Paul Shirley Diary

**OskyCy** · 03-30-2007, 03:23 PM

I don't know if anyone has caught Paul Shirley's latest article, but it's quite interesting. It's his perspective on Mich St's B.S. victory over us in the NCAA tourney a few years back that kept us from the Final Four.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...t&lid=tab6pos2

**EggMcClone** · 03-30-2007, 03:44 PM

Wow, he did great job with that one...and not just because it was about ISU.

**cycloneworld** · 03-30-2007, 03:57 PM

Once again...how in the world can that play be called a double foul?

Has anyone seen anything like that since?

**isuarch80** · 03-30-2007, 03:59 PM

Nicest guy in the world... I'll always have a place in my heart for him, getting to spend 5 days with him and another friend when he was playing ball in Barcelona.

**isuarch80** · 03-30-2007, 03:59 PM

Originally Posted by cycloneworld

Once again...how in the world can that play be called a double foul?

Has anyone seen anything like that since?

I don't think we ever will...

**pulse** · 03-30-2007, 04:08 PM

That was a really great journal piece. I was one of the few thousand ISU fans at that game. I think it took him a awhile to realize how proud everyone was.

**Michael Lastuvka** · 03-30-2007, 04:10 PM

That team provided me with some of the best moments of my life. Great piece by Paul.

**JRE1975** · 03-30-2007, 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by cycloneworld

Once again...how in the world can that play be called a double foul?

Has anyone seen anything like that since?

The only thing close to this was the call at Kansas on the shot between our free throws counting. But I do not recall seeing another double foul other than a double technical before or since.

**sodakjoe** · 03-30-2007, 04:18 PM

Hahaha...."Gosh that's neat. (I had not yet been exposed to the cruelties of the world outside of the Midwest, so I thought in sock-hop.)"

Classic.

**MNclone** · 03-30-2007, 06:25 PM

Just got a chance to read the article. Great piece of writing by Paul.
The worst part of that game is that that championship was ours for the taking after Michigan State. Not a real stellar final four that year. MSU ran away with it.

**aeroclone08** · 03-30-2007, 07:40 PM

"We did quickly realize the following: Blocking foul, good for us. Charging foul, bad for us. Double foul, bad for us . . . and bad for the referees. Public admissions of ineptitude are rarely looked upon fondly by 18,000 basketball fans.

(Unless those fans are overwhelmingly in support of the team that stands to benefit from the call. Like if the game is played in Auburn Hills, Mich. and one of the teams' campuses is in East Lansing, Michigan. Not that we found that 10:1 green-to-red advantage daunting. Or that I'm the least bitter about the logistics.)"

I loved this. How true.

**ISUAlum2002** · 03-30-2007, 07:57 PM

Originally Posted by aeroclone08

"We did quickly realize the following: Blocking foul, good for us. Charging foul, bad for us. Double foul, bad for us . . . and bad for the referees. Public admissions of ineptitude are rarely looked upon fondly by 18,000 basketball fans.

(Unless those fans are overwhelmingly in support of the team that stands to benefit from the call. Like if the game is played in Auburn Hills, Mich. and one of the teams' campuses is in East Lansing, Michigan. Not that we found that 10:1 green-to-red advantage daunting. Or that I'm the least bitter about the logistics.)"

I loved this. How true.

That was my favorite part of the article also. No way in the world should the committee have set the brackets so that could have happened. Not ever.

**jbhtexas** · 03-30-2007, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by cycloneworld

Once again...how in the world can that play be called a double foul?

Has anyone seen anything like that since?

I saw something like that before...I was playing IM BB (in Beyer I think) many years ago. Two guys went for a loose ball and collided on the floor. The ref (who was definitely from somewhere other than the USA) called a double foul. Naturally everybody get mad, so the supervisor comes over to see what was going on. Apparently, these refs were in some kind of BB officiating class and were getting some experience officiating IM games. The supervisor told us that they had studied the double foul in the class earlier that day. The guy was probably new to BB, so that might have been his first exposure to getting yelled at by a bunch of disgruntled players.

**Copley305** · 03-30-2007, 08:40 PM

what a good article. the only thing that bothers me are the few comments written by hawkeye fans at the end of the article (you have to click on the "comments" link) that attempt to call shirley a baby...it's things like that give me my overall negative opinion of hawkeye fans

**cmoore_23** · 03-30-2007, 09:10 PM

Originally Posted by Copley305

what a good article. the only thing that bothers me are the few comments written by hawkeye fans at the end of the article (you have to click on the "comments" link) that attempt to call shirley a baby...it's things like that give me my overall negative opinion of hawkeye fans

just go back at them and say Greg Brunner & we were playing for more