Guyism » Big Ten

Sports by the numbers: 9/2/10

A. Isaac — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:30:42 +0000

Guyism’s daily look at what’s hot in the world of sports.

Number of Big Ten Championships won by teams in the newly aligned “Division 1″ (UM-Neb-MSU-NW-Minn-Iowa) in the last five years. Although, the conference did their best to balance things out historically, recent success certainly is slanted in the favor of Ohio State and Penn State. And with UM struggling under Rich Rodriguez, things probably won’t be changing in the near future.

127.16

The time (in sec) it took world class “female” runner Caster Semenya to run two laps at a meet in Italy-a full eight seconds longer than a race five days earlier. Semenya was recently allowed to race again after spending almost 11 months sidelined with, what can only be described as “unfeminine” behavior.

106

The highest on court temperature reached at this year’s U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows. Though it did not play a part in Victoria Azarenka’s collapse yesterday, tournament organizers have taken steps to avoid any future problems. An extra ten minute break will be given to women between the second and third set. Men however will not be given leniency. Maybe John McEnroe wasn’t so far fetched in his comments earlier this week.

756 -

The approximate price of the four tennis rackets Andy Roddick threw to fans after his devastating second round exit late last night. The discontinued Babolat Pure Drive Roddick GT sells for right around $189 on most websites. Chump change for Andy–he’s made over 18 million dollars in his career on tour.

Number of clubs junior golfer Zach Nash had in his bag during a junior Wisconsin PGA tournament that he won. Hours later, a club pro at the local golf course noticed the extra 5-wood and informed the young golfer of the error. Nash subsequently turned himself in and was disqualified for signing an incorrect score card.

102.7

The official recorded speed of Reds’ pitching phenom Aroldis Chapman’s fastball. Since the inception of MLBs new technology, only one other pitcher has reached that–Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya. Ironically (or comically, whichever you prefer), Zumaya went on the disabled list earlier this year after breaking his arm throwing a 100 mph fastball.

The number of games Delonte West will be suspended before he suits for the Boston Celtics in the 2010-2011 season. West was arrested In Maryland last September on weapons charges. Yes, the weapon was allegedly in his pants. And yes, the victim was LeBron’s mom.

Big Ten divisions are officially set

A. Isaac — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:59:58 +0000

The Big Ten has officially set their divisions for the 2011 athletic season. As was rumored throughout the day, traditional football powers OSU and UM fell on opposite sides.

Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern

Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana

No word on whether this affects basketball although ESPN has said that the conference could play a 16-game schedule by taking a model similar to those used by the Big 12 and SEC.

Nebraska officially joins Big Ten

A. Isaac — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 19:32:28 +0000

After weeks of rumors and speculation concerning conference expansion, Nebraska became the 12th school to join the Big Ten. This essentially leaves the Big 12 in limbo and it appears from “people in the know” that they may dissolve and merge with the Pac-10.

Whether the Big Ten is done on their end remains to be seen. But from the looks of it, a 16 team super conference is now closer to reality than anyone once thought.

The losers in all this may be the smaller football revenue schools like Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State. As a college basketball fan, it would be a tragedy to see a school with the rich basketball tradition of Kansas relegated to a mid-major conference. In fact, it would be downright disastrous.

Back to Nebraska, they have targeted a join date of 2011, although much of the details remain up in the air. Should be an interesting summer to say the least. Doubtful that this is the last news we hear this weekend.

Stay tuned.

THE NEW BTN SIDELINE REPORTER, LARRA BETH OVERTON

A. Isaac — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:30:00 +0000

I’m a big fan of sideline reporters…Actually, scratch that….I’m a big fan of hot sideline reporters. And the Big Ten Network has a new one…Indiana Alum Larra Beth Overton.

As a big ten slappy myself, I’d like to say one thing…

I approve

Erin Andrews…watch your back.

Oh yea, and you gotta give Larra credit here. She actually knew something about Indiana football. If you polled a majority of college football fans, most would wonder if Indiana even had a football team. Hell, I’m a huge fan of the Big Ten and I could maybe name one player.

WISCONSIN CHOKES AWAY SURE VICTORY

A. Isaac — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:23:00 +0000

One day after complaining about Big Ten officiating, I may have to swallow my words. For once, Bo’s boys weren’t able to hang their hat on their supposed home court advantage and were taking to the woodshed by Minnesota’s press defense.

Up about 10 with 4 minutes to go, the Gophers were able to send the game into overtime and steal a victory at the Kohl Center.

I believe Bo Ryan’s reaction in this picture is “Argh”

I thought National Talk Like a Pirate Day already passed.

Must have mislabeled it on the calendar.

ASHLEY RUSSELL SPRUCES UP THE BTN

A. Isaac — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:30:00 +0000

There is really no way I can segue from 9/11 to anything else without looking like a total jackass, pervert, or moron.

So I won’t even try….

Many of us are now forced to watch the Big Ten Network for our MSU/UM games. And while we can all agree that the talent in the announcing booth is on par with ESPNs Pam Ward, at the very least they are trying to boost up their talent on the sidelines.

Busted Coverage has more on the beautiful Ashley Russell

THAD MATTA IS NOT WELL-LIKED

A. Isaac — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:49:00 +0000

Well, color me surprised, somebody thinks Thad Matta is a jerk.

“Listen, if you can’t get along with a kid like Kosta, then you’re clueless,” Greynolds said. “If you’re making $2 million season and can’t figure out how to use a 7-foot-1 kid, you’re clueless. If you can’t get along with a kid who comes early, stays late and gets good grades, you’re clueless, and you’ve got the problem.”

Of all the coaches in the NCAA, I would have never thought somebody would say this about Matta. Look at the guy, he looks like such a wholesome human being. With that cheap salesman suit, who wouldn’t be impressed.

BAD SHOWING BY THE BIG TEN

A. Isaac — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:23:00 +0000

You can’t help but lick your chops if you’re a Badger or Spartan fan today. You got taken to the woodshed last night and it wasn’t pretty.

In Wisconsin’s case, they had the better team but couldn’t overcome a player, who was more than likely the best player on the court.

In MSU’s case, they simply did not have enough talent and athleticism to match Memphis.

It was a testament to how bad the Big Ten has become as of late.

As much as people love to talk about how good of a coach Bo Ryan is, he has yet to deliver any success when it counts. The best seed Ryan has beat in his tenure as a Wisconsin coach is 9th seeded St. Joseph in 2002.

Is it truly a wonder why his teams have so much success in Big Ten play but are disgustingly fraudulent in the tournament?

The half-court play, the repeated motion, the non-athletes just doesn’t cut it come March.

And MSU, well, they perpetuated this style by playing down to their competitors in Big Ten play. Walking it up, not pressuring the ball, not letting the athletes they have dictate the tempo of the game.

Answer this truthfully:

If you lined up MSUs players in a gym against Iowa’s players and just told them to play to 100, no organization, no sets, who would win?

I can guarantee you that MSU would win 90% of the time, if not more. So why have we complicated it in Big Ten play? Why has Izzo let his players play down to the competition?

It certainly did not help them that dreadful day in Iowa City and it for sure didn’t help them last night. When MSU finally adjusted in the second half and brought in their athletes and let them play, they were more than competitive. Yes, Memphis brought their intensity down a notch but I think they can even admit that the Spartans looked like a better team in the second half.

So I hope, as a Spartan fan, that Izzo looks to let his players play next year. Let them dictate the tempo, let them attack the basket at will and force the other team to adjust to them and not the other way around.

But if you are a Badger fan, I would be more concerned because with Ryan as coach, you will never get to a Final Four. You will never win a National Championship playing the way you do.

Its a sad reality to face for Badger Nation.

Friday Highlights from the Big Ten Tournament

A. Isaac — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:41:00 +0000

Wisconsin 51
Michigan 34

Michigan State 67
Ohio State 60

Illinois 74
Purdue 67

Minnesota 59
Indiana 58

The World of Isaac Angry Friday Rant

A. Isaac — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:27:00 +0000

Big Ten Officials

I realize that the crews are not limited to just Big Ten games but seemingly every game is reffed differently than other leagues. It seems that sometimes refs feel the need to call a foul on every single possession. Case in point during yesterday’s MSU/ILL game, Randle drives the baseline and Walton steps in front of him, barely any contact and Walton gets called for the block. In any other league, its a no-call.

Its basically rendered Big Ten games unwatchable. Maybe Jim Delany should get off his fat ass and stop trying to market the stupid Big Ten Network and try to make his product better.

Fat chicks in Thongs

As many of you know, I am certainly no Adonis. In fact, I have more of a Fabio type body, but thats neither here nor there. Yesterday at the gym, a woman in excess of 200lbs was on the elliptical in front of me. She wore skin tight sweats that exposed every ripple in her leg. But even worse, every time she bounced up and down while struggling to do the machine, her thong was severely exposed. I won’t even get into the absurdity of why women wear thongs while working out but here’s some advice. If you feel that your cheeks are encompassing your thong turning it into something that can be confused with dental floss, I suggest you go another route when you hit up Victoria Secrets next time.

Indianapolis Star writer Terry Hutchins

“I’ve heard it from enough people now to believe that if Indiana came calling that Izzo would give the Hoosiers a long look.”

Link to full blog

You know, once, just once I want one of these writers to produce an actual source for their stories. I can guarantee that Hutchins sources were all within the confines of Assembly Hall or IUs campus. In fact, the WOI dares Hutchins to produce one source outside of there.

Come on Terry, prove it.

Will Tieman/Gus Ganakas

The Spartan Radio Broadcast is the most amateur broadcast of any DI basketball program out there. I have personally emailed the athletic director(both Hollis and Mason) and asked for them to think about the fans. It is literally impossible to get an accurate account of what is occurring in the game. Many times the score is not said for 6 or 7 minutes. Its a disgrace and it needs to end ASAP.

Democratic Party

We all know that a two party dominated political system is one of the main reasons that American Politics is so dysfunctional. But even loyal Democrats have to look at their party and say “What the hell is going on”. Bickering, slandering, hate campaigns between Hillary and Obama only strengthens the Republicans, who are now united behind McCain singing “Kumbaya”. Add to that, the “firehouse primary” that may take place in Florida and Michigan and its a wonder if the party is actually interested in winning or just proving one another wrong.

Michigan State at Illinois Highlights

A. Isaac — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:43:00 +0000

Recap
Box Score

Thoughts

Illinois is a bad basketball team. I’ll go as far to say I have no idea how they have won games this year. They have little to no offense outside of Pruitt, and even then, he’s really not all that good. They can’t seem to hit a free throw which really killed them last night when they got into the bonus early and missed some freebies.

From the MSU side of things, well, it was a road win they absolutely had to get. And while they didn’t play exceptionally well, they did enough to scrape by. Afterwards, Tom Izzo said that several players were fighting off flu-like symptoms and were vomitting in the locker room after the game. I guess that explains some of their inabilities to put this game away.

A bright spot was MSU pushing the tempo and playing more aggressive defense. Its something many fans have been calling for awhile now. Let’s see if State can parlay this victory and a victory Sunday into a deep run at the Big Ten Tournament.

MSU at Purdue Review

A. Isaac — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:05:00 +0000

Recap
Box Score

Thoughts:

No coach is above criticism and that includes a man I respect and admire, Tom Izzo. MSU failing to win big ten road games
should not be that suprising however. The last couple of years have been filled with home victory after home victory and beating weaker big ten opponents on the road.
The pressure defenses that many coaches in the Big Ten employ, kills MSU. Our half-court sets, while effective against teams that have not seen them
before, become stagnant when coaches can prepare tapes of past games. And since MSU decides not to pressure the ball on the defensive end, they cant capitalize
on other teams mistakes. At best, MSU has to get lucky that a team does not get hot from the perimeter to win. That’s a recipe for disaster as more teams
are using the three point line to the tune of 20-30 times a game.

The problem at State is not the talent, its the philosophy. We can win the tourney games because our sets get our shooters good looks but in the Big Ten, thats just
not going to fly.

It’s time for Izzo to step back and say, how can I use the talent I have to win more games? We have athletes on this team and yet, we make them sit back and
react to what the other team is doing instead of dictating tempo and pace.

How can you call yourself a running team if you cant force turnovers?

A big test of Izzo’s stubborness will be on display Saturday. If Travis Walton starts and plays big minutes, then deep down I think we all know that nothing is really changed.
Playing 3 on 5(Naymick and Walton) to start a game puts us behind the eight ball. Its no wonder that Morgan and Neitzel couldnt get a shot off in the first half yesterday.
Shade a guy off Walton every time and dare him to shoot. More than likely he wont or he will throw up a brick.

You cannot, I repeat, you cannot fall behind 16 points on the road and expect to have any type of regular success. It just doesn’t happen.

Please Tom, for the love of God, do the following.

1. Start Lucas the rest of the season
2. If teams are going to pressure, make it a point to pound it into the post. The weave and picks for Neitzel are not working.
3. Force turnovers more. We should walk in against teams like Iowa and Penn State and blow them out in the first 10 minutes.
4. Stop pulling guys out after one mistake. They play timid when they know they are just playing not to screw up.