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Archive for the category “Kent State”

28 Mar 2011

Kent State loses another good coach

Just last week, we were overdosing on college basketball with the NCAA tournament and Kent State’s run in the NIT and were wondering how long it would be before the Golden Flashes would start worrying about coach Geno Ford leaving town.

We just never thought that day would be today.

In news as shocking as it was quick, the two-time MAC Coach of the Year is leaving to take over Bradley.

“I am ecstatic to work at such a great institution with such a rich basketball history,” Ford said in a statement released by Bradley. “The passionate Bradley fan base, academic excellence and exceptional facilities will give us an opportunity to compete at the highest levels of the Missouri Valley Conference.”

Ford leaves the Golden Flashes after three years with a record of 68-37. Kent won back-to-back regular season conference titles and made two trips to the NIT under Ford, who had four years remaining on his contract at KSU which was paying him $300,000 annually, according to The (Peoria) Journal Star.

The unanswered questions are why now and why Bradley?

It was one thing when Stan Heath left to go to Arkansas, at least the Razorbacks are an SEC school. Or when Jim Christian left for Texas Christian.

But Bradley? A team that was 12-20 last season, 4-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference?

That was a better alternative than coming back to a Kent State team that is only losing one player off this year’s 25-win team?

Now the pressure falls on athletic director Joel Nielsen, who must find a way to continue what has been an incredible run of Kent coaches:

  • Ford was the fourth KSU coach to be named MAC Coach of the Year in the last 13 years.
  • Seven times since 1999, KSU has had the conference’s Coach of the Year.
  • The Golden Flashes have had 11 seasons of at least 20 wins in the past 12 years, with five NCAA tournament bids and six NIT appearances.
  • Through four coaches since 1999, the team’s worst record was 19-15 in Ford’s first season, 2008-09.
  • Gary Waters took KSU to its first NCAA tournament in 1999, his third season. He did it again in 2001 with a 24-10 record and a first-round NCAA tournament victory.
  • Stan Heath took the Flashes to the Elite Eight in his only season as head coach.
  • Jim Christian had a 135-58 record, six seasons of at least 20 victories, three NIT and two NCAA appearances.
  • And now Ford

One thing that stands out about the former Kent coaches is none have had the same success once they left:

  • Waters coached five seasons at Rutgers with three NIT appearances and a 79-75 record. He just finished his fifth year (26-7) at Cleveland State. Has three 20-game winning seasons and an appearance in the 2009 NCAA tournament.
  • Heath coached at Arkansas for five years (82-71) with two NCAA appearances. Spent the last four seasons at South Florida (41-54) with a 2010 NIT appearance and a 9-22 record this season.
  • Christian just finished his third season (11-22) at Texas Christian and has a 38-58 record (11-37 in the Mountain West Conference).

We have to wonder if Ford considered that before making his decision.

So what will Nielsen do? He wasn’t in charge for the previous hirings, which were handled by retired athletic director Laing Kennedy. Does Nielsen have what it takes to make the right call?

Nielsen said he will use Kennedy as sort of a consultant as Nielsen goes through the search. The candidate pool reportedly will include former KSU assistant coaches Rob Murphy, now at Syracuse, and Eric Haut, now at TCU with Christian.

For now, Nielsen has appointed Rob Senderoff as interim coach. Senderoff has been the associate head coach for all three years under Ford, and also had a three-year stint as a Kent State assistant under Christian.

“I’m confident we’ll find a candidate, inside or outside, who will keep this thing going,” Nielsen said.

For Golden Flashes fans everywhere, we hope Nielsen is right.

But how many times can Kent State keep going back to the table before their roll comes up snake eyes?

***

Ford leaving Kent State makes us wonder how long Butler will be able to hold on to Brad Stevens and VCU will be able to keep Shaka Smart.

***

The Big Ten finished the NCAA Tournament with a 6-7 record and no teams advancing beyond the Sweet 16.

Posted in basketball, Geno Ford, Kent State | Leave a comment
22 Mar 2011

Tribe pitching shaping up … sort of

With a little more than a week until Opening Day, the Indians starting rotation appears to be set.

Unfortunately, it looks like the bullpen may now be a bit unsettled.

Hey, it wouldn’t be the Indians if everything was bees and honey now, would it?

Manager Manny Acta is leaning toward naming Josh Tomlin as the fifth starter, joining Fausto Carmona, Justin Masterson, Carlos Carrasco and Mitch Talbot in a starting rotation that will try and help the Tribe avoid its third consecutive season of 90+ losses.

As for the bullpen …

When spring training opened, Acta said he expected the bullpen to be the strongest part of team. But questions starting to pop up about the relievers.

Joe Smith is still recovering from an abdominal strain and probably won’t be ready when the season starts and Jensen Lewis has been sent to Class AAA Columbus.

Four relievers are definitely on the team: closer Chris Perez, Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp and Chad Durbin. Smith was originally on this list, but if he has to go on the disabled list, that leaves three open spots.

Acta has to choose from Frank Herrmann and Justin Germano, who pitched decently for the Tribe last season, along with Doug Mathis and Vinnie Pestano, non-roster players who, if they make the team, means the Indians will have to make room for them on the 40-man roster.

Not the type of decisions Acta was expecting to face so close to Opening Day.

***

For all the talk about the Browns have blown draft after draft since 1999, turns out the Tribe is just as bad:

According to Terry Pluto’s latest in The Plain Dealer:

  • Of all the players the Indians drafted from 2004-07, Josh Tomlin is the only one who has a chance to start this season.
  • The Indians had five picks in the top 124 players in 2007: Trevor Crowe (No. 14), John Drennan (33), Stephen Head (62), Nick Weglarz (94) and Jensen Lewis (124). None of them will be on the Opening Day roster.
  • They had five picks in the top 75 in 2006: David Huff (39), Stephen Wright (56), John Rodriguez (57), Wes Hodges (69) and Matt McBride (75). The Tribe is still waiting for a payoff.
  • No one from the 2005 draft will be in the majors.

Who was running the draft during those years, Butch Davis?

There’s hope, though. Lonnie Chisenhall (first) and Cord Phelps (third) from the 2008 draft and Alex White and Jason Kipnis, the top two picks from 2009, may be with the Tribe sooner than later.

Let’s hope so, because with the Indians have zero money to spend on free agents, the draft is the only way they will get fresh talent on the diamond at Progressive Field.

***

Kent State continues its magical mystery tour through the NIT tonight in Boulder against Colorado.

Since being snubbed by the NCAA, the Flashes have totaled more than 7,500 miles by traveling to St. Mary’s in California and then to Connecticut to take on Fairfield in their first two games.

Tuesday night’s game against the Buffalo’s will be the Golden Flashes third straight on the road, all in different time zones. Since mid-February, Kent has played 11 of its 13 games away from home.

Which makes the team’s 25 wins even more impressive.

***

Josh Cribbs is not happy about the NFL changing the rules about kickoffs.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Kent State | Leave a comment
20 Mar 2011

A Good Day for the Good Guys

Sunday was a good day, as Kent State beat Fairfield 72-68 to reach the quarterfinals of the NIT.

The Golden Flashes were led by Randal Holt’s 22 points, while Carlton Guyton added 16, Michael Porrini had 11 and Justin Manns contributed 10.

Kent State, which is now 25-11 on the season, will play at Colorado on Tuesday night. Not sure what they have to do to be worthy of a home game here, but what are you going to do?

After being screwed over by the NCAA despite winning the MAC regular season title and going to overtime of the conference title game, the Golden Flashes are making the most of their chance in the NIT.

It’s too bad Kent didn’t get a chance to compete in the NCAA Tournament, but if the Golden Flashes had gone then that means one of the 11 Big East teams would have been left out.

And just how is the Big East doing in the tournament?

Well, if Notre Dame defeats Florida State in the Sunday night game, the Big East will end up with a whole three teams in the Sweet 16. Or, just one more than the Mountain West Conference.

And the only No. 1 seed to lose so far is Pittsburgh, from the Big East, of course.

We’re sure glad they just had to 11 teams from that conference.

***

And congratulations to Kent State junior Dustin Kilgore, who won the 197-pound championship at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships in Philadelphia.

Kilgore defeated Oklahoma State’s Clayton Foster, who was previously unbeaten on the season, to become Kent State’s first national-champion wrestler as well as the school’s career leader in wins.

***

Liverpool kept its hopes alive for playing in Europe next season with a 2-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez found the back of the net as the Reds closed the gap on fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur, who were held to a 0-0 draw with West Ham United.

With eight games to go, Liverpool trails Spurs by just four points.

The two face off at Anfield on May 15 in the penultimate game of the season.

Posted in Kent State, Liverpool | Leave a comment
14 Mar 2011

Have the Cavs quit on the season?

We knew it was going to be a long year for the Cavaliers as the team goes through the beginning stages of the rebuilding process.

And we know because of injuries and trades the team has been forced to give significant minutes to several players who may not be ready yet (or ever).

But that doesn’t excuse the team’s continued lack of effort on the court.

“I’m really starting to question what type of heart we have as a basketball team,” coach Byron Scott told The Plain Dealer following Sunday’s loss to Oklahoma City. “If you are a competitor, no matter what the situation is, no matter what the year has brought, you’re going to come in and compete every single night. We haven’t done that the last two games. That’s my biggest question: Do we have enough guys in that locker room right now that have heart and some other things to go out there and play the way they’re supposed to play?”

That’s not good, especially since Scott has been preaching that message since the start of the season. And if the players start falling into bad habits now, it will take that much longer to break them out of those habits when this team is ready to start winning again.

Is the team just playing out the string with 17 games left in the season?

“I’m hoping they’re not thinking that way because we’re not thinking that way,” Scott said. “We’ve got to come in every day and try to figure out a way to keep these guys motivated and keep these guys working. I’m hoping they’re not all looking at the schedule and going, ‘OK, April 13, the season’s over and we can take a deep breath and enjoy our summer.’ I don’t necessarily put that past a bunch of the guys on the team right now, but I hope that’s not the case.”

Hopefully Daniel “Boobie” Gibson is right when he says the team still cares.

“I think they really care about winning and playing the right way,” Gibson told The PD. “It’s a matter of when you want to play the right way, you have to know how to play the right way. We have a lot of young guys, and it takes time. It takes time to learn what it takes to play at this level. I think sometimes it might come off that way [lacking heart], but I think guys on this team really care.”

***

Looks like we’ll have to wait a while longer for the Lonnie Chisenhall era to begin at Progressive Field.

Chisenhall was among seven players the Indians sent back to the minor-league camp on Tuesday, ending the third baseman of the future’s attempt to have the future start now.

“Lonnie has had a very good camp, but he has some development to do,” Tribe general manager Chris Antonetti told The Beacon Journal. “He needs to be a little more consistent against left-handed pitchers and do a better job of knowing the strike zone. Defensively, he is still learning the nuances of third base after being a shortstop.”

That’s probably true, but we can’t help shake the feeling that delaying the start of Chisenhall’s service time on the Major League level played a large part in the decision.

”That definitely is not the case,” Antonetti told The Beacon Journal. “We meet at the end of every season and talk about each of our guys. Every person thought that Lonnie had further development to do. If he was that far advanced, he would already have been to Triple-A.”

Whether it played a role or not, it’s evident that under the current reality of baseball’s payroll discrepancies questions about service time are going to be a part of the Tribe’s decision-making process.

It would be great if the team could make decisions based only on baseball, but that’s not our Tribe in 2011.

***

Good luck to the University of Akron, who will take on Notre Dame in their opening game of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

The Zips lucked out as they could have been scheduled to play the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day on Thursday. Now they catch the Irish on Friday, when the Notre Dame players may be a step slow from being meat-deprived because it’s Lent.

As for Kent State, they will open up NIT play Tuesday night at St. Mary’s.

Posted in Byron Scott, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Kent State, Lonnie Chisenhall | Leave a comment
13 Mar 2011

Golden Flashes miss chance to go dancing

Crap.

Kent State lost what was probably its only chance to make the NCAA Tournament, losing the MAC final in overtime to Akron.

Now, despite being the conference’s regular season champion and winning 23 games, the Golden Flashes will probably not get a spot in the tournament so that we can watch teams like Michigan State (14 losses) or Marquette (11th in the Big East) go out and lose their opening games.

If the MAC only gets one bid again this year it just reinforces the bias the selection committee shows the big conferences at the expense of some good teams. Schools from the Big Ten, SEC or ACC lose in their conference tournaments and are still selected because of their “body of work.”

But when a school from a mid-major conference loses in its tournament, then the regular season has no impact.

And people think the BCS is messed up.

***

We’re going to break format to recommend a non-sports book that we are currently reading.

A Secret Gift by former Canton resident Ted Gup tells the story of Mr. B. Virdot, who placed an advertisement in The Canton Repository a week before Christmas in 1933 asking residents to write to him about their financial troubles and how they would spend the money if he helped them. Within days the Post Office received thousands of letters and B. Virdot mailed out 150 checks for $5 each to families across town.

Gup spent two years tracking down the descendants of the letter writers, conducting more than 500 interviews and sifting through thousands of pages of deeds, marriage licenses, census reports, obituaries and death certificates. The letters and Gup’s research became the basis of the book.

While the story is set in the Great Depression, it reaffirms our believe that there are few places better than NE Ohio.

For more information, check out this story and this one.

***

In what continues to be a long week in Ohio State land comes news that ESPN analyst and former Buckeye quarterback Kirk Herbstreit and his family have been forced to move out of their home in central Ohio because of the constant criticism he has received from OSU fans who don’t understand how life works.

“Nobody loves Ohio State more than me,” Herbstreit told The Columbus Dispatch. “I still have a picture of Woody Hayes and my dad (Jim, a former OSU player) in my office, and nobody will do more than I do for the university behind the scenes. But I’ve got a job to do, and I’m going to continue to be fair and objective. To continue to have to defend myself and my family in regards to my love and devotion to Ohio State is unfair.”

Stay classy Buckeye fans. (h/t Waiting for Next Year)

Posted in crappy Big Ten, Kent State, Ohio State | Leave a comment
10 Mar 2011

Golden Flashes drawing NFL interest

Nine NFL teams, including the Browns, Ravens and Steelers, were represented at Kent State’s pro day this week.

Not a big surprise as the Flashes had 10 players in the NFL last season, including former Pro Bowlers Antonio Gates and Joshua Cribbs and 2008 defensive player of the year James Harrison.

Ten players and no NCAA violations. Maybe a certain school to the south should take notes.

Several eyes were on defensive end Monte’ Simmons, who finished his Kent State career with 21.5 sacks and 38.5 tackles for losses.

”He looks the part; he’s a specimen,” Raymond Jackson, Pittsburgh’s director of player development, told The Beacon Journal. ”He reminds me so much of Courtney Brown. Size-wise, he’s a rare specimen. If you go off of looks, he’s a day-one guy. The film doesn’t lie. If he can play he’s going to be on somebody’s roster.”

”I still feel like I had more in me to show,” said Simmons. ”I have another pro day on March 15, just to get myself seen more.”

Watch, the Steelers or Ravens will probably take a chance on him and Simmons will torment the Browns for the next 10 years.

Scouts were also looking at safety Brian Lainhart, who had 17 interceptions and 344 tackles as a four-year starter, and middle linebacker Cobrani Mixon.

***

According to Paul Hoynes at The Plain Dealer, Nick Johnson is expected to arrive this week at spring training for the Indians.

The oft-injured Johnson is recovering from wrist surgery and is still a few weeks away from being able to swing a bat. The minor-league deal he signed with the Indians has a July 1 out clause. If he isn’t in the big leagues by then, he can become a free agent.

If the Indians bring him to the big leagues, he’ll make $750,000. They can exercise a club option for 2012 worth $2.75 million. He can earn another $1.75 million in plate appearances.

Please don’t hurry back, Nick. No seriously, there’s no rush.

***

Every once in a while we feel a little guilty that we are not more adventurous. But then we read stories like this and realize that’s not such a bad thing:

A Weipa (Australia) fisherman desperately held on to a tree and screamed for help from his mates as a monster croc bit into his legs and tried to pull him under the water.

Rangers will converge on Weipa today to try to catch the aggressive croc that attacked Rio Tinto mine worker Todd Bairstow, 28, as he was fishing on the banks of Trunding Creek yesterday.

Mr Bairstow was fishing in the creek near Albatross Bay Resort, about 4.10pm, when the crocodile lunged at him and tore off his finger.

The crocodile lunged again, grabbed his legs and tried to pull him into the water.

A Queensland Police spokesman said while the man suffered extensive lacerations and dislocated bones, his injuries were not life-threatening.

Yeah, maybe hanging out on the couch isn’t such a bad idea after all. (h/t to Deadspin)

***

Good news as Browns running back Montario Hardesty’s recovery from a knee injury that cost him his rookie season is progressing nicely.

“Rehab is going well,” Hardesty said on the team’s website. “I think I have a little bit of work still left to get myself there. I wouldn’t say I’m well ahead of schedule, but it’s coming along great. I just have a little bit of a ways to go before I’m back to 100 percent.”

If Hardesty can give the Browns anything this season it will be much appreciated, especially by Peyton Hillis, who wore down by the end of the last. (h/t to Waiting for Next Year)

***

Not surprisingly, Zydrunas Ilguaskas is planning to retire after this season.

“I think I’ve had enough of this game,” Ilguaskas told alietuvis.com. “I’ve played enough. Sitting on the bench doing nothing is not what I want to do. The long trips and the intensive schedule have taken its toll – I’m not a 20-year-old anymore and my body is telling me that it would be the right time to retire from NBA after this season. I have given everything I could to basketball and now I’d like to spend more time with my family.”

It can’t be fun for Z to be riding the bench for a Heat team that is not as good as the Cavs teams Z played on the past two years.

***

Finally, this from The New York Times gave us a good chuckle.

Turns out Jim Tressel had to cancel a book signing appearance the other night to try and explain the web of lies he’s weaving at Ohio State.

Tressel was promoting his book, Life Promises for Success: Promises From God on Achieving Your Best.

It’s been a while since we were regulars in church, but we did go to a parochial school through eighth grade and we’re pretty sure lying to your bosses wasn’t one of those life promises.

Posted in bad ideas, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, culture of lies, Kent State, Ohio State | Leave a comment
10 Mar 2011

Honoring a team that does it the right way

After yesterday’s news about the culture of lies that surrounds Jim Tressel and the Ohio State football program, we need to take a moment to recognize a coach and an athletic program that truly does things the right way.

Congratulations are in order for Kent State basketball coach Geno Ford, who was named the Mid-American Conference’s Coach of the Year, and Justin Greene, the Flashes’ junior center, who was named Player of the Year in the MAC.

Ford took a team with only three returning players and repeated as MAC regular season champions, the first conference team to pull off the feat since Ball State in 1988-89. And he did it without being confused about doing what is right versus doing what is easy.

Seven times since 1999, KSU has had the MAC Coach of the Year – going to four different men.

Kent State has had 11 seasons of at least 20 victories in the last 12 years, five NCAA and five NIT appearances. They have had four coaches, and the worst record since 1999 was 19-15 in 2008-09, Ford’s first season.

And they’ve done it all without cutting corners or lying to their bosses.

Greene averaged 15.6 ppg and delivered 10 double doubles, including the last three games of the season.

The Flashes open conference tournament play Thursday night against Buffalo at the Q.

The Bulls are going to be a tough out, as the two teams have split their two regular-season games for the past three seasons.

But we’re confident the Flashes are going to get it done the right way. The Kent State way.

***

Remember Subbuteo? Sure you do.

EPL Talk reports there there is a documentary about the legendary table soccer game in the works and scheduled for release this year.

Definitely going in the Netflix queue.

***

Lonnie Chisenhall keeps doing his part to make it tough on Indians manager Manny Acta during spring training.

If he keeps it up, it will be interesting to see what the Indians will do. Because of their silly signing of Orlando Cabrera to play second base, the Indians are in a situation where they are trying force Jason Donald, a natural short stop to play third base, blocking Chisenhall.

Why the Indians don’t just go with an infield of Chisenhall at third, Donald and short and Asdrubal Cabrera at second is baffling.

***

Finally, good news from Terry Pluto, who reports that Joe Tait is hoping to be back calling the Cavs game on March 21.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, culture of lies, Geno Ford, Kent State, Ohio State, Subbuteo | Leave a comment

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