thedoctor

QUOTE(whitesoxfan99 @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 09:33 PM) Nobody accused Indiana of cheating. speaking for myself, i never thought sampson was cheating during the gordon thing. i thought, as was echoed by some other coaches and the league commissioner, that some questionable ethical things happened, but i think indiana's recruitment of gordon went down entirely within ncaa rules. and while i'm mentioning indiana, let me say i thought what finch did to you guys was really bogus.

i think you need to make a distinction between football and basketball recruiting. a lot of what goes on in football doesn't in basketball, so it's hard to compare the two. my biggest problem with weis was his hypocrisy. to stand up there on signing day and lambast kids for not remaining committed when he was trying his best to get kids to de-commit was ridiculous. he b****ed about benn being a silent verbal and changing his mind, when he experienced the exact same thing with robert hughes who was a silent verbal to illinois and changed his mind later. that stuff happens in college football and i wish charlie would shut his yap about it and be consistent instead of talking out of both sides of his mouth. as far as the zook new york times thing goes, illinois just keeps getting more positive fall-out from it. a good article about it was in the orlando sentinel today: bianchi

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 05:25 PM) The whole "hit by a bus" thing was just awesome. It gave me chills when it happened. that was a crazy moment. i about jumped off the couch. i liked the episode in general and was really interested by juliet's back story. i have to say, too, that i'm ready for them to get back to the beach and start developing some of those storylines.

yeah, i really liked how georgetown ran it last year but they haven't been as efficient this year. as for northwestern, i'd agree on your point of opening it up with some quick hitters, just something that gives a different look and switches it up a bit. i will say i was impressed with coble and, to a lesser extent, nash. those kids are obviously far from finished products now but you can see the potential. plus they'll benefit from playing with each other for four years.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 09:24 PM) how did he get screwed against NW, it was Men v. Boys, why does NW use that boring system, bring in a coach and get into the 21st centry. i think nw is kind of going by the same philosophy the football academies use in football. since you aren't going to bring in top talent, introduce a system that could get you some wins against teams that can't figure it out.

QUOTE(3 BeWareTheNewSox 5 @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 08:52 PM) rumor that Anna Nicole Smith is dead yep sad.

bad belichek

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 03:03 PM) The samething is in the Chi Trib today... I guess that is karma paying back for all of the accusations made during the Gordon fiasco. i'm pretty satisfied with the karmic implications of this whole thing. considering just about every major newspaper and media outlet has said this story is a pile of crap, i think that's a good thing for illinois. it's just more chances for positive publicity and gives people more chance to talk about zook and the program positively.

that's the most important question. last year we were one of the six best teams in baseball, but had the misfortune of playing in the best league. it stands to reason that a first or second place finish in our division would provide a strong opportunity to make the playoffs. looking around at the rest of the league no one made any watershed move that is going to push them head and shoulders above anyone else. the royals will be the royals and it wouldn't surprise me to see a bit of drop off from the tigers and twins. i do think the indians will be greatly improved, however. in that climate i like our chances. we didn't do anything earth-shattering, but despite the conventional wisdom we probably didn't have to.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Feb 7, 2007 -> 08:55 PM) Are the Illini done? What about Miles Stroter? Anyone else on the ESPN list a possibility? according to scout quarterback phil haig is going to visit next week. haig was committed to minnesota but looks like the odd-man out with brewster heading up there. haig was a three-star recruit by rivals and a two-star by scout.

this offseason is difficult to judge because so many of the moves were made more with an eye on keeping the franchise viable for the long-term than for making short-term improvements. if we look at various parts of the roster the only major upgrades we've made over this time last year is in our bullpen and back-up catching situation. other than that it could be argued that the other areas are either a push, or a drop-off.

hodge is apparently in a similar boat to gamble. both really talented kids who are questionable qualifiers. supposedly hodge's ranking was held back by the fact he's borderline. or so they say.

tomorrow night is a two-hour episode, i guess. the first hour is a recap.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 10:44 PM) Is today signing today? tomorrow.

i'll be interested to see what zook does with the talent. his spin has always been that he hasn't had a chance to coach his players when they reached maturity. at illinois he'll probably get his chance, so we'll see how he does. either way they need to win more games this year. if they don't at least threaten a bowl appearance i think the program will be a harder sell to recruits next offseason.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 06:58 PM) Dr, Np. I really respect and like your posts so I hope that you dont take any ill-will from this. I just felt that when this was first discussed that most Illini fans were acting as if it was the craziest idea ever to believe a son would follow his dad. While I felt that part of the reason the Gophers took Brewster as the coach was that there was a wink-nod agreement that his sons would be coming with. Otherwise the hiring is just fascinatingly bland. When the Minnesota job opened names like Tony Dungy were being floated as the replacement (yeah right) but still it shows the calibre of expected coach. Instead they went with a guy with 0 head coaching experience who was in the NFL, with little to no connection to Minnesota. A shocking display like that usually is followed with news of a recruit swapping choices. Atleast thats why I thought what I did. And I dont think its that huge of a loss for Illinois. While Brewster is a quality qb, Juice is young and if Illinois really starts to perform that spot could be filled by a better qb next year. thanks for the kind words. brewster would have been nice, but i'd agree that it wasn't a huge area of emphasis this year. again, you can't blame a kid for wanting to play for his pops.

not an overwhelmingly exciting episode, but they did seem to advance the plot a bit in advance of next week's two-hour show.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 06:31 PM) No I dont believe I said that at all. I never said anything about being an Illini fan must follow all related threads. I said that if you have a problem with what your fellow Illini fans are saying, and if you are going to get upset about some one calling them out, then please make sure that you state your own opinion. From what I have seen though this does not apply to you. well, fwiw, i didn't think brewster would leave. honestly i didn't even know it was debated here. it seemed like more of an illini-centric idea that wouldn't show up here. oh well. nevermind then. carry on.

ok, let me get this straight. if i'm going to be considered an illini fan on this board i must follow all illinois-related threads/topics and register my opinion on every matter of illinois importance. if i fail to respond to a certain topic, it will be generally accepted that my unstated opinion will fall in line with the prevailing wisdom of "illinois fans." seems like too much work to me. i'll just stand by my own opinions.

personally i'm not at all surprised he decommitted. can't blame a kid who wants to play for his dad.

officially sick of the hype now. bring on the game.

bear down!

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Feb 2, 2007 -> 09:29 PM) Its a trendy drug that keeps people up and partying. The stars dig it because they can afford it pretty much. i had a fair amount of friends who were into it, some could handle it and some couldn't. it's one of those things that if it gets it's claws in you you are screwed. one guy i knew got into it real bad, drained his bank account, lost most of his friends, and ended up on the streets before he got into rehab and cleaned up. he's been clean for almost 10 years but said he will still occasionally wake up in the middle of the night just craving the stuff. i've done some things in my day but never coke. people on coke were always just really annoying to me.

it wouldn't surprise me at all if oden stayed. the few times i've had the chance to speak with him i've been thoroughly impressed. he is different than what you usually find when you meet someone who's been receiving as much attention as he has for as long as he has. i think a lot of his decision will come down to how ohio state does in the tournament this year. if they go out before the final four, i'm about certain he'll return. if he goes to the final four or title game, i'm about certain he'll go pro. i don't think his decision hinges on a fear of injury or a fear of his draft status diminishing. given the type of kid he is, he wants to win and if ohio state wins this year i feel he'll be more comfortable saying adios to columbus.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Feb 1, 2007 -> 07:15 PM) I would say theres a good chance he will go pro, but an even better chance that Cook does. There also more than one problem if Oden stays. 1. He could get hurt, and move down the baord. Not likely in my opinion 2. OSU is bringing in another 7 foot freshman monster next year, which could possibly hurt his touches in the post. for those who dont know him http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=145&p=8&a...amp;nid=1945118 he is much more of a scorer than Oden. Oh and after that they have this guy coming in. http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=145&p=8&a...amp;nid=1726782 koufos is good, but much more of a perimeter-oriented guy than a post player. i've seen mullens a few times and he's real good. he also transferred from a small school to a bigger school this year and has only gotten better. personally i think he'll be a lot better than koufos. he's also much more of a true post player.