What is it with you Hoosiers - Don’t you have any pride?

Storming the court after a win in which you blew a 15 point lead in the second half to an unranked Minnesota? Wow. I thought IU was a ‘classy basketball school’, but apparently taking down the Gophers was enough to prompt the students to drop their oversized headshot signs, and gleefully prance onto the hardwood. And speaking of those headshot signs, I thought there were rules about the dimensions of signs that can be displayed at games. But I digress. Most amusing to me, during the BTN broadcast was the juxtaposition of the camera panning the National Championship banners in the rafters near the end of regulation, followed by the jubilant students skipping onto the court like they were going to the Final Four. Come on, IU – don’t you have any pride? You’re a school rich with hoops tradition. I know its been awhile since you’ve done much in the Big Ten, but come on. Show some dignity. What's next? A win over rival Purdue or highly ranked MSU might get Assembly Hall burned to the ground. Watch out Hoosier boosters -get your student fan base under control.

This behavior displayed by the IU student body reeks of 21st Century Michigan basketball fans (who also questionably rushed the floor after beating #15 UConn this weekend). Come on students – let’s be a little more selective on what motivates you to push your way past a security guard. Save it for a win over a top 5 team, or clinching a Big Ten championship.

Ok – so its fair to say that I’m pretty angry about this loss, and admittedly I am venting here. Nothing wrong with that – this is the perfect venue for this, right? Alright, now that I’ve justified my bitterness, I can get on to what really irritated me during the game yesterday. Namely – one Verdell Jones the 3rd. Good player with good talent, but his little smirk got to me. He baited Westbrook into an ill-advised technical foul. And then all my irritation was culminated on his foul-drawing flop to the floor in OT on his fade-away shot hit in overtime against the clean defense of Devoe Joseph. The flop followed by a tongue wag. He knew he got away with it, and he had the gall to yuck it up too.

Then it hit me. I knew why I was so irritated with Jones III. He looks like he could be former Badger Devin Harris’ brother. All the more reason for my ire.