Jenksismyhero

QUOTE (gbuk @ Nov 2, 2009 -> 09:32 PM) Well, Kentucky isn't tested at all yet, but the amount of raw talent they have matches anyone in the country. Just because they won't necessarily mesh for a little while doesn't mean they can't still beat teams strictly off talent. In the age we're in of college basketball in which freshmen have and will continue to dominate the game (thank you one and done rule, which I can't stand) it's not that far off to give a class supposedly as talented as theirs credit before they've "proven" anything. I would bet money on John Wall being the #1 pick in the NBA Draft next year, do you really think he needs time to adjust to the SEC East? I'm aware the SEC East is "deep" this year, but that's not saying that much. Calipari, regardless of what you think of him, has proven he can take star studded freshmen and make it into a great team. There's no reason to believe he can't and won't do that this year. I understand the argument, but strictly off talent give me 10 teams that have more than Kentucky as of now. I think there are many differences between his Memphis team and this Kentucky team. 1) Rose was the freshman, but they also had a bunch of upperclassmen (Dozer and Dorsey) that were experienced AND talented. 2) they played in a joke of a conference to get a number 1 seed, meaning that team really only beat about 3-4 decent to good teams in the tournament. They won't get the benefit of having 35 games to prepare for the tournament (though no doubt Kentucky WILL get a higher seed than is warranted) 3) as someone else already pointed out, Kentucky just lost their best player from last year, and it's not like Gillispie was recruiting the world while he was there, so there is no established base of talent to support the freshman. I think the formula for getting to a championship is that you have 2-3 experienced veteran role players and 1-2 blue chip NBA players. Illinois, UNC, Florida, Ohio State, Memphis, Kansas, etc all had such a team. I'm not saying Kentucky can't be good, but the hype is a little ridiculous at this point.

1) the white-sox blackhawks thing is comparing apples and oranges. If you could compare the first 2 months of the white sox season versus that of the blackhawks, I think it'd be equal or in favor of the sox. In baseball you can tell early enough when your team blows and there's no need to rush home to catch every second of every game, hence the dip in the numbers (plus, i screwed up the ratings, because often times i got so frustrated watching them this year that i'd shut the game off after the 4th or 5th inning). 2) I am proud to say I have never watched any of that crap television my fiance watches - gossip girl, greys anatomy, crap, more crap, etc. If i want to look at hot chicks i'll go on the internet. I don't need to suffer (it IS suffering, even for the 30 seconds i have to listen to it while i grab a beer from the fridge) through 30 min of that crap to get my chick fix for the day.

Yeah, people are going to spit on this like the spit on Jose Conseco. 5 years later, who's the only one that was right? This guy has nothing to hide anymore. And there's really no reason for him to lie about it. People already hate him, and he's already disgraced the NBA on his own. No need to add fuel to the fire.

QUOTE (Willy52 @ Oct 30, 2009 -> 10:47 AM) The more popular team? Sorry, the Hawks are the best team in the UC bar none. And quit with your hate on hockey. You act like basketball is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Just because they're the "best" doesn't mean they're more popular.

Bears, Cubs, Bulls, White Sox, Blackhawks. That's the order of interest of this city. Hockey is the last on 95% of people's minds. The bar I went to last night was 5-1 bulls game over the hawks game. As for the game last night, if the bulls can stay that balanced, they'll be a dangerous team. They made 3 3-pointers and shot 41%. Just real cold in the first half. Despite not having an old veteran, I think the team can throw enough bodies at teams to wear them down over the course of the game. As Doug Collins said (is it just me or is he the best analyst/commentator the NBA has? There's no one close), the defense is going to determine how far they can go. I think getting past the 1st round is the goal this year. Then bring Wade in for the title run!

I suppose. But he has to coach a team that plays in a real conference now. He hasn't had to do that before.

I think it's a little sickening the love that Calipari gets. Kentucky was awful last year, but his arrival, along with a bunch of untested freshman, get a top 5 spot? Please. Even the Dukies don't get that kind of love (and yes, it's sickening that yet again that team is ranked in the top 10, despite the fact they have done nothing the last decade to warrant it. Is it getting to the point that we can call them the most underachieving program relevant to its ranking/tourney seeding?)

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 27, 2009 -> 12:15 PM) Uncharted 2 is beautiful... and also a great game. I'm 2 chapters from the end and it's easily the best single player game of the next console generation.

Since I just recently ended my 1.5 year attorney job search, my advice would be the following: go into it with a "f*** it" attitude where you're not concerned/worried about impressing anyone or making sure you say the right things. Be yourself completely. I've been on a fair amount of interviews the last year, and the first few I was really tense and really prepared and probably came off as a weirdo in the interview because I was so concerned about answering questions with the perfect answer, or asking the perfect question to show how interested i was in the position. The last few I basically said f*** it, and decided to be myself. I was still professional (and prepared), but I made more jokes/comments, and was generally more relaxed and more personable. I focused more on connecting with the partners I would be working for, and the interviews were a LOT better. For me when I changed my attitude from "you have to nail this interview" to "meh, it's just an interview" I got a job. You know who you are, you know what you can do, and you know what you want to do (at least generally). Sell that. 95% of interviews are about your personality, and 5% are about getting more info on your experience. Since you're fresh out of school, its 99.9% personality and how you'll fit into the companys culture. They know your experience from your resume, and if you didn't meet the minimum requirements you wouldn't have been chosen to get where you are. If you feed them with prepared answers, you're doing the same thing some of the other interviewers are doing, and ultimately will be forgettable. (in reality all of this is more difficult than I make it out to be. It's like telling a 5 year old to just hit the baseball for a homerun. It's just not that easy. Each interview is different because each interviewer is different. Some are personable and want that response, others are cold and closed up and don't. Generally though, if you focus more on showing who you are versus what you've done, your chances of differentiating yourself from your fellow interviewees is going to be greater)

QUOTE (JuiceCruz16 @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 02:53 PM) Possible, but I don't see how Purdue will take a step back. With Moore, Hummel, and Johnson as seasoned juniors they should be very tough to deal with. 1a. Michigan State 1b. Purdue Fairly big drop off 3. Michigan 4. Ohio State 5. Illinois 6. Wisconsin 7. Minnesota 8. Penn State 9. Northwestern 10. Indiana 11.Iowa Call it a gut feeling. I just think expectations are going to be really high for them. And they have a tough road schedule (playing @ all of the top 6-7 teams). Also, I dunno how you think there's such a big gap between msu/pur and the rest of the conference. Illinois beat Purdue twice last year, and are going to put a better team on the court this year. And the majority of the conference played underclassmen last year. There aren't too many teams that lost a whole lot of important seniors. MSU has a crazy 2 week stretch in late jan-early feb, playing @ minn, @ mich, home versus NW, @ wis, @ ill and then home against pur. That'll prolly determine the conference title right there.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 02:03 PM) Not sure where that train of thought came from. We (South Carolina fans) have known for years now, we've not had a QB that can perform up to Spurrier's expectations at the QB position. It seems he has finally found his guy, and Garcia is getting better, and maturing as each week goes by. Seemed like a few years ago the general consensus was that his hiring was going to immediately make you guys contenders. Of course that was the general consensus of idiots like Lou Holtz who predicted Notre Dame would go undefeated....but still.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 12:52 PM) I think next year is going to be the game-cocks year. Haven't people been saying that for 3-4 years now?

QUOTE (Brian @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 11:21 AM) Well, hopefully he plays harder than when I saw him at times in high school. Didn't he hurt his knee or something? I think he's been limited because of that, not for effort.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 11:38 AM) The debate for best coach in the big ten currently starts at ends between Jim Tressel and Kirk Ferentz. I think Rock has a point about recruiting being a part of the game, but you have to give some sort of factor to the fact that Iowa will never out-recruit Ohio State or USC. I'd love to say we would, but the reality is Ferentz does more with less than any coach in the country. Does that make him the best X's and O's guy in the country, not sure, but I think it puts him in the discussion as one of the best coaches at developing players and getting results on the field. Either way I think Ferentz has proven himself as an elite college coach, Iowa doesn't have an elite program, but the coach certainly is. Agreed. If you're talking about the "best" coaches you have to give them a handicap given the recruiting game. He gets better results relevant to his program's tradition and the talent he is able to bring in (and even to some extent relative to the program's actual realistic goals. I think Iowa fans would be happy contending for New Years Day bowls on a yearly basis, not just national championships). And that's why college football sucks and why college basketball is infinitely better. You have the "traditional" powerhouses, who inherently have recruiting advantages. But at least in basketball you can be a #50-100 ranked team, get one or two good recruits (or 4-5 average recruits), and become a top 25 team competing for a legit shot at a final four or even NC. The system isn't designed purely for money in which 8 of the top 10 programs are always in the same games (except for a fluke year here and there). Even in the last few years when there were crazy upsets, at the end of the day you still had traditional power house programs playing in the BCS bowls (save a Boise State or Utah).

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Oct 25, 2009 -> 11:51 PM) It takes a special kind of pathetic loser to consistently name call on a message board. Congrats on being that pathetic loser (and that's not a personal attack, because it's a fact that you fit that description if you attack somebody on a message board just because you run it). And btw, your football team is still a lucky, 9-3 or 8-4 type team taking advantage of a mediocre conference, no matter how many times you try and bully me and call me names on a message board (classy). The reason I don't pick on Alabama? They play in a real football conference. If Iowa played in the SEC and won at the last second every week, I'd leave them alone since they'd be playing the SEC. But they aren't, so I won't. I hope you enjoy the ass kicking and reality check in Columbus. When I get suspended or banned from this board for doing the same thing you do in this post, it will be pretty funny and a definition of your hyprocrisy. I thought this place was better than WSI, I was clearly mistaken. Coming from an Illinois fan that HATES Iowa, I think you're wrong here. As someone else said, luck plays a part in nearly every "championship" season. So far Iowa was done what Iowa needs to do, and that's win. I don't think anyone is arguing that they're perfect (watching Stanzi would give me a heart attack), but that defense is sick, they can run the ball on anyone, and they have one of the better coaches in the conference who (gasp!) actually prepares his team to win (unlike the retard leading my favorite team). And I think that list of Big Ten coaches is ridiculous (and was clearly done before the start of this season). Rich Rod has done nothing to deserve that ranking except to flip the winningest program in football around to make it a spread offense which is going to die out in about 5 years. Tressel is easily the most overrated (top 5 recruiting class every year and not much to show for it). Paterno doesn't coach so much as worry about pissing himself on the sideline. I think considering the school and the talent level, Ferentz should be in the discussion for the top in the leauge. And Zook is clearly at the bottom, not in the middle.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 03:33 PM) What I mean is people like you who think its 1/100 chance when in reality and I'm not being biased its probably much closer to 25/100. You really think they have a 25% chance to win? Realistically? I think if they played 10 games, they'd be lucky to win 1.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 11:26 PM) Ya most of the Ilstu love is kind of fun joke and us just being completely bias. But if you guys honestly believe that ISU wouldn't have a chance in hell of beating U of I at Redbird Arena then you're just as biased as us. Define "chance." I don't think anyone would argue they don't have a "chance," but they have an incredibly small one (1 in 100). That's not bias, it's just the way it is. Illinois has better talent, better coaching, and more depth. It's not even close.

My prediction for this year's Big Ten: 1. MSU 2. ILL (within a game of winning the conference) 3. MINN 4. PUR 5. MICH 6. OSU 7. WIS 8. NW 9. IOWA 10. PSU 11. IND MSU loses some games it shouldn't early on, making the race for the title closer than expected. Illinois has a somewhat favorable schedule, so they come within a couple of games of winning. Basically 2-7 are a toss up, but I DO think Purdue is going to take a step back this year, while Michigan and Minnesota become really tough outs. OSU I'm not sold on. Unless you've got 3 NBA ready players (not just NBA potential players), you can't just plug in 2-3 blue chip starters each year and expect to be good. They have the names, but I dunno, its a wait and see for me with them. I also think one of the bottom three is going to have a suprise win or two against one of the top three. They're all not very good, but I think they'll be competitive. Come tourney time I expect the top 6 to get past the first round, 4 will get past the 1st weekend, 3 will be in the elite eight, and at least one will be in the final four. Depends on matchups, otherwise I'd say which teams.

Been playing Uncharted 2 since launch. Have to say all the hype was more than justified. Easily one of the best looking games ever, one of the best story production/acting games ever, and just downright awesome action sequences (including some new/innovative sequences). I was a big fan of the first Uncharted, but I gotta say this one is even better. Hopefully this series continues. Anyone else playing it? I have yet to try the multi-player yet.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 11:38 PM) Because it is based on win loss record and the strength of teams you have played. Probably a similar formula to the RPI. Just shows how much Illinois has underachieved in the tournament more than anything. Sagarin talked with Katz yesterday and they discussed Illinois. Basically they've been a good program throughout the span of this report (from '38 to last year), so that's why they're really high. It's all about consistency.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 06:52 PM) With the exception of the cases of a blind squirrel finding a nut that were the 2001 Sugar Bowl and 2007 Rose Bowl teams, the football program has been a joke under the watch of Ron Guenther (only team in the Big 10 that has a worse overall record, as well as the only one with fewer bowl games, since he was hired is Indiana). So it's no surprise he'd want to do an idiotic thing like give Zook an extension. I will never understand why Guenther is so beloved in Champaign by the big wigs at the school. I understand there is a lot more to a school's athletic department than the football program, but that's the one that makes the big money. I think Zook was signed through '13 and he just signed a one year extension this last year. I'm sure 95% of this was recruiting related, so he could sell recruits for this coming year that he'd be around for their college careers. Except for a few exceptions, Zook has recruited athletes, not football players. I've never been high on Juice Williams because although he has got a next-level arm, he can't make the proper reads or the proper throws. Take away the big win against OSU and his career outlook is nothing. It's incredibly sad that we have a talent like Benn (did anyone see his 2-3 catches saturday? how he basically said, f*** it, i'm tired of this crap, and broke about 10 tackles to make an extra 15 yards?) and can't utilize him. Something like 6 td's in his 3 year career. Pathetic. I thank Zook for restocking the program, but now it's time to find someone to coach em up.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Sep 26, 2009 -> 06:30 PM) He improved a lot from his freshman to his sophomore year and then has regressed since then. And the fact that Illinois has consistently had stupid penalties, bad turnovers, and just flat out missed assignments the last two years is a direct indictment of the coaching staff. He had mendenhall to carry the team his soph year. He has never been able to make the simple throws. And I agree Zook shares some of the blame, but he can't throw int's, choke up fumbles, commit holding penalties, etc.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Sep 26, 2009 -> 05:25 PM) Zook and Juice need to go. Zook did a good job building the talent back up for Illinois but he has to be one of the worst five coaches in college football come game day. Time for him to go and bring in a real coach. As much as I think Zook makes a lot of dumb coaching decisions, it's on the players to get their heads out of their asses. And Juice is a great athlete but a terrible qb. He hasn't gotten any better since his freshman year. He plays in one good game and gets people to believe in his "skill." the team should have been embarassed by the mizzoui loss. Guess they weren't embarassed enough.

QUOTE (Molto @ Sep 19, 2009 -> 05:08 PM) You aren't alone, but I think I'm partial to him because he's also the creator of the show. Charlie is my favorite. His voice and mannerisms steal most scenes.

QUOTE (RibbieRubarb @ Sep 18, 2009 -> 01:21 PM) Samantha Ronson says the same thing... lol zing! It always cracked me up that Family Video (one of the "major" chains in Illinois and other midwest states) rented porn but Blockbuster didn't. I'm not that sad to see Blockbuster go. On the rare occasion a decade ago that I'd rent a video, I'd go to the local mom and pop shop where it was 2 bucks for a game a weekend. Netflix is the way to go, although I feel that I'm getting taken advantage of because we get 3 a month and hold onto one or two of them for at least 2-3 months at a time it seems.