First let me start off by saying that this isn't a particularly easy post for me to write. It'd be an honor to delight you all with a long diatribe about the Jets annual implosion, but that would conflict with one of the great joys of being their fan. That of course is the joy of pocketing all the rage and torment into the pit of my stomach and then watching it explode at the most inopportune times like a bootleg 8th century jack-in-the-box. Like that time a few years back after Doug Brien missed two field goals in the last two minutes against the Steelers and I had to be escorted out of a Dunkin Donuts after receiving 27 cents of change in the form of three nickels, a dime and two pennies. What can I say, I like quarters.
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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]

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]

The Scariest Economic Indicator of all?!?!

Wall Street is a barren stretch of gloom and tumbleweed, unemployment could sniff double digits in '09, yet the Yankees are spending money as if its 'the day after tomorrow.'

$423.5 million in total salary
Mark Teixiera - 8 years, $180 million
C.C. Sabathia - 7 years, $161 million
A.J. Burnett - 5 years, $82.5 million

In less than 10 days the Pinstripes poured through enough money to make even Dennis Kozlowski blush. [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]

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]

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]

Yea, he's a freshman in high school.

Behold...

A few quick thoughts:

1. So if he's Barry to his father Bobby Bonds that means....oh this kid is doomed

2. Looks like the only person who could tackle him is Lawrence Taylor Jr.  Although I believe Li'l LT was out behind the school yard doing blow during this play [Read more]

1) How sad is this photo below? Charles Rogers was a former star Michigan State wide receiver and a first-round pick of the Detroit Lions just a few years ago. Like most of the Lions picks over the past decade, Rogers was an unmitigated disaster; doing very little on the field except suffering season-ending injury after season-ending injury. He was quickly out of the league, and apparently has since experienced only trouble. His latest arrest was for violating probation stemming from an assault and battery case in September. He also is apparently addicted to pain medicine, which may be why he looks so unhealthy in the picture. [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]

Found this kind of interesting. Apparently, the NFL will be experimenting by broadcasting tonight's NFL game between the 4-8 San Diego Chargers and the 3-9 Oakland Raiders live in 3-D in theaters in LA, New York and Boston. Nothing like watching a supreme battle of Who's the Suckiest AFC team as overpaid behemoths play crappy football right on your lap.

I'd actually love to see how the technology performs, but only insiders are being invited for the screenings (if anyone reading this gets to see it, please post your thoughts!). My guess is that it will be disorienting and not nearly as cool as it sounds. [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]

You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Conspiracy Zone!

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I would not, could not, in a pinch
I could not, would not, without a flinch
I will not bet on them with a mouse
I will not bet on them with my house
I will not bet on them here or there
I will not bet on them anywhere
I do not believe in Gang Green Madame
I do not like them, cause Gang Green I am

That being said: The Jets are the team to beat in the AFC
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Let me set the stage for you: It's a frigid fall day. You and your pals are locked in a 13-13 tie after gutting out a game of pigskin for the last 3 and a 1/2 hours. Sadly, several of your best buds haven't made it this far - cracked endoskeleton, torn ligaments, and dehydration. Most of you can barely breathe. Your jersey tips an 8 extra lbs from when you started, loaded up with epidermis juice and a dab of crimson (some of which has your blood type). You've told everyone the game will be done by 4:30, but no one is throwing in the towel just yet. But just as the "never say die" thought breaststrokes through your mind the minute hand strikes 6 and Jimmy's mother implores everyone off the field from her nearby parked Winnebago. [Read more]

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(Sedona, AZ, September 30)  With media gathered about him in Sedona, Arizona, where every advisor and paid staffer associated in any way with the McCain-Palin campaign had worked unsuccessfully around the clock for three days to prepare Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for Thursday’s Vice-Presidential debate, Arizona Senator John McCain suddenly convened a late-night news conference at which he abruptly fired Palin “for cause.” [Read more]

It astounds me, but my 'Please Fire Linehan' post from two weeks ago is still getting the most traffic on my blog. It seems people care a lot more about a crappy football coach on a crappy football team than the potential collapse of the stock market and U.S. economy ... Seems about right to me! [Read more]

I understand few of my few regular readers will appreciate this particular post, but this is a matter of grave import: I really need the owners of the St. Louis Rams football team to fire their head coach.

The guy totally ruined my day, which is an impressive feat given how much I was looking forward to it. Today, after all, was the opening game in the touch football league I help organize, as well as the first Sunday of the NFL season. [Read more]