America's annual love affair is thus renewed: NCAA "March Madness explained with Star Wars"

Satire YouTube Channel video: March Madness explained with Star Wars. Uploaded March 19, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxPlHW0J2sU.

As always, when confused, consult the source: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

More videos at: https://www.youtube.com/user/Satire

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.

Above, what's left of my old 1990's IU soccer t-shirt, which I also bought two of from TIS Books in Bloomington for my two young nieces to wear in 1998, which we all wore when we watched the World Cup games in France on ABC-TV at my sister's house in Maryland. It didn't help the U.S. or the Netherlands, the two teams we were rooting for.

After eight years in the darkness, the Soccer Hoosiers have returned to the bright lights of the Final Four, the NCAA's College Cup, after defeating defending NCAA champion North Carolina 1-0 last Friday.

IU's Soccer Hoosiers face Creighton in NCAA College Cup 2nd Semifinal tonight at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU for record 18th College Cup appearance; Georgetown plays Maryland in opener at 5 p.m., DirecTV Channel 208

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

Watch online here via WatchESPN:

http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/688115/georgetown-vs-maryland-semifinal-1

http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/688139/indiana-vs-creighton-semifinal-2

The final is Sunday at 2 p.m. and also on ESPNU

Space limitations here prevent me from naming all my friends who were players on IU's 7-time NCAA Soccer champions, whose many exploits & comebacks at Armstrong Stadium under coach Jerry Yeagley I recall like they were yesterday, happily, often in the company of my friend Laura Seitz from Pittsburgh, wearing her red Adidas IU swimming warm-up jacket that always made my charming friend's very good looks just pop-out a little bit more.

Well, okay, I'll name two, IU soccer phenoms Mike Hylla and Dave Boncek, of St. Louis, part of IU's much-vaunted St. Louis pipeline, who were twice members of an IU NCAA champion team in 1982 and '83, and the runner-up team in '84.

Dave and Mike lived in the same apt. complex as me, Dunhill Apartments, directly west from Memorial Stadium, and not surprisingly, like all IU soccer players, or at least the vast majority of them that I knew, were personable and funny.

Those qualities always made rooting for them very easy on those rare times when we were actually trailing in a close game.

Since they had a very particular talent for showing some crazy soccer skills, they were very adept at always kicking the ball around near the pool -basically, just below my apt. and what our living room window opened up to- while simultaneously noticing, along with me- who among the bevvy of beautiful IU coeds lying around the pool still retained their spring break tans.

Yes, that a was a very nice place to live!

(I think the daughter of IU team doctor, Dr. Brad Bomba lived there as well, if I recall. 

Dr. Bomba was an All-American end when he was at IU in the mid-1950's.)

If YouTube has existed then, I would've definitely uploaded video of their gravity-defying dexterity with a soccer ball, as they seemingly could keep soccer balls in the air forever.

None of those soccer triumphs were more memorable or deserved than the 1982 NCAA eight-overtime title game victory over Duke, which I witnessed in person over Christmas break at Ft. Lauderdale's Lockhart Stadium, in what remains THE longest game in the history of college soccer. 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1126243/index.htm

Afterwards, jubilant Hoosier players, coaches, families and supporters -like me- partied all-night in the hallways in the team's hotel, the Ft. Lauderdale Sheraton Yankee Trader.

It was one of the happiest days of my time in Bloomington -success!!! 

-----

IU soccer merchandise at the official online store:

http://iuhoosiers.cbscollegestore.com/search.cfm?store_id=406

#2 Princeton Tigers storm back to defeat #1 North Carolina 3-2 in Norfolk and capture their first NCAA Field Hockey Championship

Wow! 
Just watched the #2 Princeton Tigers storm back to defeat #1 North Carolina 3-2, and capture their first NCAA Field Hockey Championship in a match that was both frenetic and an example of a beautiful game when played with so many high-caliber players who actually do all the small details consistently. (Yes, just like watching Glenelg High School!)

With a new state-of-the-art turf field, Bedford Field, a wonderful head coach in Kristen Holmes-Winn, someone who played at a very high level herself, and perfectly positioned geographically to get well-grounded and elite recruits from both the Mid-Atlantic and Tri-State area, Princeton is, literally, a dynasty in the making... just like Northwestern in Women's Lacrosse under head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller.who have won 7 of the last 8 NCAA titles.

http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205749560&DB_OEM_ID=10600

Meanwhile locally, in the year 2012, the University of Miami has neither a varsity Field Hockey team or a Women's Lacrosse team, despite getting lots of students from areas of the country where those sports are very popular at both the youth and high school level -the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Why?

That makes as much sense as Miami NOT having a Men's Golf team.

Top-ranked North Carolina faces #2 Princeton Sunday in its quest for their 7th NCAA Field Hockey title, but you can't watch it on TV. Despite all the lip service given by U.S. cable sports channels -and advertisers- to taking Women's sports more seriously, unless you're in Norfolk, VA at 1 p.m., you'll have to watch via NCAA.com

http://www.goheels.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=1096205

So many cable sports channels offer third and fourth-rate programming opposite LIVE NFL telecasts, but despite it being an Olympic sport, one that the U.S. did very well at in London this summer, and defeating Argentina earlier in the year, apparently there's no time or space for the NCAA Field Hockey title match between Princeton and North Carolina on any of the following network of families that have about 15-20 channels among them on my DirecTV sports tier package: ESPN, Fox Sportsnet, CBS Sports Network and NBC Sports Network.

ESPN can show you a zillion NCAA Softball tourney games in the summer featuring a handful of teams teams you've already seen -or think you've already seen because that tourney seems to be 24/7 for 3-4 days, with each team seemingly equipped with one lanky left-handed pitcher and one very large right-handed pitcher- but they can't seem to find a space for two hours for the D1 title match of an Olympic sport, something that softball is decidedly not? Yes.
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/fieldhockey/d1

To me, it's not unlike the fact that U.S. gymnastics fans gets such crummy coverage of the NCAA Mens and Womens Gymnastics Championships, as last year Alabama won their second-straight  Women's title, and Illinois won the Men's title -ignored.
For years CBS Sports has not only shown the championships on a delayed basis, but weeks after-the-fact.

Which is why despite all the lip service given by those networks and advertisers to taking women sports more seriously, unless you're going to be in Norfolk, VA on Sunday afternoon, the only way you can see the Tigers-Tar Heels match is at:NCAA.com 

Video of semifinals, UNC over UVA and Princeton over Maryland is here:
http://www.ncaa.com/video?ncaa_mid=vod:fieldhockey#!playlists/sports/fieldhockey/d1



http://www.goprincetontigers.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=1096704
More highlights of Princeton over Maryland.

Watch the title match LIVE here at 1:00 p.m. Eastern: 

http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2012/11/18?SPSID=667882&SPID=12961&DB_LANG=C&SITE=UNC&DB_OEM_ID=3350

New York Times 

The Quad blog

Unfamiliar Foes in the Field Hockey Final

By Clare Lochary

November 17, 2012, 10:00 PM

Princeton Coach Kristen Holmes-Winn told her field hockey players that passion, not pedigree, would be the deciding factor in the Tigers’ N.C.A.A. semifinal game against Maryland, the two-time defending national champion, on Friday, and she proved correct.

Read the rest of the post at: 

http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/unfamiliar-foes-in-the-field-hockey-final/

More on the dangers of the 'Joe Pa' cult of personality: WSJ's Reed Albergotti gets in-depth re Paterno's battles with PSU officials re punishment

Joe Paterno as Darth Sidious Time Lapse Painting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQa_DBRoNu0&feature=colike

I read this Wall Street Journal article about yet another aspect of Joe Paterno's longstanding attempt to control all aspects of what happens with the Penn State football team

-and to steamroll legitimate scrutiny by others- with rapt attention within minutes of it first appearing online.

Afterwards, I sent the link to just about everyone I know who'd appreciate what was really going on here: Paterno's real character and authoritarian tendencies being revealed, and PSU administrators not eager to get into a pissing contest with a sports icon, even when he was clearly wrong.

To me, this is not unlike what many outsiders and constant critics of him always wanted to believe were true about Bobby Knight but weren't, and when they leveled many of their unfounded criticisms of Coach Knight, many sportswriters and journalists used sainted ol' Joe Pa the Pious as the model for angelic probity.

The only way this could have been better would have been if there was video of kindly Joe Pa saying, "Boys will be boys."

Well, now we are all learning the truth about who really believed in holding everyone on the team accountable to one high standard -Coach Knight- and who wanted special (favorable) treatment and dispensations for his players -Coach Paterno.

Sure would be nice to hear some nationally-known sports writers finally admit they were 100% wrong before they retire for good.

Don't hold your breath!

Joe Paterno really DID believe that the Penn State football players he coached should be held to a lesser standard than the one regular PSU students were supposed to follow, even when they violated the law or ran afoul of school rules. For instance, this nugget after a number of player incidents receive serious push-back from school administrators who wanted one firmly understood standard for everyone:

The incident prompted Mr. Spanier to visit Dr. Triponey at her home. Dr. Triponey confirms he told her that Mr. Paterno had given him an ultimatum: Fire her, or Mr. Paterno would stop fund-raising for the school. She says Mr. Spanier told her that if forced to choose, he would choose her over the coach—but that he did not want to have to make that choice.

Excellent reporting that is long overdue!!!

Wall Street Journal

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

A Discipline Problem, Paterno Fought Penn State Official Over Punishment of Players

By Reed Albergotti

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.—Legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno clashed repeatedly with the university's former chief disciplinarian over how harshly to punish players who got into trouble, internal emails suggest, shedding new light on the school's effort to balance its reputation as a magnet for scholar-athletes with the demands of running a nationally dominant football program.

Read the rest of the article at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204443404577052073672561402.html

See Reed Albergotti's answers to reader questions about this article, here:

http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2011/11/22/chat-send-us-your-questions-on-paterno/

Wednesday's follow-up to this article is:

Two Views on Administrator

Some at Penn State Call Ex-Official Courageous, Others Say She Micromanaged

By Reed Albergotti and Rachel Bachman

The former Pennsylvania State University administrator who clashed with football coach Joe Paterno over player discipline was seen by supporters during her time at the school as a courageous leader but by critics as a micromanager of student groups.

Read the rest of the article at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204443404577054632030945696.html

Big East & Ivy League Women's Lacrosse championships airing on TV Sat. & Sun.; D-1 Men's & Women's NCAA selection show on Sunday night

The Big East & Ivy League Women's Lacrosse championships are airing on Saturday & Sunday on CBS Sports Network -DirecTV Channel 613.
http://www.cbscollegesports.com/

Last night in Washington, D.C., Notre Dame upset top-seed and host Georgetown 15-12.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/sports/collegesports/notredame/sbt-notre-dame-womens-lacrosse-nd-women-upset-hoyas-20110506,0,4117237.story while Loyola hung on to defeat Syracuse 12-11.
http://www.nunesmagician.com/2011/5/6/2157182/syracuse-lacrosse-womens-loyola-mens-st-johns-big-east-tournament-seniors

The Big East championship airs LIVE at 1 p.m. Saturday from Georgetown University.
Notre Dame vs. Loyola.
Repeats at 5:30 p.m., 12:30 a.m., 11 am Sunday morning

The Ivy League Semifinals are tonight at Franklin Field, Philadelphia.
Princeton vs. Penn and Dartmouth vs. Harvard

The Ivy League championship airs LIVE 1 p.m. Sunday at Franklin Field, Philadelphia
http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/sports/wlax/2010-11/releases/Ivy_League_Tournament_Preview
Repeats at 5:30 p.m., 2 am Monday morning

In the past few years, as I've watched things, Penn has always been 'wicked' tough and and fights for 60 minutes -unlike the sad-sack Miami Dolphins!.

A few minutes from Penn head coach Karin Brower Corbett's TV show from May 3rd:
http://www.pennathletics.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?&db_oem_id=1700&id=771115&DB_MENU_ID=&SPSID=&SPID=&DB_OEM_ID=1700

--------
The Division 1 Men's and Women's NCAA selection shows air Sunday night

At 7:30 p.m. you can watch the Division I Women's Lacrosse Selection announcement of the 16 teams at NCAA.com
Championship weekend will be at Stony Brook University, Long Island, May 27 & 29. http://www.ncaa.com/sports/lacrosse-women/d1

At 9:00 p.m., ESPNU, DirecTV Channel 208, airs the Division I Men's Lacrosse Selection announcements of the 16 participating teams.
Championship weekend will be at M&T Stadium in Baltimore, May 28 and 30.
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/lacrosse-men/d1

See also: Baltimore Sun's Lacrosse homepage, the best newspaper website for college lacrosse in the country:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/lacrosse/

Baltimore Sun's lacrosse blog:
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/lacrosse/blog/

Baltimore Sun's lacrosse forums:
http://talk.baltimoresun.com/forumdisplay.php?f=42

Tonight at 8 pm, ESPNU will be airing the Notre Dame at North Carolina Men's match at Chapel Hill.

N.Y. Times' experts explain it all -Navigating the Bracket: Which teams have the makeup to go all the way, and which teams are potential upset picks?

New York Times video: Navigating the Bracket
Which teams have the makeup to go all the way, and which teams are potential upset picks? NYT sports reporter Pete Thamel and NYT political analyst Nate Silver of Five Thirty Eight blog give their take. Produced by Justin Sablich, Tamir Elterman.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/03/14/sports/ncaabasketball/100000000725879/navigating-the-bracket.html

See also:

Chicago Tribune
Obama talks chalk with NCAA picks
By Michael A. Memoli, Washington Bureau
6:34 p.m. CDT, March 16, 2011
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/ct-talk-obama-ncaa-picks-0317-20110316,0,3277711.story

At IU, we had a name for someone like President Obama who picks all the top-ranked teams to make it to the Elite 8: a butt-kissing corporate shill.


Who’s No. 1? Investigating the Mathematics of Rankings
By Patrick Honner amd Holly Epstein Ojalvo
March 14, 2011, 3:02 pm
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/whos-no-1e-investigating-the-mathematics-of-rankings/


Five Thirty Eight blog
When 15th Is Better Than 8th: The Math Shows the Bracket Is Backward
By Nate Silver
March 15, 2011, 11:40 pm

Suppose that, lucky you, you’re the coach of a team given a No. 8 seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament bracket.

This is a less-than-ideal position: provided that you win your first-round game, you’re due to face the No. 1 seed in the second round.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/when-15th-is-better-than-8th-the-math-shows-the-bracket-is-backward/

For more info:
http://ncaabracket.nytimes.com/2011/bracket/men/
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/t/pete_thamel/index.html
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes

No. 2 UVA at No. 1 Syracuse Mens Lacrosse tonight on ESPNU at 6 p.m.; plus, will Lacey Myers show-up?; UVA to retire Yeardley Love's number Sunday

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6173759

Well, it's not like I wasn't already looking forward to this exciting match tonight between UVA and Syracuse on ESPNU, ever since I got a good look two weekends ago during their Lacrosse Preview show and saw the schedule of televised matches this Spring.
http://espn.go.com/lacrosse/

That schedule will, apparently, include two Womens matches.
Last year I saw a lot of Northwestern's matches, but when Maryland came back to beat Northwestern in the title game at Towson, that was easily one of the most exciting things I saw all year.

Frankly, to me, it was MUCH more exciting than the Auburn-Oregon BCS Title Game in Phoenix this past January.

-----
Baltimore Sun
Syracuse, UVa. gear up for 'game of the year'
By Edward Lee, The Baltimore Sun
5:44 p.m. EST, March 3, 2011

It doesn't have the levels of hysteria generated when the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers clash or when the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees meet, but the series between Syracuse and Virginia has been gaining steam in the sport of lacrosse.

That's why Friday night's contest at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., is already being called the game of the 2011 season, and it's only early March.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/lacrosse/bs-sp-lax-feature-0304-20110303,0,4756447.story

But, the Internet being what it is, more than a few people who say they are fans of Syracuse student Lacey Myers, the subject of my July 21st, 2010 post, one of my most popular posts here ever -at one point earlier this week, 13 consecutive people from around the world came by the blog to look at that story on her and her well-publicized media forays on MTV and Channel 4 in England, which I had the links to- sent me emails
asking a question I can't possibly answer.

Say hello to Lacey Myers, one of "The World's Richest Teenagers" as seen on Channel 4 (U.K.) and MTV's Lacey Land. C'est la vie.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/say-hello-to-lacey-myers-one-of-worlds.html

I honestly have no idea one way or the other whether or not she will be at the Carrier Dome Friday night, rooting on her team.

But I will definitely know if she gets shown on TV, since even if I wasn't going to be watching the match anyway, some of you have pledged to let me know.
Again, as I've already written some of you, I appreciate it, but I'll be able to see for myself, so please save yourself an email and just watch the action on the field.

University of Virgina Mens Lacrosse homepage:
http://www.virginiasports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17800&SPID=10601&SPSID=88761

Syracuse Mens Lacrosse homepage:
http://suathletics.syr.edu/index.aspx?path=mlacrosse

FYI: The Maryland at Duke Mens match on Saturday at 1 pm will be streaming LIVE on ESPN3. I caught some of the Georgetown at Maryland match over the weekend.
http://espn.go.com/espn3/index/_/sport/lacrosse

Back in mid-February, on my birthday actually, I heard the news from some friends in the Mid-Atlantic that UVA was planning to retire Yeardley Love's number before their home game against Penn State.

Well, that emotional day for her family and friends is fast approaching.

Friday night, #5 UVA hosts defending NCAA champion and #1 Maryland, and Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Klockner Stadium, the ceremony takes place, so you can pretty well expect to see some media coverage of that event on Sunday and Monday, esp. on ESPN, which for a change, actually covered that tragedy and the weeks of following the team with a certain amount of class, instead of their usual pomposity.
Yeardley Love was #1.

As some of you may recall me having mentioned previously, I saw UVA's game in Evanston at Northwestern on The BigTenNetwork the same weekend that the Northwestern home
match against the first-year Florida Gators was also supposed to be telecast, but instead, the Gators match wound-up being an online P-P-V.

That was the very same weekend before Yeardley Love was murdered once she and the rest of her teammates got back to Charlottesville.

For whatever reason, once the news about that tragedy became public, The BigTenNetwork pulled the encore showing they has scheduled for that UVA-Northwestern match, and instead, showed some meaningless softball game.

The CBS-owned network collectively put their head in the sand rather than utilize their "experts" and resources to actually bring some perspective to fans on the tragedy.
I really expected much better from them.

------

The Baltimore Sun's Lacrosse blog:
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/lacrosse/blog/

http://www.umterps.com/sports/w-lacros/md-w-lacros-body.html

http://www.virginiasports.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPID=10605&DB_OEM_ID=17800

http://www.gatorzone.com/lacrosse/

http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/w-lacros/nw-w-lacros-body.html

Breaking: Miami Herald & sports editor Jorge Rojas already in mid-season form as they ignore BigTenNetwork's televised ballgames

Breaking: Miami Herald & sports editor Jorge Rojas already in mid-season form as they ignore BigTenNetwork's nationally-televised football games.

"Breaking," that is, if by breaking you mean every Big Ten football and basketball game they've televised for the past three years, whose games have never been listed in the Herald's daily Sports on TV.

http://www.bigtennetwork.com/
http://www.bigtennetwork.com/subindex/programming

Right, because there's nobody in South Florida who's originally from the Midwest, or who are alums from those eleven schools in South Florida.
I mean I only know about 100-125 myself, many of them well-known names locally.
Brilliant!

That's why the folks at the Herald and likely many of you with DirecTV in South Florida also missed the phenomenal Appalachian State upset of Chad Henne's over-rated Michigan team in the very first BTN broadcast, because the Herald didn't list it.
But I saw that amazing game LIVE.

I was laughing to myself in the fourth quarter as the game went "Instant Classic," knowing that the Herald had, once again, been caught with its pants down.

Par for the course over there in the Sports Dept., as the details of the Marlins finances coming from DeadSpin and not them proves rather conclusively.
http://deadspin.com/5619235/florida-marlins-financial-documents/gallery/

How does a supposed media reporter/columnist like Barry Jackson continue to not just ignore but act seemingly oblivious of the BTN, month-after-month, year-after-year, when other college conferences desperately want to emulate the cash-cow and national coverage the Big Ten teams already provides?

Good question, why don't you ask him?
But before you do that, consider the chicken-and-the-egg of this paradox: that's why he's Barry Jackson, that's why it's the Miami Herald, and that's why he's there and not somewhere else.

Once again, if you think about it a bit, you answer your own question!

You remember the BigTenNetwork, don't you?
They're the Chicago-based TV network beloved by advertisers that is one of the main reasons that the University of Nebraska leaves the Big 12 Conference effective next Fall for the national exposure and TV money that comes from having their football and basketball games available ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
Where each of the current eleven member school gets roughly $22 million a year?

Plus, traditional non-revenue sports, where Nebraska excels and actually make money, like Men's Baseball and Women's Volleyball, where they're multiple NCAA Women's Volleyball champs, will also get seen all over the country, even in California and Hawaii and New England.

That's the sort of thing that helps national recruiting, don't you think?
A not insignificant consideration for a small state like Nebraska, whose state population is less than Miami-Dade and Broward's combined, and who has thus always had to recruit nationally, especially in Texas, for football.

And what does the University of Miami have again in terms of a TV deal?
Is that game of theirs tonight against FAMU on TV anywhere?
No.

The Randy Shannon TV Show is on what channel on what date at what time?
Nobody even knows whether he has one!

But in the Midwest, among real sports fans, they know exactly what time and when and where the myriad coach's TV show comes on, and the BTN even repeats the shows during the week for national coverage, which is how I came to watch the Bill Lynch Show this week.

Meanwhile, the Herald has NEVER written a serious article specifically about the BTN, which I know for a fact because I've checked their archives so many times.
The answer is always the same: ZERO.
Congrats One Herald Plaza!

Another David Landberg and Jorge Rojas success story!
That's why your sports section is so decidedly third-tier.

Tonight:
Marshall at Ohio State on DirecTV Channel 610
Towson at IU on DirecTV Channel 611 at 7:30 pm.

With encore showings in the days to come for folks like me.


Chicago Tribune
Big Ten could see TV money skyrocket with expansion
As number of subscriptions rise, multiplication adds up to considerable sum
May 13, 2010
By Teddy Greenstein | Tribune staff reporter
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-05-13/sports/chi-100514-big-ten-expansion-greenstein_1_btn-big-ten-network-tv-executive

Chicago Tribune
Big Ten big winner in divisional set up
Hard to find downside in way league divided while protecting most rivalries
September 01, 2010
By Teddy Greenstein | ON COLLEGES, ON GOLF
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-09-01/sports/ct-spt-0902-greenstein-big-ten-footba20100901_1_dave-brandon-pat-fitzgerald-ryan-field

Chicago Tribune
Rosenblog by Steve Rosenbloom
Big Ten's new set-up: NU wins, Illinois loses again (and again and again)
http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/rosenblog/2010/09/big-tens-new-set-up-nu-wins-illinois-loses-again-and-again-and-again.html

The New York Times College Football homepage and blog, The Quad:
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/sports/ncaafootball/
http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/

The Dallas Morning News's influential College Sports blog and Sports Media blog:
http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/
http://sportsmediablog.dallasnews.com/

Mr. College Football blog by Tony Barnhart:
http://blogs.ajc.com/barnhart-college-football/

Athlon College Football website: http://www.athlonsports.com/college-football

Hoosier in a Hurry: IU Hoosier Field Hockey star Mutsa Mutembwa, Rhodes Scholar selection, is bound for Oxford

The BigTenNetwork's Kara Lentz profiles Indiana Hoosier Field Hockey star Mutsa Mutembwa, a math and economics double-major and now a Rhodes Scholar, leaving Harare, Zimbabwe and Bloomington behind for her two years of study in Oxford. The daughter of Amman and Priscilla, she plans to become a financial economist and return to her native country to help solve Zimbabwe's profoundly tragic struggle with hyperinflation.

http://www.bigtennetwork.com/videos/indiana-hoosiers.asp?bcpid=41652681001&bclid=1612710067&bctid=101554555001



For more on Head Coach Amy Robertson's IU Field Hockey team, including roster and 2010-11 schedule, see http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/w-fieldh/sched/ind-w-fieldh-sched.html


See an early profile of Mutsa here: http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/w-fieldh/spec-rel/100807aaa.html


See more news on Indiana University athletes and teams at http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/index-main.html and http://www.bigtennetwork.com/schools/indiana/

http://www.bigtennetwork.com/

IU Basketball coach Tom Crean speaks; Big 12 disintegration means big decisions on tap for next week in Texas; BigTenNetwork's financial magnet: $$$

Eric Gordon, Tom Izzo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfEevQvdp0w

IU Athletics YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/IUAthletics
IU Athletics Dept. website: http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/index-main.html

Over the next few months, I will be tuning-up my other blog, South Beach Hoosier,
http://www.southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/

It's my expectation that by the time the college football preview magazines are starting to crowd bookstore periodical shelves and Dolphins pre-season football is looming, South Beach Hoosier will not only be updated and have a more attractive look, but will also have features, stories and anecdotes that you won't find elsewhere in South Florida.

Truth be told, I literally have dozens and dozens of sports-related blog posts that I have just sat on over the past year that I never posted here, about all manner of sports and personalities and issues, not least of all conference expansion, contraction and extinction.

Today, Nebraska formally asks for admission to the Big Ten Conference, Colorado leaves the Big 12 in the dust and heads for the Pac-10, and Texas and Texas A&M fans and alumni wait to see what they do next week, with Aggie fans afraid they will be left in the dust with Kansas and Missouri if the Longhorns head west for greener pastures.

As usual, The Dallas Morning News is all over the story, as they have among the best college football reporters in the country: http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/

Texas Regents will hold teleconference on Tuesday and make decision then on conference choice http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/061210dnspotexasmeeting.9228beaf.html

Sources: Texas, Texas A&M may head in different directions
12:40 PM CDT on Friday, June 11, 2010
By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/061110dnsporealignment.19064ac.html

I agree that A&M is a better fit for SEC, and if that happens, Utah would be a good fit to move to the Pac-10 also, which fits given their recent football, basketball and gymnastics success.

Columnist Tim Cowlishaw gives his take here:
Cowlishaw: 16 things to ponder about life with the Pac-16, without the Big 12
10:38 PM CDT on Thursday, June 10, 2010
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/061110dnspocowlishaw.ffc3a1.html

Not surprisingly, one of the constants of those particular posts I never posted here are what I believe to be the rather low-caliber of South Florida sports reporting and writing, and its increasing turn towards corporate sycophancy, leaving real sports fans the losers.
The multiple golly-gee stories last year about Dolphin owner Stephen Ross' dim-witted marketing ideas were the most egregious.

I know, I know. This hardly represents a surprising admission from me, given my previous negative comments here over the years, especially about local sports radio and the Miami Herald's very erratic and myopic sports section.

With all the changes afoot for the conferences, with TV money and TV markets the principal driving force on this issue, how difficult must it be for the Herald to report on this story given their consistently dreadful coverage of The BigTenNetwork since it started with a bang and Appalachian State's victory over Michigan at Ann Arbor?
A game that didn't appear in the sports section's TV schedule.

Though they've existed for a few years now, despite the particular demographics of South Florida, the Herald has completely ignored it, not even bothering to run their TV schedule in the Sports Today graphic, even when they have Top 10 teams playing each other in football or basketball.

For instance, the first time the Herald ever mentioned the BigTenNetwork, they got a very basic fact WRONG:

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
FIU

September 5, 2008

By PETE PELEGRIN

O-LINE MIGHT GET A MAKEOVER

The FIU offensive line could have a new look when the Golden Panthers visit Iowa on Saturday.

Coach Mario Cristobal said redshirt freshman right guard Chris Cawthon has "caught up to" junior starting right guard Joe Alajajian, and both players are now co-starters, with the decision on the starter expected to be made before kickoff.
* Starting left guard Mario Caraballo, who missed camp and the opener at Kansas with a foot injury, began jogging, and Cristobal said he "will definitely" be ready for the Golden Panthers' first home game Sept. 20 against South Florida.

A TV HIT OR MISS
Depending on the type of cable package they have, FIU fans might be able to see Saturday's game against the Hawkeyes on the Big Ten Network. The game is being transmitted among the local Big Ten affiliates, meaning only in Iowa and Florida. However, most sports bars use DirecTV and not local cable boxes. DirecTV boxes get the Big Ten national signal, not the local one, so they will show Marshall vs. Wisconsin instead. Fans who have the Big Ten Network with local cable companies will be able to watch the game at home.

Actually, fans like me who have the package can watch any of the games they want, which is why they have the overflow channels, and not just Channel 610. Real sports fans know that, but not the very people writing about it.
Par for the course at the Herald.

Then, the BigTenNetwork doesn't get mentioned again in the Herald for another 17 months, despite all the stories last year about conference expansion and Notre Dame or Rutgers or Pittsburgh.
WTF kind of self-respecting newspaper Sports Dept. completely ignores the largest college conference TV network in the country for YEARS?

Talk of Big Ten expansion doesn't have everyone's support

From Miami Herald Wire Services

February 28, 2010

Big Ten university presidents and athletic directors said a handful of factors will determine whether the conference expands. Listen closely, though, and it sounds like one outweighs them all: Money.

The Big Ten generates more money than any other conference, thanks in part to its one-of-a-kind Big Ten Network. And no one in the conference, not even enthusiastic expansion advocates such as Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, wants to sacrifice a dime of the roughly $22 million each school gets a year.

"You just don't jump into the league and get a full share of what everyone else in this league has established over time," Alvarez said. "I think someone has to buy their way into the league."

Alvarez sees expansion as a path toward the kind of football title game that keeps the SEC and other conferences on national TV and fans' radar after Thanksgiving, when the Big Ten typically begins a multiweek break before the bowls.

"You take a look at the championship week in December and we're non-players," said Alvarez, the former coach who led Wisconsin to football prominence. "We're irrelevant."

Texas, Missouri, Rutgers, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame have all been mentioned as possible targets since the Big Ten announced in December that it was evaluating the possibility of expanding the 11-team conference.

"If you look at the college landscape across the country, look at television contracts that are coming up over the next 5-8 years, this is probably the right time for us to see if there is any value in trying to add a team or teams," Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said at the time. The three big factors Big Ten presidents and ADs said any new member would have to bring to the discussion are academic credentials, a strong geographic fit and money.

Stanley Ikenberry was the president at Illinois the last time the Big Ten expanded, adding Penn State in 1990. He said the decision to admit Penn State was driven less by money than by academics.

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Despite all the fervent emotions expressed on ESPN and on sports talk radio as well as well-known national sports blogs, the Herald's most recent story on college athletic conference expansion is this one -from last Thursday! Guess they're stuck in a time warp, which seems to be a real problem over at One Herald Plaza, as you will soon see me demonstrate here to a rather convincing and embarrassing degree.

Miami Herald
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE SPRING MEETING: SEC playing waiting game on decision whether to expand - Like the other major football conferences, the SEC is watching the Big Ten closely before deciding on possible realignment.

By Joseph Goodman
June 3, 2010

The Southeastern Conference has a plan to keep up with the Big Ten if the latter expands.

Now the waiting game begins for the SEC, one of college football's most powerful leagues -- its teams have won the past four BCS national championships.

SEC officials, athletic directors and football coaches met Wednesday during the annual spring meeting at the Sandestin Hilton to discuss league rules and current contracts with ESPN, CBS Sports and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio.

Also on the day's agenda: the hot topic of expansion. Although the possibility of adding new members was discussed by league officials, talks were preliminary, according to Alabama athletic director Mal Moore.

The outcome of any expansion or contraction among the NCAA's major conferences, including the SEC, hinges upon the Big Ten.

The 11-member Big Ten, which owns the Big Ten Network and would like to increase TV revenue and add a conference championship game, announced in December that it would study the possibility of expansion.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has said his league might consider expanding to 12, 14 or 16 teams. Since then, speculation has been rife and multiple scenarios have been bandied about, including Notre Dame joining the Big Ten; the Big Ten dismantling the Big East; or the Big Ten and Pacific-10 cherry-picking teams from the Big 12.

According to commissioner Mike Slive, the SEC will act proactively if the Big Ten attempts to increase its size, power and revenue.

''If there's a significant shift in the conference paradigm, we will be thoughtful,'' Slive said. ''We'll be strategic, and our goal is for us to maintain our position as one of the most successful conferences in the country.''

In other words, if the Big Ten grows into a mega-conference of 16 members, then the SEC will not sit idly by while a rival attempts to become the most powerful conference in college football.

The SEC would not reveal its preliminary plan for conference expansion if the dominoes actually begin falling, but a source familiar with the SEC's vision said the league might consider ''expanding its nine-state footprint.''

Notre Dame is considered the wild card in conference-realignment speculation. If the Big Ten adds Notre Dame and two or four other major football powers, bringing its league total to 14 or 16 teams, then the SEC might follow suit in a revenue-driven chess match of major college football.

Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick has stated his university would like to remain independent.

Alabama coach Nick Saban, who coached at Big Ten member Michigan State from 1995 to '99, said Tuesday that he believes most of the conference-expansion chatter is being driven by the possibility of Notre Dame joining the Big Ten.

''Even when I was back in the Big Ten, and I really think that's the key to all this stuff, it was always about Notre Dame then,'' Saban said. ''Each year, there was a big discussion about trying to get Notre Dame to join the Big Ten, and I think that's a lot of what it's about now.''

In the event of a realignment, the SEC would prefer to add major programs from states with universities currently not aligned with SEC, according to a source, but the source emphasized that ''it's all speculation at this point.''

For their part, most SEC college football coaches prefer the status quo, a 12-team SEC divided into two competitive six-team divisions.

Florida coach Urban Meyer indicated Tuesday that he would not be in favor of conference expansion. Georgia coach Mark Richt said he isn't necessarily against conference expansion, but does not like the idea of adding another conference game.

For the latest move in the conference chess match, see the New York Times College Football webpage: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/sports/ncaafootball/index.html

The BigTenNetwork

The BigTenNetwork - My lifeline to the normalcy of the American Midwest and college sports.

The answer to the question, "When are the Hoosiers on the Big Ten Network again?" http://www.bigtennetwork.com/schedule/

IU Hoosiers Video & Highlights from The Big Ten Network: http://www.bigtennetwork.com/videos/indiana.asp