I want to apologize for not keeping up with this as much as I would've liked to. Between the Giants improbable Super Bowl Championship run and doing the new show, I haven’t had as much time to focus on writing The Shots. From now on, the column will be updated every Monday, and I promise no more weeks off. I really appreciate all of you loyal readers and all of you that listen to the show.
SAMPSON’S DAYS NUMBERED
The following piece was originally posted on October 15, 2007. In lieu of these latest NCAA allegations and after re-reading this piece, I felt that even four months later, this is basically the same exact sentiment that I have on the Sampson situation. - DS
During the Hoosier Hysteria festivities on Friday night, it felt like Indiana basketball was back. With Final Four aspirations, Eric Gordon chants, and several uber-recruits on hand to take it all in, it was a euphoric time for Hoosier fans. But, the Hoosier Nation had less than 48 hours to take it all in when news emerged of more wrongdoing by Kelvin Sampson and his staff.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Sampson’s staff possibly made over 100 impermissible phone calls to potential recruits. IU slapped him on the wrist (one scholarship and $500,000), but don’t look for the NCAA to be so lenient. Sampson egregiously violated a rule that he had already broken. But, what IU has done, and what the NCAA will do, really doesn’t matter. What matters is that much like the five banners hanging from the rafters at Assembly Hall, integrity is a thing of the past at Indiana. Now under Sampson, the Hoosiers are just like everybody else. Just like UConn, who allowed Marcus Williams to play half of the season even though he and teammate A.J. Price (who, coincidentally, was suspended for the whole season) were caught stealing laptops. Just like Georgia under Jim Harrick or Kentucky under Eddie Sutton.
Sampson has smeared the Indiana program and is no different from Harrick, Huggins and Crum (left to right)
Some people out there think this isn’t a big deal - “It’s not like he was dropping off duffle bags filled with cash to recruits.” However, I don’t care that its just phone calls. I wouldn’t care if they were giving recruits Halloween candy; cheating is cheating. Say what you want about Mike Davis but he never sullied the program in order to win. Indiana fans take pride in their history (I’m sure Purdue fans know this already) but they take even more pride in doing things the right way. Not since 1960 has Indiana committed what is deemed by the NCAA as a “major” infraction. It took Sampson just a year and a half to erase almost 50 years of their reputation of playing by the rules.
Eighteen months ago, Hoosier fans would’ve sacrificed anything to see winning basketball again. Well guess what? We’ve got it and all the trashiness that comes along with it. The days of Bob Knight’s stellar graduation rates and pristine NCAA compliance records are over. To win now, you need that extra edge. Nobody has ever questioned Sampson’s abilities as a basketball coach. He will get talent to come to Bloomington and he will win here. What he will also continue to do is find ways to cheat.
A majority of the IU fans are now calling for Sampson's firing
If IU is in the Final Four when March rolls around, Hoosier fans will cheer and this will all be a distant memory. However, no longer can I brag to my UConn fan friends that IU does it the right way. Indiana is just like them and just like everybody else. Winning will always be sweet, but the program’s reputation that Sampson has destroyed will forever be sour.
Welcome to big time college basketball Hoosier fans.
SHOOTING THE REST OF THE SPORTS WORLD:
Swish: Ryan Newman
After going winless in 2006, Newman found himself in the right place at the right time during the final restart of the Daytona 500. In a finish that mirrored that of the 2007 500, Newman was pushed by Penske teammate Kurt Busch past Tony Stewart during the final lap to capture the checkered flag. The Purdue grad and South Bend native hadn’t been to Victory Lane in 81 races. It capped a big day for Team Penske overall as Roger Penske, a 14-time Indianapolis 500 winner, captured his first Daytona 500 victory in 24 years of trying, Kurt Busch finished 2nd and rookie Sam Hornish, Jr. captured a 15th place finish in his first 500 since coming over from the IRL.
Brick: Slam Dunk contest
I can’t really understand why everyone is fawning over last weekend’s NBA Slam Dunk competition. Don’t get me wrong, it certainly was entertaining, but anyone that thinks that was the best Slam Dunk contest ever was either born in the late 90’s or needs a serious history lesson. Dwight Howard’s Superman dunk wouldn’t even crack the top ten as far as the best dunks that I have seen in that competition. Maybe I’m a Slam Dunk contest purist, but aren’t you supposed to actually touch the rim in order for it to constitute as a dunk? Howard threw the ball through the hoop, and regardless, I thought his first two dunks were much better. The contest is all about props now where growing up it was much more entertaining. A couple changes I propose: 1) let players raise the hoop if they wish; 2) limit the props to one per round; 3) create aerial obstacles which players have to avoid while attempting their dunk; 4) bring back the one-minute time limit!; 5) only invite players that people have actually heard of (i.e. DON’T invite Jamario Moon).
Howard's dunk was cool but it wasn't even in the same stratosphere as some other great dunks in Contest history
Air Ball: Michigan State
Say hello to the most overrated team in America. After Saturday night’s 80-61 blowout loss to a DJ White-less (for a half) Indiana, the Spartans suffered their third loss in four games to fall to 8-4 in the Big Ten. They’ve beaten BYU in Provo (something that nobody does) and beaten a very good Texas team, however both of those wins came in December. In Big Ten play they have been very mediocre, inexcusably losing at Penn State and at Iowa before falling to Purdue and IU last week. This is usually the time of year where Michigan State starts getting hot, but it’s hard to see this team going anywhere. It’s funny because Tom Izzo tends to overachieve with teams that don’t have high preseason expectations and underachieves with teams that do. All I can say is if they continue to play like this, I can’t wait to pick whoever the #12 seed is to beat them in the first round of the Tournament.
Swish:E’Twaun Moore
Robbie Hummel is the guy that makes this young Boilermaker team go but I’ve always thought that the kid from this freshman class that is going to be the star player for Purdue is E’Twaun. Moore scored 28 points to help Purdue to their 11th straight win, 71-56 over Northwestern. After starting the season with just 6 double-digit point outputs in his first 14 games, Moore has now gone for double-figures in 11 of his last 12 and is averaging 14 points per game in Big Ten play. This team is capable of making a good Tournament run this season and has to be the Big Ten favorite in both 2009 and 2010. It is amazing what Purdue has done so far this year.
E'Twaun looks like a future Big Ten Player of the Year
Brick: Indiana fans
I honestly thought I was hearing things when the “Kel-vin Samp-son” chants were coming through the speakers of my TV. Maybe IU fans were a bit caught up in their team’s impressive 80-61 pasting of Michigan State, or maybe they were delusional from that Eric Gordon block-and-dunk sequence in the first half that made all the highlight reels - I can’t think of any other excuse as to why they were chanting Sampson’s name. Let me get this straight, Sampson has destroyed the national perception of Indiana basketball and tarnished Indiana’s pristine tradition and we’re chanting his name?! Tell me IU fans, will you be chanting Sampson’s name in 2009 and 2010 when IU is handcuffed by recruiting sanctions? Will you be chanting his name when Indiana has nothing to play for because of possible NCAA postseason bans? Where were the Eric Gordon (28 points) chants? Where were the DeAndre Thomas (10 points off the bench) chants? I have and always will support the Indiana basketball team, but I will never ever support a two-time loser, cheating, scumbag piece of trash like Sampson. In just 20 months he has destroyed almost 50 years of Indiana basketball doing things the right way. Shame on you IU fans.
Air Ball: Hendrick Motor Sports
The crowned "greatest racing team ever assembled" fell flat on their faces at Daytona. Pole-setter and two-time defending Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson made contact with Martin Truex, Jr. and spun out, causing him to finish back in 27th. Casey Mears charged late and was amongst the leaders before hitting the wall with 20 laps to go and fell back to 35th and Jeff Gordon's suspension failed, sending him to the garage early with a 39th place finish. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was the only driver to not have a nightmarish day at Daytona, finishing 9th. However even Junior had to be disappointed with that finish after running in the top-five for most of the day. Look, Hendrick team members are going to find themselves in Victory Lane plenty of times this season, but to say that they dropped the ball in their 2008 debut would be the understatement of the century.
It was not a good day for Hendrick Motor Sports on Sunday
The Shots Fantasy Update:
Isiah Groped Me def. ReggieMiller4Prez, 7-2
I've now gone 46-26 over the past seven weeks to jump to 18 games over .500. Isiah Groped Me is now sitting firmly in 3rd place. In fact, the Bird's Brawlers league has quickly become a four-team race with me, My Baby Bulls, Club Rio and Carolina Coastals the only teams in the league that are .500 or better. Anyways, I was missing Caron Butler for the 2nd straight week but Grant Hill (33 points, 20 rebounds) did an admirable job in his place. It was also a big week for Jose Calderon, who continues to be the X-factor, with a league-high 18 assists compared to just 4 turnovers.
Will you be my Valentine, Jose Calderon?
<Team name retracted>, Fantasy NASCAR 10th place (out of 13)
I can't tell you my team name in this article but what I can tell you is that it is called the <Blank Blank's Blank> Trilogy. Well the third installment of my team got off to a horrible start in what was a bumpy 2008 debut. I sat Kyle Busch, who ended up with a 4th place finish, the most laps led, and was the 2nd leading scorer (106 pts) for Mark Martin, who finished 31st and scored a whopping 30 points. Remind me to never edit my lineup 20 mnutes before the deadline ever again. Anyways, I had Jimmie Johnson (along with just about everybody) who spun out and finished 27th, and also basically had to start Michael Waltrip (when else is he going to start 2nd?), who repaid me with a 29th place finish. The lone top-ten came from Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who finished 9th but even that was disappointing. I keep reminding myself that it is a marathon and not a race (see: 2007), but this was not the start I had hoped for.
Chuckie Three Stick-Up, dead last Fantasy Golf
Yeah, so for some reason Yahoo! won’t let me edit my lineup so I’ve missed the past two weeks. I’m in such a big hole that I’m actually thinking about abandoning a fantasy team. The only other time this happened was back in 2000 with my fantasy baseball team. I abandoned the South Bend Wifflers after my home computer got a virus and I couldn’t get on the dial-up internet to edit my team for three weeks. I’ve felt like giving up on teams before but haven’t, but I feel like at least I have a legitimate excuse here.
Coming soon....
Robinson Cano & Co. II, Fantasy Baseball
I can smell the fresh-cut grass already!
The Shots Blast from the Past: this is a blast from the past of another blast from the past -
Air-Ball: Peter King
I hate lists. They make my blood pressure rise to unhealthy levels (you'll notice a steady rise peaking at the end of this paragraph). But, that doesn't stop me from reading them. Have you seen King's NFL QB rankings for the upcoming season? Where to even start? Vince Young 7th?! Wow. Maybe it was his sweet 51.5% completion percentage last year that vaulted VY into the top ten. Jon Kitna 9th - the same Jon Kitna that led the Lions to THREE wins last year. And how is Jay Cutler 10th and Matt Leinart 18th? Sure Leinart has no O-line but he does have Boldin/Fitz/Edge. All Cutler has is Javon Walker, an 80-year old Rod Smith and no running back. I try to bury my Giants' homerisms but he ranks Eli Manning 23rd - behind J.P. Losman and Matt Schaub. What a complete joke. Sure Eli has had his struggled (see the 2nd half of 2006), but he is 500 times the quarterback that Losman has been, or will ever be. I'm going to stop myself before I get really pissed.
"Outside of Peyton, Brady, Romo, Favre and Carson Palmer, you could make an argument that Eli is the 6th best QB in the entire league. Don't get me wrong, I obviously had no idea that Eli would be playing this well but, I knew that he wasn't as bad as King was making him out to be. I missed a bit on Leinart and I think Schaub would be better if he had playmakers around him. I'll wait and and see what Eli does in the 2nd half of the season because he's gotten off to fast starts before (see 2005, 2006) then crashed down the stretch."
I think right now the only quarterbacks I’d take over Eli are Brady, Peyton, Romo, Roethlisberger and Palmer. That would put him at #6. At this point I’d take him over Favre and two good weeks aren’t enough to convince me that Rivers is better. I think Drew Brees is right there and his statistics dwarf Eli's, but what big games did Brees win this year? In fact, name me one big game that Brees has ever won in his career? That's why I gave Eli the nod over him.
Worse than J.P. Losman? Nice one, Peter King!
The Shots What to Watch this week:
Xavier at Rhode Island, Monday
With apologies to St. Joseph’s, I think the Musketeers and Rams are the two best teams in the A-10. Xavier is a virtual lock and URI is in very good shape, but a win here would bump them up into lock status. These two teams have combined to beat Indiana, Kansas State, Kent State, Syracuse and UAB and both have Sweet 16-caliber offenses. Check them out if you haven’t already.
The NBA, Tuesday night
What an NBA schedule on the first night of the 2nd half - Houston at Cleveland, Orlando at Detroit, and Boston at Denver. As bad as the NBA has been this decade, I think this season is as wide open as it's been in a very long time. Also, don't miss Shaq's Phoenix debut on Wednesday night.
Purdue at Indiana, Tuesday
When was the last time a game between Indiana and Purdue meant this much? Let’s just say that kids that can legally drink (21 year olds) would just be out of the womb the last time the Boilers and Hoosiers played a game of this magnitude.
Most current IU and PU students were about this old the last time this game meant this much
Tennessee at Memphis, Saturday
Has there ever been a non-conference #1 vs #2 matchup this late in the season? After squeaking by UAB Saturday, this is likely the Tigers last obstacle towards an undefeated regular season. Call it a hunch, but I think the Vols go into Memphis and take this game. The Tigers are very good but they won’t be able to keep this high-powered Tennessee offense below 90. Plus they shoot about 15% from the free throw line (58% to be exact) – as a side note, their poor foul shooting is the reason why I guarantee that Memphis will not win the National Championship.
The Shots YouTube Clips this week:
What better way to celebrate a Super Bowl victory than screw with police barricades? Only twice in the seven years since I’ve been out here have I really, really wished I had been back home. One of those times was during Aaron Boone’s Game 7 winning homer in the 2003 American League Championship Series, and the other was after the Super Bowl. Of course I went absolutely crazy after the Giants won - I popped the bottle of Korbel I bought Saturday, screamed “G-Men!” outside, and then stood around by myself in the dark, swigging champagne and answering congratulatory calls/texts. I’m not saying it tarnished the victory; it’s still easily one of the best sports moments of my life. I just wish I had been watching it with some of my fellow Giants fans instead of in Indiana. This may make me sound like a chick, but it was disappointing to not have anyone else to share that moment with.
(warning kids! adult language/content)
…and this is why sometimes I’m happy NOT to be back East. I think this kid went to my high school.
The Shots Chick Pick this week: Lacey Chabert
She’s hit and miss but this picture is pretty sweet.
See you next week.
You can hear Derek every weekday from noon to one as he hosts the Xtra Large Lunch on XL 950.
