Hustle Belt

State Of The MAC: Everything Is Neato

2012-05-17T02:39:22Z

That's it, really. That's all I have to say. Things are going pretty cool in the Mid-American Conference. They're holding their annual meetings in Cleveland and trumpeting your standard feelings of good tidings and plans for the future.

The obvious elephant that could potentially squish the conference is realignment, but the current duodectet of full-member teams has been stable, to say the least, and few substantial rumors about their departure have existed. but all it takes is one well-placed domino and the conference could be in jeopardy. I am sure that this is what MAC commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher fears worst.

But you have to give credit to the MAC Doctor for whatever he's done to ensure stability and even growth. In came UMass, which turned out to be an offset for departing Temple. And in came West Virginia for soccer — which could be a sneakily wonderful addition.

So, in conclusion, things are still neat. It's a flat description but apt. Football has parity and exciting finishes (and people know this). Basketball could use some more top-to-bottom strength so that the conference might proffer two tournament teams rather than a slew of CIT participants (which by next year could balloon to a 1048-team tournament if my calculations are correct). You can even infer that from the Plain Dealer article comments. I'm paraphrasing:

STORY: "Things are going great in the MAC!"

COMMENTS: "Yeah but their basketball sucks!"

I agree. This conference really needs to get a team deep into the NCAA tournament, such as the Round of 16.

But in all, the state of the MAC is neat. It ain't strong, it ain't desolate, and with most conferences being one or the other, banal stability is a warm fuzzy feeling in college sports. I'll gladly accept it.

Ohio State's J.D. Weatherspoon is now Toledo's J.D. Weatherspoon

2012-05-15T19:57:15Z

Ohio State's J.D. Weatherspoon is now Toledo's J.D. Weatherspoon

Sick of averaging 6 minutes in 25 games in the Big Ten, Weatherspoon is turning in his Scarlet and Grey for Midnight Blue and Gold. Pretty good timing; the year he sits out will be the year they can't play in the postseason.

Fist Pumpdate: He Did It

2012-05-14T21:00:11Z

Yesterday we brought you the heartwarming story of a man, a dream, and a fist. He overcame great odds, the biggest among them likely boredom and also shoddy adhesive. But we're here to tell you today: HE DID IT. The Fist Pumper Of Akron made it 16 hours pumping his fist. MAC PUMPING CHAMPIONS, FOLKS. Jim Tressel is a proud university vice president today, no doubt.

At a watering hole near the U. of Akron campus, James Peterson broke what he felt is a world record for longest consecutive time fist-pumping. Never mind he did it to the song "Call Me Maybe." Actually ... that's probably important.

A production crew of two cameramen got the entire thing on film to document the record and I am assuming they're sending it to Guinness to prove that this was done. On a related note, I feel awful for anybody who interns for Guinness.

I wish I had some type of hand signal to express my gratitude to @MockingTheDraft for tipping me off on this important update.

Adonis Thomas Signs With Browns

2012-05-14T16:26:04Z

Along with two other Rockets, running back Adonis Thomas has signed an NFL contract.

I was wondering about him for some time now. He was obviously not going to be drafted, but I thought he would find a home in the NFL soon after. I did not think, however, it would be with a team that drafted a running back (Trent Richardson) 3rd overall.

Thomas did show signs of brilliance while in a UT uniform, and was apart of an offense that could be considered a MAC jewel last season. But another injury had him sitting on the sidelines last season for part of the season, which surely hurt his stock.

Even with the setback, Thomas finished with over 1,000 rushing yards and 12 TDs. One of his best games was the legendary 63-60 loss to Northern Illinois, that had the country captivated.

The other two that signed from UT are wide receiver Kenny Stafford and tight end Danny Noble. Stafford signed with the Atlanta Falcons, while Noble signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

THE FULL PRESS RELEASE IS HERE

@ParkerPerry_FSO

Akron Is Home Of The Fist-Pumping Champion

2012-05-13T20:17:01Z

You know it's a slow news season in MAC sports when this type of bizarre activity makes the news. But this is, I guess, a thing: Akron citizen James Peterson went to the UA campus and attempted to pump his fist for 17 hours straight, which would be a world record. Some things to note from this story:

• He's unemployed. This helps.

• He's already done this once before, on St. Patrick's Day, but no officials were around to authenticate the feat.

• He glued his fist shut "to ensure I maintain perfect fist formation."

• ~~He's been hired by Terry Bowden as the official team motivator~~

• Among those who signed his shirt in support of the world record is Akron vice president Jim Tressel.

• James Peterson has now been suspended by the NCAA for four games and may consider declaring early for the National Fist Pumping League.

Will this become the newest MAC-sponsored sport? It's tough to predict, but ... yes it will be.

MACsketball Greatest of All Time Tourney: Ball State

2012-05-13T04:42:25Z

It's finally here, folks. Your summer reading list roll on, as we start introducing the participants in our GOATT for men's basketball. Part one dealt with Akron, and now we turn our attention to Ball State.

Some of the time, even a player from a relatively unknown basketball conference like the MAC can play so well that he not only gets drafted into the NBA, but gets drafted by one team and then gets dealt to another the same day in exchange for the top pick in the following year's draft. It's likely that if I told you that moment was one of few career highlights for our Cardinals representative, you now know exactly who I am talking about.

Lets cruise past the jump, shall we?

Bonzi Wells - (1994-98) - Gawen DeAngelo "Bonzi" Wells, who earned his nickname because his mother was a Bonbon junkie, was quite the player in his MAC career. With three games left in his senior season, Bonzi passed Ron Harper as the conference's all-time leading scorer, a mark that still stands to this day. He was drafted by the Pistons in the 1998 NBA draft and immediately swapped to Portland for the Blazers' first round pick the following year.

He was best known in the NBA as part of the Portland "Jailblazers" in their heyday - and for playing well whenever he felt like it. Wells eventually went on to play for five different teams in the second half of his decade-long NBA career. During that time, the most significant moment came at the end of the 2005-06 season.

Wells had been a key in Sacramento's playoff run, going from 13.6 ppg and 7.7 rpg in the regular season to 23 and 12 in the postseason. After that, he hit free agency, at which point "Ron Artest" offered to give up his whole salary to keep Wells in the fold. Instead, Wells turned down a five year deal (worth somewhere between $36 and $39 million) from the Kings - and wound up settling for a two year, $5 million deal with the Rockets because he was in such high demand.

Wells last played in the NBA in the 2007-08 season. He was traded to the Hornets at the 2008 deadline,and then chose to go to China rather than sign for the NBA veteran's minimum the following season. He lasted 14 games overseas, and then decided not to return to China after the team's break for the Chinese New Year - at which point they rightfully terminated his contract. By the way, that photo above of Bonzi standing so prominently on the cover of SI China hit newsstands within days of his release. The entire China ordeal actually wound up as part of a book, Brave Dragons: A Chinese Basketball Team, an American Coach, and Two Cultures Clashing.

The following season he signed in Puerto Rico (and played a whopping three games), and the year after that, nothing. This past offseason he had a workout with the Knicks and then went to camp with the Timberwolves, but no luck with either - though he is supposedly In The Best Shape Of His Life right now. He has come a long way - in a number of different ways - but still hasn't quite rode off into the sunset just yet.

Game Time! Identify The Bizarre

2012-05-12T03:03:23Z

So I was sitting back and hardcore gaming today and decided that I would sim through a MAC football season. Seven weeks into the season, I stopped it and this is what I found.

So, lets play a game. Can you identify the bizarre? List all the uncommon results that you see and post them in the comment section. And, you know, if you want to compete with your friends you could share it too ;)

I have five in my back pocket, but I am sure there are more.

Having an Akron lean, fiction can be much more pleasant than reality!

@ParkerPerry_FSO

MACsketball Greatest of All Time Tourney: Akron

2012-05-10T17:00:14Z

It's finally here, folks. Your summer reading list begins today, as we start introducing the participants in our GOATT for men's basketball. We will kick things off with the top of the alphabet and the University of Akron.

I've always found it interesting to look at players who were amazing during their time as a collegiate basketball player but fizzled out if and when they turned professional, as well as those who never really lived up to the hype that was attached to their name (justly or not).

Well lucky for you, we've got one of each of those today! To the details...

Romeo Travis (2004 - 2007) - Romeo played his high school basketball at the famed Saint Vincent's-Saint Mary's High School with LeBron James for three years, where he averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds per game. If you'd like more info about that, there was a little documentary called "More Than A Game" which may fill you in. During his time with the Zips, he averaged 12.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, and totaled 171 blocks. He went undrafted by the NBA, so he headed to Europe as many before him have. With Hapoel Gilboa Galil of the Israeli Super League, Travis continues to build a reputation - he averaged 17.7 ppg 6.5 rpg this season and tried to bodyslam a dude last season (No. 11 in yellow):

Joe Jakubick (1980-84) - Jakubick finished his collegiate career averaging 23.9 points per game, a pace that left him as the all-time leading scorer at Akron as well as first all-time in the Ohio Valley Conference (he still holds that first record). He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1984 draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but doesn't appear to have ever played a game for them (which he still seems less than thrilled about). As a nice symmetry to Mr. Travis above, he is now the girls basketball coach at Saint Vincent's-Saint Mary's.

Come back in a few days when we move on to our next tournament representative from the Ball State Cardinals alumni roster! (I bet you know who it is).