This has sure been an interesting year for college basketball fans in Indiana, and I’m not even talking about the mess IU has with Kelvin Sampson.

For the first time in years, I actually took the time to watch IU play that other school from up north Tuesday. As a graduate of Indiana, you know which side of the fence I’m on. This year’s matchup was one of the first in a long time when there was something on the line besides bragging rights. It sure would have been nice, however, to see the two teams square off at West Lafayette so we wouldn’t have to hear all those Boilermaker fans talk about being homered.

You won’t hear me say this very often, but Purdue has a really good squad this year. Of course, I think IU’s is a little better.

It sure is nice, however, to see two other Hoosier schools in the top 25. Butler has looked good for several years now, and since I’m an Indianapolis native and that’s where my daughter and her husband obtained their degrees, I have no trouble rooting for the Bulldogs.

In fact, I have no trouble rooting for any team as long as they are from Indiana. That means IU, Indiana State, Ball State, Evansville, the University of Indianapolis, Franklin, Hanover and on and on. That even means Purdue as long as they aren’t playing IU.

I might even go as far as to root for Louisville because it’s just across the Ohio from Indiana.  Just don’t expect to find me bleeding blue for those Kentucky Wildcats. Western Kentucky, maybe, but Kentucky. Won’t happen.

As for the Sampson mess, I didn’t think hiring him as a good decision in the first place, and I think IU needs to fire him.

The last time IU was sanctioned by the NCAA was back in 1966, giving my alma mater one of the best track records in the Big Ten. It’s a shame that one man could bring it down so quickly.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m getting real tired of the weather this winter.

I’m also not real happy with the forecasts that have come from the National Weather Service and weathermen and weatherwomen on television.

Let’s just take Wednesday, for instance. Predictions of 2 to 6 inches of snow or more for Monday and Tuesday fell well short, but we had plenty of ice to go around.

On Wednesay morning, I watched  a forecaster who said the storm had moved out of the area and was well on its way to the east coast. It then proceeded to snow that morning in Seymour.

I know that predicting the weather is never an easy task, but I’d be happy to see a weather forecast that was even 50 percent correct. Or even 25 percent right.

We sure haven’t had many of those this winter.

I do know that spring can’t be far off, but I’m not relying on any weather forecast for that prediction.

For one thing, the sand hill cranes up recently took up residence in the Slab Road area west of Brownstown and in other parts bottom lands in the county, including one just northwest of Seymour. The county is a real good spot for the birds to take a break while preparing to migrate even further north when temperatures start rising.

If you’ve never seen North America’s largest crane, I recommend doing so. You can see 1,000s of them in once place, and they make enough noise that I can hear them more than a mile away outside my home in Ewing.

At least someone can get the weather right.

Here’s some exciting news for the 80 million baby boomers in America. 

On Tuesday, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, 62, of Earleville, Md., and Vero Beach, Fla., received her first Social Security retirements benefit check. The retired teacher was born one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 1946.

I was born in 1957, making me one of the younger babies born during the Baby Boom years between the end of World War II in 1945 and 1964.  

Why is it exciting news? For one thing, many of us Baby Boomers have spent our lives working and paying into a system we weren’t even sure would be in existence when became our turn to collect.

My children and the children of many other Baby Boomers often complain about how their Social Security payments will be collected and spent by their parents and how it’s likely there won’t be any money left when it’s time for them to retire. That argument has some strong merits especially because many people, such as my 80-year-old Dad, are living longer.

I still have concerns about there being any SS money for me, especially if no changes are made in the coming years.

Without changes, the Social Security administration will begin paying out more than it collects in payroll taxes in 1917.  That’s about nine years before I can retire. Projections are that the SS trust fund will have depleted its reserves by 2041.

The only good news I’ve heard on the subject in recent weeks is that many Baby Boomers have no plans to grow up, let alone retire any time soon.

I’ve told my wife, half-jokingly, many times that I’m going to retire less than five years from now when I’m 55. The truth is I’m probably like the majority of the Baby Boomers whoo never plan to grow up and retire.

I’m having some problems with all the hype about celebrities anymore.

I could really care less about the problems Brittany Spears is having these days.  And I could really care less that Lindsey Lohan, Nicole Richey and Paris Hilton had to spend a little time in jail.

The same goes for O.J. Simpson and his ever-present troubles with the law.  And news about that other Simpson, Anna Nicole, really wore me down. If I see a story about a celebrity on a news program any more, I use my remote to head elsewhere ASAP.

The news outlets really need to get a clue. Most of us could care less about what’s going on with the daily lives of all those big-named celebrities. We have enough trouble worrying about our own lives. It’s not news. It’s never been news.  

One subject I do care about, however, is Major League Baseball’s on-going drug scandal. It was reported yesterday that the guy who gave Roger Clemens his growth hormone shots also shot up Clemens’ wife just before the two were scheduled for a photo shoot for a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition back in 2003.

What’s that got to do with MLB and Clemens? Nothing. Her shot surely didn’t help Clemens win a Cy Young Award or do it?

From what I gather many of the players accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs did so before they were banned. If that’s true, end of story.

MLB should have done a better job of policing back then. Since it didn’t, the subject needs to be dropped. If MLB wants to stop the use of performace-enhancing drugs now, do it.

Baseball doesn’t have a monopoly on problem people. They are everywhere.

If guys like Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth can make it into the Hall of Fame, Clemens shouldn’t be kept out because he might have used performance-enhancing drugs. If that was a reason, there won’t be too many players inducted into the hall in the coming years.

The strike that cost us the World Series back in 1994 cost the sport plenty. I know it did for me. The present drug-scandal could kill the sport completely.

That’s a shame for all those kids who take to the diamonds each spring.

Play ball