This is my first ever post from work. What can I say?
Chicago is completely swept up in Big Ten tournament fever. On the el this morning I saw an entire car full of dejected Penn St. fans headed north to O'Hare. They were inspired by the sight of Wrigley on their way, causing them all to say, "Wait til next year!" I was wearing cream and crimson to make it clear to everyone which side of the tracks I'm from and my bus driver kicked me off the bus. I think he was sour about not being able to see Chief Illiniwoiak(or something like that) dance anymore.
Well.. actually I don't think most of the city could give 2 shits... and I guess that's why the tournament will be in Indy for the next 4 years after this one. But, who cares? We've got the olympics coming 2016. ha.. If the olympics come to the USA in 2016 I'll be so so so proud of my country. I mean... we deserve another olympics, don't you think? Salt Lake City and Atlanta seem like ancient memories.
Anyhow... the point is... Should I go to the game tonight at the UC? I really want to... but tickets are sold out... and its supposed to rain... and I am out of money... and the game is on tv...
ok.. so its decided... I'm watching the game on tv. We're going to Kellen's house for the big match up with those blue and orange butt sniffers. According to my most recent stat and "feeling in the air" analysis the Illini are going down in a heap of flames tonight. I predict that Stemler is going to break out of his slump and shoot well... or.. maybe not play at all and Mike White will continue to look better... or Armon will look fearless once again and drill 3 after 3. And o yeah... AJ will drill his first 3 pt att like he always does...
ok... so I have no idea what will happen tonight... but I'm feeling good about the Hoosiers...
and I have ot be honest... I'm really pulling for the Boilermakers to rub one off on Iowa... I'd love to see the rivalry between the two wonderful state schools back to what it once was...
that's all
Friday, March 9, 2007
Baseball Recap
The Hoosier Baseball team starts it's official Spring Trip today (heading down to Florida) and I figured that now would be a good time to recap the early part of the season.
The Hoosiers right now are sitting on a .500 record and have shown eerie consistency when it comes to pitching and offense, save for two offensive explosions of 16 and 15 runs respectively (so maybe no consistency, ha). Once we get further into the season it will be fun to use some stats, even simple things like the Pythagorean Theorem to see how the Hoosiers are/should be doing but right now it's a bit pointless. Case on point, after 8 games the Hoosiers Pythagorean record *should* be 7-1, not 4-4
. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm taking the Hoosiers runs scored (60) and runs allowed (23) and doing the following forum la:
RS^2/(RS^2+RA^2), so 60^2/(60^2+23^2)= .87 - That .87 equals the projected winning percentage when scoring and allowing that # of runs. Simply multiplying the % by # of games played gives you number of wins, 6.9. But as you can tell, with such a small sample size thus far, and two outlier offensive performances it throws it a bit off.
So now for that promised recap, let's just look at IU leaders in some basic categories:
So far Freshmen Evan Crawford leads the Hoosiers in AB (32), R (8), H (16), TB (18), OB% (.514), AVG (.500), and SLG% (.563). The fact that hit slugging percentage is so high is fairly odd, as Crawford has proven himself to be pretty much a pure singles hitter, with only 2 doubles, no triples and no home runs. It is being influenced by the walks he's drawn and the sacrifices, obviously this is a stat that will even out and soon.
There is no other single Hoosier on offense who stands out like Crawford, but Indiana's "Mr. Baseball" Josh Phegley leads the team with 6 doubles, thats out of 10 total hits. Keith Haas leads the team in RBI (8) and HR (1).
Overall the team AVG is .281, OBP .345, SLG .348, with a K:BB ratio of 45:25 (that last one's not too hot...). The team has been pretty good on the basepaths, swiping 11 bags in 17 attempts.
On the pitching side, Chris McCombs is standing out, with a 1.86 ERA in 9.2 innings, going 1-1, with 10 K's, and no walks. Joe Vicini has pitched 5.2 scoreless innings of relief, and several other Hoosier relievers have tossed a fair number of scoreless innings, while all striking people out. The Hoosier pitchng squad has about 1.6 strikeouts for every walk, with a WHIP of 1.44. I'm not sure what a *good* WHIP is in college ball, seeing as there is an increased contact rate as opposed to professional baseball, but I'm guessing 1.44 is average to decent. Any help on that would be appreciated.
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The Hoosiers right now are sitting on a .500 record and have shown eerie consistency when it comes to pitching and offense, save for two offensive explosions of 16 and 15 runs respectively (so maybe no consistency, ha). Once we get further into the season it will be fun to use some stats, even simple things like the Pythagorean Theorem to see how the Hoosiers are/should be doing but right now it's a bit pointless. Case on point, after 8 games the Hoosiers Pythagorean record *should* be 7-1, not 4-4
. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm taking the Hoosiers runs scored (60) and runs allowed (23) and doing the following forum la:
RS^2/(RS^2+RA^2), so 60^2/(60^2+23^2)= .87 - That .87 equals the projected winning percentage when scoring and allowing that # of runs. Simply multiplying the % by # of games played gives you number of wins, 6.9. But as you can tell, with such a small sample size thus far, and two outlier offensive performances it throws it a bit off.
So now for that promised recap, let's just look at IU leaders in some basic categories:
So far Freshmen Evan Crawford leads the Hoosiers in AB (32), R (8), H (16), TB (18), OB% (.514), AVG (.500), and SLG% (.563). The fact that hit slugging percentage is so high is fairly odd, as Crawford has proven himself to be pretty much a pure singles hitter, with only 2 doubles, no triples and no home runs. It is being influenced by the walks he's drawn and the sacrifices, obviously this is a stat that will even out and soon.
There is no other single Hoosier on offense who stands out like Crawford, but Indiana's "Mr. Baseball" Josh Phegley leads the team with 6 doubles, thats out of 10 total hits. Keith Haas leads the team in RBI (8) and HR (1).
Overall the team AVG is .281, OBP .345, SLG .348, with a K:BB ratio of 45:25 (that last one's not too hot...). The team has been pretty good on the basepaths, swiping 11 bags in 17 attempts.
On the pitching side, Chris McCombs is standing out, with a 1.86 ERA in 9.2 innings, going 1-1, with 10 K's, and no walks. Joe Vicini has pitched 5.2 scoreless innings of relief, and several other Hoosier relievers have tossed a fair number of scoreless innings, while all striking people out. The Hoosier pitchng squad has about 1.6 strikeouts for every walk, with a WHIP of 1.44. I'm not sure what a *good* WHIP is in college ball, seeing as there is an increased contact rate as opposed to professional baseball, but I'm guessing 1.44 is average to decent. Any help on that would be appreciated.
Indiana vs. Illinois
Tonight our Indiana Hoosiers take on Illinois in the Big Ten Tourney. Illinois dropped Penn State 66-60. IU is basically looking at a road game, as while there are plenty of IU alums in and around Chicago that will be attending the game, there is little doubt in my mind the United Center will be packed with Illini fans. So how has IU done on the road vs Illinois of late (besides being 1-4 all time in Big Ten Tourney play against Illinois)?
Date Outcome Location
Feb. 6, 2005 L, 60-47 Champaign
Jan. 17, 2006 W, 62-60 Bloomington
Feb. 19, 2006 L, 70-58 Champaign
Jan. 23, 2007 L, 51-43 Champaign
Feb. 10, 2007 W, 65-61 Blooming
Not surprising, but then again, even though this will be in a (most likely) hostile enviornment, it still isn't Champaign, plus even Penn State gave Illinois a run for its money. The Indiana/Illinois games this year have been messy, hard fought Big Ten games, and we can probably expect more of the same. It's certainly nice to have Earl back, and Roderick coming of a couple freakish offensive performances.
Let's get 'em Hoosiers
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Date Outcome Location
Feb. 6, 2005 L, 60-47 Champaign
Jan. 17, 2006 W, 62-60 Bloomington
Feb. 19, 2006 L, 70-58 Champaign
Jan. 23, 2007 L, 51-43 Champaign
Feb. 10, 2007 W, 65-61 Blooming
Not surprising, but then again, even though this will be in a (most likely) hostile enviornment, it still isn't Champaign, plus even Penn State gave Illinois a run for its money. The Indiana/Illinois games this year have been messy, hard fought Big Ten games, and we can probably expect more of the same. It's certainly nice to have Earl back, and Roderick coming of a couple freakish offensive performances.
Let's get 'em Hoosiers
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Awards and Honors For Many A Hoosier
As what should come as little surprise to anyone, Wilmont, Calloway, and D.J. White earned All-Big Ten Honors. White made the second team, Wilmont third team, and Calloway was an honorable mention. Errek Suhr wasn't left out either, getting to represent IU for Sportsmanship (we can only assume Adam Ahlfeld will carry that torch beginning next year, man we love that guy!).
Additionally Wilmont was named the Big Ten player of the week. Of course, Wilmont had been a freak of nature over the past week, breaking an IU record for 3's (9), while recording back to back double-doubles, averaging well over 20 points a game. In fact, that is enough for an Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award!
Roderick Wilmont - This Week's Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award recipient!
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Additionally Wilmont was named the Big Ten player of the week. Of course, Wilmont had been a freak of nature over the past week, breaking an IU record for 3's (9), while recording back to back double-doubles, averaging well over 20 points a game. In fact, that is enough for an Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award!
Roderick Wilmont - This Week's Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award recipient!
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