Still around, lots of little news.

I'm not on any sort of formal or extended hiatus, but between vacation, catching up after vacation, and the end of the basketball season, I've been taking a bit of a break after eight or nine months of steady posting.

• Spring practice. It continues. I hate spring practice. The Cream and Crimson Scrimmage is Saturday, and the weather looks to be decent, so check it out if you are so inclined.
• James Bailey. Bailey, who caught 27 passes for 335 yards as a junior, is transferring. The receiving corps was a strength of last year's team, but if Andrew Means decides to stick to baseball, that will leave Ray Fisher as the only returning receiver who has played significantly. It also highlights how important Kellen Lewis is to this team. If IU is going to have to break in Ben Chappell, who lacks Lewis's running ability, a thin receiving corps will not help.
• Spring recruiting. I don't really follow recruiting much, but since we don't have all that many basketball players on the roster, I suppose I will this year. Nick Williams, a 6-4 guard in the 140 range (see Inside the Hall for more). Williams signed with Marquette when Tom Crean was the coach, but he had a pre-existing agreement with Marquette that he would be released from his LOI if Crean left. I'm sure this runs afoul of some unwritten rule with no basis in any moral or ethical principle, or so it will be claimed if this kid signs with IU.
• Terry Hutchens has some new friends. Over at Boiled Sports, they hate them some Terry Hutchens. I can sympathize. If this blog had existed in 2004-2006, back when Hutch was acting as Mike Davis's Baghdad Bob, Hutch probably would have a restraining order against me. Back in that period, someone jokingly (I think) suggested to me that I find out whether http://www.fireterryhutchens.com/ was available. My gripe with Hutch is that he's a company man: he will support the IU establishment no matter what. The current coach is always beyond reproach, until he's gone, and which point the new current coach clearly is better than the last guy. I had to laugh at this: "Also, if you’re an IU fan, supporter or schill(sic) yourself, please save the vitriol. " Yeah, okay, just this once I'll hold my fire. The most impressive thing, and this is worth the click (well, as is the usual Boiler-noia), is the sheer length of the post. Somewhere in a federal prison, Ted Kaczynski is hunched over a computer saying, "DAMN, that's a long post." Yes, Hutch is a company man and his blog entries are painful to read (based on his unvarnished blog posts, I'm guessing that whoever edits Terry's copy for the paper is the hardest-working person at the Indianapolis Star.) He's probably not worth the figurative ink, but I enjoyed both the content and the fact that his breezy incompetence so agitates Purdue fans.
• Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Also per ITH and various other outlets, the Big Ten-ACC matchups have been released. IU, despite an uncertain future, was handed a tough road game at Wake Forest. I'll save my rant for the basketball season. Other interesting matchups are MSU-UNC at Ford Field in Detroit and Duke-Purdue at Mackey.