Friday Musings

Coaching Carousel
This past week has been quite an eventful one as far as basketball coaches in the state of Iowa are concerned. Last week brought the news that Morgan would be canned, on the heels of a disappointing season and his involvement with a shady scheduling outfit. I don't think he did anything wrong, it was just the scapegoat for a new AD to get his own guy in there. Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock announcing their departure may have done more to seal the deal as next year wasn't looking any brighter. My first reaction to McDermott wasn't overwhelming excitement--I was expecting maybe a higher-profile guy. But then again, he has taken UNI to three straight NCAA tournaments. There's no question he can coach, but whether he will be able to bring in the recruits to compete in the Big 12? That remains to be seen. Personally, I'll take a lesser-talent team that overachieves over what we had this past year. Good luck to the new Mac.

Marcus Fizer
Former ISU basketball player Marcus Fizer is one of my all-time favorites to don the cardinal-and-gold. A first-team All-American and Big 12 MVP in 1999-2000, he led ISU to perhaps its greatest season ever. He carried that team, leading them to a Big 12 regular season championship, Big 12 tourney championship, and within a breath of the Final Four (we were robbed). But as the third overall pick in the NBA draft, he has been a bust as a professional. But check out this article I stumbled across this week. It appears that Marcus has found the Lord. He thanks God for the humbling experience of being jilted from the NBA, and lists basketball, the Bible, and his babies as the most important things in his life right now. It is good to hear that Marcus has found what matters in life and I look forward to meeting him someday in glory.

March Madness?
Before Nora was born I was really hoping that the baby would come on the eve of the NCAA tournament. That way I could watch lots of games with my week off of work and all the time in the hospital. I pictured cradling our happy newborn and introducing her to the pinnacle of sporting events while she gazed on in trance-like wonder. All the parents out there are chuckling to themselves right now, and they are right. I did get part of my wish: Nora was born the day before the tournament began. Otherwise, I was waaaay off. There really was no way to understand how extremely tired I would be and that I would gladly choose sleep over watching basketball (I know, pretty crazy). The one exception was watching the Iowa and UNI games in the hospital, but I was still operating on adrenaline at that point. On that note, my condolences to the Hawks. That one hurt as much as Hampton.