Gotta love the heart of hoops season. What a win for Washington last night, upsetting 3A-ranked Chatard, 63-58, to earn a spot in tonight's City Tournament semifinals. That makes three of the final four schools from IPS, and how nice is that to see? Visit the "Showcase" story on our home page for more breakdown of the tourney.
I'd also like to take a moment and welcome HSSTM's new intern for the upcoming spring semester, Butler University junior Bob Herman. Bob is the managing editor of the Butler Collegian, formerly interned with the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) and currently holds duties as the man underneath the Bulldog mascot costume at basketball games. If you go to a Butler game, walk up to the mascot as say "Bob!" and see if he breaks "mascot code" by giving a verbal response. Taunt him a little bit, it's OK by me.
Today, I'd like to respond to a few reader comments posted on my blog the past couple weeks. Let's get some interaction going.
First up, I'd like to thank my fine cohort, Brian Moore, for giving me some props on interviews in his last blog on Tuesday.

Rex M. says: "Cal Ripken? How did you guys score that? Who do you know around the area to get these (interviews)?"

• The Mind: Well, Rex, I could tell you, but then I'd have to....only kidding. To be honest, it's all about who you know, what you know and when you know it. The interview with IU football coach Bill Lynch (p.24 of the September issue) was landed through my close friend's parents, who are longtime friends with the Lynch family since their high school days at Chatard in the early '70s. It just so happened that I was able to talk with him right before the season got started, so it was perfect timing. As for Ripken, whom I'm talking to tomorrow, I just heard about his coaching clinic coming to Indy (see homepage) and got on the phone to talk with media relations at Ripken Baseball. Sure enough, there's definitely a local story and he was happy to set me up with an interview. You get the idea. As for Butler coach Brad Stevens, I'm a Butler grad, so that's just me being a homer. Kind of. Stevens is a fantastic guy and being a local graduate of Zionsville, it only made sense.

In response to my last post, regarding boys hoops, Wesley P. writes: "Who makes these schedules? What a grueling trip it's been few weeks for Warren, LN and North Central...How huge is that sectional going to be? Who will survive? And does Warren have an even better chance with Offutt (possibly) coming back?"

• The Mind: Woah there Wesley, one question at a time. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. As far as the schedules are concerned, with schools such as the ones you mentioned, most of that has to do with the in-season tournaments these teams are playing. When the same schools are part of the same county and conference, there's a chance they might play each other three times before it's all said and done. As for that sectional, which is Sectional 10, you'd be right to call it "huge." Personally, I don't think there's any way of knowing who is going to survive out of LN, Warren, North Central, Cathedral and even a capable Broad Ripple team. If you ask me, any one of those top four teams could walk away with the sectional title. The ONE thing that sets LN apart, big surprise, is its size advantage. Cathedral would scare me as an opposing coach with their depth and versatility, while Warren has really shown their overall talent with Offutt injured. If he comes back, it certain makes things a little more interesting.

"Baked on Bball" says, in response to my County Tourney blog: "I found the whole comparison kind of cool, but count me among those sick and tired of hearing about Marion County hoops. Tell me the last state champion to come out of there in class 4A? I think it was North Central in 1999. I just feel like much, much better basketball is played around the metro area as opposed to in it."

• The Mind: Not to be incriminating, but do you remember a couple guys named Greg Oden and Mike Conley that led Lawrence North to three straight 4A titles, from '04 to '06? I believe they are a Marion County school. Before that, Pike, who is also located within county borders, won titles in '01 and '03. I agree that there is some darn good hoops being played around the metro area, but it simply just doesn't have the consistent competition or depth as Marion. Hence my "loaded baked potato" analogy. Since class basketball started, seven of the 10 state champions in 4A have come from within Marion County borders. The only exceptions are Marion High School in '00, Gary West Side in '02 and last year with East Chicago Central. This season, however, I do think that Carmel has a chance to make a long run...we'll see.