After all, this season has turned into such a sorry state of affairs that Dr. James Naismith—the guy who invented the sport—would take one look at what’s going on in Ames and Iowa City, tear down the peach baskets and take up yoga.

But the e-mailers have been busy, so—in the interest of giving everyone a forum—I’m taking one more late-season look at what is loosely referred to as major-college basketball at Iowa State and Iowa.

Actually, people were feeling better about things earlier in the week.

Before Iowa played Indiana on Wednesday night, a guy e-mailed me with this message:

"What are the odds Alford can win two this week? If he pulls it off, he should finish in the first division, which will be a milestone for him. But he has problems defending the home court, as you know.

It’s just a wild guess, but I think the guy’s last comment was in regard to Iowa State Coach Larry Eustachy.

That night, an Indiana team that was playing poorly in a sub-par Big Ten Conference stuck it to Iowa, 79-63.

Afterward, the same eastern Iowa guy who wrote about the Hawkeyes maybe finishing in the first division had changed his tune, and sent this e-mail about Coach Steve Alford:

"Hey, if we give this guy long enough, he might finish in the first division someday, but don’t bet on it. He’s now joined the infamous Dick Schultz as the only Iowa coaches who have gone four seasons without cracking the upper echelon. What a claim to fame!"

Schultz, who coached Iowa from 1970-71 through 1973-74, had Big Ten records of 4-10, 5-9, 6-8 and 5-9 before being dumped. After showing some early promise this season (hey, I picked his team to challenge for the Big Ten title), Alford is on his way to a fourth straight under-.500 record in the conference, too.

Alford has gone 6-10, 7-9 and 5-11 in his first three seasons, and heads into today’s game against Wisconsin at 5-6 in the Big Ten. Iowa’s only two victories in its last eight games have been over Penn State, which is one of the worst teams in all of major-college basketball.

[MY COMMENT: Even if Iowa should upset Wisconsin, the chances of finishing above .500 in the conference aren’t good. The Hawkeyes play successive road games at Ohio State, Indiana and Michigan State, and will be underdogs in all three, before closing the regular season at home against Northwestern. Trying to save the season by doing well in the Big Ten’s postseason tournament is getting old].

The central Iowa guy writes:

"Ron, why are the media coddling this guy? I am beside myself when I examine the fact that he parlayed Tim Floyd’s recruits into success and a 10-year contract. Fox Sports on Sunday was commenting on that and what a poor job Eustachy has done of keeping players in school, and in his program, since then. He will not embrace the media, the fans, or kids and friends of the program.

"He’s aloof and arrogant when dealing with the people of Iowa in general. The athletic program is in a deficit position as it stands, and due to his indifference toward the fans I firmly believe that he’s responsible for the poor attendance.

"If Larry would press the flesh and kiss the babies as it necessary in 21^st-century coaching, along with appearances at any event he’s invited to, the fans would be there despite the record. Johnny Orr is a testament to that.

"Larry Eustachy is single-handedly destroying the Hilton Magic that Johnny created. The bullying tactics do not attract many athletes in this generation. Good or bad, that’s the reality of today’s youth and their parents. Examine the pathetic graduation rate, the transfers and the coaches that have fled his tyranny."

"I just spent a short holiday in the Tampa Bay area where I was reminded that some years ago the Des Moines Register and the St. Petersburg Times were both listed on Time magazine’s list of the top 10 newspapers in the country.

"Well, in my opinion, the St. Petersburg Times still is. And you can buy it for 25 cents (50 cents on Sunday). I don’t think the Register would make the list of the top 100 papers in the country."

"I am thinking about sneaking into the Register newsroom and stealing the ‘I’ key from Rob Borsellino’s keyboard. He would not be able to write a column without it."