Travman and I posted nearly simultaneous blog entries this morning about Lucca and the UNI game...
Juice blogs » The Cyclones
Crappy 24 Hours by Jerry Hales
:: November 28th, 2007 :: 10:44 am
I don’t know if I could be more irate right now. After listening to hordes of jackass UNI fans at the ISU basketball game last night I was ready to go nuts on somebody. Seriously, UNI may have replaced Iowa as the team I love to hate the most. Obviously you’re going to be a little more irritable when you lose, but the fans sitting around me were pouring it on thick. I realize they’ve played second fiddle since Moby **** was a minnow, but they have been the best D1 basketball team in the state for several years now so you’d think they could act like they’ve been there before. I hope this loss can **** off a few of our players and gets us fired up for the next few games (which will be a struggle just like our last 3). I’m seriously considering shelling out for some Fighting Blue Hen’s of Delaware gear and going to the Unidome to cheer them on over the Panthers on Saturday.
Ok now that I got all that out, this morning the NCAA ruled to “reinstate” Lucca Staiger next season, after suspending him for this year. How they can word it as a reinstatement when they are in fact suspending him for the same length of time as they originally did is Swahili to me. The NCAA is the biggest bunch of money grubbing scumbags the world has ever seen. Of course none of us should be surprised that the NCAA would rule this way, as they would have to admit they did something wrong at least in order to change their ruling. If I were in Lucca’s shoes I would be suing their butts off as an organization and as the individuals that made this ruling. The press release says that ISU is free to “appeal” to another NCAA agency. I’m sure this agency will be mercurial quick in giving us lip service with another “reinstatement” announcement right around the time our season wraps up. The guy that I would really like to hear an opinion from on the situation is Coach Bob Knight. Knight’s hatred for NCAA president Miles Brand is well documented, and just asking him what he thinks of the ruling would give him a great opportunity to rip Brand without having to make it a personal attack. Anybody know Knight’s contact info??
Well, I’m going to take off so I can kick the dog** after the way these last several hours have gone.
**Note- I am a dog lover and wouldn’t actually kick my dogs, in case any Panther fans were thinking about making my day crappier by reporting me to PETA. However, if I did have a Panther, I would kick the freaking crap out of it.
NCAA Upholds Their Screw Job by Travis Simpson
:: November 28th, 2007 :: 10:43 am
The NCAA released it’s latest on the Lucca Staiger situation. It’s not good news Cyclone Fans. Here is the official statement: LINK I love how they spin it as “reinstatement” because he’s still in the same boat as he was to start the season. I’ve already talked about this a few times already so all I have to say this time is that it’s a damn shame the NCAA is denying this kid a chance to play when he personally did nothing wrong. There are currently eligible players at other schools that did the same thing Lucca did that will probably get grandfathered in and be able to keep their eligibility but this is a dangerous precedent to be setting for future recruiting. ISU still has other routes of appeals they can go through although by the time those get addressed the season will be over at the current rate it took them to get to this point.
On to the UNI game last night that ISU lost 61-48. ISU came out with a bang to start both halves but UNI both times responded with lopsided scoring runs of their own. It also helps to have the “human bulldozer” and actor Eric Coleman able to rack up foul problems on the Cyclone big men while he somehow only had 1 foul himself while mixing it up more than anyone on the floor last night. Wesley Johnson had a nice return for ISU scoring 18 while not being 100% yet but UNI shut down ISU in the paint which was the biggest difference of the game. Craig Brackins sat out most of the first half with 2 fouls and only scored 2 points after coming into the game averaging about 14.5. Hubalek had to sit out a bit too and eventually fouled out.
One the plus side the Cyclones only committed 7 turnovers which is a big improvement over recent games but they need to work on sustaining their focus and rebounding as they were beat out on the boards 39-28 last night. Inexperience from some the guys that are being counted on to score and handle the ball is something they will have to work through but the obvious lesson learned last night was there is little room for error right now while players learn their roles and learn what it takes to play at this level.
Juice blogs » The Cyclones
Crappy 24 Hours by Jerry Hales
:: November 28th, 2007 :: 10:44 am
I don’t know if I could be more irate right now. After listening to hordes of jackass UNI fans at the ISU basketball game last night I was ready to go nuts on somebody. Seriously, UNI may have replaced Iowa as the team I love to hate the most. Obviously you’re going to be a little more irritable when you lose, but the fans sitting around me were pouring it on thick. I realize they’ve played second fiddle since Moby **** was a minnow, but they have been the best D1 basketball team in the state for several years now so you’d think they could act like they’ve been there before. I hope this loss can **** off a few of our players and gets us fired up for the next few games (which will be a struggle just like our last 3). I’m seriously considering shelling out for some Fighting Blue Hen’s of Delaware gear and going to the Unidome to cheer them on over the Panthers on Saturday.
Ok now that I got all that out, this morning the NCAA ruled to “reinstate” Lucca Staiger next season, after suspending him for this year. How they can word it as a reinstatement when they are in fact suspending him for the same length of time as they originally did is Swahili to me. The NCAA is the biggest bunch of money grubbing scumbags the world has ever seen. Of course none of us should be surprised that the NCAA would rule this way, as they would have to admit they did something wrong at least in order to change their ruling. If I were in Lucca’s shoes I would be suing their butts off as an organization and as the individuals that made this ruling. The press release says that ISU is free to “appeal” to another NCAA agency. I’m sure this agency will be mercurial quick in giving us lip service with another “reinstatement” announcement right around the time our season wraps up. The guy that I would really like to hear an opinion from on the situation is Coach Bob Knight. Knight’s hatred for NCAA president Miles Brand is well documented, and just asking him what he thinks of the ruling would give him a great opportunity to rip Brand without having to make it a personal attack. Anybody know Knight’s contact info??
Well, I’m going to take off so I can kick the dog** after the way these last several hours have gone.
**Note- I am a dog lover and wouldn’t actually kick my dogs, in case any Panther fans were thinking about making my day crappier by reporting me to PETA. However, if I did have a Panther, I would kick the freaking crap out of it.
NCAA Upholds Their Screw Job by Travis Simpson
:: November 28th, 2007 :: 10:43 am
The NCAA released it’s latest on the Lucca Staiger situation. It’s not good news Cyclone Fans. Here is the official statement: LINK I love how they spin it as “reinstatement” because he’s still in the same boat as he was to start the season. I’ve already talked about this a few times already so all I have to say this time is that it’s a damn shame the NCAA is denying this kid a chance to play when he personally did nothing wrong. There are currently eligible players at other schools that did the same thing Lucca did that will probably get grandfathered in and be able to keep their eligibility but this is a dangerous precedent to be setting for future recruiting. ISU still has other routes of appeals they can go through although by the time those get addressed the season will be over at the current rate it took them to get to this point.
On to the UNI game last night that ISU lost 61-48. ISU came out with a bang to start both halves but UNI both times responded with lopsided scoring runs of their own. It also helps to have the “human bulldozer” and actor Eric Coleman able to rack up foul problems on the Cyclone big men while he somehow only had 1 foul himself while mixing it up more than anyone on the floor last night. Wesley Johnson had a nice return for ISU scoring 18 while not being 100% yet but UNI shut down ISU in the paint which was the biggest difference of the game. Craig Brackins sat out most of the first half with 2 fouls and only scored 2 points after coming into the game averaging about 14.5. Hubalek had to sit out a bit too and eventually fouled out.
One the plus side the Cyclones only committed 7 turnovers which is a big improvement over recent games but they need to work on sustaining their focus and rebounding as they were beat out on the boards 39-28 last night. Inexperience from some the guys that are being counted on to score and handle the ball is something they will have to work through but the obvious lesson learned last night was there is little room for error right now while players learn their roles and learn what it takes to play at this level.
