In Defense of My Fellow Bloggers or Wow, We Actually Had At Least One Reader!

Upon hearing the news of Bobby Knight stepping down, one of my friends and fellow bloggers here at Defend The Rock made a post which both reflected how many IU fans felt, and also reflected the exact opposite way many IU fans felt. I arrived at IU, from another state, after Knight had already left. I really have no emotional connection with him and what he did while at IU, so I cannot really get fired up about this issue.

What I do have to say is this: Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I would like to hear them all, preferably through comments on the specific blog posts in order to foster some form of community, or at least start a conversation on here.

A very passionate IU fan (who failed to properly grammar check his subject line) sent in an email in response to the post cited above. Below is the email we received (I have not included his name or email address, although sir, I suggest in the future you use an anonymous email address to send vitriolic emails as a simple google search resulted in your home town, job information, your non-work activities, and photos, I don't need to know all that!)):

Subject: Your are an idiot

Terrible language and an idiot is all I can say about you.

You are probably one of the people embarrassing the rest of us in Assembly Hall by chanting B__ S__.

Mike Davis will never ever come close to being the Coach that Robert M. Knight was.

And walking out on something – hardly. He is setting them up to be a better group by getting started now instead of next fall.

I will not look at your useless blog anymore.

First things first, we had a reader! At least now I know that we haven't been completely wasting our time! Secondly, I am sorry to see him go, as I would much rather have such an engaged reader remain and make his thoughts known in public on here than through email where I only get to see them. Lastly, as I said earlier, everyone is welcome to express their here, and while I would prefer that opinions be expressed in civil, non-juvenile ways (both by bloggers and readers), I have no intention of censoring this blog (although I do reserve the right to do so).

James Hardy NFL Draft Prediction or The One Where I Pretend To Have Knowledge About The NFL

This year's NFL draft kicks off on my Birthday (April 26th) and will lead well into the 27th where I will be passed out on a couple or floor, surely having been unable to make it to my bed from the night before. The Hoosier's very own WR James Hardy will be looking to be drafted over the course of those two days, and now I'm going to tell him where his going to end up.

I have no inside information, and I haven't been reading any draft previews. These predictions (I am choosing the 3 most likely teams) have manifested themselves through trusting my gut, poor logic/reasoning, and a and a random non-story about the Steelers I heard months ago. Without further ado, here is where you're likely to end up James:

1. Pittsburgh Steelers: This offseason Ben Roethlisberger expressed his desire for a tall receiver. Well, guess who just happens to be a 6'7 tall receiver? James Hardy. Throw in the fact that James Hardy played for the Coach who made Big Ben into who is today, and you've got a perfect match. BAM!

2. Tennessee Titans: Vince Young needs some solid receiving weapons in order for this team to go anywhere. Hardy has played his last few years with a running QB in Kellen Lewis and can bring a new element to a team desperately trying to figure out who to run its offense.

3. Miami Dolphins: Why not?

Now, once I really look at that, those three teams seem far fetched, as I can't imagine Hardy going either 23/24 to the Steelers or Titans, and their next picks are in the mid 50s where I imagine he'd be gone. Maybe the Dolphins at 32 do make sense...

Indiana @ Illinois - A Great Game?

Before I get to the Indiana @ Illinois game I'd like to make a brief comment on posting. Just as I resurrected Defend The Rock from it's hiatus I entered Graduate School. While at first I was posting frequently, I have noticed that both my post count, and quality has gone down drastically of late. I am hoping that as I get back into the groove of being in school I will be able to better manage my time, and thus make more frequent, and substantive posts. In the meantime, I'd like to thank my fellow Defend The Rockers who have been picking up the slack for me of late.
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Tonight after class TITTLE500 and myself watched the game. I DVR'd it as I would not have been able to make tipoff. We isolated ourselves from the internet and ignored various calls and texts that might've clued us into the outcome of the game. I had a conversation with a classmate about the game that went something like this:

Her: Good luck, I hope Indiana wins tonight, what do you think their chances are?
Me: Road games in the Big Ten are always tough, but come on, Illinois is terrible!

At the conclusion of the game TITTLE500 and I had a similar discussion, discussing how while this win was important, how "good" of a win was it really? It took us 2 overtimes and some luck (not to mention some wretched FT shooting by Pruitt) to win against an Illinois team that has shown nothing all year long.

The Hoosiers had a couple guys who really could've been goats of the game but managed to shine in their own ways. Both Ellis and Crawford made quite a few mistakes but made up for them big time with crucial plays/totals. Crawford's poor ball handling (nothing new) juxtaposed with his perfectly timed 3's. Ellis' missed free throws and foul trouble masked by his big 3 and always reliable rebounding performance.

Eric Gordon was clearly preoccupied in the first half with all sorts of thoughts running through his head. Whether the crowd was getting to him, or if he was just trying to do too much is up for debate, but as always seems to be the case, he got his points and helped IU to a win. I made a comment late in the game that is really seems that against tougher opponents, Gordon almost makes his impact below the radar (or as below the radar as Eric Gordon can be). Often times I find myself surprised that he's scored the last 10 IU points, or something to that effect.

Looking back at this game, it was a great game to watch, there can be no questioning that. But for IU fans that have a nagging doubt about how good this team actually is, it wasn't encouraging. The Hoosiers seems to have the pieces to be able to field one hell of a team, but that puzzle still hasn't quite come together to form a cohesive image yet.

Signing Day

Head over to IUHoosiers.com to see what is going on with signing day today. As of right now 14 players have sent in their written commitment to Bill Lynch's Hoosiers. Be sure to check out the videos also, I know what I will be doing for most of my work day.

I mean I guess really they are all a bunch of 2 or 3 star prospects, but I am liking that we are getting a lot of guys from outside of Indiana. Always love learning the new names and faces, looking forward to seeing what happens with the future of Indiana Football!

Have fun following the recruits today! Here is hoping we don't finish last this year in Big Ten recruiting.

Bob Knight

Good fucking riddance.

News regarding other past IU coaches: Mike Davis is sitting at 15-6 with the Blazers. Tied for 2nd place in C-USA. He doesn't appear to be walking out on a team that is on the bubble and has a couple shots at bringing down Memphis (maybe not realistic shots, but shots) before the season is over. Also Robert Vaden is having an outstanding year down there avevraging almost 21 ppg.

Now let's get ready for Thursday!

*the thoughts in this post may not reflect the other posters on defendtherock.blogspot.com

Kyle Taber

Kyle Taber is receiving regular rotation minutes in the game against Northwestern today.

I'm listening to the game on WIUX online radio so its hard to get a good feel for minutes, but he seems to be getting more than Mike White or Fatty McMissLayups (DeAndre Thomas).

Why did we unredshirt Mike White again? The Hoosiers are shooting terribly, minus DJ and EG of course.

Also, there's a rumor floating around that DeAndre Thomas used to be skinny. Here's photographic proof.

Now:


In 2002:


Also, as you might be noticing, DeAndre used to wear #1.