The Links: Mo meter low for Ball State baseball

Today's witty video comes from a show I've never seen until the past few days: The Ben Stiller Show. You might be asking yourself, Phil, you're a huge Stiller and Judd Apatow fan, how could you not watch it? Well, I have now so lay off! But in all honesty, TBSS was pretty funny and the skits hold up surprisingly well. My favorite ones where the Cops parodies where they went back to different ages (Salem Witch Hunt, Moses, King Arthur). Stiller is a master of voices and characters. The 90210 parodies were pretty funny, although his voice and look playing Vaughn and the other guy were very similar to Zoolander. Oh, and the Pig Latin singer was great too. Basically, I love the show. Here's the Cops in Salem, Massachusetts.



Let's get it on!

In what could be argued as an important series for the baseball team, Ball State dropped a pair of games to Northern Illinois, severely hurting the Cardinals chances to win the MAC West. Although, both were close, it's still a loss. Very unfortunate. The Cards also lost to Louisville, 9-3, Tuesday. But, if we're looking for silver linings, Matt Stoeklen is a fine boy, named MAC West Player of the Week. (Ball State Sports)

Speaking of baseball, Nathan Fields was picked up for some public intox and disorderly conduct. Sad day. Best part..he blew a .23. Yup, he was drunk. (Ball State Daily News)

The Ball State softball team actually made a pretty nice run through the MAC Tournament, advancing all the way to the semifinals before losing to Kent State, 6-3. The Golden Flashes ended up winning the tournament. (Ball State Sports)

Want some football information? Two pieces on ESPN this week, one breaking down the MAC West and the other kind of exploring the Nate Davis - Dan Lefevour comparisons. Right now, it's 2-love, Lefevour. (ESPN)

Four softball players were selected to the All-MAC softball team. Congrats! (Ball State Sports)

Welcome to Muncie, Whitney Adams! She'll join the swimming and diving team. (Indy Star)

Maybe one day, Chris Miller will take me to the Mansion with him

I'm not asking Chris, I am BEGGING! Take me with you to the Playboy Mansion!! No big deal, I don't ask for much in life. This is all I want, really. Me...Jennifer Walcott...hottub...that's where the magic happens. And if I have to pull a Johnny Drama and try to hide in the trunk, I'm there.

For the second consecutive season, Ball State punter Chris Miller has been named to the Playboy Magazine Preseason All-American Team. Probably not much a surprise, though. He was an AFCA First-Team All-American Selection and was one of 10 finalists for the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation's top punter.

Throughout his career, the redshirt senior has averaged 45.1 yards per punt...which is, in a word, PHENOMENAL.

The only other Cardinal to make Playboy's squad? Brad Maynard. His career's been kind of good in the NFL.

Breaking down the Packard/McDonald argument

I knew there were a lot of people that wanted Lisa McDonald to become the head coach of the Ball State women's basketball team, but this is ridiculous. There has been a huge outpouring of support for her. Let's start with today's Daily News editorial. It starts off with what appears to be a Tom Collins bashing, and then does a 180 and supports his decision, although a previous DN editorial backed McDonald.

Both Ryan Wood's story today and Greg Fallon's column for Tuesday sound like sweet soliloquy's that make it appear that Ball State committed the greatest mistake of all time by not hiring McDonald. You get that more in Fallon's column than Wood's story, but you can feel the surprise about her not getting the job through both stories. Fallon's was much tamer than expected, I pretty much expected him to rip BSU a new asshole after feverishly supporting McDonald.

For a full Kelly Packard bio, read today's DN story by Andrew Walker. Pretty thorough, not gonna lie about that.

As I kind of stated in a previous post, I never really saw what was so great about McDonald that it was an absolute necessity that she get the job. Sure, Ball State won a share of the MAC West championship. But this team underachieved greatly and got bounced in the first game of the MAC Tournament in a year where we were expected to supplant Bowling Green for MAC supremacy. Now who knows if that will happen, especially with the Falcons reloaded.

People want to say "oh, she did a great job considering all the outside distractions" but at some point you have to forget about them. If the players couldn't move past it on the court, well isn't that McDonald's fault? Has anyone who blames the outside distractions ever been an athlete? In my athletic experience, once you step onto the court, everything is forgotten and you're concentrated on winning the game. Look, I'm not shortchanging the unfortunate illness surrounding Roller at all. Let's be clear on that. It just seems like a Division I athlete should be able to focus on gameplay some point.

All I'm saying is, based strictly on performance, it certainly didn't seem McDonald was the clear-cut choice although she was the top assistant. That being said, Roller was Brenda Frese's top assistant and that appeared to work out pretty well. Although you could argue that Roller's teams really underachieved.

Some people (mainly ballstate1984 on BSUFans and the DN articles) makes the argument that Packard hasn't coached in 10 years. Well, first off, that's college. And it's actually been eight, but hey, let's just round up. Second, I doubt she has forgotten how to coach, especially being part of an elite staff at Colorado State, in which Bowling Green coach Curt Miller was also an assistant. Looks like that hire worked out pretty well. Third, in women's basketball, there's little difference between coaching college and pros, which is where Packard came from. Her credentials are certainly worthy of a shot at college coaching, and if you're a Ball State alum, you'll with nothing but the best.

So what were the reasons McDonald wasn't hired? Hopefully it's something we'll find out soon.

Kelly Packard new women's basketball coach

I am not surprised, but certainly The Star Press probably is, that assistant coach Lisa McDonald was passed over for the head coaching position. Kelly Packard, who graduated from Anderson University in 1990, was named the head coach Monday. Previously, she was the head coach of the Colorado Chill of the National Women's Basketball League and an assistant coach at Colorado State.

Her resume looks very impressive. In her two seasons as the head coach of the Chill, they finished 34-12 overall and won the league championship both years. 

She was also part of a CSU staff in 1999 that went 33-3 and finished No. 5 in the national rankings and a Sweet 16 appearance. She was also a part of the Women's NIT selection committee and site coordinator.

According to The Star Press, she will receive a five-year contract worth $150,000 annually. That's some serious change right there. She was named to Anderson's Hall of Fame in 2002 and was the school's all-time leading scorer and rebounder when she graduated.

If you're interested, there's a meet and greet Tuesday night a Beef O'Brady's from 6-7. 

At this point, it certainly sounds like a great hire. I'm interested to hear what The Star Press' Greg Fallon will have to say tomorrow.

I'll have more on this tonight or tomorrow. Hopefully, I can get an interview with her. I'll keep you updated.