Scott Eyre Knows How to Groove... a Pitch

Seriously. Send Eyre down to the minors. No, not Iowa. Not West Tenn. Send him to Daytona. We are already wasting his $11 million contract as he continues to blow Cubs' leads like it's his job.

Eyre blew another lead last night against the Brew Crew. It's getting sick.

Here are his stats through 8 appearances (this is disgusting, you have been warned):

2007 Season Stats
	G	IP	H	R	HR	BB	SO	W	L	Sv	P/GS	WHIP	BAA	ERA
Season	8	6.0	12	10	2	6	10	0	1	0	0.0	3.00	.400	15.00

Scott, stop grooving pitches. Better yet, just stop pitching for awhile.

Creating My Chicago Cubs Office

Cayen and I decided that due to the fact that we have to put in new carpet because of the water damage to the office, it was also time to get away from the bland white walls, as well. After I ended up picking out the ugliest color known to society, she suggested we go with some sort of blue and then the idea of creating a Cubs flavored room was born. Paint was bought and the sleeves were rolled up. Two coats of blue paint is done and the red stripe has been measured off with paint tape and one coat has been applied. I am planning on painting a Cubs logo on one of the walls, as well as decorating the walls with Cubs memorabilia. Here are some pics of what we have going on right now. The flash of the camera makes the color of the blue lighter than the actual color...

Cubs blue.


Guidelines for the red stripe.


Guidelines for the red stripe.


Painting the red stripe - Coat One.


Coat One of the red stripe.


Coat One of the red stripe.


Coat One of the red stripe.


My watchdog/helper.

UPDATES ON THE CUBS OFFICE HERE

Vote for the Hawk!

Most Dominant College Mascot on Earth: VOTE HERE

Tyler Smith Leaves the University of Iowa

Tyler Smith Released from Scholarship - LINK

If I was in the situation he is, I don't think I would do anything differently. The U of I, Coach Lickliter, and Mr. Barta obviously felt that something was honestly wrong in this situation and they granted the release. He wouldn't be transferring back to Tennessee because it makes basketball sense (clearly it doesn't). He'd be transferring for personal reasons, those same reasons none of us can fault him for. He is going through some tough times... he no longer has his coaching staff with him, he misses his kid, and his dad isn't doing well. You cannot fault him for leaving.

Tyler brought a lot of energy back into Hawkeye Basketball. It sucks to see him leave; he is a hell of a BB player. That said, Tyler is no longer a Hawkeye. He is no longer part of the family. I understand why he left, but he is no longer a Hawk. "Once a Hawkeye, Always a Hawkeye" is reserved for those who leave after spending their time at Iowa (i.e. - moving to the next level). Just for arguments sake, do you see the following players as Hawkeyes? Pierre Pierce? Josh Rhodes? Marcellus Somerville? Ben Rand? Courtney Scott? I certainly do not. So I have to stay with my assessment that Smith is no longer a Hawkeye; he is out of the family.

There was speculation that Smith would leave as soon as the Alford rumors started. This is another casualty that might have been avoided by Alford staying, but if his dad's health really is deteriorating, it might not have matter if Nealford was still here.

Good luck to Tyler, I genuinely enjoyed watching him on the court. He will be severely missed.

It's just not great to be a Hawkeye right now...

HOT ITEMS ON SALE ON EBAY: Alford Memorabilia

PICK UP ALFORD MERCHANDISE ON EBAY... YEA.

Autographed Iowa Blimp - $3 MINIMUM BID IS WINNING

Autographed Floor Tile Indiana - $9.99 MINIMUM BID IS WINNING

Autographed Floor Tile Iowa - GET IT FOR LESS THAN AN ANDREW JACKSON (with the bible verse JAS 1:12 reference free of charge)

Autographed Floor Tile - $19.99 - A BIT MORE FOR THE "GOD'S BLESSINGS" INSCRIPTION

Dallas Mavericks Basketball Card - SOMEONE GRAB THIS FOR 99 CENTS

Autographed Golden State Warriors Card - 12.99 READY TO BUY

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: FIRESTEVEALFORD.COM IS FOR SALE - Starting Bid $200.00

Good luck on your bidding.

LICKLITER HIRED: Hawk fans, get ready for some S-L-O-W basketball

BARTA GRABS BUTLER'S TODD LICKLITER...
Get ready for some S-L-O-W paced basketball

Don't get me wrong, I'd take Lickliter over Altman or Stallings any day... it's just going to be crazy to watch 50 point games.

2006-07

Only 4 other teams in the NATION had a slower pace.

Northwestern
Delaware St.
Samford
Princeton

Butler had the 332nd fastest tempo. LINK

2005-06

Only 8 other teams in the NATION had a slower pace.

Birmingham Southern
Northwestern
Georgetown
Richmond
Samford
Air Force
Delaware St.
Princeton

326th pace in the nation.

2004-05

Only 3 other teams in the NATION had a slower pace.

Samford
Air Force
Princeton

327th pace in the nation.


2003-04

Only 2 other teams in the NATION had a slower pace.

Princeton
Air Force

324th pace in the nation

We might as well get ready for 33 second possession every time down the court... I bet Tyler Smith will love that. Ugh.

Maybe we can lull the other team to sleep?

Gary Barta Knows What He is Doing

Gary Barta has slow-played his hand very well in this search for the new Iowa head mens basketball coach. No one has much "inside info" on the matter (at least none that is being whispered around those normally in the know). I believe Barta is ready to get a big name coach into the position. I believe this will all start to be put into motion after the National Championship game and Billy Donovan's decision to stay at Florida or leave for Kentucky. Altman is now going to be a Razorback, that's cool with me. There are a ton of big name coaches out there... pretty much anyone is available for hire short of Calhoun, Coach K, and the like. Altman is not a big name guy. He did ok at an MVC school, but recruits aren't dying to play for him. While Theus hasn't had huge success as a D-1 coach yet, what he has done has been impressive. The reason Theus is a bigger name is because what he has done on the recruiting trails, his NBA career, and what a "name" like his could bring for the Iowa BB program. Again, the main reason I feel Iowa should grab Theus is his recruiting ability and because of who his coaching mentor was.

On my list
Bruce Pearl - #1 on my list
Billy Gillispie
Reggie Theus
John Beilein
Tom Crean (has a HUGE contract w/ Marquette though)
Jay Wright (loves Nova, won't leave)
Dana Altman
Tim Floyd
Andy Kennedy (untested though)
Kirk Speraw


Neutral
Chris Lowery
Craig Neal
Tony Bennett
Lorenzo Romar

Not on my list
Ernie Kent - almost fired by Oregon, haven't heard many good things
Kevin Stallings - ho hum
Lon Kruger - doesn't stay at one place long enough, wining % is actually lower than Alford's
Rick Majerus - too big of a health liability
Quinn Snyder - don't like his style
Steve Lavin - don't think he can coach