Dave from Dayton

Watched the soccer game between France and USA. France really pressured USA the whole game. USA looked sloppy passing and their defense was soft but jelled around the goal. 0 - 0 at the half. In the 2nd period again, France pressured, and the USA had some great opportunities. Turned the game off after it was 3 France, zip USA. Not a happy camper. And my best friend has cancer. Will see him Thursday to get the whole picture. But I do have a new quiver of bad jokes. He is an OSU fan. Told him I know acupuncture. En garde!

Egads! 44 vs 32. Them....at the half. except for the technical foul.....

Race does look good. IU!

Does it matter who gets the nod since IU is snakebit? It will be bad for IU athletics. Signed: Nostradamus/Cleo/The Great Carnac/Banksy/AZ/Hfan17/J***/Eeyore /s

Oh, the usual June and July doldrums and complaints because we haven't won men's basketball games during the off-season. And, generally, the non-conference games look more competitive across the board. But, hey, it is easy to say something negative. It takes no preparation.

I am glad that Crean adjusted his pants. And his clapping is a lot better than 4-letter words or the stares or sitting on court on a stool or cheating. I lived in Wisconsin and Crean had a history at Marquette. Let's just say that he was in sales almost 100% of the time. He sold to recruits and then didn't stick to his guns. He sold his spin on every single thing. Overhyped players, the team, himself, his opinions.... Then he got his big fish...Wade. And sold that for years. He sold running faster and take a break on defense and other things. He thought that working harder and longer meant winning. He forgot the part about working smarter. But that would not have been Tom Crean. In summary, what bothered me was the overreliance on athletes and not the team and mailing in on defense which should be used to an advantage. No one else may have wanted the IU job when it was offered to Crean. The IU demands and administration were a bit too much of a risk or bummer for lots of prospects, it appeared. We need a winner. We might just have one in men's basketball this year. Maybe.

Uh, no. IU does not need a uniter. IU needs a winner. RMK was not a uniter. Unite the fans...yeah, right. Now there's a priority to put into a head coach's contract. /s

"Again generalizing people." Then the poster goes on with "the best ceiling most of us have is sweet sixteen with a possible elite 8 chance"..." That’s loser mentality and defeatism." Sounds a lot like generalizing. Kind of weird though. RMK didn't win a banner each and every year. In between those 3 NCs, I see that he and we were settling for mediocrity of not reacing the last three days. Funny. Ironic. I put it to you, Banksy- isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen! Well, I'm not settling for a sweet sixteen or possible elite 8 chance. I'm going to live happily ever after and continue cheering for IU. You can project whatever you want to and diss the coach for his personality traits. He is human after all. RMK wasn't...ahem...quirky. Mike Davis wasn't... Nor was Dan D. Not at all goofy. Nor he who must not be named. (Think cell phone and team running amok). Hey and car salesman Top Cat Crean was normal as well normal along the lines of Hollywood. Archie was pure milquetoast. Woodson? Yeah, his look of love is quite motivational. Yeah, human too. What the hell does that have to do with winning? Now I think Coach Woodson's flawed selections of guards, bad platooning of subs, and strange or lack of play calling and reliance on bigs and losing has continued to drive us cray cray. OMG! He is such a jerk (?) because he is a human. OK. Next issue. Let's talk about the suits or sweaters or choice of cars or how he does his facial hair next. Cool bro. I know, I know, this is the fire Coach Woodson thread. Go for it. Does it help to claim fans settle for mediocrity? When one doesn't even know that or them...

I' m just happy that people really want IU to win at basketball and give attention to Btown Banners. Whether they post positive or negative comments about CMW is their personal choice and generally makes no difference to me. If one does not like CMW's persona and/or coaching, then one might not have liked RMK's later time at IU. I got tired and disappointed at times with RMK. But I was of the opinion that the administration did not deal correctly with him. Tough job that, for sure. He was absolutely superb with X's and O's and getting the most out of matchups and defense and the team as a whole. I don't get it why some keep posting the same stuff. But it is not up to me, and I can't and won't do anything except laugh or shake my head at the pointlessness of some of it. People may be getting swayed by style somewhat and not substance. But in this time of the all-powerful videos and social media, that's pretty much what we see outside of the few hours of actual games. The meme with "Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves?" if one doesn't recognize it is from a really funny antiwar/comedy flick produced in 1970...Kelly's Heroes. The airhead in the meme is recently deceased actor Donald Sutherland in an 'oddball' character. He also played Hawkeye Pierce in the movie MASH. I am a fan of his acting, movies and IU basketball. I have high hopes for this year. It looks like we just may finally have really good and healthy guards and distributors and might even have players that may be productive from outside. Imagine that. Late next season, if CMW and the team do not do well...