Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

The Navy and Navs

Here's a story I wrote for my journalism class. I figured since it doesn't get published anywhere, that I'd publish it somewhere myself. Anyways...enjoy.


Jim Downing awoke early in the morning like he always did and prepared to go on deck the battleship USS West Virginia. A 9-year Navy veteran, this was more than routine. It was mechanical.

But Dec. 7, 1941 was nothing he or anyone else was used to. Now etched into the mind of any American – historian or not, this was the day that the United States lost 2,388 servicemen, 188 of its finest aircraft, and much of its ship fleet at Pearl Harbor, including the West Virginia.

Having spent the night on land, Downing was just a few minutes from boarding the ship when the first wave of Japanese planes came. Had he been on board, he’d be dead.

For some reason, the ship’s radar had been turned off for the night and was not prepared to give any warning. The first time the crew knew the Japanese were coming was when they saw with their own eyes the eerily low-flying olive-red planes.

In total, 40 Japanese B5Ns armed with 330-pound, Type 91 torpedoes swarmed the eight “very unprepared” battleships. If the battleships were eliminated, the rest would be easy. The first wave knocked out the power on the West Virginia. There was not much left to defend. The 16 deck-level guns were incapable of producing enough flak to divert the attack.

“There was nothing I could do,” Downing said. Seventy sailors who could not escape went down with the West Virginia. It settled in the shallow water - just six feet of water separated the top of the ship from the sea level.


---


Over 66 years later, the 94-year old Downing sits down at dinner in a Colorado Springs lodge to tell his story. His shiny, never-been-scratched, red Cadillac Deville is parked just outside. The car has a hand crank on the steering wheel to allow easier maneuvering with his aging limbs. Inside the lodge, the man appears to be in perfect health. If you didn’t know he was well into his 90s, you might guess he just turned 80. His memory is strong – he recites stats from the war that match perfectly with the history books.

Eating at a popular place for his friends and coworkers, he sees one longtime friend walk by. The man salutes Downing, they share a few words and he moves on. The whole place seems to share a genuine respect and friendship toward this hero of sorts.

He credits his longevity to a committed faith in a sovereign God. A long time ago, he said, he could have started a life of worrying – about the war, his life, and his calling. Without an inner peace that he developed during the war, he might still be suffering from the stress and physical toll on his body from his years in the military.

“That led me to reason that at the age of 94, I’ve got the outlook of a teenager,” he said. “I don’t worry. I know that if there’s real danger, I’ll experience it. That’s a great spiritual lesson that I learned.”


---


For the two-and-a-half hours following the initial attack, Downing expected the next Japanese plane to be the one that would get him, but he never wavered from that complete peace he felt inside. Just a few weeks prior, he had read a magazine article about a Christian officer from the British army who organized a soccer tournament on the battle fields in France. If the war did not deter this officer, the eminent war could not deter Downing.

Downing did not die on Dec. 7. He simply went about his duties amidst tremendous pressure and chaos. He just happened to have never been hit by the enemy.

He spent the rest of the day taking care of the wounded, locating the dead and putting out fires. The parts of the West Virginia that were not yet submerged were ablaze in flame. One of his most vivid memories was walking through the burn ward at the hospital.

“I went down the line,” he said. “Most of them were in suspension, most of them would die that night, and I just asked each one for their name and their parents’ address, and I’d write it down and send a message to them. Most of them did die. And I wanted to at least let their parents know what happened.”

Amidst the disorder, one of the carriers at sea, the USS Enterprise tried to return to the harbor. Without a flight recognition signal, the Navy started firing at one of the carriers’ incoming planes. That night, the military was firing on its own airplanes. Chaos reigned.


---


At dinner, Downing doesn’t touch his food. It is not that he isn’t hungry – he has too much to share in an hour to take the time to eat.

After a 24-year Navy career ended in 1956 – four years longer than the basic eligibility requirement for retirement, Downing began his second career with the Navigators, a worldwide Christian organization, including in the capacities of Deputy President and Chairman of the Board of Directors.

What he loves to talk about the most is his faith. He’d prefer to spend hours on that subject and spend fifteen minutes on Pearl Harbor and war stories. When he does talk about the war, his faith quickly finds its way into the narrative.


---


Like most teenagers in the Great Depression, Downing joined the Navy because he had to. He wanted to go to college, go to law school and end up in Washington D.C. as a politician. Instead, he found himself on a boat in the Pacific Ocean.

“The Navy was an economic escape as far as I was concerned,” he said. “I’d get away from home, I’d be on my own. I’d been brought up in a church background, but I thought that if God had any plans for my life, that he’d have to postpone it for another four years, because he’d never find me.”

He ended up on the ship where the Navigators ministry began. Through a small supervising position, Downing met one of the founders, Lester Spencer. Spencer was excited about sharing his faith, and Downing figured anyone that excited must have been a fanatic.

A few weeks later, in Downing’s first Christmas back at home, his mother gave him a Bible.
“(It was) pretty much a good luck charm,” he said. “And I used it to keep spare money in because that’s the last place anybody would look.”

Spencer saw Downing use his Bible as a personal piggy bank and called him out. “That Bible is good for something other than keeping your money in,” he told him.

Spencer began meeting with Downing, and the rest is history. Or maybe “His story,” if Downing could describe it.

Not long after, Downing began leading Bible studies on the ship. He said there wasn’t a better place to evangelize and make disciples than in the Navy. There were 1,500 guys on a single battleship. Through the work of Spencer, Downing and others, over 100 men became Christians on the West Virginia.

“The Lord led me to stay in not because I had anybody, but because it was a place of ministry,” he said.

By 1941, Downing and his friends were well known across the Pacific for their Christian ministry.


---


Downing said the most common question people ask him about Pearl Harbor is “how did you react?”

“Well, that was a day’s work, December 7th.” he said. “December 8th, that’s another day’s work. You’re in the military to do a day’s work.”


---


From Dec. 8 through June 1942, Downing stayed at Pearl Harbor. While the war progressed, he was salvaging the sunken ships. He helped recover his own ship, the West Virginia.

The ship’s fires finally extinguished a few days later, and later inspection showed that it took six torpedo hits during the attack. With a patch over the damaged hull, the battleship was pumped out and refloated on May 17, 1942.

Using his experience, Downing served as a captain of a ship for three years in the Korean War before he retired from the military.


---


Downing now spends his time traveling across the country, sharing at conferences, speaking on college campuses and training some of the nearly 5,000 staff of the Navigators organization that he helped establish in his military career.

He had just returned to the Navigator headquarters in Colorado Springs from a military conference in which he was the keynote speaker. At these conferences, he uses war time stories to develop deeper messages. He shares miraculous accounts of answered prayer and speaks of the inner peace that kept him from worry during the most stressful times of war.

He feels that if God’s on his side, then he’s on the winning side, and that is what keeps him motivated. He also sees an unmet goal that he can work toward with his remaining years.

“I want to be a winner, I don’t want to lose any battle, of any kind, any place. In my career, it helped a lot. There’s a human, ego satisfaction in that, but on the other side there’s a love of Christ. Basically I want to be ‘forgetting what’s behind and pressing toward the mark of the prize for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 3: 13-14). Everybody wants to be a winner, but not everyone’s willing to pay the price. But don’t you feel good when you win?”

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The Excellency of Christ

In today's Christian landscape, there tends to be perfunctory faith, a shallow commitment to Christ, and superficial engagement with the mission Christ left for His people. While the Puritans had glaring faults of their own (not to mention excesses in some of the rigidity), our modern Christian culture could learn something from the great theological heroes of the past who understood the reality of sin, the human condition and our need to be God-centered, Bible-centered people in our everyday lives.

One such hero would be Jonathan Edwards, the great American colonial theologian and pastor who is widely-known for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God".

While the sermon was incredibly rich and powerful, it tends to leave a rather one-dimensional view of Edwards in people's minds. I wanted to share an excerpt from another Edwards sermon, "The Excellency of Christ," which is one of the best expressions of the work of Christ on the cross. If Christ's sacrifice is not so meaningful as to move someone to greater faithfulness, than this sermon should enliven us to his great work. What a wonderful thing He did for us!

May we present Christ to the world as most excellent - and seek to know Him more deeply so that He will pour out of us as we live our lives.

"There meet in Jesus Christ, infinite justice and infinite grace. As Christ is a divine person, He is infinitely holy and just; hating sin, and disposed to execute condign punishment for sin. He is the Judge of the world, and the infinitely just Judge of it, and will not at all acquit the wicked, or by any means clear the guilty.
And yet He is infinitely gracious and merciful. Though His justice be so strict with respect to all sin, and every breach of the law, yet He has grace sufficient for every sinner, and even the chief of sinners. And it is not only sufficient for the most unworthy to show them mercy, and bestow some good upon them, but to bestow the greatest good; yea, it is sufficient to bestow all good upon them, and to do all things for them. There is no benefit or blessing that they can receive, so great but the grace of Christ is sufficient to bestow it on the greatest sinner that ever lived. And not only so, but so great is His grace, that nothing is too much as the means of this good. It is sufficient not only to do great things, but also to suffer in order to it; and not only to suffer, but to suffer most extremely even unto death, the most terrible of natural evils; and not only death, but the most ignominious and tormenting, and every way the most terrible that men could inflict; yea, and greater sufferings than men could inflict, who could only torment the body. He had sufferings in His soul, that were the more immediate fruits of the wrath of God against the sins of those He undertakes for." - Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

50 Predictions for the NCAA Tournament

* These predictions don't reflect my IU Navs facebook group and family pool picks because I pick for those in a much safer manner to increase my chances of winning. These predictions are seen in my entries in national contests, such as the ESPN.com and cbssportsline.com contests.

1. Neither Butler nor Drake will make the Sweet 16. It's never the highly-touted mid-majors that do well. It's the ones that go under the radar that succeed. Gonzaga's had the "highly-touted mid-major" tag for the past few years and has never gone above what was expected.

2. Stanford v. Cornell. What? This isn't the International Quiz Bowl Tournament? Players on both teams will do just fine off the court.

3. And maybe these teams should focus a little more in the classroom? No. 2 Tennessee graduates 33 percent of its basketball-student athletes, while their opponent, No. 15 American, graduates 15 percent of its basketball student-athletes, according to a study released by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. At least for Tennessee, it won't matter, because they'll be winning this game easily.

4. Speaking of that study, the all-academic Final Four would include Western Kentucky (100 percent), Butler (92 percent), Notre Dame (91 percent) and Purdue (91 percent). Um, that's all but one of the Indiana schools...but IU doesn't lag too far behind at 76 percent. How plausible would it be for any of those teams make the actual Final Four? Not likely.

5. The last few major conference bubble teams to qualify will not win in the first round. They aren't that good. Thus, early exits for Villanova, Kansas St., Kentucky and Baylor.

6. The record for No. 16 seeds going into the tournament? 0-92. After 2008? 0-96.

7. The record for No. 15 seeds against No. 2 seeds going into the tournament? 4-88. After 2008? 4-92.

8. At least one two-seed will not make the Sweet 16. A likely candidate is Duke, who will face a tough West Virginia squad led by Joe Alexander. If Joe Alexander played at this level earlier in the season, Luke Harangody would have had some competition in the race for Big East POY.

9. Xavier is overrated and won't make the Sweet 16. Remember George Washington in 2006? They were 26-2 and got the deserved 8-seed and struggled in the first round. Even St. Joe's underperformed after its undefeated regular season in '03-'04, with a loss in the Elite 8. I've never trusted the A-10 and won't this year. Xavier has one top 25 win against Indiana and that's not exactly a 3-seed worthy "best" win.

10. The good Big East schools will do well in the tournament. That includes Notre Dame, Louisville, Connecticut and Georgetown. The first three are all playing extremely well right now (a la Florida's surges the past two seasons) and Georgetown is a tourney-tested team. Sweet 16 for all four teams and two will make the Elite 8 (minus Notre Dame and UConn).

11. The West Region is the most wide open. Remember the 2000 bracket with three No. 8 seeds littering the Final Four and Elite 8? I see very similar in this region. The weakest No. 2 seed (Duke) and No. 3 seed (Xavier) are in the same region. That plays into the hands of hot teams like No. 6 Purdue and No. 7 West Virginia.

12. Georgia won't be able to compete against Xavier. Gerry McNamara's Orangmenen did the same thing two years ago - winning four games in a row to take the Big East title - but then got drilled in the first round. A Thursday game does the Bulldogs no favors.

13. The five-star freshmen will struggle in the tournament. From Michael Beasley to Derrick Rose to O.J. Mayo to Eric Gordon and on down the list, notice that it will be upperclassmen (a la Tyler Hansbrough, Darren Collison and Chris Lofton) that will do well this year. OK, so the Beasley v. Mayo matchup might look good, but whoever wins will struggle in the second round when the two aren't playing each other.

14. What about first round upset specials? I'll give a few. Temple over Michigan State? While the Spartans are on an upswing of sorts, the Owls are on an even greater upswing in the second year sans John Chaney. They won the A-10 tourney, which counts for something, even if I discredit the conference as a whole. Merry Christmas, Temple. The Owls' led by Christmas (Dionte Christmas) make it to the second round as a proverbial No. 12 over No. 5 upset pick.

15. San Diego over Connecticut? It's only an upset if no one sees it coming, and this game would fall in that category. San Diego won the WCC tournament, beating Gonzaga and St. Mary's in the process. If they can find a way to contain Hasheem Thabeet on both ends of the floor, they have a chance. UConn still wins, but it will be a close game.

16. And the pick no one in their right mind should pick but just might happen. That would be Cal-State Fullerton over Wisconsin. Not only was the Big Ten weak this year, but the Titans are on a hot streak, winning 10 of their last 11 games. Again, close game. But it's awfully tough to top the Badgers in your first appearance against a Bo Ryan squad.

17. Prior to the bracket's release, I was planning to write off Purdue's chances. However, despite the low No. 6 seed, the Boilermakers are in a perfect situation to make a run to the Elite 8. A road through Baylor, Xavier and Duke (or maybe another team?) doesn't look half bad.

18. Staying in the state of Indiana, the Hoosiers might have been hosed by the committee and will suffer for it. If they get by Arkansas like they should, they really have no chance to "prove themselves" against a machine like the North Carolina Tar Heels. No second weekend for the team once thinking Final Four thoughts.

19. My 7-10 picks breakdown. These are as tough to call, if not tougher than, 8-9 games. Butler won't make it to the second weekend, but it will get by a fluffy South Alabama team that exposed serious flaws in its conference tournament loss to Middle Tennessee State.

20. Davidson was a trendy pick in the preseason and it stays that way now. They will beat the always overrated Gonzaga Bulldogs.

21. St. Mary's over Miami (Fla). The Hurricanes? Who? They've gone under the radar for good reason this season and struggled down the stretch.

22. West Virginia over Arizona. I didn't think the Wildcats belonged in the tourney with 14 losses (who cares about SOS with that many losses!) and I think I'll be proven correctly when they lose to West Virginia. This could have very well been a 6-11 matchup.

23. Like every year previously, all four one seeds will NOT qualify for the Final Four. The quickest out? Pittsburgh over No. 1 Memphis in the Sweet 16.

24. No one will pick a perfect bracket. The mathematical odds of doing such are over nine million trillion to one (9,000,000,000,000,000,000
to 1). You are about 60 billion times more likely to win the interstate Powerball lottery. Even with weighted odds (such as this suggested one: (higher seed number-lower seed number)/30 + 0.5)) would yield odds of 150 billion to one.

25. Western Kentucky's Courtney Lee will turn heads, even if just for one game against Drake. An NBA lottery pick (and Indianapolis Pike High School grad) that ended up at the Huskies, he might be able to help his team pull off the upset - he'll put up great numbers, nonetheless.

26. No more Jim Larranaga magic from his George Mason Patriots. They lose to Notre Dame in the first round.

27. Time for Sweet 16 picks. First, for the East Region: North Carolina, Notre Dame, Louisville, Tennessee. No surprises here. Washington State's slow down basketball will be interesting for the 3-point shooting, offensive-minded Irish. The Irish simply have more talent.

28. Midwest Region Sweet 16 teams: Kansas, Vanderbilt, USC, Georgetown. USC proves too much for the Badgers.

29. South Region: Memphis, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Texas. Again, boring. A lot of the times the Sweet 16 reshuffles the teams and the good ones that didn't get upset in the first round survive the second round. No saying upsets are confined to the first round.

30. West Region: UCLA, Connecticut, Purdue, West Virginia. If Duke loses (prediction No. 8) and Xavier loses (prediction No. 9), than that leaves Purdue and West Virginia with the best chances. Both teams are playing well enough to make a run into the second weekend.

31. Even that new Nike commercial about Cinderellas will get old by the end of the tournament.

32. Jim Nantz and/or Billy Packer will jump on an annoying, mindless point in the championship game and ride it throughout the telecast. Here's calling for a Gus Johnson/Clark Kellogg announcing duo.

33. There will be one, and only one, buzzer beater. And by buzzer beater, I mean buzzer-beater - the horn sounds as the ball is in the air/net and the shot goes in. There has to be - it's what makes the tournament into March Madness. Basically, a pick-six or walk-off homerun.

34. The over/under on the margin of victory in the No. 1 v. No. 16 games? I'll say 35. All four No. 1 seeds can score and that's trouble for the 16 seeds.

35. The Memphis v. Pittsburgh game will be very close and it might come down to who can shoot better at the free throw line. Thus, it might not be fun to watch. Memphis shoots 59.6 percent from the charity stripe, while Pittsburgh shoots 67.8 percent. Pittsburgh's best free-throw shooter (Gilbert Brown) shoots under 75 percent from the line, while Memphis' best (Derrick Rose) shoots a stunning 69.6 percent. Joey Dorsey is 42-107 on the season. (Little used Pierre Niles is even worse. He shot 5-18 on the season). Memphis' harmatia - tragic flaw - will be its free throw shooting. Enter Pittsburgh into the Elite 8.

36. No matter how bad the jokes are (If A.J. Graves can't find a basketball he just dribbles a cow until it turns into a leather ball), www.ajgravesfacts.com will be mentioned during the Butler telecast.

37. The Divison II National Championship game will not be as exciting this year as it was last year. I don't think a game can get more exciting. If this clip doesn't get you in the mood for basketball, go back to gardening: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFYnersg2Us

38. Bob Knight will be a very boring analyst on ESPN. He hasn't show anything yet, and he won't. I think he's still looking for a coaching job.

39. I will do better than Joe Lunardi in picking the bracket. Bracketologist? Psh. I'll compare the Sweet 16 on, since that's what I'll be predicting here. And if it's a tie, I'll revert to first round upset picks.

40. The team with the easiest route to the Elite 8 is the Kansas Jayhawks. A potential Portland State-UNLV-Vanderbilt isn't all that daunting. Look for double digit wins in all three games.

41. North Carolina also has an easy path. My prediction - it's toughest game will be against IU in the second round. This will be similar to Purdue's effort against Florida last year. Close, but not quite all there. Besides, they play in Raleigh for the first two games and then travel all the way to...Charlotte for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8.

42. Elite 8 picks. East Region: North Carolina and Louisville. Terrence Williams and David Padgett are a strong 1-2 punch for the Cardinals against a Volunteer team that peaked in February.

43. Midwest Region: Kansas and Georgetown.

44. South Region: Pittsburgh and Stanford. Texas is a trendy picks and if I was picking a safe bracket, I'd probably stick the Longhorns in the Final Four. However, the Lopez brothers are tough to handle, and UT has shown occasional lapses throughout the season, in losses to teams like Missouri and Texas Tech. They can't play a bad game in the second weekend and hope to advance.

45. West Region: UCLA and West Virginia.

46. The Final Four averages 1.5 No. 1 seeds. Only three times has the average seed been higher than five. In 1980, Louisville (2) won the championship over UCLA (8), Purdue (6) and Iowa (5). In 2000, Michigan State (1) joined Florida (5) and No. 8 seeds North Carolina and Wisconsin. In 2006, No. 11 seed George Mason crashed the party with Florida (3), UCLA (2) and LSU (4). This year, the average seed will be under 2.5.

47. Final Four Matchup No. 1: North Carolina and Kansas. UNC will have won four "home" games. The Kansas v. Georgetown matchup presents contrasting styles of play, but the abundance of Jayhawk talent helps them get by the G-men, even if they play the control game.

48. Final Four Matchup No. 2: UCLA and Stanford. A Pac 10 battle in the Final Four? Yes. And a good one, just in case you missed the Pac 10 Conference tournament championship game.

49. Finals: North Carolina vs. UCLA. Now, how's that for college basketball nostalgia?

50. Champion: UCLA. They've been close the past two seasons (finals in 2006, Final Four in 2007), and they get the job done with players who've been there twice (namely, Darren Collison, Lorenzo Mata-Real and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute).

Saturday, March 15, 2008


"We cannot open our eyes without being compelled to behold Him. His essence, indeed, is incomprehensible, utterly transcending all human thought; but on each of His works His glory is engraven in characters so bright, so distinct, and so illustrious, that none, however dull and illiterate, can plead ignorance as their excuse." - John Calvin

Monday, March 3, 2008

Big Ten All-Conference Awards and National Awards

Here are my picks for end-of-the-season Big Ten and national awards. Feel free to agree or disagree.

Player of the Year
DJ White, Indiana

Newcomer of the Year
Eric Gordon, Indiana

Coach of the Year
Matt Painter, Purdue

First Team
G Drew Neitzel, Michigan State
G Eric Gordon, Indiana
F Robbie Hummel, Purdue
F Raymar Morgan, Michigan State
C DJ White, Indiana

Second Team
G Jamar Butler, Ohio State
G Manny Harris, Michigan
F Kosta Koufas, Ohio State
F Brian Butch, Wisconsin
C Shaun Pruitt, Illinois

Third Team
G E'Twaun Moore, Purdue
G Trevon Hughes, Wisconsin
F Dan Coleman, Minnesota
F Kevin Koble, Northwestern
C Goran Suton, Michigan State

Honorable Mention: Armon Bassett, Jamelle Cornley, Jamarcus Ellis, Michael Flowers, Keaton Grant, Justin Johnson, Joe Krabbenhoft, Chris Kramer, Lawrence McKenzie, Craig Moore, Spencer Tollackson

All-Freshman First Team
G Eric Gordon, Indiana
G Manny Harris, Michigan
F Robbie Hummel, Purdue
F E'Twaun Moore, Purdue
C Kosta Koufas, Ohio State

And national awards...
Player of the Year
Michael Beasley, Kansas State

Newcomer of the Year
Michael Beasley, Kansas State

Coach of the Year
Matt Painter, Purdue

First Team
G DJ Augustin, Texas
G Eric Gordon, Indiana
F Michael Beasley, Kansas State
F Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina
C Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

Second Team
G Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis
G Jerryd Bayless, Arizona
F Brandon Rush, Kansas
F DJ White, Indiana
C Kevin Love, UCLA

Third Team
G Derrick Rose, Memphis
G Shan Foster, Vanderbilit
G Raymar Morgan, Michigan State
F Gary Forbes, Massachusetts
C Roy Hibbert, Georgetown

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 5

On to another set of rankings. Does not include Tuesday's games.

Power Rankings

1. (2) Wisconsin (8-1, 18-3) – Bo Ryan’s Badgers rarely make Sports Center’s Top Ten highlights or even the Big Ten Network’s highlights of the week. But if going under the radar is the result of playing fundamental basketball, I’m sure Ryan doesn’t mind. The team seems just dangerous enough to win the Big Ten and just bad enough to lose to a 15-seed in the first round of the tourney.

2. (4) Purdue (8-1, 17-5) – These rankings reflect how well a team is playing right now and Purdue is one of the hottest teams in the country. Youth isn’t the only word to describe these Boilers – they are also very balanced. In 22 games, the team’s had eight players lead a game in scoring. When the leading scorer (Keaton Grant) averages only 11 points per game, it gives testament to teamwork at its best.

3. (1) Michigan State (7-2, 19-3) – The Spartans’ second conference road loss this week, this time at the hands of Penn State, has coach Tom Izzo a little bit worried. "We are not as tough as we need to be," Izzo said. "I've been saying that all year. I was saying that when we won. We had a few games where we had it, but consistently we're not as good as we need to be [to compete] on this level. ... You've got to bring it every day."

4. (3) Indiana (7-1, 18-3) – IU’s best win to date is against Illinois State. The team lost all three games (Xavier, UConn and Wisconsin) in which it had a chance to prove itself as an upper echelon type of team. Eric Gordon finally had a good game with a 29 point outburst, but it came in a home win against lowly Northwestern that was altogether too close. The season is shaping up to the Hoosiers’ 2001 season when they earned a #4-seed, but were eliminated in the first round.

5. (5) Ohio State (5-2, 14-6) – The Big Ten, like any other major conference, proves home court advantage plays a huge role in games. Last month, the Buckeyes dominated the Hawkeyes in Columbus, winning by 31. This past week, the Hawkeyes won by five and put a damper on a strong Big Ten start. Coupled with a close win against struggling Penn State, the Buckeyes are struggling to find someone not named Butler to step up and help out.

6. (6) Minnesota (2-4, 12-6) – Arch-rival Wisconsin brought out the worst in Minnesota when the Badgers walked out with a 63-47 victory at Williams Arena. The team continues to lack consistency and focus – it had 18 turnovers and shot 36 percent from the field in the loss. Nineteen of the missed field goals were inside the paint. The senior trio of Dan Coleman, Lawrence McKenzie and Spencer Tollackson went from a combined 49 points against Michigan to a mere 20 points against Wisconsin.

7. (8)Iowa (4-6, 11-12) – Heading into a game with the Badgers, Todd Lickliter almost wishes his team lost to Ohio State. Reason: his team hasn’t strung together two Big Ten victories in a row. He figures if he treats the big win against Ohio State like a loss, the team might have a greater urge to win against Wisconsin. "I appreciate the way guys have responded to losses; now we're going to have to play our best game of the year if we're going to be able to compete," said Lickliter.

8. (7) Illinois (2-8, 10-13) – It might be time for Illinois to give up on this season and start preparing for the next. While Bruce Weber would never say he’s given up on this season, he has a decent freshman class that is, for the most part, watching from the sidelines. Playing freshmen Demetri McCamey, Mike Tisdale, Bill Cole and Mike Davis might help salvage some good from this train-wreck season.

9. (10) Penn State (3-6, 11-10) – Saturday night’s home win against Michigan State proved to the Nittany Lions that they can win without Geary Claxton. However, coach Ed DeChellis underscored that mental hurdle, crediting the win simply to talent. "It's a team sport played by individuals and when individuals play well, the whole team looks a heckuva lot better,” he said. To salvage anything from the season, the team must build on this new confidence.

It’s not fun to review the bottom two teams. I stole these recaps from Skip Myslenski of the Chicago Tribune.

10. (9) Michigan (1-8, 5-16) – The Wolverines have a promising talent in freshman guard Manny Harris, averaging 17.1 points per game in conference play, third best in the league, and 34.4 minutes, sixth most. "He's been a great asset to us from Day One," coach John Beilein said. "He's learning college basketball and is eager to do that."

11. (11) Northwestern (0-8, 7-12) – Like Minnesota's Smith, coach Bill Carmody is another who must worry about his players' heads. "Each day in practice you try to concentrate on one thing we can get better at," Carmody said. "You show on tape what you do well. They know what they do wrong. We emphasize what we do well to keep confidence up."

Monday, January 28, 2008

Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 4

If you're reading my blog for something besides basketball, I do apologize. I am not giving up on other endeavors for this blog, but I'm busy doing other things in life and these rankings are really easy since I follow this stuff anyways. If you're interested in reading some other stuff I've written - nothing terribly exciting - search "Nathan Hart" at idsnews.com where you'll find some of my recent articles.

Anyways, on to the weekly rankings.

Power Rankings (last week's ranking in parenthesis)

1. (3) Michigan State (6-1, 18-2) – The Spartans are back on top after losses from the Hoosiers and the Badgers. They got the job done this week against Big Ten bottom-feeders Michigan and Northwestern. People might point to the February 16 date at Bloomington as crucial, but the Spartans better watch out four days earlier when they visit the up-and-coming Boilermakers.

2. (2) Wisconsin (6-1, 18-2) – The Badgers’ loss to Purdue might not look as bad as the season progresses. Maybe it’s the local corn syrup factory smell that irritates the Badgers and makes them play so poorly at West Lafayette. They’ve lost 31 of the last 32 games at Purdue. Coupled with a too-close home win against Michigan, the Badgers must regain focus for this week’s showdown with IU.

3. (1) Indiana (6-0, 17-2) – The IU student section that dropped f-bombs and “cow turds” on referee Jim Burr missed the point. The refs didn’t lose that game for IU against UConn. IU lost the game for IU. Eric Gordon continues to under impress – he’s yet to put on a dominating performance since sitting out the Kentucky game. The Hoosiers do not look prepared for the NCAA Tournament since they’ve been forced to rely heavily on the three-point shot.

4. (4) Purdue (6-1, 15-5) – Here’s the emerging dark horse in the Big Ten. After Minnesota’s rise and fall, and Geary Claxton’s injury, the Boilers have become the diaper dandy of the conference. The centenarian on this team is only a sophomore – Chris Kramer might be the most underrated player in the Big Ten. He’s sixth on his team in scoring, but first in hustle and leadership.

5. (6) Ohio State (5-2, 14-6) – There’s a clear separation from the fifth to the sixth team in the Big Ten. At season’s end, this split might help the conference’s upper echelon all make the NCAA tournament. Each of the top five teams should have at least eight victories against the other six teams in the conference. For OSU, wins against Illinois and Minnesota have gotten them back on track after a three-game slide.

6. (5) Minnesota (2-4, 12-6) – Tubby Smith’s welcome to the Big Ten wasn’t all that pleasant. His team has already lost to the Hoosiers, Buckeyes and Spartans. He has his turn with the Badgers Sunday. Dan Coleman, Lawrence McKenzie and Spencer Tollackson have second and third team all-Big Ten written all over them, but the lack of a standout player has dropped them to the lower level in the conference after a promising non-conference performance.

7. (7) Illinois (2-6, 10-11) – The Fighting Illini’s record is deceptively bad. They’ve lost on the road to Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio State and Purdue. The only bad conference loss might be at home to Penn State, although the Nittany Lions had Geary Claxton on hand for that game. The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Bruce Weber’s squad this week – they’re traveling to East Lansing for a Wednesday game with the Spartans.

8. (8)Iowa (3-5, 10-11) – Picked to finish very low in the Big Ten, some critics are saying the Hawkeyes are already exceeding expectations with three conference wins and an overall record nearing .500. Coach Todd Lickliter isn’t quite buying it. “We have not exceeded our expectations,” the coach said at a press conference. “I’d never limit this team by telling them they’ve met someone else’s expectations.”

9. (10) Michigan (1-7, 5-15) – Despite the record, the Wolverines are improving. Just three weeks ago, the Badgers crushed Michigan 70-54 at the Crisler Arena. This past week, the Badgers needed a three by Marcus Landry late in the game to seal a 64-61 home victory. If the Wolverines are going to win a couple game in the Big Ten, they must see improvement from young guns Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims.

10. (9) Penn State (2-5, 10-9) – Overall record with Geary Claxton this season: 10-5. Without: 0-4. It’s obvious the Nittany Lions are a different team without their senior leader. Jamelle Cornley and Talor Battle haven’t really stepped up since Claxton went down and the team is struggling to score. A grand total 91 points in two games won’t get you very far in any conference.

11. (11) Northwestern (0-7, 6-11) – Not only are the Wildcats losing every Big Ten outing, they are losing badly. They’ve yet to come within ten points of the other team in a conference game and are averaging to lose by 16 points per game. Having already suffered home losses to Michigan and Penn State, the Wildcats might become the Miami Dolphins of the Big Ten. Will they win a single game?

Monday, January 21, 2008

Big Ten Power Rankings, Week 3

Beyond Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan State, the Big Ten will probably qualify one or two more teams to the tournament. It'll be the team that beats all the average and worse teams in the conference and wins a couple home games against the trio at the top. Minnesota had its chance this week and lost home games to Indiana and Michigan State. Ohio State and Purdue look like the only other viable candidates right now. On to the rankings.

Power Rankings (Last week's rank in parenthesis)

Contenders
1.
(1) Indiana (5-0, 16-1)
The Hoosiers continue to dominate the Big Ten bottom feeders, with five wins against teams who have a combined 6-17 conference record. Eric Gordon might be scoring all the points, but he’s hasn’t dominated a game in the past month or so. The January 31 date in Madison is crucial.

2.
(2) Wisconsin (5-0, 15-2)
The Badgers are giving the business to the terrible teams as well. Their 5-0 mark is - believe it or not – more pathetic than the Hoosiers, with the opponents’ conference record at 6-22. Without a star like Alando Tucker, Bo Ryan’s balanced team has seven players averaging between five and 13 points per game.

3.
(4) Michigan St (4-1, 16-2)
Michigan State hasn’t played well on the road in recent history. Prior to a win in Minnesota, the team had lost six conference road games in a row and 11 of their last 12. “We don't have a lot of confidence away from the Breslin Center,” senior Drew Naymick said. “That's something that we need to change." Yeah, probably.

Maybe?
4.
(6) Purdue (4-1, 13-5)
The Boilermakers feature the youngest starting lineup in Division I basketball. Everyone expects them to do well in a couple years. Are they good enough this year? If contributions continue to come from the least expecting players, like Marcus Green’s 22 against Ohio State, the freshman class should ease right into tougher Big Ten play.

5.
(3) Minnesota (2-3, 12-5)
Between Minnesota and Penn State, these two teams were the dark horses to make a run in the Big Ten. Both teams lost that opportunity this week. Indiana and Michigan State came to town and left with victories. The loss against the Hoosiers was harsh, seeing as IU turned the ball over every 2.5 possessions.

6.
(5) Ohio St (3-2, 12-6)
Two road losses to two teams (Michigan State and Tennessee) in the top 15 of the AP poll doesn’t necessarily hurt the Buckeyes’ season resume. It doesn’t help it either. When the selection committee looks at the middle-of-the pack Big Ten teams to see if any merit entrance, they’ll look for standout wins. Close losses don’t count.

Mid-majors
7.
(7) Illinois (1-5, 9-10)
The Fighting Illini aren’t that great this year. In years the Big Ten qualifies seven teams for the tourney, Illinois might be the worst team in the conference. Too bad this year’s competition is very weak. Shaun Pruitt and Bruce Weber and the rest of the team won’t be able to replicate their gridiron counterparts at the university with a surprise season.

8.
(9) Iowa (2-4, 9-10)
I wonder if Todd Lickliter wonders if he made the right decision to move to the Big Ten. Sure he’s making more money, but the team is “turrible,” as Charles Barkley might say (or at least Frank Caliendo as Charles Barkley might say). Home losses say a lot about a team’s ability – Iowa’s seven losses at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena are a big, black eye.

9.
(8) Penn St (2-3, 10-7)
The other dark horse candidate in the Big Ten had a really bad week. Shoo-in first team Big Ten player Geary Claxton tore a knee ligament against Wisconsin and is out for the season. The team also had double-digit losses to the Badgers and Hoosiers. PSU needs someone besides Jamelle Cornley and Talor Battle to step up and fill the big, empty shoes.

10.
(10) Michigan (1-5, 5-13)
The best Big Ten freshman not named Gordon is Manny Harris. Unlike Gordon, his teammates don’t provide much help. John Beilein questioned his team’s intensity. “The ball's up in the air, and we're waiting for somebody else to get it…Can I get the ball? Everybody should go after the ball. It's something we have to continue to address."

11.
(11) Northwestern (0-5, 6-9)
The only way the Wildcats have found to win during the Big Ten season is to play local non-conference college teams, like it did against a 7-14 unaffiliated Chicago State team this week. It was back to reality Saturday with a loss to Wisconsin. The good news for the Wildcats? Another independent, Texas Pan-American, will be visiting next Wednesday.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Big Ten Power Rankings Week 2

Intro: I've decided to do a regular update on Big Ten men's basketball power rankings. Feel free to discuss. It's listed as week two, because it's week two of the conference season. Anyways...

This conference is really looking a lot like it did in the fall, just a new sport and new names on top. Like their pigskin counterparts, the quality of talent is lower than years past, and the bad teams are really bad. Or maybe just incredibly below average. If you notice current bottom feeder teams such as Illinois, Michigan and Northwestern - they don't have bad losses. They beat the teams they're supposed to beat (Ohio State over Presbyterian early in the year!) and lose to the teams they have a chance of beating. If a good team rolls around (as in Indiana vs. Michigan), they get blown out. The only exception is Iowa's freak victory over Michigan State (the Sparty's must have caught St. Louis-itis).

On to the rankings.
The Contenders
1. Indiana (3-0, 14-1) By default only. Sure, they've got talent. But they've beaten nobody. The one time they played a good team (Xavier), freshman phenom Eric Gordon looked frustrated and the team lost. Cupcake schedule doesn't get any tougher until a January 31 date in Madison. While they might have struggled against the likes of Iowa and Illinois, they didn't lose. As long as they keep winning, there's no one that can overtake them at the top spot.

2. Wisconsin (3-0, 13-2)
What? No Michigan State? If this is who is playing better at the moment, it's definitely the Badgers. They won at No. 9 Texas and started the Big 10 play with 16, 13 and 10 point wins over teams they should beat. Both early season losses came on the road against teams that were ranked in the top 15 at the time of the game. Wisconsin could be the highest seeded Big Ten team come tourney time.

Dark Horse
3. Minnesota (2-1, 12-3)
Yup, the Gophers are playing better than the Spartans as well. So, the Spartans beat them Jan. 5, but Minnesota rebounded with two conference wins. While they haven's beaten anyone of note (best win: Iowa State), they haven't lost to a bad team, something that can't be said of the next team on the list. Next two at home against IU and Michigan St. Split the games, and you might see the Gophers be the fourth Big Ten team in the Big Dance.

Falling
4. Michigan St. (2-1, 14-2)
Like Wisconsin, the Spartans best win is against Texas. Unlike Wisconsin, they haven't handled middle-of-the-road Big Ten teams like they should, capitalized by the ugly 43-36 loss to Iowa. They barely got by Purdue and Minnesota on their home court and, beyond Texas, don't have much else in the non-conference play to prove that they are an elite team. Neither does anyone else in the Big Ten, but for now MSU is struggling.

Dancing?
5. Ohio St. (3-1, 12-4)
Especially when you're not an elite team, it's tough to get a Big 10 road win. OSU proved that Saturday against a slowly maturing Purdue squad. They are battle tested, with four non-conference games against ranked opponents. While an elite team has to prove their mettle by winning those games, OSU can just use those games as experience. Kosta Koufas and the rest of the Buckeyes need to win against MSU or Tennessee this week to catch the pollsters' eyes.

6. Purdue (2-1, 11-5)
The Wofford loss notwithstanding, this team is improving. While it might be NIT bound this year, the youngest squad in the nation has the potential to be the top team in the Big Ten and a top 10 team in the nation in the next couple years. If Purdue wins seven of their next eight games (very possible, with only the Wisconsin game standing out), upsets one of the better Big Ten teams and makes a run in the conference tourney, they have a chance at dancing.

Pretenders
7. Illinois (0-4, 8-9)
If only Eric Gordon played for the Fighting Ilini. Let's see? They probably wouldn't have opened the Big Ten season 0-4. They probably would be ranked, much less over .500. However, Gordon changed his mind and the Illini are struggling. Despite a winless conference record, the losses include the Badgers and the Hoosiers. They can easily even up their conference record with strong performances in their next four games (Michigan, Purdue, OSU, Northwestern).

8. Penn State (2-1, 10-5)
The Nittany Lions, a dark horse candidate at the beginning of the year with leadership and talent from Geary Claxton, they have slipped a little. Non-conference losses to UCF, Rider and a bad South Carolina team don't look good. Indiana and Wisconsin are next up for the Nittany Lions. If they turn things around, they could easily be the No. 3 team in the Big Ten. So could everyone else not named Northwestern or Michigan.

9. Iowa (1-3, 8-9)
I'm sure Todd Lickliter doesn't care too much for the six home losses his team has put up. Despite a tough late November stretch of four straight home losses, the team also had its best victory to date at home. That was Saturday when Michigan State came to town and laid an egg. 43-36 can't get much uglier, but it's a start for the Hawkeyes, who, with some improvement, could make the NIT.

Mid-Majors
10. Michigan (1-3, 5-11)
In an era when every big conference school prefers to schedule the local high school over tough non-conference competition, it's kind of embarrassing to enter Big Ten play with a record under .500. Granted, four losses were to top 25 teams, three to top 5 teams, Michigan hasn't proved to anyone they learned from those games. The only Big Ten game it has won is against the only Big Ten team ranked lower than the Wolverines. Oh yeah, and they loss to Harvard.

11. Northwestern (0-4, 5-8)
The smallest school in the Big Ten with the smallest gym in the Big Ten also has the weakest schedule and the lousiest wins. The Wildcats have dropped four straight against four unranked Big Ten teams. With victories coming against powerhouses such as Benedictine, Savannah State, Arkansas State, and Howard it is no guessing how well they might play against IU's and Wisconsin's. Well, they might compete against IU. The Hoosiers' schedule has been just as tough.