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Tracy Smith enters his eighth season as head coach of the
Indiana Hoosiers. IU went 32-28 this past season, including 14-7
in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers fell 6-5 to Purdue in the
Championship Game of the Big Ten Tournament. A native of
Kentland, Ind., Smith led Indiana to the 2009 Big Ten tourney
title, the first for the program since 1996 and second NCAA
Tournament appearance in school history.
A 1989 graduate of Miami (Ohio), Smith posted a record of
317-220-1 (.590) as head coach at his alma mater. His RedHawks put together
eight consecutive 30-win seasons.
Smith has a keen eye for baseball and a keen ear for music. He
will give us his thoughts through the spring on Indiana baseball and on American
Idol. Follow Smith on Twitter at @HoosierBaseball.
click here
for other journal entries
Jan. 24, 2013
Carolina in My Mind
 Just
like recruiting in baseball, there are certain areas of the country that
continue to provide a plethora of top-notch talent and therefore get tabbed as a
recruiting "hotbed". I think Idol may have found its hotbed in Charlotte, N C.
Last night's show provided America with a few potential winners and plenty of
Hollywood-bound contenders. And near and dear to my heart, last night's show
also highlighted the fact that other people are weary of the Nicki-Mariah war,
as much as me, when the one female singer told the judges on the way out that
their fighting "upsets her".
I really enjoyed the singing last night. The big, husky-voiced
dude whose wife had cancer was good. His personality helped, but he could sing.
Jimmy Smith's version of God Bless The Broken Road was really good because
Rascal Flatts front man, Gary LeVox, is very tough to sing. Take it from me; I
have butchered that song many times during my solo concert (me alone in the
basement) on my basement karaoke system so I really appreciated his performance.
You could even say I was a little jealous...actually a lot jealous!
The little 16-year-old girl, Isabel Gonzalez, is my early
favorite to make it deep in the competition. She is young and very
natural...kind of like Ken Griffey, Jr. back in the day. My other early
favorite is Candice, the girl from last season. She knocked it out last night. I
played it back several times and closed my eyes to concentrate on her voice and
she was spot on.
Frog Girl was good and so was Blonde. I will admit, if I were
judging a book by the cover, I would not have thought either of those two to be
good, especially Blonde. I should know better than to judge talent by the "eye
test"... 5'9" Joey DeNato is IU's ace pitcher for goodness sakes!
The only negative for me last night was I thought the judges were
a little soft on some of the singers they let go through to Hollywood. I think
they got too caught up in their personal stories rather than focusing on their
singing voice. I am okay with it for now because it is nice to see some of these
people get a positive result in the midst of their struggles, but I am torn
because I know they will be exposed in the pressure-packed days of Hollywood
Week. All in all, though, it was a good week. I still miss Simon though...
(photos courtesy of IU Media Relations Office) |
