Wildcats wreck the jackets

anyone reading this likely watched the game, so i'll spare you any detailed recap. here is a collection of my thoughts, in no particular order:

• i would like an NU booster to donate a fancy new camera to W-R Arena. every time NU plays on HD, i'm frustrated by my TV's crappy picture compared to other broadcasts.
• maybe they were embarrassed by the Rice Jr. dunk, but it was encouraging to see Cobb and Crawford be assertive early with their athleticism.
• certainly didn't look like a full house, for students or the paying public.
• what do you think keeps Shurna from getting more tail on campus: his acne or his jump short form?
  
• that first half was as close to perfect as you can ask for.
• does NU have a binding agreement with announcers that forces each of them to tell the story of how Juice Thompson got his nickname?
• tonight was the first time i've ever noticed actual muscles on John Shurna
• i'm not terribly concerned with NU's struggles in the middle of the second half against the full-court press. not many teams in the Big Ten are as quick and athletic as GT.
  
• really the only negative tonight: free throw shooting. just over 50%
  

it was obvious early that Crawford and Cobb were focused for this one, and Mirkovic always plays better when he can feed off the crowd. Shurna and Thompson were outstanding as usual. NU was clearly ready to go for this nationally televised game at home. it will be interesting to see how they fare in the dog days of the conference schedule, especially on the road. but we'll worry about that in another month. for now it's hard not to be awfully happy with that performance.

Coble talking, Carmody not

it looks like the Coble drama, which bubbled up again last week, may have finally run its course. last week Coble told Luke Winn that his departure from the team centered around disagreement on whether he should go to Italy with the team. Teddy Greenstein did some digging of his own. i still don't completely understand why Coble would come out with unsolicited comments, but it sounds like BC is done talking about it.

the hoops team is off this week but that doesn't mean i can't get pissed off about their weak nonconference schedule. Minnesota basically put themselves in the NCAA tournament this weekend with wins over UNC and WVU. i understand that after the Italy trip NU may not have had the money to go to Maui or Puerto Rico, but those two wins will be at the top of the screen when/if Minnesota's bubble status is discussed 3.5 months from now. NU obviously won't be able to offer anything close to that.

on an unrelated note, i drunkenly scribbled some notes during College Gameday on Saturday, so below is a summary of the signs worth mentioning. lots of people got their panties in a bunch over the FIRE DEMOS sign, but at least that was a better topic than the discussion in the SoP comments about exactly where Chicago's "Boystown" is located. personally, the Demos sign made me laugh, and that's really all i'm looking for in a CGD sign. i saw at least two Washington State flags; here are the rest...

• I got 99 problems but Ron Zook ain't one
• Even Snoop Prefers Northwestern (with pic of Snoop in Rowley jersey)
• Is this the line for Harry Potter?
• Danny Heisman
• NU = QB U (with names of recent NU quarterbacks)
• Rod Blogojevich: NU '79
• I luv fotbal. High Ma. Go U of I
• Passion Bucket (with pic of Rich Eisen. i didn't get this but apparently Neuheisel started it)
• Ron Zook: coming soon to an unemployment line near you
• According to the Princeton Review the University of Illinois is the least selective school in the Big Ten
• Fitz 4 Prez (with his pic wearing a Lincoln beard and the Lincoln hat trophy)
• Trumpy 4 Heisman
• The real NU welcomes UNL to the Big Ten
• NU grads earn more $$$ than SEC recruits
• NU: 95% graduation rate, 100% ownership of Iowa. (also briefly saw his NERDS sign)

but perhaps the best one appeared only briefly at the beginning of the show before it was likely confiscated:

Yes, I know the season has started

The Wildcats are 1-0 and John Shurna looked good in the first game. Well, not exactly "looked" good, considering the game wasn't televised. Next up is another road game, tomorrow night at UT Pan Am. Obviously a loss there would be unexpected and very disappointing, but considering how close to the border Edinburg is, I think another goal of this trip should be to avoid getting kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel. Jershon didn't play last Friday, and I won't get a really good look at this squad until the Georgia Tech game after Thanksgiving, so I'll withhold my thoughts on the team until then.

As part of ESPN's 24-hour college hoops marathon, St. Mary's played at 2am ET this morning. I recorded the game and watched it this morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of our old friend Kyle Rowley. Although SMC had at least a half dozen guys in street clothes at the end of the bench, there was no sign of Snoop's buddy. I did some digging, and it turns out that Rowley will not be attending SMC until the second semester. This fall he is enrolled, although not playing, at the College of Southern Idaho. This article discusses in WAY too much length how he ended up there, but the startling revelation is this:

[Rowley] needed a semester of junior college to get things lined up academically for his transfer to St. Mary’s

I'm certainly not an expert on NCAA eligibility issues, but I find this remarkable. After two years at a top-tier institution, he apparently didn't have enough transferable credits. While I certainly was not sad to see Kyle leave the team, he is depriving himself of a very special Northwestern opportunity. No, not making the NCAA tournament for the first time. If he'd stuck it out for two more years, then perhaps a "Kyle Rowley Experience" could have been auctioned off at the 2012 Fast Break Club Tip-Off Dinner.


Back in October I'd planned to do a whole post about this event but just didn't get to it. There were some cool ideas available (attend a practice, ball boy for a game, sit in press row) but they seemed hell-bent on including NU basketball personalities with many of the items...

• Cubs game with Jim Phillips - it would be interesting to talk to the AD about the challenges facing NU athletics/marketing/etc.
• Bulls game with Tavaras Hardy - an opportunity to get an inside look at the world of recruiting; also, I would ask him about that time he fouled out with zero points and zero rebounds
  
• Golf with Mitch Henderson - not terribly exciting, but hopefully you could get some good stories about Pete Carril

OK, those are fine. But some of the others are a stretch...

• "wings & brews" with Tim Doyle and Joe Kennedy- I love how they say "brews" to make it sound hip and fun. This would be worth it ONLY if Kennedy was allowed to tell any and every story from his time in the White House.
• Away game experience with Jason Okrzesik - I love the road trip idea. Travel with the team, sit behind the bench, it's great. Plus it's a road game that NU should win and you're not dealing with a loud or hostile crowd. But why drag Jason Okrzesik into this? If I was the winning bidder, I think I'd have to pull someone aside and ask that Jason be left at home. If I get to travel with the team, the last thing I want to do is hang out with this guy, especially since he'll probably spend the entire flight trying to sell me Milwaukee Bucks season tickets.
  
• Home game experience with Jason Burke - what??? Jason Burke is among the most forgettable Wildcats of the Carmody era. I have no idea why he's even involved or what the EXPERIENCE could possibly entail.

And of course, the grand prize is cocktails and refreshments with head coach Bill Carmody in Evanston. Obviously there is no question about BC's cocktail of choice, but I do have to admit this would be a unique opportunity. I can't imagine there are many BCS coaches out there who would volunteer their time to be auctioned off to any random fan. Maybe next year I should attend this dinner hosted by the Fast Break Club (= FBC = Fire Bill Carmody) just to find out the winning bidders. Some of these items/trips raise so many questions that I really need to find out what they're like.