soapy

I think it's true for some, maybe many. I think some black youth, as well as white youth, see the culture surrounding basketball and, to an extent football, as much more glamorous (although that might not be the right word) than the culture of baseball. Basketball stars are much bigger celebrities than baseball stars. And baseball is a much more humbling game. Football stars have a greater tough guy aura, while baseball players just aren't thought of as elite athletes. If you wanted to do it just for money, baseball is probably your best bet. But if you're 14, thinking over your options, the lure of the college basketball star, or college football star, or straight to the NBA star is far greater than the minor league baseball player or college baseball player. There's a very limited cool factor for those last two. I think you've hit on another important area here aside from the MLB v. NFL/NBA. Even in the college (probably even highschool) ranks football and basketball players get much more attention or "glamour" or whatever you want to call it. How many college baseball stars can the typical baseball fan run out off the top of one's head? Whereas with college football and basketball, the stars are very well known around the country. Having said that, this logic would apply to athletes of any race, not only African American youth.

Finally got through. Bleachers for 5/30 v. the Reds. My first night game. That will be odd.

I saw that this morning too. That really would probably be the ideal top of the order. I just hope Walker is still around when the season starts.

Edmonds is drooling over that pic right now, thinking "easy pickins." The timeless art of seduction

:facesjump: :cheers: =D> \:D/ :thumleft:

Could you please stop letting facts and common sense get in the way of not improving this team? Sheesh. How does Soriano improve this team? sarcasm

Shouldn't be a problem. :evil:

All, There are no more "big" games for the Hoosiers this year. IU scored 22 points in the first half....There is no longer any need to discuss the lack of depth in the paint or being entirely reliant on the three or taking contested shots instead of moving the ba...bah Good luck to Iowa, UI, Michigan, M. State, Minnesota..etc. Put a #1 by Wisconsin and maybe the Davis and his players will show some freakin effort. No excuse for this bullcrap. Absolutely freakin' pathetic. I can't wait for the excuses on why they got killed. What a disappointing season. Ugh. How do you not get "up" for the biggest game of the year? I just hope they make a wise choice when Davis is replaced.

Oddly enough, they both seem to have more success against RHP. Three year averages: Juan Gone: vs. RHP: 292/327/558 vs. LHP: 279/329/478 (only 136 ABs) Hidalgo: vs. RHP: 266/331/490 vs. LHP: 245/330/473 (273 ABs)

IU v. Wisconsin tonight. HUGE game for both teams. Both are struggling of late and looking to try to stay in the race. Whoever loses will take a big hit. Calloway is getting the start tonight for the Hoosiers. That's one thing I find strange (and sometimes frustrating) about Davis. A guy can go from average minutes (10-15) per game, to the dog house (barely sniffing the floor, if getting out there at all), to starting in the span of three or four games. It seems that 20 games into the season, one would have a better understanding of who's going to contribute what, and in what role. Anyway, I hope it works. :fingerscrossed:

There are a lot of names there, but how many of them can you expect to produce at or above the level of Williams? Zambrano, yes; Prior, yes; Wood, if healthy; Maddux, maybe but not likely IMO. They may have a lot of arms to throw out there, but I don't think many of them are better then Williams. Once you factor in his age and price, I think he's very valuable to the Cubs. I don't know if they see it that way though.

This is the kind of game where they'll miss White the most. That would allow Vaden to focus on Gay. My guess at this point is Wilmont will match up with him (most of the time).

Didn't see the game, but Suhr was excellent last night. 10 points, 5 assists, 0 TOs, 3 off. rebs. Vaden did a lot without scoring a bunch. Marco finally rebounded like a 6'8" 260lber should. The team as a whole did a great job rebounding. Vaden and Killer were 1 short of the entire rebouding total of the entire NW team. You didn't miss much, per se, but it was a little bit different. Davis really did shake things up. He changed the starting linuep, but also changed the rotation quite a bit. Suhr was one of the first players off the bench. Ratliff didn't play much in the 1st half, but did in the 2nd. Kline made a few decent plays (basically just didn't screw up). Allen actually made a few nice plays in the paint as well. Monroe didn't play much (and looked pretty poor when he was out there) and Callaway didn't play at all. I don't know if Davis was trying to make a statement (again) or if he really feels this is his new "rotation". I'd hate to see Suhr try to play 20+ minutes against UConn. It won't be pretty. He can give you that against Northwestern, but not against more talented backcourts. I don't hold out much hope for the UConn game. It will be interesting to see who gets matched up with Boone. I assume it's going to be Vaden (if last year is any indicator), Kline and/or Allen.

I still think the Cards are the team to beat. I'm not sure how I feel about the Astros until the whole Bagwell and Clemens scenarios play out. They may add another bat also.

I heart Rod Wilmont. I'm always torn when Suhr plays well (which is rare). I obviously want him to do well if he's out there. However, he'll pull out a game like this every once in a while (typically against lesser compitition) and that buys him many more minutes in later games where he is totally over matched. In any case, he played well. Having said that, I wasn't overly impressed. I will say that the 2nd half was much more impressive then the first. Much better movement, dribble penetration, and passing. Though he didn't put up big numbers, I thought Strickland played well in his first game back at the point.

I've heard this previously. Is Davis really that charismatic? Does White really deem his tutelage to be more important than the extra year of eligibilty and/or to play for the Hoosiers? It was fairly obvious why some of the best players didn't want to "torture" themselves under Knight. IMO, keeping White will very much depend upon who IU would hire subsequent to Davis's potential departure. Well, if White ops for the medical redshirt, then sits out next year as a transfer, he's still have two years of eligability at another school. The only reason I threw Vaden in there is because of his flip-flop in high school. He originally verbally commited to Purdue, but when Gene Keady couldn't guarantee he would be there for four years, Vaden changed his mind. He is however from Indiana and may be more likely to stick around. I'd say you are right though; who leaves and who stays will likely depend largely on who is hired to replace Davis if/when it comes to that.

Mike certainly did have the talent on this team for this to be a top 5 team with White on the court...period. What is amazing to me is that this team appears to not be top 25 caliber without White....they will live and die with the three point shot with him on the bench. They've been doing the latter frequently of late, but no one can expect to perpetually lead the nation in three point percentage, IMO. Obviously, Mike Davis wouldn't be in the trouble he's in currently if White didn't get hurt, but I'm just not fond of an offense that cannot seem to generate open looks at the basket inside of the three point arc. If IU continues to falter and does not make the NCAA tournament for a third year in a row, will Davis be fired? Is there any chance he gets the boot even if he he does squeak into the tournament? I think he'll be let go if they "back into" the tournament (or "squeek in" as you put it). I think Greenspan expects more. The expectations placed on this team before the season (rightfully so) make it even worse, IMO. The season isn't over because of a few bad games, but they've got their backs against the wall at this point. This team should be performing much better (especially offensively) with the talent they have. Strickland and Ratliff have been particularly dissapointing to me. I really thought Ratliff was going to have a breakout year and I expected more scoring from Strickland now that he's been moved from the point. Vaden shows flashes of being a great player, but somebody else needs to step up to help with the scoring load. When you don't shoot a single free throw through the first 34 minutes of the game, something is terribly wrong with your offensive approach.

I wish I knew the answer to that question, Snood...but honestly I'm not certain that snagging Arthur is worth keeping Davis at IU. Davis has done a decent job of bringing talent to IU, but honestly the university's basketball tradition probably plays just as large of a role as Davis's recruiting prowess. My concern is who will IU be able to allure into succeeding Mike D. It's a high pressure gig...no doubt. What a completely pathetic effort from the hoosiers. Jesus. I'm sure they'll lose Arthur if Davis is fired. I thought, at this point, that was the only hold up for Arthur. Having said that, it's not worth keeping a poor coach to get one player (who really isn't guaranteed to be anything great). As you said Fiver, I worry more about who IU would choose to replace Davis moreso then the individual players they may lose. Having said that, I'd think they will lose White and very possibly Vaden if Davis is fired. I'm not sure about the rest.

winner Dude, I just did a mini-essay on your username. I assume your reference is to the Spanish Restoration following the 1874 constitution? I believe Zambrano was called "Cacique" at one point (by Dusty or something). It was done as a tribute to him back when I joined. I really need to change it though. I've never really liked it that much.

winner

What about the negative association people have with long periods of suckage? They may want to address that as well.

Thanks for providing that, Fred. My memory must have deceived me. I thought that Dempster had pitched 3 days in a row more then the few days he did.

You are wise. :thumright:

I hope for the opposite - that dusty uses his relievers to best leverage their talents. why do you care if its a save situation or not? just win the game. No, I don't care if it's a save situation per say. I just don't want Dempster (and this really could apply to everyone in the pen) used three days in a row when it's not necessary. Example: If Dempster pitches an inning one day, and then is brought into a game the next day when the Cubs are up five runs in the 9th, I think that's stupid. Save him for the next day. What if the next day the Cubs are in a tight game in the 9th and they feel like they need Dempster. Well, you have to pitch him for the third day in a row (when Ohman, Williamson, Weurtz, etc) probably could have closed out the previous day's game. That's very poorly worded. I hope you know what I mean.

Agreed on everything. They don't have enough with out White at least getting a little time off of the bench (like maybe 10 or 15 minutes). I'm sure Allen will improve, but it likely won't be enough. I'd also like to hear more about Strickland's injury. Though I get on his case a lot, they do need him to stay competitive in the conference.