Friday Randomness Rants Against IHOP

OK, so I had every intention of posting three, four or more times this week. I wanted to get the Your New Gophers series off to a fast start. I wanted to make fun of Harold Howell's tenure on the Gophers. There were other topics that I wanted to hit on, but alas IHOP struck me down.

Came home from eating a greasy, not-very-appetizing breakfast at IHOP on Memorial Day and after a few hours of an upset stomach I developed a temperature around 102. No fun. This was accompanied by IHOP trying to get out every which way possible. A day later the temperature was gone, but now I had the worst stomach cramping I've ever experienced, so much pain that Miss PJS wanted to take me to the emergency room on multiple occasions.

Went to the doctor on Wednesday and they said I most likely had food poisoning. They took some tests, the results of which I'm still waiting for, but in the meantime wrote a prescription for Cipro, the antibiotic they give people with anthrax poisoning. That's right, they were treating what they believed to be food poisoning from IHOP the same way they'd treat anthrax poisoning.

I'm never eating at IHOP again. Perkins yes, IHOP no.

That was probably too much information for some of you... Now on to other things.

*** The headline of this AP article hits the nail on the head. It reads: "Over-hyped Howell makes quiet exit."

I couldn't have said it better. The "athlete" from Florida that Tim Brewster convinced many was the next Devin Hester, had a horrible 2007 season and now has been dismissed from the team for "academic reasons."

The AP looks back at old Brewster quotes where he called Howell "one of the most dynamic high school players in the country," and one of "the most electrifying" high school players he'd seen in years.

Brewster's desire to hype everything needs to end. The AP article by Jon Krawczynski goes on to note that Brewster has hyped incoming freshman Marquies Gray (comparing him to Vince Young) and Sam Maresh (comparing him to Brian Urlacher). This ridiculousness is putting far too much on these kids--they are kids--too fast. Who can live up to the Vince Young comparison as a college QB?

The Howell situation should be a lessons for Brewster. Somehow I doubt he'll recall this situation the next time he has a chance to make some positive press hits over-hyping one of his recruits.

*** Thought Tubby Smith's 2008 recruiting class was completed? Think again. USC decommit Malik Story, a 6'5 guard who has a "money stroke" according to Rivals, is looking closely at Minnesota, Georgetown, Oregon and Wake Forest. A California native, Story is a three-star shooting guard according to Rivals.

Story is more likely to become a wing player than a point guard in the college game, though his obvious position remains at shooting guard. With Lawrence Westbrook and Devoe Joseph likely taking minutes at those positions, it would be somewhat surprising to see Tubby ink another two-guard with the team's lack of depth at point guard and in the front court.

*** Other names to be learning if you follow Gophers basketball recruitment are Glen Rice Jr., the son of the former NBA star, and Harrison Barnes, a standout from Iowa. Barnes, who has been favored to be heading to Iowa State, is a 2010 prospect. He's a 6'6 small forward and is being heavily recruited. A 6'4 shooting guard, Rice's recruitment is picking up. He has offers from Alabama, Georgia Tech and Minnesota, but with interest from many other southern schools. Rice is playing for the same AAU team that RSIII played for in Georgia. Rice is a Class of 2009 prospect.

*** Gopher football fans are clearly none too pleased about the University's decision to jack up ticket prices. The Wizard of Odds has the story, replete with the best picture of Goldy I've ever seen.

*** Rivals' basketball recruiting whiz Jerry Meyer in his mailbag took a question about Ralph Sampson III. Meyer said Sampson might not be "the guy" like a Kevin Love, but he should be part of a winning formula. Meyer state Devoe Joseph might have an even larger impact.

*** Finally, if you haven't yet, check out my weekly column over at 10,000 Takes. This week I wrote about Tubby Smith's position on recruiting very young kids. As many of you know Billy Gillispie at Kentucky recently received a verbal commitment from an 8th grader. All of my columns at 10k Takes can be found here.