Koo’s Corner

Ben Koo is hitting the road soon but wanted to update you on a couple of things.

A couple of blogs ago I commented on how head coach Joe Paterno was losing his effectiveness as a coach and mentor at Penn State. The media seems to have largely ignored the pattern of disciplinary issues. However a clear indication can be found here.

Formerly suspended WR, Chris Bell, has now been kicked off the team for threatening to kill a former teammate while aggressively brandishing a machete. What’s even more telling about the state of the Penn State program is the set of other articles of interest on espn.com about the Penn State program.

While its troubling to see this trend at one of the better academic football programs in the country, its also concerning that Joe Pa has essentially been given a free pass by Penn State as well as the media. I respect the man to the nth degree, but this is a clear snapshot of just how far the mighty the Penn State program has fallen under a Paterno well past his prime.

In other news, speculation is that Justin Boren is all but a lock to transfer from Michigan to Ohio State after his visit earlier this week. Boren, whose little brother just signed with the Buckeyes, has opted to transfer out of Michigan despite being a starter as he has not taken well to the Rich Rodriguez regime.

Boren will have to sit out a year but will be teamed with an influx of talent on the offensive line with high school stand outs, Mike Adams, JB Shugarts, and Mike Brewster. Unfortunately though the news isn’t all good for Buckeye fans as Adams may have to miss the start or the entire 2008 season with recent shoulder surgery. Quite a loss for a guy many have tabbed as a younger version of Orlando Pace.

Tonight’s game was a great gift for the casual fan who committed themselves to watching this overtime thriller. I will try to post video highlights and maybe some photos of what has to be the party of the century in Lawrence, Kansas when they become available (School has been canceled)

As I drove to work today, I tried guess who would win. Memphis has better talent and size but Kansas seemed to be peaking at the right time with a tremendous win against UNC on Saturday. After much internal debate I decided that Memphis would win in a very close game. They almost did. (my rationale was that there were a lot of intriguing matchups but Joey Dorsey would really make an impact defensively tilting the balance in the Memphis’ favor. I was going to be rooting for Kansas however)

It was a bold move by Bill Self to allow CBS to tape his pre game speech. It came off as somewhat soft and uninspiring but now serves as a poetic bold prognostication of the glory that was on the horizon.

For those of who you didn’t watch it was a back and forth high energy game showcasing two fantastic teams. Below is the picture of the gameflow from ESPN.

Memphis grabbed an early lead before Kansas stormed back in the middle part of the first half before Memphis closed back in only to fall back again going into half time.

Memphis came out roaring after halftime. The lead changed hands almost every possession during the middle portion of the second half before Memphis re asserted themselve thanks to some phenomal play by Derek Rose, who I liken to Chris Paul.

For months people have been harping on Memphis’s poor free throw shooting but it had yet to be an issue. Kansas decided to extend the game by fouling Memphis as they were trailing by nine points with 2 minutes left.

At first the strategy did not work. However in the final 1:12 of the game, Memphis missed four of their last five throws. Up by two in the final 30 seconds, both Chris Douglas Roberts and Derek Rose had a chance to sink two free throws to take a commanding 4 point lead. Roberts missed twice, Rose kept the possibility of a tie alive by only sinking one.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHt0tszfk3A]

With a little over 10 seconds to go and trailing by 3, Kansas rushed up the court needing a miracle. Guard Mario Chalmers delivered, hitting what will go down as one of the tournament’s greatest shots of all time and cementing him as a legend for generations to come in Kansas basketball lore

Memphis couldn’t answer in the final 2 seconds and was too shell shocked in overtime to regain their composure. Kansas continued to ride the momentum from the dramatic comeback into overtime earning their first national championship in 20 years.

Strong rumors are floating around that Kansas head coach Bill Self maybe on his way to taking the head position at Oklahoma State (his alma matuer) with various media outlets claiming an offer is being prepared already.

I found myself completely gripped by the game and screaming in the final moments. For someone who was a casual observer in tonight’s affair, I tip my hat to the Jayhawks and the Tigers for putting on a game for the ages.

Kansas has now won a BCS Bowl and the basketball championship in the same year. I am sure Jayhawk nation will embrace this win as I did the 2 OT Ohio State National Championship.

I am an avid proponent of collegiate athletics and think you get better value and entertainment in college basketball and football over the pros. Tonight was another perfect example.

Some Celebration Pics

Didn’t see much I liked in the way of new commercials this weeks but was impressed with the new Iphone Bet Commercial. Apple’s marketing across all their product lines are targeted, recognizaeblle, and consistent.

Although its overkill, their market shares for all their products have been trending up as more and more consumers begin to think Apple for phones, mp3 players, computers, etc.

The consistent messaging and simplicity of their ads are converting hoards of consumers into Apple users (my company now allows Macs, and we constantly give away Apple products as prizes at events).

The below ad is another great Apple ad, as it showcases a common use case for the Iphone. This ad campaign is approaching one year, but still remains effective as viewers are continuously seeing the robust functionality and ease of use via hypothetical use cases.

This ad was received very positively by my friends as we disagree, bet, and look stuff up via computer or Iphone on almost a daily basis. Unfortunately I recently lost a $25 bet surrounding what year Mike Miller was drafted.

Lots of interesting things going on in the Big Ten so why not run through these interesting developments on night where the Buckeyes win the NIT tournament. Coach Matta even got to close the Nasdaq exchange during the trip to NYC.

Michigan

I’ll go with the good news first for the Wolverines program. Michigan received a pair of commitments from Ohio, the more noteworthy one being highly touted cornerback Justin Turner. Turner hails from Massilon, one of the most historic high school programs in the country and is a big addition for the Wolverines.

The bad news is that there are more rumblings of defections coming. A slew of players have decided to leave the program since Rich Rodriguez has taken over as head coach including starting guard Justin Boren. Recently Boren’s dad ,a local to the Columbus area as well as a former Michigan player, indicated that Justin was very interested in transferring to Ohio State.

Yesterday reports came out that Justin’s younger brother, Zach, received a scholarship offer from Ohio State. Connecting the dots of the Boren’s timeline as well as credible rumors, points to both Boren brothers coming to Ohio State. Justin who will finish up this semester at Michigan will have to wait to announce a decision but its likely that an agreement has been consimated behind the scenes.

The timing works out as Justin Boren will have to sit out one year and will become eligible when both current guards (Steve Rehring and Ben Person) graduate. As for Zach, most feel he will be in the mix at the fullback position and that his scholarship ensured the additon of older brother Justin.

If all of my speculation comes to fruition, Justin will be the first Michigan football player to transfer to Ohio State. Hard to think two parents who met at Michigan will be sending both their kids to Ohio State.

With a massive talent exodus from Ann Arbor and a new offensive system to implement it looks like Michigan may be in jeopardy of missing out on a bowl next season.

Indiana:

Also another good news bad news thing for the Hoosiers. The good news is that they made an excellent hire in naming Tom Crean as new head coach.

Crean knows midwest recruiting and will get the Hoosier program back a top 25 program.

The bad news is that all the coaching turnover in costing the program a lot of talent. Star DJ White is a senior while Eric Gordon is by everyone’s account already set on going pro. Two IU recruits have asked to reopen their recruitment after Sampson was fired.

More crippling was the dismissal of two prominent players on Monday for disciplinary reasons. With Ellis and Bassett kicked off the tea, its looking likely that the Hoosiers might not see the NCAA tournament for a couple of years.

Penn State:

Joe Paterno made news making some newsworthy comments about not caring that his contract expires after the season. The 81 year old Paterno eluded that the decision for when he should move aside should be up to him with the track record he has compiled.

The reality is (and PSU fans know it) that his continued role as head coach has been detrimental for the program the last several years and will drag down the program going forward. Paterno built Penn State into a powerhouse but its clear that under his leadership the program has become a second or even third tier football program.

Players are having unprecedented amount of legal issues (its really bad despite the media ignoring it), he no longer is resonating with recruits, he rarely leaves PSU to actually recruit players, and his talent development of top rated players has been pretty abysmal of late. He’s left the sideline feeling ill, coached from the box, and seems to be more of a distraction of late.

Its like taking the keys away from someone you respect. Has to be done just the right way and that time is now.

Ohio State:

My Buckeyes won the NIT. I have some extensive thoughts on that that I put on the Bucknuts premium board that garnered this response “Benny - easily the best bball post of the year. Thanks, good read.”

I have reposted it on the free board if you care to check it out (if you a buckeye basketball fan I suggest you do). A lot of it discusses the future of Kosta Koufos who can either A) come back to play for the buckeyes b)enter the nba draft and earn a mid-late pick (potential for 2-6 million dollar contract) c) play professionally in Greece (national icon making 2-3x what he would make in the nba currently)

With Koufos the Buckeyes are likely to be ranked 8-12th next year, without him probably 18-25.

I am a mild fan of South Park as sometimes its the spot and other times its a little too ridiculous. I watched tonights episode and was entertained that the show decided to mock various youtube Phenomenas.
The premise was pretty ridiculous as the entire country of Canada went on strike demanding more “internet money” from world leaders. The boys decide in order stop the strike they miss become an internet sensation and make a lame music video of Butters that attracts millions on Youtube.

The boys think they are set but have to wait inline at the Department of Internet in order to get money. Turns out the line is quite long and that the Department of Internet only gives out hypothetical dollars. They boys survive a shootout with other Youtube celebrities and broker the end of the strike.

The show ends with a poignant monologue that content distribution on the internet does is not a mature market that can be depended on to generate wealth and that those who solely pursue financial gain via youtube will ultimately fail and look dumb doing so.

I believe there is some level of truth to that but at the same time some of the youtube videos satirized on South Park (all below) have successfully cashed in on future opportunities off of their youtube stardom. In particular Chocolate rain now is making advertisements for Dr. Pepper and laughing baby re purposed in a recent comercial.

Regardless here is what I could dig up on the internet phenomenas, South Park decided to pick on.

Karate flip gone wrong

Chocolate Rain- 17 million youtubeviews

Leave Brittney Alone - 45.8 million total views (swearing and the person below is a guy and not a girl… an openly gay guy)

Star Wars Kid- 5 million youtube views

Laughing Baby 1 - 43 million youtube views

Dramatic Look Gopher- 5 million youtube views

Fat Guy Singing Numa Numa Song- not sure (only 243k?)

Baby Panda Sneezes- 9 million views

Laughing Baby- 13 million views (my favorite of the bunch, this is obviously what parenting will be like. can’t wait for the fun!)

I saw or heard about a lot of interesting April Fools jokes. ESPN pulled a good once on its viewers with a fake breaking news story that Davidson was still in the NCAA tourney and that the last 20 seconds of the Elite 8 game would have to be replayed. Peter Fuitak at collegefootballnews.com had me slightly convinced that Hershel Walker was coming back to college football.

A pretty bold risque prank call was documented on a message board I frequent.

“dad, i just got a call from this girl named Stephanie that i met on spring break… we met at a bar, got drunk and did the spring break business… she called me yesterday stating she is pregnant but she does not know if its mine or not because she has a boyfriend back home”

However what really suprised me was the tech industry and in particular Silicon Valley’s participation in the April Fool’s festivities.

Below are some highlights.

- Google led the way with a couple interesting pranks, the most ridiculous below.

Funny but its better if you know someone dumb enough to believe it

Google followed this shaninigan with a fake micro site claiming Gmail users could now back date emails.

-Google owned Youtube continued the Internet phenomena that is Rick Rolling. Rick Rolling has two different forms. 1) When a publication or website puts up a link promising something interesting but rather redirecting you to the video below. 2) Blasting the song “Never Let You Down” to protest formal gatherings (Scientology meetups have been rick rolled several times.

All the links on Youtube’s homepage today directed them to the video below, with many other sites joining in on the fun. In fact the music video below has now tallied 8 million views/ Rick Rolls with duplicate videos talling multi millions of views.

- Technology publication ZD Net ran a fictitious story that ICANN was going to shutdown the internet for an hour for research purposes.

- San Francisco based Wikipedia made fictitious entries for their “On This Day” and “Today’s Featured Article section”

- InfoWorld published a pair of great fake stories. 1) Google buys facebook 2) Yahoo and Microsoft agree to merge. Both articles laid on the sarcasm pretty thick.