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SPORTS

Looking ahead to 2010

Yeah, so Illinois lost on Senior Day. As the actress said to the bishop; I wouldn't call it unexpected. So instead of feeling bummed, I suggest we revel in a great football moment: An offensive lineman made the game-winning catch.

SPORTS

A terrible end to a terrible season

Standing in the center of the north end zone student section, unencumbered by a crowd, were a dozen shirtless males with orange and blue letters on their chests. Together they spelled out, in below freezing air, "Why are we here?" "To get on television" sprang immediately to mind. But the real answer turned out to be "To see the weirdest game in Memorial Stadium history." Among the things this shivering interrogatory saw: This total score: 105 points. Eighty-nine was the …

SPORTS

Bowl hopes officially dead

Barely two minutes into the game and deep in their own territory, Northwestern's first punt went northwest. A gain of only twelve yards, the shank set the Illini up in very good field position. It was just the break Illinois needed to get off to a good start. And four plays later, the Illini even looked set to capitalize. Sitting at the four yard line, they looked every bit like a team destined for a Florida bowl game. But then. …

SPORTS

Illini football peels off two in a row

Remain calm. Illinois has played four impressive quarters in the last eight tries and people are talking seriously about a bowl bid. A bowl game is a long, long way off -— and subject to about a dozen "ifs." So for now, it's just good enough to enjoy the emergence of a team many expected to see show up against Missouri: Prone to mistakes, but with enough firepower to overcome them. The game against Minnesota was truly exciting — and …

SPORTS

September 23, 2000 can finally be put to rest

Instant replay came to Big Ten football officiating in August, 2004. For Illinois Coach Ron Turner, it was four years too late. On a cool September night in 2000, Turner's 17th ranked team was poised to upset Lloyd Carr's 10th ranked Michigan Wolverines in Champaign. Illinois was undefeated, riding a seven game winning streak, and thought to be an up-and-coming football team. But the game against Michigan was more than just the Big Ten opener. It would have been a …

SPORTS

Zook regains infallibility

We know the saying in Columbus. "If you go one and ten, and beat Michigan, it was a good year." Illinois beat Michigan Saturday = It's a great year. Pause a moment, if you need to, to allow the enormity of yesterday's game to sink in. Illinois beat Michigan. Just three words. For many men, however, the most difficult three words to say in all their adult lives. Ron Zook deserves a contract extension. And how about Mike Schultz's offense, …

SPORTS

Indiana seals Illinois’ fate

Indiana used to be a football team against which an opponent could gain confidence. While Illinois football sometimes seems like a perennial bottom-dweller, there are at least peaks to bring the valleys into stark relief (including two BCS games this decade). But with Indiana, the lows are pretty much unbroken. Instead of recent high-profile bowl games, they highlight in their stadium things like the 1979 Holiday Bowl and the 1986 All-American Bowl. But this year's Hoosier team had shown signs …

SPORTS

It wasn’t even that close…

There were two plays in Illinois' loss to Michigan State that capture perfectly the esteem in which this football team is held by others. The first came midway through the first quarter. With the ball on the Illinois thirty-six, the Michigan State offense had a fourth down and three. Against most teams, the Spartans would have considered their options. A pooch punt might bury the Illini offense deep inside their own ten yard line. Or a very long field goal …

SPORTS

On October 3…

So in the gloomy first week of central Illinois October, not a lot good happened. Weather arrived, the Olympics didn't and the football team played to form, losing to Penn State 35–17 (and it wasn't even that close). But this is also the week the new Headlights album, Wildlife, comes out. So it's impossible to be sad. Their whole "indie rock for people who love pop" vibe is the perfect tonic not only for this unseasonably cool weather, but also …

SPORTS

And it all falls apart…

There comes a point in every Illini fan's year — usually when the leaves have fully turned, but sometimes not until the first snow — when he catches a glimpse of the glowing white Assembly Hall across from darkened Memorial Stadium and wonders "What's happening on that side of the street?" This year it came earlier than ever. It was at the resolution of the seventh play of Illinois' first drive at Ohio Stadium on Saturday that I first began …

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Most Recent Sports Comments

{username}

You’re right!  Every runner, in my opinion, is a real runner.

Mica Swyers avatar

Congratulations on the AG place! In all of your accomplishments, don’t forget what it was like to think a mile was an impossible distance. Getting to the six-mile point takes a lot of training and preparation to acclimate the mind and musculature to so much pounding. Your…

{username}

Sounds like it!

emma reaux avatar

I heading out on my 9 miler before my 10 hour work day right now. Do I have what it takes?

SFJon avatar

I wonder with Griffey if he’s not in game shape enough to play a significant number of minutes.  If you look at his minutes played this year, he’s never played a starters minutes.

{username}

*Shrugs*

Kelly Innes avatar

Sometime between now and their first game in this year’s NIT, the Illini need to practice taking a shot before the game clock expires. 

{username}

Can we please refrain from ever EVER comparing running a marathon to childbirth? Especially when the comparison is made by someone without a vagina? Kthx.

SFJon avatar

I think we are in.  But being blown out again by OSU might give the selection comittee doubts. I dunno anymore.

{username}

Mark: You raise some interesting points. I’m impressed by anyone who runs a marathon, no matter their finishing time.  It’s the commitment people show to accomplishing a goal they set for themselves that impresses me most. A sign I saw at the Illinois Marathon last year along…

Most Recent Comments

{username}

Set your own life easier take the business loans and all you want.

Beth D avatar

Awesome looking lineup… I’m excited.  Another vote towards the Smoking Popes rocking out at the first Laughing Prairie Dog festival… it was a pretty good energy, and plenty of groups considering the cheap ticket.  The rest all look pretty good for the ticket price as well.  …

Beth D avatar

(Not to talk too much, but I would delight in being proven wrong.  I hope that there are many vegan dishes, and next time I am there, I will ask the owner for dishes that are vegan that are offered and post them as a comment here,…

Beth D avatar

I understand the disclaimer, and I appreciate it, but given the title of the article, it would be nice to have more of a talk with the owner and less of a “to the best of my knowledge” thrown in the article as an aside, when vegan…

{username}

Nate, No offers to crash but I was wondering if you’d ever considered publishing the plans to your trailer.  You might make a dollar or two especially after you go solar! Let me know if you do it. Sincerely, Don

{username}

Not sure if it’s been mentioned here, but they’ll also be playing the Old Rock House in St. Louis on May 22

{username}

Interesting about who owns land in the path of the Olympian Drive extension. My comment was in response to ‘Tony C’s remarks about the I-74 expansion. Just who owns land in the 150 [BloomingtonRd]-I-74 corridor?? Because the corridor is zoned for future use as Commercial/Industrial, I am…

{username}

(happy face)

Timbo avatar

Wow, great article.  I wish you the best in your endeavors and hope you have a nice trip.

Seth Fein avatar

Um. Yeah — check out that “General Disclaimer” at the bottom of the article, folks.

{username}

As an adoptee, I can empathize—although I’m not an international adoptee, and I apologize if I’m assuming too much on the nature of your adoption.  You can feel what you feel, but don’t be too hard on yourself.  When I started a search for my birth family,…

{username}

I highly doubt a single dish is vegan at Bombay.  Most Indian dishes use Ghee(essentially clarrified butter) as the base fat. While I guess they could make some dishes with canola oil, I would for sure ask the exact ingredients before I consumed if you are following a vegan diet.

{username}

You’re right!  Every runner, in my opinion, is a real runner.

Mica Swyers avatar

Congratulations on the AG place! In all of your accomplishments, don’t forget what it was like to think a mile was an impossible distance. Getting to the six-mile point takes a lot of training and preparation to acclimate the mind and musculature to so much pounding. Your…

{username}

Sounds like it!

emma reaux avatar

I heading out on my 9 miler before my 10 hour work day right now. Do I have what it takes?

{username}

Nice, killer work pretty man…the channeled, one sided collaborated rhyming poem.  An oft forgot genre.   The ruckus was felt even here in my living room, which is normally a safe haven from ruckus.    

{username}

wait, I was commenting on the wrong thing - sorry - he’s actually a gigantic sellout but who really knows what all this is about.

{username}

If the democrats didn’t have Kucinich, and the republicans didn’t have Ron Paul, where would both these parties really stand? These men actually mean what they say.

{username}

Joel, thank you for the opportunity to answer these questions and have them posted here. I really appreciate it! Yes, I was thrilled to see that Rep. Kucinich flipped today, so he will has committed to voting yes for health reform. I appreciated his comments which seem…

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