I know that there are three teams who have played and won two games this season, while Indiana has only won one. And I know that the Hoosiers didn’t really accomplish all that much by beating a struggling Michigan team at home, in what was essentially payback for a game IU should have won last year.

And, most of all, I know that Indiana has as much a chance of winning the Big Ten this year as this song has of winning a Grammy.

Still, ask any IU fan and they will tell you that, all things considered, this right here looks about as beautiful as this right here. (Yes, we take our basketball very seriously in Bloomington.)

The Hoosiers will most likely have a much tougher go of it tonight in Columbus than they did last weekend in the friendly confines of Assembly Hall. This is will be especially true if the Buckeyes’ all-everything player Evan Turner returns to the lineup, as it is now being reported that he will do.

I think I speak for Tom Crean all Hoosier fans when I say that Turner should not rush back. He suffered a very serious injury and should be extra cautious in making sure that he is totally healthy. Sure, we’d be disappointed not to get to marvel at his all-around brilliance, but we’d get over it.

Tonight will tell us a lot about this year’s Hoosiers. If we compete and make it a game on the road (Evan Turner or not), I’ll have a lot more faith in a possible 6- or 7-win Big Ten season. If we lay and egg and get blown out, it’s back to expecting 3 or 4 wins.

Looking forward to it. I think the Hoosiers will lose…but play well.

Tonight, Indiana @ Ohio State, 8:30 ET, Big Ten Network

Peegs Gameday Page

But not even the aggregate of all of this positive news could compare with what I just found out when I went to the Big Ten Network’s official website: Gus Johnson has joined the Big Ten Network to announce mens basketball games for the 2008-09 season.

Let me try to express how I feel about this:

There is absolutely no one on earth who makes watching a sporting event as fun as Gus Johnson. Hell, this blog has been for about three months and I’ve probably posted the video above twice already before.

One video that I have not yet posted is of my favorite Gus Johnson call of all-time, during the NCAA Tournament a few years ago when Ohio State and Xavier staged their epic down-to-the-wire battle that was won on a Ron Lewis three pointer. I’ll let Gus do the rest of the talking:

I don’t know how many IU games Gus Johnson will be doing this year, but I hope it is every single one. I have tons of IU basketball memories, but I don’t have one yet that includes the indelible sound of Gus Johnson screaming with excitement. Every sports fan should have at least one memory of Gus Johnson calling an exciting moment for their team. Like Gonzaga fans do — the slipper still fits!

I think I could spend all night watching Gus Johnson videos on YouTube. Wait a minute…KVB and I have done that before. More than once. Anyone want to experience the most exciting 3:48 of your life? Click play on the video below:

Honestly, the Big Ten Network getting Gus Johnson is a huge coup for the network. There were many things about the Big Ten Network that pissed me off last year, and one of the main ones was the absolutely mediocrity of the announcing teams that were trotted out on a nightly basis. There is absolutely nothing mediocre about Gus Johnson. He is a very good technical announcer, does a good job of calling the game, and makes even the most exciting moments seem exponentially more exciting.

I was excited for the start of college basketball before, but now the season can’t come soon enough. Gus Johnson joining the Big Ten Network is the most exciting thing to happen to Big Ten sports since…since…? Hell, I can’t think of anything. Ha-ha! Gus Johnson! On the Big Ten Network! THIS is MARCH MADNESS!

[tags]big ten, big ten network, college basketball, gus johnson[/tags]

What was it that gave me such a huge pick-me-up?

Well, the title of this post probably gave it away: the Big Ten Network is here in Dallas! This, of course, means that I will be able to watch every Indiana Hoosiers basketball game this year (as I now live in Dallas). I grew up going to IU games in Assembly Hall, I went to Indiana University, and after a few years away I moved back to Indiana last year. Naturally, I rarely if ever missed a game when I lived in the Hoosier state. I have also lived in Miami, Fl and now Dallas, and for some reason these unenlightened sports fans are not as passionate about their IU basketball as I am. I suppose the rational part of my mind understands this, but it didn’t provide any solace during those winter nights when my Hoosiers were playing and I had to listen to it online sitting in front of my computer if the game wasn’t nationally televised.

It did give me a chance to enjoy the soothing sounds of Don Fischer, but still; I want to see the games! Now that the Big Ten Network is here in Dallas (and in HD!), I will get to enjoy pretty much every game of the 2008-09 IU basketball schedule.

The TV schedule does not seem to be set, as the Peegs.com schedule usually displays it, but I don’t recall any game last season that was not either on the Big Ten Network or nationally televised. (One depressing caveat I just realized: most of the “national” CBS games are usually played concurrently with other games and shown regionally. So I will still have to figure out a solution to this problem. Perhaps the college basketball package is still in my future.)

Regardless, nothing will rain on my parade of Cream and Crimson joy tonight. I was already pumped up for the 2008-09 season of IU basketball. We may not win more than 10 games (although I, for one, think that we will) but it is the first step forward into the Tom Crean era and away from the horrific BS of the Kelvin Sampson era of Indiana basketball. A part of me would like to issue a petition to create a moratorium on the phrase “Kelvin Sampson era of Indiana basketball.” That slimeball liar should not have the privilege of seeing his name in the same sentence as Indiana basektball; he sure as hell should not have had the privilege of coaching Indiana basketball.

Now that the White Sox season is over, and leaves all across the Midwest are changing colors, falling, and whistling in the ever-cooling Fall and soon-to-be-Winter wind, you will start to see much more coverage of the Indiana Hoosiers here on Midwest Sports Fans. And to my unlimited delight, I will not be forced to provide commentary based on radio broadcasts, box scores, and IndyStar recaps. I am a White Sox fan, I am a Browns fan, and I am a Dolphins fan. I love all three of these teams. But the excitement I feel for all three of these teams combined will never equal my passion for Indiana University basketball. Thank you Verizon and the Big Ten Network for bringing Indiana basketball here to me and thousands of other IU fans living in Dallas.

We now have a coach in Tom Crean who will give us something to cheer for well into the future, without (God we hope) the fear of having the rug yanked from under our feet as during the era of the-former-IU-coach-who-will-no-longer-be-referred-to-by-name. And thanks to the Big Ten Network, I will be able to watch and cheer the much anticipated debut of the Crean and Crimson Hoosiers.

[tags]indiana hoosiers, basketball, tom crean, big ten network, verizon cable[/tags]