whitesoxfan101

It's becoming clear the Bulls quit on Skiles, even in defeat today you can see for the first time all year they actually care. I could see them making the playoffs, but they'll have to get to either 4 or 5 if they want any shot at not being a first round exit. The Bulls would be destroyed in a 7 game series against Orlando, Boston, or Detroit (yes I know we kill them in the regular season, but as you saw in last years playoffs, that doesn't matter).

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Dec 31, 2007 -> 01:08 PM) Didn't the SEC start using the spread a few years ago? Shoot even Purdue looked faster when Joe Tiller came in. It's not the speed, it's the offense. When people are running every which way and the defense doesn't know who to cover, and therefore is always a step behind, the offensive team looks much faster. That's what happens. One of the teams that really helped make the spread popular was Northwestern in 2000. They were picked to finish 11th and last in the Big 10, really had no talent because of what Gary Barnett had done to them, and just had no speed or playmakers. But they ran the spread, and had a very nice season, going to the Alamo Bowl and finished in (I think) a 4 way tie for first in the Big 10 conference. You are right though, the spread, although more successful with speed (SEE: West Virginia, Florida) is not just about that. If your going shotgun with 4 and 5 receivers, it just creates one on one matchups and it's hard to stop an offense that is spread sideline to sideline while utilizing zone reads and quick hit passes, regardless of how good your defense is, or even how good that offenses personel is. Anybody with a mobile QB/offensive line, and smart players can run the spread with at least some level of success, it's all about matchups and reads. QUOTE(bmags @ Dec 31, 2007 -> 11:12 AM) and ohio state played close games/lost to teams nowhere near as good as LSU. Illinois is better than both teams LSU lost to. Kentucky today could BARELY beat a Florida State team without 36 of their 85 scholarship guys (in what was basically a home game for UK), and Arkansas does have 2 great RB's, but Auburn and Tennessee beat and shut them down, and Arkansas also lost to a Alabama team who, like Iowa, went 6-6 in the regular season and lost at home to a non BCS team. Plus that game was in Baton Rouge, plus plus LSU lost 2 games and Ohio State lost 1.

Michael Turner Alan Faneca Jake Long Keep Berrian Fire Ron Turner Keep Rex, save the money and avoid McNabb That's at least a START to a real offense

Any fan that bashes Illinois basketball is in their right. Most Illini fans were unbearable in their love for Bruce, to the point where some STILL defend him. This to me is like the football program under Turner circa 2003 right now though, we're one great coaching hire away from returning to prominence. The problem is I don't know how long it will take us to fire the horrible coach and if the new guy will be any good. We got lucky with football, hopefully whenever the Weber era mercifully ends, the same occurs. Oh, and not all Illini fans have loved "BAM" forever, there are some of us who were concerned in November of 2004 when we signed a class of an offensive linemen, a 2 star PG with a 2nd best offer of College of Charleston, and a spot up shooting specialist (and hell, he turned out to be a felon).

The results of this poll are very sad and makes me wonder if our fanbase is as smart as I thought.

Anytime somebody is dumb enough to bring up the per 48 minute stats, you know they have a nothing argument. I can't believe a poster as smart as Balta has resorted to using that stat as a point of reference to defend some of the inexcuseable and proven to be wrong moves by John Paxson.

The best perspective I can put is my own personal one. Everybody knows that I am an NIU student, and yesterday I did some work at and watched our game courtside. We entered the game with a 2-9 record, we have a new coach, we have a roster bereft of talent due to previous coach Rob Judson being an idiot, and it'll probably take us until 2009-2010 to really get any good (Patton is recruiting really well, I think we'll turn it around between that and our great facilities). Anyways, we played and defeated an Arkansas Little Rock team that is WAY better than TSU by a 59-55 score. UALR had an RPI right about 100 coming into yesterday, was 9-2, and had a top 10 defense nationally. And they play in a much better conference than TSU does as well.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 30, 2007 -> 04:36 PM) That said, I was impressed with the way the Saints rookie back played (I already like him a lot more than that prick Bush). Yeah, the undrafted rookie FA Pierre Thomas did damn well. 20 carries for 105 yards and 12 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown. Not to mention he went to Illinois AND grew up a Sox fan in a house full of Cub fans in the suburbs, something many of us (like me) can relate to. The fact that he even made the team was amazing, as he made it as an UFA over Antonio Pittman, who was either a 4th or 5th round pick. He had some injury problems in Champaign but he runs hard and is very smart, I think he'll have a decent career. I think Garrett Wolfe might be the first screen pass specialist I've ever seen too (actually that's not it, Turner just can't use him, he's so good in space, yet they run him inside all the time....stupid). And why did Hunter Hillenmeyer start this year? Jamar Williams showed far more in limited time than Hunter has his entire tenure here, and supposedly Williams can play all 3 linebacker spots.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Dec 30, 2007 -> 03:06 PM) Can someone give me a decent reason why I shouldn't put just about every organ in my body on the LSU (4.5 points) line? LSU's speed advantage is a myth, they've played close games/lost to teams nowhere near as good as Ohio State, and their receivers can't catch. Plus, their best RB (Keiland Williams) and their best QB (Ryan Perriloux) will be on the sidelines most of the game because Les Miles is a fool.

I expected the Miami of Ohio loss, but to lose to that team, who was well below .500 and needed a last second rally to beat 1-11 Eastern Illinois a few weeks ago?? Anybody who was stupid enough to still support Weber just lost whatever mythical leverage they had, he might be the worst coach of a significant high major in the nation right now. Illinois won't even be a significant high major in a couple years though, unless Weber is fired. What a sad situation, conference play is going to be a bloodbath. I can't believe I'm saying this, but the best college basketball team in the state right now is Illinois State, and I don't even think it's close when you look at what they did in Omaha last night.

Michigan State played a great game I thought today, but it was sabotaged by the embarassing play of Hoyer. They still could be pretty good next year though. Oregon State got their senior RB back just in time to beat Maryland 21-14 and save the Pac-10 total embarassment, and TCU beat Houston 20-13 in the Texas Bowl. That game was an example of how amazingly deep HS football talent in Texas is, those two teams are basically the leftover players that the Big 12 teams in state didn't want, and there was still speed and talent all over the field.

Wow. SIU gets Tyrone Green to the line for a 1 and 1 up by a point (he's a decent FT shooter, 73 percent) and nothing. Then Mullins gets there, and he's an 86 percenter, but he misses the front end to complete a 1 for 4 night at the line, then Graves with the miracle. SIU just blew that game, I know some people will look at the 30 to 12 advantage in attempts Butler had, but 3 for 12 at the line is unacceptable, you deserve to lose doing that. Actually, I can't even remember the last team I saw go 25 percent at the line for a game they shot 10+ free throws in. The one positive for SIU is Joshua Bone finally remembered he's a really good shooter tonight to make up for Matt Shaw going 0-7, 0-4, 0-2 for 0 points, but it might be too late for this season.

Bulls win Boylan's debut over Milwaukee. Too many turnovers, but nice to see the Bulls (and more specifically, Ben Gordon) attack the rim and earn dominance at the line. But want to know why the Bulls are in this bad spot? The box scores from tonight alone don't lie (and yes, Hammerhead Johnson, if your reading this, you were right and I was wrong on Tyson Chandler). Ben Wallace: 4 points, 10 rebounds, 3 dimes, 2 steals, 4 blocks (and this is as good a night as he's had all year) Tyson Chandler: 17 points, 17 rebounds (also, one of his better nights, but still) Then you get to the 2006 draft, when the 3 headed choice was Brandon Roy, a desperately needed legit 2 guard who can score, LaMarcus Aldridge, a desperately needed legit big man who can score, or freak athlete but MAJOR project Tyrus Thomas. Brandon Roy: 22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 dimes, 1 steal LaMarcus Aldridge: 21 points, 8 rebounds, 3 dimes, 2 steals, 2 blocks Tyrus Thomas: 4:12 on the floor, 1 rebounds, 1 dime, 2 turnovers, 1 foul Now Tyrus did have an even worse night than usual, but those numbers are pretty close to normal for the boys in Portland, who have won 12 in a row in the mighty Western Conference. Scott Skiles isn't the reason this team is where it's at, John Paxson is.

QUOTE(knightni @ Dec 27, 2007 -> 09:23 PM) Gee... WHO called that one huh? ESPN Radio did about two hours before you posted that actually.

QUOTE(SnB @ Dec 27, 2007 -> 08:29 PM) I've always said that if they would put the games on TV and put a decent team out there, I'd become a fan. They did...and I got hooked. Ditto, although I've always had a soft spot in my heart for them since I saw their 2nd to last victory at the Old Stadium from the balcony when I was 8 years old. One of my first sports memories, they beat Toronto in game 3 of the playoff series, Tony Amonte had 4 goals, my ears hurt the next day it was so loud....good times.

Ahh yes, tonight is a classic example of the payback that comes. Teams like Arizona State, Kansas, and Hawaii have gone a long way by playing nobody. Arizona State has gotten theirs lately, getting their ass kicked at home by USC and then being plowed tonight by Texas. Kansas got theirs against Mizzou, and will get theirs again against Viginia Tech, and Hawaii will get theirs against Georgia. It's all fun and games when you can get to double digit wins and a nice bowl by playing Poop State in your OOC, but when you face a real team in the bowl, payback is a b****. Oh, and also, the great Pac 10 sees their co champ get spanked tonight and is off to an 0-2 start. That league is an overrated pile of rubbish too, even USC has their losses at home to STANFORD and at Oregon, a place so tough to win that 6-6 Cal won there when Dixon was healthy.

QUOTE(MurcieOne @ Dec 27, 2007 -> 03:39 PM) 8 shorthanded goals for Patrick Sharp (who could become a huuuuge star in Chicago), how? Is this a skill that Sharp has, to score with a man down? (Had 4 career shorties before the season started) Luck? Coincidence? Hard Work? If he manages to score 3 more, he will assume the franchise record for SHG in a season. Sharp would assume the record of former Captain and he of the sickest 'stache in the league - Mr. Dirk Graham Sharp actually has 7 in less than half the season, and the NHL record is 13 set by Mario Lemieux. It's a tough pace to keep, but he's on pace to break the record right now. How he does it I have no idea, but he could for sure become a star here. BTW, did anybody else find it ironic that the Hawks first sellout this season was a game that was on television? Just proves how flawed and wrong Bill Wirtz was all these years. Also, Nik was great in the 1st last night. I know Nashville didn't have a ton of shots and we led 2-0 after one, but the Hawks came out dead most of the period and a lot of their shots were great chances that he made nice saves on.

LCR banned? Shoulda happened during the Chris Benoit debates. Anyways, there are clearly no winners here. The fact that the students said this is a parody is a total lie to cover their own ass though, they meant it, even if they obviously didn't believe it.

Language is NSFW, just a warning, but this is still great stuff.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JMOh-cul6M "not now chief, i'm in the f***ing zone"

I would think a trade will come, question is, who's it for?

QUOTE(danman31 @ Dec 24, 2007 -> 03:05 PM) This is funny. Two people from two fan different fan bases talking football s*** on a school that beat both of them in football. Whatever helps you sleep at night honeys. It would be so easy to talk basketball s***, yet you still want to talk football s*** when you lost. Hilarious. Continue talking football s***, I enjoy the laughs. Hey, I hear the pads have ultra thin wings now, might wanna try that out. Anyways, if you take pride in your program barely beating an Illinois team without their quarterback, you go right ahead and enjoy that fine achievement as you lose the Cotton Bowl.

I think Skiles isn't a very good coach (I put a bunch of stuff in the NBA thread about it), and I don't blame Pax for firing him at all, but this team has a lot more issues than this. A lot more work needs to be done if anything will be fixed.

QUOTE(dasox24 @ Dec 23, 2007 -> 08:49 PM) In regards to FAU, it disappointed me to hear that the team was "a bunch of thugs. They were awful." One of my good friends plays for Memphis and just was taken aback by how bad the FAU's players sportsmanship was. He basically thought they were a bunch of assholes. I thought it was a nice story seeing FAU do so well after only being a program for 7 years. But hearing what I heard sounds like there's not much discipline on that team. I don't know... I can't speak for the team, I only know 1 player on FAU although he's cool, but that's a shame to hear. I could believe they have no discipline though, how much control can a coach that old really keep? (SEE: State, Florida)

I think if the Hawks make the playoffs, we'll look back on the back to back comebacks wins in as many nights here as a springboard. Two great games, and I officially have a mancrush on Patrick Sharp.

QUOTE(Jimbo's Drinker @ Dec 24, 2007 -> 11:03 AM) Illinois fans chanting BCS...priceless...way to go illni nation. It was outstanding, I don't care what anybody says and if it's classless. It's become so old and tired to beat them in basketball year after year after year after year, so hell, why not come up with something creative and different to make fun of them? As for the national scene, I think it's pretty clear that the 3 best teams in America are North Carolina, Kansas, and Memphis (in no particular order). Everybody else has a way to go to catch up to those 3 teams right now, with the closest team being Pittsburgh since they were able to beat Duke on a neutral floor. Problem for them is losing their glue guy Mike Cook for the year is a huge blow, they have to hope freshman Gilbert Brown can step up.