Luck in Hawaii
Andrew Luck will play in the NFL Pro Bowl in Honolulu this coming Sunday. Tom Brady decided to pass on it so Luck as an alternate selection will take his place. The Pro Bowl has become a real ho-hum affair but it stays on the schedule because the team owners like to meet and start plans for the new season in the warmth of Hawaii.
Big Times for Indiana Basketball
Right now, the State of Indiana has two ranked teams in the Associated Press NCAA college basketball poll. Indiana University is number 7 and Butler is number 9. The Dawgs are moving up and the Hoosiers have taken a bit of a fall. Both teams have 16-2 records. You will note, however, that the IU Big Red enter the season as the nation’s number 1 ranked team. Both may be headed to the NCAA regional at Lucas Oil coming up. The Coaches poll has IU at number 8 and Butler at 9. I’ve always given more credence to the Coaches Poll. Don’t count the Hoosiers out though. They still have plenty of guns. As for Butler, Brad Stevens has the Bulldogs in top form and who knows? They just might be playing for the NCAA Championship before it’s all over.
The Pacers are leading the Central Division of the NBA Eastern Conference with a 26-16 record and are third in the conference 2 games in back of Miami. They are 16-3 at Bankers Life but 10-13 on the road. That has to change or they are headed for an early out in the playoffs. Third year Guard/ Forward Paul George, the Pacer’s top pick in the 2010 draft, is leading the team with 17.5 points per game.
Tom Crean and the Super Bowl
Hoosier Coach Tom Crean gives the state its Super Bowl connection. He’s married to the sister of the Harbaugh brothers. Jim Harbaugh is co-owner of the Panther Racing Team that competes in the IRL and the Indy 500.
Notre Dame Football Scandal?
You have probably heard about the so-called scandal involving Notre Dame Linebacker Manti Te’o. Te’o has claimed he was the victim of an Internet hoax involving the reports of the death of his girlfriend from leukemia. It was discovered that this “girlfriend” never existed in the first place, but was a created Internet “personality.” The question is, did Manti Te’o participate in the creation of this fabricated relation for publicity purposes, or was he a victim of deceit as he now claims he was? Te’o has given conflicting stories about the situation and has shown himself to be not the brightest light in the chandelier, but the only person really hurt by this is Manti Te’o.
The press has been going after this as if national security has been breached and it’s been headline news all across the country. Perhaps the biggest problem the press has with the situation is the fact that at the end of the college football season, sportswriters had Notre Dame as the top ranked team in the nation. Te’o was considered the team’s best player and a sure fire top five NFL draft pick. You know what happened. The Crimson Tide handed the Irish their “butts” in the BCS Championship Game 42-14 and Te’o got steamrolled by the Alabama defense. So someone has to take the fall for this disgrace and for making the press look bad.
As it is, Manti Te’o has fallen out as a possible first round draft pick and may drop to a second day pick. That’s going to cost him a whole lot of prestige, not to mention money. But as far as being some kind of a national scandal, let’s get real. Manti Te’o is guilty of having a big ego and not being the smartest guy in college football, but that’s all. Let’s get over it and move on.
snicewanger@yahoo.com