whitesoxfan101

QUOTE(WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Mar 19, 2007 -> 01:41 PM) I'm not sure what to think about this hire. They said they would go after an experienced coach and they did. I prefered Gillen, and I wouldn't have a problem with an assistant. McClain would be a good fit (except for the rumor in the Jamar Smith incident) and I would have liked Collins (He could very well land the ISU job). Colorado is a tough place to win at, and as you said we need to be getting the public leaguers. It will be interesting to see if anybody transfers, although IMO the only one that would really hurt is Yelder. Hopefully House still shows up as well. Collins IMO would have been a bad hire since in 3 years he would have gone on to a bigger job after probably only having 1, maybe 2 good years here. I can see why people liked Gillen, but he has a good TV gig on CSTV, is in his early 60's, and would have been expensive (he made almost a million per his last 2 years at Virginia). I was personally on the Gene Cross bandwagon, but I think Patton was adequate at Colorado considering the only top 100 player there the last 5 years was Bouldin, so he obviously had nothing to work with in state, and he was in a tough league at a traditionally poor program. He has 5 open schollies for the 2008 recruiting class he'll sign this November, so I'll wait and see how he does in that regard. This is a ballsy hire though, it could be really good or very poor, but I can see Phillips thought process in doing it. QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Mar 19, 2007 -> 01:50 PM) This just in from the department of who gives a s***. Patton will probably take some of Bruce's mid major recruits, so it does matter. Your right about his last year there, but he had just lost 8 seniors, including 4 or 5 (i forget which it was) starters and went into his last year as a lame duck coach. I can see why things might not have gone too well regardless of what kind of coach he is. As for him underperforming compared to talent....I'm not sure what Colorado program YOU have been following, but I'm almost more interested to see how he recruits than how he coaches.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 07:19 PM) Do you feel confident about bringing him into the program with his previous behavior issues? I'm not so sure Weber can bring in any "high risk" recruits right now. The only thing Weber can afford less in terms of perception overall than another low character recruit is another low talent recruit. Santiago would probably be the best raw talent he's brought in, and all things i've heard are he's got his ish together recently, plus Illinois desperately needs a guard that can shoot and create.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 10:37 PM) I actually think that there's some members of the team that would be an addition by subtraction if they were to leave. Some? Try half. QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 18, 2007 -> 10:27 PM) One of the main Illini sources with legit information said that someone will likely leave the program that will be a surprise. Yes, Frazier's dad has been diagnosed with cancer, and hopefully things go well. I know you don't like to believe a lot of these rumors B>W, so I guess we'll have to wait and see. Most of the rumors that have been speculated on a certain board seem to come true. Based on this speculation, it's somebody of signifcance. It can't be Randle since he's a 5th year senior next year, CJ wouldn't matter, Meacham isn't it, it's definitely not Carlwell, Jamar would be no surprise, Pruitt or Clavin would only have 1 year eligibility left at their new place once they played, Semrau I have no idea why he would or how that matters. Only name that fits this at all is Chester, and even that wouldn't surprise me since he was playing doctor on that fateful night and is close with Jamar, who might be gone, as well as the fact that everything is going on with his dad and McCamey might be better than Chester is.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 19, 2007 -> 12:56 AM) He's a horrific coach.....terrible hire. His resume, outside of the very end at Colorado, really says that your full of s*** on this one. I'm normally pessimistic about NIU since i'm on campus and see all the bad (lol), but everybody loved the Judson hiring (and Patton is 5 times better than Judson even if your right about Patton) and we saw how that went. Phillips last hire for basketball here has worked out really well on the women's side, so I'll wait and see. If he can get the people out of the public league we should be getting (a la Kevin Johnson and Tim Flowers from Simeon), he'll be fine.

People seem to forget that Carbondale is geographically closer to some parts of Northern Mississippi than it is Chicago. I enjoy watching SIU, but to say they should get a lot of coverage up here is like saying that UTEP should be big in Dallas, or that the success of Toledo's programs should be huge in Cincinnati. Yeah these are all in the same state, but they aren't places anywhere near each other, and these schools don't have the rooting power of the BCS ones.

To me, this is so obviously the El Duque inning that the question should be what is the 2nd best inning. To do what El Duque did under those circumstances, you could argue that's one of the 5 best innings than anybody has ever pitched in any game.

SIU can hold Kansas to 60 or so with their defense, since they guard wings and guards very well, which is all Kansas has.....but SIU will be lucky to get to 55 with that KU defense and their offense. It'll be a pretty good game though, as will UCLA/Pitt. Good region.

The article in the Daily Herald that talked about how Illinois has shown it wants to be a school that stays out of trouble and just makes the tourney (a la Wisconsin) was the one I found interesting, and sad. They shouldn't settle for that.

Like I said, the Big 10 had a LONG way to go. 6-5 in the dance, with as many Sweet 16 teams as fellow midwest leagues like the Horizon League and Valley. Wisconsin is, and always was, a total fraud, I just wish they hadn't made such a tough 10/7 to pick in UNLV vs. Ga. Tech. I figured the winner would beat Wisky, but couldn't figure out who would win, thus I had Wisconsin in the Sweet 16 (but no farther) to play the numbers.

11/16, 7/8, 4/4 Not bad, yet again it will come down to my FF in terms of trying to win money.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Mar 17, 2007 -> 01:18 AM) I have to wonder if the program and athletic department were run in a classier way, maybe the media would not be as negative as they are.... It'd have less negativity from me. I expected a falloff in the program on the court since I figured Bruce would get killed in recruiting (although I didn't think it'd be this fast on the court or this bad in recruiting), however I NEVER thought this program would turn into a drunken, felony laced, DUI supporting, inmate run asylum. It's far more embarassing off the court right now, but on the court is catching up.....

First of all, I said in 2005 Bruce not being able to recruit would cause a downfall, however I had no idea it would be that fast. Second, Doyel is out of his mind normally, but I can't argue with a word of that article.

Damn I'm 25-7, 15 of 16, 8 of 8, 4 of 4 and i'm pumped. You guys are amazing.

O'Fallon and Stevenson, Marshall and Simeon in the semis later today. Simeon continues to look untouchable.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Mar 16, 2007 -> 07:54 PM) If MSU, Purdue, Indiana would have been seeded like ND, etc they would have had a much better chance. Just because the 3 teams are facing 2 1's and the top 2 respectively is no disrespect to them. Wisconsin and OSU shoould both make deep tourney runs and its not out of the world to think 1 of MSU, Purdue, and Indiana will pull an upset. Fair enough. I still don't like Wisconsin much, but Butch is almost healthy and their bracket is very good, and I could see Indiana making a run (MSU and Purdue are both toast though).

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Mar 16, 2007 -> 07:57 PM) Random hot streak beyond the arc happens all the time for them. They are a streaky offensive team and thats why their defense keeps them in games. If anything the Badgers showed that if they need to score they can score 100 points in a game (2 halfs of 50 would equal 100). Just because they didnt try and up the tempo early and let the game get out of control shouldnt be a penalty. Some horses are sprinters, some horses are stalkers. All that matters is the finish line. Oh for sure, I'm just saying the Big 10 trash talk is silly right now. The first round matchups were really good, I'm not surprised at 5-1, but I am surprised at how early people are talking s*** about said 5-1. Long way to go here.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Mar 16, 2007 -> 10:42 AM) Bruce was behind the 8 ball when he left SIU, he was never in a win situation with Selfs shadow looming. If Gordon would have stayed true to his word, WS101 would still b*tch about who he missed on and how bad of a coach he is. And he isnt the only one Absolute 100 percent bull s***. Here is why I don't like Bruce: 1. The losses of Collins, Wright, Scheyer (WHO WAS COACHED BY HIS BROTHER!), Gordon, Rose, Beverly, Jasper, Crawford, Tucker, and so on. Just the names off hand would make a great ENTIRE TEAM, and those were all guys he could have for sure gotten. 2. Not kicking Jamar off the team, and having him ON THE BENCH after he drove drunk, didn't call 911, nearly killed somebody, nearly killed his teammate, and generally ruined his life. 3. The suspension of only 4 games of two time DUI offender Rich McBride. 4. Having a team that is 300th in the nation in free throw percentage (yeah, free throws are coaching IMO). 5. Refusing to fire his assistants because they can't recruit at all. 6. Destroying all good will with the CPL. 7. His own ex players from a 37-2 team are recruiting against him. None of those things are because Self left and Bruce was never in a win situation. They are because Bruce is a complete idiot. QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Mar 16, 2007 -> 09:55 AM) Come on...I know hating everything Illinois recruiting is the cool thing to do, but how can you say SIU's class is better than Illinois? This Illinois class would give SIU their first 2 4 star players in forever yet it would only be mediocre. Yep. Yeah, the SIU fans are getting too excited. Fay should be a 4 star, but Illinois still has a noticeably better class this year. This years Illini class is actually somewhat adequate to Big 10 standards for the first time since 2003.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Mar 16, 2007 -> 10:18 AM) So the whole "Wisconsin cant score" is highly over rated Not if today's game is any indication. They might have lost to Texas A&M Community College if not for a random hot streak from beyond the arc.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Mar 16, 2007 -> 07:45 PM) "Down year" Thats exactly what Im talking about. How is going 5-1 in the the NCAA tournament a "down year". Just because people think the Big 10 style isnt good doesnt mean when the games are actually played thats how its going to turn out. I think the Big 10 has shown that this was not a "down year" just that it doesnt get as much respect as the Pac-10 or ACC. Well Purdue and Michigan State are going to lose in the 2nd round, Indiana might lose, and Wisky and Ohio State will have not easy games. It's way too early to talk mess yet, the Big 10 DESERVED all 6 bids, but only 2, MAYBE 3 are capable of winning more than 1 game. In other news, Bruce Weber is now a horrible GAME coach too, he lost that thing by himself the last 4 minutes. I'm almost glad this nightmare season is over.

Going into the last 4 session, I've only lost 6 first round games (3 last night, 3 tonight) and Duke is my only Sweet 16 team gone (assuming SIU and Florida don't screw up, 15 of 16) and all of my Elite 8 and beyond won already. Amazingly, this bracket doesn't suck yet.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/sports/co...tz/16915285.htm I'm sure the idiotboard people over at scout are denying the accuracy of this, but I believe it. Bruce is recruiting against his own ex players, speaks a lot about him. Not as much as his handeling of Jamar Smith speaks about him, but it explains why he's bringing in classes that would be mediocre by SIU standards, let alone Illinois. In a way, I almost hope Kansas wins just like to a degree Illinois missing the dance would have had the same effect in the sense that maybe fans of Bruce Weber who are in denial of the fact the program is going to hell in a hurry here, on and off the court. But then again, Bruce is supporting a player who left his still concussed and mentally injured teammate (yeah Brian is still hurtin) for dead, AND getting support for it from all Illini fans outside the smart ones (aka the ones on this board), so maybe I'm wrong.

I've been saying those things for 5 years, glad to see that people who get PAID to be scouts can see it now.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Mar 15, 2007 -> 08:09 AM) I can't stand Baseball Prospectus They had us just as bad in 2005 and we won it all, so i'm glad they hate us. I bet they have the Cubs being really good again due to Kerry Wood being healthy too (oops).

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 16, 2007 -> 02:31 AM) you're not by chance suggesting it was a lack of talent that lost them the game, are you? Ehh I don't think it was lack of talent, but it wasn't lack of grinderball either. Our underperforming pitching did enough to make our overachieving hitting wash out, and we were in a good division where 90 wins meant you suck, hence we sat at home in October. It's not THAT hard to figure out why we lost, Kenny. QUOTE(Y2HH @ Mar 16, 2007 -> 08:32 AM) I have no such romanticism for Rowand. And anybody that does should be kicked out of our fanbase for lack of knowledge. Rowand is a 4th outfielder as a player who gets some love because he's an attention whore in regards to running into walls. He had a decent year in 2005, but even that year he was just an average ballplayer.

You'd swear Kenny is trying to appease the stupid, Mike North style Sox fans with his grinder nonsense. I WOULD HOPE he doesn't actually believe that stuff, it's bad enough knowing our manager does, not the GM too.