Juwan Howard's Goatee: A Photo Essay

Seeing Juwan Howard playing in the NBA Finals sparked a great memory of when I first saw Howard in a Street & Smith's magazine in 1990.  At that time, I actually he just had a really cool spelling of the name "Juan".  It wasn't until the following year that he became a household name with the Fab Five. Perhaps more remarkable than his 17 year run in the NBA, is the fact that his look as stayed nearly identical going back to his days at Michigan.  And as I asked my friend AJ on Twitter (@TheAJHappened) the goatee most likely goes back to 7th grade.  With Mike Miller changing his look and persona at nearly every professional career stop, here's a tribute to the legend of Juwan Howard's perfectly trimmed goatee:

To 20 Years Strong! 

5 Weekend Deals

My girlfriend is a big fan of Groupon.  She's also a big fan of Living Social, newspaper coupons, and a blog called What I Wore.  With that in mind, I've decided to clue you in on five steals of a deal for basketball games this weekend. 

FRIDAY GAMES ($10 for two, in and out for $18 with dinner included):

Heritage Christian at Park Tudor: 

Not quite the Crosstown Shootout rivalry that I posted about yesterday, but a solid rivalry regardless.  With my credibility facing a huge letdown after recommending to watch that game last night, this game will be a deal.  It's a chance to watch 2013 recruit Basil Smotherman lead his squad against IU commit, Yogi Ferrell.  Smotherman would be considered a Purdue/Xavier lean at this point, but it's still early.  Nick Hoover is a gritty senior for Heritage that will help give his squad a push at a big win.  Ferrell has a lot of young help at Park Tudor, led by freshmen Trevon Bluiett and Troy Spears.  Both Bluiett and Spears will have a lot of the Midwest Division 1 schools calling their house for the next couple of years.  JB Rapp began his career playing under Darnell Archey and is shooting the 3-ball at an Archey-esque clip of 55%.

The Madison County Tournament:

The 5th place game begins at 5:00pm and includes Elwood vs Frankton.  Don't be in a rush after work to get to that one.  Lapel and Alexandria tip off after that, which should be a good atmosphere.  The Madison County Tournament rarely fails to provide some great games and the championship game is no different:  Anderson vs Pendleton Heights.  It's a great opportunity to see Butler commit, Kellen Dunham, who's averaging 22.9 pts/gm this season.  Fellow senior, Kendall Waters, is lighting up scoreboards as well dropping in 16.8 a game.  Anderson is Anderson.  They're well coached and will be a tough out as the season gets going.  If you like the pre-class sectional feel, there's no better place to be than the Wigwam tonight.  If you're a hoopshead, you can watch three games cheaper than going to see "Little Fockers".

Carmel at Center Grove:

If this were football, it'd be a no brainer.  Center Grove is known as the "Carmel of the South".  While Carmel would be offended if you ever mentioned them as the "Center Grove of the North".  In fact, maybe that's how we should describe them.  Center Grove squeaked out a game versus Perry Meridian after winning the Hall of Fame Classic in New Castle over Christmas break.  They're well coached and feature two division 1 players in Andy Smeathers (Butler) and Johnny Marlin (IPFW).  For basketball, Carmel doesn't travel very well, but expect the Grovers to be out in full force.  Their student section will be in the running for the Operation Basketball Award at season's end.  New Carmel coach, Scott Heady, brings a balanced and improving team down south led by Josh Balbridge, Alec Peterson, and Ben Gardner.  This game will be decided late.

Cleveland State at Butler:

Monetarily this isn't as good a deal as the previous three.  Basketball and atmosphere-wise, it puts the others to shame.  Unfortunately, Butler doesn't quite sell-out, but it should be close tonight.  If this is your game tonight, make sure you get there early.  Cleveland State comes to town 15-1 and feeling like this is their year to win the Horizon League.  Butler comes in after a tough Saturday-Monday stretch which saw them beat Valparaiso at home before falling to Milwaukee on the road.  The Horizon League is on it's way to become the top mid major conference as teams try to raise to Butler's level.  They've set the bar high, but Cleveland State feels their close.  Bring some padding tonight because this one will be physical. 

SATURDAY:

What better way to kickoff a Colts Saturday night than to watch some high school hoops before-hand.  Most AD's have moved start times up, allowing the opportunity to do both.  In fact, you can probably make a trip to Marsh to pick-up some Rotel and Velveeta in the middle.  If this sounds like what you want to do, make a trip to Muncie pronto.  It's Hamilton Southeastern vs Muncie Central.  A recognizable name to basically every college in the nation, Gary Harris, may be worth the ticket alone.  A bonus feature for you is that Muncie Central is really solid.  They lost some early games, but bounced back with their first win over Pike in 14 years.  Adam Botts looks to be a winner like his brother Ben (IPFW) and Nick Osborne is coming into his own in the paint.  Muncie Central also features an unheralded sophomore, Travis Woods, that should show up on some radars this summer.  In an early start, take the Bearcats in the upset.

The Three Sides of the Crosstown Shootout

Outside of some Reds baseball and Skyline Chili, you probably haven't read much about Cincinnati in this blog.  Much like the Reds barnstorming tour each offseason, I'm extending an arm to our neighbor's to the East.  Instead of sending our Triple A blog writer to Champps, however, I'm going to promote one of the greatest rivalries in college basketball:  The Crosstown Shootout.  That's right, Xavier vs Cincinnati.

It's Catholic vs Public.  6,700 vs 41,357.  It's also a series that's caused a whole lot of confusion in my life.  As a basketball fan, I've been on every side of the rivalry:  Dis-interest, root for Cincinnati, root for Xavier, more dis-interest, a strong dislike for both, and now dis-interest with a Xavier lean.

In 1993, the only Xavier I recognized was Xavier McDaniel.  That is until my buddy Betten and I went to watch the number 1 seed Indiana Hoosiers take on Xavier University in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.  I couldn't fathom Calbert Cheaney and the Hoosiers losing to a school with such an awful blue color.  Little did I know that Brian Grant and Aaron Williams would end up being decent NBA players.  The Musketeers were on the radar as I went back to Mrs. Berry's class that next day.

Cincinnati entered the equation the year before with a man named Nick Van Exel.  I kept a distant eye on the Bearcats and the emergence of Danny Fortson in 1996 had me sold.  I rocked a Bearcat shooting shirt and shorts the first day of the tournament in 1997...the same year I discovered the Crosstown Shootout.  The 0% graduation rate Bearcats had stolen my 9th grade heart as they strolled into their rivalry game.  Xavier got 'em by a bucket and I couldn't stand them.

Same result the next season, and then I came to my senses about liking the Bearcats.  Although Cincinnati gear remains some of the sickest in the nation.

Fast forward to 2004 when I buddy Thurm and I travel to Cincinnati to watch the Shootout for the first time in person.  I hated Cincinnati at that point and loved Xavier.  Brandon Miller joined Thad Matta's staff there, so we had to support the Muskies (as we chanted endlessly that night).  The Let's Go X, and Let's go Muskie's chants had us hoarse by the time X beat the Cats 71-69.  Xavier wouldn't lose again until the Elite 8 versus Duke, so we felt pretty good about showing up for that one.

Bob Huggins had been let go as head coach during that season and actually showed up to the game to watch as a fan.  Now that's a rivalry!  I can't describe in words how physical and intense the rivalry was.  Okay, I guess I can:  It was REALLY intense (that wasn't so good, was it?)

After Brandon and Matta moved on to Ohio State, more disinterest crept in to the rivalry.  Last season, after Butler beat Xavier in the infamous "Stopped Clock" game, the negative feelings I had towards the Muskies were similar to how I feel about Purdue.  At that same time, Mick Cronin is about as unlikable a coach there is in the nation.  Hatred for two programs in a rivalry is hard to match.

My girlfriend's brother AND sister both attended Xavier, so all this confusion in the rivalry is really taking a hit.

I'm sure it's nothing in comparison to the confusion you're experiencing after reading this blog.

Just watch the game at 7:00pm tonight.     

Let Me Try This Again

Ever since I lost the WRTV label, my thoughts and talents have gone elsewhere. By elsewhere, I mean they've stayed in my head. And of course by talents, I mean a lack there of. If we were rating comebacks, this would rank well below Brett Favre, Dominik Hasek, and Ric Flair. In fact, I'd probably rank more favorably to Amanda Bynes

All you need to do is take a look at my blog entry prior to this and you'll see why I went through some much needed rest. All the positives in that prior entry went out the window quickly. Fortunately for me, I was able to witness the meltdown in person in which they lost to Wisconsin 83-20. It's commonly known as the day Bill Lynch lost his job, but I like to refer to it as the "Does Nick Toon really deserve the Tooooooooon chant", "I figured your stadium would louder" and "First Time to ever have goat cheese on a pizza" day. With that, no IU football talk until at least late August (if you don't count the inevitable fired up about the Kevin Wilson era late July/early August post).

As you can tell there's not a real theme with this comeback blog. So sticking with that theme, here are some topics I've been thinking about at work. For lack of a better term, we'll call them...well I guess they'll just have to lack a term in general.



Rich Rodriguez stuck with the system. The system didn't stick with Rich Rodriguez. Much like CEO's, coaches go into new jobs knowing what it takes to be successful and having a plan to get there. Unfortunately for RichRod, his plans didn't matchup with AD Dave Brandon's. I understand that you have to believe in a system. It's what made him great at West Virginia. But at what point, do you say, "You know what? I'm walking into some pretty good talent. Maybe I can adjust a little." At Michigan, you don't have 5 years to rebuild a program that didn't need rebuilt. If you walk into a program with 9-3 talent, you have to use it. You can't run off NFL talent like Ryan Mallett because they don't fit your system. If you walk into a situation like Kevin Wilson at IU, you may have the luxury. It's too bad because I think Rodriguez is a pretty good ballcoach. It took him until his 5th season at West Virginia to really get things rolling, and before that it was his 4th year at Glenville State. He probably would have gone 9-3 or 10-2 in 2011, but at Michigan they expected that in year 2, not year 4.


The Road 3 Diary:


Today's Road 3 diary is brought to you from Greensburg, Indiana. In what is already dated news, a family is sueing the Greensburg school system after their son was dismissed from the junior high basketball team for refusing to cut his hair. The Bous Theory was able to find some pictures that can be seen here, here, and here. The attorney of the parents says that they're teaching their son a life lesson. There is no doubt that they're teaching a life lesson. Doesn't it seem like the wrong lesson? If a coach tells me to cut my hair or I'm off the team, I'm cutting my hair. Trying out for basketball is a choice. Not cutting your hair is a choice. You should be able to live with the consequences.

I'm not even writing this from the perspective of the world was so great in my day. Hell, my day is the era of lawsuits. I just can't fathom this one. I would have made a trip to Bob's Barber Shop long before I made the trip home to tell my folks I got kicked off the team.

Women may love the long hair, but as a great coach once said, "You look a lot better carrying a basketball under your arm".

July Recruting....In Football?

The July college basketball recruiting period opened last Tuesday, as coaches begin their month-long journey to gyms across the nation scouring for the nation’s best talent. It’s the best time of year for coaches to evaluate young talent, keep an eye on current recruits, and make sure they’re not missing the boat on any players. It’s a hectic 8am-11pm schedule, day after day, often times in a different city every couple of days (or in the same day). July tends to be the time of year when the common college basketball fan takes notice of recruiting. New names pop up on radars and young talent emerges. Locally, Indiana basketball fans are looking for any signs of positive stories they can find.

Basketball is king, but that isn’t the story that IU fans should be keeping their eyes on. Quietly, Bill Lynch is doing major recruiting work with the IU football program. As the IU faithful are following where Coach Crean is scouting or what outfit Bennie Seltzer is wearing, Bill Lynch landed a commitment from Bloomington North stud running back D’Angelo Roberts.

For those who don’t know, Roberts isn’t the Hoosiers first commit for 2011: He’s their 20th, and that’s on July 13th. It definitely helps that Roberts plays right in the Hoosiers backyard, but this is a bigtime recruit. I don’t care how many stars are listed next to his name (okay, it’s 3 if you really want to know) DeAngelo Roberts is the real deal. He rushed for 2600 yards last year for North in a pretty solid football conference (Conference Indiana). I’ve had the luxury of watching him in person twice, and he’s made the “wow” type of players that you don’t typically utter for high school running backs.

Roberts is the motivation for this blog entry, but Coach Lynch and staff have been doing work all winter and spring. Of Rivals top 15 players in the state of Indiana, Lynch has secured (use that word loosely) commits from 6 of them (Okay, so it’s players ranked 9-14 but still). With Purdue fleeing to Florida to recruit, Indiana has a real opportunity to stake its flag in the state. The top-tier players in this state are still heading elsewhere ( North Carolina, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Notre Dame this year) but IU has made huge in-roads over the past four seasons. For those that scoff at recruiting the state of Indiana for football, the depth of talent has increased at a high rate over the past 10 years or so. It will only continue to get better, and the IU staff is positioning themselves nicely across the state.

Lynch and staff really seem to know who they are, as only one 2011 commit comes from outside the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. For a program that never seems to have a plan, IU seems to have figured it out; their plan that is. Go after the best players in the Midwest, offer scholarships early, fight the right battles, and go after character. With the early offers, IU has a shot to land great talent before the Ohio State’s and Michigan’s even get involved (If they commit, IU must hang on for dear life, however). For the first time since I can remember, the Hoosiers have two national top 250 players in their 2011 recruiting class. No matter how much stock you put into rankings, it’s hard to ignore the fact that IU’s season finish in Big 10 play routinely correlates with their recruiting rankings; typically in the bottom 3.

The two 4-star commits, Zach Shaw (Coshocton, OH) and Raymon Taylor (Detroit) will have a lot of peer pressure to de-commit from the Hoosiers. As soon as a powerhouse sees a need at one of their positions, they will be making the phone call looking to scoop them up. In the past, (all the way to last year) you could be assured that the top verbal commits to IU would never sign their letter of intent.

It’s a different Indiana now. Their weight room rivals any in the nation, the stadium renovations make it Big 10 quality, and the other amenities make it fit for a program that isn’t content being a basketball school in the bottom 3 in football. There is a real dedication to the football program, and you can see the dividends with the past couple of recruiting classes.

This still has to translate to Saturday’s in fall, but the foundation seems to be in place to contend for a bowl game every season. There is a whole lot of work left to do, but momentum is on the program’s side. You don’t have to look much further than Tracey Porter’s interception in the Super Bowl or last year’s NFL Draft to see some of the selling points Coach Lynch and staff have in their arsenal.

In a basketball state and in a basketball recruiting period, it’s the football version of the Hoosiers that are having a big Summer.

While Summer is great, it's still the Fall that I'm worried about.

LeBron James is just like....Well, LeBron

When questioned about how I feel about LeBron James bailing on Cleveland to go to Miami, I haven’t had a whole lot to say. That’s not entirely true, as I’ve had things to say, just nothing that other people haven’t said before me. I haven’t spewed any venom LeBron’s way like many have, nor did I burn a jersey, but I don’t know if I’ll ever hold LBJ in the same regard as I once did.

As humans, the first thing we do with athletes is compare them to someone. In fact, it’s not just athletes; we try to find comparisons with people in all walks of life. Think of your own life as you went through school. If you have any older siblings or family that went through the same school system, your expectations may be set as soon as you start kindergarten.

With athletes, comparisons come from an early age and never truly end. I follow college basketball recruiting where the first thing people want to know (on the outside) is who a particular player plays like. This past week, I saw Center Grove’s Andy Smeathers compared to Gordon Hayward. Look, I like Smeathers game, but outside of the fact that they’re both tall, skinny, can shoot it, and white it’s not a very good comparison. But we have to compare him to someone, so Hayward makes sense.

This past week, a common theme has been “Well Jordan wouldn’t have done what LeBron did. Jordan would have taken on whomever to prove he was the best.” The statement itself is pretty accurate. With what we know, Jordan DIDN’T leave and seemed to be wired to take on anyone, anywhere, and at anytime. That’s what made MJ the greatest basketball player of all-time. LeBron James has been compared to Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson since his teenage years. What’s been hard to grasp the past couple of years and then magnified during “The Decision” is that LeBron James is LeBron James.

It’s the same reason he has yet to develop a low-post game. We all think it would make him unstoppable. Kobe added one. Jordan added one. LeBron has yet to truly develop one. It’s one of those things that makes him different. We want LeBron to be the greatest basketball player of all time. It’s tough to swallow when people don’t live up to the expectations (or comparisons) we set for them.

I felt disappointment last Thursday in realizing that I’ll never be able to place LeBron on the same pedestal as Jordan. Those are expectations that I placed on LeBron. I thought he could win in Cleveland. I thought he was good enough to take on the world. Again, that’s what I wanted.

LeBron just wanted to go win a ring with his boys. It’s almost like he’s surrounded with Dru Joyce and Romeo Travis again. They get to hang in South Beach and win some ballgames. It’s not what I expect out of greatness, but let’s be serious, what do I know about greatness?

If the Heat win the title this year, we won’t hold LeBron in the same regard as if he won in Cleveland. If they win 6 in a row? That might be a different story.
In the end, how we regard LeBron James means nothing to LeBron James. He’s not the little brother trying to live up to big brother’s expectations. He’s trying to set his own in what is definitely becoming a new era of sports.

I’ll learn to live with it, and will definitely set my own household record for Miami Heat games watched in a single year.

I just won’t be rooting for them.

College Basketball > Antique Show

“Are you ready to go to the antique show?” my girlfriend asked on Sunday.

I replied with, “The antique show? Right now? Ohio State and Minnesota are playing.” I should have probably stopped there, but I had to get another shot in at the perceived demographics of an antique show. “Maybe my grandma will go with you.”

Of course, I would have replied the exact same way if I were watching a TBS replay of The Truman Show for the 18th time, but that’s beside the point.

After dragging her to the IHSAA Regional at Hinkle Fieldhouse the night before, and spending every Friday night this winter broadcasting Pike basketball games, I owed her a trip to the Antique Show; she deserved that. Whether or not the thought of looking at ships in a bottle or coins from the Civil War gave me anxiety, I lost sight of the big picture: The NCAA Tournament was right around the corner.

Sunday was the day to do whatever your wife or girlfriend wanted to do (as long as you got it in before the Selection Show at 6pm). Nothing should have been off limits, including trips to a consignment shop, The Loft, Von Maur, Marsh, TJ Maxx, a nursery, or in my case the antique show. Rain or shine, I’ll be fully invested in the tournament. If it’s 72 degrees and sunny outside, I won’t think twice about staying inside and watching hoops for the next two weekends. If anything, I can just open up the blinds.

I have been building up for this point in March with my girlfriend since the beginning of the season in November. I was hoping that Pike would still be playing at this time of year, but even with them out, the NCAA Tournament was the clear grand finale. I tried to drive that point home at any opportunity I had. The problem is, unless your wife or girlfriend loves sports at the same alarming rate that you do, they have a tough time understanding how you could sit on your couch from Noon until Midnight on the opening two days of the tournament. Women tend to get cabin fever and like to be productive. A trip to Qdoba in the break between the afternoon and night ballgames doesn’t quite cut it.

That’s why this past Sunday was so crucial. She looked at the antique show as her version of the 12:25 game on Thursday. The 12:25 games aren’t usually among the best games, but you definitely like to be in front of the TV to catch them. She wasn’t going to buy anything at the show, but it was something she wanted to do. My love of sports is the one area of my life where I tend to get tunnel vision. I don’t pretend to watch every game, or even throw remotes at TV screens, but I get selfish if it’s a ballgame I really want to see. The Minnesota-Ohio State game wasn’t necessarily one of those games.

During college football season, I learned to pick my spots (meaning watch all IU games and then some big match-ups here and there). With the NCAA Tournament, I don’t plan on picking spots. Opening weekend calls for an all out binge. There’s more down time as the teams dwindle down from 65 to 16 and so on, so I don’t think my long-term goal of watching every game possible has been totally compromised. I just can’t say with a straight face that I won’t be walking along the Canal this Saturday during the first afternoon ballgames.

I also better check the Home & Antique Show schedules for April, as it may be a long month!

As she said to me when I chose to watch the Big Ten Championship, “You know Ohio State is going to win.”

She was right. As usual