Defend The Rock: The (un)Official Indiana University Athletics Blog

Indiana Hoosiers 2008/2009 Basketball Schedule Announced

2008-09-03T13:04:00.006-06:00

The 2008/2009 schedule for the Indiana Men's Basketball team was announced today. Let's just say we our team of ~~all-stars~~ walkons is in for a very challenging year. More thoughts to come later.

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time / Result

11/07/08	vs. Anderson	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
11/11/08	vs. Bemidji St	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
11/15/08	vs. Northwestern State	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
11/18/08	vs. IUPUI	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
25th Annual EA Sports Maui Invitational
11/24/08	vs. Notre Dame	Maui	5:30 p.m. ET
11/25/08	Saint Joseph's or Texas	Maui	1:30pm or 7:00pm ET
11/26/08	TBA	Maui	TBA

11/30/08	vs. Cornell	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
ACC/Big Ten Challenge
12/03/08	at Wake Forest	Winston-Salem, N.C.	7:15 p.m. ET

Hartford Hall of Fame Classic
12/06/08	vs. Gonzaga	Indianapolis, Ind. - Lucas Oil Stadium	TBA

12/10/08	vs. TCU	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
12/13/08	at Kentucky	Lexington, Ky.	TBA
12/22/08	vs. Northeastern	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
12/28/08	vs. Lipscomb	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
01/03/09	at Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa	4:30 p.m. ET
01/07/09	vs. Michigan	Bloomington, Ind.	6:30 p.m. ET
01/10/09	at Illinois	Champaign, Ill.	3:00 p.m. ET
01/13/09	at Ohio State	Columbus, Ohio	7:00 p.m. ET
01/17/09	vs. Penn State	Bloomington, Ind.	6:00 p.m. ET
01/25/09	vs. Minnesota	Bloomington, Ind.	12:00 p.m. ET
01/28/09	at Northwestern	Evanston, Ill.	8:30 p.m. ET
01/31/09	vs. Ohio State	Bloomington, Ind.	4:00 p.m. ET
02/04/09	vs. Iowa	Bloomington, Ind.	6:30 p.m. ET
02/07/09	at Michigan State	East Lansing, Mich.	4:00 p.m. ET
02/10/09	at Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minn.	9:00 p.m. ET
02/15/09	vs. Illinois	Bloomington, Ind.	1:00 p.m. ET
02/19/09	vs. Wisconsin	Bloomington, Ind.	9:00 p.m. ET
02/21/09	at Purdue	West Lafayette, Ind.	TBA
02/22/09	at Purdue	West Lafayette, Ind.	TBA
02/25/09	vs. Northwestern	Bloomington, Ind.	6:30 p.m. ET
02/28/09	at Penn State	University Park, Pa.	6:00 p.m. ET
03/03/09	vs. Michigan State	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
03/04/09	vs. Michigan State	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
03/05/09	vs. Michigan State	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
03/07/09	at Wisconsin	Madison, Wis.	12pm/2pm ET
03/08/09	at Wisconsin	Madison, Wis.	12pm/2pm ET

Western Kentucky vs Indiana Liveblog

2008-08-30T09:46:00.041-06:00

Welcome to Defend The Rock's inaugural liveblog for the 2008-2009 season for Indiana sports!

Will the Hoosiers be able to stop the Hilltoppers formidable rushing attack? Will Austin Starr kick one out of Memorial Stadium? Will the Big Ten Network manage to blow the coverage of this game somehow?

All the answers shall be revealed shortly. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the live blog, because anyway, it's not like you could be outside playing some sports for yourself.

10:58: Go figure, all the channel listings are screwed up, courtesy of Comcast or the Big Ten Network, or both. Betting that the games keep switching channels throughout the day, because honestly, it would just make sense...

11:02: Apparently Kellen Lewis "bought into his own hype" and became full of himself. I guess things like that will happen when you're the best QB your team has had in years. Sounds like he got over his "pity parties" and now enjoys playing Xbox with teammates, awesome. I wonder what his name is on XboxLive?

11:05: God I love having a good kicker.

11:09: Commentator on Kellen Lewis "He's a Heisman candidate" -- Awesome

11:15: So far we're all happy with IU's tackling today. It's still early, but so far so good. Improvement from last year is required. And Phillips screws us on a sack by Murando.

11:21: Wow, I called out a 90 yard TD run for Lewis at the start of this series and others in attendance said "you know he'll break it out at some point". I guess he decided that'd be a little too far, and opted for just 75 yards. But in the end, it's good for us.

11:27: Beautiful sack. Who's Gred Middleton?

11:30: "You guys need to get out of here. You guys need to get away from Jersey Boys"

11:32: What the hell type of play was that? I guess 2 yards are 2 yards...

11:39: First opportunity for Starr to start his run on a perfect season on Field Goals....it's in! 1-1.

11:41: What the fuck is going on with this network coverage. The Big Ten Network/Comcast keeps going to commercial in the middle of plays. This is horrible.

11:50: Sidenote on commericals: These ads for Lincoln Car insurance are terrible, but we are quickly becoming obsessed with them. We're pretty sure the women in them are real life prostitutes.

11:51: Andrew Means...two sport star.

11:57: Ben Chappell is in the game. At least he didn't throw an INT.

11:59: Awesome, now the IU game is no longer on any of the Big Ten Network channels. Great...

12:04: Just for the record, the IU game is still gone from the TV listings, but we do have 3 channels of Ohio St and 2 channels of Penn State. What the hell.

12:10: On Megan West: D: 1338, I: 0363, P: 1352, A: 1347.

12:11: Man, that was a total video game play by Lewis. Poor cameraman.

12:18: Sorry, we got distracted by Kige Ramsey.

12:20: This punter is ridiculous. Seems like every time he hits w/i the 20.

12:22: Well, these aren't really the plays we'd like to see with the half winding down. Plus Fisher is injured, so not quite the best way to crawl towards the end of the half.

12:30: Can't complain too much about the results heading into the half. Would like to have seen some more down field passes and fewer screens. But so far so good for the first game of the season.

12:49: Nice play by the defense to get the ball right back.

12:42: So Kellen Lewis is the record holder for IU with 43 touchdowns through the air. Good for Kellen, but man, that record number is sad.

12:45: Second thoughts on Megan West: D: 1148, I: 0363, P: 1252, A: 1137.

12:55: Got distracted by trying to figure out pizza to order. God, why is it so complicated?

12:57: Good job stopping 'em with just a FG. 17-3.

1:16: Good to know we're not blowing out a newly instated Division I team (yet?)...

1:20: Consensus here is NOT Thigpen for RB.

1:24: Ah, that's a patented James Hardy play....except it's Belcher...hopefully he can keep it up.

1:32: "She looks like a muppet...like that blonde band leader muppet."

1:42: Another long (62YD) rushing TD for Kellen. Heisman Watch.

1:53: Ben Chappell does not look good/comfortable at all. Yet somehow he completed that pass.

1:57: Last play as Ben Chappell flails around, all of us in unison "Ooooh noo! Ooh no! Oooh no!"

1:59: Good to see kicker turned safety turned punter Joe Kleinsmith come in and actually give the Hoosiers good punt.

2:02: This commentator continues to amaze. Expressing facts (time/score) as "feelings." Man.

2:05: We have determined Ben Chappell's nickname: Beck Chappell (like Beck Chapel on IU's campus).

2:08: That's a winner! Good start to the season.

Football Season Kickoff or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying About Suspensions and Fall In Love WIth Kellen Lewis All Over Again

2008-08-30T01:06:00.002-06:00

Football season is upon us and even before kickoff the Hoosier squad has seen fit to bring some excitement to their fan base by continuing their version of musical chairs re: suspensions.

First up, Greg Middleton (the Hoosier who just so happened to lead the NATION in sacks last year) has been suspended along with his (non-starting) teammates Troy Wagner, Brandon Mosley and Kyle Kozak.

Now, putting aside the issue of why they were suspended, the three non-starting players aren't that big of a deal. A for Middleton on the other hand, is he truly a stand out player, a key to our defense?

While he led the nation in sacks, he mainly did it by absolutely destroying bad teams' QB's. He started piling up the sacks early in the season against weak opponents, and as the season went on, there were fewer and fewer sacks showing up in the boxscores for him.

So will IU miss him against the opener against Western Kentucky? My ~~expert~~ opinion is yes -- WKU represents just the sort of team Middleton would have success against.

Now we come to our dearly re-instated QB Kellen Lewis.

If you're an avid reader of Defend The Rock you know that we've been Kellen Lewis fans since before there we even such things. Even during Blake Powers' Sports Illustrated featured year we were pushing for Lewis to start (the fact that he was redshirted that year, eh, not so much of an issue for us), with chants at games of "Start the freshmen!"

Hell, we even started the first Kellen Lewis group on Facebook!

So while we accepted his suspension, players should have to follow the rules, be good students, and excellent team players after all, we eagerly awaited his return. We had never been impressed with Ben Chappell, in fact after his single down implosion in Northwestern we pretty much swore an oath against him, so having Kellen back is like a breath of fresh air.

Now, Kellen Lewis is undeniably the face of this team. Gone is his main playmaker James Hardy, as is star defender Tracy Porter. It's up to him, and we firmly believe in his third year, he is once again ready to step up to the plate, accept the challenge, and exceed all expectations.

Let's play some football!

Defend The Rock will be liveblogging the season opener starting at 11am central time. Join us!

ITWCT: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Edition

2008-08-28T12:31:00.002-06:00

The first team that will be covered in our new series If These Walls Could Talk, just so happens to be the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

So just who are these guys? We've chose three Hilltoppers that we think you should know more about beyond their stats.

#7 WR Quinterrance Cooper
Favorite Music: "Anthing Bangin"
Favorite Movie: Scarface
Favorite TV: BET (But he admittedly does not have enough TV time due to his excessive use of his computer.)
Relationship Status: Single. But watch out guys, he's just looking for love from the ladies. "no homos."

#78 RG Austin Chestnut aka A/C
Are you a single woman looking for a companion? Then A/C may just be cool enough for you. A Taurus, he's open to dating and serious relationships. Can you imagine a nice night at home, starting off with a romantic dinner to the tunes of Lil' Wayne, followed by a classic cuddle movie like 300? Then A/C would be the perfect date, and don't worry if you're thinking long term--he's got good genes, as A/C proudly declares himself: "There aint nothin but ballers in my family."

#31 SS ORLANDO MISAALEFUA
A self described military brat and Christian, Orlando has moved around a lot in his life, but has always been grounded by his spirituality and the presence of family and friends in his life. Unfortunately at the moment Orlando's mother is deployed in Iraq, and we here at Defend The Rock, send our best wishes to her and the entire Misaalefua family, and hope she returns home quickly and safely.

So there you have it, a little bit more about a few players lining up against our Hoosiers this Saturday. Enjoy the game, because this time, it's personal.

If These Walls Could Talk

2008-08-28T12:26:00.003-06:00

With IU's football season opener only days away, it seems only appropriate that we take a closer look at the team our Hoosiers will be playing, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

Now, it's not difficult to just go online and cut and paste some stats about these guys, but those bases are already covered by pretty much any major sports site, and probably a few of our fellow IU blogs.

No, we are going to do things differently this year.

Instead of telling you how many yards on average our oppositions running back gains or how many sacks a defensive end has, we're going to give you something much more personal, juicy tidbits from his myspace page.

Oh yes, it's come to this...

Football Schedule

2008-08-27T10:05:00.003-06:00

Here is the IU football schedule for the 2008 season, available ~~nowhere else~~ everywhere.

Home games in bold.

08/30/08 vs Western Kentucky
09/06/08 vs Murray State
09/20/08 vs Ball State
09/27/08 vs Michigan State
10/04/08 vs Minnesota
10/11/08 vs Iowa
10/18/08 vs Illinois
10/25/08 vs Northwestern
11/01/08 vs Central Michigan
11/08/08 vs Wisconsin
11/15/08 vs Penn State
11/22/08 vs Purdue

Back From Summer Vacation (Or: No way was I going to stay inside and blog all summer in Chicago)

2008-08-27T09:45:00.003-06:00

So, it's a sad fact in the real world that there is no real summer vacation for non-students.

We work Mondays through Fridays all summer long, doing errands on the weekends, and trying to find time for fun and friends whenever possible in our busy "adult" lives.

Needless to say, when it's summer in Chicago, even though we don't get a summer vacation, there's no way we here at Defend The Rock were going to stay inside in the few good months we have here in the Windy City blogging, instead of spending time at ~~poisonous~~ beautiful Lake Michigan.

So now, with summer coming to a close we return. Not rested, not refreshed, but maybe slightly tanner and with a few more chips on our shoulders (There is only so much crap one can take from Northwestern fans bragging about their football team before one cracks).

What has surprised us in our time off is that you have continued to visit us. With no new posts, you have continued to check everyday in the hopes of seeing something new.

Well, the suspense is over.

We have returned!

Ben Chappell

2008-03-25T20:54:00.002-06:00

So as we here at Defend The Rock have discussed often, we were the first Kellen Lewis fans. At any given IU game it would be us yelling "Put in the freshmen," and we started the original Kellen Lewis facebook group, "You Tell 'em Kellen, #15 For Quarterback." Needless to say with his ascension, and subsequent success we were thrilled. And needless to say, with his indefinite suspension we were extremely disappointed and disenchanted.

So now as all of you know, Sophomore Ben Chappell will be starting for the Hoosiers in their new look no-huddle offense. As you may recall, Ben Chappell received the brunt of our ire last season when we attended the Northwestern game and he saw fit to throw an interception in his only play of the game, the play which in turn cost us the game.

I'll be honest, I don't like Ben Chappell, I don't trust Ben Chappell, but this Hoosier fan will be rooting for him to take command of this team and put up some victories. This is very similar to my innate dislike for Blake Powers, but for whom I found myself rooting for with the chant "Throw some shit to Hardy!" and hey, it worked out, kinda, for a season.

So Ben, here's to a good first season as the starting QB of the Hoosiers, no matter how much it may disturb my fellow Defend The Rockers (and even me for that matter), Ben Chappell, I've got your back, now go make Kellen Lewis wish he never got suspended by being twice the QB he ever was!

Basketball Leaders

2008-03-25T20:45:00.001-06:00

So there will a complete write up on the Indiana Men's Basketball season up within the next few days. For now there is this list of team leaders in all sorts of tasty stat categories:

Games Played-- D.J. White and Lance Stemler (33)
Starts-- D.J. White (33)
Minutes Played-- Eric Gordon (1110)
Minutes Average-- Eric Gordon (34.7)
Field Goals-- D.J. White (216)
Field Goals Attempted-- Eric Gordon (425)
Field Goal Percentage-- D.J. White (60.5%)
Three-Point Field Goals-- Eric Gordon (70)
Three-Point Field Goals Attempted-- Eric Gordon (208)
Three-Point Field Goal Percentage-- Armon Bassett (45.4%)
Free Throws-- Eric Gordon (231)
Free Throws Attempted-- Eric Gordon (277)
Free Throw Percentage-- Armon Bassett (83.9)
Rebounds-- D.J. White (341-10.3 average)
Assists-- Jamarcus Ellis (108-3.38 average)
Blocks-- D.J. White (54-1.64 average)
Steals-- Jamarcus Ellis (47, 1.47 average) Points-- Eric Gordon (669, 20.9 average)

Hoosiers Grab Plenty of Awards & Honors

2008-03-10T16:51:00.002-06:00

The only awards and honors that truly matter (those bestowed upon players by Defend The Rock) have yet to be released, but in the meantime plenty of other awards and honors have been handed out to a bunch of IU Basketball players.

Rivals.Com Big 10 Awards:

D.J. White - 1st Team, Player of the Year

Eric Gordon - 1st Team, Freshmen Team, Freshmen of the Year

Jamarcus Ellis - 2nd Team

Sports Illustrated All-Americans:

D.J. White - 2nd Team

Eric Gordon - 2nd Team

Official Big 10 Conference Awards:

D.J. White - Big 10 Player of the Year (Coaches), Top Performer (Media), 1st Team All Big 10

Eric Gordon - Big 10 Freshmen of the Year (Coaches & Media), 1st Team All Big 10

Armon Bassett - 3rd Team All Big 10

Jamarcus Ellis - Honorable Mention (media)

Adam Ahlfeld - Hoosier recipient of League Sportsmanship Award

The Sunday Wrap

2008-03-09T18:03:00.002-06:00

I wanted to wait for the Hoosier baseball squad to get a few games out of the way before reporting on them, and with eight under their belt, it seems like now is a good time to start.

The Hoosiers are currently sitting on a record of 3-5 with plenty of baseball left before conference play begins. Starting off season with three away games against LSU was obviously not the best way for the season to begin, but we managed to take the last game of the series, 7-6 with help from Defend The Rock favorites Evan Crawford (3 hits), and Kyle Leiendecker (3IP, 0ER, 3 K's)

Player Highlights:

So far former Indiana Mr. Baseball Josh Phegley is showing off all the tools and skills he was touted as having, but which he kept hidden during his Freshmen season. The Sophomore is hitting at an INSANE .485/.526/.697 (AVG/OBP/SLG) clip with 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, and 9 RBI.

Andrew Means continues to put up great numbers, after a solid season last year, with a combined line of .366/.381/.463, while being 3 for 3 in stolen base attempts. It seems like nobody has been able to keep this guy off the basepaths in years.

Evan Crawford is scuffling a bit so far this season, only getting on base in a third of his at bats, thus decreasing his SB opportunities, the 7 strike outs to 0 walks isn't helping things.

After a good Freshmen season, Matt Bashore has looked incredible in his 17IP, sporting a nifty 2.08 ERA, while having a K:BB ratio of 5:2 while holding opposing batters to a .188 AVG, all leading to a solid 1.22WHIP.

Leftly Kyle Leiendecker is being thrown into the fire as a Freshmen in relief and aside from his showing against LSU, he has mostly been burned. In 9IP he has a 9.00ERA, with a .344 BA Against. I believe these stats will normalize as they are looking pretty flukey when taken in context with his good control (4:1 K:BB ratio), he has mostly been hurt by the long ball.

That concludes The Sunday Wrap!

Opening Day!

2008-02-22T10:19:00.002-06:00

Today is opening day for College Baseball. The Hoosiers have been taking good steps the past few years under Tracy Smith to become a competitive team, and eventually nab an appearance in the College World Series. It is great that Indiana has decided to broadcast ALL of their games for free online (audio online), check out the page here.

Last year before the season I picked Evan Crawford as a Freshmen to watch, and he ended up shining in his first year of college ball. With a solid Sophomore season he could begin to put himself on the map as prospect for the majors. So without further ado, this years pick to watch:

Kyle Leindecker (LHP). So this is an easy one. As opposed to last season where we didn't have any truly projectable players coming in, Kyle Leindecker has all the makings of a pitcher who will make an impact his freshmen year. Drafted by the Indians in the 25th round, he opted to go to school in his home state instead, and hope to boost his draft status over the next few years.

So let's go Hoosiers!

First up, LSU...

Kyle Taber - A Hero Obscured By Tragedy or Come On Folks, Kyle Taber Is Playing Pretty Well

2008-02-21T11:04:00.002-06:00

An unfortunate consequence of Kelvin Sampson's recruiting violations is the fact that Kyle Taber, all 6'7", 228lbs of him is getting lost in the mayhem.

It's not that he is a superstar possessing NBA potential, it's that this largely forgotten player sidelined by injuries his freshmen year has come on over the past few weeks to play an important role on this team. I went about gathering stats on his performance but have opted not to include them, as honestly, they don't do him justice, as they are fairly paltry due to his limited playing time (although I did tinker with extrapolating his stats/playing time for the equivalent playing time of White/Gordon/Ellis and he came out 3rd on the team in rebounds!).

Normally I am NOT one to speak a lot about intangibles, I like looking at statistics to evaluate players, but from watching Taber the last few games it's clear he is making his time on the floor count. It's not that he is scoring tons of points, getting every rebound, or blocking every shot, it is simply that he is there on every play, thus when he gets an opportunity he does follow through and make the play. I remember vividly yelling "Taberrrrrrrr!" out of excitement several times during the Purdue game when he made a great follow-through lay up and a jumper, not to mention some good board coverage.

In what may be the best part of the story though is that if you listen, you can hear chants of "Ky-le Ta-ber" coming from the crowd on occasion. IU fans have always loved to support the guy who comes from no where, or is a native son who worked his way up through the ranks. The last guy who got this treatment was Errek Suhr, the most recent to get it, and lose it due to the fickleness of the fans was Sean Kline. Let's hope Taber continues to play well, and IU fans keep supporting the former walk on from Evansville.

Iu vs Wisconsin

2008-02-14T11:15:00.005-06:00

Surrounded in a cloud of haziness, and uhhhhhh lies, IU tried to defend assembly hall last night and failed. The zone defense was useless and as soon as we came out of it, we took a pretty commanding lead. For some reason we felt the necessity to head back to the zone in the second half, even though they were lights out from 3 point land all game.

A heart wrenching loss which caps off an atrocious day (week) in IU Sports.

Now onto what everyone is talking about.

I was writing an email to my fellow DefendTheRock-ers about how frustrating all of this is to sit back and watch. Is this worse than the Mike Davis stuff? We are winning now right (well not against anyone with an RPI higher than 32)? We are winning but are we now the team that could start playing well and winning, but have an asterisk next to our name at the end of the season?

Really we can't do anything about it either, that's the hardest part. Fans everywhere are commenting on blogs or polls and saying Sampson and Greenspan need to be fired. I agree. I want them so far from this organization right now, even without "proof." I think a truly clean and fresh start can really do nothing but help IU. They can be pro-active and take the punishment handed down by the NCAA but also get rid of the cancer that is tainting IU basketball at the moment.

Let us know what you think, or if you hear any news, sadly we are not in Bloomington anymore, so we lack the immediate connections and ties to what is going on. Should we look internally for a coach? Or go outside and try to start a new no cheating era?

Beats me, this is an incredibly frustrating time for Hoosiers fans. If you see a moping Hoosier fan, give em a hug. We have to prove our resiliency here. Lets lift each other up, and not forget that we still have 12 guys out there still playing their hearts out for our Alma Mater.

Hoo Hoo Hooosiers!

A.J. Ratliff

2008-02-14T11:11:00.004-06:00

I just want to mention that I wish him the best.

I will always love this:

enjoy!

Time For Sampson and Greenspan To Go

2008-02-14T02:02:00.004-06:00

By now I am sure all of you have read and seen the reports on the latest round of recruiting violations by Coach Sampson and his staff. You can look back on this blog (just search "Sampson" ) and you will see me singing this man's praises. It's true that I didn't want to see Mike Davis go, but I welcomed Sampson with open arms, despite the violations he had at Oklahoma, and the repercussions they meant for Indiana basketball.

I do not believe Coach Sampson is a stupid man, and that just means that he is arrogant and foolhardy. I can't imagine why a coach at a Big Ten school, with such a rich basketball tradition as IU would go back to his illicit recruiting methods that he used at his prior job after already being caught.

As for Greenspan, he was responsible for brining in a coach that he knew violated league rules once before, so one would figure he would keep Sampson on an extra short leash, making sure he didn't repeat his previous violations and cause further harm to the Indiana basketball program. Greenspan is doing typical PR spin right now, trying to make it sound as if he, and the rest of his staff had no idea what was going on, there are two ways to take this. If true it means he wasn't doing his job of keeping an eye on Sampson to ensure the continued excellence and honesty of the program. If false, it means he was complicit in violations of league rules. I think we know which one is worse, but both are pretty damn bad.

I just feel bad for the players, it's not their fault that their coach violated the rules to recruit them or their teammates. Sure, these guys know they're not supposed to accept a car, but I have to imagine they don't read every press release and every line of the league recruiting rule book to see if they can take a call.

Coach Sampson has done an excellent job on the court while here at Indiana, but it seems increasingly evident that off the court, his job has not just been lackluster, to contrary to the image than Indiana would like to project. Greenspan has done an admirable job of bringing in coaches, attention, and funding to our various athletic programs, but if he is unable (or unwilling) to go that next step and properly oversee his subordinates (especially such a high profile, and high risk one such as Sampson) in order to make sure they are following league rules, he has no place at this institution.

I am not well enough versed in how the contracts for these two gentlemen are set up, so I do not know what the most pragmatic method of terminating their contracts is, all I know is that it is my fundamental belief that it would be best for Indiana Athletics, and Indiana fans nationwide if these two men did not return to their posts in Bloomington next year.

In no way am I going to turn away from Indiana basketball, or any other Indiana sport over this latest ordeal, but it's leaving a pretty awful taste in my mouth and regretfully, at this point I have to assume it will only get worse before it gets better.

I am sure my fellow Defend The Rockers will have plenty to say on this topic, so stay tuned.

A.J Ratliff Is No Longer An IU Basketball Player or A.J. Ratliff Was Still An IU Basketball Player?

2008-02-12T13:47:00.000-06:00

As reported by the Indiana Daily Student, A.J. Ratliff is as of now, no longer on the IU Basketball roster. As IU fans have probably noticed, Ratliff has been noticeably absent from the team this year. Between injuries (which have nagged him his entire IU career), academic ineligiblity, and "personal issues," Ratliff has been deprived of playing time this year.

Ratliff had an impact in his Freshmen year, leading the team in 3-Point Percentage, and playing in 26 of the team's games, but never seemed to explode like it seemed like he was always set to do. His best year was last year, when he averaged 9.3 points a game, and scored himself an Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award due to his strong performance against Purdue.

As with any Hooiser who carries a good attitude and plays hard, I'm sorry to see him go. Luckily this team has plenty of guards, and his performance, or lack thereof this year, will not be sorely missed.

Football is making headlines again!

2008-02-12T09:42:00.000-06:00

Not even a week after our #11 in the Big Ten Recruiting Class was announced, 5 IU Football Players have been arrested.

James Bailey and Demetrius McCray were both arrested for disorderly conduct after failing to turn down their music on Sunday. They were both taken to Monroe County Jail that evening after the police verified they had been issued warnings previously.

The others arrested were Jarrell Drane (Illegal Consumption), Ian Reeves (Illegal Consumption), Darius Johnson (resisting law enforcement, illegal consumption, public intoxication).

This is disappointing news. Especially that of Ja Bailey to me. I know we have seen him sit out a game for an unspecified violation of a team rule, but I hoped as he came into his senior year that he would start acting like the leader that he needs to be. He has to be our BMOC this year. He can be a fan favorite like J-Hard was, and I would love to see that happen. I would hate to see him keep getting caught up in all of this off the field bullshit. Come on Ja!

I assume we will be hearing about this via IUhoosiers.com soon. In regards to a punishment for the players, what do you think is a decent punishment for the above arrests? Should there be any punishment? Are/Should football players be held with a certain level of accountability higher than that of an average student? What do you think Bailey and McCray were listening to? Honestly, were the freshman simply being freshman?

Let us know!

Q&A

2008-02-10T20:32:00.000-06:00

We here at Defend The Rock use multiple SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in order say atop the search engine rankings. Naturally the best "tool" is good, and constant writing, and I'd like to think that for the most part, we do a good job of it. One of my favorite features of one of our SEO tools is a "latest questions" section of a visitor tracking service. It lists the questions visitors of our site have typed into various search engines, that resulted in them visiting Defend The Rock. Sometimes we have the answers already up on the blog, sometimes we don't. For the times that we don't I would like to announce Defend The Rock: Q&A.

So here are a few questions from the past week, with their respective answers (we do not insert the question marks, questions listed exactly as shown to us by our SEO tool):

Q: "i missed last nights indiana vs illinois game?"
A: I guess so? I mean, you are asking if you did, which seems to suggest that you're not certain that you saw it. Seeing as it was quite the memorable game, I'd wager that you missed it.

Q: "will josiah sears get drafted?"
A: Short answer: no Long answer: Definitely not (And that's too bad as we are big JS fans here)

Q: "what year did indiana rocks form in"
A: Instead of going into tons of detail I will direct you to two excellent resources:
1. The Indiana Geological Survey
2. Indiana Geology Facts

Q: "how much money do college athletics make for the university"
A: Seeing as you don't specify a university, this question is a bit difficult to answer. It is a fact that Universities make a great deal of money from the athletic programs. On the flip side though we are seeing an increasing trend towards profit sharing within conferences. For example, even if Team X from Conference Y made it to a bowl and received $10 million for its appearance, that $10 million would be spread amongst all of the Conference Y schools.

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

2008-02-09T16:05:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-09T15:33:00.000-06:00

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?

2008-02-08T01:15:00.000-06:00

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.
---
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

2008-02-06T08:58:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-05T10:21:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-03T11:40:00.000-06:00

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.

Football Schedule

2008-02-02T11:20:00.000-06:00

Here is the 2008 football schedule for our Hoosiers (home games in bold). I have to be honest and say that I have a hard time envisioning us doing any better than we did this past season, if even matching our win total. Granted we should be able to beat Northwestern this time around (as long as you know who doesn't come in for one play).

8/30 Western Kentucky
9/6 Murray State
9/20 Ball State
9/27 Michigan State
10/4 at Minnesota
10/11 Iowa
10/18 at Illinois
10/25 Northwestern (Homecoming)
11/1 Central Michigan
11/8 Wisconsin
11/15 at Penn State
11/22 at Purdue

Censorship and lousy Basketball

2008-02-01T10:30:00.000-06:00

Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!

Just playing. Swear if you want. Sometimes the refs deserve it, but the other teams probably don't. And maybe it does sound stupid or make us look bad...

Last night was disappointing, and this morning is even worse. As I sit here at work, un-showered and feeling like I reek of Budlight and wings, I am trying to pull from my brain some of the animosity I had for Eric Gordon last night. I remember going on long rants about the freshman, which in turn caused me to miss many a trivia question (damnit EJ!), but now it's all gone. I've got nothing. So I will just say this...Fuck Eric Gordon. Okay I am over it. I bet you will continue to wow me starting sunday against Northwestern. If you can't drop 20+ points on those Wildcats, I think it might jog my memory a bit.

In non Eric Gordon news, 8 games at the Rock this coming football season. Can't wait!

Baseball - There's Hope

2008-01-28T12:53:00.001-06:00

So some of you may be aware but I devoted a TON of time last season to covering the IU Baseball Squad. No one else covered them all that much, so I thought I was filling a void, but it seems not too many people were all that interested. Well, just when my resolve was fading to cover them this season, I asked BP Prospect Guru Bryan Smith "Whatever should a IU Baseball Blogger Do?" And his response tells me that not only should I keep blogging, but maybe people will actually start taking a look at IU baseball.

Kellen (Indiana): I (wasted?) an entire summer blogging about and analyzing the Hoosier baseball squad. Any reason for me to cover these guys again, or just more obscurity? Would love to see my boy Evan Crawford get some attention.

Bryan Smith: No, you should continue to cover them, Tracy Smith is doing some good things with that program. They have a good freshman left-hander coming in named Kyle Leiendecker, and I think their sophomore catcher Josh Phegley is going to have an All-Big Ten year after a really good summer. The problem for your boy Evan Crawford is that he's the second-best player named that in college baseball, behind Auburn's electric southpaw closer. Next year he might get some attention.

Happy Birthday Kellen! And Fuck Off Big Ten Network!

2008-01-25T12:42:00.001-06:00

Today is Kellen Lewis' 21st Birthday. We'd like to give him a hearty Defend The Rock Happy Birthday! Go out, have a beer (I'm sure you're excited and intrigued to try alcohol for the first time as certainly IU's and Bloomington's no-drinking for minors policies are 100% effective), have some fun, and then get prepping for next year!

---

In other news:

The latest comment spam from the Big 10 Network on here (see the post below this one) really pissed me off. I find it hard to support EITHER or Comcast or The Big Ten Network in their ongoing feud, but shit like this makes an already bad image worse (and let's not forget the "Big Ten Network Spinners" that "performed" at the IU @ Northwestern game last year, ugh, thought I have erased that from my memory).

One of these days I'll put up a longer post on this topic but currently I am burdened with too many other obligations to successfully channel my fury.

IU vs Iowa

2008-01-23T14:19:00.000-06:00

Indiana vs. Iowa

Let's go Hoosiers!

NFL Hoosiers

2008-01-23T11:09:00.000-06:00

Well with the college football season over, and the NFL season winding down, I wanted to give a shout out to all of those Hoosiers that played (or DNP) this season in the National Football League.

Let's start with the NFC Hoosiers:

Adewale Oguleye - DE for the Chicago Bears ended the season with 58 tackles, 9 sacks and 6 forced fumbles.

Victor Adeyanju - This second year Rams Defensive End had 29 tackles this season.

Antwaan Randle El - Antwaan had 51 receptions this season (his second for the Redskins) and 728 yards with 1 touchdown. He had an impressive game against the Seahawks in the NFC Wildcard game, bringing in 10 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown as the Redskins fell short of Seattle 14-35.

Now on to the AFC Hoosiers:

Gibran Hamdan - Buffalo Bills QB - DNP

Isaac Sowells - Cleveland Browns G - DNP

Courtney Roby - Cincinnati Bengals WR - DNP

Herana-Daze Jones - Cincinnati Bengals DB played in 9 games this season and had 18 tackles, 15 of which were solo tackles. He is now on injured reserve for the Bengals.

Chris Taylor - Houston Texans RB - IR DNP

Trent Green - Miami Dolphins QB - In his first year with the Dolphins threw 5 tds and threw for 987 yards. He also threw 7 interceptions and was put on IR in October.

Aaron Halterman - Miami Dolphins TE - This season he saw action in 9 games, but only caught 1 pass for 7 yards.

Chris Liwienski - Miami Dolphins G - In his 9th season, and first for the Dolphins, Chris played in 16 games, 14 of those he started.

Kris Dielman - San Diego Chargers G - Kris Dielman started every game this season and helped the Bolts beat Tennessee and Indianapolis and taking them to the AFC Championship game were they lost to the New England Patriots.

So that was my very pointless recap of the NFL season and the Hoosiers that helped make it possible. If I left anyone off, or you can report about any other news involving former IU Football players and what they are up to now, that would be great. Has Lance Bennett helped Will Smith out with any hot singles lately? Let us know!

Although I am sad to see James Hardy leaving IU for the NFL, I am also extremely excited to have at least one more Hoosier to cheer for during the season. I am also looking forward to seeing what happens with Tracy Porter, I would love to see him work pretty hard this off season and get picked up somewhere for next season. I am looking for a team to follow, and it may be whichever team takes a chance on Tracy Porter.

Liveblogging Illinois @ Indiana 1/13/08

2008-01-13T15:14:00.000-06:00

In honor of our triumphant return to the blogosphere I shall be liveblogging today's game versus Illinois. What will we see? Eric Gordon spitting in the faces of visiting Illinois fans - acting out physically what he did to them symbolically by brushing them off to go to IU? DeAndre Thomas taking off on a fast break culminating in an alley oop to himself? Only time will tell, and if you're unable to watch the game, all the highlights and lowlights will be here (unless I'm predisposed by letting my body try to digest the poison what was the Chinese food I just ate).

So without further ado, here we go! (And be sure to check out the debut posting by our latest poster, HARDYPARTY, below this liveblogging entry)

3:32: Why is football still on? The game was supposed to start at 3:30 but instead we still have football coverage. And no, we're not on the wrong channel like the one time we spent 10 mintues watching an infomercial waiting for a Wildcard game to start.

3:34: Why is Fogel on my damn TV screen hocking his bullshit sandwiches (try eating 2lbs of greasey chinese fried rice and sweet & sour pork and then committing to stay in front of the TV for several hours no matter how much you feel like death, then come and try to sell sandwiches to me Jared, until then, piss off). Sure he went to IU but that doesn't mean I have to accept him. If he really cared about hit roots he would've shouted at these talking heads to switch off football and tune into Bloomington.

3:37: TITTLE500 says that Shannon Sharpe needs to learn how to tie a tie.

3:42: We finally get to see some basketball 6 minutes into the game, thanks for all the commericals and NFL crap CBS.

3:47: D.J. White, not only is he a man, but with that celebration he just showed he's good friends with Defend The Rock fave DeAndre Thomas. Way to befriend the JuCos D.J., what a guy!

3:52: Lance Stemler: More than just a ping-pong player. DeAndre Thomas: Play nice, you're bigger than the other kids on the playground.

3:55: Eric Gordon Illinois/Indiana controversey reference count: 1. The two coaches aren't even willing to look eachother in the eye (seemingly over this issue).

4:00: Armon Bassett is in, always good to see him on the court. TITTLE500: A.J's also out there, needs to get some confidence.

4:02: Mike White looks like a Ninja Turtle (everyone in attendance here agrees).

4:08: Just discovered the existence of the Rock Band Stage Kit. Apparently it adds an interactive light and smoke show to Rock Band for 360. Incredible.

4:12: These "video game" camera angles they are using are making me really nauseated. I'm sorry, but I don't need camera "innovations" in my basketball broadcasts.

4:14: I look up and the TV has been changed to "Skate For The Heart." Ok, good, it's been changed back.

4:16: Currently debating whether Eric Gordon played Michael Jordan's son in Space Jam. He's credited, but is it THE Eric Gordon?

4:23: Well, you tried DeAndre, you tried. Also first sighting of Adam Ahlfeld's motivation technique.

4:25: Halftime. 34-30 Illinois. Not the half we here at Defend The Rock expected or like to see, but our boys are closed. Surely Coach will have some strong words in the locker room.

4:32: Talks of co-worker hugs and Rock Band take over half time. Hi Brian! Looking forward to the Bachelor Party.

4:42: Second half begins with a useless foul by Mike White. A discussion of check marks or something is going on around me. I'm slowing down, I think yesterdays festivities are starting to hit me.

4:47: Lots of traveling for IU tonight, fundementals guys, fundementals, 8 turnovers. Meanwhile Illinois is showing good hustle.

4:48: Eric Gordon hits a 3, the crowd is back into it. I don't think I will ever understand the offensive plan for tonight. Illinois hits a 3 and the crowd gets silent, support your team Hoosiers!

4:52: Jump ball. Get angry DJ, get angry.

4:56: White and Gordon decide to play together and put together one hell of a play.

4:59: Which Hoosier has gotten the most from lovely Bloomington ladies the audience asks? My vote is DJ, Basset clocks in with a vote as does Stemler. Really, Stemler?

5:00: Jeff Jordan's in the game. Exciting, it's like the Illini are now 90s era Bulls. Or not.

5:06: Team is fired up and playing D, the crowd is into it, this is what Indiana basketball should be. We have a young, energetic team so keep it up! Gordon layup, hoosiers lead. Hell yeah!

5:11: DJ is playing NBA Jam out there: He's On Fire! (I wonder if I can use that as a slogan to get an audition for Sportscenter, or more likely Stuart Scott already uses it).

5:18: Anyone else really excited about Commanche Moon? I've been waiting for Val Kilmer to return and really impress us all, even better that it's a Western. Or not.

5:24: D.J. stepping up as the team elder and sorting out some confrontations on the court and keeping the younger guys cool. Have to wonder what the make up (not talent, but personality) of this team would be like had he opted to go pro instead of return this year.

5:27: Partial up-skirt shot of an IU Cheerleader. Someone said "that's nice" and a hilariously unanimous "yeah" followed. Plenty of laughter.

5:32: Lots of criticism of A.J. from the ridiculous tats to the bizarre hair cut he has with all that stuff shaved on the back of his head. Criticism dampened by a well timed 3.

5:37: Bruce Weber is not a happy camper. He just took the coat off, look out, he's getting red and looking set to explode. But in fairness TITTLE500 did attend basketball camp with him (although he got a good scolding from him too).

5:40: We've got a patented crazy tense Big Ten ending. Players rolling around, crashing into each other all over the floor. We still have a few seconds left and who knows what'll happen, but damn, Big Ten basketball is diiiiirrrrrttttyyyyy.

5:42: IU Wins 62-58. Camera cuts away before we can see Adam Ahlfeld celebrate, we are all disappointed with that, but we'll take the win regardless. Hi Peter.

Gordon In Progress

2008-01-13T13:04:00.000-06:00

It's a mythology in Indiana. Bird and a rundown hoop at dawn, endless freethrows. Bobby Knight's disruptive passion and an undefeated season. "Hoosier" bears a weight, resonates with a storied history of victory and loss on the court and off. And the story of Indiana Basketball continues, with Eric Gordon writing himself into the next chapter.

In the four years I spent in Bloomington ('02-'06) the basketball was secondary. I just missed the Mike Davis NCAA Finals squad that caused that memorable eruption of drunken euphoria and pole-climbing on Kirkwood. The subsequent downward spiral of Men's basketball left me not disappointed, but ambivalent. I saw some games, got pumped in 2006, but focused on the Colts and the X on my calendar marking Little 5 weekend.

That's all changed now. Eric Gordon is in Bloomington, Indiana wearing the cream and crimson. Maybe it's just a year, but with his presence, as well as some strong help inside from a veteran D.J. White, Gordon's again put the ranking next to the name.

Indiana University has a tenuous grasp on Eric Gordon. Even if he were to make some sort of commitment, it wouldn't be a sure thing; the luxury of the young all-star. But while he's there it seems to be all Gordon, all day. He's not Lebron, not yet, not carrying a team with zero help. D.J., Jamarcus Ellis, Mike White, even a young Jordan Crawford, they're all sharing the love in a top 10 ranking. But Gordon is the star. The 6'4", 215 babyface from Indianapolis is establishing himself as a premiere guard not just in the Big Ten, or even the NCAA, but the history of Indiana Basketball. He moves the ball, puts points on the board, gets his teammates into the mix, and defends like a madman. He is absolute, unabridged talent.

It begs the question, what if he did stay? He probably won't, Money vs. Myth and all that. But what if they had the opportunity to build a team around this kid for four years? Maybe slim another 30 or 40 off of Deandre Thomas and keep inside, get Jamarcus and Crawford to stick around, really build a little mini-Franchise around him. It could really be something to see. But alas, the idea of a four-year starter, a player with serious NBA-ready talent who sticks around, well, it's just not gonna happen. It's old school. Antique College ball.

Which means we have to settle for one year at a time. Keep our hopes and dreams contained to this season and what it might mean. Sure, it's a young team, but clearly they're not lacking for talent. They make mistakes and they're play is nothing if not inconsistent. But they're ranked. High. They're working hard, and this is one of those seasons where literally anything could happen.

When Eric Gordon leaves it'll be a sad day down in Southern Indiana. But it won't be the end of Indiana Basketball. We'll watch Gordon, wherever he ends up playing. And we'll watch IU, whatever happens next. But for this season, while he's there, let's get pumped about what it means: A young all-star, top ten prospect, kid still learning how to be the best player he can be, and a team at his heels looking for a former greatness.

We're Back? Yes. You're back? Face it, you never left.

2008-01-10T11:31:00.000-06:00

So those of us here at Defend The Rock took a short (6 month long), unannounced break, but all of you kept clamoring for more. We got emails, we got comments on months old posts. Well, due to overwhelming pressure, we're back!

In our time off we missed the entire football season, but really, did we miss anything? It's not like IU made it to their first bowl game in ages, oh wait, damn! Or like an incredible incoming freshmen basketball class has been brought into IU, double damn!

A little later on we'll have a retrospective on the Football season and get into full swing covering Basketball, but first we have something important to do:

Disclose who won the Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award for the Insight Bowl Appearing Indiana Hoosiers!

With a team that had so much heart, so much talent, so much athleticism, and whatever the hell Ben Chapel supposedly brings (Seriously, we made the trip to the Northwestern game and what does he do to honor our appearance? Comes in and gives up what amounted to a game losing interception on his first play), it was tough to choose.

Without further ado, your Indiana Hoosier Football Playing Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award recipient:

Josiah Sears

The big man racked up 4 rushing and 2 receiving TDs, 270 Total Yards, and Veteran Leadership (we assume).

Also we must highlight Austin Starr. For the first time in ages Indiana had a kicker, and that foot of his certainly made the difference between us having a winning season and ending up in the gutter of the Big Ten. In honor of his achievements we are bestowing on him the Brett Finkelmeier "I'm going to grow up to be Adam Ahlfeld someday" Award.

Austin Starr

Baseball Bits

2007-06-29T22:17:00.001-06:00

Here's a quick catchup on all the IU Baseball news of the last month:

Defend The Rock favorite Evan Crawford has been named to the Ping!Baseball Freshmen Team. (Second Team, Second Base). Congratulations Evan!

IU Baseball adds Jeff Caldwell (1b, FL), to the roster for the fall of 2007. Stats for this past season: .400AVG/.495OBP/.716SLG/6HR/102B/35RBI (95 AB).

IU Players Drafted: Jon Fixler (Astros, 19th Round). The Hoosiers lost a couple signees in Brock Huntzinger (Red Sox, 3rd Round) and Kyle Leindecker (Indians, 25th Round)

More than a dozen Hoosiers are playing summer ball. IUHoosiers will have a continuing series covering their progress. The latest brings good news on Josh Pegley, more stellar play from Evan Crawford, and fine pitching from Joe Vicini and Eric Arnett.

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

2007-06-27T20:54:00.000-06:00

Lost in the tragic death of Coach Hep was the fact that on the very same day IU got to work on new projects to enhance facilities on campus.

Quick run down:

1. Memorial Stadium North End Zone Project: Additional offices and strength and conditioning facility. And oh yeah "The Hall of Champions". One day Defend The Rock's boy Evan Crawford will be in there.

2. Basketball Development Center: Alternative practice site, strength and conditioning facility, offices and meeting rooms.

3. New stadiums for the baseball and softball teams north of Mellencamp Pavilion. This is a biggie as any former or current IU baseball fan knows the stadium is barely above little league standards.

Full article w/ quotes from IU officials, coaches, and players here.

Overall it seems like at the very least IU's players will be that much more conditioned and strong once all these upgrades are complete...

Assembly Hall To Be....Disassembled

2007-06-24T23:36:00.000-06:00

Well, they've gone and done it, the Board of Trustees has agreed to replace Assembly Hall. My favorite parts of this story are right at the beginning, namely "at some point in the future" and "IU currently lacks the funding to construct it."

I've always been a bit cynical when it comes to Universities, especially public ones, financing massive new sports complexes that cost hundreds of millions of dollars. I'd rather see that $ going to the academic/research fields but at this point universities make so much money off of their athletics programs that in some ways you have to fund athletics to be able to fund everything else.

Assembly Hall definitely isn't the best arena in the collegiate world, and boy oh boy are there some terrible seats/viewing angles, but it doesn't need to be replaced ASAP. So I guess I can go along with this agreement that the trustees have come come to: Yeah, replace Assembly Hall, but don't make it the #1 priority at IU.

A Goodbye To A Great Man

2007-06-19T19:22:00.000-06:00

I arrived at Indiana University as an out of state student 5+ years ago, who knew really only about the basketball program and the Little 500 race. Of all the sports at IU, I quickly learned that football was beaten, broken down, and in disarray. I still went to games early on, but it was more of an offbeat thing to do with friends than anything serious, because really, why even bother rooting for a team certain to lose every game?

Upon Coach Hep's arrival I was still in that mindset, and his early moves to bring in more student involvement and bolster the program made me skeptical. I vividly recall mocking so many of his ideas. The Walk? Stupid. "Coach Hep Wants You!" Played out. "Defend The Rock" + A Giant Rock - Absurd. But something happened, it was the first game of his career at IU. There were more people in the stands, more enthusiasm, I saw students everywhere wearing those shirts. The change was palpable right from the get go, and I quickly got swept up in it.

Watching him on the field interacting with players was fantastic, reading interviews and listening to post-game press conferences was illuminating. This was a man dedicated to not only providing a winning football team for Indiana fans, but creating an atmosphere to rival that of bigger football schools like Ohio St. and Michigan.

I hope that with Coach Hep's unfortunate passing the goals he set for Indiana Football - both the team and its fans - are seen through. Coach Hep provided us with so much in such a short time, the least we can do, as fans, players, administrators, and so on, is to make sure that his quest to reinvent Indiana Football is completed.

Goodbye Coach Hep - We'll Never Forget You!

Hep Hep

2007-06-19T08:34:00.000-06:00

I don't care how cliched or silly any of this sounds...

I had so much fun sharing IU football with a few of my friends... going all the way back to my freshman year before most of my friends got to IU... goin with Deborah... and so on... walking with Patrick to the games... running out of gas on the way... watching on tv with Andy... dreaming of driving to a bowl game...

but anyway... the thing is... IU always sucked... they haven't been good since I became a fan.... but the last 2 years were sooo much better just because of the positive attitude and hope that one man refused to let go of... I guess I kind of feel like that feeling will continue on without him... or that its owed to him... that I... and others should carry it on... with IU football... and more importantly with other aspects in life...

Coach Hep Won't Coach In 2007

2007-06-16T07:14:00.000-06:00

We here at Defend The Rock and all across Hoosier Nation are saddened to learn that Coach Terry Hoeppner will not be returning to the team this fall due to continuing medical issues. We wish him a full and speedy recovery. Assistant Coach Billy Lynch is taking over head coaching duties for the year, and apparently the top coaching position will be "re-evaluated" at the end of the season - which seems to suggest Coach Hep won't be returning anytime soon.

Links:

IDS News Story On Coach Hep
In Depth Article w/ Q&As w/ Rick Greenspan and Bill Lynch

Hoosier Pride, Common Courtesy, And Let's Say An Illinois Fan

2007-05-21T00:08:00.000-06:00

So there I was, late at night (or early in the morning?) with one of my friends at a beloved Mexican restaurant of mine. A few cute girls were making it clear they went to Kentucky, and to strike up conversation I playfully gave them a tough time, namely citing my Hoosier fandom, and Kentucky's recent troubles.

Now we were having a good time chatting it up, but alas their food came, I had a friend waiting, and I'm unemployed, so why even bother? Upon sitting back down a early/mid-twenties guy walked up to my table and said to me "Sports fan are ya?" Naturally I replied affirmatively, kindly stating the great pride I have in my beloved Hoosiers and subsequently my love for the Cardinals. Let's just say that this did not go over well...

The stumbling-drunk guy grew agitated and upset with my response. He started talking trash and using some rather unfortunate words of which is Lincoln Park girlfriend promptly mouthed "I'm sorry" to me for. Eventually came the threats of personal violence against me (please note: at this point I had pretty much just said where I went to school and what teams I liked, and restated said preferences, and more or less just wanted to eat my Mexican food). Let's go to the tape:

Guy: So whattaya gonna do if I hit you?
Me: Hey man, I'm cool with you, I just want to chat w/ my friend and eat my food
Guy: What are you gonna do?
Me: Honestly, I'd file a police report, probably resulting in a criminal charge of assault being levied against you. Plus I'd file a civil suit against you, and might as well throw in requests for damages relating to mental anguish and the like. (note: I have no knowledge of how the law in this case works and I'm sure everything I said was BS, but whatever).
Guy: Oh, so you're a P***y you f*****g Indiana fan.

It got to the point where I kept saying that yes I was both (a p***y and an IU fan) after each repeated accusation and it really flustered him. Eventually his food came and his Lincoln Park girlfriend repeatedly mouth "I'm Sorry" to me again. By that point it seemed most people there were expecting a fight (or as I'd like to call it: me getting destroyed), but funny enough all seemed to be on my side.

So what does this have to do with anything? I just think it shows how us Indiana fans should class it up whenever, be it in our own stadiums by treating visiting teams with respect. Be it in away venues by not destroying/vandalizing the place. Or be it in a bar with drunken fans who want to fight. I learned to be a classy fan from my Cardinal roots, I carried it on during my time at Indiana University, and I wish every other IU fan follows in my footsteps.

Thoughts On Joey Shaw

2007-05-20T18:12:00.000-06:00

It is old news by now, Joey Shaw is transferring to The College of Southern Idaho. It's a smart move on his part, he saw very little playing time this past year and with the ridiculously strong incoming class Indiana has he probably wouldn't see that much next season either.

The fact is though, even in limited playing time he put up some decent numbers. 43% FG shooting for 82 points, 41% 3pt FG shooting for 36 points, and 74% FT shooting for 46 points. What's funny is when I look at those numbers I am surprised, I really don't remember doing that well. I guess it's true, he is a "sneaky scorer" a phrase I oft attributed to him during national telecasts of IU games.

The main thing is my mind is he could have been more aggressive on the court, he often times seemed to settle, not move around, and not trust himself. In addition, he could use to put on some bulk, he was the lankiest 6'6" I have ever seen, having a few more lbs of muscle could allow him to be more than just an occasional nuisance inside.

So Defend The Rock wishes Joey Shaw the best at The College of Southern Idaho, and hopefully he blossoms there.

Defend The Rock Welcomes J.D. Campbell

2007-05-20T18:04:00.000-06:00

All of us here at Defend The Rock would like to give a warm welcome to new Director of Athletic Media Relations at Indiana University. As an alternative media outlet, Defend The Rock is looking forward to the possibility of working with Mr. Campbell to gain more access to Indiana Athletics in order to provide more comprehensive coverage if at all possible.

So once again Mr. Campbell, welcome to the great tradition that is Indiana University Athletics!

The One Thing You Can Never Say I Am Is Wrong: A Look At Evan Crawford

2007-05-20T17:13:00.000-06:00

With the baseball (regular) season wrapping up I want to look back at one of my predictions from earlier in the year. It was my belief that Freshmen Evan Crawford was going to be something special at Second Base. Now, I had never seen him play, but from looking at his High School stats and reading interviews with, and about him it really sounded like #7 was going to give Hoosier fans plenty to cheer about this year.

So let's take a look at how Evan is doing leading into the Big Ten Tourney:

AVG: .333 Runs: 30 Hits: 61 2b: 13 3b: 1 HR: 1 RBI: 30 SB: 18 OPS: .810

Now let's look at the stats of the other starting eight averaged out:

AVG: .278 Runs: 21 Hits: 40 2b: 6 3b: .75 HR: .6 RBI: 17.6 SB: 7.8 OPS: .672 (yes, really)

So basically Evan Crawford is hitting 55 points better than the "average" Hoosier starter, scoring 9 more runs, hitting 21 more hits, numbering 7 more doubles, 12 more RBI, 10 more steals and a significantly higher Onbase+Slugging average.

In terms of his rank on the team in each category:

AVG: 2nd Runs: 2nd Hits: 2nd 2b: 1st 3b: 3rd HR: T-2nd RBI: T-2nd SB: 2nd OPS: 2nd

Across the board Crawford stands out as one of IU's best offensive players this year. In fact he is 2nd to or tied with IU (probable) MVP Sophomore Andrew Means in pretty much every category. Doing all that with the bat while playing second base as a first year college player is something pretty impressive.

Way to go Evan, you deserve something special.

Evan Crawford - Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award recipient.

Football Schedule

2007-05-17T21:43:00.000-06:00

I'm sure I had already seen this, hell, maybe I even blogged about it, but the IU Football schedule blows my mind. I mean, just look at it:

Date Opponent
Sep. 1 Indiana St. 8:00pm
Sep. 8 at Western Michigan 7:00pm (beat 'em 39-20 last year)
Sep. 15 Akron 6:00pm (did not play)
Sep. 22 Illinois TBA (beat 'em 34-32 last year)
Sep. 29 at Iowa 12:00pm (beat 'em 31-28 last year)
Oct. 6 Minnesota TBA (lost 26-63 last year, god I had blocked that out)
Oct. 13 at Michigan State 7:00pm (beat 'em 46-21 last year)
Oct. 20 Penn State 12:00pm (did not play)
Oct. 27 at Wisconsin 12:00pm (lost 17-52)
Nov. 3 Ball State TBA (beat 'em 24-23 last year)
Nov. 10 at Northwestern TBA (did not play)
Nov. 17 Purdue TBA (lost 19-28)

Now why does it blow my mind? First, we're dodging two bullets in missing Michigan & Ohio St. That's pretty good for a team that is sure to be better than it was last year. I'm not saying any of these teams are pushovers, but honestly would you rather IU play Ohio St./Michigan or Northwestern?

Say it ain't so!

2007-05-16T15:14:00.000-06:00

Joey Shaw, the goofiest looking Hoosier Bball player is going Cem Dinc on our asses and transfering to a junior college in Idaho.

WTF?

Facebook, a reporter's best friend

2007-04-10T10:38:00.000-06:00

According to my Facebook "news" page current IU Football player Blake Powers has written on former IU OL Isaac Sowells.

"BIG ISAAC!!! What up?? same old here man, trying out this tight end thing, been doin pretty good...definitely hit me up when you get into town for lil' 5 so we can catch up ma..."

Isaac is now a lineman for the Browns. I poked him, and I will keep everyone updated on his response.

This all reminds me.... I was planning on writing a lot about the Little 500 here. However, I've not found the time. As a former rider in the race I often start feeling adrenaline this time of year knowing the race is fast approaching.

In case you don't know... all of the gossip and inside info on the little 5 can be read at:

www.little500.com/ps3

This year's racing season has been full of more drama than I've ever seen in my 7 years around the event. The race is a week from this Saturday and I hope to be there! I'm sad to say that my former team failed to qualify for the race for the first time since 2003. DAMN!

Baseball Spring Trip Wrap Up

2007-03-22T00:54:00.000-06:00

Last time we checked in on the Hoosier baseball team we saw a team sitting even at 4-4. Now that the spring trip is over our Hoosiers are still, well, yeah, they're still at .500, with a record of 8-8. It must be said though that a) The Hoosier baseball team took on #2 ranked Florida State and b) They were playing against Florida teams in general, which are basically quality ballplayer factories, so coming out even is actually fairly respectable.

Versus Florida State the Hoosiers were clearly over matched, losing all three games by a combined score of 23-2 (including 2 shutouts). There weren't any real standouts on offense, with Reid Briglia leading the Hoosiers with four hits in the three game series. Defend The Rock favorite Evan Crawford finally met a pitching staff he couldn't destroy, totaling two hits for the series with eight strike outs, but the kid can still hit. The pitching well, let's not go there.

The Hoosiers earned a split (any surprise there?) with North Florida, losing a 16-inning killer and eeking out a win in the second game. Both games were complete slugfests with opposing pitchers leaving early and often. The Hoosiers used 10 pitchers in the two game series, with North Florida employed the services of 11 hurlers, yet it seemed nobody for either side could get an out. Andrew Means stood out in this series, and got recognized for it, earning a Big Ten Player of the Week award. Evan Crawford had a couple hits and three steals in one game.

Lastly, the Hoosiers swept a three game series with Florida A&M, putting up scores of 10-2, 5-3, and 16-10. In the first game David Trager, playing Second Base in place of Evan Crawford had five hits and three RBI. Tyler Tuffs tossed another good game and the Hoosiers got a convincing win. In the second and third games (doubleheader) Andrew Means continued to mash, and catcher Jon Fixler had six RBI.

Overall it looks like the Hoosiers aren't going to have any trouble with offense this season when pitted against decent or worse pitching staffs, but if and when they face good pitching, well, as the axiom goes - good pitching beats good hitting. Speaking of pitching, the Jekyll and Hyde show continues, so we'll see how it develops as the season goes on. It's tough to really gauge things when the Hoosiers went up against such a good team as the Seminoles (and admittedly didn't hold their ground).

I'll have statistics for you soon, but this post has already gone on for far too long. Next up: IPFW (3 games) and Xavier (1 game) then Conference play begins.

Memorial Stadium Back In The Day

2007-03-21T23:14:00.000-06:00

Many thanks to Defend The Rock reader Paul for sending us this great picture of Memorial Stadium. The photo was taken prior to October 1960, and is credited to Bloomingtonian Junior Freeman.

Thanks again Paul (and thanks to Junior too!) from all of us at Defend The Rock!

Right-click here to download the full sized picture (perfect for a desktop background!)

Blake Powers throws really well on the run according to the 3rd string ESPN+ color analyst

2007-03-21T12:10:00.000-06:00

I'd like to spend some time with some final thoughts on the basketball team this year. But, not today.

I wanted to post a few notes on the football team.

First of all, Coach Hep will be sitting out the entire spring session of practice to focus on his health. This worries me. I hope that his health truly is getting better. I also hope that Bill Lynch, the assistant coach who is leading the team will do a better job than last year when he lead the team to an 02 record against Western Vermont Tech and Klondike Middle School Nuggets or whoever it was they lost to last year. If IU had won just one of those games, Kellen and I could have had a blast watching IU get thrashed by North Texas in the Music City Bowl.

Secondly, Blake Powers will be getting some play at tight end and on Special Teams. Watch out! I smell trick plays coming out of the wazoo. Perhaps Blake will be the next Randle El. Remember how well things went when Randle El started his senior season at wide receiver? That lasted all of two games. What a sweet sophomore year I had that year. I made it to all of the games, but it was hard because I was copulating with co-eds from Theta on my way to and from Collins.

And last but not least, IU's pass defense will be even worse than last year.

well.

2007-03-17T22:25:00.000-06:00

shit.

Don’t MARK my words, or “FEW, I did eat my words!”

2007-03-16T10:47:00.000-06:00

A quick examination of the things “I knew” yesterday... But, before I begin I want to point out that I spent most of the game catching up with an old friend who was in Chicago on Spring Break. So, while I was watching the game... I might not have taken it all in with the same expertise that I usually do She’s on IU’s Volleyball team again this year and gave me an inside scoop, so look for in depth coverage coming up soon!

1. D.J. White will do most of his scoring on free throws and offensive rebounding. But the ball will not be fed to him enough and I will be screaming to the television for him to be more involved.

WRONG

DJ did get his first and only bucket of the first half on an offensive rebound. However, this basket plus 4 ft accounts for 6 of 16 points... so it wasn’t most of his scoring.

2. A.J. Ratliff will drill his first three-point attempt and then get into foul trouble.

WRONG

AJ did indeed come on to the floor and immediately drill a three pointer that was going in all the way. However, his somewhat sloppy and “fuckup” play limited his minutes and he only had 2 fouls.

3. If Xavier Keeling gets many minutes IU will be in trouble. Not that he is bad... but it means key members are in foul trouble.

RIGHT? More of a Does Not Apply

IU was never in major trouble last night, and Keeling only got 1 minute.

4. If Armon Basset can have his minutes limited (because Suhr, Ratliff, Wilmont, and a little Shaw should each get a few more minutes imo) he'll be much more effective down the stretch.

I DUNNO

Basset played 38 minutes, the most of any Hoosier. So... would he have been more effective in the end had Suhr played a little? Joey Shaw did get 5 minutes of playing time... the first appearance for the weird looking dude in a while... and by the way... I mean weird in a good way... I love Joey Shaw. Perhaps the most important thing to note is that Suhr, by virtue of not logging a minute (remember when he played 35 minutes against Duke?), was very well rested and able to celebrate and dance and look totally short and absurd in just the right way... that was key down the stretch.

5. Ben Allen sucks. He will never be good.

WRONG WRONG WRONG

Ben Allen made an appearance in the first half and logged one minute. It may not have seemed like much. But, look again and reconsider. Allen grabbed 1 rebound without missing a single shot. When projected over 40 minutes that makes 40 rebounds in one game!!! Maybe he should get more playing time. My math may be shotty, but I think I’m somewhere in the ballpark. Further examination shows that Ben Allen may even be worth an NBA contract. 48 minutes in a game? Well, that’s 48 rebounds. Rodman had nothing on that.

6. Rod Wilmont will score less than 5 points. Or he will score more than 29 points.

WRONG

Rod scored 22. But, in a way I was right. He scored almost all of them in the first half.

7. If IU wins tonight they will beat UCLA.

WE’LL FIND OUT SATURDAY

I watched UCLA a few times this year, but I really feel that the Hoosiers match up well with them. It’s going to be a great game.

8. Watching Kellen's tivo'd Real World episode after the game will help me get over a bad loss.

DIDN’T NEED TO

But, I’m guessing that Brooke is gonna say something bitchy. And, I hope not to watch it Saturday night. Then we can have a 2fer on next Wednesday night.

9. ok... fuck it... I'm gonna say this...
Hoosiers lose by 8 pts. That's my prediction... and I know nothing about Gonzaga this year... so that's why I feel dumb even weighing in at all.

I hope I eat my words tomorrow.

WORDS ARE EATEN AND I AM WRONG

For those of you keeping score at home, that’s 5 Wrongs, 1 Right?, 1 Didn’t need to, 1 TBD and 1 I Dunno.

Not bad, huh?

Other notes from my diary on the game:

Lance Stemler still can’t even make his shot look like its going to go halfway down.... its awful... put some arch on that 3... but he’s still great in loose ball situations and every time he loses the ball he gets it right back... he got 30 minutes last night while Mike White only got 6... a message from Sampson?? I’m not sure, but I think Sampson likes one over the other depending on the situation... they never seem to split time evenly...

Earl Calloway was too fast for his own good again last night... he needs to get his handles under control before matching up against UCLA’s guards...

Watching the game on Sacramento’s home floor made me think a lot of Mitch Richmond... just kidding... actually it was watching Gonzaga’s tall white goofy centers on Sacramento’s home floor that reminded me of watching Brad Miller play for Purdue.... I NEVER would have assumed he’d one day become an NBA all-star... the world is fucked up.

I have a really strange feeling that this year’s team will take me to the heavenly state that I reached as a college Soph in 2001 against Duke...

There you go... I just jinxed it.

Alright... I’m out to turn some tricks, flip the switch, and do my laundry. Keep it undefeated, Big 10!

No More Mr. Mustache or My Bracket's Perfect How's Yours Lookin' Tittle500?

2007-03-15T16:32:00.000-06:00

So realizing I hadn't posted for a while I hopped onto Defend The Rock and saw that my friend and respected colleague Tittle500 wrote a post about Indiana's first round game against Gonzaga.

I'm not one to put predictions up but I like IU's chances in this one. Why you may ask? Isn't Gonzaga great in the tourney? Didn't Gonzaga have a pretty good year? Why yes, it's true, Gonzaga is no slouch of a team, and it's one of those teams I almost always have pencilled in to go far, but not this year! It's all because Mr. Mustache is gone. I'm not saying that Gonzaga doesn't have some nice playmakers, but they do lack that 70's porn star feel, and that makes all the difference (especially when we've got a player of our own sporting a pretty solid Blaxploitation look going on).

So in conclusion, I have no idea what's going to happen, save for that fact that Earl is going to be running around all those Zags so fast they won't know what hit 'em (until he starts bouncing off them like a pinball).

Go Hoosiers!

I'm not Suhr if IU is going to win

2007-03-15T13:44:00.000-06:00

but I know these things are true...

1. D.J. White will do most of his scoring on free throws and offensive rebounding. But the ball will not be fed to him enough and I will be screaming to the television for him to be more involved.

2. A.J. Ratliff will drill his first three-point attempt and then get into foul trouble.

3. If Xavier Keeling gets many minutes IU will be in trouble. Not that he is bad... but it means key members are in foul trouble.

4. If Armon Basset can have his minutes limited (because Suhr, Ratliff, Wilmont, and a little Shaw should each get a few more minutes imo) he'll be much more effective down the stretch.

5. Ben Allen sucks. He will never be good.

6. Rod Wilmont will score less than 5 points. Or he will score more than 29 points .

7. If IU wins tonight they will beat UCLA.

8. Watching Kellen's tivo'd Real World episode after the game will help me get over a bad loss.

9. ok... fuck it... I'm gonna say this...

Hoosiers lose by 8 pts. That's my prediction... and I know nothing about Gonzaga this year... so that's why I feel dumb even weighing in at all.

I hope I eat my words tomorrow

Its on little kitties, and kiddos

2007-03-09T12:24:00.000-06:00

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

Baseball Recap

2007-03-09T11:58:00.000-06:00

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.

Indiana vs. Illinois

2007-03-09T11:49:00.000-06:00

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

Awards and Honors For Many A Hoosier

2007-03-07T12:08:00.001-06:00

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!

Third For The Taking

2007-03-03T16:03:00.000-06:00

With a win tonight over lowly Penn State, the Hoosiers can solidify their place in the Big Ten as third in the standings, with a conference record of 10-6. There would be quite the mess below the Hoosiers in this instance, with a handful of 9-7 teams, so let's just get that win!

In other news, D.J. White was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District First Team, making him eligible for the All-American Team. He has some pretty damn good company on the district team, with the likes of Landry and Oden on there.

Lastly tonight is Senior Night and I'd like to point you to this great article about Suhr, Calloway, and Wilmont. It has some great quotes from the players, along with plenty of information. I'll chime in at some point with my own thoughts.

Indiana At Northwestern: Fun With Pictures

2007-03-01T00:30:00.000-06:00

So before bed I'm just going to toss up the pictures and one great video Defend The Rock managed to take while up in Evanston tonight.

First off, to view the pictures, click here, it'll take you over to a flickr album. Very large sizes are available upon request...

Now here is the video, basically, there were the same number of IU fans, if not more, than there were of Northwestern fans. At times the Hoosier faithful really took over the entire arena, it was fantastic. This little clip is from one such instance.

Wiregrass Baseball Classic Wrap Up

2007-02-28T14:33:00.000-06:00

The Hoosiers finished up their stint in the Wiregrass Baseball Classic in Dothan, Alabama with a 1-2 record. I already covered the first game here, so onto the final two games.

In the second game of the series IU took on Southern Mississippi and got hammed 15-4. Senior Keith Haas led the Hoosiers in their losing effort going 3-3 with 2 RBI. Freshmen Danny Rosenbaum (coming to the Hoosiers off a stellar Senior year at Loveland HS) lasted only 2/3 of an inning giving up 5 ER, 3 BB, while striking out one. Rosenbaum was followed by fellow freshmen hurler Billy Kitchen who oversaw the Hoosiers allowing 9 more runs (only 2 earned) on 9 hits in 3 innings. Finishing up the game were two more freshmen, Jarrett Casey and Matt Bashore who combined for 4.1 innings, allowing only 1 run with 4 strikeouts.

In the final game of the WBC IU pulled out a win. Sophomore Tyler Tuffts pitched a complete game, and was absolutely stellar in the process. 9IP, 6H, 1ER, 1BB, 3SO. Georgia Southern didn't have a chance. Freshmen Evan Crawford, a freshmen from Reynoldsburg, Ohio led the way for the Hoosiers with two hits, two RBI, and one walk. Also knocking in runs for the Hoosiers were Keith Haas, Sterling Mack, and Tyler Cox.

The series WHIP for Hoosier pitchers was 1.66, yowza!

Defend The Rock At Northwestern

2007-02-28T14:27:00.000-06:00

Tonight Defend The Rock will be making an appearance at Northwestern University. After watching the Hoosiers lose three of their past four games Defend The Rock has decided to make an appearance at tonight's game in order to help IU get a much needed road victory. As you all know Indiana has been awful on the road this year, and the fact is IU has lost their last two games in Evanston.

A Game I'd Rather Not Have To Play

2007-02-24T15:11:00.000-06:00

So IU (18-8/8-5) heads to East Lansing tonight to take on Michigan St. (20-8/7-6) tonight in what hopefully should be a pretty good battle. The Spartans are coming off a big win over Wisconsin and with a win can cause quite a mess in the Big Ten standings, as we've already seen some shuffling of places go on this weekend with Illinois moving into 3rd place with their win over Penn St.

Now for a nice little table courtesy of IUHoosiers.com:

Jan. 31, 2004 L, 84-72 East Lansing
Feb. 27, 2005 W, 78-74 (ot) Bloomington
Jan. 11, 2006 L, 87-73 East Lansing
Feb. 26, 2006 W, 78-71 Bloomington
Jan. 7, 2007 W, 73-51 Bloomington

That's the last five meetings between Indiana and Michigan St., the outcome, and the location. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the home team has won each time out, so the trouncing that the Hoosiers gave the Spartans earlier this year doesn't mean all that much.

All I ask is the IU holds onto the ball and doesn't commit the plethora of fouls we've been seeing of late. If they do that, we'll have a game.

Play Ball! Hoosiers Open Baseball Season!

2007-02-24T14:59:00.000-06:00

Ahh, can you smell it? Baseball season! Yesterday not only did I buy my Cards/Cubs tickets but the Hoosiers officially opened the 2007 College Baseball season.

Down in Dothan, Alabama the Hoosiers took on the Troy Trojans, and well...lost. That may not come as a surprise to many of us who have come to know IU baseball of late, but there are some encouraging signs. First off, the Hoosiers limited the Trojans to only 4 runs which is microscopic for Indiana baseball teams of late, and pretty damn good in general considering how college ball is focused on offense due to that damn metal bat. While unable to watch the game, I do wonder how lucky the Hoosier pitchers were in this game, considering they gave up 11 hits, 4 walks (only 1 strikeout), all while the defense committed 3 errors.

Indiana's Mr. Baseball Josh Phegley had a quiet Hoosier debut, going 0-4 with a strikeout but apparently took part in a pretty nifty double play. On the whole it looks like the offense struggled a bit with only six hits, but with only 5 k's and a couple walks at least the boys are making contact.

We have a full season of IU Baseball coming up and I'm looking forward to covering this team. From reading offseason articles about all our new players, I like the direction this program is going. Go Hoosiers!

IU Football Signees in Moving Picture Form!

2007-02-21T11:33:00.000-06:00

So this is a brilliant idea and kudos to the person who decided to implement it. On their official sports page, Indiana University has put up a compilation video of all 19 players who have signed onto IU Football for next season. It's not often you get to see HS players on TV during the year, so this is a great opportunity for all of us Hoosier fans to see who is going to be playing for us next year. Sure it's basically a highlight reel of each player's HS career so it may not be the best talent indicator but nevertheless a great resource for us fans.

Click here for the page containing the article and video.

Back In The Game

2007-02-21T11:25:00.000-06:00

So we've had a week or so off from posting here at Defend The Rock and it's time to get back in the game. Hopefully, after two bad losses at Purdue and Michigan the Hoosiers can get back in the game as well. Rather than dwell on those two losses that occurred during our blogging break - we'll look ahead - seeing as Defend The Rock has always a forward thinking blog.

So tonight IU plays Minnesota at home (we're in the midst of a 4 out of 5 away game stretch so it'll be nice to have homecourt for once) which is good news as the Hoosiers are undefeated in Assembly Hall. The Golden Gophers come in being just dreadful (9-18/3-10) and have lost five straight. The question is this: Will Minnesota be discouraged and run down by their awful season performance and just roll over, or will they look at IU's last two losses and say, "Hey, we have a shot!"?

Let's see a win tonight boys....

Indiana - Purdue - For Real

2007-02-15T16:43:00.000-06:00

Well, tonight - after a one evening delay- our beloved #24(AP)/#19(ESPN/USA Today Poll) Hoosiers will take on the in West Lafayette.

Over at The Goat there was a post and subsequent discussion of the IU-Purdue rivalry, the coaches, and allegiances. I'll chime in here rather than cluttering up their comment section.

IU: I liked Mike Davis and wasn't one of the fans running him out of town. At the same time, it really appeared that things just wern't going to work out no matter what, so I basically was glad to see him go. Moreso because he could (hopefully) move on to some school where people actually appreciated him. I haven't followed his career @ UAB or the reaction to him, but I hope it's positive. As for Sampson, I knew little of him other than the whole "defense first" bit and the fact that he was a coach that got teams to the tourney with regularity but never really sparkled once there. I've loved what I've seen of him this year coaching wise and I'm looking forward to having him for years to come.

Purdue: So I never really had an opinon of Matt Painter formed in my head until the last time IU & Purdue met. He seemed like a mini Bruce Weber - having hissy fits, stomping around, yelling, looking and acting like a little child. Maybe (hopefully) tonight he'll be a bit more professional. And yes, I'll acknowledge that Earl fired Painter up a bit last go around with some comments but still Coach, get your act together....please?

As for the rivalry itself I have never had a hatred for Purdue and probably never will. I was an Indiana transplant from Missouri. I found myself in this heated rivalry, and while I clearly took sides - IU - and continue to be passionate about it, I just don't get that worked up over Purdue. Sure when the two teams play eachother I put a bit more emphasis on the game than were IU to play Northwestern, but it's never been a HUGE thing for me. As long as the rivalry is healthy, I'm happy, I just don't want to see one team always crushing the other - but hey, an IU victory each time out against Purdue - I'm all for it.

Go Hoosiers! (and not the one's playing for Purdue!)

Indiana-Purdue Postponed

2007-02-14T15:57:00.000-06:00

Today's Indiana -Purdue game has be postponed and rescheduled for tomorrow, Thursday February 15th assuming the weather allows it. We already got pummelled in Chicago, and it looks like the storm has moved on past the Midwest and to the east coast, so we should see these two teams duking it out on the court tomorrow.

So much for my opportunity to work in a "Valentine's Day Massacre" pun into a game post. Maybe next year.

Illinois vs Indiana - Part II

2007-02-10T11:49:00.000-06:00

So, Illinois and Indiana meet for the second time this season, this time at the good Assembly Hall. That's good news as Indiana has gone 12-0 at Branch McCracken Court. The last game in Champaign was absolutely brutal for both teams, 51-43, but Illinois came out on top. Hopefully the change in venue and a Sampson smackdown to this Hoosier team will have them fired up.

Once again we have the Eric Gordon storyline, but as the game is in Bloomington I can only imagine it having an effect if IU goes up...chants of "Eric Gordon" reigning down on Bruce Webber and the Illini just to ruin their spirits, we'll see.

19 Players Sign With The Hoosiers

2007-02-09T12:42:00.000-06:00

So just because Jerimy Finch decided to run off and play in Florida (He should've looked to Kellen Lewis for an example of what to do -- come to Indiana FROM Florida) doesn't mean IU football is doomed. There are 19 other players who decided that Coach Hep has this team going in the right direction, and Defend The Rock commends them on their decision to attend Indiana University and play Hoosier football.

Below I have included a little chart of all the signees, iuhoosiers has a full list with bios of all the new Hoosiers here. But I would like to point out a few potential impact players.

1. Chris Adkins, CB. Teammate of the departed Jerimy Finch at Warren Central. He's got the height and athleticism (according to reports) to come in and make an impact right away. Plus IU has a seriously vacancy at CB, so he'll have his chance to come in and make a difference immediately.

2. Jeff Boyd, DL. Another teammate of Finch at Warren Central. Rated the #6 prospect in Indiana, 40th nationally. I like his talk of winning, "...going to bring a winning attitude...That's all we're accustomed to," and he's got the pure talent to help IU return to winning ways.

3. Matt Ernest, WR. #9 prospect in the state of Indiana. He's a big receiver, 6'2/180, and hopefully can blossom into another solid target for Kellen Lewis to throw to.

4. Dennis Zeigler, OL. #10 in Indiana, a big boy at 6'7, 315. Formerly a basketball player, he could be a project but apparently made great strides in football as evidenced by his ranking and presence on the All-State team and All-Conference team. Let's hope he can help protect Kellen.

5. The Florida Duo (Zach Davis-Walker & Jarrell Drane). Teammates at Plantation High school in Plantation, Florida, both of these players have the potential to shore up positions that IU is lacking in. Can Davis-Walker become a possible solution at RB? Can Drane step up as a Safety and possibly lessen the blow of losing Finch? These are questions that hopefully will be answered in the affirmative.

Finch Jumps Ship. Illinois and Eric Gordon to blame?

2007-02-09T12:34:00.000-06:00

So naturally after we find out our Big-10 Conference foe Illinois has a top-ten recruiting class, should it come as any surprise that #1 recruit Jerimy Finch decided to ditch IU for Florida? What is the connection you ask? Eric Gordon. We snatched him away from Illinois and now we're the victim of some sort of awful curse where not only does Illini football dramatically improve, but IU's chance for a huge leap forward gets stopped in its tracks by its #1 recruit jumping ship.

[rathole on Illini football]And seriously, Illinois a top-ten recruiting class? I'm not going to be one of those bloggers who goes out there saying that something suspect is going on down in Champaign, but how did that happen? The man seems to be genuinely hated by fans, hell he was run out of Florida on the shoulders of fireronzook.com! But when it comes to recruiting it doesn't matter what the fans think of a coach, or what management things. It matters what players - and their parents - think of the coach, and Zook must be a fairly likable and convicing guy regardless of all the flak he gets in other quarters.[/rathole on Illini football]

Defend The Rock - The Superbowl Edition

2007-02-04T15:43:00.000-06:00

Kickoff for Superbowl XLI is in under two hours - and you may be wondering "Why does Defend The Rock care? It's not like either team is called the Hoosiers."

Well let me tell you something I went to college in Bloomington, Indiana (where Rex Grossman is from), then moved to Chicago (where Rex Grossman plays QB for the Bears). But wait, Indiana is Colts country! Am I not torn, is my heart not split in two?

Worry not dear readers, because you know what? I'm a St. Louis Rams fan, so the only way this game will have any meaning is if Kurt Warner, wearing an old Rams jersey he stole after being given the boot from St. Louis, lands a hijacked helicopter in the middle of the field and starts yelling "THANK YOU JESUS!"

But in all honesty, it'll be fun to watch an IU alum (Adewale Ogunleye) play in the Superbowl, and I'll be cheering him on. If anything I'd like to see the Colts win just so all the talking heads won't have anything to say about Peyton and his "legacy." Just let him win a Superbowl so there can no longer be any debate regarding how he will be viewed by future generations. Really though, this city is going to explode regardless of the outcome, either with raucous joy (Bears win) or drunken rage (Bears lose), so at least the post-game will be fun to watch outside my window.

Iowa Topples Indiana

2007-02-04T15:35:00.000-06:00

Well, so much for beating Iowa. Sure it's tough to win on the road in the Big Ten, but that was a BIG game. Securing a solid road win right on the heels of toppling the #2 team in the country would've looked real good (not to mention bringing us even with the big two at the top of the conference in terms of wins).

Wilmont was huge again with 24 points. A.J. continues to show off the player is can be, giving the Hoosiers 15 points, 5 rebounds and a couple steals. Throw in Earl and his 16 points and IU had a pretty good triumvirate of scorers at Iowa, so why the loss?

D.J. White. Whether it was just an off game for him or stifling Iowa defense, D.J. just didn't the job done, and as D.J. goes so does this Hoosier team. 2 FGs, 2 FTs, 3 Rebounds, and 4 Turnovers is not a line anyone expects from D.J., no matter the opponent.

In the end it would've been a real good win, but at the same time it was not a tragic loss at all. IU is still sitting pretty in the Big 10 and Tournament Contention.

Winning Is The Best Medicine (hopefully)

2007-01-31T20:06:00.000-06:00

Tonight I sat down in front of my TV and watched the Indiana-Wisconsin game on Lakeshore Public Television. Prior to the game I thought to myself how ridiculous it was that the game would not be televised nationally as more thank likely it would be a great game (not to mention that it featured the #2 and #25 teams in the country).

So, sitting there I had my Thai food (Bangkok Inn), my Emergen-C, and my "micro plush" blanket, and the beginnings of a cold, I watched Indiana knock off the #2 team in the country and the #1 team in the Big Ten.

Hopefully winning is the best medicine as I don't plan on being sick for long.

Full write up on the game tomorrow when I'm (hopefully) feeling better.

Another Nationally Recognized Hoosier - Megan Martz

2007-01-31T02:31:00.000-06:00

Move over D.J., there is a new Hoosier getting lots of attention from the national media and it's none other than IU's Megan Martz.

"Megan Martz?" you may ask. "Is she on the volleyball team?" No. "Softball?" No. "Swim team?" No. "Ok, I give up, just tell me already!!!" Ok, Megan Martz is an IU Cheerleader, and she just so happens to be SI's Cheerleader of the Week!

First off, what the hell!?! How did those of us at Defend The Rock not know about this award earlier. With choice interview questions and answers like:

Perfect Date: Dinner and a fun activity like bowling or a ball game to get to know the person better.

at our disposal Defend The Rock could've long ago become the prime blog for tips on how to date cheerleaders. Personally I find that date suggestion of hers fairly weak and I feel she may be throwing us a curveball as earlier in the interview we get this:

I like to spend my weekends: Back home in Fishers spending time with my boyfriend and family and attending the Colt's games.

I don't want to ruin the whole interview for you, so you should follow the link earlier in the post and read it for yourself. But for our first installment of "How To Date A Cheerleader" here are some general tips I learned from the interview.

1. Like sports
2. Buy her a (little) dog
3. Don't generalize/buy into stereotypes about her (and others in her line of work)

So congratulations Megan on being selected as SI's Cheerleader of the Week, we here at Defend The Rock are very proud of you! And guys, go get 'em (but not Megan, she's taken!)

David Jack = Class Act

2007-01-25T14:39:00.000-06:00

In an earlier post Defend The Rock introduced you to David Jack, one of IU Volleyball's new assistant coaches. Well, now we have learned that David Jack is a real class act. Aside from being a very successful coach in the past, in a recent interview (with iuhoosiers.com) we heard some things we really liked.

1. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
If I could visit anywhere in the world, it would be Africa. Why? I heard it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. My main reason for going would be to help decrease the plight of AIDS that is devastating a continent.

Ok - we here at Defend The Rock are big fans of Africa. Well, maybe "fans" isn't the right word, but in our time at a certain Big 10 school in Bloomington, Indiana we focused our studies on Africa to a fairly high degree. Also, it's always great to see from anyone, especially those in the sports community have the recognition of, and the desire to help eliminate/alleviate the AIDS crisis.

2. What is your favorite childhood memory?
The food ... for breakfast, fried dumpling, callaloo, friend plantain, for dinner, rice and peas, chicken or beef, boiled bananas. The food is delicious. I dream of having dinner at home every once and a while.

My god, that sounds scrumptious. I haven't eaten yet today and now David Jack has gone and made me even more hungry. I'll be making a trip down to Bloomington at some point and hopefully I can be a guest at the Jack residence for dinner, damn that sounds good.

3. What can the fans expect from the Hoosiers next season?
Playing hard, competing and challenging the best teams in the Big Ten. That type of intensity every time you step on the court can only lead to success.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! That's what I love to here from IU athletes and coaches. IU Sports always has been, and will be continue to be about intensity. The fans like to see their teams playing with intensity and passion, and I can guarantee you that if IU Volleyball displays it, fans will flock to the games.

On this day 20 years ago...

2007-01-25T14:27:00.000-06:00

Today Defend The Rock and all of Hoosier Nation celebrate the birth - 20 years ago- of our star Quarterback Kellen Lewis.

Defend The Rock and friends were among the first to sing the praises of #15 and urge Coach Hep to start him (even before he was technically eligible, redshirt and all).

Happy Birthday Kellen!

<----Birthday Boy

What team was that playing in IU road jerseys tonight?

2007-01-23T22:45:00.000-06:00

Seriously, what team was that playing against Illinois? Anyone who can tell me gets an official Defend The Rock T-Shirt*

43 Points? 43 Points? 43 Points?

Watching that game it was clear from the get-go, even with the strong start, that the team wearing the Indiana road jerseys just wasn't into the game. I didn't see the emotion, the drive, the passion, or the hustle that I've come to associate with the Kelvin Sampson coached IU team that I've watched all year.

From the looks of it, the IU team playing tonight just didn't care....and I'm sure they're gonna get a good yelling at from Coach Sampson.

Game Preview: Indiana at Illinois

2007-01-23T14:28:00.000-06:00

Tonight at 7PM EST/6PM DTRST (Defend The Rock Standard Time, i.e. Central Standard Time) the Indiana Hoosiers will take on the Fighting Illini of Illinois at that *other* Assembly hall down in Champaign, Illinois.

Indiana has been dominant of late (Winners of last 5, and 9 of the last 10), while the Illini have decided it's ok to lose four of six conference games and drop five of its last seven games.

Personally I will be watching the stands to see all the signs that Illinois students are holding up. One can only assume they're none to pleased with Kelvin Sampson snatching away #1-in-the-nation recruit Eric Gordon from Illinois and bringing him to Indiana next season.

D.J. White Continues To Be A Man, IU In The Top 25!

2007-01-22T23:27:00.000-06:00

I'm not quite sure how many times I've written this on Defend The Rock, maybe some loyal reader can get back to me on it, but DAMN, D.J. White is a man! What has he gone and done now to deserve recognition for this? How about being named the Big Ten Player of The Week. All he did was go and average 22 Points, 7.5 Rebounds and 2.5 Blocks per game this past week. Not only did he help lead IU to two victories over Iowa and Connecticut, but he played a crucial role in.....

GETTING IU RANKED!

Indiana currently sits at #23 in the AP Top 25 and #24 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. This marks the first time IU has been ranked this year. I'd have to guess that IU will be sticking around on one or both for quite a while, or at least make plenty of appearances through the rest of the season.

IU Over UCONN, Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award

2007-01-22T23:12:00.000-06:00

It almost seems of a late an IU game means just another victory. With IU's 77-73 victory over UCONN our Hoosiers made it 5 straight wins. Sitting pretty at 14-4 (4-1 Big Ten, T-2nd), it's hard to imagine IU not winning 6 more games to make it 20 and a bid to the Tourney.

Watching the game I was struck by the size of the Huskies, in fact early in the game I logged onto UCONN's athletics site and found that they have 5 players 6'9 or taller, topped off by 7'3 Freshmen Hasheem Thabeet. Wilmont continues to be SICK. 23 Points (5-8 3pts), 5 Rebounds, 3 Steals, 1 Block. This guy continues to carryt his team on his shoulders, or perhaps his heart would be more appropriate. Roderick Wilmont is IU Basketball this season, no doubt about it.

As for this week's Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award, the deserving recipient? (Here's a hint, he's getting it for the second time!):

Roderick Wilmont

Its T-Shirt Time Again

2007-01-22T11:26:00.000-06:00

When an IU alum sacks a former Purdue legend, causes, and recovers a fumble in one play while helping to lead his team to the biggest bowl of them all, (and I'm not talking about the Outback Bowl here folks...) he is worthy of something very special...

That's right, the AJ Moye T-Shirt Award! Here it is:

Congratulations Adewale Ogunlye. Put on your t-shirt and go partying with J. Jeffries.

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In other news, DJ White is this week's Big Ten Player of the Week. Its no secret that DJ White wears a T-SHIRT! More on that when YouTellemKellen posts the recap of the exciting victory over U-Conn and all their 7' players from Dar es Salaam.

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Aj Moye made the All Star team in his German league. He is not a starter, but was selected by the coach to be on the bench. Here he is in recent game action.... GASP! not wearing a t-shirt. He is wearing one in our (or at least my) hearts.

The Newest Dolphin

2007-01-19T20:45:00.000-06:00

Cam Cameron is the new coach of the Miami Dolphins.

I had the pleasure of watching a season of IU football lead by this great man. It was slightly overshadowed by the Gerry DiNardo era.

Anyway...

all I have to say is...

ha
ha
ha

Love,
Tittle 500

More Stellar Football Recruits - Thank You Coach Hep

2007-01-18T13:21:00.000-06:00

So as you all recall, Eric Gordon earlier in the year decided to switch his commitment from Illinois to Indiana in order to play basketball for the Hoosiers and Kelvin Sampson. Not wanting to be outdone by the new Hoosier hoops coach, Coach Hep has managed to get the #1 ranked recruit in Indiana to decommit from Michigan and play for his new and improved defensive squad.

That's right folks, Jerimy Finch, all-star Safety from Indy powerhouse Warren Central is coming to IU! Finch is the #1 ranked played from Indiana and a four star recruit, and comes in as one of IU's most accomplished recruits in recent history. Finch isn't making the drive south to Bloomington alone though, he's bringing with him defensive tackle Jeff Boyd, who also had the opportunity to play for a multitude of bigger name schools and was named to the first-team all-state team.

Another IU recruit, defensive back Chris Adkins received an honorable mention for the first-team all-state team. In addition, offensive lineman Andrew McDonald is on his way to The Rock as well, and will help keep Kellen Lewis safe and sound behind the line of scrimmage.

It really is amazing to see the effect Coach Hep has had on IU Football.

We're Back and With A Few More Wins

2007-01-18T13:05:00.000-06:00

No need to fear, Defend The Rock is still alive and well, we just disappeared for a few days. So, as for the Hoosiers, LOTS of news, so there will be a flood of posts to catch up on everything. First off, basketball.

Two solid wins by the boys in Cream & Crimson over Penn State (84-74) and Iowa (71-64).

A road win in the Big 10, can it be true? Yes indeed! It was a close game against PSU, that saw the Hoosiers behind early and often, but once again, the guys who are supposed to be leading this team stepped up. Wilmont with career highs in points (25) and rebounds (12), D.J. White with 14 points and 11 boards, and not to mention three other played in double figures for scoring (Ratliff, Bassett, Calloway).

So, the man everybody seemed to want to come to Bloomington to coach the Hoosiers ended up coming to Bloomington and losing to the them instead. Sorry Steve Alford, but Defend The Rock prefers Kelvin Sampson, and we're glad you're still a Hawkeye. This was a game that really made me want to be back in Assembly Hall. The crowd was going crazy the entire game, the action on the court was fast paced and exciting, and it had a perfect storyline in place. Wilmont once again showed up, and showed up BIG, while Bassett continues to put up great performances quietly.

In case you haven't noticed IU is now 13-4 (4-1) and 2nd in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers are at UConn next for a non-conference game , but other than that, the schedule really isn't all that bad from here out save for a couple games with Michigan....
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Be sure not to miss the Hoosiers being featured on a couple episodes of ABC's FREE Ticket: Inside College Basketball. From iuhoosiers:
Over the next two weeks, college basketball fans can get an insider's look at the Indiana men's basketball program, as ABC airs FREE Ticket: Inside College Basketball featuring the Hoosiers.

The show provides viewers with a behind-the-scenes experience of all aspects of the Hoosier program. Produced by Chicago-based Intersport, FREE Ticket: Inside College Basketball followed the Hoosiers during the Purdue and Penn State week.

The show will air the following dates and times:
Saturday, January 20 at 3pm (EST) on ABC
Saturday, January 27 at 5:30am (EST) on ESPNU
Tuesday, January 30 at 2pm (EST) on ESPNU
Thursday, February 1 at 2:30pm (EST) on ESPN2

Another Hoosier Victory + Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award + The Kirkwood Bar & Grill

2007-01-12T00:51:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the two days of no posts, had a bit of the Defend The Rock Birthday Bash hangover.

Let's see what has happened since then? Oh yes, IU crushed Purdue 85-58. The short story: Four players in double figures, a sickening 9 team blocks, a fine team rebounding effort with 30, and a prison sentence worthy 11 steals.

This has now been two VERY impressive games played by this Hoosier squad in a row. We won't be seeing wins with a point differential of 20+ every time out, but damn is this team really turning the corner and showing the Big Ten that they mean trouble.
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So, the Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award normally is given at least a week off between appearances, but one Hoosier forced out hand, the winner this go around is:

A.J. Ratliff. 16 Points, 2 Blocks, 2 Steals, all in just 18 minutes of play, oh yeah, and he was coming off an injury. The kid played his heart out for his team and has not only an IU win to show for it, but also an award.
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So Defend The Rock made another appearance at The Kirkwood Bar & Grill here in Chicago, this time to watch the Purdue-IU game.

The place was packed to capacity (160 I think I heard?), with Hoosiers everywhere. Your's truly had a Whiskey & Ginger ale - seemed a tad bit weak but got the job done, although a bit pricey. Then again, it is a sports bar, where you can easily find the beer on tap to be cheap and plentiful. Many of the patrons were treating themselves to huge ass beers in commemorative IU mugs. Naturally for food I ordered "The Hoosier," known better by its more common name "cheeseburger." It wasn't anything special, but my oh my, the seasoned fries that came with it were some of the best I've had in Chicago. As for watching the game there, TVs are large and placed throughout the bar. The atmosphere is great as one would imagine, with hundreds of IU fans packed in tight.

The only major complaint Defend The Rock has with The Kirkwood Bar & Grill is that after the IU trouncing of Purdue they played the IU fight song, but cut it off early, leaving us fans to finish it off ourselves without iPod driven accompaniment, but I'm sure that issue will be resolved.

On the whole it was a fun place to watch the game, grab some drinks and eat some decent food. The Kirkwood Bar & Grill gets Defend The Rock's approval for an IU Gameday Bar. Good work guys!

We're One Month Old!

2007-01-10T15:13:00.000-06:00

So today Defend The Rock turns one month old! In weeks one and two you, our readers were merey a glimmer in our blogging eye. Slowly but surely we began to fertilize your minds with essential IU sports knowledge.

In week three we finally bonded, sure the bond may have been small, maybe even just the size of a pin, but a bond none the less. Granted, we bloggers didn't notice any changes, too soon to really notice aything.

In week four our readership was still small, but multipling, continuing to be nourished by plentiful amounts of IU sports information and analysis. As for Defend The Rock, well, let's just say we're late....

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But in all seriousness, it's been a fun first month of blogging about IU sports. Looking at our logs it is clear we're getting regular visitors not just from across the United States but also a few in Europe and Asia. Hopefully you're enjoying Defend The Rock and we'd love to hear from you, either by email or comments in posts. Who are you? Did you attend IU? Where are you now? How did you find us? What do you like best about Defend The Rock? What could be improved?

Thanks for a great month folks, we'll be keeping up the good work.

Indiana 73, Michigan State 51 + Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award

2007-01-07T18:19:00.000-06:00

As any loyal reader of Defend The Rock knows predictions aren't made on here, well, at least not made public. But those around me today prior to the game would've heard me going on and on about how Indiana was set to not only beat MSU but trounce 'em. Even so, no way I was expecting this sort of win.

We might as well start off with a continuation of our D.J. White Is A True Man series. With 21 Points, 2 steals, 1 block, (but just 3 rebounds?!?!) in 27 minutes this guy keeps giving us massive performances week in and week out. You often hear that there are more than just stats to a player, and I'll trot out that cliche here. Watching this man play is simply a pleasure. You wouldn't know from just looking at the box score the type of shots he's taking and making, just some truly unbelievable shots for a guy who is 6'9".

Lance Stemler provided yet another solid performance and looks to be well out of that nasty funk he was in for three games. The scary part is that he scored 16 points all while being 1-8 from three point land. If this guy ever completely regains his 3-shot, watch out Big 10. It really looked like he was forcing his shots today from beyond the arc, and it doesn't help that he has a very awkward release point to begin with. Maybe Defend The Rock will make an instructional video relating to three point shooting for him, keep your eyes on YouTube Lance!

And of course we have to mention how this team continues to be an absolute freakshow on defense. 20 turnovers by Michigan State w/ 24 IU points scored off turnovers. That's just madness. And of course once again that "bubble drill" of Kelvin Sampson's paid off with a nice round 30 rebounds, with 17 second chance points scored.

All in all a solid win by the Hoosiers. This team is no Ohio State or Wisconsin but as Big Ten play progresses there is a great chance the Hoosiers will see themselves atop of the "second tier" of Big 10 teams, and maybe if everything falls into place, nudge there way into the conversation regarding the big guys in the conference.

And now for the Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award This weeks recipient is:

D.J. White who I basically said would win it a week ago kept up his high level of play to actually deserve it. Admit it, this guy is such a basketball monster that you'd have no problems if he stole your girlfriend. (Plus it doesn't hurt that he dresses well, he probably wouldn't even have to try too hard)

Defend The Rock + Kirkwood Bar & Grill For The IU/MSU Game

2007-01-07T02:52:00.000-06:00

On Sunday January 7th our Hoosiers take on the Spartans of Michigan State at 3:30 CST. Defend The Rock's very own YOUTELLEMKELLEN will be at the Kirkwood Bar & Grill for the duration of the game. Sure he has a pretty nice A/V setup to watch the game, but he wants to be amongst other IU fans for the game (plus it doesn't hurt that he lives two minutes away from the damn place).

After the game, plenty of drinks and hopefully a hand-numbingly high amount of high-fives due to IU's first victory over a ranked opponent, we will have a full review of the Kirkwood Bar & Grill up on Defend The Rock. We're always looking for good places to watch our Hoosiers play, let's just hope this new place is up to our standards.

So if you're in the Chicago area, be sure to make it out to The Kirkwood Bar & Grill @ 2934 N. Sheffield, either in person or in spirit to cheer on the Hoosiers.

[Disclaimer: In no way is this blog or its editors affiliated with The Kirkwood Bar & Grill]

Where's The Defense? The Rock Being Dismantled!

2007-01-05T11:23:00.000-06:00

Ok, so it wouldn't be a blog without a little bit of hyperbole now would it?

The fact is that construction has begun on the North End Zone Project at Memorial Stadium. The bleachers are in the process of being torn down, and will soon be replaced by a new strength and development area for over 600 IU athletes. Also, the area will also be home to new coaching offices along with an IU "Hall of Honor."

While we here at Defend The Rock are always excited when new projects are taken up to improve IU athletics, the removal of the bleachers disappoints me. The first time I ever saw Kellen Lewis really play (a scrimmage game over last summer), I sat in the bleachers and watched him throw bullet passes right in my directions, hitting receivers right in the chest for TDs. Just not the same experience from other areas of the stadium.

Sherry Dunbar's Posse

2007-01-04T02:45:00.000-06:00

Sherry Dunbar has just brought in a few fresh faces to assist her in her first year as IU Volleyball's Head Coach. First up is Sarah Gustin who is following Dunbar from the College of Charleston where they both were instrumental in leading a very successful team. She was also a stand out volleyball player up at Michigan State (don't worry Sarah, we here at Defend The Rock are more than welcome to happy former Big 10 opponents into the IU Sports fold!).

Second is David Jack. He's helped lead teams to Junior Olympic national bids, coached up multiple students who went on to receive Division 1 scholarships, and played with the Jamaican National team for 13 years. Can't hurt to mention he was an 8 time All American too...

Gotta like what Dunbar's doing here, bringing in people with long track records of success in recruiting for, coaching, and playing the game.

Sic semper tyrannis! Or not...

2007-01-02T23:17:00.000-06:00

Well, that's what I was hoping to yell tonight after an IU slaying of the tyrants of Big Ten Basketball - Ohio State, led by Superfreak (now that the nickname is available...) Greg Oden (I mean seriously, look at him, he is what, a 7' tall, soon to be 19 year old kid who looks old (and talented)enough to be mistaken for a 10 year NBA vet) but it was not to be.

Watching the game I was struck by several things:
1. Joey Shaw, regardless of his youth, has got some serious game. You know I'm serious here because I have NEVER used the term "has got some serious game" in any way before in my life. 16 Points, of which 12 came off 3s. There is no question that he's mad as hell over my recent post in which I said "No disrespect to Mr. Shaw, but he has plenty of time to make a name for himself at IU." Well excuse me Mr. Shaw, it appears you're ready, willing, and able to make a name for yourself as a Hoosier.

2. D.J. White - What a great athlete willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win (Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award awaiting him in the future?). He had his hands full with Oden most of the night and was visibly exhausted towards the end of the game but kept fighting.

3. This entire Hoosier team. I've said it all year because it's been abundantly clear, this team does not give up, they never even LOOK like they are thinking about it. We may not be winning these games against ranked opponents, but at least we're giving them a good fight each time out, losing on average by five points.

That is not to say I'm happy, or even content with the loss seeing as IU drops to 9-4 (0-1 Big Ten) and has a very nasty schedule to play in the Big 10, and regardless of the opponent, every game is a must win in this conference. I'm sure soon enough we will see the Hoosiers topple a ranked opponent or someone we're "not supposed to beat" but for the time being this team just looks "good enough," and that doesn't cut it for this IU fan.

Let's just plan on taking down the Spartans at home on 7th...

To Victor Go The Spoils

2007-01-01T23:37:00.000-06:00

With the NFL regular season over, I believe it is time to look back at our very own NFL Draftee Victor Adeyanju and see how he did this year. It's no secret that I'm a Rams fan, so it was great for me to see Victor head to my favorite team, and a team that could use his defensive prowess no less!

In case you don't know Adeyanju's IU stats/bio off the top of your head, here's all you need, courtesy of iuhoosiers.com.

As for his first year in the NFL, Victor Adeyanju was selected by MY St. Louis Rams in the 4th round (113th) overall, and the Defensive End quickly found himself in the starting lineup once injuries (and the realization that the Rams starting D wasn't all that hot) kicked in.

Adeyanju saw action in 12 games, with 30 tackles, 4 assists, 1 sack, as well as 2 fumble recoveries including one for a touchdown. Unfortunately for Victor, and the Rams, Adeyanju suffered a series of forearm injuries that kept him inactive down the stretch.

Look for a big year year out of Victor next year. Us Hoosier fans were spoiled watching him play week in and week out here at IU, and now for the past year - and hopefully for years to come, Rams fans will have the same opportunity.

Sarah McKay - A Woman Amongst Girls

2007-01-01T13:52:00.000-06:00

When you think IU Basketball this season, and #32 shows up, who are you thinking of? Joey Shaw? No, you're thinking of Sarah McKay. No disrespect to Mr. Shaw, but he has plenty of time to make a name for himself at IU. On the other hand, Sarah McKay, the 6'7 Senior Center on the IU Women's Basketball team has been making a name for herself her entire IU career.

From her crazy-good Freshmen year where she set an IU Freshmen record with 55! blocks to her recent dismantling of Michigan (23 Points, 7 Rebounds, 2 Blocks), she has been a force here at IU throughout her career.

To sum it up, I'll give you a quote from Sarah after the Michigan Game:
On coming back to win after the loss:
"We got back to playing Indiana basketball, and that's what we've been working on the last two days in practice."

Damn, I love when players talk about "Indiana Basketball" as a way of playing the game and as a tradition. There are only a certain number of teams and sports where I think one can say such things, another example "Cardinal Baseball," and I'm always proud to know that both IU fans and players recognize that "Indiana Basketball" means much more than simply a game.

Nothing Wrong With Another Win

2006-12-31T02:50:00.000-06:00

IU unsurprisingly took down Ball State tonight 71-57, cementing their all times series record against the Cardinals to 19-1. I didn't have a chance to watch the game tonight so I feel like you'd be better served by just checking out the official recap, than by reading me making comments about an article you yourself could read.

But it is time to announce the the winner of the Adam Ahlfeld - Team Player Award. The deserving winner this week is:

Roderick Wilmont who played the most minutes of any Hoosier tonight (31), led the Hoosiers with 7 rebounds, and added in 12 points and a block just because he's that good.

Our guys in Cream & Crimson start Big 10 play on Tuesday against #6 Ohio State. Catch the game on ESPN @ 8EST/7CST and catch all the news, coverage, and analysis of IU Sports, before, after, and during the game at your (un)Official Indiana University Athletics Blog - Defend The Rock

A New Place To Drink (and watch/talk IU)

2006-12-30T18:19:00.000-06:00

For those residents of the Windy City, an all new IU Sports Bar will be opening its doors fairly soon up in Lakeview (January 1st). Located near Sheffield and Oakdale (2934 N. Sheffield Ave.), The Kirkwood Bar & Grill will be catering to IU and Nebraska(?) fans.

See y'all there!

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As for the game tonight, the Hoosiers take on Ball State, sporting a nifty 18-1 series lead. Last year we crushed 'em 80-56. Here's hoping we see the early season/IUPUI game Lance Stemler tonight and not the Lance Stemler who wasn't so hot for a while. Also, let's see if Earl Calloway keeps up his latest gig of being the leader of this team. I don't make predictions (for the most part) on Defend The Rock, merely suggestions, so here goes:

Let's beat them Cardinals!

Defend The Rock Gets Endorsed By A World Record Holder and Breaks An Exclusive Story!

2006-12-26T22:36:00.000-06:00

How many IU Sports blogs can say they have been endorsed by a World Record holder? In fact how many blogs in general can say that? Well, at least one!

That's right, Defend The Rock has been officially endorsed by Aaron Waltke, the official world record holder in the category of "Extreme T-Shirt Wearing." His official statement:

"Defend the Rock has my official seal of approval as the premiere unofficial IU Sports column..."

Also, Aaron is pleased to announce, in a Defend The Rock exclusive that:

"I would also like to announce my official candidacy for next year's basketball team. If they want me, they can have me. I will await the University's response with baited breath."

For more info on Aaron Walke please reference this earlier post.

Holidays

2006-12-25T01:35:00.000-06:00

Devoted readers,
I am headed to D.C. from the 25th up until late on the 29th. I will attempt to update Defend The Rock if possible. There are many games and stat categories to be added to the stat matrix, so hopefully that will get done during this time. Have a safe and happy holidays everyone!

Who Spiked The Punch?

2006-12-23T04:15:00.000-06:00

**Newsflash** The Hoosier volleyball team was dreadful last year. You may be asking yourself "Well, what really qualifies as dreadful when it comes to volleyball?" Well, let me tell you my friends: An overall record of 10-22, with a sparkling conference record of 1-19

Well, Indiana University has done something about it. Defend The Rock would like to give a warm welcome to new IU Volleyball head coach Sherry Dunbar. She's coming to us from the College of Charleston where she had some serious success (read: 3 straight NCAA tourney trips, and a 27-8 record this past season).

President Adam Herbert (who I still believe does not actually exist) had this to say about the hiring of Coach Dunbar:
"Indiana University is committed to building one of the nation's premiere women's volleyball programs. Sherry Dunbar has certainly proven herself exceptionally well qualified to build such a program. The Indiana University family is especially delighted to welcome her back to Bloomington. We are very fortunate that such a talented and accomplished coach will assume the leadership of our volleyball team. She is destined to become one of the very best volleyball coaches in the Big Ten. I am very confident that she will make all Hoosiers proud."

Now, Defend The Rock is a solutions oriented blog, so I would like to make one comment regarding the IU Volleyball team and how to increase it's performance. The main issue is that this team is just way too attractive! (.pdf)

How is this a problem you ask? Well, because who in the world would know it unless they went to games! But you still may ask how is that a problem. I'll tell you how: Nobody is interested in Volleyball save for friends, family, and a few weirdos. If they would make some solid promo spots featuring these women they could lure in a lot more fans to fill up the stands and give IU a real homecourt advantage, you know, DEFEND THE ROCK. In time these fans would transition from mere drooling-at-the-mouth-frat-boys to hardcore Volleyball fans and our ladies would have a greater homecourt advantage than any other Volleyball team in the nation.

Get on it IU Sports PR department! I won't even charge you a consulting fee.

[Editor's Note: Clearly the "suggestion" part of this post is a satire of how many people (ignorant) people view Women's athletics. We here at Defend The Rock hope to dispel any notions that Women's athletics are less important or less newsworthy than Men's athletics. If you picked up on the satire - you're a good sports fan, if not, well, keep reading Defend The Rock and maybe you'll learn something just yet!]

Adam Ahlfeld is Latvian for "Team Player" -- And IU Wins Again!

2006-12-23T01:36:00.000-06:00

So tonight the Hoosiers slaughtered IUPUI 86-57. I should've known that when the score was 10-0 I could've started up with my nightly TV rotation of TUBE, MTV Hits, CMT Pure Country, Great American Country, VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, FUSE, and the Gospel Music Channel, but alas, I watched the entire game for YOU - Defend The Rock's loyal readers! By the way, why don't I get VH1 Jams w/ my current cable plan? No, seriously, what's up with that?

First off apparently Lance Stemler has decided to join the rest of Hoosier Nation and read Defend The Rock. I can only imagine his scoring outburst was due to me calling him out.

I only have a few stats for you about this game: 52% from the floor, 44% from 3 point land, and 82% from the line - those precentages will win you games folks, well, when you're making 'em, not giving 'em up.

In honor of Adam Ahlfeld's 1 minute of play, and AWESOME dive into the bench whereupon his fellow Hoosiers literally threw/pushed him back onto the court I hearby announce the Adam Ahlfeld - Team Player Award. While my fellow blogger here on Defend The Rock, Tittle 500, has his own award, mine is completely different. It will go to the #1 team player after each IU game (and this can be for any sport in IU's wide array of athletics).

So without further ado, the inaugural Adam Ahlfeld - Team Player Award goes to:

Adam Ahlfeld

And once again, to make it 100% clear: We here at Defend The Rock love Adam Ahlfeld and the energy and enthusiasm he brings to Hoosier basketball. In no way, shape or form are we trying to make fun or demean him.