Tom Izzo

Tom Izzo has always been known as a classy coach. He has always been someone who has played by the rules, recruited with vigor, and coaches with heart. He is a role model for his players and colleagues, and is one of the most noticeable names in all Big Ten sports.  He is one of the definitive Michigan State icons.

Here’s some numbers to throw at you: 1 national championship. 11 straight NCAA tournament appearances. Five Final Four appearances this decade. 7 players with All-American status. 15 All Big Ten players. A stable of coaches that learned from him that are successful Division 1 coaches. 11 players that have played in the NBA.

And it could all go away.

Why? Well, the rumors have turned from whispers into in your face questions as Kentucky fired Billy Gillispie, and the focus has shifted in terms of filling the vacancy to Izzo. Kentucky is known as one of the crown jewel’s of college basketball, and Izzo certainly has earned the position tenfold. The question is–will he?

There have been many coaches that have said that they aren’t going anywhere (i.e. Bill Self at Illinois) only to end up at greener pastures. But while some of the coaching positions remain absolutely golden–Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, UCLA–I think that Izzo is making Michigan State one of those prized schools. He is the face of Michigan State, the hope of a conference, the statesman of college basketball. Yes,  it would be a great opportunity, but Izzo isn’t about opportunity–he is a man of loyalty, and I think the only way he leaves Michigan State is by retirement. If he leaves, it will be one of the more shocking things I have ever seen in college basketball.

But stranger things have happened…

The Big Ten has only had five commissioners since 1922. That’s an amazing number and a testament to the loyalty shown by these five individuals. One of those elite is none other than Jim Delaney, who has captained the conference for almost 20 years. He has undergone several changes in several different arenas, and one of his chief responsibilities at the current time is amongst other commissioners on the Bowl Championship Series “team”. Read the rest of this entry »

Huntington Park Ohio State

The new Huntington Park, being built in Columbus, will more than likely be far and away the nicest and obviously more state-of-the-art facility in all of the Big 10 as the home field for the Ohio State Buckeyes. According to reports, the officials at THE Ohio State university feel so strongly about it that they are prepped to make an offer to Big 10 officials to permanently host the conference baseball tournament there. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll admit it, I have been like a lot of people in my anger at both sides of this epic battle of the Big Ten Network and Comcast, as it seems it always comes down to money. Heck, I’m not real happy with Comcast in the least, they came in as the big bully and took over Insight as my “everything” provider, and has promptly raised rates as well as concerns with their network capabilities, etc. But I digress.

Since March, subscribers and Big 10 fans have eagerly been awaiting the final ok to a proposed agreement with the BTN and the cable network, but it has yet to be disseminated. In fact, it’s making me a bit nervous that there are more stipulations that I will not be hip to, but as long as at least I have an option to put the BTN on my list, I am simply ecstatic for that availability. The fact is with the biggies Michigan and Ohio State hogging much of the primetime games on the football schedule, when you want to watch another team, the choices are slim pickings most of the time.

Get it done, boys. You can only hurt yourself the longer this goes on, for pete’s sake.

Alright, alright, I know that the Big 10 is known for the big moneymakers for college sports, that being basketball and football. While the conference has good strengths in normal non-revenue sports like wrestling, volleyball, tennis, and what not, baseball has always been one where there just doesn’t seem to be a whole heckuvalot of success overall. And judging by the prognostication by the experts for the Major league Baseball draft to be held on June 5-6th, there’s not much faith in the individual players from the Big 10 either. Read the rest of this entry »

Although Penn State seemed to have a decent offensive day in the second round of the tournament versus Purdue, it was no match for the day that Dan Black had, as he bombed 2 HR and 6 RBI to lead the Boilermakers to a seemingly easy win over the Nittany Lions 15-6. (It kind of helps when you score 9 runs in the first innings, doesn’t it?)

This was a surprise more than likely for Purdue fans, as Penn State normally has a solid pitching staff, proving it in a opening round 6-1 win over Indiana. However, the Boiler bats were rocking from the start, and it was a downward spiral for the Nittany Lions after that. Seven of the nine starters had more than one hit, and Black was never retired, going 4-4. Of course, the sun was also an ally for Purdue, as the Penn State outfielders lost two fly balls in the early going in the blinding light, which aided in Purdue’s huge opening.

The win propels Purdue through the “winner’s” bracket against Michigan. The loss for Penn State puts them in the elimination bracket and they will face the winner of Indiana-Illinois. Maybe Penn State can hope for a dreary day

If there’s one player that the Penn State Nittany Lions do not want to see again, it’s Illinois’ Casey McMurray. In the weekend series versus Penn St., the freshman outfielder had at least one hit and one run in every game against the Nittany Lions, including a five-hit night in the series opener and a four-hit day in the series finale. He also doubled twice and drove in three runs in the first game of the series and scored three runs in the final game of the weekend. Read the rest of this entry »

Ok, so I have to admit, this is kind a lame press release considering the ridiculousness of it all, but it still shouldn’t take away from the year that Drew O’Neil is having for the Penn State baseball team. The “Midseason Watch List” has been released by the NCBWA. What’s the NCBWA, you say? Why, it’s the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association. And even more so, it’s not just for a pitching award, it’s for the “Stopper” award. Ok, honestly, isn’t this going a weeeeee bit too far for awards? Read the rest of this entry »