Parakeet Jones

  I would have gotten you an autographed picture of Doug Mallory.  

I got a couple of tee-shirts.  We got the little guy decked out in some more IU swag, which is like getting it for me.  It's hard to find IU gear for a 10 month old.  

Congrats.  You have to wear them every game.  I do mine.     Merry Christmas. 

Merry Christmas from Mrs. Parakeet, Parakeet Jr., and me... and my in-laws who are here for two weeks... and my parents who are sitting in my living room right now.     In the words of Tiny Tim, "and God bless us, everyone!"

  The fact that you listed this makes me smile.  Posts like that make me glad you found your way over here too. 

Nice break down.  This is one of those seasons where I probably won't look at the B1G standings that much.  I'll just focus on counting how many wins we have.  Even without having a quality win non-conference, I think 9-9 is the magic mark to get us to the Dance.  (I'm taking for granted that with the quality of the B1G a couple of those nine would be quality wins.)     The countdown to nine starts in seven days.  

Did you ever really believe you'd see the day IU football was mentioned in the same sentence so to speak with the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys?  

Doug Mallory... the gift that keeps on giving the whole year through.  

It was great to see Luke have a good day.  I have to believe that part of his increased comfort out there is that he is getting back to 100% after the injury in the preseason.  

  I agree on the forced part.  That is the thing that frustrates me the most.  He just seems to force the issue too much at times.  I think he does that because he wants to be good and contribute and I can respect that.     If he were a Jr. and playing like this I'd be a lot more worried.  However we're getting to the point where you'd hope to see some consistency and improvement from him.  

 Unfortunately I'm starting to agree with that, and the frustrating thing about that is that he has the potential to be better. 

Double what the heck   IU 71 MSU 70   For whatever reason we always have played them tough under Crean.

Yogi

What the heck   Hoosiers 67 Illinois 65

  After today I am certainly in favor of seeing what Luke could do in the lineup in place of Troy.  I was commenting on this at the game today to my dad.  

I went with Yogi.  When we get into B1G play, Yogi is going to have to play close to 40 minutes a game for us to have a chance to win most games.  

Imagine a Mallory led defense against Oregon every year.  

Belmont has a really good coach.  He doesn't get the publicity a power 6 conference coach would get, but he is probably a better coach than 75% of them.  

  Stinks for my fantasy basketball team. 

Anyone else on here just killing time at work today?  There really isn't much going on here.     Today is my last day before Christmas break.  I have the kids killing time in shortened classes today until an assembly to end the day.  No pressure of having to teach them anything to day, but I am bored stiff.   Anyone else headed to the game tonight?    

So the last hour of the day is going to be a dance in the gym as a reward for kids with no referrals for the nine weeks.  Close to 500 hormonal middle schoolers in closed quarters with loud music that I will probably hate.  I'm pretty sure that is what hell is going to be like.    If I can just make it through that last hour...

This day could not move any slower.  I'm sitting here watching kids finish up missing math assignments or play math games on their computers.  So far the leader in the clubhouse has 13 missing assignments for the nine weeks.     At least we are getting a catered meal at lunch.  

Personally, I'd rather keep the place under an adjusted name than to build something new.  I have too many good memories there.     I certainly see why some are so upset about this, I just can't personally work up the disgust or outrage over it.  

  First off, the Pacers did plenty to lose that game on their own.     Having said that, LBJ gets the protection of being a superstar player that others do not and yes that can affect the outcome of the game.     LBJ had three fouls in the first half.  His style of play did not change in the second and yet he did not get called for one single foul in the second half.  Superstar protection.  This is in contrast to a non-super star like Hibbert having to sit for most of the second half with five (Vogel should have had him out).  The fact that the NBA allows protection to go on like that for certain players is the "crap" in all of this.    It was crap for MJ.  It was/is crap for Kobe.  It is crap for LBJ.  

Why leave Hibbert in there with four?   :angry:   Nice run in response to his 5th though.