Wednesday, July 28, 2010

“NCAA football: Rhoads sticking with same philosophy as ISU looks to build off bowl win (with video)” plus 2 more

“NCAA football: Rhoads sticking with same philosophy as ISU looks to build off bowl win (with video)” plus 2 more

NCAA football: Rhoads sticking with same philosophy as ISU looks to build off bowl win (with video)

Posted: 28 Jul 2010 02:31 AM PDT

• VIDEO: Rhoads press conference

• TWITTER: Follow Bobby's updates on www.twitter.com, @BobbyLaGesse

• • •

 IRVING, Texas — Simple worked once. Why not try it again? After keeping things simple in his first-year as Iowa State head coach, Paul Rhoads plans to do the same as the Cyclones look to build upon an Insight Bowl victory in 2010. For more ISU sports, see GoCyclones.

 "You can't go away from the basics just because you stopped some people and you scored some points," Rhoads said at Big 12 media days on Monday. "You did it because you blocked and you tackled, not because you out-schemed them." 

 Stripping football to the bare essentials — Rhoads spent 15 minutes in his very first spring practice going over tackling 101 — helped ISU get back on the national map.

 The Cyclones snapped a 10-game losing streak. They ended the nation's longest road losing streak. They won at Nebraska for the first time since 1977.

  And they had a winning record for the first time since 2005.

 That was a good first act. But ISU defensive end Rashawn Parker knows more is expected when the Cyclones hit the field for the encore.

 "All the expectations are raised," Parker said. "We want to go to a second bowl game and have more success this season."

 ISU believes it's up to the challenge.

 The running game, which anchored the offense last year, returns nearly intact with running back Alexander Robinson and the four starting offensive linemen back.

 Quarterback Austen Arnaud overhauled his mechanics and said his accuracy is "night and day" better than last year.

 Even though the defense only returns four starters, the Cyclones like the strides being made by defensive coordinator Wally Burnham's unit.

 "They are going to make plays," Arnaud said. "I've seen them all summer and spring. We are excited for them."

 For Rhoads, developing talent will be a key to ISU's success, not just this season, but for the foreseeable future.

 "People are going to see that this fall, and not just players that played last year," he said. "But redshirts and so forth that begin to play with us."

 But what about the schedule, the one that could potentially feature four preseason top 10 opponents?

 "We play the toughest schedule in America," Rhoads said. "We have to be ready for it."

 A demanding schedule is nothing new for the Cyclones, Arnaud said, because the teams on it that college football pundits are raving about — Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska — are old foes.

 "Every game is tough," Arnaud said. "There is not a team on our schedule that I feel we would murder. We open up with Northern Illinois, and they made a bowl last year."

 But after everything ISU went through last year, the Cyclones think they're ready to take it on.

 "We've already proven ourselves," Parker said. "But we have to prove ourselves again. It's a new year. Everything we did and learned last season, and all the hard work we put in this offseason will carry over into the season."

Alburtis no longer on team

 Defensive tackle Austin Alburtis graduated in the summer and decided to give up football.

 "He has elected to forego his senior year of eligibility and move into the workplace," Rhoads said.

Sims update expected soon

 Rhoads said he hopes to hear something about the ongoing police investigation involving David Sims in the next day or two.

 Sims is under investigation by the Ames Police Department for unauthorized use of a credit card.

Bobby La Gesse can be reached at (515) 663-6929 or rlagesse@amestrib.com.

The following are comments from readers. They do not necessarily represent the views of The Tribune or Amestrib.com.

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

CCU hosts international philosophy conference

Posted: 27 Jul 2010 06:03 PM PDT

CAROLINA FOREST, S.C. --

More than 120 professional philosophers will meet on the Coastal Carolina University campus for an international conference from Thursday, July 29 to Monday, Aug. 2.

The University's Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies is hosting the 18th American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT) International Workshop-Conference.

"The conference brings together distinguished teachers of philosophy from all over the world to talk about recent developments in the teaching of philosophy," said Nils Rauhut, a CCU philosophy professor who is also serving as AAPT President.

Keynote speaker of the conference is David Concepcion, Ph.D., an associate professor of philosophy from Ball State University who teaches ethics, environmental ethics and bioethics.

"As an institution that embraces the teacher scholar model of education, Coastal Carolina University is proud to host such a prestigious association that is dedicated to the teaching and learning of philosophy," said Michael Ruse, chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at CCU and coordinator of the conference.

More than 65 individual sessions will be held in the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts at CCU.

For more information contact Michael Ruse at 843-349-2548.

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Kennedy Pola is worth the trouble

Posted: 27 Jul 2010 08:27 PM PDT

He answers the phone while packing up boxes in his leased Nashville home, a controversial boss beckoning, a lawsuit swirling, probation waiting.

And all Kennedy Pola can do is talk old-fashioned USC football.

"We're gonna put our foot in the ground and go," he says.


All Kennedy Pola can do is talk Marv Goux.

"He taught me Trojan tradition, he taught me Trojan family," he says.

All Kennedy Pola can do is talk change.

"I want us to do things the way we used to do them," he says. "Keep our heads down and outwork everybody else."

Not that I think Pola is the giant, gravelly future of USC football, but, well, put it this way:

If you're going to get sued over hiring someone, this is the guy.

Lane Kiffin may have used the wrong protocol, but he called the right number. Hired from the angry Tennessee Titans last weekend to be the Trojans' new offensive coordinator, Pola is the end of swagger, the end of shortcuts, the end of smarm.

"You don't try to outshine anybody," he says. "You just do things the right way and good things will happen."

It's simple, it's vanilla, but it's exactly what the Trojans need as they begin an era already clanking with distractions from the old one.

The Trojans need a return to tradition: Pola was USC's blocking fullback in the early 1980s, then coached there for four seasons under Paul Hackett and Pete Carroll in the early 2000s, laying the freshman foundation for Reggie Bush and LenDale White.

The Trojans need a return of the running game: During Pola's five years as Jacksonville's running backs coach, the Jaguars finished third in the league in rushing yards while producing two Pro Bowl running backs.

The Trojans need a return to homegrown leadership: Pola, who has done everything from coach local high school football to recruiting Bush and White, is not just being hired to boss the Trojans' offense, he is on a path to perhaps one day becoming their next head coach.

If you think this means it was crazy of Kiffin to hire him, well, Kiffin didn't really hire him, having passed him over in his search for a running backs coach while pursing the Minnesota Vikings' Eric Bieniemy. Pola has become the offensive coordinator at the unofficial request of new Athletic Director Pat Haden.

Who knows where this is all going? But with Pola in the middle of it all, the Trojans once again seem centered.

"We're here to carry the torch for the past Trojans into the present and future," he says. "We have to carry it proud."

Speaking of torches, that Tennessee folks are roasting Kiffin for recruiting Pola without the Titans' permission has little to do with Pola, who wasn't even mentioned in the lawsuit.

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