(Sports) Editor's Note

Talking Hoosiers

Posted by: Jim Rossow

Thursday, February 21, 2008 11:09 AM

The longtime radio voice of Indiana basketball is our featured Q&A for this Saturday's Big Ten page. The Illinois native has plenty to say, including:

JR: Will the IU-Bob Knight relationship ever smooth over?
DF: I don't know. From Indiana's standpoint, I think it could be. From his standpoint, perhaps it can't. How he has treated his friends and loyal supporters at Indiana ... I don't know. He won't talk about his IU players, you never hear him talk about that era. I understand his animus toward the people who fired him, but they aren't here anymore. Yet he continues to treat the program like it's nonexistent.

JR: Would the 1976 Hoosiers, the last team to finish a season perfect, go undefeated today?
DF: I'd give them as good a shot as anybody. They had as tough a mind-set as any team I've ever been around. They never celebrated when they won and never got down when they almost lost. They played their roles to perfection. It was one of those clubs that had all the right pieces in all the right places, and they were coached by one of the best in the business.

JR: Where will Eric Gordon be playing next season?
DF: In the NBA. There's no question about it. He's a lottery pick, and if you're a lottery pick you have to go. You're going to set yourself financially for the rest of your life. You're crazy if you pass up on an opportunity like that. I'd love to see him stay at IU three more years.

JR: Both Indiana and Illinois have issued statements recently calling for better behaved crowds.
DF: I honestly believe that crowds have gotten out of hand. I'm not talking about the Illinois crowd, I'm talking about everybody's crowd. The student bodies for some reason think that whatever they say is OK, but profanity is uncalled for. You can't imagine the number of little kids who are brought to the games by their mom or dad. It's supposed to be a family experience, but it's not if there are profane comments. If you want to boo, that's fine. But to think you can throw verbage at the refs or a player just because you bought a ticket, that's wrong. I guess I'm old-school.

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