You know it's getting closer to winter....

when you go purchase a dart board, just to give you something extra to do each night. At this point, I honestly feel like I just kill time from the time I get off work to the time I go to bed. What do people do to kill their time? If I documented my whole week between 5 and midnight, it would look like I'm the biggest shithead in the world. Luckily for me, I can now add the game of cricket to my hobbies. I got one of the electronic boards, so you can play the computer. I started on advanced level, and I didn't fare so well. Took it down one notch, and started throwing DARTS like Kyle Boller from his knees. The League Pass is still a great investment, but I catch myself wondering how much basketball can you really watch? If I don't get into coaching, then I don't know the purpose of scouting so many games. At least my fantasy bball squad is in 2nd place! The Big 10 got chumped out again for the 9th time in the Big 10/ACC Challenge. I think Jay Bilas hit the nail on the head when he said that our bottom feeders really can't hack it with the ACC's bottom feeders. It all comes down to matchups, but still, we've been chumped out hard every year.

Okay back to my time between work & bed. Darts, NBA Bball, College BBall. That resume wouldn't win me any good with my time awards. Another side note: I usually stay at work until at least 5:45 or 6. The reason? I've got a feeling I do it just to lessen the time that I spend at my apartment. I've put in my application to volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club, so hopefully that will help. I think it'd be fun to coach in their basketball league. Instead of 3-5 hours that I put on the sheet, maybe I should fill in 40+ hours. What do normal folks do between work & bed. Everyone here at work always seems like they have shit going on. Am I the only one that doesn't or are they making their lives seem busier than what they really are. Chillin' is an art, and maybe all people aren't set up to do it. I guess I've got a special talent..like I said, it's like an art.

Bucket is back

What a privilege I had in taking in the IU-Purdue game on Saturday. You couldn't ask for better weather in the 3rd week of November and the game didn't disappoint. The crowd was the best that I have ever witnessed at Memorial Stadium, and I gotta say, it appeared to be predominantly crimson. Seeing the corners full practically gave you goosebumps. It also gave me a glimpse of what could be with IU football. There's obviously the number of alumni to fill the 55,000 seat stadium. It's just a matter of getting them there. Last Saturday, they got there and again, they weren't disappointed. With true grit and heart, the players honored Coach Hep, win or lose. The atmosphere at the game defined what was left behind by the beloved Coach. From sideline to sideline and end zone to end zone, you could feel his presence. When Purdue tied the score at 24, I felt the worst I've felt at a sporting event in many years. It seemed the momentum had shifted and it was theirs to lose in overtime. The kids from IU just wouldn't quit, and Kellen Lewis led a stoic 3 minute drive to lead to Austin Starr's 49 yard, beautifully faded game winner. Electric! And now we're headed to a bowl. I truly feel like it will be the Insight Bowl in Arizona, but wherever we end up, they can't take November 17th away from us, and I truly feel it is a day that will restore the glory in old IU!

Bob Loblaw

The blog has been built and we are in the database. I am meeting with the sports guys next week to discuss what all will go into it. Needless to say, I think this should really work out nicely.

Did anyone catch Eric Gordon on Monday night? After watching him numerous times last year, I can't say I'm surprised. I am surprised at the fact that it was like I was watching a high school game with him dropping 33 on dem boys from Chattanooga. What a loaded team the Hoosiers have. They'll be top 10 in the nation in scoring, guaranteed.

Butler's home opener is tonight against in state rival Indiana State. I'm not going to be able to make it, but good luck to B Mill, Zach and the rest of the Dawgs.

I was just thinking...some of these Fortune 500 American companies need to hire Windsor strippers as sales-women. They are some of the best hustlers on the street. I guess it also helps wearing no bottoms :)

Insight.com Bowl here we come! I'm thinking this is the Hoosiers year to beat purdue. 41-35 is the prediction in a high scoring affair. If the Hoosiers don't win, unfortunately I don't think they're going bowling.

IU basketball begins tonight....

and it's officially the most disconnected I've felt from a Hoosier team since Jay Edwards played. The reason? I can't watch the games at home. This is probably the coolest/best team on paper in 13+ years and I can't even watch them from my sage green couch. Why on earth would I want to go to a bar on a Monday night? Honestly, that sounds like one of the last things I want to do right now. Especially after just getting back from a long weekend in Windsor. My friend, Searsay summed it up best when he said, "I think I have jet lag and I wasn't even on a plane!"

I won't even try and top that one. It sums it up. Not to sound like Harry Dunne, but this Big Ten Network thing is really chapping my ass. I don't want to seem like a complainer, but I end up spending $10 or more, because I have to buy food just to watch the game. I won't be doing any beers on games like these, but I can't promise that I won't if it's a Wednesday/Thursday game. We're talking a minimum of $15-20 if that's the case. Take that $15 minimum times the 17 games on the Network and you get.....$255! Woohoo! That's more than two cable bills! I could hypothetically spend that at a strip club in a city across the river from Detroit.

Hopefully the Hoosiers get bucket week off to a good start and hopefully McGilvery's gets my week off to a hot start with some loaded nachos! I'll fill you in on how they are. Any thoughts on a high school basketball blog?

High School basketball season right around the corner...

which means my pre-season top 10 should be coming out soon. I know you're all anxious to find out who Bous has at the top of 4A. I haven't decided if I'll just do a 4A poll, or combine all classes (pretty much a 4a poll anyway). On paper, Lawrence North looks pretty tough. Speaking of LN, I saw Coach Kiefer at a hole-in-the wall Mexican restaurant a couple of weeks ago. We were the only english speaking folks in there, but I knew if Coach could eat there, I could eat there.

Let's focus on a name for me as I dialogue high school basketball. Here's a little background on my basketball skills. I only played varsity for one season at New Castle Chrysler (my senior year). I was the 4th or 5th guard on a team that rolled with an 8 man rotation. Needless to say, I didn't get many meaningful minutes. I played in 14 games and was put in the first half for just three of them (Foul Trouble, Senior Night, Foul Trouble). I was pretty much a practice player and vocal guy, which was completely awesome with me. I wasn't a great point guard and couldn't guard on the ball as well as I needed to. When our best player broke his hand, I couldn't even guard him one-on-one knowing he only had one hand to dribble with. I scored 9 career points, inlcuding 3 versus then #1 Bloomington North in the semi-state. There you have it, my career in a nutshell. My question to you the readers is: what should I name my high school basketball blog? I need feedback and comments on this one. Here's some thoughts, Towel Wavers' Report, Mop-up Minutes, 4 Corners, RTV6th Man, Screen the Screener, etc. The other idea is going by a name like, "Towel-boy" (similar to Tree Boy on the other station). I'd love some feedback for real on this one. Emails or comments are great. Have a great week! 2 days to Windsor!

NBA League Pass

I just made a great investment Tuesday night. NBA League Pass! I can already tell you right now on November 1st that it was a great decision. As you may or may not know, I had MLB Extra Innings this summer to pass some boredom. Here's the thing with the league pass...It's going to be winter, I have no girlfriend, and I've got all kinds of time. We're talking hundreds of games that I'm going to get to witness. Teams you never get to watch like the Hornets, Sonics, Jazz, Warriors, Magic, etc. Last night during breaks of the Pacer game, I could flip through any of these games: Magic-Bucks, Bulls-Nets, Hornets-Kings, Spurs-Grizzlies with their local coverage. Those games seem like garbage on paper, but being able to see Rashard Lewis drop 26 wasn't too bad.

I've decided to make a huge sports focus on the NBA again. I've somewhat lost focus over the past couple of seasons, so it's time to truly get back into it. I'm not even just talking the Pacers, I'm talking the whole league. That being said, I did go out and buy a Pacers shirt that I rocked for opening night last night. It'll be a little tougher, but I'm going to try and turn this season into the seasons I watched growing up. That could change in a week, but right now, that's my goal. There are so many good teams and star players that now's the time to do it. I'm also going to get some good coaching techniques and styles out of it, so that's an added bonus.

My fantasy basketball team is off to a rough start. Injuries have plagued my squad so far. If you don't know the story, I was unable to draft my team due to a firewall issue at work. Because of that, I've been trying to tweak here and there to put my stamp on the team. Now I just have to be patient and wait for guys to play some minutes. Guys like Jermaine, Odom, and Josh Howard (suspension). I've still got too many guys I don't like that I'm trying to pawn off on others. Odom, Ricky Davis, Peja. Just your basic pukes! Luckily I traded for Lebron and he had a stellar performance last night shooting 2 for 11, for a stat-line of 10-5-4-5 (pts, reb, ast, to). I'll need more from my top guy. He'll need more from his teammates.