Scattershots: Lickliter, Wild Thing, The Natural...

Not sure if you've heard, Iowa hired Todd Lickliter as its new basketball coach. It was interesting to watch Hawkeye fans go through the 5 stages:

Denial .: "I've never even heard of him!"
Anger .: "How can Iowa hire someone from the freaking Horizon League?"
Bargaining .: "At least tell me Barta tried to land Majerus."
Depression .: "I thought we'd hire a big name."
Acceptance .: "Lickliter is a great hire and a perfect fit! The pride is back for Hawkeye hoops!"

I didn't know much about Todd Lickliter, but before he even showed up on the Iowa campus, I had done enough research to think Gary Barta made a good choice. I was even more convinced after watching Lickliter at his welcoming party. He's paid his dues; He's humble; He's good with fans; He's thrilled to be at Iowa; He realizes a strong football program is good for basketball; and he's the kind of coach who can take a team to the Sweet 16 without blue chip recruits. Lickliter teams play great defense, don't turn the ball over, and shoot threes. Expect solid fundamentals from the jump. He'll have to step up his recruiting efforts, but if you can win four NCAA tournament games at Butler, Iowa should be no problem.

I think Barta got the right guy, but we won't know for sure until 2010. I'm the guy who said hiring Steve Alford was a great move. Remember all those fans who were despondent over the hiring of Kirk Ferentz instead of Bob Stoops? Worked out pretty well.

Alford was a bad fit at Iowa for many reasons, but don't think for a moment fans wouldn't have found a way to embrace his arrogance, entitlement, and aloofness if he took Iowa to a Final Four. If a guy wins enough, all is forgiven. Sad commentary, but true.

Alford wasn't a great coach, but he was no idiot either. Everyone is piling on now---especially as Alford burned bridges on his way out---but let's stop blaming him for global warming, Norbit, and Izzie on Grey's Anatomy...

How 'bout Dana Altman doing a reversal on Arkansas. He made the right decision. Did you see the video we showed of Altman at the "welcome rally"? First of all, he received about as much applause as Rosie O'Donnell at a Republican rally. Then, they forced Altman to do that ooooh pig sooooiiieee chant, and he looked about as comfortable as Nicole Richie at Krispy Kream. He'll retire at Creighton now. Maybe he'll finally realize he's got a great thing going, and stop listening to inquiries (and believe me, he's done a lot of listening)...

Am I the only one watching the "Black Donnelly's"? Based on the ratings, I'd say yes. Not a lot of redeeming characters on that show. Works better for the Sopranos... (editor: NBC just cancelled The Black Donnelly's. Sorry, Keith. You must have been the only one.)

Saw "Blades of Glory" on opening night. It's ridiculous, juvenile, and stupid... I loved it. I loved it for one reason: Will Ferrell. When he's saying something, the movie is hilarious. The rest of the time, it's mostly laugh free. Jon Heder looks more and more like he careered out in Napoleon Dynamite. He's just not funny here, and no match for Ferrell. The grade is B, if you check your brain at the door. C,if you're like Andy Fales, and you think movies like this are "stupid"(e.g. Talladega Nights, Dodge Ball, Zoolander, Kicking and Screaming, etc)....

Some of Iowa's most entertaining sports writing happens at http://www.wesleyvaclav.blogspot.com/
Former Des Moines Register reporter Ron Maly doesn't have to answer to an editor. In this case, that's a good thing...

Went to another Iowa Stars game. Kudos to the franchise for improving the atmosphere immensely. Big crowd too. I was impressed by the entertainment on and off the ice. My friend, Scott Kasber, does a great job hosting...

I hate the DirecTV ads with Charlie Sheen cut and pasted on his Ricky Vaughn character. "Major League" is no cinema classic, but I hate seeing Wild Thing turned into a prostitute. It's kind of creepy too...

I just ordered "The Natural" director's cut. I can't wait to see this. Early buzz is that the additional 10 minutes improves many scenes and fleshes out several character details. They also tweaked the music and editing to improve what is a classic. "God I love baseball"... (editor: to vote for the best baseball movie among Keith's favorites, go back to the sports page at whotv.com)

Keith Richards did a lot of drugs, but that's not the only thing to go up his nose. He claims he snorted part of his father's ashes?! That's one of the most disturbing things I've ever read. Hopefully, he was kidding...

Can't wait for the I-Cubs home opener April 13th. Principal Park/Sec Taylor Field just keeps getting better. They add fountains this season...

Did "Happy Feet" really win the Oscar for best animated picture? Didn't the Academy members watch "Cars"? It's no contest...

A viewer just e-mailed me this link: http://www.firelickliter.com/ It takes you to some Cyclone Web site. Clever...

I'm going to two Cubs games in Milwaukee with my buddies this weekend. It's going to be so cold I may not mind if they close the Miller Park roof, which makes me a hypocrite. I hate indoor baseball, unless I'm uncomfortable...