Woke up this morning, got a coffee and drove around the IU campus. Weather here is dark, and there was talk of possible tornadoes for Bloomington today. It's gonna be ugly. A few more observations...

• I keep harping on Breaking Away, but they really took to that movie here. The Convention and Travel bureau's slogan is Break Away, and it headlines all the local brochures. There's also packs of cyclists everywhere you look around campus. You'd think the movie, made in 1979, was in theaters right now. Actually, I think it's playing at the Bloomington Googleplex.

• The IU campus is beautiful. Limestone buildings, lots of trees, people everywhere. I drove past the football stadium around 9:45 a.m., and there were already tailgaters setting up. Hope they brought ponchos.

• Among IU's famous alumni...Jane Pauley, Marc Cuban, Dick Enberg, Kevin Kline and Dave Stoller.

• My WTF moment of the trip...Gas is selling as cheap as $1.99 per gallon here. I paid $2.59 a gallon yesterday before driving to the airport. As Gilbert Gottfried would say... Hey Connecticut, ...WTF!?!

• Think they don't still worship Bobby Knight here? I stopped in a local sporting goods store, and was checking out some of the gear (bought a sweet Colts cap, by the way). There was as much Texas Tech merchandise for sale as IU stuff. Literally racks and racks of Texas Tech T-shirts and sweatshirts, twice as much stock as the Indiana Pacers stuff.

• I grew up idolizing Larry Bird. In fact, I still watch Larry Bird: A Basketball Legend on DVD at least once every six months. I noticed French Lick isn't too far from Bloomington. I really want to go there and get in a pickup basketball game just to see what it's like. Would everyone on the court be lumbering, somewhat unathletic farm boys with wispy moustaches who can shoot the lights out and pass like they had a sixth sense? With my knee, I can't do it. But I'm considering driving through and finding hoop just to shoot for a little while.

• All indications are that Blake Powers will play quarterback for Indiana today. He practiced all week on his ankle, and reports are that it held up well. But with the Old Testament weather forecast, it might not be worth the risk for the Hoosiers. Guess we'll see in a few hours....