Hoosiers no longer squeaky-clean
November 28, 2008 4:18 pm by Cory
Indiana University has long been considered the class of Division-I men’s basketball. But ever since 2006, the program has struggled maintaining that image. After nearly 30 years of success under Head Coach Bob Knight and initial success under Knight’s successor Mike Davis, the pride of Bloomington have been dancing around the line of what is legal and ethical as far as recruitment is concerned.
The University hired Kelvin Sampson, formerly of the University of Oklahoma to replace Davis. While at Indiana, it was discovered that Sampson had engaged in an illegal 3-way phone conversation during his time at Oklahoma. Because Sampson could not promise Indiana that he could stop violating NCAA rules, his contract was bought out and he was replaced.
Now, even with Sampson out of the picture, Indiana has been put on a three year probation for making more than 100 illegal phone calls to its basketball recruits. While stronger penalties were discussed for the program, including a potential exclusion from the NCAA post season tournament, the committee decided that because of Indiana’s 48-year history of being one of the cleanest teams in the country and the creation of a nearly entirely new team since Sampson had left, the probation was appropriate.
Problems with recruitment are one of the shadiest parts of college basketball. There is a massive grey area between what is legal and what is not and usually what is legal can still be unethical. Whether it’s money shifting around, unofficial campus visits or attending elite camps at universities, there is always extra-curricular activity going on to get a high school kid to play for the college that wants him the most. Hopefully with one of the historically cleanest programs being punished for rule violations more colleges will realize that these practices are illegal or unethical and they should stop playing with the lives of 18-year old kids.
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Division II men’s soccer bracket is a mess
November 16, 2008 8:24 pm by Cory
While trying to limit travel times and distances for the D-II men’s soccer playoffs, the selection committee has made a mess of the match ups.
On top of completely unbalanced regional match ups, teams that should have been in the tournament were completely ignored. For example, one team that got excluded from the tournament West Texas A&M which finished the season 12-5-0 and were ranked No. 22 nationally at the end of the season. To make matters worse, in its last game of the season West Texas A&M finished the season with a 3–2 overtime win over No. 3 Midwestern State.
Exclusion aside, the regional brackets are a complete imbalanced disaster. Super region 1 is incredibly front loaded with the No. 2, 3 and 6 teams along with four other ranked teams. Looking at Super region 4, you have the No. 8, 12 and 20 teams and three unranked teams. All of these teams have are poised for the semi-finals.
Now, this would be a different story if the top teams in the tournament had a first round bye, but that is not the case either. The only two teams in the tournament that have byes are No. 8 Southern New Hampshire State University and Dowling College.
While hopefully despite this disastrous system, a deserving national champion is crowned, this is not how brackets should be made. Pair teams based on fairness and balance the quality of teams throughout the match ups. It is not fair to the teams and players to make a mess of the bracket in order to cut down travel time and costs.
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The three biggest little games
November 9, 2008 4:31 pm by Cory
Here in Ithaca, N.Y., Cortaca fever has gripped the campus. The annual Cortaca Jug game played between the Ithaca College Bombers and the SUNY-Cortland Red Dragons has been an annual tradition since the 1950s and the 50th anniversary of the game takes place this Saturday. The Division III game has been called by many media including Sports Illustrated as the biggest little game in the country. And while these two central New York towns will be waiting with feverish anticipation for Saturday’s game to kick off, here is a look at the two other biggest Division III football rivalries.
Williams College vs. Amherst College
This western Massachusetts rivalry is the oldest D III rivalry in the country, dating back to 1884. The game is a grudge match in its purest form and began because of Williams president Zephaniah Swift Moore abandoning the college and starting another school in Amherst, Mass. Still seeking revenge against its former president the Williams Ephs defeated Amherst 24-23 on Saturday in their 999th football game in their history.
Depauw University vs. Wabash College
The annual Monon Bell game takes place between these two Indiana schools in one of the nation’s most heated rivalries. One tradition of this game is the typical collegiate antics that would only belong in a National Lampoon movie. For example, in 1965 a Wabash student disguised himeself as a Mexican dignitary visiting Depauw and asked Depauw’s president if he could see the Monon Bell. The president complied and the student and his friends ran off with the bell. The 115th Monon Bell game will be played Saturday and who knows what type of shenanigans we’ll see this time.
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Just when I thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any better…
November 4, 2008 6:25 pm by Cory
Last night during halftime of the Monday Night Football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins, ESPN aired taped sattelite interviews with presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.
During the interview, Chris Berman asked each candidate if they could change just one thing in the world of sports, what would it be? McCain said he would do something about the steroid problem (boring), but Obama said he would take action and abolish the BCS from college football forever!
Thank you Senator Obama! This proves that someone in Washington is paying attention. Obama’s direct quote:
I think it is about time that we had playoffs in college football. I’m fed up with these computer rankings and this and that and the other. Get eight teams - the top eight teams right at the end. You got a playoff. Decide on a National Champion.
While I agree wholeheartedly with Obama on this, the one thing I don’t understand is why didn’t he just make this his whole campaign platform from the beginning? The support from every college football fan in the country would have gone his way and sent him directly to the White House! Oh well, hopefully he wins tonight and this is the first bill he passes as President.
Obama Biden ‘08
Bring our troops home
Save the middle class
Abolish the BCS
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NCAA to crack down on coaches
November 2, 2008 4:40 pm by Cory
The NCAA wants its coaches to now be judged by their athletes’ academic performance as well as win-loss records and other personal criteria.
The Division I board of directors is implementing a new annual percentage rate based on their team’s performance in the classroom. This APR would be part of a coach’s career record and would be open to potential recruits and their families.
Unsurprisingly, coaches have largely opposed this new plan. While many agree that the academic standing of their athletes is important, many more have said that they feel like they are being singled out.
While coaches do play a large role in their athlete’s classroom performance, there are other reasons why Division I college athletes do not do particularly well in school. For someone playing Division I college football, it is just an audition for the NFL. The lack of a minor league system in football makes playing at the college level more intense, drawing attention away from the classroom.
Because Division I sports are played at such a high level, it is nearly impossible for these students to earn strong marks in their classes while they are traveling across the country, playing on ESPN and trying to go pro. The coach’s top priority is to make sure the team is playing the best it can and performing well on the field. Before the coaches get involved, the athletes and their tutors need to make sure their schoolwork is up to par.
Academic performance is undoubtedly the most important part of going to college and athletes should not be excluded from this. However, if a team is not performing well, the coach is not the one to blame. The other factors that go into athletes’ schoolwork far outweigh the coach’s influence in the classroom and judging coaches on this topic is not the right path to take on this issue.
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A new chapter
October 29, 2008 11:52 pm by Cory
Welcome college sports fans, followers and enthusiasts. My name is Cory Francer and I am taking the reigns here at Hat Trick. My job is to give you all the info about college sports that your face painting, stadium packing, team-color bleeding heart desires. There is no one more passionate and dedicated to their teams than college fans and I am here to bring you, the die-hard fan, all 360 degrees of what goes on in the world of college sports.
Don’t think that I’ll just be giving you the same boring recaps and highlights from the top-25 D-I football teams. We’re looking at every college sport inside and out. We’re going to all divisions - one through three. We’re going in depth to campuses across the country to find more college sports news than you could hurl a chair at. So sit back, throw on your favorite school’s jersey (giant foam finger and beer dispensing helmets are optional) and enjoy a new chapter of Hat Trick.
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Whoa! Look out for Lacrosse!
October 3, 2008 8:38 pm by shea
Did you know that lacrosse was the fastest growing sport in the country? Okay, so maybe you got the hint when all those baseball diamonds in your hometown started hosting lacrosse tourneys, but I guess I’m a little behind the times and had no idea just how large the phenomenon is.
According to US Lacrosse, youth participation has increased 500% since 1999! And in NCAA DIII, there are almost 400 teams. Now I feel bad I’ve been neglecting lacrosse in this blog for so long. Go get ‘em lacrossers!
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Not sacrificing the gift
October 1, 2008 1:07 pm by shea
James Evans is a senior at a prep school called Holy Angels in Minneapolis, MN. A few short weeks ago, he received devastating news: he was diagnosed with a rare form of Lukemia.
Just like that, the normal becomes abnormal and nothing can be taken for granted. One week, Evans is a 6-2, 195-pound kid enjoying his final year of high school sports at Holy Angels. The next week, his prep career is over and he’s 17 pounds lighter from chemotherapy.
He was looking into Division III soccer programs and now he is fighting for his life.
I don’t mean to get all doom and gloom on you sports fans, but before you hang up those cleats, remember those who would kill to be in your position.
Good luck James!
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No crowds, but revenge and guts.
September 29, 2008 8:00 pm by shea
Women’s rugby certainly doesn’t crowd the headlines or the stadiums, but there was an epic game today.
First, a little backstory. Last year the Eastern Panthers lost to the West Chester Golden Rams 10-19 (a devastating blow to their ego, and their near-perfect record). Today, they sought revenge in PA. And they didn’t just stick the knife in, they twisted it.
The Panthers absolutely slaughtered the Golden Rams 38-5, avenging their defeat and continuing their perfect record, now at 4-0.
Ahh, there’s certainly something to be said for the sweet taste of revenge.
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Record Breaking Comeback
September 26, 2008 10:28 am by shea
While perusing today’s sports updates and features, I stumbled upon a fun fact that I thought I would share. This one takes us to Austin, Texas where Austin College and the East Texas Baptist University battled out a DIII men’s soccer match.
EBTU scored at the 81:44 mark to put the Tigers ahead 2-1, but Austin College came back with a counter goal at the 81:51 mark. It is the fastest counter goal in Division III history. Seven seconds to be exact. Previously, a Catholic vs. Salisbury match held the title at ten seconds.
All I have to say is don’t mess with Texas.
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