"I Saw Her Today At the Reception..."

Twenty-four hours later, Kelvin Sampson is apparently still in line to become the next head basketball coach at Iniana University and the more I think about it, the less it makes sense.

Look, I am not going to bore you with the details concerning alleged recruiting violations while Sampson was at Oklahoma or by talking about reportedly embarrassingly low graduation rates. I'm not going to complain about the hiring of a coach who has a below-.500 career record in the NCAA Tournament, including recent losses to powerhouses Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Manhattan and Indiana State. I'm not even going to mention the fact that one of Mike Davis' finest moments came against Sampson and his Sooners in the 2002 Final Four (whoops, it looks like I did mention it). What I am going to try to do is explain how this could have happened. How names like Calipari and Donovan and Matta could be bandied about only to have IU wind up with a man who brings to Bloomington a lot more baggage than a trunk of French blue shirts (does the man even own a white shirt? You Big 12 fans know what I am talking about...)

You know what? I think the answer is simple. It pains me to say this, but this is simply the best that Iniana could do. In yesterday's post, I mentioned that reality is not always pretty and so it is the case with the present state of Hsier Basketball (with Sampson and his grind it out style, I fear that there will be no "o" in Hsier anymore). The athletic department is deep in the red. The basketball facilities would need an upgrade to qualify as second-rate. The team has not exactly had a run of success over the past four years. Truth be told, the words "Iniana University" simply do not carry the same weight anymore. Has it really been that long since IU was the chosen "scary," "all-time great program" that the Western University Dolphins had to get past to prove that they were a top-tier program in the movie Blue Chips? (Or were the producers so enamored with the acting skills of Matt Nover that they had to include the Hsiers?)*** --trivia question below.

ESPN and the Louisville Courier Journal's Pat Forde reported today that he spoke with an unnamed mid-major coach who is considered a true up-and-comer, but who did not even return a call from an IU rep about the coaching vacancy. The coach's response, "That's not a great job right now."

So, it is my belief that IU wanted a Calipari. They wanted Mike Montgomery to leave the Golden State Warriors and return to the college ranks (with Calber Cheaney by his side as an assistant). They wanted Gunston to trade his George Mason green-and-gold for Hsier Cream-and-Crimson. They may even have wanted the World's Largest Drum to make the trek down I-65, across 465 and down route 37 to the land of John Mellencamp, limestone quarries and kick ass bread sticks from Pizza Express.

But they wound up stuck with a coach who Oklahoma was half pushing out the door.

Simply stated, given their financial liabilities and facilties that would embarrass New Trier, it was the best they could do. Kelvin Sampson was #1,334 on my list of candidates and may have been even lower on Iniana athletic director Rick Greenspan's. But, in the words of Mick Jagger, "you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find. You get a coach with enough baggage to fill a 747, who may subject your program to penalties for past violations, who does not graduate players, and who performs as well in the NCAA tournament as J.J. Redick." (That is how the song goes, right?)

It makes me so depressed, I need to talk about happier things. How about the Chicago National League Ballclub?

* So, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood were put on the DL. Looks like the Des Moines Iowa Tourism Bureau can once again feel free to include in their guidebook "Come see Kerry Wood and Mark Prior prep themselves for an injury-free six days with the big league club." It is becoming an annual event, like the soon to-be-announced "what in the hell do you mean we were not able to pawn off our crappy state university basketball coach on Iniana and they selected Kelvin Sampson instead" day. (Yes, I know that the Prior and Wood line is recycled. Hey, I've got at least two new readers to take care of. Besides, I like it...)

* With Prior and Wood nursing their yeast infections, Glendon Rusch has been announced as the starting pitcher for game # 2. Yes, it is that bad. What, is Les Lancaster not available?

* We still do not know, however, who will be the opening day second baseman. Todd Walker is by far the best offensive option, but struggles with the glove. Jerry Hairston is Jerry Hairston. Neifi Perez is still best known in Chicago for his game winning HR for Colorado against the Giants in the final game of the 1998 regular season preserving the Cubs' right to get swept by the Braves in the Divisional playoff series. Anyone want to check and see what Manny Trillo is up to these days?

* Hey give Jim Hendry credit. No, he did not solve the problem with a lack of power at the corner outfield positions. And, no, he did not do much to instill confidence in the bullpen (Howry and Eyre are nice additions, but is that Michael Wuertz and his 14.73 ERA that I see still out there?). But, give the man credit. He was actually able to unload Todd Wellemeyer on the Florida Marlins for two bodies that apparently are functioning. Who exactly did the Cubs get? Does it matter as long as they are not named Felix Heredia or Matt Karchner?

* Whatever happened to Reuben Quevedo?

* There is one peice of good news from Cub Nation that is largely going unnoticed this spring...the sensational offensive numbers being put up by Weasley (Matt Murton) and Aramis Ramirez. Murton is hitting a robust .395 in 43 plate appearances. Ramirez is hitting an other-worldly .543 with 4 HR, 16 RBI and only two strikeouts. I guess it can;t be long before he ends up on the DL with eye strain from watching so many runners circle the bases when Jerome Williams in on the mound.

Finally, Random Thoughts reader Tiffany asks the following...If the team who plays their home games at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas will now be known as Team Voldemort, does that make Bradley Team Harry Potter? So it shall be...although, I doubt as though the Braves will be mentioned all that often in the coming months.

***Trivia: In the climactic (use of that word ought to thrill Erdman and keep him around for a while) game in the movie Blue Chips, Pete Bell's Western University Dolphins open their season with a home game against the all powerful Iniana Hsiers. In the movie, the Hsiers actually consist of former and then-current IU players (Calbert Chaeney, Jamaal Meeks etc.). There were, however, two players in IU red who were not Iniana past or present players (and actually played major college basketball for other teams). Who were they?