Balancing time

Well, if last weekend was a everything-goes-right, this was certainly somewhat of a comeuppance. I don't know who ever seriously expected IU Football to win that Columbus game. As I said last week, " I'd love to see it happen, but years of watching better programs have made me skeptical." I think it's clear to everyone what a "better program" looks like.

IU Men's Soccer also went down to Penn State, 1-0, despite outshooting them 9-5, 5-1 in the second half. These Hoosiers are still pretty young, so maybe they just haven't figured out how to come out the gates strong.

IU Basketball got its first recruit for 2008, a 6-4 rising guard from Kentucky. Nothing spectacular, but it's always good to get a good recruit earlier rather than later.

There's a few player-rankings floating out there right now, and I will say this about them. College, unlike the NBA, is not about upside. An experienced Senior will usually have a freshman's lunch because they generally get the respect from the refs and know how to get more athletic (& less experienced) opponents into trouble. So ranking Greg Oden over say, Nick Fazekas seems pretty silly to me, as this year, if they meet, Fazekas will probably play a lot more minutes and have fewer turnovers than Oden. Who will probably make more NBA money? That's Oden.

Now, there is a limit on this logic. Just because OSU forward Ivan Harris is a senior does not mean he will kick Texas frosh Kevin Durant's butt. Far from it. But as long as the talent is not obviously off, go with experience.