The Obligatory Valentine's Day Post

As much as I want to ignore Valentine's Day, I just can't. I'll stay away from the typical bashing of the "holiday" by not referencing it as a "Hallmark holiday" or "Single's Awareness Day" or any of those clever and witty sayings. I have my own Valentine's Day reflection.

Feb. 14, 2008 marks the 10-year anniversary of one of the saddest four-day periods of my young life.

Chicago Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray, who took his wife Dutchie out to dinner on V-Day, collapsed at a restaurant and would die four days later.

Caray was an icon on both sides of Chicago, but in St. Louis as well--that's quite a trifecta to be able to have icon status for three sets of different fandoms. But not only was he a Chicago icon, he was my idol.

Personally, I credit Caray and analyst Steve Stone for teaching me all I needed to know about baseball and life. "Stoney" would provide in-depth baseball analysis "for all you little leaguers at home", while Caray would give classic play-by-play calls with a dash of random commentary about cute blondes and Budweiser.

Before I wanted to become the next great sports journalist, I wanted to be the next Harry Caray.

I'll always remember the time I met him with my mother at the Cubs Convention as he stood by the elevators. I told him I wanted to be just like him when I grew up and he told me "You'll make it, kid" and he gave me an autograph I will always cherish.

And even though the Cubs have had some decent broadcasters since the death of the man I knew as "Uncle Harry", watching a Cubs game hasn't been the same.

I hope those of you that enjoy V-Day go out and have a rockin' good time. I'll try to do so myself, just because I know Harry would want me to.

NOTE: Harry lives on, being the inspiration on my main quote: “Booze, broads, and bullshit. If you got all that, what else do you need?”

SIU downs Drake, ends Bulldogs' bid for Valley perfection

Somewhere in Miami, the ’72 Dolphins are popping champagne. Oops, wrong sport. Let’s try that again.

Wednesday night’s game against Drake can be summed up in just four words: Not In Our House!

Drake guard Leonard Houston had a chance to tie the game with a last-second three, but the shot misfired, giving SIU the 65-62 upset victory over the No. 14 Bulldogs.

The victory kept Drake from celebrating a share of the MVC regular season title, for now. Allow me to paraphrase SIU broadcaster Mike Reis, who said it best in the post-game show: “If anyone’s going to clinch a title at the SIU Arena, it’s gonna be the guys in the white.” The victory also kept the Salukis undefeated at home, and improved their record to 60-1 at the SIU Arena against MVC foes in the past seven years.

Player of the Game: Senior forward Randal Falker, who led the Salukis with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

THREE UP:

• Fans at the SIU Arena. Despite crappy road conditions, frigid temperatures and a .500 team, Saluki fans came out and acted like they were out in full force, despite an estimated crowd of 5,700 people—and the sixth man acted like it was in front of a national televised audience, to boot. Kudos to the Dawg Pound, though I do take exception to chanting “Overrated!” with less than three seconds left—those fans obviously missed how the SIU-Butler game ended.
• Bench play. The key to SIU’s victory was its bench play. Joshua Bone, who has started a majority of the games for the Salukis this year, came off the bench to score 9 points. When Bone’s shot is falling, it forces defenses to stretch, which either gives Falker more operating room in the post—or Bone more room to shoot behind-the-arc.
• Falker dominates the offensive glass. There’s no way good ol’ #14 gets a double-double without his seven offensive rebounds. Teams that grab offensive boards win games, it’s as simple as that. Crashing the offensive glass allows teams to get second chance points, while also keeping the ball away from the opposition. Remember, you can’t win if you don’t score…and they can’t score if you have the ball!

THREE DOWN:

• Referees. Yeah, they were bad. I’ve come to the realization that the MVC will never get quality refs unless it combines with the Big 10, making a super-duper conference like the Big East. All jokes aside, it’s hard enough to get quality ref’s because of A) the pay [or lack thereof] B) the job itself [really, who wants a job where you spend two hours getting your life threatened and sexuality second guessed by a bunch of college kids?] or C) the travel schedule [think about it, these guys probably have to go by bus or on their own across the Midwest—and that doesn’t sound like fun in the winter months]. Still, there was no reason to call SIU broadcaster Mike Reis for a blocking foul when Drake forward Jonathan Cox went diving onto the broadcast table (Kudos! to Salukitalk for that nugget).
• “Overrated” chant. I’ve got two problems with that chant. Problem #1: It came waaay too early. I wish fans would realize that “it ain’t over, ‘til it’s over!” Problem #2: Drake’s good, really good. Realize the fact that the Bulldogs are a quality team deserving of that #14 ranking, but they ran into a team that plays like a pre-season top-25 team at home—and the game happened to be in Carbondale, Ill. tonight.
• Points off turnovers. Even though SIU won where it really matters—in the final score—but it’s hard to ignore Drake’s 20 points off TO’s, especially when SIU only scored 12. SIU had too many turnovers, and that could have easily cost them the game. But understand, the Salukis are operating with only one true point guard. I’m still waiting for Dion Coopwood to be freed by Coach Lowery. He’s not a star, but damn it, he’s a true point guard and if he can give me five quality minutes of feeding the post, then I’d be happier than with Bone—a pure shooting guard—playing out of position, running the point.

EXTRA POINTS:

• While Matt Shaw’s free-throw gave the Salukis the three-point lead it would end up holding on to, one could argue SIU doesn’t win the game without Tyrone Green’s surprising three-pointer. “Greenie” isn’t much of a shooter, but he’s in there to play defense and to provide energy. What he gives you on the offensive end is pure bonus.
• With SIU’s win and Creighton’s loss to Evansville, the Dawgs are back in a tie for third-place with four conference games remaining. One of those games is against second-place Illinois State.
• The Salukis will look to pick up their second road win of the year Saturday as they hit the road against Wichita State. SIU beat the Shockers 63-52 Jan. 19 in a game that should have been a laugher.

‘Til then, goodnight from Carbondale!

An Open Letter to Saluki Nation

Next in the "Open Letter" series, a message to Saluki Nation.

Dear Saluki Nation:

A simple request from one of your own for tonight's basketball game: Be there. Be loud. Be Proud.

The Salukis host MVC leader Drake tonight at the SIU Arena in a pivotal match-up. While it might look like the Salukis have nothing to play for, that assumption would be wrong. Beating Drake, the No. 14 team in the country, would keep Drake from clinching a part of the MVC regular season title on our home court and keep our undefeated record against conference opponents in tact.

I believe that home court advantage is one of the key aspects in college basketball and being supportive of your team can really pick up the spirits of a team struggling to stay afloat and be competitive with a record hovering around .500.

So Saluki fans, I know the weather is tough--but get out there and support your Salukis! You might get a chance to play a role in something special.

Sincerely,

LuDo

Snowed In!

For the first time since 1984, weather has closed down Southern Illinois University. Yes, that means we've got a Snow Day in Carbondale! I'm pretty sure we never had a snow day while I was a student in the Chicago Public Schools system, so I'll enjoy it thoroughly.

And by "enjoy it thoroughly", I mean I will trap myself in my apartment and stay out of the snow and cold. But that's not all that bad, it gives me time to catch up on my blog, acquire new music, clean my room (NOT!) and start writing a skeleton of my Thursday article which will preview the women's swimming MVC Championships which are going to be held Feb. 14-16 at the SIU Rec Center.

Well, at least that means I'll be busy on Valentine's Day. Ahhh, good ol' V-Day! It deserves a post of its own and will likely get it because there is nothing I like more than a good ol' fashioned blog bitching about Valentine's Day. Don't worry, I'll have something up my sleeve.

While it's freezing up here, I'm imagining warmer temps out in Arizona where the Cubs will be kicking off Spring Training in just a few days. Manager Lou Piniella is in his second year with the Cubs and will try to take another crack at ending the longest championship drought in Major League Baseball.

Hmmm, it seems as if a Cubs preview deserves a post of its own. I know I've been promising one for a while, but it will get done.

As for the SIU men's basketball team, yuck! They just can't win on the road and that just means it's a mental thing. 9-2 at the friendly confines of the SIU Arena, but only 1-9 on the road. Even if SIU is 4-5 on the road, they would be 16-8 and looking like a much better team.

12-12 is a looong fall from a team that was only a few buckets away from knocking off the Kansas Jayhawks in the Sweet 16 round a year ago. I knew the Dawgs would miss Jamaal Tatum and Tony Young, but without one of the most dynamic backcourt duos in SIU history, the Salukis look lost--especially on the road.

That takes us to a little bit of a preview of Wednesday's game (weather permitting, of course) against the No. 14 Drake Bulldogs. Drake, who was picked to finish 9th in the MVC according to the pre-season poll, is the class of the MVC this year and has shocked the college hoops world by winning 21 straight games.

That means it is up to SIU to A) stop the streak and B) not allow Drake to clinch anything at the SIU Areana.

Me thinks that topic deserves a post of its own too. Guess what, it will!

That's all for now, sorry for not keeping up, life is busy (to say the least). I'll leave you with some quality linkage:

• Fire Joe Morgan hops on my bandwagon, statistically proving why Ryan Theriot shouldn't be at the top of the batting order. Note: I really like Theriot, but the Cubs aren't going to win a World Series because of him, who knows if they can win one with him batting lead-off and playing 150 games at shortstop.
• I know we ridiculed Latrell Sprewell for rejecting a $21 million extension because he had mouths to feed, but now aren't we looking foolish? Sprewell's yacht is gone and his home might be next.
• Don't look now...seriously don't look. ESPN's got themselves another gimmick: "The Greatest Highlight." Don't you miss the days of Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick and "The Big Show"--friggin' SportsCenter you could watch all morning??? I know I do. This is gonna suck--and it's hosted by Chris Berman and he's a tool! (Not to be confused with Plies!)
• One of my favorite baseball blogs Bugs & Cranks has two pieces comparing the 2007 Patriots choke to not one--but two--different chokes!
• This high school girl is an absolute beast in the post. She's committed to Baylor's women's team--so look out for them in the future.

And finally the two "must see" links of the day:

• SIU head coach Chris Lowery makes an appearance at deadspin.com, and it's not a good thing.
• Sometimes I have no sex life, but this guy has absolutely none...wow, that's all I can say.

Quotable:

I never thought I'd pull a quality quote from a site dedicated to the profiles of hot chicks on facebook, but alas:

“Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don’t and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get the chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said that it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.”

Here's the link, enjoy yourselves a pretty girl today.

SIU beats Indiana State, bad weather

Even though it looked like Indiana State would benefit from a short weather delay, taking a half-time lead, but SIU would respond with a dominating second half to win 80-69.

The Salukis picked up the tempo in the second half, scoring 47 points in the process.

The Salukis were led by senior forward Randal Falker's 20 points and 15 rebounds and junior guard Byran Mullins' 22 points and 5 assists.

THREE UP:

• Senior leadership. Seniors Randal Falker, Matt Shaw and Tyrone Green combined to score 42 of SIU's 80 points. Green did his damage coming off the bench attacking the basket and hitting five of six free-throw attempts.
• Not having to rely on the three. The most impressive stat from Tuesday night was SIU's 50% shooting from beyond the arc. The Salukis made 5-of-10 three-point opportunities, a vast improvement from the 6-for-24 they shot in the loss at Northern Iowa.
• Bench production. "Greenie" as Coach Lowery affectionately calls him scored 11 of SIU's 17 bench points, but the Salukis bench put forth a quality effort in Tuesday night's win.

THREE DOWN:

• Joshua Bone's production. Joshua Bone is slumping. Even though he played well in the first half of the Northern Iowa game, Bone struggled in the win over Indiana State. Bone scored 1 point (which came on a made free-throw) in 24 minutes. JB needs to be productive, because when he's on, his outside shot can stretch defenses to where Falker gets more down low opportunities.
• Free throw shooting. SIU needs to hit the freebies, end of story. An 11 point win is nice, but if SIU hits its free-throws, this game would have been a laugher.
• Weather delays. I might have been the only one who noticed ISU's mini-run that came after the weather delay concluded, but if you were paying attention, you would have noticed the Sycamores grab momentum from that point until half-time.

Notes:

• The combination of SIU's win over Indiana State and Illinois State's loss to Drake, the Salukis move into a two-way tie for third place and stands only one game back of second place.
• The Salukis and Sycamores have combined for a grand total of 2 MVC road wins, ouch!

SIU gets a chance to separate itself from Creighton in the standings if they can pull of the win Sunday in Omaha.

SIU Bracketbusted, Dumb Reporters & Super Bowl Hangover

Let's start off with something that doesn't involve the biggest upset ever.

SIU is back on BracketBusters. The Salukis will host the Nevada Wolfpack in this year's BracketBuster match-up. Last year, SIU was the top draw of the made-for-TV match-ups when the Salukis visited the Butler Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are back in the top spot again hosting SIU rival and MVC leader Drake.

The real story of SIU's match-up is the return game to Reno. Personally, I'm going to start saving now and hope the return game takes place during Thanksgiving Break or Winter Break. I wonder how many of my fellow reporters can I keep in my hotel room in the MGM Grand in nearby Las Vegas.

On BracketBuster weekend, SIU will need to find a way to stop two 7-footers, and senior guard Marcelus Kemp. It could be the last hurrah for the Salukis.

Quality Linkage:

This will be a new segment of this blog. I'll provide links of things I find "newsworthy." Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?

• Baseball blog Bugs & Cranks provides a different perspective on Super Bowl XLII.
• Busted Coverage has got newspaper covers on lock.
• On 205th has a commercial that I don't remember either (I think I would remember this one)
• The Big Lead has three. awesome. angles. TBL is my favorite sportsblog for a reason!
• Someone can't find Illinois on a map. Thankfully, I can.
  

State of the Blog: 2008

State of the Blog: 2008

Inspired by President Bush’s “State of the Union” address, I now present to you the inaugural State of the Blog.

Today is a new day…well, yes and no. A “new day” began Jan. 15, 2008 when I made my debut as a sports reporter for The Daily Egyptian. It was a day that was four years in the making. It was a day that I thought would never come, but now that it’s here, I’m cherishing every moment. Even though I am only covering swimming and track (and soon tennis), it is the jumpstart I’ve needed for years.

So what does that moment have to do with the future of this blog? A lot, actually. Notice that blogging has become less frequent in the last month, mostly because if I’m too busy with newspaper stuff and school stuff to think about the Cubs or even my personal life.

Crazy, I know. But that’s going to change (among other things).

First, take note that I’m not moving the site. I’ve done that before and really don’t feel like doing it again (though maybe I should for another fresh start). OK, I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’ll be making changes to this blog.

First, I’m changing the layout of this blog. I’ll be experimenting with color schemes, fonts, etc. I’m also going to expand the content of this blog. Granted, that was the idea in the first place…but really, let’s put this into perspective. I’ll be posting thoughts on the following: SIU athletics, life as a sports reporter, presidential candidates, Chicago sports, my favorite athletes, music, movies, hot girls, blogs I like, life as a college student, and more. The key is the “and more” part.

Actually the key is how these things will be presented. You will no longer get long, drawn out blogs (much like this one). Instead, you’ll get shorter material that gets you straight to the point. For example, check out my recent recaps of Saluki basketball. It consists of a paragraph recap of the game, three highlights, three lowlights, three “notes” (which are usually stats) and who SIU will be playing next.

I’ll be keeping it simple in 2008.

As for rants, they’ll be saved for special occasions—like when Ryan Dempster gives up five runs in the first inning of his first start and I’m ready to run him out of town. Or when some girl breaks my heart (hey, it’s happened before so it’s bound to happen in 2008). Actually, most of my recent rants have been answered by my cousin, so no need to post them here.

So what can you (the reader) look forward to in 2008? How about the following:

· Previewing the 2008 Chicago Cubs

• · SIU sports coverage (beyond basketball)
• · Politics (You know we get to pick a new leader in Nov., right?)
• · Music (Good songs, bad songs, album reviews, etc.)
• · Movies (I don’t go to the movies much, so we’ll see how that works out)
• · Other blogs (I’m going to be linking a lot more to my favorite blogs—for it is their work that is inspiring me to do this.)
• · More You Tube video (You can’t go wrong with cool videos)

And more. 2008 is gonna be special, whether you like it or not!