-Here at Rose Arena for updates throughout the CMU-EMU game. Tip is about 20 minutes away but the Chippewas already got some good news today as Northern Illinois edged Ball State to give CMU a chance to get within a game of first place in the MAC West with a win tonight. Western Michigan is playing at Toledo tonight and with a CMU win and a Broncos loss, the Chips and WMU would be tied for second in the MAC West.

This should be a game CMU wins, as it as at home against a struggling Eagles team. CMU just needs to improve its rebounding from the previous meeting as well as avoid lengthy scoring droughts, as it experienced at Ball State on Wednesday.

Everyone is dressed for the game and there are no injuries to report.

-15:47 left in the opening half, EMU up 9-7. Marcus Van has five of CMU's seven points. Eastern took a 7-3 lead and had the momentum until Antonio Weary picked off a pass and cruised in for a big slam dunk. CMU starting to play a little better after a slow start, but just had a turnover on a fast break attempt.

-10:21 to go in the first and EMU is up 16-15. Robbie Harman just picked up his second foul shortly after making a great play on an assist to Adrian Hunter for a wide-open 3-pointer. Weary made another big play, getting a 3-point play to get CMU its first lead at 10-9, but the Eagles have answered every big play CMU has had. L.J. Frazier has two big 3-pointers, but CMU will let EMU have those shots, as the Eagles are just 29% from the arc as a team.

-6:55 left in the half and the Eagles hanging on to the lead at 20-19. Lawrence Bridges picked up his second foul shortly after a nice put-back. But, again, EMU hit another key 3-pointer, this time it was Antonio Green to give EMU the lead again.

-3:15 to go. EMU still winning, 24-21. The Eagles were on a 7-0 run before Jacolby Hardiman scored on a nice drive to the basket. Eastern is shooting 50 percent from the field at this point in the game. The Eagles are getting good looks, especially Brandon Bowdry, who had six points in the last eight minutes.

-CMU leads 30-28 at halftime. Adrian Hunter hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds to play to give CMU the lead. Weary injured his shoulder late in the half and did not return, but was back on the bench before halftime and should play in the second half. Van has 10 points and three rebounds to lead CMU at the half while Bowdry has eight points and three boards for EMU.

-15:57 left in the game, CMU ahead 34-32. Weary had a nice put back early on but EMU answered with four-straight points to even the score. Van hit a jumper on an assist from Weary to put CMU back up by two prior to the media time out.

-13:36 to go. CMU up 39-37 after Harman hit a 3-pointer for his first points of the night. CMU took a 36-32 lead after back-to-back scores from Van, but Zane Gay scored five-straight for the Eagles to give EMU a 37-36 lead before Harman's 3. Jacobly Hardiman picked up his third foul at the 15:29 mark.

-At the 11:59 mark and the score is tied 39-39. CMU can't shake the Eagles. Bridges picked up two fouls in the last minute, giving him four. Hardiman was brought back in with his three fouls, but this could create a problem if Jacolby gets his fourth in the upcoming minutes.

-8:45 left. CMU up 46-44. CMU had a run going and Jacolby Hardiman made a great steal and was bulldoged by Justin Dobbins but was called for a travel??? instead of a foul on Dobbins. Since EMU has went on a 4-0 run and taken the moentum from the Chippewas. Huge turning point in this game.

-3:01 remaining, EMU ahead 51-50 after Gay banks in a 3-pointer. CMU is looking tight right now and someone needs to step up on offense.

-1:10 to go, game tied at 54-54. Van has hit a pair of big shots to tie the game. EMU is killing itself at the free throw line, going just three for their last six.

- Van with a big jam to give CMU a 56-54 lead with 32 seconds left. Assist by Bitzer. Van has given CMU the spark they needed this half. CMU got the ball by forcing a turnover on Bowdry. EMU has the ball and could still get the lead with a 3-pointer.

-EMU gets a prayer. Antonio Green throws up a shot while jumping into Bitzer and draws a foul. Green hits all three FT's to take a 57-56 lead. CMU has the ball with nine seconds left.

EMU wins 57-56. I don't tend to blame refs in games, but there were some very shady calls that went against CMU. Ultimately the Chippewas can't let the refs keep them from winning, but they have to overcome that adversity. What a disappointing loss given Ball State losing earlier today and Western currently trailing Toledo.

As some of you heard, 2009 recruit K'allante Miller (Oak Park) had his scholarship revoked this week following an incident where he and a friend held up three classmates at gunpoint. Miller had had previous suspensions prior to this latest incident, which you can read about here:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090226/METRO02/902260444

Miller was a highly touted recruit for CMU, so this is certainly disappointing. Now the Chippewas have just one commitment for next season in forward Tyler Brown. Ernie Zeigler may have to go the juco route once again for some bodies for next season.

While on the topic of roster changes, it is official that Brandon Ford will be finishing his Chippewa career in the next few weeks. The junior center will be graduating this spring and will not return to the team following his graduation. Ford certainly stepped up his game this season and it is good to see him end his career with some positives after battling injuries throughout his time in Mt. Pleasant

Wednesday's loss to Ball State was a big one. It was a two-game swing. A win and CMU is in a three-way tie for first in the MAC West, but instead the Chips lost and are two games back of Ball State and one game behind Western.

In order to have any shot, (understanding that even the best shot is still slim at this point) CMU has to win its final three games. Eastern and Toledo at home are certainly winnable. The Chips lost to both on the road but both were prior to CMU's style change that has made it much more competitive. CMU has been strong on the road, winning its last three and five of its last six in Rose Arena. The final game is at Western, which will be tough to win, as CMU hasn't won in Kalamazoo since the 2002-03 season. But, a win there would allow CMU to get even with the Broncos, assuming Western wins its next two games.

The tricky part becomes Ball State, which has to then lose two games. One of the three remaining games is at Western on Mar. 4 and the Broncos will have to win that game to have a shot at the West title, so I expect the Broncos to give their best there. The other two games are Saturday at Northern Illinois, which could be tough as the Huskies took it to WMU on Wednesday at home, and the final game is at home with Eastern, which should be a win for the Cardinals. So essentially, you have to hope that Western and Ball State lose their road games and CMU runs the table. Not the likeliest of scenarios for various reasons, but winning the West is still possible and I know Ernie Zeigler has his team still believing. After all, an 8-8 record in the MAC would still be quite an accomplishment this season. I would have picked CMU to go about 4-12 in the MAC prior to the start of conference play.

I am here in lovely Muncie, Ind. for today's game with the Chippewas and Ball State. Tonight's game is one of the biggest CMU has had in a number of years with a chance to get into a tie for first place in the MAC West with a win and a Western loss. CMU is healthy and everyone is available for tonight's game. Word is that CMU's shoot around was solid and that the guys are hungry and ready to play. Stick with the blog for updates throughout the game.

-15:51 left in the first half. CMU up 6-4. The Chips look calm and collected to start. I expected them to come out a little crazy because of what is at stake, but that hasn't happened. Laron Frazier has all four Ball State points and his speed is going to be tough to defend tonight.

-8-8 tie at the 10:06 mark. CMU's defense has been solid so far but the offense has been pretty putrid. Jeremy Allen stepped in and had two bad turnovers, including passing up a wide open 3-pointer with two seconds left on the shot clock which results in a turnover. But, Allen just hit a running jumper to stop a 6-0 Ball State run. The refs are letting CMU play physical, which is big, the Chippewas have just one foul 10 minutes into the game.

-7:26 to play in the half. Ball State is up 12-10. Again, CMU's offense is struggling. The Chips are not shooting too bad at 5-for-12, but six turnovers have been big. Right now it seems like a lot of guys are trying to do things that are simply not in their arsenal.

-3:45 left in the first half and the score is 16-14 for the Cardinals. Fouls are few and far between right now. The Chips could use a few calls but careless turnovers have kept them from the lead. Frazier is probably the best player on the court tonight. He has great speed and quickness and is causing matchup problems.

-25-14 at halftime. CMU didn't score for the final five minutes of the half. Brandon Lampley scored the last seven points of the half, including a jumper at the buzzer. Ball State is on an 11-0 run right now and Marcus Van limped off the court with 45 seconds to play. Turnovers are killing the Chips, they have 12 for the game and are just 7-for-18 shooting. CMU was playing good defense until the final minute, but can overcome this lead if they focus more on offense.

-14:50 left. Ball State up 32-24. It has been a crazy first five minutes. Antonio Weary picked up four fouls in less than two minutes. He opened with a charge, then got called for a reach and picked up a technical in the process and then got another reaching call at the 18:09 mark. The fouls are getting out of hand. CMU has had 11 called on it to just three the entire game for BSU. Van literally got pulled down on a rebound and no call was made at all. Robbie Harman is picking this team up and putting it on his back as he has scored all 10 points in the half to keep the Chippewas in the game.

-13:56 left and CMU is about to take its first free throw attempt of the game. CMU hasn't attacked the inside a lot this game, but in my opinion this free throw is long overdue. Too bad it is the Chippewas' worst free-throw shooter, Jacobly Hardiman, taking the shots. Score is 32-26 now after a nice pair of defensive stops.

-11:49 to go, BSU up 36-30. Harman is heading to the line and has 13 in the second half. Ernie is working the refs over the fouls, which has moved up to 7-5 in the half for BSU but is still 12-7 for the game. Jacolby missed a pair of free throws that could have made it a two-possession game. The Chips are still playing with some fire, but Ball State has been able to render Bitzer and Van useless on offense thus far. Harman is trying to do it all himself, which is admirable, but he needs help.

-7:39 to play and BSU is ahead 41-34. Harman just hit a 3 pointer and has 17 in the second half, but I think it is too little too late. The Cardinals are in the double bonus and nobody aside from Robbie is stepping up. Van has four fouls and is on the bench, but if I am Ernie Zeigler, I put him in now while you still have a shot to make a game of it. If you save him for later, there may not be anything to save by the time he gets in.

-3:53 to go, BSU up 45-40. Van fouled out just seconds after stepping on the floor. CMU was playing small but had to bring Brandon Ford in after giving up a pair of offensive rebounds. Ball State missed four-straight free throws and Harman missed a good look at three just before the media timeout. Harman is trying to do it all and you have to admire his effort, but if CMU wants to win, they need a team effort on offense.

- 1:01 to go, BSU up 47-42. This one would be hard to see going the way of CMU now. A couple of missed shots and the 16th turnover for the Chippewas is really what spelled CMU's doom.

-53-44 final for Ball State. CMU had just four players score and Van was scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting. Harman did all he could but aside from him, nobody else stepped up in this disappointing loss.

I don't usually touch on a lot of national sports subjects, but since this blog will be almost a daily thing, I would like to give my take on issues outside the Central Michigan area.

The Alex Rodriguez situation has really caught the fire of a lot of fans and media alike and it is all understandable. I have some different views on steroids, so I will fire away with them now:

1. If you are Alex Rodriguez or any other MLB player, when you are caught red handed, don't lie. There is nothing worse than lying when the facts are already there. I can have a much easier time looking past someone using steroids if they are just honest about it. But, watching guys protest that they are clean, then failing a test or looking like a coward in front of congress makes it much tougher for me to support the guy. Rogers Clemens has lost all my respect, but I wasn't upset with Rodriguez at first. He came out and admitted things he didn't have to and I was happy with that. But, then more things have come out since and it appears that he hasn't been completely honest. If you are going to wipe the slate clean, you have to let it all out. You can't just say a few things and let everything else slide by. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

2. One thing that bothers me a lot about all of this steroid talk is the Hall of Fame voters. For anyone to say that they will not vote in guys like A-Rod or Barry Bonds because of the steroid talk is ridiculous to me. Both are clearly some of the best players to ever step on the field. You can't ignore what each player has done. Has steroids or PED's helped, sure. But, in the same respect, you have pitchers in the Hall of Fame that threw spitballs, had files in their gloves, used sandpaper, filed their spikes. I mean each player in every era is always looking to get an edge. There are a small few that have played the game 100 percent clean in every aspect. Babe Ruth is considered a legend, as is Ty Cobb, and both clearly weren't the best human beings in the world. Can we really say that these two wouldn't have tried to gain any edge they could.

3. Isn't the whole idea behind human life that the strong shall survive. Aren't we as a human race always looking for the newest ways to improve and prolong life? I know some of you won't agree with me here, but I for one don't think steroids are a bad thing. The key to them is that you have to know how and when to use them. I for one am not a fan of Jose Canseco and his obsession with being in the media eye, but clearly this guy has used steroids, and used them properly. The guy is in tremendous shape and lives a good healthy life in terms of his body. What we have to avoid is having people abuse steroids and developing the negative side effects that can come from abusing them. But, if I run a team or am a fan of a team and we had a player that is out with a knee injury that is expected to miss 6 months from the injury, but if he uses steroids and can heal in 4 months without having any risk to the injury, why wouldn't I want him to use them. In this day and age, we have access to more nutritional supplements than we know what to do with. To me, I want the guys that are making millions of dollars each season to be able to perform at the best their body allows at all times. If we can have our athletes performing to their best on steroids without doing serious risk to their long-term health, I am all for it. People may cry about records, but again, humans are supposed to evolve and continue to get better and better with each generation.

I will be providing updates on today's game as it is taking place.

-Pregame Note: William Eddie III is suited up today but I wouldn't expect him to play. With today being a non-conference game, I don't expect Ernie Zeigler to put any of his players at serious risk for missing any games beyond today.

-16:27 CMU up 9-2 after a big jam from Weary. CMU creating a lot of turnovers but has four fouls in the first two minutes of play. Brandon Ford got the start over Jacolby Hardiman, but I feel that was to counter Fairleigh Dickinson, which started two 6-8 players.

-13:15 left in the first. F. Dickinson on a 9-0 run to take an 11-9 lead. Chippewas turning the ball over a lot in the last three minutes.

-7:31 left in the half. CMU up 17-15 after a Robbie Harman fade away jumper. Six fouls on CMU, a few have been really poor fouls to take. F. Dickinson looks like it has some athletes, they just play undisciplined at times. Jeremy Allen hit a 3-pointer in his first shot attempt which can hopefully help his confidence. He missed his next two shots though.

-3:51 to go in the first half, CMU is ahead 19-17. Lawrence Bridges just picked up his second foul. CMU's defense is keeping Fairleigh from getting the lead, but the Chippewas are turning the ball over. CMU has eight turnovers in the game, but they have forced 11 from the Knights.

-23-23 at halftime. A sloppy game on both sides as the two teams have combined for over 20 turnovers. CMU had a chance to establish a sizeable lead early and let it slip away. Not a solid half for CMU. F. Dickinson shot 9-for-17 from the floor while CMU was 9-for-25 in the half.

-17:25 remaining in the game, CMU up 31-26 after a pair of 3-pointers from Harman. Jacolby Hardiman started the half with a powerflum slam dunk but was called for a technical after hanging on the rim. The Chippewas seem to be the better team, but are letting mistakes keep them from pulling away.

-11:53 left, CMU up 42-33. CMU extended its lead to 11 after a Bitzer 3-pointer, but Cameron Tyler just scored to end a 8-2 run for the Chippewas. Van had scored seven-straight points for CMU before picking up his third foul with 13:23 to go.

-9:00 remaining and CMU's lead is down to four at 45-41. The Knights are increasing their pressure with a full-court trap, but the Chippewas have seen this before, just not making good choices. CMU is letting Fairleigh Dickinson stick around, which could be troublesome late.

-6:00 to go, CMU up 53-47 after Bitzer hits a jumper and draws a foul. CMU has been leading most of the way but letting the Knights dictate the pace of play right now. The Chippewas need to get back to controlling the ball on offense and not letting this game become a track meet. Van has had a strong second half with 11 points.

-2:41 to play, CMU up 57-55. This one could come down to free throws as both teams are in the double bonus. The Chippewas are really just not asserting themselves in this one and this would be a bad loss if they should let this one get away. At best it could be an ugly win.

-53 seconds to go, CMU up 63-57. The Chippewas are 8 for their last 10 at the free throw line. Had a chance to really push the game out of reach but a travel call on Bitzer gives the Knights the ball.

-20 seconds left, CMU ahead 64-60. Robbie Harman just had a really bad play as he tried to do a breakaway dunk to seal up the win. He missed the dunk and drew a technical foul for hanging on the rim. The Knights hit two free throws and are still in the game. These last four minutes have taken an eternity.

-68-62 final, not a gem of a win by any means, but for CMU to be able to get an ugly win is still a positive. Certainly this doesn't build the kind of momentum the Chips were looking for heading into the Ball State game on Wednesday, but again, a win is a win. Player of he game would have to be Marcus Van. He put up 14 points in the second half and 16 total as well as eight rebounds. It was disappointing to not see Weary build off his last game, but he didn't look too bad either.

Today is was discovered that CMU President, Michael Rao, is leaving Chippewa land for VCU.

This move is obviously going to give Rao a big increase in pay and perks, so it is understandable as to why he made the jump. This scenario is really no different than any coach moving to a bigger school and I wish Rao well.

Rao did plenty of positives for CMU, but I don't think it is any secret that athletics was not high on his list of priorities. This leaves an interesting situation for CMU as they will soon begin to search for a new president. Will the new hire put athletics higher on his commitments list?

I was planning on diving deeper into the monetary status of the athletics budget in weeks to come, most notably how it works into CMU's difficult non-conference football schedule.

Today's developments will certainly be something to talk about for quite some time and I am sure the athletics department would like to have its say in the replacement.

*On a side note, and I can't believe I made such an oversight, I must credit CMU quarterback, or should I now say beloved former CMU quarterback Brian Brunner for his fine blog work that helped inspire me to begin this blog. Brian is now doing some fine work for the Saginaw News and is still pursuing a football career and I wish him the best. (There Brian, is that what you were looking for :) )

It may seem unlikely, but with Ball State losing to Toledo, Central Michigan in reality controls its own destiny to winning the MAC West Division.

The Chippewas will host Eastern Michigan and Toledo, and both are games that CMU should win. After watching their win over NIU, I expect that same effort at home. The key is the two road games at Ball State and Western Michigan.

Wednesday's game is key as I feel CMU has a better chance to win in Muncie than in Kalamazoo. CMU hasn't competed at Western as of late, so it is hard to expect a win on the road there. But, going 3-1 in their final stretch will put them at 8-8 in MAC play, which certainly could win the West. Wednesday's game is the first big step, and I feel the Chippewas are playing with a lot more confidence to pull this off.

It is hard to believe at 8-16 that Ernie Zeigler may be having his best season as a coach, but I feel this is the case. Had he and his staff not made the adjustment mid-season, Zeigler could be on the hot seat if CMU would have continued to struggle. Instead what we have seen is a team that has competed to the end in every game aside from Akron (which was an impossible scenario to play 36 hours after beating Ohio). Zeigler has made the most out of bad situation and deserves to be applauded for this season.

A lot of people have mentioned "Too bad we don't have Chris and Marko" which I can understand, but had those two not gotten hurt, we may not have seen Marcus emerge this season and we wouldn't have seen the development of guys like Jacolby Hardiman and Jordan Bitzer. Hindsight is always 20/20, but this season to me will really pay off next year when you have a wealth of experience to work with.

CMU still has a lot of work ahead, but if I were on the team, I would feel good about my chances to win the West.

I will be blogging throughout tonight's game with CMU and NIU.

-Prior to tip there is already some bad news for CMU as the Chippewas will be without freshman point guard William Eddie III tonight and for the foreseeable future. Eddie is dealing with a knee injury and his return to the team is unknown.
-Ernie Zeigler is 6-0 against NIU in his coaching career and tonight has a good shot to be 7-0. NIU is coming of an impressive win over Akron on Sunday, but CMU holds a 58-45 win over the Huskies this year already. Guard play will be the key in this one with Eddie out as Jordan Bitzer and Adrian Hunter will have to handle point guard duties at times.

-15:57 remaining in the first half and Darion Anderson, NIU's leading scorer, just picked up his second foul on a charge call from Antonio Weary. This is big for CMU. The Huskies are a young team without a lot of depth. So far NIU leads 9-4 and is shooting well. I am surprised to see them letting CMU run the clock on offense since this approach didn't work well for them in the previous meeting.

-11:18 left in the first CMU leads 14-13 thanks to a 10-0 run spurred on by three NIU turnovers. Sean Smith has come off the bench to give NIU two key buckets and stop the Chippewa run. Lawrence Bridges just picked up his second foul. On a side note, NIU coach Ricardo Patton sure can whistle!

- 7:57 left in the first half and CMU is up 19-14. Robbie Harman picked up his second foul which is big with Eddie already out of the game. Hunter has picked up point guard duties but struggled to make accurate passes. NIU is already in the bonus at the halfway point, which could pose problems as the game progresses. Marcus Van is struggling on the offensive end thus far, making just one field goal, which was a dunk, on four attempts.

- Jordan Bitzer picked up his second foul at the 3:32 mark, leaving he and Harman with two fouls each. Hunter is the lone guard that can run the point without two fouls. CMU leads 23-22.

- CMU leads 27-24 at halftime. Good start thus far given the slow opening minutes and the foul trouble. Van is not having his best day and I expect him to step up in the second half. Give Hunter credit, he has five points off the bench and Antonio Weary is 4-for-4 at the free throw line, which is key.

- 14:25 to go in the game, CMU up 33-31. The Chippewas can't shake NIU as each time CMU looks set to get something going, the Huskies answer. Weary has taken three charges in this game and Jeremy Allen has showed some positives on offense but just had a costly turnover.

- 11:56 to play, CMU up 37-33. Bitzer picked up his fourth foul with 12:42 remaining. Weary just had a big block and is having a solid game for CMU.

-7:28 to play, CMU up 42-34. Bridges picked up two fouls within a minute to give him four, but CMU has its largest lead of the game after a big jam by Van. This is shaping up to be a win as NIU is struggling on offense with some poor shot selection.

-63-44 final for CMU. Solid performances from Hunter and Weary and Van still had a strong game despite struggling in the first half. I will have post game thoughts later tonight.

Final Thoughts: This was a great overall win for CMU and they beat a team convincingly, which was good to see. Adrian Hunter and Antonio Weary stepped up and hopefully CMU can count on more production from both of them. Don't look now but CMU is just one game out of first place in the MAC West with Ball State looming on Wednesday.

Last week I wasn't really able to give the Steve Stripling hire due justice in the Morning Sun because I was taking some much-needed time off.

But I think this is a great hire for CMU for many reasons, the most obvious being Stripling's work at other top programs like Michigan. Being a part of 20 bowl teams has to give you an idea of how good programs work, and also must mean you are doing things right yourself.

Another thing that stands out with the hire is that he will be, along with assistant defensive coach, the defensive ends coach. This will give CMU two coaches that have primary focus on the defensive line, which tells me they want to see a drastic increase in pass rush from the front four.

It also tells me that CMU plans on doing more speed rushing from the outside this year, which had its success last season when Sam Williams got hot. I think with Williams and Frank Zombo already established as solid ends, and with a freshman like Darryll Stinson, who is 6-6 225 and in incredible physical shape for a redshirt freshman, the Chippewas should be able to create a much better pass rush in 2009 from the front four, which was certainly lacking during key times in 2008.

On another side note I was never able to touch on the loss of Offensive Lineman Joe McMahon from the program. This is really a big blow as CMU is now without three starters on the line. McMahon was a solid blocker and the perfect size for a lineman and could also play guard or center, which gave CMU options. The offensive line will clearly be a big question mark heading into the 2009 season. I know CMU recruited some solid lineman, but even Butch Jones admitted that you can't expect true freshmen to step in right away at the O-Line as their bodies have not put on enough weight yet.

Today I released a lengthy article on Trey and Ernie Zeigler:

http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2009/02/16/sports/srv0000004701475.txt

The article talks a lot about Trey growing up and living in a basketball world. Certainly Trey is a very talented kid and in the few conversations I have had with him, he does indeed have a good head on his shoulders and is very down to earth. He hasn't gone big-time yet when it comes to his people skills, which is good to see.

A lot of people have asked me about Trey coming to CMU and I have heard some say "it's a done deal" while others say "there is not chance at all." My gut tells me he won't, just because his talent level warrants a greater program, no disrespect to CMU or Ernie.

As a father, I would certainly love to coach my son at the college level, but I would also want him to be in the best situation possible for his future and Trey has the potential to play in the NBA. While CMU has landed NBA stars before and the MAC has its fair share, I would certainly feel better about Trey's chances at a UCLA or Michigan State, where he would play against the best in the country on a frequent basis, and have the chance to be seen on national television with almost every game.

Ernie also has to consider his situation. He is only locked in for a few years and he wouldn't want his son to come to a school that he can't be certain he will be at. I think CMU would have no problem keeping Ernie around as we have seen good things from the program even though the records have not been on the winning side. But, Ernie also has to think about his future. If Trey were to come to CMU and the Chippewas win a championship and make the NCAA Tournament, Ernie would certainly have better coaching offers come his way. Could he really leave CMU if Trey still had eligibility left here? Could he ask his son to transfer and miss out on a season in the middle of his prime? In the MAC, a coach has to strike while the iron is hot because one year you look like a genius, and the next year you look like a fool.

I am not sure how the Trey recruiting process will shake out, but it would be interesting to see him in the maroon and gold.

(Thanks to Lisa Yanick-Jonaitis for her picture of Trey from last Friday's game.)

Well, this is my first blog here and I guess it is about time that I jumped into the new style of reporting.

I hope to update this blog daily and give my views on CMU sports as well as some area high school athletics. I will try to throw in some tidbits that don't make the Morning Sun and be a little more opinionated on here than I am able to be in my columns.

I welcome any feedback, good or bad, and appreciate you taking the time to read my work. If you are reading this, you must be a pretty big fan of Central Michigan sports and I will do my best to quench your thirst for information.

I will start right away by crediting ChippewaCountry.com for their help and information that they give me on their site. Their wealth of information is extremely helpful for me.

Since this is my first post, I will give you a little information about myself that perhaps you may not know.

I am the youngest of three kids, I am currently engaged, I have two beautiful nieces with another or a nephew on the way. I love sports just like all of you. I am a die hard Tigers and Lions fan. You will often see me wearing my dark blue Tigers hat if we ever cross paths. Barry Sanders is my favorite athlete with Steve Yzerman a close second. I am a picky eater and I have a phobia of wrists (don't ask). Despite having to be neutral as a member of the media, I am a Central Michigan fan and want them to do well in all sports. I should note that my feelings are a little selfish though as the better they do, the better that is for my career. My like for CMU may cause me to be a little loyal at times with my writing, which I am working on, but I am also not an overly-critical person.

Really I am just an everyday sports fan that likes to write more than others. If you ever see me and want to talk or tell me how dumb I am, feel free. I am very approachable. Look forward to hearing from any and all of you soon.