Bits and Pieces.

** Living in Madison, Wisconsin I should be all for Alando Tucker winning NCAA college basketball player of the year.  Wrong.  Kevin Durant is the best player in the country.  I don't care what year he is. 

 Kevin Harvick wins the Daytona 500 by a nose.

** Actually watched the last 15 minutes of the Daytona 500 last night.  Cambridge (Wi.) native Matt Kenseth got screwed (or screwed himself) by getting in an accident with 1/4 lap to go.  Kenseth pushed Kevin Harvick to the win then he hit another car knocking himself out.  He should have finished third but ended up 27th. 

** I was a huge fan of Tim Hardaway while he played in college at UTEP and in the NBA with the Warriors and the Heat, but hearing him say flat out that he 'hates gay people' makes me sick to my stomach.  And people wonder why professional athletes don't come out while they are playing?  You have your answer right there. 

** The NBA All-Star game is completely worthless...especially in Las Vegas.  The ballers party all weekend then fans expect them to be at the top of their game for 48 minutes?  Yeah, not happening.  Gerald Green winning the dunk contest was cool.  Praise the lord that Nate Robinson didn't win it again after getting another 50 tries to make a dunk.  That's ridiculous. 

 Jerry Smith of Louisville watches his game-winner at the buzzer over Marquette.

** Louisville's Jerry Smith came home this past weekend to hit a three at the buzzer to beat Marquette.  Smith, from Wauwatosa East, was speechless after the game, a 61-59 victory for the Cardinals.  Marquette plays Villanova tonight live on ESPN at 6pm CT.

** I still get tears in my eyes when I see the (autistic) Jason McElwain story.  The year anniversary was last week and seeing the story over and over again is fantastic. 

** If I had to pick a Final Four right now, it would be:  UNC, Wisconsin, Nevada and Florida. 

Why Stick Up For / Stand By / Stay With Somebody Who Abuses You?

I have never asked for anybody to read my journal but this is something I want to tell people about.  Please read. 

 

I have lived in my one-bedroom loft for the past 6 months here in Madison.  Absolutely love the place.  On the West side of town, everything is near by and good people live in the building.  Except for one couple.  The girl actually lives in the apt with a roommate I never knew existed and she has a boyfriend (who doesn't live there).  Let's call them Julie and James (I don't even know what his real name is, it could actually be James for all I know).

 

Since August, I have actually seen Julie a total of five times, once by herself and the other couple of times with James.  Late at night a few times I have heard screaming.  It is always Julie screaming at the top of her lungs.  'GET THE F#(& OUT OF MY HOUSE!'  I mean this is at the top of her lungs.  I get scared and I haven't known what to do.  In late November, at 5am it all started, was the big fight where she screamed 'GET THE F#(% OUT OF MY HOUSE!', 'WHY DID YOU PUSH ME DOWN THE STAIRS?' and 'YOU ARE BREAKING MY F$&#ING ARM!'  There was also a loud ruckus.  I honestly didn't know what to do.  The next day I realized I should have called the police.  I thought maybe alcohol was involved.  A couple days later I saw Julie at the mailboxes.  I felt compelled to say something.  Nobody else in the building is saying a word to anybody so I did.  I said 'If you ever need somebody to talk to, I live next door.'  Julie said 'Oh, we'd just had too much to drink.'  I wasn't buying it.  Her faced turned beat red.  Nothing happened again. 

 

Move ahead to this past Saturday night, early Sunday morning this past weekend.  I fell asleep on the couch around midnight.  At 4:15am, I heard the screaming from Julie and some ruckus.  My tv was on and I muted it and sat bolt upright to hear what was going on but to also stay as quiet as I could.  The 'GET OUT OF MY EFFING HOUSE' line was thrown about with some other curses.  Then....scaring me more than anything else was a pounding on MY door.  It was Julie crying and bleeding.  I let her in and locked the door.  I was terrified for her and for me.  We sat on the floor.  She kept apologizing for 'bothering' me with all of this.  I told her not to worry and to breath and try to stay calm.  I kept telling Julie that we need to call the police.  She said that she is on probation and she will get into trouble if the police were to be called.  I honestly had no idea what to do. 

 

Then, scarying me more again, was ANOTHER pounding on my door.  It was her boyfriend, James, looking for Julie obviously.  We could hear him go back into their apartment, slam the door, stomp through the apt and open up the sliding glass door to look into MY apartment.  Again, completely lost and scared out of our minds, we just sat there on the floor waiting for him to go away.  She was crying uncontrollably and I just tried to keep her as calm as I could. 

 

She told me what happened to lead into the fight.  Julie and James were in bed doing what a boyfriend and girlfriend do in bed (I have kids who read this journal.  I need to keep it tame).  She told him to stop.  He wouldn't.  She punched him.  He bit her finger (to the point it was bleeding and she thought it was broken) and he punched her THREE TIMES IN THE FACE.  I told her a few times that she NEEDS to get out of this relationship.  Julie kept saying how scared she is, this is the second abusive relationship she has been in, etc

 

I felt so bad for her.  I've heard stories about how women who are abused stay in the relationship because they are too scared to get out.  I understand it first hand now.  Julie is terrified of this guy and of leaving this guy.  She told me she is scared of what his backlash would be.  I asked her if he had a gun.  Julie told me he did.  (First off, I thought he lived in the apartment.  Second, he was NOT threatening anybody with it.  I just asked it he had one)  When I found out that he owned a gun, I was completely terrified.  Who knows what this guy is capable of?

 

She wouldn't allowme to call the police (which looking back was stupid on my part).  After 15-20 minutes, I did something that probably wasn't very bright.  I hadn't heard anything in a while and I said 'I'm going to leave.  Here are my keys.  If you feel he has gone and you want to go back into your apt that's fine, but whatever you do, DON'T LET HIM IN HERE!'  I went to a friend's to ask her for help. It's now 5:15am.  We came to the conclusion the police needed to be called.  I called the non-emergency police number and told them exactly what was going on.  They told me to head back to my building, the police would be there in a few minutes.  When I came back two cop cars were waiting.  I got out of my car and told them exactly what had happened.  One cop went into the building, the other stayed outside with me and we talked some more about what was going on.  After five minutes, the second police officer said 'You just take a seat in your car and I'm going to go upstairs to see what is going on.'  TAKE A SEAT IN MY CAR???  You can not be serious.  I have NO IDEA where this dude is and I have NO IDEA what he is capable of.  I told the officer I really don't feel comfortable doing that so I drove around the neighborhood for ten minutes or so until I got a call to say it was safe to go back to my building.  The officer let me in the door.  He said to me 'All Julie is saying happened is that she fell down the stairs.'  I couldn't believe it.  She was sticking up for him for god knows what reason.  Being scared of him is the only reason I can come up with. 

 

When I walked back upstairs, Julie was still talking to one of the officers while I went back into my apt to look for my keys.  The officers left.  (They said they were going to talk to me again before I left but whatever).  I slept on the couch at the friend's house until 9:30 that morning until I came back here to get showered and get ready for work.  I did NOT want to be here.  I drove around until work.  At work throughout the day, I got a lot of opinions on this situation on Sunday.  One person said 'Just go back there, everything is going to be fine' to 'Just worry about yourself now, you have done all you can' to 'Go back to your apartment during the daylight, get your things and never go back!' to everything in between. 

After work Sunday, I went to a friend's to watch the Grammy's then came back here.  I will say that I was cautious.  I parked farther away than I normally do.  I was very quiet coming into my apartment and I locked the door right behind me.  I didn't hear a peep Sunday night and I slept like a baby. 

 

Fast-forward to tonight.  I am back in my apartment as I'm typing away.  I have felt better about these things today, but reading this has made me uneasy.  Where is this guy?  I've heard no charges can be filed unless they are by Julie (which after the 'I fell down the stairs' comment, that is NOT happening anytime soon).  Julie's roommate, when she came home after all of this, reportedly said to the police 'THAT IS THE LAST STRAW!  THAT GUY IS NEVER COMING BACK INTO OUR APARTMENT!'  That was cool to hear.  Good for her, now if only she could get Julie to do think the same.  (After talking to the Apartment Manager today, she said their lease runs out at the end of March and it is not being renewed.  The manager said they are having problems with Julie's roommate.  Wow, I don't even want to know what is going on over there)

 

I want to get this story out there.  I want people to help somebody they know is being hurt/abused/etc.  I want feedback on what I could have done better and what I could and should do for the future.  Has anybody else been in my situation?  I just wanted to be a good neighbor and I know for a fact I did the right thing, but I am worried about Julie because I don't know if there will be a backlash on her.  James could take out his rage on her.  I've been told I can't do anything about that.  I did what I could and I had help in the palm of her hand but she didn't take it.  I should just back off, live my life and not worry about that situation I've been told.  I'm not so sure I can do that.  I'm scared for Julie and her future. 

 

Please leave feedback. 

My Top Eight College Football Signing Day Happenings!

1. -- Markish Jones, a four-star wide receiver, has long said he will be attending Clemson.  He made his announcement Wednesday, 'I'm going to Clemson,' walked into his coaches office, told his coach he wanted to go to FSU and boom, signed with the 'Noles.  Jones high school coach said the wide receivers relationship with new FSU offensive coordinator, Jumbo Fisher, helped make up his mind.  Yet, Jones couldn't have just said he was going to Tallahassee in his announcement?

2. -- The Pressure that is Jimmy Clausen.  Yes, he has all the goods, but he can talk to his QB coach at Notre Dame about pressure.  Ron Powlus, out of Berwick, PA, was the best high school quartberback in the land back in the 90's (I should know, I bought his jersey), had one big game vs Michigan and ESPN analyst Beano Cook stated outright 'POWLUS WILL WIN AT LEAST TWO HEISMAN TROPHIES, MAYBE THREE!!!'  Yeah, that didn't happen.  Good college QB, nothing in the NFL.  Clausen completely dominated high school football in California, but hasn't faced nearly the talent he will face in South Bend.  Having Marc Tyler, a USC commit, at running back behind him at Oaks Christian High, helped also. 

3. -- Joe McKnight signing with USC.  We were told the John Curtis Christian High School (Louisiana) running back, was leaning toward staying close to home (LSU, Ole Miss), but woke up Wednesday morning and promptly stated his was going to be a Trojan.  McKnight scored every 2.5 times he touched the ball in high school.  The best just reload which gets me to No. 4. 

4. -- USC went from having a top five class to being No.1 with McKnight, but having the top three players in the ESPN Top 150 put the Men of Troy over the top.  McKnight, Linebacker Chris Galippo (Servite High School, Anaheim, CA) and another runningback, the aforementioned Marc Tyler out of Oaks Christian will keep USC at the top of college football a little while longer. 

5. -- When did Illinois and North Carolina become football schools?  When they got coaches that could recruit, that's when.  Butch Davis was a fantastic coach at Da U (Miami) and was a special recruiter.  It didn't take Butch long in Chapel Hill to do the same on Wednesday.  Safety Quantavius Sturdivant, defensive tackle Tydreke Powell, quarterback Mike Paulus and wide receiver Dwight Jones all have signed to play with the Tarheels next year.  Butch also grabbed top ten recruit, defensive tackle Marvin Austin and offensive lineman Kevin Bryant.  Watch out for the Tarheels in the coming years if Butch keeps recruiting like this.

New Illinois coach Ron Zook is also known as an excellent recruiter.  If you need to look for his work check out the National Championship trophy in Gainesville that the Gators just won.  Zook recruited 75% of the players on that team, including quarterback Chris Leak.  Illinois' 2-10 record didn't seem to hurt Zook in getting four of the top 150 recruits listed by ESPN.  Included in that list is Martez Wilson out of Simeon (Chicago) High School, the No. 1 defensive end in the country.  Zook also nabbed defensive end/tight end D'Angelo McCray out of Jacksonville, defensive tackle Josh Brent out of Bloomington, Illinois and the No. 3 wide receiver out of Washington, D.C., Arrelious Benn.  Things are looking up in Bloomington with Isaiah (Juice) Williams at quarterback and now a great recruting class heading in next fall.

6. -- Florida's Urban Meyer has the No. 2 class in the country and should have a team for years to come that will compete not only for an SEC title but for a national title as well.  As the 'King of the Text Message,' as Meyer has been called, the Florida coach can keep in contact as much as he likes with recruits (that will soon change with a new  NCAA rule putting a limit on texts).  The Gators got 16 four-star prospects and four five-star players.  They lured John Brantley away from the University of Texas and Cameron Newton will also be in the running for the job in a couple years (remember they have the No. 4 QB from high school last year, Tim Tebow, taking the reigns this coming fall).  Offensive guard James Wilson is No. 1 at his position and another two guards, James Pouncey and LaShawn Pouncey, will help in the future.  Two talented running backs, Bo Williams and Chris Rainey, will step in next year and give the Gators some help in the backfield. 

7. -- Noel Devine, the ligtning in a bottle running back from Florida, verbally committed Tuesday to West Virginia, but didn't sign a letter-of-intent to the Mountaineers.  Reportedly he had a conversation with Deion Sanders who told him to wait on his decision.  Also, Devine might visit Tallahassee this weekend to see what Bobby Bowden has to offer.  Where did Sanders go to school?  That's right.  Florida State. 

8. -- Being a Wisconsinite, I have to mention our Badgers.  UW is never listed in the top 25 in recruiting, yet every year the Badgers end up being ranked in the top 10-15 in the country.  Somebody has to explain this to me. Alvarez was great and Bielema had 12 wins in his first year as coach, but our recruits have to be decent.  Not in the top 25 every year?  If Wisconsin, ranked preseason top 5 next year, doesn't have one of the top 25 recruiting classes in college football, I'll have Bo Ryan do the hambone.  Too late.  This is the best.  GO BO, GO BO!!!

It's Better To Give Than Receive!

 

As every Packer fan knows...it's better to give than receive.

My Top Eight Sights and Sounds of Superbowl Week!

After reading every article from the Chicago Tribune, Indianapolis Star and USA Today about the Superbowl over the past couple weeks, there are some things that I have noticed.  By the way, Congrats to the Colts and Peyton Manning.  You deserve it and hopefully many more will follow. 

My Top Eight Sights and Sounds Of Superbowl Week

1.  Phil Simms, CBS commentator, has the personality of a brick wall (and not those cool, artsy bricks...the dull plain ones).

2.  It's nice to hear some good stories when it seems everything is negative nowadays.  Lovie and Dungy being the best of  friends and having gone through a lot to be where they are.  Brian Urlacher going back to his small hometown (Lovington, N.M.) a couple of times every year for a charity basketball game, to give shoes to his high school, etc.  Peyton Manning's commercials, doing the Tango for a middle school class (if you haven't seen this video, you NEED to see it HERE) and the story of his big brother, Cooper, who was an all-state wide receiver at Newman High School in Louisiana but unable to play in college because of a neck condition.  Also, Everson Walls giving his old teammate, Ron Springs, a kidney because 'that's what friends do.'  Great, great story.

3.  It's funny reading the Chicago tribune and nearly every columnist picked the Bears.  Then reading the USA Today predictions, 8 out of 10 pick the Colts.  I understand the loyalty to the Bears (and maybe the newspaper), but did they really think the Bears would win? 

4.  When does the pregame for the Superbowl actually start?  The NFL Network had promoted their '65 hours of pregame' on their station.  ESPN was down there all week with every show being live, outside in Miami.  CBS, which the game was on, started theirs at 11am central time, 6 1/2 hours before the game actually started.  Don't worry, I'm not complaining, just asking.

 Jim Sorgi sittingdown...where all Colt fans would like to have him.

5.  Jim Sorgi, ex-Badger and backup to Peyton Manning in Indy, can be funny.  About being a backup in the NFL and having the 'best job in the world' (getting paid a lot of money to sit behind a guy who never takes a game off), Sorgi said 'I'm the guy nobody wants to see.  Everybody thinks it's a great job until Peyton comes off the field and you think his thumb might be broken and there's eight minutes left in the AFC Championship Game and you're down by three to the New England Patriots.'  Now that's funny.

6.  How do Packer fans actually cheer for the Bears?  I'm not talking about the crazy Packers-are-effing-awesome-everybody-else-sucks-a$$ Packer fan, I'm talking about the football fans who have always LIKED the Packers.  I know two close to me.  The Packers and the Bears have the biggest rivalry in professional football and I, being the casual Packer fan, will NEVER cheer for the Bears no matter what.  How can a Packer fan say 'Well, you know, I don't mind if the Bears win the Superbowl.'  ARE YOU KIDDING?  NO NO NO NO NO. 

7.  Prince, even at 4'8, can still put on a good show.  Not a good show like Van Halen and the Police reuniting, but a good show none the less.

 'What?  Rollin' VIP.'  Haha, great commercial.

8.  Kevin Federline is actually really, really funny.  His Nationwide Insurance fast-food commercial yesterday was the funniest one all game.  If you haven't seen it, K-FED works for a fast food joint and he is singing to his video on the tv when the manager guy yells 'FEDERLINE!  FRIES!'  I'm sorry but that is hilarious.  Federline has actually apologized for the 30 second commercial and lawsuits might be following.  I haven't seen anything more ridiculous than a lawsuit because of this great commercial.  And another thing, something I've wanted to write about for a long time, Federline was the normal one in that relationship with Britney.  She is a crazy nutjob and I think K-FED is hilarious.  Good for you Kevin and don't apologize, your commercial is fantastic.  If you haven't seen the video, watch it here.

What did you see that was a sight and sound of the Superbowl and/or the week that was?  Comments welcomed.  (Plus Wes Elfman is playing tennis again for Madison Edgewood, hip, hip...hooray)

The Best High School Football Player Since Barry Sanders.

 The next Barry Sanders?

Take a deep breath because you haven't heard a story like this in a long, long time.  High school running back Noel Devine is being called the best high school running back ever.  Better than Reggie Bush.  But there is a story, a long story behind all that is Noel Devine.  When you think about the best college and high school football players, what do you think about?  Players coming from good family backgrounds?  Some coming from tough neighborhoods?  You have not heard a story like this one until now, I promise you that. 

As a senior for North Fort Myers High School in Florida this past fall, Noel Devine ran for 2,148 yards and 31 touchdowns.  He is a tiny 5'7 and is 'lightning in a bottle' as one recruiting website has put it.  He comes from an unfathomable background.  Both his parents died from complications from AIDS.  His father when he was 3, his mother when he was 11.  His grandmother took him in and lived with her for a few years.  The two didn't get along so he moved in with a Pop Warner teammates' family. 

Heard enough?  We are just getting started.

His grades in school are not at the top of the class and he has been looking at Prep Schools.  For those of you who don't know high school sports, if you are a top athlete who isn't able to get into a Division 1 school academically, you go to a Prep School to raise your grades so you can go the next year.  Devine is completely terrified by the attention he is getting and hardly ever speaks to reporters, college coaches, etc.  In 2004, he moved in with Deion Sanders and his family in Dallas.  A few days after being there, Devine took the keys to Sanders' Cadillac Escalade and drove himself to the airport and flew back 'home' to Florida.  He moved in with his girlfriends parents.

There can't be more, can there?  Oh yes, there can. 

Devine at 18 has two children so some college coaches have come to the conclusion they might not ever see the electric football player on any campus.....ever.  His high school coaches say his grades aren't as bad as they are made out to be.  The schools Devine have visited recently include West Virignia (this weekend supposedly) and Alabama.  Bobby Bowden at Florida State, who has needed a great running back to help the Seminoles passing game for years, has been hounding Devine as of late.  Devine is rumored to be taking a recruiting visit to Tallahassee next weekend. 

 'Lightning in a bottle' is Mr. Noel Devine.

The National Signing Day for College Football is next Wednesday, February 7th.  The best player in high school football will probably not be signing a letter-of-intent that day.  Hopefully, Devine will be signing one some day soon because after all he has been through, some of which has been brought on by himself, he deserves a shot to make it big.  And I for one would love to see this kid make it.