Dave from Dayton

Went on northern route from Ohio to NJ years ago. Toured through Corning Glass. Then stayed in Ithaca. It's 'gorges'. Falls, lakes Cornell U. Lakes are sparsely populated. Rolling hills. Have toured 1000 islands, Montreal, Vermont, Lake George, Bush Kill Falls, Delaware Watershed, Princeton...Philly, DC.Skied Mt Snow, Killington, Okemo Mountain. There are some nice falls just SE of Buffalo. Hitting northern Rockies in a year. After 50th wedding anniversary next year to San Antonio. Lake Erie for 3 weeks this August.

True that VO is and was super athletic and has a high basketball IQ. What a talent! He was recruited by Tom Crean. I was talking about RMK recruiting that may not have attracted those that weren't seeking a drill sergeant that wanted team play and well, you know. Crean wanted talent, made promises...and went after anyone who made eye contact.

Seems to me that even Jared Jeffries doesn't make it into the top ten. Smart guy, 6'11", really liked playing defense, 11 year pro career, $42.5 million. Would have to debate myself about taking Benson over Jeffries. Naw, I would take both. But McGinnis and Thomas were among the best I have seen up close and personal. And Cal Cheaney... Interesting that RMK's team focus seemed to not grab the freakish athletic and talent of the top of the NBA. Maybe FedEx didn't deliver cash to our recruits often enough. But what do I know...I'm just a fan of IU basketball (and football, and soccer, and swimming, and other extracurricular activities...wink, wink, nudge, nudge...) Name the players on IU's teams that could vertical 42" or 44"... A J Moye, for one.

How in the holy hell can the Spurs be up in the first half by 25? Pssst: Online betting like DraftKings. Watch the pendulum swing.

Our new recruit.

Taking a look at the game IU vs Warriors: During the '67 - '68 season, Wilt-the-Stilt had a free throw percentage of 37. Some teams had a "hack-the-Wilt" game plan to stop him. But we are looking at earlier... Looking back at IU's '25 team: they were proficient at hacking, at least. Maybe that might keep them in the game until our 'not bigs' fouled out, just looking for the light through the eye of this needle from the distance of the three-point line. Warriors win. But against the Celtics...yeah, right. Celts win. The only way IU would have competed is if Indiana could pass better and get many more assists and the pros didn't defend. No freaking way IU could outscore the pros. I do think that basketball knowledge and coaching have improved over time. But the Celts and the Warriors...at that level are giants and skilled...against an IU team that just wasn't.

Sometimes, my wife and I don't see eye to eye. I'm a foot taller. (Spoiler alert: My comments were about Beauty Land, Greg Mendez) Sometimes I don't speak right. But then I know what I am talking about. Why can't we be friends? It's just this little chromium switch here...click.

Ok. Stuhoo...I listen to some of your recommendations. This is really good. Wife, who has a better ear, says: Good voice. Original stuff. Great background dinner/cafe listening. Kinds of reminds me of some ballads...just not schmaltzy or maudlin. It is an underwater melancholy indie folk introspective...soft, warm and fuzzy.

IU men's basketball will be playing a huge, expanded schedule. Starting July 18 - 28 in Peru, and then 20 games in conference... Was thinking about getting the team through the gauntlet, might just help to come back with some Peruvian Marching Powder. Yee gads there are some dog home games in AH. Coach DD is quoted this week discussing the slide to schedule more games at neutral sites to help with NIL. Getting tickets for 4 in Indy against pUKe seems like an idea. I'm setting up a GoFundMe site...

Lots of lead changes... Wild race at the end. The 2026 Indianapolis 500 set a new all-time race record with 70 lead changes, surpassing the previous record of 68 set in 2013. A comparison to previous years highlights a massive shift in racing strategy and parity. 70 lead changes among 14 different drivers, culminating in the closest finish in race history.

Just this morning before reading this mustc thread, listened to Little Charlie and the Nightcats on Spotify. Was in two playlists. Jazz Blues Instrumentals and Jazz Blues Since 2000.

Preseason projections and evaluations can be indicators. But no one really has a great handle on any rebuilt teams until well into a tougher part of the schedule. Except for maybe the coaches...after some practices. Right or wrong, last season got the short end of the stick for many reasons. Not much was satisfactory except for getting a coaching change and Lamar Wilkerson...and isolated glimpses of development and improvement. This new season we may have a really decent PG who stays healthy. Maybe. After that, we have upgraded size and gotten mostly experienced players that have more than one year of eligibility remaining. They have not played together. They have a new head coach in a new setting and new offensive and defensive schemes. As for talent...discuss that as you will. I won't. There's just too much preseason hype for me to get into anything other than rough comparisons. Too many other things are vitally important. We all know about effort, ballers, athletes, how smart they are, turnovers, team play, coaching, defense, shooting, assists, rebounding, health, locker room issues, youth, depth, B10 physicality, road trips, scheduling, one more scholarship...) Pleased that this team will get some serious practice and games preseason. Still trying to get my arms around the portal and $$$$$$ being thrown around. The season keeps getting longer. Travel distances greater. Preseason and practices expanded this year. I'm going to enjoy warmer weather and there is no hurry to get to the fall and winter sports. *When's tipoff?

Maybe we could offer the last scholarship to the son of one of the B1G referees. (Like Wisconsin does?)

I am very proud of our National Football Champions Indiana University. As the runner up...did Miami have to go to the White House twice this year? Happy Twilight Zone Day!

On the surface, if all things were clear cost/benefit... The above reasoning that 'we' are spending and IU needs 'to deliver a six seed or better' seems appropriate. Except for the apparent mandate that the team and coaches just have to deliver a six seed. (Or else 'we' won't gift NIL.) As we saw with Woody and his teams, they didn't deliver. And we still get an estimated $20 million. Football success probably had a lot to do with it. I wonder about this. Gifts to athletics are motivated by all sorts of wants and desires. Some may be because of gratitude for one reason or another. I have all sorts of questions about the process. Some may never get answered. I don't question that student/athletes deserve pay. Gifts are an interesting source of NIL. Gifts to university athletics are generally not directly part of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) because NCAA rules prohibit institutions from paying athletes directly. However, donations to NIL collectives—separate, supporter-run entities—are the primary funding source for athlete NIL deals, representing 70-80% of revenue. Seems to me that there are no musts to deliver. Coaches get paid oodles whether they deliver or not...per their contracts. Students get their $$$ regardless. There is little or no control or feedback about winning. Moral suasion, pride, doing a job well...and future opportunities...yes. That seems to me to disconnect from fans gifting to NIL and athletics. I am not questioning that it appears that $20 million in NIL appears to be in the range of a middle seed in the NCAAT. Although that is obviously subject to debate. In economics, it appears to me to be almost perfect inelasticity between how much NIL is funded by fans depending on performance in previous years. Football, those that have disposable funds and, of course, businesses marketing, all are wild cards in this.