NBA: Not the Place to Find Former Iowa Collegians

Remember Jamaal Tinsley? If you followed Iowa State basketball almost a decade ago, you surely do. He played two years for the Cyclones at point guard and they won two Big 12 Conference titles.

You haven’t seen that happening with an ISU team lately, have you? And those championships came two decades after Iowa’s last Big Ten title, in 1979.

Anyway, Tinsley is the only Iowa State player currently on an NBA roster. He’s in his eighth season with the Indiana Pacers. The trouble is, the Pacers don’t want him anymore. Too many on-court and off-court incidents. Three of them came in about a year’s time, all involving nightclubs and disturbances. Someone shot at him in Indianapolis in the middle of the night last season.

The Pacers have said Tinsley won’t play another game for them. They’re trying to trade him, but his salary is making that difficult. This is a guy who averaged 8.4 assists a game last year, but no one wants him really bad. He’s been injury-prone as well as antic-prone.

The University of Iowa, meanwhile, has only three former players spread across the 30-team NBA. Ricky Davis played one year at the school and Reggie Evans two. Ryan Bowen is the only four-year Iowa college player in the league.

Bowen and Evans were undrafted free agents who have carved out long NBA careers. Davis was a first-round draft pick back in 1998. He was, in fact, the last Hawkeye to go in the first-round. Since he skipped out on Iowa after just one season (wisely, as it turned out), he isn’t the most-beloved player in Hawkeye history.

Just four of the almost 450 NBA players are from Iowa schools, and one is getting paid to stay away. Weak.

Is Halloween Night in Champaign Safe for Iowa Fans, or Anyone?

UI police advise Hawkeye fans on Champaign-Urbana threat

 

The University of Iowa and University of Illinois Departments of Public Safety are advising Iowa football fans attending the game in Champaign-Urbana, Ill. this weekend about a notice issued by University of Illinois police regarding a threat:

 

“The University of Illinois Police Department is investigating a threat made in a note found at the Undergraduate Library. A library patron found the note on Sunday (Oct. 5) at about 11:30 a.m. in a men’s restroom. The note threatened that on Halloween night (Friday, Oct. 31), the suspect intends to shoot a person on Green Street.

 

“A multi-jurisdictional team has been established to assess and investigate the threat. Members of this investigative effort include the Champaign Police Department, the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, the Champaign County State’s Attorney’s Office, the University of Illinois Police Department and the Urbana Police Department. The Federal Bureau of Investigation also is assisting.

 

“Police are requesting the community’s assistance in locating the suspect who communicated this threat. Community members with information regarding this threat can contact the University of Illinois Police Department at 217-333-1216. Citizens also may anonymously contact Crime Stoppers by calling 217-373-8477, by submitting anonymous tips online at www.373tips.com or by texting Tip397 plus the relevant information to 274637 (CRIMES).”

 

The University of Iowa has been in touch with University of Illinois police, who are treating the threat seriously and taking necessary precautions. The University of Iowa is providing the information to Hawkeye fans and others who plan to visit Champaign-Urbana this weekend to inform them of the threat and urge them to use their best judgment when visiting the area.

 

Police say they do not expect any incidents at the game Nov. 1 in connection with this threat.

Terrific Zach Johnson Video on the Flood at PGATour.com

Besides relocating his winning form on the golf course, Zach Johnson did something more important during his six-week absence on the PGA Tour in late summer and early fall.

Johnson came back to his Cedar Rapids hometown in mid-September. In addition to holding a one-day golf event in Iowa City that raised $350,000 for Embrace Iowa - The 2008 Iowa Disaster Fund, he filmed a video with the help of skillful artistans working with the PGA Tour. It’s designed to encourage people from around the country and world to contribute to Embrace Iowa.

If you’re from Cedar Rapids and Iowa, I don’t know how you can’t find this to be moving.

It is nine minutes long, and it’s well worth your time. Here’s is the link:

http://www.pgatour.com/video/?/video/video/pga-tour/features/2008/10/27/feat_johnson_iowa_floods_08inside44.pgatour

The Hlist: America’s Favorite Weekly College Football Roundup

(AP photo)

Opening kickoff

“You’re aware of Rich Rodriguez, the high-priced football coach at Michigan who has been having a rough time adapting to the rigors of the Big Ten?

“Well, don’t feel too sorry for him. Just remember that ‘Fraud-Riguez,’ as the T-shirts proclaimed him last winter, bolted West Virginia, where he had six years remaining on his contract, a mere 17 days before his team faced Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

“Rodriguez, who watched the bowl game on TV while an assistant coached the Mountaineers to victory, isn’t even a fellow to face up to his deviousness. He sent a graduate assistant to deliver his resignation letter to West Virginia’s athletic director.” — Rick Telander, Chicago Sun-Times

First downs

1. Penthouse State: Alone atop the Big Ten stands Penn State after its 13-6 win at Ohio State. Finally, the Nittany Lions played someone of repute.

“I thought it was a good football game,” Penn State Coach Joe Paterno said after his 381st win. “I’ve been around a lot of football games.”

Still, there are always critics. Not everyone is convinced Paterno’s squad is worthy of a national title game.

“I don’t know if they’re a better team than Texas, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, USC or Alabama,” former Auburn coach Pat Dye told Sportingnews.com.

He neglected to include Texas Tech.

2. One in a Row: Wisconsin, which used to win games with frequency, snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Illinois, 27-17.

“It feels like we just won the national championship,” said Wisconsin’s David Gilreath, who had a 49-yard touchdown reception.

“It’s a game on the schedule that we needed to win,” Badgers Coach Bret Bielema said. “I don’t know if there is any more importance to win at any time.”

“That’s a lie,” UW strong safety Jay Valai said, grinning. “Let’s keep it real. This game was more important than any of the ones we played because we finally (won), thank God.”

3. Spartans Have Hart: Michigan State fans congregated in a corner of Michigan Stadium Saturday, chanting “Lit-tle Sis-ter! Lit-tle Sis-ter!”

Last year, Michigan running back Mike Hart referred to Michigan State as “little brother.” The Wolverines beat MSU last year for their sixth straight triumph over their state rival.

A banner was hung outside Michigan’s stadium after the game. It read: “Little Brother Just Kicked Big Brother’s (Backside)”

What would MSU people do if their team ever won two in a row over the Wolverines?

4. Gophers Golden: Minnesota was 1-11 last year with the defense that was ranked last in the nation.

This year’s Gophers are 7-1 after a 17-6 win at Purdue.

“We just fly around,” said Minnesota safety Kyle Theret, who had nine solo tackles and an interception.

The Gophers fly with an attitude. They had four personal foul penalties at Purdue.

“We were running our mouths and did a little extra activity that we shouldn’t have,” senior defensive end Willie VanDeSteeg said. “But we won.”

Fumbles

1. Joe the Bummer: It’s been a fine 12-year run for Joe Tiller as Purdue’s coach. The first 11 seasons were good, anyway, with 10 bowl trips.

The 2-6 Boilermakers are alone in the Big Ten basement at 0-4 in this, Tiller’s final season. Some way to go out.

“This isn’t how I envisioned it,” Tiller said.

His team managed a paltry 226 yards in its 17-6 loss to Minnesota. The 109 passing yards were the fewest in Tiller’s Purdue tenure.

When asked about a slight shoulder separation that kept Boilermakers quarterback Curtis Painter on the sideline the entire second half, Tiller told a radio reporter “Most guys would play with that. I don’t know why he didn’t. But he didn’t . . .”

Tiller’s frustration carried over from midweek when he reacted to comments made by running back Kory Sheets that questioned Sheets’ confidence in Painter.

“Well, as I said to our own coaches,” Tiller said, “(Sheets) has grown physiologically but not intellectually the last four years. So, if you know him, it’s not a surprise. It’s a disappointment.

“So, if any person thinks that they’re going to carry the team, then perhaps we should just hand him the ball and stand on the sidelines and cheer. I don’t know what type of game plan that would be, but perhaps we could try it.

“One thing about it, I don’t really ever sugarcoat stuff.”

2. Northern Exposure: The Big 12 North is 2-10 against the South. The North’s best team would be the South’s fifth-best. A team from the North will play a team from the South in December for the league title.

The Hlist’s question: Why?

From the Kansas City Star’s Blair Kerkhoff:

“An incredible football game was waged on Kansas soil Saturday.

“Texas Tech took the early lead on Oklahoma, but the Sooners roared back to edge ahead.

“From there, the teams exchanged leads, and late in the proceedings the Red Raiders grabbed a 56-55 lead.

“Finally, Tech prevailed 63-58.

“Sadly for Kansas and Kansas State, the Sooners and Red Raiders played around the same time but not against each other. Instead, they toyed with the Sunflower State institutions of higher learning and lower football prowess.

“Texas Tech blew the doors off Kansas 63-21, and Oklahoma ran away from Kansas State 58-35.”

3. Boo Hoo, LSU: It’s not easy being mortal.

LSU defensive end Rahim Alem pointed the finger at his team’s offense after Georgia ripped the defending national champion Tigers, 52-38.

“There were two touchdowns we couldn’t do anything about,” Alem said, referring to LSU quarterback Jarrett Lee’s two interceptions that Georgia linebacker Darryl Gamble returned for touchdowns.

“Everybody has turnovers, but when you throw two interceptions for touchdowns, those are game-changers,” Alem said.

At least he shouldered half of the blame.

“On defense, we messed up big. On offense, we messed up big.”

Coach Les Miles got a big raise and a contract extension from LSU last December when Michigan wooed him. So someone with the program didn’t mess up big.

4. Ground Yuck: Navy beat SMU 34-7 without attempting a single pass. Using a triple option, the Midshipmen rushed 77 times for 404 yards.

It’s khaki-ugly football, though, and it’s a military thing. Army and Air Force also have won games this year without completing a pass.

Final gun

“If you can do this to LSU in frothing Tiger Stadium, you need have no fear of Florida or anything reptilian.” Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Georgia plays the Florida Gators Saturday.

Big Ten Basketball: It Ain’t What It Used to Be

(AP photo of Purdue’s Robbie Hummel)

Last week, I was interviewed by the Big Ten Network for a program it is doing on the Big Ten’s 1989 men’s basketball season.

I did so with reservations because a) the Big Ten Network is one of my favorite targets and b) talking about something that happened 20 years ago isn’t good for my swashbuckling, youthful image.

But I did it anyway, because any kind of promotion we in the newspaper/online racket can do is welcomed. Plus, despite the risk of looking like a cranky old swashbuckling, youthful type, I believe college basketball was so much better two decades ago than it is now and wanted to say so. The Iowa team of 1989, for instance, was imperfect. But man, could those guys play.

My feelings were confirmed this week when the Big Ten announced its preseason all-conference team. It consists of Robbie Hummel and E’Twaun Moore of Purdue, Raymar Morgan of Michigan State, Manny Harris of Michigan, and Marcus Landry of Wisconsin.

Good players, one and all. Players who averaged double-digit scoring last year, one and all. People I couldn’t recognize if I saw them on the street, one and all.

Hummel is the league’s preseason Player of the Year. He averaged 11.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game last year. Not exactly the numbers of a league legend-in-the-making. Now, that’s no insult to Hummel. He plays with passion, smarts and great skill. He is a fantastic 3-point shooter. He was integral to the Boilermakers going 15-3 in the conference last year to finish a game behind Wisconsin. He deserves his honor.

But in days of yore, Hummel wouldn’t have been considered for preseason Player of the Year. Ten years ago, the league had Mo Peterson and Mateen Cleaves at Michigan State and Michael Redd at Ohio State. The latter was on this year’s U.S. Olympic team. Peterson is still a productive NBA player.

That 1989 season the Big Ten Network will focus on had the national-championship Michigan team led scoring machine Glen Rice. Illinois reached the Final Four with Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle and Kendall Gill. Indiana won the regular-season conference title. And Iowa finished fourth with five future NBA players in B.J. Armstrong, Matt Bullard, Ed Horton, Les Jepsen and Roy Marble.

Guys like Rice and Anderson, who had long NBA careers, didn’t leave for the pros after one college season or two. Thus, college basketball was better.  I’m not pushing for the NBA to close its doors to college freshmen the way it has to those who are fresh out of high school. It’s un-American, for one thing, and I put country first. Or no lower than third, anyhow.

But when you see Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. about to enter their second year as pros after playing all of one year at Ohio State, you know the college game has changed for the worst.

Who knew that Michigan’s “Fab Five” would one day look like a stable unit that was together a long time until Chris Webber left following his sophomore season?

The good news in this for Iowa fans is that it increases the chances the Hawkeyes will eventually vie for Big Ten titles. Todd Lickliter seems to be focused on recruits who are willing to be part of something bigger themselves. You know, the four-year guys. The kind Drake was stocked with last season when it beat every team in the state and lived in the national rankings for the better part of two months.

Wisconsin has thrived with such guys. Bo Ryan’s Badgers have won 30-plus games in each of the last two seasons. That couldn’t have happened in decades past. But as a basketball fan, I’d rather watch the Fab Five or “Big Dog” Robinson than Ryan’s teams, as well as they play the game.

Iowa’s Bowl Possibilities: From Florida to Detroit

No one, and I mean no one, can offer a convincing prediction about which bowl Iowa will attend this season, if any.

The reason: There are way too many Big Ten games in November that you can’t safely forecast, and three of them are among the Hawkeyes’ final four contests.

Can you say Iowa will win at Illinois? No, not even with the way the Illini have sputtered. Illinois will be a motivated team with the ever-dangerous Juice Williams at quarterback. However, you have to like Iowa’s chances of rushing with its typical 2008 success after seeing the Illini’s run defense at Wisconsin Saturday.

Can you say Iowa will lose at home to Penn State with certainty? No. Is Iowa’s defense significantly less than Ohio State’s? No. And the Buckeyes held the Nittany Lions to 281 yards and 13 points Saturday night in Columbus.

Can you say Iowa will definitely win at Minnesota in the season-finale? (We’re calling the Hawks’ home game against Purdue a win between the Penn State and Minnesota outings.) Obviously not with the way the Gophers have played in racking up a 7-1 mark.

So, Iowa can conceivably finish the regular season 9-3, 8-4, 7-5 or 6-6. That’s Tampa and the Capital One Bowl all the way down to Detroit and the Motor City Bowl.

I can’t see the Capital One Bowl as possible for Iowa. Maybe there’s a 1 percent likelihood. Say Ohio State loses two of its last three games and Iowa wins out. But there’s a 1 percent likelihood of a lot of things in life not worth worrying about.

This is why bowl projections are so absurd until, say, the regular-season has one week left. If Iowa upends Penn State, the Nittany Lions are out of the national-title picture and everything goes haywire for the Big Ten. It’s hard to see an 11-1 Penn State and a 10-2 Ohio State (if it wins at Illinois) both in BCS games, especially with Boise State and probably Utah snapping up spots.

On the flip side, the Hawkeyes have plenty of work to do just worrying about beating Illinois this week despite the Illini’s October pratfalls against Minnesota and Wisconsin. If the Hawks lose in Champaign, they could be staring at 5-5 once Penn State leaves Kinnick Stadium. Then it’s beat Purdue and try to beat Minnesota in the Metrodome for a winning season.

You go from dreaming of the Outback to tumbling past the Alamo and Champs Sports to the Insight and perhaps the (gasp) Motor City.

Minnesota, by the way, is the great wild card. The 7-1 Gophers ought to be 9-1 after they’ve hosted Northwestern and Michigan. Then they play at Wisconsin before the Iowa game. Minnesota could conceivably be 10-1, and probably no worse than 9-2, when they make their all-time Metrodome finale against the Hawkeyes in an atmosphere that should be frenzied.

Where Illinois, Northwestern and Wisconsin fit in bowl-speculation is unclear at best. The Illini are 4-4 and have four games left that could all go good or bad, including a trip to Western Michigan. Northwestern is bowl-eligible at 6-2, but doesn’t have a game left in which you’d call it a solid favorite. Wisconsin, 4-4, plays at Michigan State and Indiana before coming home for Minnesota and Cal Poly. That could be a 6-6 team.

If Ohio State doesn’t make it to a BCS bowl, we could be looking at eight Big Ten teams and seven affiliated bowls. For the first time in its agreement with the Big Ten, the Motor City Bowl may be in a position to pick who it likes best from the conference. What it really wants, of course, is for 2-6 Michigan to morph into a Michigan football team, win its final four, and bring its 6-6 record to Ford Field in downtown Detroit to play some fabulous Mid-American Conference club.

You can’t have everything, Motor City Bowl.

Ex-Hawkeye News: Tyler Smith, Bruce Pearl and Chuck Long

Tyler Smith, the Iowa basketball player for all of one year until Steve Alford left Iowa for New Mexico, had a fine year for an extremely fine Tennessee team last season.

Then he wanted to turn pro.

Then he got worked out and worked on on by an extremely persuasive person. That’s his current coach, Bruce Pearl.

Smith said he thinks he would have been a late first-round NBA draft pick. But mock drafts dropped him steadily into the second round. There’s no guaranteed money there. Pearl convinced him to stay at Tennessee one more season to try to work his way up to higher part of the first round of the 2009 draft.

Smith bought it. He was just named the Southeastern Conference Preseason Player of the Year.

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2008/oct/22/workout-convinced-smith-to-stay/?partner=RSS

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/oct/23/vol-wants-to-make-mark/

Meanwhile, former Iowa quarterback and assistant coach Chuck Long is at the other end of the spectrum. His team is 1-6 after a 70-7 loss at New Mexico last week.

Nothing provides less confidence than a vote of confidence from an athletic director. Nonetheless, that’s what Long got from his AD, Jeff Schemmel.

Schemmel said Long will be his coach through at least the end of the 2009 season.

“He has done everything as well as any football coach I’ve seen during my 20 years (in collegiate athletics), with the exception of putting wins on the scoreboard,” Schemmel said, “and I believe he’ll do that.”

Long’s career record is 8-23. He inherited a lousy program, and it has remained that way. Long’s team has had a ridiculous number of injuries.

One of the reader comments on the San Diego Union-Tribune story about this didn’t concur with Schemmel.

“I for one would like to know what EXACTLY Long does ‘just as well as any coach’ Schemmel has seen in 20+ years. . . . Give us some specifics to back up the general comment. Otherwise it just seems like a hollow and desperate plea. . . .  From Long’s very first year the marks of a well coached team have been missing (discipline, motivation, preparation, physical health). Sometimes I wonder if Schemmel is in cahoots with the professors who want to abolish the program.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/aztecs/20081022-1551-bn22sdsu.html

Jon Stewart on Politicans Pandering to Sports Fans

How unfortunate for all of us that the World Series participants are the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays.

Nothing against those two teams. They’ve done nothing to offend, and both have actually been admirable with the way they’ve built their rosters and played the game. But they’re both from swing states, Pennsylvania and Florida. Which means they’re “in play” as far as presidential and vice presidential candidates are concerned.

That means pandering.

Leave it to “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” to skewer John McCain, Barack Obama and Sarah Palin for all doing just that. It’s an equal-opportunity bash, so no one need take any offense at the Hlog being the messenger.

As of Wednesday noon, the video was on the home page of http://www.Comedycentral.com.

Go there first. But if the video has been pulled by the time you see this post, go here (I’d have sent you to YouTube, but couldn’t find the clip there), and be aware there’s a left-side bias at this site:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/22/palin-pronounces-name-of_n_136832.html.

Some would say Stewart and his show have a left-side bias, too. But the guy’s smart and funny, rare combinations in political jibber-jabber from either side or the center.

The Hlist: USC is Merciful, Missouri is Miserable

Opening kickoff

“In Iowa, where Kirk Ferentz faces the prospect of losing his job precisely because his program has become a feeder team for the Iowa City Jail, things get worse than usual. Ferentz’s kid James, a freshman lineman, got pinched on underaged drinking (shock!) charges. The crime is of questionable import until you figure it might take Dad from the hot seat to the guillotine.” — Tom Ziller, Sportingnews.com

It seems an exaggeration.

First downs

1. Buckeye Nuts: These are a few excerpts from letters to the sports editor in Sunday’s Columbus Dispatch, written after Ohio State’s 16-3 win over Purdue and before OSU’s game at Michigan State on Saturday:

“With the exception of a few, this team needs to follow the yellow brick road and ask the wizard for a heart. While they are at it, the offensive line could ask for courage and the offensive coordinator could ask for a brain.” — Chris Sturgill, Worthington

“If (head coach Jim) Tressel keeps calling plays like he has recently, I’d make early reservations for the Outback Bowl, or wherever third-place Big Ten teams go.” — David Scott, Columbus

“Beanie Wells is capable of 200 yards per game, but the O-line seems to refuse to play with emotion for an entire game. … A promising season is likely to slip away without major improvement.” — Tom Scurlock, Washington

Wells ran 31 times for 140 yards in the Buckeyes’ 45-7 win at Michigan State on Saturday. OSU is OK.

2. One Week, Two Burials: A week ago today, Texas Coach Mack Brown approved a suggestion to bury the game ball from the previous Saturday’s 45-35 win over Oklahoma on the Longhorns’ practice field. Several Horns players then drank a Kool-Aid-like concoction to make them “forget” the big win over the Sooners and focus on the coming week’s game, against Missouri.

Score one for superstitions. No. 1 Texas buried Mizzou, 56-31.

Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy completed 29 of 32 passes for 337 yards. He passed for two touchdowns, ran for two others. He has completed 81 percent of his passes this season, a pace that would easily break the NCAA’s record of 73 percent.

“We need to continue for him to be who he is,” Brown said. “I don’t know if we need him to be any better.”

3. Abnormally Normal: In a season-full of upsets, no Top Ten teams got dumped Saturday.

Not that Southern California feared the reaper. Associated Press reported that two hours before kickoff USC players “menacingly rocked their buses, as if they couldn’t wait to get on the field.”

“Our guys had a ball playing football today, from the locker room on out,” USC Coach Pete Carroll said after his team’s 69-0 laugher over Washington State.

It’s fun being good. USC has won its last three games by a total of 141-10 since an upset loss at Oregon State. The Trojans have scored 117 unanswered points.

USC is ranked fifth in the BCS standings. Carroll’s response: “It doesn’t mean anything about anything.”

(Don Hawkins)

4. Son Sits in Mountains: Colorado’s Dan Hawkins is a father and a coach, but not necessarily in that order during games.

Hawkins pulled starting quarterback Cody Hawkins, his son, after two series of the Buffaloes’ game against Kansas State. In came true freshman Tyler Hansen. With his red-shirt removed, Hansen passed for 71 yards and a touchdown and rushed 19 times for 86 yards. Colorado won, 14-13.

“You have to do what you have to do,” Coach Hawkins said of the move.

Fumbles

1. Lanced in East Lansing: “What’s the one thing you did well today?” MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi was asked after the Spartans’ 45-7 loss to Ohio State.

“I thought we did a good job in warm-ups,” he said.

Michigan State running back Javon Ringer was held to a season-low 67 rushing yards.

“We’ve been trying to prove to people we’re not the same team, where we lose one and fall apart,” Ringer said. “This game, I’m telling you, is not gonna be that hard to get over. Next week is Michigan, and that’s the game we really look forward to. That game’s in a whole different category.”

Yeah, it’s a game against a team the Spartans can beat.

2. Missouri Breaks: After Texas crushed Missouri, Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo was asked what he thought of Missouri’s body language.

“Body language?” Orakpo replied. “I don’t know. I just play football. I ain’t no doctor.”

Ranked No. 3 two weeks ago, the Tigers could use a healer after consecutive losses to Oklahoma State and Texas.

“There’s no excuses,” said Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel. “They outplayed us, out-blocked us, kicked us, running, passing, coaching, everything.”

At least Pinkel has the Tigers’ weaknesses pinpointed.

3. Shooting Blanks: Washington State’s run of 280 consecutive games without being shut out was snapped in their 69-0 debacle of a loss to USC. The Cougars mustered just 116 total yards and four first downs.

“I think our team — a lot of guys are used to losing,” griped WSU defensive end Andy Mattingly.

It seems likely. Wazzu had Pac-10 defeats of 66-3, 63-14 and 66-13 before this game.

USC could have made it 90-0 had it desired. The Trojans played four quarterbacks. They let the last 16 seconds of the first half run out with the ball at the WSU 10 and timeouts left to use.

The Hlist thinks USC wanted to leave the Cougars with enough of a program so it can play at USC next year.

4. Lou’s Loose Lips: Even when you can understand Lou Holtz, he doesn’t always make sense.

ESPN analyst Holtz apologized on the air Saturday for mentioning Adolf Hitler in a discussion of the leadership skills of Michigan Coach Rich Rodriguez during an ESPN studio show the night before.

“Ya know,” Holtz said Friday, “Hitler was a great leader, too.”

Wow. On top of that, Holtz predicted the winners of five of Saturday’s key games around the country, which he and broadcast partner Mark May do each week. He was wrong on all five.

Final gun

“This is an embarrassing situation, and I’m hoping this is the lowest point in our season.

“We have a very fragile football team; there’s not much confidence in the locker room right now. It’s not a pretty thing.”

San Diego State Coach Chuck Long after his Aztecs’ 70-7 loss at New Mexico.

Shonn Greene for Heisman Consideration a Campaign With Odds Stacked Against It

People in Iowa Hawkeye Land see no reason why Iowa running back Shonn Greene wouldn’t get included in the Heisman Trophy conversations at this point in the season

Their logic is reasonable. Greene is already over 1,000 rushing yards. He is averaging 162 yards and 6.5 yards per carry in Big Ten games.

But at this stage, just getting his name into the “also receiving votes” end of it is a tough enough hurdle. Reasons:

1. Iowa is 5-3.

2. Though his numbers are tailing off a bit and his team got walloped by Ohio State Saturday, Michigan State running back Javon Ringer is still mentioned in Heisman talk. It’s just out of politeness now, but Ringer’s name was in a lot of Heisman watches around the country Sunday, and Greene’s wasn’t. It doesn’t help that the Spartans beat Iowa when they met, though Greene was the more prolific back that day.

3. It’s a quarterback year. With a national television audience, Texas’ Colt McCoy was superb against Missouri. McCoy, already a national name, completed 29 of 32 passes as the Longhorns dissected Missouri, 56-31. He is the frontrunner after consecutive sterling efforts in wins against Oklahoma and Missouri. Greene has to go off against Penn State in three weeks to make a remotely similar impact.

On top of that, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford would probably be No. 2 to McCoy were the voting done today. Bradford has been tremendous week after week, even in OU’s loss to Texas.

4. Iowa hasn’t defeated a Top 25 team. It hasn’t played on national TV. Some Big Ten fans are just starting to get acquainted with Greene, so you know they aren’t in the South, East or West.

5. The Hawkeyes don’t play this week. The momentum Greene has with Heisman voters who are aware of his exploits will stall until things resume at Illinois next week. Iowa has to win that game, by the way, for Greene to be more than a novelty nationally. Then you worry about Penn State.

6. Greene had zero preseason buildup or name-recognition. It’s probably the reason why Iowa’s Brad Banks finished second to  USC”s Carson Palmer instead of vice versa for the 2002 Heisman. Never mind that Palmer probably deserved it. Had America known Banks and had Palmer come from nowhere instead of the other way around, Banks would have been Iowa’s second Heisman winner.

So … Greene for the Heisman is a long, long longshot. So what? It doesn’t diminish a single thing he’s done, and it certainly doesn’t dampen any of the warm feelings Hawkeye fans have about his play. And if he continues on his current path and gets that national love in the final month of the season, it’s unexpected gravy.