#HoosierNation mourns loss of seminal family member as Gold Medal-winning Olympian and Naismith Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy died this morning at the age of 74; #iubb, #Hoosiers

#HoosierNation mourns loss of seminal family member as Olympian, Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy died this morning, http://t.co/irn7BbgR7s #iubb
— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) November 2, 2013

A starter on the basketball team from 1959-61, 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 Olympic team at the 1960 Rome Olympics, and remains IU's all-time IU rebound leader. 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

Finally! South Beach Hoosier is Back on the Job!

It's hard to be humble when you're a Hoosier-by-choice!

Assembly Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

One of the places where, once upon a time, it really did all come together.

Sorry for the VERY LONG break from my duties here at South Beach Hoosier, as I've rather foolishly allowed myself to become too preoccupied with the internecine political fighting here in the duchy of Hallandale Beach, Florida and writing on Hallandale Beach Blog, to the neglect of my SBH responsibilities.

Trust me, nobody feels worse about the matter than I do.

Not to worry, as I have a ton of already-written material that I will be posting here over the next few days to get you al back up to speed on what's on my mind as it involves my interests, like the Indiana University Hoosiers; the myriad ups and (mostly) downs of the Dolphins and Hurricanes in this season of inconsistent coaching; the latest doings of South Florida's thoroughly under-reported public policy scene, and the neverending media keffuffle that is South Florida's current sorry state of journalism, where old-fashioned notions about thoroughness and fairness have been completely cast aside for all to see.

Another trend that you may notice is that I will no longer be holding my punches quite so much about individual South Florida and Washington media personalities that I know and have dealt with, as I have done perhaps a bit too much in the past.

That's all in the past, as in the intervening months, per the last paragraph, the gloves have most definitely come off!

No point holding my tongue when I can enlighten everyone to some egregiously bad, sloppy or incomplete reporting.

In another media matter, I will also mention and comments on some recent Hoosier additions to the South Florida news media scene.

By the way, since I last commented in this space, I've had the good fortune to run into the mother of a former IU basketball player a few times, and will hope to fill you in on what she had to share with me about her talented son.

Surprisingly, I've also discovered that a very trustworthy news source is now MUCH CLOSER to someone within the inner orbit of Hoosier athletics than I ever could've guessed.

Could it be, you know, a possible future "South Beach Hoosier World Exclusive" he said, laughing at the very idea.

Not yet, but...

-Dave at South Beach Hoosier

CBS at 11:37 p.m.: "Stick a fork in the Hoosiers." And so it was done...

Friday March 21, 2008
11:50 p.m.

And at 11:37 p.m., after a pathetic and largely lifeless Hoosier performance, during a commercial break of the #9 Arkansas vs. #8 IU game at Raleigh in the first round of the 2008 NCAA basketball tourney, a guy you've never heard of at CBS Sports probably said to nobody in particular, something along the lines of, "Stick a fork in the Hoosiers."

And so it was done.

And with that, CBS pulled the plug on the Hoosier season, switching South Florida to #5 Clemson vs. #12 Villanova with eleven minutes left at Tampa Bay.

Wow!!!

Thank goodness I get CBS College Sports, formerly CSTV, which I've been watching for years.

I signed up for that NCAA.com web deal last Sunday after the tourney selections, but considering we'd gone down something like twelve with less than three minutes to go, there seemed little point of going to it.

Miami annually gets the lowest TV ratings in the country for CBS' coverage of the the NCAA basketball tourney, which perhaps tells you more about how truly different culturally this area is from the rest of the country than local politicians and Hispanic reporters at the Herald want to publicly admit, though I'm sure they would have a way of spinning that so that it would seem like we're just like everyone else. We're not.

Even worse, of course, though for the few devout college basketball fans of who are down here, we are forced to suffer with a sports media reporter at the Miami Herald, Barry Jackson, for whom the word dreadful barely begins to skim the surface.

Jackson is the Herald sports media reporter I promised you all I'd be taking to task in a future blog post for all his many errors of comission and omission and crimes against fairness and objectivity since I came back down here. (That post is coming, but there's SO much to include!)

It's so bad, that he doesn't even know when he's being made a fool of when he talks to a guy at CBS Sports who gives him the sports media equivalant of "play 'em one game at a time," witness this excerpt of Jackson's Friday column full of snarky condescending comments that Jackson doesn't pick up on.

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/464839.html

Miami Herald

CBS has a method to its March Madness decisions
By Barry Jackson

NCAA Tournament TV chatter from the couch:
No matter which games CBS assigns to individual stations, some fans usually will be dissatisfied. The challenge for CBS programmer Mike Aresco, who crafts the regional maps, is identifying the games with the broadest appeal.
At 7 p.m. Friday, for example, Channel 4 was assigned North Carolina-Mount St. Mary's, even though the three other games at that time (including Mississippi State-Oregon) would appear, on paper, to be more competitive.
''The thinking is we would like to start you off with North Carolina, the No. 1 seeded team in the Tournament,'' he said. "We don't expect the game to be competitive. We would be switching fairly quickly if it isn't.''
Aresco said that approach was similar to his thinking for Thursday night, when Channel 4 had Belmont-Duke even though many Heat fans would have preferred to watch Kansas State (and likely No. 1 draft pick Michael Beasley) against USC (and top prospect O.J. Mayo). ''We like to give the East Coast a taste of Duke,'' Aresco said. That decision worked out well, with Belmont nearly upsetting Duke.

("We'd like to give the East Coast a taste of Duke..."

Right, like Duke isn't crammed down everyone's gullet; Kansas State and UCLA was never in the cards, and to ask about Oregon and Mississippi State, well that just shows your ignorance of your own area.

Dude, there are more people in South Florida right now who've moved here from Cuba within the past year, than there are people who've moved here from Oregon and Mississippi combined!)

Another tough call: Channel 4 is airing Connecticut-San Diego at 2:30 p.m. Friday. But if UM beats St. Mary's (on WFOR) at 12:30 p.m., would Canes fans prefer to watch Texas-Austin Peay at 2:45 p.m., considering Miami would play the winner?
''It's possible,'' Aresco said. "Our feeling has been Miami has been a Big East region for so long, and you have a lot of transplanted Northerners. . . . You go back and forth on decisions. It's not easy.''

(Nobody in Miami who's never been to Tennessee even knows where Austing Peay is located!)

Channel 4's 9:30 p.m. game Friday -- Arkansas-Indiana -- is the logical choice. CBS affiliates can request game changes, but they're not always granted.
• The good news is that all games are available for free on cbssports.com. DIRECTV also offers all the games for $69.
• If UM wins Friday, its next game would be 2:15 p.m. Sunday. . . . CBS assigned Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel to those games in Little Rock, Ark.
• CBS did its usual good work switching Thursday afternoon, taking us from Michigan State-Temple to the closer Xavier-Georgia game.
• CBS College Sports Network -- formerly called CSTV -- is presenting simultaneous Tournament coverage while CBS is broadcasting the games. Available in 25 million homes, CBS College is offering two games in their entirety (including Oklahoma-St. Joseph's at 7 p.m. Friday), plus live look-ins, interviews and highlights.
• CBS College borrowed Greg Anthony from ESPN to serve as a studio analyst. And in exchange for again being able to borrow Jay Bilas, CBS gives ESPN: 1. Better access at the Final Four; 2. Fewer restrictions on airing highlights. 3. Promotion for ESPN's women's NCAA coverage; and 4. The right to replay men's NCAA Tournament games on ESPN Classic.

_________________________________________________________________
Instead, as I write this, I'll listen to longtime South Beach Hoosier favorite David McCullough for the full hour on the Charlie Rose Show on WLRN-TV, Channel 17, the second Miami PBS station here, since WPBT-TV, Channel 2, the bigger PBS station, has been running Charlie at 3:30 a.m. for months now.

If there is a PBS station that does more fundraising than Miami WPBT-2, I've never heard of it!

I could be wrong, but I honestly think that freshman or no freshman, Eric Gordon has no idea of the volume and quality of the vehemence that's heading in his direction over the next few weeks from a justifiably disappointed Hoosier Nation, after just the latest in a long line of his
sleepwalking performances.

When champion Aussie tennis player Yvonnne Goolagong-Cawley spaced out for large periods of time during matches in the 1970's against players who didn't have her ability, they call 'em "walkabouts."

So what 'term of art' do we call the last and most disappointing Eric Gordon performance in Hoosier cream and crimson?

Let me know what you think, but with apologies to David Spade when he was on Saturday Night Life doing Weekend Update talking about Eddie Murphy, after showing a photo of Murphy from one of his many bad movies -perhaps Pluto Nash?- he deadpanned and said simply, "Catch a falling star?"'

Yep, I'll stick with that one until I hear a better description.

Listening to CBS' Jim Nantz and Billy Packer talk about him, especially in the middle of the second half of the ballgame, with references to things he once did, if you didn't know any better, you'd think that they were talking about someone who had just died.

And fifteen minutes later, all I can do is repeat my kernel of insight that I've been repeating to friends for weeks: please hire Tom Crean!
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080320/SPORTS15/803200492/1034/SPORTS15

Indianapolis Star
How many Hoosiers does it take to screw up a coaching search?
By Bob Kravitz
March 20, 2008

WASHINGTON -- This is the city that made committees famous. This is the nation's capital, where politicians too clueless and afraid to act form committees to study the feasibility of establishing other committees.
You want to know what I think of IU's 10-person blue ribbon -- got to love that blue ribbon -- committee to find IU's next basketball coach?
I think it's further evidence that my alma mater still has absolutely no idea what it's doing.
It botched the Kelvin Sampson hiring. It botched the Kelvin Sampson exit. Shoot, it even botched the timing on the establishment of this committee, undercutting its interim coach and his team by announcing it just days before the NCAA Tournament.
Now it's going to botch this. Ten people? It takes 10 people to find a basketball coach? Was Sen. Hillary Clinton right? Does it take a village?
It took a 16-person committee to hire the current athletic director, Rick Greenspan. And that's worked out so well, the new school president, Michael McRobbie, isn't even willing to trust his AD with doing the most important job of an athletic director: hire a head basketball coach.
If the school isn't confident enough in Greenspan's ability to hire a coach -- and after the Sampson affair, they shouldn't be -- then Greenspan needs to be sent packing. He's either the man or he isn't. He can't be both.
If McRobbie wants to save time and money, he can call me and I'll get this done in a month's time. Just give me an administrative assistant and a contract attorney and -- badda bing, badda boom -- IU has a big-name, big-time coach who will unify the fractured fan base and begin the process of restoring the program to its proper glory.
And I won't even ask for the school to pay six figures for a headhunting firm. Pay me instead.
I don't need 10 people to tell me that my Wish List begins and ends with Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Tennessee's Bruce Pearl, Louisville's Rick Pitino and maybe, just maybe, Memphis' John Calipari.
I don't need 10 people to tell me that my next List of Good Candidates (Who Didn't Make My Wish List) includes Baylor's Scott Drew, Marquette's Tom Crean, Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt, Xavier's Sean Miller, Pitt's Jamie Dixon, Washington State's Tony Bennett, Gonzaga's Mark Few and Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings.
(As for the rumored candidacy of Scott Skiles . . . nah. Great guy, good coach and as a Bloomington resident, the school would save on moving expenses. But he doesn't fit the profile.)
It's pretty simple: IU needs a slam-dunk sure thing as its next coach. Someone who has shown he can win big at this level of college basketball. Someone who is absolutely pristine when it comes to NCAA violations. (And before you say it, no, Bob Knight is not a good idea, no matter how many times Dick Vitale pleads for Knight's return.)
They can't screw this up.
But with 10 people, only one of them a former basketball player, there's every reason to think the IU administration will find a way to blow it.
Too many chefs. Too many agendas. Too many people who, frankly, have as much right being on this committee as I do dancing the foxtrot on "Dancing With the Stars."
There is one person with basketball ties on this committee. He's former player Wayne Radford. He played for the Hoosiers a pretty long time ago. After him, it's Greenspan and then a whole bunch of academics and lawyers, which can only mean IU might not have a coach until Oct. 1, at the earliest.
Let me ask a question: If McRobbie was looking to hire a provost, would he fill his search committee with former basketball players? This is the typical look-down-your-nose arrogance we see with academics when they poke their nose into athletics. I've got no issues with having a mix of academics and keen legal minds, but if I'm hiring a basketball coach, I want people who have played and coached basketball, people who don't need a headhunting company to tell them who's who.
If you talk to athletic directors around the state and around the country, they'll tell you: Hiring a high-profile coach has to be the work of a limited few. Ten blue-ribbon panelists means a 10 times greater chance this whole blue-ribbon thing will be screwed up.
The thing a 10-person committee does is help dilute the blame when the failed hire goes south.
My fear now is, a big-time guy like Izzo or Pitino will get a look at this ridiculous 10-person abomination, and they're going to wonder if the job is worth it. If you're a candidate, doesn't it give you pause? Who's in charge there? When the coach has an issue, does he go to the athletic director, or will another committee get formed?
They are complicating a fairly simple process.
It's interesting.
Today I'm going to watch Purdue, whose athletic director, Morgan Burke, took a potentially ugly situation and seamlessly orchestrated Gene Keady's exit and Matt Painter's arrival. It doesn't take 10 people. Just one, or maybe two or three, who truly have a clue.

Hoosier NCAA Tournament Central: IU vs. Arkansas, Fri. 3/21

Just received this email from the IU Athletic Dept. regarding Friday's game at Raleigh.
I'll have more on the game itself later Monday.
__________________________________________
NCAA DIVISION I MEN'S BASKETBALLTOURNAMENT
First Round - East Regional

Friday, March 21
RBC Center, Raleigh, NC
#8 Indiana vs. #9 Arkansas

GAME TICKETS: Game tickets may be requested by calling 866-IUSPORTS on Monday, March 17 from 8 am to 4 pm. Tickets will be allocated and assigned by the IU Priority Point System.

TRAVEL: Anthony Travel, the official travel partner of IU Athletics, is happy to assist fans with individual travel arrangements.
(Fan travel packages will not be available for the First and Second Rounds.)

Call Anthony Travel at 800-736-6377 or visit www.anthonytravel.com and search "Hoosiers"

MERCHANDISE: Get your official Road to the Final Four t-shirt and other IU gear by visiting the IU Varsity Shop online at iuvshop.com.

Follow the Hoosiers inthe Tournament at IUHoosiers.com
866-IUSPORTS or IUHoosiers.com

IU's NCAA tourney homepage, full of lots of info and photos is at:
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/ind-ncaa-08-central.html

Rebroadcast of 1973 Dolphins-Redskins Super Bowl Highlights Busy SBH Sports Weekend!

2007 photo by Mario J. Bermudez
Miami Dolphins two Vince Lombardi Trophies for winning Super Bowl VII and VIII, at 2007 Dolphins Draft Day festivities at Dolphins HQ/training camp in Davie, FL.

What I'll be reading this busy weekend:

As is mandatory a couple of days throughout the year, no matter where I'm living or doing, I make a point of getting a print copy of USA Today's Super Bowl coverage.

1. Ad Age's analysis of Super Bowl commercials, marketing's big game
http://adage.com/superbowl08/ Victoria's Secret back on telecast for first time since '99.

2. USA Today's Ad Meter

20 Highlights in 20 years
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2008-01-31-20th-super-bowl-ad-meter_N.htm

Ad Meter winner photos
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/m08-0131-admeter-winners/flash.htm?gid=386&aid=1953

Ad schedule
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2008-01-31-super-bowl-ads-schedule_N.htm

3. USA Today Patriots' Franchise Shoots for History by Jarret Bell
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/patriots/2008-01-31-brady-belichick-1a-cover_N.htm
__________________________
What I'll likely be watching or taping this weekend:

The beginning of Turner Classic Movies' 31 Days of Oscar:
http://www.tcm.com/schedule/week.jsp?timezone=EST&cid=N

Big Ten Network
Sunday

2 Noon-2pm
Mens Basketball Northwestern at IU
__________
NFL Network
Friday

9pm-12midnight/replay Sat. 230am-530am /11am-2pm
Patriots defeat Giants 38-35 in Week 17 to record 16-0 regular season

Saturday
2-3 pm
Greatest Super Bowl Commercials /replay Sun. 130-230 am

3-4 pm
NFL Total Access analysts discuss upcoming Hall of Fame announcent LIVE

Three former Redskins I watched every weekend for years are among the 17 players under consideration: Darrell Green, Russ Grimm and Art Monk.

They should all get in! But likely won't -again.

As should former Dolphin Bob Kuechenberg whom I watched perform phenomenally as a Dolphin season ticket holder for years, and former Chicago Bear Richard Dent, whom I watched up-close and personal while living in Chicago/Evanston for two years in the mid-80's, during the Bears' reign as the most dominant and popular sports team in the country.

Their omission all these years has been nothing less than a disgrace.

Unlike most Dolphin fans, I've never been a Jason Taylor fan.

If it'd been up to me a few years ago, I'd have kept and re-signed former Hoosier Odewale Ogunleye, who was younger, cheaper and better-balanced, and traded Jason Taylor to an NFC team instead, before his grumpy, home-schooled ingrained selfish attitude, one that yells

"Do as I say, Not as I do," started infecting the younger players.

To me, he's a leader in name only.

For Dolphin fans with a penchant for calling up Miami sports radio call-in shows in the spring or following Dolphin games when Jason Taylor actually shows some hustle to praise him, and invariably say he's a lock for the HOF, consider that Richard Dent was a much better player

than Taylor, playing against much better teams: the dominant Giant and 49er teams.

Dent was a dominant player on one of the most dominant defensive teams in NFL history and

the Super Bowl MVP from over 20 years ago -and he's still waiting!

Jason Taylor, he of the up-and-down 2007 Dolphin season -after sitting-out 99% of preseason- getting 'worked' by rookies in the mud at Pittsburgh, don't call us, we'll call you!
In about 25 years, IF then.

http://www.profootballhof.com/enshrinement/story.jsp?story_id=2640

http://www.nfl.com/halloffame?campaign=gsi_g

4-5 pm
NFL Hall of Fame Press Conference LIVE

Saturday
930 pm-12 Midnight/replay Sun. 330-6 am/Sun. 830-11 am
Rebroadcast of original network telecast of Dolphins-Redskins Super Bowl VII, Jan. 17, 1973 in LA to complete 17-0 Perfect Season.

Sunday
530-630pm 2007 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Swimsuit Calendar
__________
ESPN Classic

Saturday
4-430 pm Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... Dan Marino
_______
ESPN 2
Saturday

630-7pm
Dolphins-49ers Super Bowl Highlights
_____
CSTV
Saturday

4-5 pm
The Story of Darrell Royal (2004) /replay Sun. 12Noon-1pm
______________
Fox Soccer Channel

Saturday
10 am-12 noon
Chelsea at Portsmouth /replay Sat 11pm-1am

12 Noon-230 pm
Sunderland at Liverpool /replay Sun 3-5 am

7-9 pm
Boca Juniors vs. River Plate

Sunday
9-11 am Juventus vs. Cagliari

11am-1 pm Aston Villa at Fulham /replay Sun 11pm-1am


230-430 pm Fiorentina vs, Milan

SouthBeachHoosier likes the Patriots on Sunday over the Giants, 34-19

IU star recruit Eric Gordon sounds like THE REAL DEAL

After years of getting kids into Blooomington with great HS and all-star resumes, who "talked the talk" on paper, but who couldn't "walk the walk" in important Big Ten games, we can finally
look forward to a talented and dynamic kid like Eric Gordon coming to Bloomington who wants to be THE person who connects the dots under pressure.
Gordon, the 6-foot-3 shooting guard from North Central that Illini fans thought they had signed, sealed and delivered, answered questions on Tuesday at the McDonald's All America Game Media Day event at Freedom Hall in Louisville, and Mike Hutsell takes it from there: Finally some good news for suffering Hoosier fans!
Color South Beach Hoosier cream and crimson with delight!

http://www.sapulpadailyherald.com/collegesports/cnhisnscolsports_story_086155645.html
Gordon: ‘I’m just looking forward’
By MIKE HUTSELL
THE EVENING NEWS AND THE TRIBUNE (JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind.)

LOUISVILLE, Ky.— Eric Gordon is relaxed now.
To him, it’s just a matter of what’s ahead. It’s not what happened.
Perhaps the most talked about men’s basketball recruit in a much-heralded Class of 2007, the Indianapolis star doesn’t like to discuss much about the past.
He’d rather not talk about his much-debated switch on a verbal commitment from the University of Illinois to a signed letter of intent with Indiana University.
“To me, that’s all behind me,” said Gordon.
“I know there’s questions about that wherever I go. People want to talk about it, I know it’s going to happen. But for me, I’m working toward moving ahead.”
At Tuesday’s McDonald’s All-American Media Day, Gordon was quiet, almost soft-spoken. Almost an exact opposite of the public perception of the North Central High School star — who said following his junior season that he would attend Illinois but then started visiting Indiana following the hiring of new head coach Kelvin Sampson in the summer before his senior year.
After a full summer and fall of questions concerning the status of his commitment to the Illini, Gordon announced on the day of Indiana’s Midnight Madness that he had changed his mind and he would sign with his home-state Hoosiers.
The change sparked a nationwide debate that spanned from message boards to national news outlets about his recruiting saga.
The questions centered around him visiting other campuses while being committed to a school and about accepting phone calls from another coaching staff without letting the Illinois staff know his decision was wavering.
“The decisions that I made, I made because I thought they were what was best for me and for my family,” Gordon said.
“When I said Illinois, it was what was best for me at that time.
“I talked with my family when Indiana made its coaching change and I visited the school a few times. After I weighed everything, it just seemed more like the program that I wanted to be a part of. It was the most comfortable fit for me.”
And about that perception that Gordon left Illinois hanging while deciding to make the change — he swears it was never the case.
“The people that needed to know what I was doing, I was up front with,” Gordon said. “All of the coaches knew what I was doing. The people that were most upset about it were the ones that had no idea what was going on the whole time.”
Those people also were likely the most vocal about the ordeal. Within days of his switch, Gordon started receiving letters from a disgruntled Illinois fan base. It was within minutes of the choice that he started hearing media debates about the ethics of the whole process.
“People were mailing me quotes from newspapers saying ‘this is what you said,’” and basically calling me a liar,” Gordon said.
“That type of thing hurts when you hear it, because I honestly wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. I was just doing what I thought was best for me.”
And it’s those type of responses he says he’s expecting the first time he enters the Illinois campus as a Hoosier next season.
“It will be like I’m on ‘America’s Most Wanted’ or something,” Gordon said, slightly smiling at the notion. “I know they’re going to be ready for me. I can’t say I’m looking forward to it, but at the same time I’m going have to realize it’s just another game. It’s 40 minutes, just like every other game we’ll play.”
That’s what Gordon wants to believe. That it is time to move ahead. He’d like to bury the perception of the Illini fans and become just another Big Ten basketball player next season.
That could happen, if Gordon was just another basketball recruit. The reality is that Gordon is a kid who the McDonald’s All-America media guide dubs “the best all-around high school basketball player in all of the country.”
He’s a player likely to be the run-away winner of the Indiana Mr. Basketball vote after a senior season that saw him average 28.9 points per game while leading North Central to a 21-5 record and runner-up finish in the state finals.
And it definitely won’t happen after nights like the one Gordon had on Feb. 1, when he poured 47 points on a Loyala (Ill.) Academy team featuring Michael Jordan’s two sons in front of a national-television audience on ESPN with Jordan sitting in attendance — a game in which the Panthers cruised, 88-47.
“I knew he was there,” Gordon said about playing in front of Jordan that night. “I didn’t want to say I was putting on a show in front of him, but it was sort of neat that it happened that way.
“I didn’t get to talk to him that night. I would have loved to meet him but he got out of there before I had a chance.”
All of that, though, is part of the past Gordon is trying to learn from but at the same time move ahead.
For now, he only worries about the things that are in his own hands. After Wednesday’s McDonald’s Game at Freedom Hall in Louisville, he’ll focus on finishing out his senior year and picking up his diploma in May.
After that, he’s got a scheduled appearance in Michael Jordan’s Roundball Classic this June and by the time the summer semester commences in Bloomington, he’ll be ready for his full-time role as a Hoosier.“I’m ready,” he said.
“I’m ready to get down there, to be a part of the program. To start practicing and play for a great coaching staff, to play at Assembly Hall in front of the fans.
“It’s where I want to be. I’m just looking forward.”

Mike Hutsell writes for The Evening News in Jeffersonville, Ind.
Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.
_____________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal, covering the McDonald's All American Game, reports that Gordon is looking forward to the high-caliber competition this week.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007703260482
Indiana HS Headline: Gordon has a quick turnaround
mcdonald's all american game
By Jody Demling jdemling@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

It's been a long and tiring weekend for Indianapolis North Central standout shooting guard Eric Gordon.
The 6-foot-3 Gordon started on Saturday in Indianapolis playing for Indiana's Class 4-A state championship. He scored 25 points, but his team dropped an 87-83 decision in the title game to East Chicago.

Gordon left Indianapolis early yesterday and by midafternoon was at Hoops Basketball Academy practicing with the West squad in preparation for Wednesday's McDonald's All American game.
"I'm sore and tired," he said. "I didn't know it was going to be this quick where the McDonald's game was going to be right after the state championship game. But I've been looking forward to this. I was sore, but I'm OK."
He tweaked his hamstring in the state final but will play this week.
Gordon, who averaged a state-best 29.1 points a game, said he's been looking forward to showcasing his skills with the nation's top players.
The boys' game will be played at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Freedom Hall.
During practice, Gordon was working for a while with a dream group that included Memphis-bound Derrick Rose, Kyle Singler (Duke), Kevin Love (UCLA) and Michael Beasley (Kansas State).
"I've known these guys for a long time," Gordon said. "This will be fun."
Gordon, who committed to Illinois before signing with Indiana after coach Kelvin Sampson was hired, talked with the media about his decision.
"It was tough," he said. "I mean I was going to give IU a chance throughout my whole recruiting process, but Kelvin Sampson showed me different ways and what I could do. I'm really excited to get there."

Phishing/spam problems on Yahoo's Indiana Basketball group site

What follows is an excerpt from a group email that South Beach Hoosier wrote last Friday afternoon after having reached the last straw in regards to spam and phishing on Yahoo!'s Indiana basketball group.
_____________________________
To: indianauniversitybasketball@yahoogroups.com, 53investigation@security.53.com
CC: "Chad Giddens" ccgidden@indiana.edu , "Scott Dolson" sdolson@indiana.edu , "Casey Cox"
cbcox@indiana.edu

Friday February 16th, 2007

Dear Fellow IU Supporters:

I'll be honest, I'm long past the point of getting fed up with Yahoo!'s inability to keep spam and phishing off their IU basketball group. The latest and perhaps most egregious example is a fake letter yesterday purporting to be from Fifth Third Bank -an IU athletics sponsor- from someone also using the email address, "Dbsmariehelene" an obvious red herring, yet people fall for it. People are always nervous about their bank info and their email plays into people's legitimate fears. The heading looked like this:

From: "Fifth Third Bank"
To: "Dbsmariehelene"
Subject: Fifth Third Bank - security notice. -Thu, 15 Feb 2007 20:16:46 -0500

When you go to print and then copy the email message contained there from the bottom of the page onto another page, you'll see a heretofore invisible message below it, which I have reprinted here below in red.

He stopped typing, sorry to be out of the dream. acerbic clock Boom.
I'll say I pulled over to take a nap because I was afraid I might fall asleep behind the wheel. Yes!
"Only a minute more, Paul,?she said, and uncapped the Betadine. His head ached. "Do you wonder why I told you all of this, Paul? Paul had heard him walk away from the door, and although he knocked again, Gary had not come back. He drew his arm back and heaved the penguin through the parlor window, just as he had thrown an ashtray through the window of the guest bedroom not so long ago. bourgeoisie

A few minutes ago, I went to the bank's legitimate site and and have reproduced here their official info:

Bank Protection
If you discover any suspicious online sites, emails, or other fraudulent activity.
Phone: 1-800-927-0395
We are available to assist you by phone Monday–Friday from 8 AM–6 PM ET. If calling after hours, leave a message and your call will be promptly returned during normal business hours.
Email: http://us.f372.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=53investigation@security.53.com
To report a suspicious email which used Fifth Third's name and asked for personal or account information, please forward the email to us along with your contact information.
Please do not change the subject line. After forwarding, please delete the email from your inbox.

I'll be contacting the bank by phone this afternoon about this phishing/spam problem with the Yahoo IU basketball site, which like most problems, will NOT go away on its own, hence, they have to be reported and stopped.
I'm also sending a cc of this email to some folks back in Bloomington who share our passion for all things IU, and who are better situated to represent IU's interests than I can here in South Florida, where there are no Fifth Third bank branches south of downtown Ft. Lauderdale.

It's chiefly due to the continuing Yahoo spam problem and off-topic subjects on the site that within the past two weeks -three years later than I should've- I've finally decided to start a blog of my own, that will touch on IU basketball from time-to-time.

I have a lot of interesting material that I've yet to post, including some thoughts, anecdotes and observations on the 1979-83 Hoosiers -when I was in Bloomington- where I was close to the action on the court, playing fields and even swimming pools, due to many friendships with IU athletes and administrators, including #20, fellow South Floridian James (Jim) Thomas, the 1979 Mr. Florida Basketball, and IU Athletics' do-it-all, 24/7 Renaissance man, Chuck Crabb, who lovingly and masterfully managed IU's Student Athletic Board, which I devoted many thousands of hours to -and loved every minute.

Both the more difficult times, like torrential downpours at IU soccer games at Bill Armstrong Stadium, and those that were more fun, like helping to manage the pom squad and cheerleader tryouts up on the HPER's second floor gym to Prince's genius music, circa 1982.
After all those hours and hours of watching those carefully choreographed routines to his music, I could never hear Prince's songs again without thinking of those tryouts, including his recent Super Bowl halftime show performance, just a few miles from me.

Visit the blog sometime soon and let me know what you think.

Thanks!

Dave in Hallandale Beach, FL
http://www.southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/