Big Ten Champs!

If you didn't know about the IU baseball team before this weekend, you should be well aware of them now.

The Hoosiers thumped Minnesota 13-2 Saturday to win the Big Ten championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 3 seed, the Hoosiers had to win four games in four days, beating No. 1 seed Ohio State and No. 2 seed Minnesota twice after knocking off No. 6 seed Purdue.

IU outscored opponents 47-9 over the four games. It was a phenomenal offensive explosion. They scored at least 9, 12, 13, and 13 runs over the four-game stretch, respectively. Pitching also was impressive, allowing 1, 3, 3, and 3 runs respectively.

The NCAA tournament begins May 29. If the offensive explosion continues, you have to think IU could scare a lot of teams. And with two outstanding pitchers in Eric Arnett and Matt Bashore it is not unrealistic to expect a good showing.

The win is the second ever Big Ten title for IU, the other coming in 1996. As an IU fan, I have to say this win is satisfying, given all our suffering during the football and basketball seasons. It may not be the most popular sport on campus, but hopefully, IU baseball is gaining some fans tonight.

The best-kept secret on the Bloomington campus

A sport other than football or basketball is yearning for attention from IU fans.

The IU baseball team is the third seed in the Big Ten tournament beginning Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio. While the overall record was not stellar, 28-25, the conference record was an impressive 16-7. The Hoosiers had won six in a row before losing the final game of the year yesterday to Michigan State.

The team batted .322 as a team this year, while opponents batted .289. Junior Pitcher Eric Arnett has been impressive, compiling an 11-1 record and 2.89 ERA in 12 appearances. He has 93 strike-outs in 94 innings pitched.

In Big Ten play, the entire IU pitching staff has been impressive. Arnett has a 7-0 record and 2.89 ERA. Pitcher Matt Bashore is 5-1 with a 2.36 ERA in conference play, despite an overall record of 6-4 and a 3.87 ERA. Four IU pitchers have ERAs under 4 in Big Ten games.

The Hoosiers will open the Big Ten tournament against Purdue, the sixth seed in the double-elimination event. A win means a game against No. 2-seed Minnesota. All the games should be on Big Ten Network.

Last year, the team made a Cinderella run to the Big Ten semi-finals before losing to Purdue.

This program is on the rise and deserves a little more attention from the fans. IU baseball suffers from a season that begins in the winter, overlaps with basketball and ends after the students depart for summer vacation. The team plays in relative obscurity in a facility across the street from McNutt Quad.

A Big Ten title and NCAA tournament berth would be impressive for a team that has to leave town the first two months of the season to play games. Two of the Hoosiers' first 18 games were in Bloomington.

Here is a blog with game-by-game coverage of IU baseball.

Elite football AND basketball?

The reaction to Kellen Lewis' dismissal from the Hoosier football team was not surprising. Most of my friends said they weren't expecting a good season with Lewis on the team. And to be honest I wasn't at all optimistic either.

But it led me to ask something:

Why can't Indiana University field top-tier football AND basketball teams?

It has happened. Florida held the Division I football and men's basketball titles in 2007. Ohio State of the Big Ten has built a contender in men's basketball to go along with the resurrected football program.

The IU football program doesn't have a stellar reputation. But it can be improved with a staff that is enthusiastic and good at recruiting. It also will require a little luck, like a win over a Top 10 team, as well as consistent improvement. I'm not talking about a Rose Bowl berth every year, but I am talking about hovering around .500 record or better every year.

A team that can win seven games every year at some point is going to get that big win (Ole Miss over Florida last year, or Illinois over Ohio State in 2007) and vaults them to national prominence.

Indiana University is capable of fielding that kind of team. It has the resources to do it, and I'm not talking about a new stadium. Michigan produced a quality football team for decades playing in the same bowl. I'm talking about know-how in the athletic department.

IU doesn't even have to give up its academic standards to produce a winner. Northwestern and USC proved that. That road has already been paved. The real question is why hasn't IU taken it over the last 10 years?

Do I expect IU to consistently produce a BCS and Final Four contender? No. But we can have winning teams. We can sell out Memorial Stadium. We can play in more than one bowl game a decade.

Am I making an unreasonable request?

No Kellen Lewis TD catches this year

IU announced yesterday that former QB Kellen Lewis has been kicked off the football team.

Lewis had switched to wide receiver for the upcoming season, allowing Ben Chappell to take over at QB.

This obviously diminishes the Hoosiers' talent level, but another dismal season appeared imminent anyway.

Hoosiers did not fair well on draft day

After a year where two Hoosiers were drafted in the second round of the NFL draft, IU had no players drafted this year.

Five players were on the board, including wide receiver Andrew Means, running back Marcus Thigpen and kicker Austin Starr.

This doesn't mean none of them will end up in the NFL, but it certainly is a lot tougher to make a team as an undrafted free agent.

By comparison, Ohio State had seven players drafted, Penn State had five. Northwestern and Minnesota also were shut out, but West Texas A&M had one player drafted: quarterback Keith Null, who was taken by the Rams in the sixth round. Null threw for nearly 5,100 yards and 48 touchdowns last season, averaging 392 yards per game.

What does this mean for the IU program? Probably not much. As was noted, some much better Big Ten programs had no players drafted. I have to think it doesn't help much for recruiting. Seeing that IU logo appear during the pre-draft process and during the ESPN draft telecast was exciting. I remember how excited I was because IU had a Pro Day in last year.

College football teams can win a lot of games without NFL-calibre talent. But I don't think it's a coincidence that the year IU goes 7-5 -- its first winning season in recent memory -- is the year a defensive back and wide receiver are taken high in the draft.

Are we going to continue seeing no cream and crimson draft picks?

I hope Bill Lynch knows what he's doing

The IU football team completed its second spring scrimmage yesterday. Once again Ben Chappell was at quarterback and Kellen Lewis played wide receiver.

The coaches say Chappell has just as good a grasp of the spread offense as Lewis. Chappell threw for 111 yards and an interception yesterday, completing eight of 10 passes. But Lewis is the former second-team all Big Ten QB, who now is learning a new position.

In 2001, Antwaan Randle El switched from QB to receiver to open the season, the best chance for a bowl appearance in several years. Randle El also was a Heisman Trophy contender. The Hoosiers opened with a 35-14 thrashing by North Carolina State. Randle El had to move back to QB and the Hoosiers struggled through another losing season.

Neither Lewis nor Chappell played well last year, combining for 10 TDs and 11 interceptions passing in an injury-filled season. I suspect Lynch's strategy is to gain some more consistency at QB. My guess is Chappell will stand in the pocket a little longer and make more throws than Lewis, who tended to scramble when the rush closed in. That usually led to a good result -- Lewis was second on the team in rushing yards last year.

The question I ask is: If Lewis is your best all-around player, do you want to take the ball out of his hands? The '01 Hoosiers were much better with Randle El touching the ball on every play, which is why after that game against N.C. State he did not play receiver consistently again until after his college career was over.

Is Lewis that type of player? We will find out in August.

Bears got a long-term solution, not a quick fix

I want the Bears to play better. I want them to score more points. But simply adding Quarterback Jay Cutler will not achieve those goals. He needs help. He needs better wide receivers. He needs better offensive linemen. He may even need an offensive system that suits him.

All things being equal, Cutler will not make the Bears significantly better than they were with Kyle Orton. Last season, running back Matt Forte led the Bears in catches with 63. Behind him was Tight End Greg Olsen with 54. The Broncos' leading pass catchers were wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal with 104 and 91, respectively.

The stat indicates a difference in philosophy. The Bears are willing to grind a team down with a strong running game and controlled passing and depend on their defense to win games. The Broncos played to outscore an opponent, which requires throwing the ball a lot and down field.

The Bears are not going to line Forte up as a wide receiver all that often. And Olsen isn't fast enough to beat a corner down field. Both indicate an expectation for short passes and long drives. That's not playing to Cutler's strength, his talent or his strong arm.

I think Orton understood his role and how to flourish in it. He knew he couldn't throw the ball 70 yards to hit Devin Hester on a fly pattern. But he was smart enough to know he could make the 15- and 20-yard over the middle. We don't know if Cutler will succeed in that role.

The Bears don't have the personnel to change their offense to suit Cutler's strengths. Now maybe in the future (but not until at least 2011) the Bears will have a high draft pick to get a receiver that allows for a vertical passing game.

The Cutler trade has made rebuilding a long-term project, not a quick fix. The problem is so many Bears fans are expecting results next season. I don't think they're coming this fall.

Cutler to Bears not the answer

Bears fans are jumping for joy across the world. Next year, quarterback Jay Cutler will be running the offense. Clearly the Bears are expecting him to be the answer to an offense that has been downright awful at times over the past few years.

Unfortunately, my enthusiasm is tempered. I don't like that the Bears gave away two No. 1 picks (this year's and 2010), as well as this year's third round pick. Oh, and they also gave the Denver Broncos Kyle Orton.

The Bears may have a good quarterback, but they have few people for him to catch passes. Devin Hester was their leading receiver with 51 catches and three touchdowns. Is that an indictment of Orton? Maybe. But it also shows the Bears philosophy for its quarterback. It is to manage the game, not win it. Cutler played in an offense where the quarterback must win the game.

I think Cutler is going to be surprised at how many upgrades the Bears offense needs. Most important is offensive line. The Bears gave up 29 sacks last year, the Broncos 12. Hopefully Orlando Pace will help, if he is healthy.

The NFC North is not a free-wheeling pass-happy division like the AFC West. In November and December in the Midwest, a team has to run the ball when the snow is falling and wind is blowing.

Cutler had big stats, but it was because the Broncos didn't run the ball. He threw for 1,600 more yards than Orton last year, but he also had 150 more pass attempts. The Bears ran the ball about 50 more times than the Broncos last season.

The two players' passer ratings were not that different. Cutler threw for six more interceptions than Orton, including more picks than TDs in his last four games, when the Broncos were in the playoff hunt. Orton won three of his last four games, when the Bears were chasing a playoff spot.

My problem isn't Cutler, it's that the Bears will not have much a draft to build the rest of the team. This year's first round pick could have been used for an offensive lineman, a wide receiver or defensive back. And next year's first round pick could have been used to draft Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, or Sam Bradford, the likely three best QBs coming out of college next year.

This was a good trade for the Bears. I just don't think it's immediately going to turn the Bears into a playoff contender. There are just too many other problems I would have liked to see the team address. Orton was not the answer either, but he also was not the only question.

Reality Check

It's easy to forget how lucky we are to live in the United States.

I was reminded once again today after I read this story in the New York Times.

Cricket officials in India are moving the Indian Premier League games out of the country because of security problems. With national elections upcoming, the government said it cannot spare military forces to secure cricket matches. And after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November, the country is on high-alert.

Cricket in India is akin to football in the U.S. It is the national obsession. My wife saw it first hand when she visited India about a year ago. The season was about to start and the media hoard was in full swing. It was a national controversy when the teams brought cheerleaders to the pitch that did not adequately cover themselves. (They were dressed similar to American cheerleaders.)

Americans worry about security at sporting events. I have endured the pat-down to enter football games at Solider Field and Michigan Stadium. But can you imagine if President Bush last fall said all NFL games would be moved to Canada the first week of November because we needed to ensure voters were secure during the presidential election?

We all remember how important baseball and football became after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York. City residents under so much pressure from the mayhem and clean-up were able to cheer for the Mets, Yankees, Jets or Giants and forget about the chaos for a few hours.

Moving the cricket matches off shore is not fair to the millions of cricket fans in India. The actions, or potential actions, of a few, cause the many to suffer.

It gave me a moment of pause. Times may not be ideal now, but we're still pretty lucky here.

Handicapping the WBC Final 4

Tonight and Sunday are the World Baseball Classic semi-finals. Korea and Venezuela mix it up first, followed by the U.S. and Japan Sunday night. Both games are at Dodger Stadium.

ESPN's experts made their picks today. Four of six selected Japan.

Roy Oswalt will pitch for the U.S. against Daisuke Matsuzaka. Oswalt is 1-0 with a 3.52 ERA during the classic. Dice-K has been almost unhittable so far. He is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA, including a win over Cuba.

It will be a tall order for the U.S. to knock Dice-K around. And there is no real pitch count in the semis. Up to 100 pitches are allowed now. I think Japan wins, but it's a close game. Oswalt will pitch well. Maybe a 3-2 or 4-2 final.

The WBC finals on Monday will be all Asia. Korea should get past Venezuela. As the U.S. proved, the Venezuelan bullpen is suspect.

In the finals, Japan v. Korea should be a great game. The teams split their four previous meetings in the WBC, but I think this time Korea wins it. Both teams play small ball, but Korea also has some power. A timely home run will be the difference.

Fixing the World Baseball Classic

Even T.J., a self-proclaimed detractor, now has offered a WBC fix. Suddenly, with the U.S. still in contention and the games unusually exciting, it's worth saving.

I have argued from the beginning of the tournament that the WBC was a good idea. The U.S. needs to embrace the game on a world stage. It is not an exhibition, but the ultimate determinant of superiority.

T.J. is right, though. The WBC suffers because of one big problem: the date. America is not in a baseball mood in March. We are longing for our office pools and 12-hour TV-watching sessions to find out who wins the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

If you play it in March, it interrupts Spring Training and the players are out of shape. If you play it in November, after the World Series, the players are burnt out.

Jayson Stark of ESPN offered an interesting idea in this column. He said start the tournament with a qualifying round after the regular season or a some other time, but play the semi-finals and finals during All-Star weekend. An neat idea that definitely would put the best baseball players in the world on the biggest stage.

I agree with T.J. that single-elimination is not the way to determine a baseball champion, which is the flaw in Stark's plan. Playing the finals during All-Star week would not allow more than a few games. But I propose a best of three series in the finals. That would make the tournament similar to the NCAA baseball tournament. A seven-game series in either round would take too long, especially if played in the middle of the baseball season.

I'm not sure expanding the tournament is the way to go just yet. We saw how well the Netherlands played, but look how bad South Africa played (They were outscored 22-4). Panama didn't score a run in the whole tournament. China's pro baseball league plays 21 games a year. Let the game take hold in the fringe countries first, like Australia, where the fans think the players should be using flat bats and a pitcher is a bowler.

We're building something here. It's going to take a while before it's right. The Super Bowl took a couple years to catch on, as did the Ryder Cup and even the Olympics. It just takes a little time.

The grit lesson

IU men's basketball played with grit and determination this season, despite losing 25 of 31 games. We applauded and celebrated that grit even though it comes with a tablespoon of humility mixed with horror and anger.

The best part about getting knocked down is getting up – because we can get up. The U.S. basketball gold medal at last year’s Olympics was that much sweeter because we hadn’t won it since 2000. The U.S. returning in 1987 to win the America’s Cup after its first-ever loss four years earlier was that much more epic.

We’ve heard it all year. IU basketball will be back. And once we are “back” it will be all that much sweeter knowing how low we sank and the hardship we had to endure.

The IU players are better because of this season, as hard as it is to believe. Hoosier fans are better fans as well. Because we know how low a program can actually go, we can appreciate all the more the nine Final Fours and five national championships. We can better understand the sustained excellence coach Bob Knight brought to Bloomington.

We were lucky. We were spoiled. We won’t be spoiled again.

Note: Interesting piece about what Tom Crean said to his team after the Big Ten Tournament loss Thursday.

An ending, mercifully

The IU men's basketball season ended with a thud Thursday. A 66-51 loss to Penn State.

Most fans thought the team would be down this year. Maybe the ESPN commentators were right today when they said during the broadcast that the end of the season couldn't come soon enough. They said sometimes it's time to put the ball away and go home.

Maybe they were right. The Hoosiers were out-manned and out-played all season.

Today's game resembled much of the Big Ten season. Despite fighting hard, the players couldn't get it done. Penn State was on the ropes. After nearly blowing the Hoosiers out early on, IU began to come back. The Hoosiers came back from being down 26-8 and with 6 minutes left and had the ball trailing 29-20. IU was on a 12-3 run, another bucket would have really put some pressure on Penn State with six minutes to go in the half.

Instead, an offensive foul was called. The ball went back to Penn State, who promptly scored a lay-up. IU never got within 10 points again. Season over. Six wins, 25 losses.

Throughout the second half, just like the entire season, ESPN's commentators filled time by saying the IU cavalry is on the way. That next year truly is coming.

As IU fans, we hope it does. Because we must never speak of the 2008-09 season again.

WBC reading list

Here are a couple stories on the World Baseball Classic worth reading:

• An ESPN.com story has more info on the atmosphere in Toronto and the pressure on the U.S. players in the 9th inning.
• A story from the New York Times on how Mexico doesn't consider baseball much of a priority.
• A column by the Chicago Tribune's Rick Morrissey on the U.S. and other countries' attitudes about the tournament.

The U.S. team plays Venezuela at 8 p.m. tonight. A win sends either team in the semi-final round in Miami.

WBC opener or MLB playoffs?

You think nobody cares about the World Baseball Classic? How about 42,000 people standing and cheering with two outs and a runner on second in the 9th inning as Canada tried to tie the game against the U.S.

The game seemed like it should have happened in October. Two rivals. The U.S. trying to avenge a loss to Canada in the 2006 WBC first round. A great symbol of the tension: Adam Dunn with his head down, then putting his first two fingers to his neck to take his pulse in the 9th.

It was a well-played game, swinging back and forth throughout. Ultimately, the U.S. was able to hang on, winning 6-5 in Toronto, Canada.

The U.S. trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, before scoring three runs on two homers to take lead. The winning run came in the sixth on a two-run shot by Dunn.

The WBC couldn't have started better for the U.S. team. And it hopefully attracted some new fans.

Note: The U.S. victory was the second great game of the day. The Netherlands defeated the heavily-favored Dominican Republic 3-2 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

WBC debate

My friend T.J. insists the World Baseball Classic is not worth the trouble. He says he'll be disgusted if Cubs players Ted Lilly and Geovanny Soto get hurt in the international tournament and that the team paying the bills deserves the ultimate loyalty.

Did anyone at Manchester United tell David Beckham it would be a bad idea if he played for England in soccer's World Cup? I suspect it would be a national disaster if he chose to sit out the tournament because his employer didn't like the idea.

When Canada won the Olympic hockey gold medal in 2002, was that not a symbol of national pride? Our northern neighbors define their sporting selves by excellence in hockey and won the Olympics for the first time in 50 years. Consider this from Wikipedia:

"In Canada, the CBC said that 10.6 million watched the game. Veteran CBC Sports commentator Bob Cole called in the dying seconds of the game: 'Now, after 50 years, it's time for Canada to stand up and cheer! STAND UP AND CHEER EVERYBODY! THE OLYMPICS SALT LAKE CITY 2002 MEN'S ICE HOCKEY GOLD MEDAL: CANADA!'"

The game was among the most-watched sports shows in CBC history. You think Canadians only care about NHL success? They care about international hockey, too.

It is OK to play for national pride, T.J. It should be encouraged.

Hit the nail on the head

ESPN's Jayson Stark made the same point in this column that I did here yesterday.

Stark argues there is pressure on the U.S. baseball team to play well in the World Baseball Classic this time for the health of the competition. The WBC is widely accepted outside the U.S., but here in the birthplace of baseball it's an afterthought.

That has to change, not because of TV ratings and financial projections, but because baseball is the American game.

"Three years ago, we sat in ballparks where other WBC countries were playing baseball and were blown away by the energy crackling out of every seat in the park. It felt like the Final Four had just merged with the World Cup. The baseball was awesome. The atmosphere was even better," Stark wrote.

American fans have to get past the notion that winning a World Series is the greatest achievement in baseball. Maybe it is bigger than a WBC championship now. But in a few years, when the WBC grows, that title will be bigger. Is there anyone in the world that thinks winning the MLS Cup or European Champions League title is bigger than winning the World Cup?

This is not a glorified All-Star game designed to make money for MLB. It's an international tournament. A chance to prove who has the best baseball players. When was the last time the U.S. could accurately say that? The 2000 Olympics, the last time a U.S. team won the gold medal. We also could say it in 1988, when we sent amateur players.

The country got behind the Olympic basketball team last summer in its quest to win the gold medal and prove U.S. basketball really was the best in the world. In my mind this is the same idea. We have to prove we're the best once again, this time in baseball.

There has to be someone out there willing to get behind that banner.

International enthusiasm for the national pastime

While home trying to get over my nasty cold, I was able to watch a replay of the first 2009 World Baseball Classic game between China and Japan.

The game was played in Tokyo, Japan, one of the most baseball-obsessed countries in the world. It was a sell-out and the fans were vocal, banging drums and blowing horns to cheer for their team.

Japan won 4-0 over an inexperienced Chinese team. I was impressed with the enthusiasm for world baseball. Here in America, it seems throughout the off-season, players have been going out of their way to avoid playing in the event, whether it be for team USA or any other country.

I know money is the ultimate deciding factor in those decisions. But I don't think it's such a bad idea that pro athletes play for their country. The Olympics remains the premier international competition, now with professionals playing team sports like basketball and hockey. It also seems to work for soccer's World Cup and golf's Ryder Cup.

I think a competition like this can grow to become a great event, even if there are maximum pitch-counts and other odd rules, like beginning in the 13th inning, each team bats with runners on first and second.

Americans still call baseball the national pastime, but the national sport really is football. The WBC is another reminder about why we love baseball. Just watching the game today, headache and all, I remembered why I enjoy watching games in the summer. The pace ... the anticipation of the pitch ... the fact that I could check three other channels between plays.

Baseball is never going to become a world game like soccer, but I enjoyed seeing other countries excited about it. That is one thing you don't see with football.

By the way, Japan played very well, fitting of a defending world champion. Even China, a country that has had professional baseball for seven years (that's 126 less than America), and one win in international competition, showed signs that it could develop into a competitive team.

Team USA opens WBC play on Saturday against Canada in Toronto. Let's hope the Asian enthusiasm for the event rubs off in North America.

So close ... again

I thought the Hoosiers played their best game of the season Saturday in a loss to Penn State. It turned out they played their best game Tuesday against Michigan State. Unfortunately they still lost.

I was just itching to write here that Indiana beat No. 8 Michigan State. No one would have believed me. I would have said read this twice and let it sink in.

When the Hoosiers closed to within two with 3:31 to go, I turned the computer on. It seemed IU was getting a few breaks. They caught Michigan State on an off night a day after a win at Illinois. The Spartans seemed sluggish and could never deliver the knock-out punch. And after MSU Coach Tom Izzo got a technical foul with less than 8 minutes to go, the Hoosiers went on a tear.

I logged into Blogger.com when the Spartans missed a layup and another jump shot with less than 2 minutes to go.

But the Hoosiers once again could not close. After the gap narrowed to two points on a Verdell Jones free throw, IU did not score another field goal and only managed two points the remainder of the game. An MSU rebound and dunk with 29 seconds left finally put the game out of reach.

This game was no let-down after the big step forward Saturday. This time it was the final 5 minutes without a field goal that ended it. If they had one more good possession, this team may have gained the biggest win of the year.

But once again, I write about a valiant effort that resulted in a loss.

That clicking noise

Did you hear that?

Something may have clicked Saturday night during IU's loss at Penn State. These young Hoosiers may finally be starting to get it.

The team played probably its best game of the season on the road. They never trailed by more than five points and led the game with about two minutes to go. Unfortunately, an inability to make some clutch shots down the stretch and untimely turnovers caused what has been a familiar result this season. This time the season's major problems surfaced late in the game.

Verdell Jones played much better than I had seen in recent weeks and I think Tom Pritchard would have had a better game if he hadn't been saddled with three fouls in the first half. The team only committed 11 turnovers, much better than its season average.

I've read and watched several commentators talk about coaches waiting for that light to turn on with a young team and the players begin to play with confidence. I saw it Saturday. Late in the game, the Hoosiers didn't wilt, they remained aggressive. Unfortunately the shots just didn't fall.

I wrote Friday there was a scenario where the Hoosiers could win a few games in the Big Ten tournament. Last night's game proves this team could be dangerous. If they meet a team with nothing to play for, who knows what could happen.

This game is something the Hoosiers can build upon. I just hope Tuesday's game versus Michigan State and Sunday's regular season finale at Wisconsin don't destroy the foundation. The Hoosiers are playing with more confidence, but certainly that confidence is shaky.