Do It For the Sake of the Program

My semester began last week and it has been non-stop. Teaching three different courses on three different days, two of which I’ve never taught any version of before, has been a stressful and hectic endeavor. Some days I enjoy it and some days I’m dead tired and wishing it was over. But at the same time I’m hearing from students in all three classes about how much they’re enjoying themselves, so I guess I’m doing something right.

But that’s why I haven’t had the time to comment on the biggest scandal to hit Indiana University athletics in years. I’d say that it even rivals the firing of Bobby Knight because anyone that was living in Bloomington at the time, such as myself, saw it coming a mile away. But now IU men’s basketball is rocked with controversy and possible NCAA sanctions for the first time since 1960.

And it’s all thanks to Coach Kelvin Sampson.

I just had a feeling that it was a mistake when IU hired him two years ago. He had a history of making illegal telephone calls and NCAA infractions from his days as the coach at the University of Oklahoma. But IU took a chance on him. I now wonder if they’re regretting the hiring.

Today Sampson’s fate will be revealed. If he’s kept on a program that has been noted for it’s clean and fair play will now have a sullied reputation. The IU men’s basketball program will be thought of as cheaters, and that is something that will be difficult to shake. Chants of cheater will be heard from the stands at every away game. Is that what the players need to hear?

I don’t want to take away the fact that the Hoosiers are having a great season, but Sampson is going to end up taking them down. He needs to go. Be it by firing (which all signs are seeming to point to) or resignation, Sampson should no longer be leading this team.

Fire him now in order to save IU men’s basketball in the long run.

That's Doctor to You!

Has it really been two weeks since I last posted to my blog? It sure doesn’t seem like it. But the last two weeks have been so hectic and busy; it makes sense why I let it get away from me.

On July 17th I successfully defended my dissertation. It was a grueling 2 ½ hours, but it was an experience I’ll never forget. But it didn’t end there.

For the last 10 days I’ve been working on revisions. I had to basically rewrite two entire chapters. But my dissertation benefited from every rewrite. It really is a much better document now.

Yesterday I turned in all the required paperwork to the University Graduate School here at IU. Today I uploaded a pdf version of my dissertation. And now I’m done. It’s now 100% official. I have a Ph.D. and I am now Dr. Angelini.

And none too soon, I might add. After spending the last 10 years here in beautiful Bloomington, Indiana I am off to Newark, Delaware on Tuesday. I start my new job in the Department of Communication at the University of Delaware this fall. It’s a scary yet exciting time. I’m leaving behind so many great people and great memories, and I can only hope that my future in Newark holds much of the same.

Graduation - The Photos

Since I was threatened with a beatdown in a comment to the previous post, here are some pictures from this past weekend's graduation. Thanks to my Dad and my little sister Elizabeth who took these pictures. I hope to have more soon.


This is me with my Dad right after the ceremony.












From left to right, I'm with my nephew Brendan, my sister Lisa, and my sister Elizabeth.

Graduation Day 2007

Today is graduation day here at Indiana University. It marks my five year journey through graduate school. While I'm not quite finished with my dissertation, today symbolically represents a conclusion to my exploits as a student.

And for the first time since I moved to Indiana most of my family is in Bloomington for a visit. Today they will see me graduate and then we will head to a party being held by my adviser, Dr. Julia Fox.

This really has turned into a special time and I'm very glad to be able to share it with so many people that are dear to me.

Any Guesses?

I was driving through the Indiana University campus today and saw something that struck me as odd.

There was a guy walking down the street holding a whole pineapple in one hand while carrying a bowling ball bag with the other. He also had a large umbrella tucked under his arm.

I couldn't even imagine where he could be going with that odd array of items.

Anyone have a guess?

Home vs. Away

Indiana University is a basketball school. It’s the home of the Hoosiers. It’s where Bobby Knight made a name for himself (both good and bad). It’s a place where a good number of undergraduates enroll only because of the basketball team’s reputation.

I’ve been in Indiana now for nearly 10 years. I was here at the tail end of Bobby Knight’s tenure, at a time when he was losing as much as he was winning. I was also here for all of the Mike Davis years, which had a lot of bad (missing the NCAA men’s tournament, missing any postseason play) and some good (runner up in the NCAA men’s tournament in 2002). This season is the first with new head coach Kelvin Sampson, and they are finding some success.

Currently the men’s team has a record of 17-8, with a record of 7-5 in Big Ten division play. All of the team’s losses this season have been games played away from Bloomington.

That got me wondering. How can a team play so well at home but lose 2/3 of their games played away? And how can you teach your players to play well away?

If anyone has any ideas about how to do this, I’m ready to listen. And I’m sure the Hoosiers would be too.

No New Posts

OK. I've caught some grief for not updating here in a while. But I've been busy!

I've been working on my dissertation data.

In addition I recently had a great job interview at the University of Alabama.

And now I'm writing a few short pieces for an upcoming edition of Indiana University Professor Emerita Susan Eastman's Media Programming textbook.

I promise to have post more regularly soon. (I know I've promised this before.) It'll be just as soon as I have some free time to do it!