whitesoxfan101

BCS Standings: 1. Ohio State: .942 average 2. South Florida: .920 average 3. Boston College: .891 average 4. LSU: .840 average 5. Oklahoma: .762 average 6. South Carolina: .743 average 7. Kentucky: .683 average 8. Arizona State: .683 average 9. West Virginia: .662 average 10. Oregon: .637 average 11. West Virginia 12. Cal 13. Kansas 14. USC 15. Florida 16. Missouri 17. Auburn 18. Hawaii 19. Virginia 20. Georgia 21. Tennessee 22. Texas 23. Cincinnati 24. Texas Tech 25. Michigan To put this in perspective, the last time before today the Vikings had won at the Bears was in October of 2000. In October of 2000, South Florida was a 1-AA team in the middle of their 4th season having ANY football team at all, as they played their first game as a football team only 10 years ago in 1997 as a 1-AA team.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=txya...t&type=lgns This is going to shock some people, but with George's health the last few years, something not a lot of people have been aware of, nobody should be shocked. Sad to hear King George is in such bad health though.

Exciting ending last night. Keep it up, Hawks.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Oct 13, 2007 -> 09:22 PM) Did all of your hopes and dreams for this season come crashing down due to the loss by Illinois? Hell no, they are still doing better than expected. Just isn't cool when you lose to a horrible team.

IU is reaping what they sew in that case. As long as Sampson is there, those problems will remain. All that stuff that happened to him at OU was not an accident. But I do feel bad for a lot of the IU fans here, they hated that hiring all along because they knew stuff like this would happen.

George has actually been ill for a few years now, that is why you never hear from him anymore and don't even see statements too often. I heard Keith Olbermann on with Dan Patrick 2 years ago say George has some form of Alzheimers or Dementia, and that he couldn't even remember names anymore. Anyways, George isn't running much anymore, if he was Torre would have probably been fired a year or two ago.

Bo is kinda freaky possesed looking during games, but in general it's really hard to not like him personally. Same goes for Izzo, although he's not quite as nuts during games.

I officially give up on college football this year. As long as Illinois gets their 7 or 8 wins and makes a bowl, I'm happy. This season is just too bizarre. Congrats to Iowa, they played a great strategy against the option and Illinois otherwise couldn't get out of it's own way.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 04:41 PM) God that was a horrible football team. I saw every NIU game that year, and that was the worst they played, by far, in any of the 10 victories. And that includes some MAC wins which were much closer games than the ISU one. So in others words, I'd have to agree with you.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 03:07 PM) Why are Boers and Bernstein on the air right now talking about Weber going the underhanded route to get recruits? I only caught the tail end of the conversation, but they were definitely indicating that Weber stole a recruit from under someone else. If they think that Weber stole a recruit from under anybody in regards to the 3 verbals yesterday, they are simply lying. The Bertrand stuff, as I said when the SIU people here were claiming he verballed to them, was lies from the start. The only possible thing I could think of is they are basically saying Bruce hired Jerrance in order to clinch getting D.J. Richardson, which is not accurate. Yes hiring Howard did clinch D.J., and yes getting D.J. was the biggest reason why Bertrand gave an early verbal as well, but that isn't why they hired Howard and even if it was, that is nowhere near dirty, especially by the standards NCAA coaches set.

I remember when I sat there at Huskie Stadium back to back years as a HS kid, watching NIU beat a bowl bound Wake Forest in 2002 and then Maryland in 2003 (who won 9 in a row after losing at FSU the next week) at Huskie Stadium and thinking the same thing that article says about Indiana playing at SIU, "what idiot scheduled THIS game?" NIU of course also hosted and beat Iowa State in 2003, but such idiocy is no surprise out of the Cyclones (sorry Heads).

Michigan's defense is just so mind bogglingly slow that I like the Illini's chances in that game, especially with what App. State and Oregon did to them, but that's not a sure thing at all. Henne should be fully revved up again by that game, and their offense is dangerous.

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Oct 12, 2007 -> 01:44 PM) illinois has commits jereme richmond, d.j. richardson, joe bertrand, brandon paul as well as recruits marcus jordan, nik garcia, crandall head, and anthony johnson. maybe a few others as well but i don't have all the names yet. I was told there are 25 guys scheduled to be there right now, which is pretty impressive.

Well by their signing day, Paul, DJ, and Bertrand will all be quality 4 star recruits (Paul is a lot like Shumpert). Plus, they are guards that all have some different skill sets that fit Bruce's system. Even a uber Bruce pessimist like me is very excited right now, and for good reason. Plus, getting 3 quailty guards to add depth that are all 4 star type players like this is fun since you are pretty sure that means they aren't going to go Carmelo/Durant and just leave after one year. Oh and EDIT, but yeah I knew McCamey is going to be at SIU's March Madness. I meant to put D'Mitri Riggs there, no idea why I put McCamey instead.

Alright, after asking around.....well I'm still confused because basically nobody down there outside of Bruce and Jerrance knows EXACTLY what is going to happen this weekend, but here is what I know: 1. Stan Simpson is all but a done deal. 2. At Illini Midnight Madness: Simpson, Nik Garcia, Bertrand, Richmond, Richardson, Paul, Anthony Johnson (#2 in 2010 behind Richmond), Marcus Jordan (Jeff's brother), Crandall Head (Luther's brother), DeAndre McCamey, Tyler Griffey. I am pretty sure there are more, I've heard there will be 20 to 25 there, but those are the names I know. 3. I don't trust them quite as much as my friends downstate, so I won't say it's done like I am with Simpson, but Bertrand should be a verbal sometime between tomorrow and Sunday. 4. The Illini are in really, really, really good shape with Crandall Head and Anthony Johnson. I have no idea if either will verbal this weekend, but I would hope their is room for both of them is the news is as good on them right now as it seems. 5. Illinois is considering rolling over and only taking Simpson in 2008 due to the amount of quality guards in play here. Jordan Watts from Durham, North Carolina is a 2008 2 guard that the Illini have a shot at, but they might just bank it for a 2009 or 2010 in stater. 6. Amazingly, there may not be enough room for 1 or even 2 in the group of Chris Colvin, DeAndre McCamey, and Marcus Jordan, however if we bank the 2nd 2008 free ride, there would be room for 2 I believe and I'd assume not ALL 3 would choose Illinois obviously. All in all, the 24 hour turn in recruiting has been staggering. Wow.

QUOTE(Brian @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 02:43 PM) No disrespect to any Illini fans here, but I hope Iowa does win because I have a few friends who went to Illinois who are impossible to deal with right now. If Illinois beats Michigan, I'm in for a long week after. Any Illini fan that would talk smack after beating Iowa simply does't get it. That Michigan game is huge though, Illinois' offense matches up very well against the Michigan defense and it's in C/U. If Illinois wins their next 2 games, a 10-2 season is a very real possibility.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 02:34 PM) I don't know where's its coming from, but speculation on the IB says the Illini will have two more verbals by Sunday, one of those being Stan Simpson. The first one is for sure Simpson, that one is all but public already. The second one is kind of a mystery, but Joseph Bertrand is the name I am hearing the most, as he loved the Jerrance hire. However that is just a guess because I haven't talked to my friends in Sterling or at U of I today yet, but yeah the Simpson thing is a lock though. The other verbal could also be class of 2010 guard Anthony Johnson though. He's the #2 player in the state for 2010 behind Richmond, and his coach at Whitney Young has a very good relationship with Bruce. That is just total speculation though.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan99 @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 12:15 PM) How do you figure? Starting backcourt next year will be DMac and Jamar with Frazier the top guard off of the bench. I'm hoping Jamar is gone, although D-Mac could play the 2 if he had to.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 01:12 PM) It wouldn't surprise me. Who has the Illini beat on the road? Syracuse? Besides one win over an incredibly overrated Louisville team, they aren't much to write home about. If this game were in Champaign, I would choose the Illini, but since it's in the IC, it's gonna be tough. REAL tough. Umm they did win at Indiana, who is 5-1 and unlike Iowa, is actually good and going to a bowl. It's always tough at the IC, but the Hawkeyes couldn't score if they were Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion right now, so unless Illinois doo doo's their pants, they'll win.

The entire Steelers 1970's dynasty probably never happens, or at least is not NEARLY as successful, without steroids, so I would guess the stuff crept into baseball in that era as well.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan99 @ Oct 11, 2007 -> 12:27 AM) Suck is a bit too strong. But the teams will be no where near the level you, me or any Illini fans want the program at. However, if Weber does bring in strong classes in 09, 10, 11 etc. I think you have to give him these down years. When the guy has talent he wins big. Well to me, suck means not in the NCAA Tournament for Illinois, and the teams the next 2 years, IMO, can't possibly do as well as last years team, which was basically the last team to get an invite to the dance. HOWEVER, with that said, I think all those fans who said Bruce could fix a lot of things by improving his staff of assistants look to be right at the moment. Losing Tracy Webster may have been the best thing to ever happen to this program long term when you look at the work Jerrance is getting done already, as it seems Richmond's commit is still solid and now you have Paul and Richardson on board. Simpson should be the first 2008 verbal soon, and the Illini NEED to get at least 1 guard out of that class IMO, or else they will have to stard Steve Holdren at guard in 2008-2009 or something. But the long term prognosis of the program has drastically improved, because if they can just recruit at an average level, things look good since we know Bruce can coach. My anger at Bruce will continue to be instense as long as Jamar Smith is in the program, but he's getting a lot of problems in terms of recruiting fixed it appears.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan99 @ Oct 10, 2007 -> 10:35 PM) So to break up all the Illinois Bball recruiting hate, looks like Jerrance is paying of already. Richardson is a huge recruit for the program right now. http://www.whoitv.com/sports/sports_story.aspx?id=56453 Things look pretty good in regards to 2009 through 2011 recruiting. I just hope the fact that the team is going to suck the next 2 seasons doesn't end up hurting the inroads made in those classes.

All you have to do to shut a Cub fan up is this: 1. We last won a world series in 2005, you last won a world series in 1908. 2. Congrats!! You tied the "crappy, 72 win White Sox" this year in playoff wins. 3. At least Big Z is ready for game 4, right?

QUOTE(Shadows @ Oct 9, 2007 -> 03:12 PM) Thats nice to see everyone thinks Mendenhall is the front runner for the Heisman thus far I don't think anybody thinks that, it's just I think a lot of people *raises hand* think that he's the best tailback in the Big 10 RIGHT NOW. He doesn't have the credentials of a Mike Hart or P.J. Hill, but right now he's the best back in the Big 10. And to me, Illinois is not that hard to figure out, looking at their schedule. You would think they'll for sure beat Ball State and Northwestern and home, and win at Minnesota which gets you to 8-1. At Ohio State to me is a loss so that's 8-2. And then for some reason, I am worried about the Iowa game this weekend. I am just going to say they'll split between at Iowa and vs. Michigan, but I'm not sure which they will lose. That gets you to 9-3, and to me the worst case senario for Illinois is 8-4, which would still be a great season IMO. I'd prefer the best case senario of 10-2 though.

In my obligatory NIU post for the thread, I will just say that everybody I talk to in the athletic department here LOVES Ricardo Patton. He has been all over the place visiting places just around DeKalb and he's already got a great staff assembled that is doing a great job recruiting and the players (other than Cody Yelder, our best player, ugh) love his up and down, running style of play. If he continues his recruiting hot start long term, I like our chances to get good at basketball again. Problem is, we have a game at SIU this year. And I won't comment on Illinois, God knows I still love 'em but I feel so bad about the basketball program, it's like the football and basketball programs switched places.