Indiana MSU no rivalry now, but just wait

First appeared on December 31st, 2011 in The Lebanon Reporter
Ford vs. Chevy. Us vs. the Soviets. Kramer vs. Kramer. Elmer Fudd vs. Bugs Bunny. And, come November 2012, President Obama vs. someone the Republican Party really doesn’t want to nominate but at some point had to. We as American’s have a long history of being captivated by rivalries. They both fascinate and drive us. By nature we eat them up (and, as the most obese nation on Earth, apparently rivalries aren’t the only things we enjoy eating up).

When it comes to college basketball however Indiana vs. Michigan State doesn’t scream “rivalry” in any sense of the word. Fans of Indiana men’s basketball have come to appreciate rivalries. During the Bobby Knight era they learned to hate the General’s alma mater Ohio State and a jacket tossing, comb-over sporting Gene Keady only cemented their generational dislike for Purdue. More recently Hoosier fans failed to embrace the rivalries Kelvin Sampson tried to cultivate within the NCAA office of compliance.

But as for Michigan State, in the Tom Crean Era at least, the match up has been anything but a rivalry (for this to be the case Crean would actually have to win a game first). And before you blame everything on Coach Crean, the Hoosiers program has struggled for some time in East Lansing (their last win there coming during Bush the Firsts presidency). Clearly this can’t entirely be his fault, unless you factor in that many of those losses were dealt to the Hoosiers while Crean was on Tom Izzo’s bench, then it most likely is his fault.

But Wednesday night there was something lurking beneath the surface of the Big Ten opener. Something found beyond the 4 point 3 rebound performance of Super Frosh Cody Zeller and the fact Crean is now 0 for his life against his mentor (Izzo). Way past the fact sharpshooter Jordan Hulls likely had his worst shooting performance as a Hoosier, somewhere drifting far below the knowledge that the league’s best Sixth Man (arguably and Will Sheehey) did not play was the discovery that what we may have in Indiana Michigan State is a fast budding rivalry.

For example A that this is a budding rivalry consider the sight of both Izzo and Crean jumping around, veins popping in their necks and foreheads while throwing vicious uppercuts into the air as if they’d just finished Rex Kwondo’s eight week self-defense program for only $300 (as first seen on Napoleon Dynamite). This was a clear indicator that this December game was more than just a Big Ten opener.

One key ingredient in a rivalry is hatred and for the Indiana faithful there are numerous reasons to loath State. Beyond the fact Sparty has supplanted Indiana as the resident National Title contender in the conference, one Hoosier who was instrumental in making the last run for a Title in Bloomington is now on the bench in East Lansing (see Fife, Dane).

One must also remember Blue Chip recruit Gary Harris recently announced, after considering IU amongst a host of other schools, that he will take his talents north of the border and join Izzo. Harris is not the first recruit to choose State as currently there are 3 Hoosiers on Indiana’s roster including Brandon Wood who transferred from Valparaiso after scoring 1,000 points there. One thing remains clear. If this is to become a true rivalry, one capable of repeatedly generating the type of electricity we saw permeating the Breslin Center Wednesday night, Indiana will have to beat Michigan State. Their next opportunity comes on February 28th when Sparty travels to Assembly Hall.

© 2011 Eric Walker Williams

The Oaken Bucket is Full of Tradition

First appeared on December 1st, 2011 in The Lebanon Reporter

Through a World War, league expansion, Purdue Pete’s ill-fated experimentation with Botox and the addition of a gaudy, keeping up with the Joneses excuse of a cash-cow disguised as a championship game, there have remained few constants in Big Ten football. At 86 years old and with a face somewhat on the weathered side, she’s a bit more squat than most would prefer. And while she may not be as sexy as a season ending match up in a state-of-the art facility like Lucas Oil stadium, she’s everything when it comes to college football in the state of Indiana.

Of course we’re talking about the Old Oaken Bucket. The connection between football and a bucket somebody more than likely first used to avoid a midnight trip to the privy was first drawn in 1925 during the inaugural Oaken Bucket game, and, just like mediocrity and meaningless football, she has become a mainstay of the Indiana Purdue football rivalry ever since.

And while the kids would say, with its golden alphabet chain, she’s got enough bling to make Flavor-flav or Kim K jealous-she’s still a frumpy old housemaid who’ll never have what it takes to draw attention away from the fishnet stockings and stiletto heels of the Big Ten Championship Game.

And while “tradition” may be a word that puts today’s youth asleep faster than dial up internet or a stuffy old Geography teacher, it’s rarity in today’s world makes it all the more alluring. For those who weren’t in the stands for the consecutive 1-0 shutouts pitched by Purdue in 1893 and 4 (and if perhaps you were- Do you walk every day? Do you take vitamins? How much chocolate cake do you eat?), the rivalry between Indiana and Purdue dates back to before the Spanish American War. And if a 1-0 score wasn’t clue enough that this rivalry would involve some not so stellar football, the first Oaken Bucket game should have opened some eyes. That 1925 contest saw the two teams battle to a 0-0 tie. Clearly, it would have been more exciting and worthwhile to watch someone paint the bucket.

She’s had her moments though. In 1967 John Pont’s Indiana Hoosiers won the Oaken Bucket game before moving on the play in the Rose Bowl. The same happened for Purdue in 2000 while riding the arm of future Hall of Famer Drew Brees to a 41-13 victory in the Bucket game.

But just as with lipstick on a pig and a nationally televised interview in which you try to explain that showering with children is normal, some things can’t change the facts. It’s still Indiana and Purdue and they’re still playing for a wooden bucket. She may not be the Big Ten Championship game and she may not draw millions in advertising, but she’s paid for and she’s ours. True tradition lies in quaint rivalries like the Oaken Bucket. Someone should tell the Big Ten powers that be that tradition cannot be bought nor attained overnight.

There is no price tag you can put on watching Purdue destroy Indiana 60-0 (twice actually, in 1891 and 2) or Austin Starr nail the “Kick heard round the state” in 2007 that sent the Hoosiers bowling. Just as America has the Fourth of July and childhood obesity, the great thing about tradition is that it can mean different things to everyone. So hoist the bucket with pride ye Boiler fans. Fear not that you took it from a team that had only won 1 game, for paunchy silhouette and all, she’s yours to have and to hold for another year.

© 2011 Eric Walker Williams

Go West Young Team

First appeared on December 14th, 2011 in The Lebanon Reporter

If you’re like me when you hear “Go West”, your thoughts automatically drift to the British Rock sensation whose singular gift to the world (King of Wishful Thinking) left an impact upon mankind that is perhaps rivaled only by cheese in aerosol form and Velcro tennis shoes.

Perhaps you count yourselves amongst that more mature, somewhat silver haired generation, who didn’t wear out a cassette of “Go West” in their 1989 Chevy Cavalier. If this is the case, then you likely remember “Go West” as the all call for westward expansion during the Manifest Destiny period of U.S. history (1830’s to the late 1880’s). OK, so maybe not.

But it would seem to find the answer to all his problems, specifically rebounding the basketball and interior scoring, Pacers President Larry Bird did in fact “go West”. Well-west that is provided you consider New Orleans part of the west, which the NBA apparently does. Though part of the west in Lewis and Clark days, the exact location of New Orleans in relation to the Mississippi is debatable at best. In reality however, whether geographically east or west of Old Man River, the Pacers did go west in search of an answer to their Power Forward shortcomings, west as in former New Orlean’s Hornet David West that is.

The Pacers have reportedly agreed to a 2 year deal worth $20 million to bring the former Xavier University graduate to Indy. For those who haven’t seen West play, he’s big. He can bang. He can stroke the 17 foot jumper and he can finish around the basket. And if that doesn’t convince Pacer fans they’re getting their money’s worth in West, I’m sure for $20 million he’ll don a green jacket to park cars and sell popcorn at Conseco too.

Simply put-West will be like both the Davis boys combined minus a few rebounds and their shot-blocking ability plus outside touch, the ability to catch and pass the ball cleanly while making more than 1/3 of his free throws. OK, so maybe that wasn’t so simple.

West doesn’t come without question marks however. He’s yet to play a full season, which may or may not matter in this particular lock-out-shortened campaign. It also remains to be seen if he’ll be willing to rotate over to stop the constant flood of players going around Danny Granger on their way to the basket.

Either way West is the “get” Larry Bird has been trying to get for quite some time now. Stalking him from afar, Bird knew this was the piece that would fit better than any and, after ‘reportedly’ landing him, the Pacers suddenly seem to be coming together in promising form. His arrival has a lot of Hoosiers (or at least 1) Googling “famous people named West”. Apparently there have been several famous west’s. Jerry, Adam, Mae and Kanye. And from this crop you have a man who gave birth to the NBA Logo, another who wore the gunmetal gray tights of Bat Man, a fox so stunning she became the most famous pin up of the “Greatest Generation” and a grown man who stormed the stage to elbow a 16 year old girl out of the spotlight.

Prediction- You will never read another sports column that uses the word “west” 22 times. Prediction #2- David West will be good; really good. Prediction #3- by the end of this NBA season, the most famous “West” according to Hoosiers will be wearing the Blue and Gold of our Indiana Pacers.

© 2011 Eric Walker Williams

Latest Installment of Indiana Kentucky Rivalry should prove interesting

First appeared on December 8th, 2011
in The Lebanon Reporter

At its best, Kentucky is an unfortunate hurdle on the way to Florida. My grandpa always said there was nothing in Kentucky but horses and horse thieves. He saw her as a desert of bluegrass where dogs went to get fleas and cousins went to get marriage licenses. Looking back I don't think he liked Kentucky.

I’ve never really had a high impression of the Bluegrass State either, sure they clean up nice (see the Kentucky Derby, Ashley Judd and Rick Pitino) but at the end of the day it would seem all they can boast is being home to an historic horserace and the highest per capita turkey population in the United States.

But alas, John Calipari has changed all that. Since his arrival in Lexington the Wildcats have done nothing but roll opponents on their way to a quick return to national prominence. Saturday Kentucky, the current number 1 team in the nation, will face an upstart Indiana Hoosier squad chomping at the bit to earn national attention. This contest becomes especially interesting considering it's been a while since IU had more than a puncher's chance in this game. And while one should not expect the Hoosiers to win, one should expect them to compete with Kentucky at the highest level.

For generations the Ohio River has been the only peacemaker separating these two rivals and whether it be competition for river traffic in the mid 1800’s or barn-burning All Star Games throughout the 1980’s, Indiana and Kentucky have learned to hate each other. While Indiana has blessed the world with deep fried Twinkies, David Letterman and the greatest spectacle in racing, Kentucky has been busy churning out Jack Daniels whiskey and air pollution.

And as we await the latest installment of this historic rivalry, many are spitting in the face of IU’s 9-0 record claiming they’ve yet to play anybody. If the Hoosiers are to take more than just another immeasurable baby step forward this season, if Tom Crean truly feels his program is ready for a coming out party-there's no better chance than Saturday. Beating Kentucky would send immediate shock waves across the Big Ten and the ripple effect should be enough to trigger national discussion if not a Top 25 ranking.

The experts will tell you Cody Zeller will need 30 and 15 or Jordan Hulls and Will Sheehey will have to shoot the lights out Saturday for Indiana to hang with Kentucky. But there is one factor the real (not part-time pretend) sports columnists will all overlook. And we’re not talking about Christian Watford or John Calipari’s hair stylist. For never granting an interview or providing a great sound bite, the most overlooked factor in Saturday’s game will be Assembly Hall.

When the Hall is full, and Indiana is right, there may not be a more intimidating place to play in the nation. She becomes a living, breathing thing capable of steering passes off course or causing shooters to short arm shots. A monster cloaked in red that can rise up and swallow opponents whole like Jonah and the whale or Herman Cain and the media.

For Indiana it's not every day you get a chance to slay goliath and it’s even rarer still when goliath happens to be a next door neighbor you’ve stubbornly tolerated (and secretly loathed) for nearly 200 years. So it is when Indiana and Kentucky take the floor that two states will watch, one breathless with anticipation of what could be this season, the other breathless simply because they are the 7th fattest state in the country.

© 2011 Eric Walker Williams