The Curious Case of the Indiana Hoosiers

I was almost 100% sure the moment that Dan Dakich took over the Indiana Hoosiers that they would be a team to be reckoned with come the start of the NCAA Tournament. Now...? Not so sure.

I like Dan as a coach, I think he has a certain style of "tough love" that you don't see out of many coaches anymore. I witnessed it up close for 4 years at Bowling Green. He is a throw back to the coaches of yesterday. He just does things right. However, he's not the reason I thought this team had a least a run to the Sweet 16 in them.

I honestly thought DJ White would rally his teammates together to prove everyone wrong. Basically, to give a big "F-U" to the world after "the media" ousted their coach. They would do this for Coach Sampson, and then tell the world so in countless interviews afterword-virtually assuring their coach would get another shot a a head coaching job again.

But, instead of coming together...this team has fallen apart. Close victories over OSU and Northwestern, and blow out loss to Michigan State paved the way for a shocking loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament. No offense Tubby, but Mr. Hoffarber should have never had a shot to pull off that miracle shot. The pure talent of Indiana should have lead them to an easy win.

So, here we are on selection Sunday and Indiana may be the most intriguing team to watch in the entire field. They have the great scorer in Eric Gordon, a big man- DJ White, and a nice supporting cast to put around them. That's pretty much all you need to make a run at a Final Four.

The question then for Hoosier players is, will you come together, or will you fall apart? I want to believe in you, the state of Indiana wants to believe in you, college basketball fans across the country want to believe in you. It will be a great story-the greatest of the tournament.

Hoosier players-will you answer the call?

(No pun intended)

-picture courtesy of boilersports.com-

Signing Off

Last post of the night for my first night of blogging any sort of political event. I look back at my first post and can't believe how smart I am (subtle sarcasm...). Mike Huckabee was the man of the night. He is now a force to be reckoned with. I disagree with those who don't believe he can't do well in some of the remaining states. He won Iowa, a midwest state, period. On top of that, don't underestimate momentum. Do I think he'll win the nomination? Absolutely not. However, as I stated before, he will make the race interesting, make some issues he represents very relevant, and take the race to the convention because McCain will not get the needed amount by the time they reach Minneapolis St. Paul.

By the way...when will John McCain win big in a state? Hasn't happened yet in my opinion.

Mitt Romney...stay tuned to California. He vowed his campaign will move on. But, if he at least just about splits CA he still has an outside shot at this thing.

As for the Dems....I'm very impressed by Obama's showing. Yes, the delegates will be just about even after tonight like I thought they would be. But, Obama really made a statement by the number of states he has won.

Next week comes the beltway primary (DC/Virginia/Maryland). Then in a month the big Texas/Ohio showdown.

Looking forward to that day...

PS As I speak, they just projected Hillary and McCain winning Cali. Romney is in big trouble now.

"Holding Serve..."

Waiting for the final numbers or a projection from states like Missouri that are still up in the air. But, right now I think everyone is waiting on California. That state will make or break the night for Romney, McCain, Clinton, and Obama.

Mike Huckabee will come out the major winner tonight as things stand right now. No clue if he'll suddenly become a viable challenger or equal to McCain...but he'll have the momentum to become that. If the man could just do a bit more fundraising, it would be amazing to see what he would do with some money.

Clinton and McCain will have the delegate lead, but it isn't even close to be over.

I Love Exit Polls

So I learned to check into this little thing called exit polls in every state. While not perfect, they give a great idea of what to expect. For example, check out Alabama. Huckabee is winning 45% to 34% amongst all female voters over McCain. He is also winning male voters 41%-31%. Unless they are allowing animals to vote as well, I think its pretty clear Huckabee will win Alabama even though the current polls show he and John McCain are tied.

I'm in the process of looking at all exit polls to see what is likely to transpire tonight. However, so far no surprises to me.

Early Results in Georgia

Obama already projected to win, no shock there.

But, my Huckabee prediction is looking pretty good. He and McCain are neck and neck. After looking at the CNN exit polls, to me it looks like Huckabee win win it or finish an extremely close second if those polls hold true.

About 1 minute until 9 more polls close...now it gets real interesting

What I expect tonight...briefly

1. McCain will still lead in the Republican field, however...
2. Mitt Romney will survive, and make a race of it. "True Conservatives" want nothing more than to see him overtake McCain. It will take time but the movement has started. But another twist to the story may be...
3. Mike Huckabee, who will also do very well tonight. He will surprise some people. People will continue to talk about the "Huckabee factor." He may very well be the reason this thing goes to the convention.
4. Democrats Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton will just about split the vote tonight. Personally, I see the Republican races as more interesting since they are almost do or die for their candidates.
5. For the Dems, tonight will prove nothing except that we are one day closer to the convention where the nomination will be decided.
5. People who support Hillary will continue to do so, and ditto for Obama. Unfortunately, its about 50/50 so there will be no clear cut favorite for a long time...

Keep watching-I know I will!

My Presidential Philosophy

I may have a different view compared to others when it comes to picking a President of the United States. First off, I consider myself a moderate who leans closer toward being a conservative. Thats just based upon some of my major beliefs: right to life, national security, lower taxes, smaller government. But, even I sometimes wonder how one political party could be against abortion but for the death penalty. Or, less taxes and smaller government but spend billions of dollars in unnecessary ways. Personally, I admire all Democrats' energy and love for the environment. All of these things lead me to being the moderate I am.

However, while issues are often the center of deciding who voters give their support to, I look more at another issue which could be very subjective:

C-H-A-R-A-C-T-E-R

Why decide on who I will vote for based upon such a vague issue? Well, let me use an analogy. I look at the President like a head coach of a football team. The coach doesn't so much write the playbook and call every play, but he picks the guys who do that. He picks his coaching staff who then directly coach influence the players. The coach doesn't have enough time to go and personally give his input to every player so he divides it up and lets his assistants do that. Occasionally then he will do come make a big decision or overrule his assistants. But, for the most part, he is in charge of setting the tone of the team.

The President therefore sets the tone for the country. He puts the people in place who make a lot of the big decisions that directly affect our lives. The senate and supreme court most likely will have more direct influence on the creation and interpretation of laws. However, the President will ultimate make the big decision when one needs to be made (ie go to war) or push for that one key issue that will have a huge impact upon the country (No Child left behind or the economic stimulus package).

Therefore, when I go to pick a President, I want someone who I can trust, someone who can be the face of the country, who foreign leaders abroad respect, and who can make the big decision when need be.

I couldn't possibly agree with any candidate on every issue. But, I want to have the faith in someone that even when I disagree, they are doing something that is in the best interest of The United States of America.

Stay tuned, I'll be blogging Super Tuesday all night!

The "Perfect-Ending"-Plax was right!

The most appropriate thing I have to this is this: Boston, all fans of New England-It couldn't happen to a more deserving group of fans. (Note: I also look forward to seeing Lebron and the Cavs end the Celtics season in about 4 months)

SO I GUESS PLAXICO WAS RIGHT! 14 POINTS WAS DEAD ON...HOW YA LIKE DEM' APPLES MR. BRADY!?

Bill Belichick effectively ended the Patriot Reign of the NFL this evening. Not by losing this game-but by walking off the field before event the last play was run. Nice message to all potential free agents who would have joined your team, not to mention the media. Not as if they already didn't have enough to dig into you about with the uncovering of more cheating ( http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/news/story?id=3227245 ).

The Patriots were cocky, and it showed. They could talk up all they want about how they respected the G-Men, but lets be honest-they never did. This was never about the Patriots verses the Giants, it was about the Patriots verses the World. The Giants were the ultimate team, kind of like that first Patriots SuperBowl team.

The first Pats championship team was full of guys like David Patton, Joe Andruzzi, and Antoine Smith. Role players who-knew their role. This was a team of "superstars" like Moss, Adelius Thomas, Donte Stallworth, and a bunch of other free agents. Even guys who were around for the first championship as unsung heros are now hearlded as "star players" (See Vrabel, Michael).

Not that these guys are bad players, they just didn't gel for the right reasons. Again, Us verses The World Doesn't work when you clearly have the best talent. That sentiment is reserved for underdogs like-The Giants.

So, what next for the Pats? Bill will be back and meaner than ever. But what is his motivation now? We still didn't finish strong? How long until his players tune him out? I don't buy that Tom Brady is some great leader who will keep his team in line. Guys like that don't go out and impregnate one woman and then move on to the next (you hear that Matt Leinhart? Go back to your baby mama ASAP).

The Patriots as we know it are over. It was over when Asante Samuel held out all of training camp. It was over when guys like Junior Seau, Rodney Harrison, and Donte Stallworth signed big deals to come. Some guys don't win championships for a reason.

IT WAS ESPECIALLY OVER WHEN RANDY MOSS CAME ON BOARD

So Boston, choke down some "chowdah", go watch "Fever Pitch" about 20 times, and remind yourselves its not the end of the world.

Mr. Belichick, Bill Buckner is calling on line one......