of the 1981 NCAA Tournament All-First Team for everything he did to help the Hoosiers that remarkable March to remember.
Jim was Coach Knight's first-ever recruit ever from Florida.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Tweets of Note: Recent Pop Culture & Sports Odds & Ends you may've missed -September 21 thru October 5, 2013
















LA Times: Jimmy Kimmel's Obamacare stunt: How infallible is public opinion?







You can see more of that Bars routine in the video below of her training. Lest we forget, when she really puts her mind to it, Mustafina is Magic!


























































Great photo of "Downton's Uptown Girl" in the Sunday Telegraph: Michelle Dockery, a.k.a. Lady Mary, the English Rose whom this blog dearly loves.
Caption underneath photo reads: "Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary in Downton Abbey, ahead of tonight’s Emmy Awards. She is nominated as best actress."

Sunday, September 1, 2013

#1-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, defending NCAA Mens Soccer Champs, host #9 UCLA Bruins on the BigTenNetwork today at 2 p.m.; @IUMensSoccer, #Hoosiers, #IUMS, @HoosierArmy,@JBushue17, @BTN_Indiana, #FillTheBill


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I never get tired of seeing this -I agree!
Or this...





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My last three blog posts on the Soccer Hoosier squad were these posts:


December 10, 2012 
The #8thStar fell in Alabama! Hoosiers’ Quest For Eight is Mission Accomplished! Hoosier goalie Luis Soffner pitches third shut-out in a row in leading Hoosiers to 1-0 win over Georgetown to earn their 8th NCAA soccer title; Jordan Hulls shows Hoosier Pride!; #Q48, #8thSTAR, @JordanHulls1

December 9, 2012 
Quest for 8: IU's Soccer Hoosiers battle Georgetown today at 2 p.m. Eastern for 8th NCAA Mens Soccer title; @IUMensSoccer, ‏@HoosierArmy, @KirkwoodBar in Chicago

December 7, 2012
IU's Soccer Hoosiers face Creighton in NCAA College Cup 2nd Semifinal at 7:30 p.m. tonight on ESPNU for record 18th College Cup appearance; Georgetown plays Maryland in opener at 5 p.m.

Official IU Soccer team web page:
http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/m-soccer/ind-m-soccer-body.html

Big Ten Network @BigTenNetwork  https://twitter.com/BigTenNetwork
@BTN_Indiana  https://twitter.com/BTN_Indiana
Indiana Athletics @OurIndiana  https://twitter.com/OurIndiana
http://www.idsnews.com/blogs/hoosierhype/


Saturday, February 2, 2013

Must-see TV tonight! #1Michigan at #3 Indiana tonight at Assembly Hall on ESPN at 9 p.m.; @OurIndiana, @TomCrean, @INDIANAMBB, #Iubb, #CollegeGameDay

ESPN video: On CBB Live Extra, Jay Williams breaks down the matchup between No. 1 Michigan and No. 3 IU. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=8899994
Must-see TV tonight! #1Michigan at #3 Indiana tonight at Assembly Hall on ESPN at 9 p.m.; @OurIndiana, @TomCrean, @INDIANAMBB, #Iubb, #CollegeGameDay
Jay Williams is 100% right about the better strategy being to start Remy Abell instead of slower Jordan Hulls
And it would be great to know in advance which Cody Zeller will show-up tonight?
The one Hoosier Nation expected, or the one who's played most of the year so far, who has shown flashes of what we expected but...

I think/hope Victor Oladipo will win the game for the Hoosiers tonight to put the Hoosiers back into the #1 position in the polls next week -unless the Wolverines get a lot more free throw attempts because the IU defense is allowing too many drives to the hoop and they're called for fouls instead of having proper position and taking the charge.
"ESPN’s Saturday Primetime Presented by DIRECTV telecast - is in its ninth season and on Saturday, Feb. 2, it will originate from the Indiana University campus. The first hour begins at 10 a.m. ET on ESPNU, continuing at 11 a.m. on ESPN with a one-hour edition at 8 p.m. on ESPN The Michigan-Indiana game will tip-off at 9 p.m." 
Photos of the ESPN College GameDay set-up: http://indianambb.tumblr.com/post/42041695138/photos-from-espn-college-gameday-around-assembly


IUAthletics YouTube Channel video: IU coach Tom Crean at Friday's press conference to discuss Saturday night's game against Michigan on ESPN at 9 p.m. http://youtu.be/9LwUO5WiprY


IUAthletics YouTube Channel video: Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford on the task ahead of them Saturday night. http://youtu.be/9czmcI7psPQ

http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/m-baskbl/ind-m-baskbl-body.html

(official) Indiana University Athletics YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/IUAthletic

Indiana Athletics on Twitter, @OurIndiana, https://twitter.com/ourindiana

Five Banners - IU Mens Basketball on tumblr: http://indianambb.tumblr.com/