Jenksismyhero

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 21, 2012 -> 08:24 AM) My wife's loan started into payments in 2004, and somehow, she got a rate that was 2.75%. Then after 5 years of on time payments, it went down to 1.75%. Not a typo. I won't be paying that baby off for a while. That's like inflationary-level free money. Yeah i've got a few of those from undergrad. Unfortunately my law loans are at 6.75%

QUOTE (farmteam @ Mar 20, 2012 -> 11:13 PM) Don't get me started. It's hard to learn when you try to compare justices' opinions to see how they used their own reasoning, and then he goes against his own goddamn logic. EDIT: Isn't the, er, expletive I used in the last sentence usually censored? Kinda like when Sandra Day O'Connor rails against discrimination and inequality and then is the deciding vote in upholding affirmative action. But to be fair to all of them, it's incredibly difficult to have a strict position in the law. As soon as you create a clear rule in one area, an exception will pop up that completely f***s up your position.

I got it. I'm gonna look into it more for sure. I'm going to need to do something at home since a baby is on the way and my wife probably wouldn't like it if i took off for an hour or two a night.

See, this is the type of stuff I want The Walking Dead to address. I must know these real-world answers: http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-pr...n-investigation

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Mar 21, 2012 -> 03:27 PM) Kruger didn't get ANYONE out of Chicago. He was blackballed out of the CPL because Illinois passed on Jimmy Collins. You are right that Kruger struck gold with the Peoria guys and then Brian Cook, but there was an uproar when Lance Williams, Bobby Simmons and Quentin Richardson went to DePaul instead of Illinois. Of the top 8 on the Elite 8 team with Kruger's recruits, Lucas Johnson was the closest thing to being from Chicago. The point is that in the coaching search, people are so hung up on needing to be able to recruit Chicago. That isn't necessarily the case. I thought Cook was from Chicago or the burbs? Maybe I'm not remembering right. Edit: yeah i guess he was from Lincoln. Damir was from Rockford, that looks like the closest guy to Chicago for him.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Mar 21, 2012 -> 03:10 PM) Maybe I'm in the minority here, but while I would like someone who can bring in the Jabbari Parker's of the world, aren't we actually looking for the next Bill Self here? Self, off the top of my head, only landed 3 CPL guys while at Illinois, none of whom were highly regarded: Luther, Brock and Aaron Spears (I acknowledge that Self did in fact land Collins and Wright while at Kansas, but the Illinois point remains). You can have consistently competitive teams at Illinois relying on the suburbs and downstate. If you can bring someone in with national ties (like Self) and put other states in play, isn't that the homerun? As a result, you should be looking for young, personable, with strong recruiting ties somewhere. I don't know who that guy is, but I'll give Mike Thomas leeway to find that guy. One final point: could Chris Collins land some kids out of the CPL? Why not? I don't remember who the lead recruiter was on Sean Dockery, but Duke managed to land him. Illinois doesn't need to get all CPL guys or even the top talent from Chicago to be successful. But what Self did, and Kruger (though he basically struck gold) was to recruit a little out of Chicago and a lot elsewhere. Self got some national recruits, Kruger got the Peoria guys.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 21, 2012 -> 02:07 PM) I am no illini fan, I'm just calling it like I see it. You guys weren't exactly doing backflips when Beckman was hired, and truthfully I saw a lot of "who?" When he got the job. When the primary target says no, especially after the media hung on it like they did, fans usually aren't happy with the next guy in line. Its just the way it is. That's the problem with Thomas so far. He's made his wishes known publicly, so when they backfire it looks bad. Had this been done behind closed doors and Shaka passed that would be fine. But he came out early and said he's our #1 guy, we're doing everything to get him. So of course if that doesn't happen the logical conclusion is "well, it must be the school." I'm not jumping off a cliff over this. I think Shaka would have been a great get, but there are other equally talented guys out there. I just think the percent chance of failure with him was lower than anyone else. I think he'd be able to recruit right away (and not out of Chicago, but from the east coast and southeast) and get his guys motivated to play for him, which has been the biggest thing missing for a long time.

You can't deny he's struck out big time on two big guys though. It might work out in the end, but his tenure isn't exactly starting off with a bang.

I'm still kinda shocked he turned them down. An extra million a year and more national exposure? No one talks about VCU until the tournament, and that could have easily changed this year if they had lost to Wichita State in the first round. I think both he and Stevens are making big mistakes. Gonzaga and Few worked out because the west coast blows for college basketball. He made a mid-major a "major" program because he was able to carve out a decent niche for recruiting. I don't see Butler or VCU being able to do that.

Anthony Grant from Alabama is the other major name out there.

Rumor (started on an Indiana message board no less) that Shaka said thanks but no thanks.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 21, 2012 -> 12:18 PM) I'd prefer Stevens over Smart. He's never leaving Butler.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 21, 2012 -> 11:11 AM) Jenks, See my post below but Illinois is 13th most valuable and 4th in the Big 10 (which makes no sense as MSU is 5th), , but Illinois according to Forbes is not top 10. In 2010 they were #4 according to CNN. And that Forbes list says they've lost a quarter of their profits in 2 years. The point still remains - they make plenty of money, and when they start a 2-3 season long sell out streak like they had before all that profit comes right back. An extra million or two isn't going to cripple the program. Edit: yeah in 2010 Forbes had them #5 and #1 in the Big Ten. Certainly the pool of money to be made is there. http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/16/most-valu...basketball.html

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Mar 21, 2012 -> 11:01 AM) Shaka has agreed to do studio work for the tournament this weekend, starting tomorrow. This means 2 things IMO: 1) He'll have a decision made by today 2) He's not coming here I don't think he'd go on TV with this hanging and make that the storyline. I also fail to see how he'd accept a job and then be in the studio for the weekend. I think this just comes down to the fact he doesn't want to leave his little place in Richmond. It's not about the money, as we've reportedly offered enough. It's a much better job, all things considered, he just doesn't want the change. I know the perception will be Illinois is down because they didn't get him, but if we made a great offer and he wants to stay, that's on him. Minus maybe 4 programs (and even that's a maybe), Smart wouldn't leave his current position. I don't think it's Illinois in particular. IMO it's a dumb long term career move, but he's going to do what he wants depending on what makes him happy. If this is the case, time to move on, lot of good candidates and interest in the job. Yeah, this makes sense. But it's been done before. I'm pretty sure Kruger did analyst work after accepting the Illinois gig. Seth Davis seems to think Shaka is coming here, but he's been wrong about a lot of things. Read somewhere too that Shaka has a history with Meyers. Apparently Shaka was Florida's lead recruiter for Meyers and had him scheduled to go to a Florida camp right before he signed with Illinois. That'd be great if he (1) accepts the job, (2) convinces Meyers to stay another year. (even though that's a pipe dream I think at this point)

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 21, 2012 -> 09:06 AM) I'm sure many will disagree with some of the thoughts I'm going to share, but here it goes: - if UIUC pays Shaka in the Izzo range, that is absolutely insane. Take it from a Ga Tech fan when I say that giving out a bad contract can absolutely cripple your athletic program. Shaka's team didn't do much in non-conference play, and considering some of the mediocre coaches for the top team in his conference (ie: Paul Hewitt and Bruiser Flint), I think Shaka has become severely overrated. - I HATE the public nature of the concerns about Chicago recruiting for any UIUC basketball coach. It basically implies that even in the future if they can get some high profile Chicago players, it means that something fishy probably went on. Is complaining in the media about recruiting in Chicago really going to make handlers/coaches stop asking for money? Hell no - I love how Purnell had to save face by saying coaching in Chicago is great, even though there were rumors earlier in the day that he might have been saying it sucks having to recruit in the city - I agree it's an overpayment, but it's necessary to get some energy back into the program. Paying him an extra 1-1.5 million a year isn't going to cripple them. I think Forbes just had them as the 8th most profitable bball program in the country, and that's in a s***ty period of years where there were tons of empty seats. Couple that with the soon-to-begin Assembly Hall renovation (i.e., luxury boxes), and money is not an issue. - I also agree Shaka is probably overrated, but quite frankly, he's the hottest name out there and if Illinois can't bring him in their national reputation is going to take a hit. Obviously money isn't everything and being in a big conference isn't important to everyone. But normal fans won't think rationally about all the factors he has to weigh. They're going to see "Shaka says no to Illinois" headlines and people will perceive Illinois as not being a top level program. - Recruiting in Chicago has, and always will, suck. Too many coaches/handlers with ulterior motives.

Recruiting at Illinois has not been the problem the last 2-3 years. They still have more talent on that roster than most of the big ten. Shaka (or whoever) can step in immediately and still be a tournament team, even without Leonard. The only problem is that the scholarship situation left them with only one commit for 2012, so if a couple of guys transfer they're going to have to scramble to find some guys.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Mar 20, 2012 -> 09:00 PM) Ummm....D1? Meant to say high level d1, major conference.

sounds to me like no one knows anything. i'm a big fan of 2 separate cbssportsline.com writers coming out with different rumors - one says it'd be a surprise if shaka left, the other saying that shaka is still considering the offer and hasn't decided anything yet.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Mar 20, 2012 -> 02:00 PM) And rumor has it (on B&B, who usually have great sources when it concerns U of I athletics) Smith (Simeon) is being tabbed for an assistant position. Could be trying to let Smart know (or someone else) that if he's worried about recruiting Chicago, he won't have to be. Obviously all just rumor right now, however if you somehow combined Smart and Smith as his recruiter, this whole thing turns around really, really, really fast. Interesting twist to follow nonetheless. Yeah all the rumors seem to indicate that Shaka is hesitant because of the "murkiness" of Chicago recruiting. If that's the case, I dunno that he's ready for a D1 job. There's murkiness for just about every high level recruit, especially recruits coming out of big cities. And I said last week in a dream world you'd have Smith and Howard as your lead recruiters. That would be amazing.

Crazy story out of the Wisconsin Football program: http://deadspin.com/5892664/reconstructing...-crotch+grabber I just don't understand why these assholes in positions of power think they'll get away with it. Maybe one incident, but not repeated incidents.

So this p90x thing....is it worth it? I'm 6' 235lbs and need to drop some weight (200-210 would be ideal). I was running more at the end of last year to prepare for a 5k in November (completed) but my wife is now pregnant and I guess in sympathy (more likely laziness) i've gained some weight. My diet routine needs to change and can change pretty easily, but I'm wondering if running 3-4 miles every other day is enough or if I should start a program like p90x. I'm not looking for some massive weight loss in 2 weeks. But I know myself and if I'm not seeing results pretty quickly I lose my interest/drive to continue on.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 20, 2012 -> 09:50 AM) Eh, took 5 minutes to download the entire series and throw it on the Nook. It's really interesting how well they pulled off the start of the series. The only difference I'm noticing at the start is no Grimes in tank and no raw-dogging. There should have been raw-dogging, so I'm glad AMC added that artistic touch. I assume this was a torrent? I'd love to read these things, but don't feel like dropping $1.99/comic (times 88 or something)

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 20, 2012 -> 08:23 AM) After his experience at IL, going back to a small school might sound pretty good, at least for a while. It's too bad the administration coddled him and/or he didn't decide to leave for Oklahoma or Oregon the last few seasons. I think a west coast team would be great for him. He can still make splash nationally but without the constant 24/7 pressure of a program in a big conference. As for Shaka, I heard the rumors too that they met. Herb Gould of the Sun-Times had a report that Illinois is going "all-in" on him, offering 2.5/year. His buyout is only 800k and that's not a big deal at all apparently. Also, while I like NW, I don't see how he could possibly decide to go there over Illinois. NW's facilities blow. They can't attract talent. Carmody is a good coach and gets the team a few big wins every year, but at the end of the day they just can't compete with other Big Ten programs.

Domination right there. Great W.

Wow, how was that a foul on Noah? He just fronted Howard and got low