Basketball For Me Please

I was talking on the phone with my best friend Billy yesterday, the conversation was about our favorite sports. Billy is a big football fan, I really believe that if Alabama football could be broadcast 24/7, he'd be watching every second of it.

But it's basketball for me please.

Being a lifetime resident of the magnificent state of Indiana, I can't help it. Whether you call it March Madness or Hoosier Hysteria I am absolutely positively hooked on the game of basketball. I enjoyed going to all the basketball games in high school. After I graduated, and when Bob Knight was coaching at Indiana University, I was lucky enough to get a seat close enough behind the IU bench in 1978, while I was visiting a friend who was attending the University at the time. Let me tell you, I heard words that sailors and truck drivers might not even know.

You may have your own opinion of Bob Knights style of coaching, but Knight has been praised for running clean programs (none of his teams have ever been sanctioned by the NCAA for recruiting violations) and graduating most of his players. Some of his team players even went on to play Professional Basketball, Kent Benson and Isiah Thomas being the most familiar names you may recall, and that's pretty impressive.

So I am waiting with great anticipation for the basketball season to start, so I can cheer on all my favorite teams from High school level to Professional level.

Oh yeah,

GO BIG RED !!! ( Indiana University for those of you don't know)

Homegrown Hysteria
Here follows a list of notable Indiana natives who have achieved success in basketball:
Steve Alford
Damon Bailey
Kent Benson
Larry Bird
Don Buse
Calbert Cheaney
Rick Fox
Eric Gordon
Alan Henderson
Jared Jeffries
Billy Keller
Shawn Kemp
Arad McCutchan
Eric Montross
Branch McCracken
George McGinnis
Brad Miller
Rick Mount
Ron Bonham
Bobby Plump
Zach Randolph
Glenn Robinson
Scott Skiles
Chuck Taylor
Chris Thomas
Fuzzy Vandivier
Bonzi Wells
Randy Wittman
John Wooden
Here follows a list of those who gained basketball fame in Indiana's tradition:
Quinn Buckner
Brian Cardinal
Mike Conley, Jr.
Mark Cuban
Gene Keady
Bob Knight
Sean May
Reggie Miller
Greg Oden
Oscar Robertson
Jerry Sloan
Keith Smart
Isiah Thomas