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it's grrrreat!
Posts Tagged “
Illinois Fighting Illini
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The Mendenhall family is rough on Ron Zook. [Foul Balls]
it's grrrreat!
no freaking way
Realize that we have seen our Illini do this before. In 1999, an 11th-seeded Illini team rode the hot hand of Cory Bradford to an amazing tourney championship game run, before collapsing, exhausted, to Michigan State (who eventually made the Final Four). That run was thrilling, breathtaking; it was a sign that this young Illinois team was more talented than people realized and would be a future force with which to be reckoned. (They made the NCAA tournament the next season and haven't missed it since.) This "run," the one that has them in the Big Ten Championship Game today, isn't quite like that. Like, at all. More »
The Illini's Ridiculous, Plodding "Run"
Realize that we have seen our Illini do this before. In 1999, an 11th-seeded Illini team rode the hot hand of Cory Bradford to an amazing tourney championship game run, before collapsing, exhausted, to Michigan State (who eventually made the Final Four). That run was thrilling, breathtaking; it was a sign that this young Illinois team was more talented than people realized and would be a future force with which to be reckoned. (They made the NCAA tournament the next season and haven't missed it since.) This "run," the one that has them in the Big Ten Championship Game today, isn't quite like that. Like, at all. More »
live blogs you don't care about
Live Blogs You'll Gleefully Skip: Illinois-Penn State
We know, we know: Nobody cares about a stupid liveblog of a pointless Big Ten tournament first round game. We're fully aware. As we mentioned yesterday, it's just, like, practice or something. More »
illini suck
Saying Goodbye To These Awful (And Unlucky) Illini
As part of our preparations for the lunacy that lands on our sports radars this Sunday, we've been digging around the irreplaceable Basketball Prospectus, trying to find those odd little tidbits on Oral Roberts and Siena. And we discovered something kind of amazing and oddly satisfying. More »
eric gordon
Yeah, Well, Kelvin Sampson's Still A Jerk
We couldn't possibly agree more with legendary Illini basketball reporter Mark Tupper, who said, "at no time did I think Illinois was going to win that very exciting, very emotional basketball game with Indiana." It was exciting, and we had hope, and we leapt across the room with Jeffrey Jordan hit a key overtime jumper, but we knew better: There was no way Illinois was winning that game. More »
alex legion
Kentucky Fans Are Having Anger Displacement Issues
In the "holy cow, fans can be scary" file, the frustrated fans at Kentucky, suffering through a 9-9 season, have taken a lot of their ire out on recent transfer (to Illinois! Woo!) Alex Legion. (He of the soothsaying mother.) More »
college basketball closer
Not Even Zook Can Help The Illini
Jonah Keri writes the college basketball closer (more or less) daily. E-mail your questions, comments or Clarence Ceasar-related memories to jonahkeri@gmail.com.
The Motivator. Facing Indiana for the first time in Eric Gordon's career after the superfrosh spurned Illinois to play for the Hoosiers, the Illini pulled out all the stops. That included the return of ZOOOK!!! The man who pisses intensity paid a surprise visit to the Illinois locker room before the game, urging Bruce Weber's charges to bring the hammer down on Gordon and the Hoosiers. "I want you to go out there and play like animals!" Zook spat at the mesmerized players. "The first one of you who knocks down that Gordon kid gets free waterskiing lessons and a copy of the Rose Bowl video, edited to show us kicking USC's ass and doing unspeakable things to Traveler. Now get out there and bite their heads off!!!"
More »
We will miss Mr. Mendenhall. [Mark Tupper]
rose bowl
The Rose Bowl In The Twilight Zone
The question we've been discussing with fellow Illini fans over the last 12 hours or so; was it really worth it? Was it worth watching our Illini be absolutely destroyed in the Rose Bowl yesterday? Wouldn't we all have been better off if Illinois had a more competitive, fun, matchup against Florida in that Capital One Bowl? It took us most of the night, but we think we have our answer. More »
illini suck
Woe Is The Illini
The Tennessee State Tigers are 4-8, with losses to Belmont, Akron, Colorado State and Southeast Missouri State. It was once known as the Tennessee State Agricultural and Industrial State Normal School for Negroes. Oprah Winfrey went there. And yesterday, they beat our Illini at the Assembly Hall in Champaign. More »
Ron Zook, Somewhat Less Intense This Week
We will say this: It is unlikely this photo above is going to replace Ron Zook Pisses Intensity Photo. Like, at all.
We will say this: It is unlikely this photo above is going to replace Ron Zook Pisses Intensity Photo. Like, at all.
chief illiniwek
The Chief Simply Will Not Go Away
For all the excitement about next Tuesday's Rose Bowl game between our Illini and those suddenly hateable USC Trojans, it has one major downside: Everybody's talking about the damned Chief again. More »
dogmatic transfers
Alex Legion Gets His Exodus After All
In our ongoing coverage of the dogmatic inevitability that Alex Legion will lead Kentucky to the Final Four, a tranquil atmosphere casts over the tumultuous world of college basketball. More »
No More Illini For Us For A While
We're not going to any more Illini sporting events; we're gonna need something to cheer us up. Ahhh. That's better. See you tomorrow.
We're not going to any more Illini sporting events; we're gonna need something to cheer us up. Ahhh. That's better. See you tomorrow.
i - l - l
We arrived in the new generation coal plant capital of the world late last night — the mayor of Mattoon, charmingly, used to coach us in baseball — so our holiday season has already begun. And we kick it off with our yearly trip to Champaign for some Illini basketball. More »
The Yearly Night In The Champaign Snow
We arrived in the new generation coal plant capital of the world late last night — the mayor of Mattoon, charmingly, used to coach us in baseball — so our holiday season has already begun. And we kick it off with our yearly trip to Champaign for some Illini basketball. More »
rose bowl
Oh, Like You Didn't Know This Picture Was Coming
Yep, it's really happening: Illinois — Illinois! — is in the Rose Bowl. The game they play on New Year's Day. That one. Seriously. Zook in Pasadena. Zooooooooook. More »
big ten down again
