A link (and new blog) worthy of its own post
March 5, 2008 by kj
Up With the Colors has a nice post up explaining why the Izzo-to-IU speculation being generated from Indianapolis is an enormous stretch. Hard to see this as anything but the pie-in-the-sky musings of a local sports columnist.
Up With the Colors is a new MSU blog that promises to fill the gaping void that exists for a good fan-based blog focused on Spartan football.
I’ll definitely be reading along.
Hey, thanks for the publicity. I wasn’t expecting anyone to read it yet! It’s definitely still a work in progress, but hopefully it’ll be some fun. Definitely love your blog, and hope ours can get to that level.
Go Green!
http://blogs.indystar.com/hoosiersinsider/ (March 4 entry)
So who are these multiple sources this Hutchens guy is hearing the Izzo rumors from? If Izzo ever wanted to make a jump from State, it would be to another conference, I must believe. Moving down the road a few hours is way too close for comfort. The first three candidates he lists, in my opinion, would take very little time to turn IU down.
Ben, good luck with the site, I’m certainly craving for a nice Spartan football site that doesn’t make references to teams with monikers like “scUM” and “JoePa”.
The Izzo to IU thing is patently impossible, though. I agree with your overall reasoning: there is no way Izzo leaves MSU. He is firmly set at this stage of his career, he gets everything he wants (crazy new locker room and other facilities), and he is good chums with the incoming AD (the same person who has set up numerous promotional opportunities for Izzo and MSU bball, ex: BasketBowl). Things would have take a completely dramatic 180 degree turn for anything like this to be taken seriously.
By his own words, the only time Izzo considered leaving was when Atlanta came calling after the 2000 championship. But that was early in his national success, a time where he must have thought “wow, I am good, how good can I be?” That allure is likely not there anymore: he is 8 years older and has enjoyed continued national success and prominence. Every that has happened to the Hawks since 2000 probably also serves as a cautionary story. I do think Izzo wonders what it would be like to be at a place like NC, UCLA, UK, Duke where recruits just fall out of the sky and he doesn’t have to fight so hard to get them (note the mini-meltdown at the postgame press conference after the 2004 Final Four loss). But I agree with your point about his ego, and I think his ego dictates that he wants to be the one that builds that for his school. And don’t forget the “hometown hero” portion of the feeding of his ego.
At this point, I am much more concerned with Izzo suddenly burning himself out (mentally or physically) and simply retiring (at least for a few years). This why, again like you, I cringe when big time vacancies come up: I sit anxiously hoping Tom Crean isn’t the one that fills that vacancy, since he is my favorite backup in the Izzo sudden retirement scenario.