Exile on Waveland

Some decent IU recruiting news once again . . .Cody Zeller to IU.

well, if you ask IU fans right now, he's a better version of tyler. next week, after he picks UNC, it will be a worse version of luke. That's actually a pretty accurate assessment of the current hysteria regarding his recruitment. Cody is the best of the bunch, at this age. And, as I've posted on here, Tyler has been good at UNC when he's played. Cody is a really important recruit for Indiana; though not because he's a program changer. He's not. He's potentially a fulcrum for other recruits and a quality interior player which IU mostly lacks (I'm totally aping CCP here). IU will be worse off if he commits elsewhere, but that doesn't mean he single-handedly would carry IU to the Final Four.

Uh, well, nevermind then. Welcome back 'Nando, welcome back.

Chelsea today. . . dum, dum, dum. . .A draw would be tremendous, honestly hoping for anything resembling a competitive match.

I'm not exactly at the apex of perspicacity or attention span right now -- stupid IU football (and beer/tailgating) -- but this third period has been bo-ring. Hope Morin is OK.

You're thinking of Alan Henderson. I believe it was a knee injury. I know who I'm thinking of. I'll never forget it. Tore his ACL in practice when IU was No. 1 and running away with the Big Ten, returned for the NCAA Tournament but was nowhere close to healthy. That team losing is probably my lowest sports moment ever.

and haven't the zellers been pretty bad at college basketball thus far? Luke yes, Tyler no. Tyler won a starting spot as a freshman on a future National Champion. He's battled injuries, but he's been pretty good.

Good news. ( :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: ) It's going to be hard to imagine an Indiana team with legitimate size! Perea thinks that both Zeller and Yogi Ferrell will follow him (along with him already putting in a call to Gary Harris to recruit him). I'm a little more skeptical about if that's going to be true. The key is still Zeller...if he comes Indiana will likely get one of the highly rated guards in the 2012 class. And if that happens, would that not be enough to consider them a legitimate threat? The last Indiana teams with any depth in talent/size in the frontcourt were the 2001 and 2002 teams. Before that, I'd say 1993, but, then again, a frontcourt injury was that teams undoing. Not quite there yet, but with Zeller the frontcourt shapes up nicely. I agree, Zeller is key. I think if they get him -- and I think they're the favorites now -- they'll get one of the Indiana guards. Zeller may be the fulcrum, but I really, really, really want Ferrell. Love him and think he's a perfect fit for Crean's system. I suspect his recruiting is still up in the air. Harris I'm dubious. Hollowell I think there's a decent chance. If Crean pulls out Zeller then one of the guards, I think that's enough for them to be considered a legitimate threat. That would be a heck of a roster.

Good news. ( :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: )

Yeah, no idea who that is.

I'm expecting Potulny, for cap reasons. Have to say I'm hoping to see a younger guy with potential, we'll see.

Perhaps I'm a Luddite, but I would be vehemently against expanding the playoffs to more teams. The LDS probably should go to seven games instead of five, so I'm all for that. I really dislike the NBA and NHL playoffs that everyone seems to make (OK, just over fifty percent) -- though the NFL has a good system, in my opinion. As a baseball fan, I like that it means something to make the playoffs because so few teams do. Yada hidebound yada reactionary yada.

Liverpool's best game of the season, easily (obviously not much competition for that honor...). Actually looked to attack from the outset. We'll see if that continues.

By the ranking, it seems some weird mixture. They surely would be higher with Hummel, but surely should be lower without. I don't see how No. 8 makes sense either way.

Losing Clark is a huge blow (though it was pretty obvious he'd be out for the year from the comments made by the Colts). He's integral to the offense; and, in the past, has often been considered the third most important player on the team. The injuries are disconcertingly piling up. Now, attempting to be optimistic, the injuries have occured at positions the Colts have a little more depth (in my opinion). By no means is this to say the replacements are equal to the starters, but the only one I would consider replacement-level, strong safety Aaron Francisco, has actually played competently the last two weeks. At tight end, Brody Eldridge has been real solid as a blocker, but is not much as a receiver. Jacob Tamme will be asked to fill the pass-receiving threat at tight end. I actually really like him. He was a fourth round pick and has excellent receiving skills. He has not had an opportunity to show it -- having Clark ahead of you is quite the hurdle -- but he may surprise some people. He has played well in the preseason, for what that's worth. Austin Collie is probably my favorite receiver on the team, but they still have Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, and Anthony Gonzalez. Most teams would love to have that triumverate. At running back, Joseph Addai has been really great this year, but the Colts have Donald Brown (former No. 1 draft pick) and Mike Hart (who has played well). I'm far more concerned about picking up the blitz and blocking from those two than I am their running. The depth is being seriously tested and more injuries at those positions could be devastating. But, assuming Gonzalez and Brown can stay healthy (something they haven't proven capable of so far), the Colts could persist relatively well.

It will be interesting to see if the NFLPA gets involved here. Interesting decision by the Colts to suspend McAfee after doing nothing when Moala got arrested and charged with a DWI earlier this year. Dallas Clark is also out indefinitely and there are lots of whispers that he may be gone for the year. The suspension for McAfee is ridiculous. I don't think he even should have been arrested, he should have been walked home instead. I really hope Clark isn't out for the year, yeesh.

I love the all red pads. Though I don't think that's what you meant by cool to watch.

I'm happy. Spending big money on a manager is pointless; they mostly don't matter. Quade did relatively well as manager, I thought -- handled the bullpen pretty well, realized Soto was better than Hill, etc. The Castro thing was dumb, but I'm over it. I was honestly really worried they'd try to make a big splash with a manager and sell that to fans as the major off-season acquisition. Not that I think they will necessarily sign a big free agent, but at least they don't have the crutch of the "big name/move" manager.

Pretty. Nice work by Cullimore, too. Unexpected, but nice.

Hossa for President.

Hossa for President.

Wait, does this mean he's effectively been replaced by Cullimore? Yuck. Or, dreaming, Campbell is coming back sooner than we thought...?

I can finally stop listening to the whiny announcers, yeesh. Shut up.

That was unexpectedly poor for him. Few goalie gaffes this season -- Howard's drop ball leading to a goal week one, Reina's bobble into the goal against Arsenal (which was really more unlucky than a gaffe), Van der Sar now.

Well that sucked. Still, the Preds were a load for the Hawks last year in the playoffs and without Campbell and Hjalmarsson, I guess it wasn't too unexpected. Need Campbell back soon (obviously Hjammer too, but that's only one more game.)