12 posts tagged “illinois”

My trip to Pasadena was first class and started with a trifecta of new years celebration's in the central, mountain, and western time zones.  I went straight from the airport to the Rose Bowl Stadium and started tailgating with fans from both the Illini and SC side.  It first appeared that the Illini Nation would be vastly outnumbered, but as the morning progressed the Illini faithful began showing up in droves.  My overall opinion of SC fans is that they are arrogant and pompous, but that does not apply to everyone.  My new friend Jose was generous enough to share some Mexican beer and burritos for an early breakfast, as well as his warm space heater.  Thanks to some other friends I was warned that the Rose Bowl will be cold in the morning, and it was.  Once the sun rose the party really started, and I went from lot to lot tailgating.  The fun almost stopped as we entered the stadium.  The Illini were embarrassed 49-17.  Despite the crushing lose Reshard Mendenhall had a game the pro scouts were looking for out of a starting running back.  His 80 yard run was the highlight of the game for Illini fans.  With several key players returning for the Illini I hope to make the trip again, and possibly watch the parade this time around. 

Thanks to the BCS and the parity within College Football this season I have no certainty of where the Illini will play in January.  I already bought ticket to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando but I may have to start setting my eyes on California, not Florida.  The Illini are almost guaranteed a January game.  If Oklahoma can upset Missouri in the Big 12 championship game then Champaign will start smelling the roses as Ohio State will find its way ot the national title game.  However, the Rose Bowl committee is not obligated to select the traditional Big Ten/Pac 10 match up and could select Georgia or another top 14 BCS team to compete.  Speaking of the top 14, the Illini still need to move up one spot.  Hawaii, Boston College, Arizona St,  and Tennessee all play on Saturday and one of the teams is likely to fall to let the Illini become BCS eligible.  According to the Chicago Tribune and related sources there is a 75% change that the Illini will be heading to a BCS bowl.  While I think that 75% is a lofty figure it nice to see the Illini in the BCS mix.  After the games on Saturday I will be a lot more certain where I will be heading to watch the game.  I hope I can use my Capital One tickets but if I am forced to sell them I can use those funds to buy Rose Bowl tickets.

I applied to Illinois after they received their Sugar Bowl Berth at the end of the 2001-02 season.  Six years later I have finally realized another Illinois winning season and bowl berth.  While it is still undetermined where the Illini will play this winter, it will be at a warm site and a nice place for a vacation.  I hoping that Mickey will welcome me with wide open arms to the Capital One Bowl or Champs Sports Bowl.  But with powerhouse program Michigan and Ohio State ahead of Illinois I may be headed to Tampa and the Outback bowl.  In a match up that fans would love to see, as well as network executives, Ron Zook may face his former Gator Team.  The University of Florida drove Zook out of the sunshine state and Illinois welcomed him with open arms.  If the two teams met it would make for some great headlines and an exciting game.  The Illini have beaten expectations this season, and capped it off the other night with a 28-21 victory over the, then #1, Ohio State University.  Northwestern heads to Champaign this week seeking a bowl berth and to dampen Illinois' parade.  However, even though the basketball season has started (and the Illini won their first game against Northeastern), the football team is the talk of the town.

I do not respect man who goes back on his word, especially when it is a decommitment from Illinois to go to Indiana.  I am over the fact that we lost a recruit who could be one of the best players in the nation.  However, hearing a little bad news about the IU basketball program still makes me feel a little better.  Scampson and his staff continue to be up to no good violating NCAA regulations, which is a story in itself, but now the karma has turned a little bit on Gordon himself.  In a game against Northern Alabama Gordon has his front tooth knocked out.  Despite the injury he still managed to score 32 points. February 7th EG will probably make his on college visit to Champaign as a collegiate player, and the Krush will have plenty to rant about upon his arrival.

It is rumored that His Airness, Michael Jordan, is looking for to buy a house in Champaign.  Since the Hawthorne Suites and other hotels in Champaign are not up this MJ's standards he needs his own bachelor pad in the cornfields.  It is possible that his son Jeffery Jordan, who currently lives in my old freshman dorm, will use the house during his college career.  It is important for the team to look into the rent payments that other players will have to pay.  Last year Dyane Jarrett was sited for violating NCAA rules because Matt Leinhart's father was paying most of their rent.  The rumor has grown even larger because the house that may soon be MJ's was formerly owned by former Illini coach Bill Self.

Speaking of selfish people in the college basketball that I dislike, there is always Kelvin Scampson roaming around stealing recruits and violating NCAA rules.  Recently, the Hoosiers coach was sited for violating his old NCAA santions by making 3-way calls, which he was prohibited from doing.  His staff continues to be up to no good by making more illegal calls, of which 35 have already been labeled as possible NCAA violations.  I believe Bruce Weber is a much more honest man, which is not the most ideal attribute in college recruiting.  Also, I hope Eric Gordon gets snubbed by not being able to play in the post season in his only college year, and his draft status gets lowered.

Here is an article written on Monday, October 22nd about the outcome of IU's infractions.

Yesterday I was at Madison Square Garden buying tickets for a Bloc Party concert and ran into former University of Illinois Women's Basketball Coach Theresa Grentz.  I never went to a Women's game and I was surprised I remembered her name.  The only places I saw her on campus was at Midnight Madness and other various Illini Pride activities.  I think because she was so involved with the community and her excellent track record I was able to remember to her.  We chatted for a little bit, on how she in enjoying her retirement.  The former Big 10 Coach of the year, A10 Coach of the year, and Coach of the United States Olympic Women's Basketball team was in New York visiting Pay Coyle, the current head coach of the New York Liberty and one of her former players.  Its funny where you run into people.  This past week I have met up with former Illinois Tennis Players, seen the former Illinois Women's Basketball coach, and of course I always have my neighbors Jose Valentine and Larry Johnson (who we have yet to see in the building besides on the HBO show Hard Knocks).  Maybe I will see some former Illinois baseball players at todays Mets game, even though I would have no clue who they are.

Note:  Theresa Grentz is a Women's Basketball Hall of Famer, a member of the NIKE Hall of Fame, author of the book above and Theresa Grentz: Effective High / Low Post Player Moves, which are among many of her accolades.

Flushing Queens has welcomed over a hundred professional tennis players this week to compete for 16 spots in this year's US Open.  The tournament is free for the public and features great match-ups for up and coming players.  Former qualifiers who have found success at the US Open are Lleyton Hewitt & Benjamin Becker. 

This year I had the opportunity to watch American Scoville Jenkins come in the first round of the qualifying tournament, using his power to complete the upset.  The former Illini who are competing in the qualifying tournament are Brian Wilson, Ryler DeHeart, Rajeev Ram, and Amer Delic; he has already qualified for the US Open because he ranked in the top 100 in the world.  Rajeev was the Carmelo Anthony of College Tennis in 2003, but has lost in the first round of the qualifiers in '06 and '07.  Brian Wilson just completed his match with a 6-4 7-6 (7-5) victory over Grega Zemlja.  Ryler's match will be complete later today after it was postponed due to rain yesterday.  Currently he is tied at one set each.  I wish the former Illini the best of luck.  Watch out for Amer Delic in the first round of the US Open against Lleyton Hewitt. 

I would have put pictures of this guys up here but all of them are protected by interweb security, and I did not bring my camera yesterday to take any pictures.  So instead, I have a video of Amer playing a close match against Marat Safin. 

I'd also like to note that I was an unofficial player agent yesterday but didnt qualify for a US Open security badge.  Maybe next year I will get to be an honorary coach.  I plan on going to the Open for at least one day or night.  And if you gave me odds for  Federer vs the rest of the field, I would take the field.  I just have a feeling that someone else is going to win this Grand Slam.

Check out tennis.com or usopen.org to follow the players and the rest of the tournament.  Also here is an NYMAG article about Ryler from last year.

Update (8/24):  Brian Wilson and Ryler DeHeart both lost in the 2nd round.  Also, Scoville Jenkins went on to win in the 3rd round and will move on to the 1st round in the US Open.  It's always nice to see more Americans in the US Open.

The deadline for players to withdraw their names from the NBA draft has passed, and Shaun Pruitt is one of the players who decided to return to campus.  Its no surprise to me that Pruitt will return for his senior season.  Choosing to attend the pre-draft camps gave him a great opportunity to compete with other elite players at a high level, but he is not ready to make to the jump to the pros.  Right now he is projected as a late second rounder in next years draft.  Surprisingly, Pruitt is the only player to start every game over the past two seasons.  This consistency is something that is needed on an Illini team that was prone to injury last season.  The expectations are not as high for this years Illini squad, but Pruitt will have to emerge as a leader.  Brian Randle has not lived up to his potential and Shaun will have to step it up.  If he can improve his game as much as Warren Carter did last year I can see him having a shot at the NBA.  Even though he is a true center and one of the best big men in the Big 10 he will need to improve his game immensely to get drafted to the NBA.  If he has the same fortune as other recent Illini alums, he will have a great senior year and will fight for his spot on an NBA roster.

In other related Illini basketball news, Bracketology by Joe Linardi has the Illini as a 9 seed facing the Pitt Panthers in the first round.  It does not have a lot of meaning at this point in the year or at all, but it is still fun to discuss.  If that game does happen I will have to buy my roommate tickets because he is a Pitt fan, and any game he goes to the team he roots for ends up losing.  Furthermore, there are also trade rumors that the Rockets may be looking to ship Luther Head in exchange for a Power Forward.

The big news today for the Illinois basketball program was landing recruit Jeff Jordan, yes the son of the Michael Jordan.  Jordan is no 5-star recruit and will have to walk on the team.  He has been accepted to school and will join the rest of the incoming class during the summer.  The most notable recruit is Demetri McCamey (6-4 PG) followed by Bill Cole (6-9 PF), Mike Tisdale (6-11 C), Quinton Watkins (6-3 SF from COMPTON), and Juco transfer Rodney Alexander (6-7 F).  This group of freshman will have to replace my most unfavorite Illini of all time, Rich McBride.  Not only did he try and fight me one night but during the 06-07 season his FG% (.342) was less than his 3PT% (.350).  And its not like his was coming off the bench taking a shot or two a

game, he was a starter and put up over 500 shots during the season.  I have edited this post to further my point why I do not like McBride, please refer to the ESPN article Former Illini Player Sentenced to Two Years Supervision.  Anyway, The more important player in the starting rotation thats needs to be replaced is Warren Carter, the man with the magically delicious hair.  It is also possible that we will need to replace big man Shaun Pruitt, who had his name entered into this years draft.

While Shaun may have entered the draft he has not signed an agent and I expect him to return to school for his senior year.  He was invited to the predraft camp in Orlando, but I believe that is as far as he will go and by June we will know that he will return to Illinois.  There was talk this season how C.J Jackson was unhappy with his role on the team and rumors he could transfer.  Well I think the waters have calmed with that story and the big man has begun to practice with Ron Zook's Football Club.  Jackson was a bigtime football recruit out of the state of Georgia but choose to play basketball at Illinois instead.  Overall, I must say GO ILLINI!

This blog did not exist when Chief Illiniwek was forced into retirement.  However, if it was I would have surely posted about him and the tradition he brought to the University of Illinois.  For more history refer to wikipedia's entry for the chief. I was able to get out of work and watch the Chief's last dance when our basketball team played against the University of Michigan.  I watched the game with my friend Ben, who went to UM, and my friend Tara from work.  After seeing the emotions in the crowd I think they understood a little more why it was such a big deal to me.  Not only has the native American tribe asked for the Chief's attire back but now the designer of the Chief logo is asking for the image back.  At least the school's Board has enough balls to say no to that.  The Chief has been a debatable issue for a long time, but he will never be forgotten.  While this tradition can no longer be handed down to another student to perform we will all remember.  When ever the tune is played at a game fans will think of the chief, and that is important.

  When I think of traditions I really think of Camp Westmont, and I'm sure all summer camps have their own traditions.  While there is no need to list them here I included this video that my former campers made of a skit and a little song that I remember being performed every year.  And unlike the chief, I do not see these traditions coming to an end in the near future.  Its possible I will have some time off in the summer and be able to participate in this tradition once again.  Too bad my friend Ben went to UM and stopped going to camp after 1998, because he does not have this tradition.