Volleyball madness

I would feel much more confident about the Ball State men's volleyball team's showdown with No. 1 Penn State this weekend if it was being played in Munciana. Instead, the Cardinals will be making the trek to Happy Valley. The last time the Cardinals played the No. 1 team in the nation, they lost to ____ in the 2002 Final Four. Prediction here: Nittany Lions in four, but I really, really hope that I'm wrong.

Pretty good article by Yahoo's Jeff Passan about the exile of former Ball State baseball player Larry Bigbie. (Yahoo! Sports)

Mitch Rodrigue certainly didn't last long as Ball State's new offensive line, coach, about two weeks. Supposedly, the university asked him to move into either the freshman dorms or the graduate dorms, and he balked. He hadn't found a place to live before quitting. Darrell Funk replaces him.

Along with the Funk mention, two other interesting tidbits: women's basketball assistant coach Marsha Frese (sister of former BSU coach and current Maryland coach Brenda Frese) has applied for the open Toledo job and former area volleyball Kelly Sheffield is now the women's volleyball coach at Dayton. (The Star Press)

The baseball team drops a close game, 6-4, to Notre Dame this week. (Ball State Sports)

The following day, the Cards roll up Anderson, 20-12. (Ball State Sports)

Kirsty, you're a fine girl. Golfer O'Connor wins MAC POY award. (Ball State Sports)

Women's golf team dominates, wins Butler Invite for second year in a row. (The Star Press)

Welcome to Muncie! Richmond senior Janae Taylor will be heading to BSU on a track scholarship. (Palladium-Item).

And last, but not least. Hillary Clinton will be visiting Muncie on Friday. Get there early. (BSU Daily News)

A case of the Mondays

Let me tell you something about my NCAA bracket: shot to hell. And that's an understatement. After Black Friday (where I lost a Final Four team in Clemson), I lost another one Saturday (Pittsburgh) and was opening rooting for Texas A&M to beat UCLA, who I have in the title game. It's so depressing. I watched a lot of basketball this year and it didn't help me one iota. I got nine of the 16 Sweet 16 teams in case you were wondering. That's a ball-buster right there. Also, we have a CBI office pool going on at my place of work and three of my four final four teams (Washington, Cincinnati and Rider) all lost in the first round.

We'll keep the voting for a few more days on the Best Comedy Oscar of 1999, but it looks like we have a clear-cut winner.

In case you haven't heard, Chelsea Clinton and Sean Astin (RUDY!) will be visiting Ball State on Tuesday to stump for Hillary. It should be pretty interesting and well-attended, but if Obama were to come, it'd going to get ridiculous. (The Star Press)

DOMINATION! The seventh-ranked Volley Cards smoked Quincy, 3-0, on Saturday to hang onto the MIVA lead. (Ball State Sports)

The women's tennis team lost to Miami for what I think is the 35th straight time to the Redhawks, 7-0. (CSTV)

The Ball State baseball team team got rained out against Akron this weekend. (The Star Press)

Interesting, and somewhat lengthy, blog post about the lack of success for the Mid-American Conference in the NCAA Tournament. (The Bullpen)

Men's tennis coach Bill Richards says his team is moving in the right direction. (BSU Daily News)

Women's swimmer Michelle Huang was named to the Mid-American Conference All-Academic squad. Congrats! (Ball State Sports)