thedoctor

bad timing if true.

looks like clausen gets the call for notre dame.

as an illinois fan, it's difficult to be happy after yet another loss, but i saw a lot of encouraging signs yesterday. with this team's history it would be easy for them to go in the tank down 37-13, but to see them rally and threaten a win against a quality opponent was encouraging. in the end i think the team's inexperience is what cost it, but there were still positive signs. a few observations: -we finally have wide receivers who can catch the ball. the fact that our best receivers yesterday were morgan (a true sophomore), benn (a true freshman), and gamble (a true freshman) bodes well for the future. hudson played a nice game as well. -juice look shaky at first but his throw to gamble was . it sucks he got hurt when he did, because it looked like he was just getting in a groove. -mcgee did everything you expect out of a quarterback playing his first collegiate football. he turned it over, made bad decisions, and had a few questionable throws. that said, he also showed some things and i now feel a heckuva lot better about our total qb situation. mcgee can play and i feel really good about our quarterback situation for the next three or four years. add charest to the mix and i'd be really stoked. -i thought the offensive line's pass blocking was much improved, but the run blocking sucked. pretty much a reverse of last year. mendenhall had two touchdowns but his game was meh to me. i was more impressed with dufrene. -chase daniel just completed another pass to a wide open receiver. -special teams again look to be a problem. the punting was crap, we missed an extra point, gave up punt return touchdown, and fumbled a kick-off. the only thing that keeps that unit from getting an F was vontae's punt block and subsequent touchdown recovery. -our defensive line and linebackers have the potential to be really, really good. they'll need to be considering how thin the team is in the secondary. losing vontae for any extended period if time this year would be almost crippling to the defense, imo. -zook's coaching was mixed. i don't know what the delay was later in the game on getting the plays into the huddle. that was unnecessary. however, last year illinois started strong but would fade. this was the opposite of that and you have to at least give a bit of credit to the staff. you could see the team's confidence growing snap-by-snap in the second half. zook gets some dap for that.

lloyd carr at halftime:

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 30, 2007 -> 06:45 PM) Indeed. It's pathetic, isn't it? it sure isn't good. can we get a mulligan?

so it's come to this. an mlb draft thread in august. god please make this season end.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 30, 2007 -> 03:13 PM) I believe he will be better as well. Also those two are going to be matchup nightmares when they are playing together. 2 7 footers, one under the basket, one beyond the arc. i do wonder if they will even play together, though. i know that he is regarded as a high nba draft pick in some circles. a lot of that obviously depends on the season and how he plays because it's not an oden scenario where he's going to be the top pick whether or not he plays well. also, fwiw, the brandon paul illinois just offered is a basketball guard from gurnee.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 29, 2007 -> 04:45 PM) BJ Mullens is going to be so good. yeah, he has really improved quite a bit. i saw him as a freshman (he'd already committed at that point) and was not all that impressive. but last year he was like a totally different player. he's added something each offseason which is impressive. i think he'll end up being a better player than koufos.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 29, 2007 -> 03:55 PM) So the question being: Who is more responsible for the Bears success, Jerry or Lovie although i'm a big lovie fan, i'd probably give more credit to angelo. he made a few mistakes early on, but since then he's been pretty much dead-on on the great majority of his acquisitions, whether it's been the draft, trades, or free agency. plus, although ted phillips gets more credit, he at least gets a little love for having the bears be one of the best team's in the league when it comes to managing the cap.

yeah, that was started a few years ago when things were grim. iirc, it was one of the regular bear message board posters who started the page, and for awhile it was a popular topic among those posting on that board. looks kind of silly now, though.

if it isn't, it's pretty damn close.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 28, 2007 -> 07:31 PM) It's a shame for Illinois that he was ruled academically ineligible so late. just to clarify, watkins was eligible. it wasn't his grades that were a problem. he was accepted at the university and has been attending classes throughout the summer. the issue is with the ncaa clearinghouse. apparently, he had some coursework that was unfulfilled under ncaaa guidelines. either way, it sucks.

watkins will not enroll in the fall, future uncertain

QUOTE(3 BeWareTheNewSox 5 @ Aug 26, 2007 -> 11:56 PM) I don't see how he says Ozzie can get an A. First, he said it was hard to manage a losing ball club. Huh? Then he mentioned something about not quiting. BS, listen to some postgame interviews, PK, AJ, etc quit a long time ago. Just because some guys hit some HRs doesn't tell me they don't quit, they're always looking out for themselves, to get payed in the future, of course they're going to try for their individual stats. Even if you take some of that stuff out, there have been some horrible decisions. Anderson as a DH? What? I remember Hawk actually indirectly ripping (hard) Ozzie on messing up on the infield defense, I think it was against Cle but I'm not sure. Not to mention a stupid comment or two every once in a while (even JR was baffled at the Thome leadoff thing), so yeah, an A is bulls***. agreed. when you have this kind of season, no one gets an A.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Aug 26, 2007 -> 08:52 PM) I remember seeing A LOT of people saying we should spend everything to take one chance at a World Series, and that it didn't matter what happened after the fact. They just wanted the one title. Those people seem to have all disappeared, except for one honest one here. to you for being honest. i'll be honest as well. that title to me is worth all the crud baseball we've seen since, and probably for a period of time going forward. in 2005 i'd rooted for the sox for roughly 25 years. during those years the team had varying qualities and won-loss records, but for the most part all of them had one thing in common--they disappointed me. the 2005 team didn't so i'll grant a little leeway. now, do i want to see the organization bumbling around like idiots for the next 10 years? hell no. but at least i am somewhat used to it.

this thread has so much quality content it's ridiculous. bravo, soxtalk.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Aug 16, 2007 -> 06:25 PM) Wasn't that kid an illini fan? reportedly, but he was apparently a bigger lorenzo romar fan. reading this story makes me wonder why the program even wasted its time on this one. another misplay i suppose.

yikes! hopefully it doesn't end up being as serious as it sounds. good luck, bmac.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Aug 15, 2007 -> 07:49 PM) i dislike Tiger fans more than Indian fans. Would rather the tribe be there than Tigers. i have no use for indian fans. i moved here in 98, and at that point the indians were having some nice years and they let you hear about it--repeatedly. watching joe table blow the series for them was a thing of beauty.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Aug 15, 2007 -> 05:12 PM) So instead of ripping on Weber for his misses...which up until now I didn't want to do...I wanted to ask a question to the board... Does anyone know why Weber is losing these guys? Is he not a good closer? Is he being too honest? Meaning, he won't promise playing time or is trying to be clean and not offering "other" things? Or is it just a string of bad luck? it's probably a combination of all of those things. either way, i'm past the point of caring why it happens. the bottom line is we aren't getting kids we are targeting in many, many instances. ultimately, that can be damaging to a program.

local radio today is priceless. i'm not happy i live in ohio most days, but today i am.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Aug 15, 2007 -> 04:32 PM) In my effort to be more than just critical Weber, here's a question: what do you think about Ryan Hare? Would he go to UI if offered? How good is he? nice show of good faith. i don't know anything about hare as opposed to what i've read on boards, so in that respect i'm not really qualified to assess him. what others say is that he's kind of a tweener who understands the game and plays hard. i've heard people swear that he'll be a great college players because he's an intangibles guy, and others who think he'd struggle to contribute at one of the so-called mid-majors. would he go to illinois if offered? hell, i'm hesitant to say weber's kids would even choose the illini at this point. i do know that we'd probably be his best offer in terms of high d-1 kids, and it wouldn't hurt to cultivate a little goodwill in the public league.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 15, 2007 -> 04:15 PM) I no longer trust you. Suggs to Washington per Washington radio sources. Called all the coaches recruiting him and let them know. can't say i'm surprised. the report out of washington earlier was a bad sign to begin with and this confirms those fears. looks like we're are honing in on a complete strikeout with our targets in this class. wonderful work by the staff, just wonderful.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 14, 2007 -> 04:38 PM) So out of left field, Illinois picked up a recruit today...for the 07 class. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/recruitingi...s_illinois.html hmm. can't say this was really expected, but we'll see. the program is pretty stocked with power forwards now. starting to make me wonder of weber has a jerry krause-type fascination with this position. anyhow, the limited video i've seen suggest he's pretty athletic but has a ways to fill out and develop. if there are two people in this year's class, this probably limits us to two kids in 08. some think colvin (who's visiting in a few weeks) is a potential early commit.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 11, 2007 -> 06:03 PM) And you get that vibe because... i'm not wild about the report stemming from a washington-area news source. people have always said that romar and suggs have developed a really great relationship, and that has worried me throughout this recruitment. i know the huskies seem overbooked at this point, but teams have a way of finding a way around that when need be. i will say i have no knowledge of this situation other than my own instincts and my skeptical view of our current recruiting abilities. in that regard, using the word smoke was probably overstatement.