Dog Days of Summer

The weeks are dwindling until the return of football, which for me, means at least there'll be some interesting sports chatter. I don't really expect any wins out of IU Football. However I do expect some wins out of IU Men's Soccer.

The Hoosier kickers are rated #7, and so they should be a contender again for the College Cup. However, watching some DVR'd games from last season, the IU offense just seems to bog down, and has been prone to do so since Lee Nguyen jumped to the pros. There's a lot of talent on this team, and certainly the talented freshmen might give a spark or Will Bruin might put it all together this year and become the new Chris Klein, but the midfield currently worries me a little bit. Alexander and Adlard are tough and have some touch, but there's precious little jogo bonito in their games. Unless frosh Bick or Basecke, or maybe even local boy Konstanski can jump-start the transition attack, I think these Hoosiers are a longshot for getting to the title game. But I'm still excited to see what this team can deliver.

In IU Basketball news, another recruit joins Matt Carlino for the 2011 class. Top 100 recruit 6-6 Austin Etherington looks to be a solid piece of the Hoosier rotation in his time at IU. Also, the Puerto Rico tipoff bracket is now online. Looking at the match-ups, it's hard to see the Hoosiers walking away with 2 wins here. I'd guess that 1-2 is the most likely outcome, but maybe a little luck and pluck combined with the endless energy of freshmen nets Crean a surprise victory there.