Today in Ann Arbor, the Fighting Illini sought to put a cherry on the Sunday of this week -- to top the ice cream sundae of beating Purdue on national TV that should vault the Orange and Blue into the national rankings for the first time since March 2006.  Yet to assure themselves of vaulting past Baylor, Gonzaga, and Michigan (all likely to fall into the limbo of the unranked) and to the forefront of the Big Ten, the Illini faced two tall orders:  beating the hungry Wolverines in their own building, where Wisconsin ground and executed them into submission days ago, and also, stepping past the Michigan program that enjoys permanent exposure and star factor, no matter its mediocrity.  When Coach K's protege Tommy Amaker failed to get Michigan into the [Read more]

The following list of ten defense strategies may or may not have been found near a trash bin outside Rod Blagojevich's home, and may or may not be a list of ten things he thought of to defend himself and to discuss with his lawyer, Ed Genson.

My Top Ten Secret Legal Strategies, by Rod Blagojevich

10.  That Was Illegal? No shit. [Read more]

Barack Obama's inauguration later this month is the signal moment in a realignment that has taken place in American politics -- a political realignment Obama both helped to forge and rode to a seven-point victory over John McCain.  Yet this realignment is much more than one election of one President.  It is a sign of this realignment that the Democratic Party in 2008 won more votes for its Presidential candidate for the fourth time in the last five elections.  While most visible at the Presidential level, this realignment is also deeply anchored in party identifications, in state Congressional delegations, in statewide election results, and most deeply, in America's changing issue and demographic landscapes that create [Read more]

I was getting tired of hearing commentators and supposed experts put half of the Big Ten into their projected tournament fields while leaving Illinois out.  I guess the Fighting Illini were tired of that too. Tonight they beat a damn good team -- the eleventh-ranked team in the land -- in its own building.  Purdue defended well, got to the line twenty times more than the Illini through regulation, and in the league where every road win is precious and rare, Illinois seized a huge one.  The Illini are now 13-1, three points from an undefeated 14-0. [Read more]

There are those who mistakenly think the Prius is a car -- a tool to get you from one place to another.  Others think of it as a tool to improve energy conservation.  Whatever.  I am here to tell you that in the hands of a true connoisseur, it is so much more than either of those two things:  it is a game, on which you can get a really, really high score. [Read more]

Periodically, I like to rank stuff that can't really be weighed against other stuff.  My first foray into this area ranked Michael Jordan, the Sun, and a good political book, among other things.  My return to the realm of the noncommensurable counts down twelve great things about my 2008 that really can't be compared.  Which of course, I compare anyway.  Grip it and rip it, y'all, and Happy '09 to you: [Read more]

Liveblogging what I'm expecting to be a narrow Illini victory -- here we go with a game sure to be filled with cheesy Christmas references and cutaways to red-hatted cheerleaders and announcers.  A ninth consecutive Illinois win near the Arch?  Let's find out.

6:31:  The game hasn't started yet, but advantage Illinois!  Weber's bench buddy from Purdue days, Steve Lavin, will be calling the game.

6:34:  Coach Lav weighs in with "this isn't a rivalry unless Missouri wins some games and it hasn't" argument.  Gotta love Lav.

6:35:  Illinois scratches on a Davis dunk (2-2).  Was Missouri leaving the entire right half of the floor open on purpose?  Weird lapse. [Read more]

When 10-1 Illinois and 9-1 Missouri take the Scottrade Center floor for the 28th Annual Braggin' Rights game, there is (as always) a lot on the line.  The Illini's only blemish is a narrow home loss to a strong and improving Clemson squad, Mizzou's is a 75-71 loss to No. 7 Xavier in Puerto Rico.  Both teams are looking for the elusive RPI gold of a neutral site win over a quality foe, and Missouri has just entered the top 25, while Illinois is probably one win away from cracking the rankings.  But both crave most the momentum heading into tough conference slates this nationally televised dandy will give one of them.  Here are five predictions for this Tuesday's tilt, including a score prediction -- but some video, memories, and analysis along the way. [Read more]

Like half the blog entries of 2008, this story starts with Barack Obama.  I recently got the Fall 2008 issue of the Harvard Law Bulletin, an alumni publication, with the smiling face of Barack Obama ('91) on the cover, whose promise of leadership and excellence was realized so fully and wonderfully in the years after he graduated law school.  Toward the back of the Bulletin is a small-type list of obits.  I read these.  Especially the ones of younger graduates.  And that's how I learned the remarkable and disturbing story of the murder of Melissa Batten, of the class of 1997, shot dead by her husband eight days after she obtained an order of protection. [Read more]

Tonight at Assembly Hall, Illini '08 Version 2.0 boots up for the first time.  Like a new version of Microsoft Windows with an excellent service pack, Version 2.0 features a bug fix named Alex Legion.  This five-star wing guard from Detroit by way of a semester at Kentucky is designed to increase scoring, reduce turnovers, and improve morale in your Illini operating system.  But how much can we really expect?  Cliches get tossed around -- he won't be a "savior."  Ok, fine.  But what will he be?  Let's step through what we know, and I'll offer my best guess as to what this new guard means for the year and the program. [Read more]

This just in:  John McCain ate lunch at El Charro Cafe in Tucson, Arizona today. 

Articleman went there on a business trip, and met up with a Tucson business contact.  As I walked in, the host saw my Blackberry holster, which bears an Obama '08 logo sticker.  "Is that an Obama sticker on your phone?" he asked.  "Yes," and I pulled open my suitcoat to show it.  "You might want to keep it covered.  I just seated John McCain." [Read more]

As we sit in the doldrums of December finals, waiting for Alex Legion to emerge from a phone booth with an S on his chest, waiting for another exciting Missouri showdown, waiting for the Big 10 season to start and the Fighting Illini to return to the tournament (all good things), my thoughts turn to last year's disappointments.  To demons of seasons past, even as we hope they are soon exorcised by Coach Weber and all the excellent new recruits.  So I offer in this basketball-less week of contemplation my top ten villains of Illinois basketball past.  From probations, to rivals, to hideous officiating, to recruiting wars, we've certainly known a few of these.  One honorable mention:  Northwestern fans (for c [Read more]

I saw a homeless man named Howard kill himself in July of 1994.  I was crossing the Chicago River by foot on the Clark Street bridge with my then-wife when he jumped ten feet into the river.  He thrashed around without really swimming.  She figured it out faster than me.  We argued for a second.  Then we agreed.  She ran to the nearest pedestrians, a ways off, to try to find a phone to call 911. [Read more]

Like everyone except the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune (and hey, they're entitled to some glee today, after the criminality apparently directed at them by Rod Blagojevich!), I am saddened by the news that Illinois Gov. Blagojevich was not only arrested, but will apparently have to plead, ala O.J. circa 1994, Absolutely 100% Guilty.  The man makes his incarcerated predecessor, former Illinois Governor George Ryan, look artful by comparison.  I am sad for a personal reason -- I grew up in Illinois, spent most of my life there, practiced law there, was trained there by some former U.S. [Read more]

When I was a junior at the University of Illinois, there was a furor not to be resolved for twenty years about the appropriateness of using the Indian tribe nickname Illini in sports competition.  Mocking both the controversy and Illinois' student body at once, a columnist for the Daily Illini sarcastically set the matter to rest by saying the nickname could stay, because University anthropologists had discovered that the Illini were really a tribe composed almost entirely of white residents of suburban Chicago.  While the University has become more diverse over the years, its alumni and students remain Chicago-centered.  Taking advantage of this Chicago-centrism, the basketball program had the bright idea in the mid-'90s of having the Illini play in Michael Jordan's United Center, orig [Read more]

With consumer confidence at a modern low, and analysts calling the current recession one driven by the psychology of the spending public, President-Elect Obama re-unveiled his economic team on Thursday, this time adding Santa Claus to an already formidable group including longtime Obama adviser Austan Goolsbee, Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and incoming Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. At the Thursday presser, Claus took no questions, but stood beside the President-Elect, beaming with unmistakable Christmas cheer during Obama's prepared remarks. [Read more]

It's amazing how much better a basketball coach can become overnight. Illinois hoops coach Bruce Weber inherited a drawerful of NBA talent (Deron Williams, Luther Head) from Bill Self when he left for Kansas in 2003. With his pass-first offense, Weber won almost every coaching award imaginable as he led Illinois through a nearly perfect (37-2) 2004-05 campaign, losing the national crown narrowly to North Carolina. Yet with lesser players, during the last two years, Illinois fans occasionally grumbled: why is this offense so inefficient? Can't the coaching staff get the players shooting free throws any better than that? Fickle fans even asking: without superstar talent, how good of a coach is Bruce Weber? [Read more]

1.  A Beautiful Sentiment.  What national political figure recently said this?  "The greatness of America -- it really is -- is that you can worship or not worship and be equally American.  And it doesn't matter how you choose to worship; you're equally American."  Answer in the comments.  No peeking 'til you guess, ok? [Read more]

As true lovers of dark beer can attest, the winter is the best time for stouts and porters. While the palates of dark beer lovers do not change in the summer, restaurants and bars, and to some extent producers of fine darks, forego what we want, thinking the whole world wants thin, clear ales. (Wrong.) Well, it's cold out now, and our tastes are allowed to crowd menus to the degree they should year-round. As an Arizonan, I thought it would be fun to taste test a variety of western U.S. darks, to provide recommendations. I tried seven available here. [Read more]

In a sharp departure from the incoming Obama Administration's steady drumbeat of proposed appointments, heavy on prior federal government experience and traditional policy heft, Senior Presidential Advisor David Axelrod confirmed early Tuesday morning that after receiving an angry petition from liberal action group ChangeNow!, President-Elect Obama is dismissing his entire cabinet-in-waiting and replacing it with angry progressive bloggers. [Read more]