Sports
Illini Need More Free Throws
My grandfather observed a truth about Bobby Knight’s Indiana teams, they typically made more free throws than their opponents attempted. Our Illini, at least in big games, tend to shoot fewer free throws than their opponents make. Read more…
We were wrong about Chester
We all love human interest stories during the holidays, and we have a great one playing out on the floor of the Assembly Hall this year. Read more…
Illinois upsets Purdue 71-67 in overtime
Did anyone else watch the Illini upset Purdue? What an exciting game. Tisdale was huge, Mike Davis was fantastic. We overcame a huge disadvantage in free throw attempts by taking great care of the ball. Chester Frasier had 7 rebounds and I think 7 assists with one turnover. The team played fantastic defense, and it seems like McCamey may have learned a tough lesson from riding the pine. And the Bruce coached his butt off.
This should be our stepping stone into the top 25.
Recruits on display
Fighting Illini Basketball fans should check out this feature at Illinois Loyalty, it shows photos and videos of some of our incoming recruits and a few other players we’re targeting.
Some of these guys are coming in 09, but the two most impressive seem to be Crandall Head (Luther Head’s little brother, and yes his name really is Crandall) and Jereme Richmond, both should arrive on campus in two years.
Check out the video of Jereme Richmond. One of his dunks is spectacular. It’s like something from an arcade game. It reminded me of me dunking on Billy Joe Mills on a kiddie hoop. (Click here to see a sequence of photos depicting the Joshua-over-Billy-Joe-esque dunk). And with Crandall Head coming to Illinois, we can once again have fantastic headlines like “Illinois fans really love Head.” Oskee Wow Wow Illinois!
Cubs Update – 11/14/08
Well folks, I think i’ve finally come to grips with the fact that the Cubs were unable to win a single playoff game for the second year in a row (not to mention we were above and beyond the rest of the field in the national league…). So, without further delay, I figured we should see how our beloved Cubbies are doing this offseason:
- Well I’ll start out with the big news. This is sort of a “Good News, Sad News” situation. The good news is we get a great reliever in Kevin Gregg, but we have to give up an excellent prospect (and 99 mph fastball) in Jose Ceda. The Sad news is that this almost assures that Kerry Wood will not be returning to the Cubbies this year. I can’t really blame Jim Hendry on this one though. Kerry would undoubtedly command a hefty salary now that he’s shown he can withstand the rigors of a season as closer, and he did give us a bit of a home-town discount last year. So, Kerry, I wish you the best with wherever you land…I just hope it isn’t in the NL Central. Read more…
Much to do About a No One
If you’ve experienced any NFL football for the past 2 years or so, I imagine you’ve heard of some of the following individuals: Tank Johnson, Chris Henry (and any one of his Cincinnati Bengals teammates), and of course Adam “Pacman” Jones. These guys have made the news not for their stellar play, but rather for their atrocious criminal records.
Pacman recently announced that he wanted to only be called Adam from now on. Clearly an attempt to make people look away from his sordid past activities. Unfortunately, Pacman, one first must give respect in order to earn it. This guy was banned from the NFL for an entire year for his antics, and then is reinstated after giving certain guarantees that he will behave…and makes it all the way through week 5 of the season until he is in the news again. Read more…
The #1 Reason to Vote Obama
Via my sister, here is all the proof I need that Barack Obama is the most brilliant leader in at least the past century:
As my sister said: “He only alienates the loser half of the city.”
Do They Still Play the Blues in Chicago?
Here is the NLDS Breakdown:
Game 1: Derek Lowe (14-11, 3.24 ERA) vs. Ryan Dempster (17-6, 2.96 ERA)
Derek Lowe has a 4.42 ERA on the Road, and opposing batting averages is .251 vs. lefties and .240 against righties. So look for Fukudome and Edmonds to start, especially with DeRosa having a sore leg. Lowe has 45 BB to 147 SO, so it looks like he will tend to throw a lot of pitches. This is a guy who can be worked to knock him out of the game early to get to the Dodger bullpen, and set up the next game.
Ryan Dempster has defended his house. .243 against lefties, .213 against righties. The Dodgers have have decent lefties in Eithier and Loney. Dempster has a 2.86 at home, so he is pretty consistent. Uncle Lou is putting up his best home pitcher to start the series so look for them to start strong.
A night of legends
Next Tuesday I’m toying with the idea of flying back to Champaign for the “Night of Legends” basketball scrimmage. For any long time Fighting/Flyin’ Illini fans, this should be a special night. Two beloved coaches, Lou Henson and Jimmy Collins will coach the two squads. One will be full of members from the 2005 team, only Augustine wont make it back. The other squad will be members of the 1989 Flyin’ Illini, the first team that made me love basketball. I would love to see these two teams square off in their prime, and I’d probably put my money on the 1989 team if that were possible.
Other fan favorites like Kiwanne Garris and Frank Williams will also be coming home to Champaign Urbana.
Also, Deron Williams will be showing off his gold medal and endowing a scholarship.
Here are some highlights of Frank Williams at his best:
Some 1989 Flyin Illini clips: