bigruss

Assuming Illinois can't get the top targets (the Millers, Marshall, etc), I'm really hoping for Bryce Drew. Martin is a good fall back plan if those guys don't show enough interest right away.

That's pretty spot on for how I feel about him. I don't see him winning Big Ten titles or championships on a regular basis, but I'm fairly confident we would be in the tournament consistently with him (rumors are he would kill it in recruiting, and he can coach some defense).

Bmags, how do you feel about Cuonzo Martin? Illini fans are pretty split on him, probably a lot lower since he didn't make the tourney this year though. Sounds like he's pushing hard for Mizzou or Illinois and it sounds like Mizzou has a big interest in him right now.

It sucks for the players, but I'm just glad that this can be over soon.

Reading some rumors that Crean to Mizzou is getting close.

Wow Steve, glad you caught it now at least. Good luck in everything.

The only thing I'm worried about is some of the chatter that Illinois has had zero success in gaining interest from a top level coach (Bennett, etc). So then it leaves us with Cuonzo Martin and Monty Williams as the leading targets, both have HUGE questions marks. I'm not thrilled about keeping Groce, I still think it's the right move to get a new coach, but I think we are learning very quickly between the Groce hire and those who are interested now that this is not a top job anymore. So we are really going to have to rely on Whitman's ability to find the next guy, not so much as "guy x fell into our laps" or "pay this man what he wants".

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 11:50 AM) Groce needs to go no matter what. Insightful as always.

QUOTE (Sonik22 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 10:54 AM) I'm going to keep this in mind for future Bachelor party considerations. I'll report back here how the stay is, they definitely seem to be the class of downtown Las Vegas and I'm interested to see how the pool atmosphere, location, etc hold up vs on the strip.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 10:14 AM) Most of it can't be down in less then two months, it takes time. At least he is making steps towards doing the big things he talked about in his campaign. So it went from most productive president in first 2 months to he's still talking about it.

QUOTE (Sonik22 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 08:31 AM) My god. That is incredible. Yea, we were blown away when looking it up. $650ish a night for it, and then we supplemented with cheap rooms (100 a night) for extra beds. When you split it among 6 people it's not bad at all.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 12:25 AM) Holy s***, that's your suite?? And I'm glad you say that about the MGM Sig, because that's where I'll be for a bachelor party this summer. The Sig is a great value, we had a fantastic time there. One of the few places with balconies and being out there at 5am still drinking was extremely cool. The 3 pools makes it much easier to get good pool space, plus it's not as big of a hassle to get a chair. The downside is that you aren't directly on the strip, getting to anything is still like a 20 minute walk (it also has a tunnel to the MGM and that takes a solid 15 minutes even with the moving sidewalks pushing you).

QUOTE (Sonik22 @ Feb 28, 2017 -> 12:12 PM) We've got a group of 11 of us going. I'm staying at the Monte Carlo, but my one friend has a suite at the Cosmo with a balcony overlooking the Bellagio fountains. I imagine most time spent in a hotel will be there. Awesome, yea we try to get one nice suite so that we have a good place to watch games/pregame when not at the tables/sports books/pools. MGM Sig has nice places and so does the Elara Hilton. This year we have one of the Golden Nugget suite's: I'm interested to see how Downtown is for a few nights, only been there for a few hours before and it should be a pretty different experience. Typically we stay near the Cosmo, love that area.

QUOTE (Sonik22 @ Feb 28, 2017 -> 07:24 AM) I'll be in Las Vegas, March 22-25 for the Sweet Sixteen. Cannot wait. Nice, where are you staying? I'll be there as well, at the Golden Nugget (first time staying downtown).

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 23, 2017 -> 09:52 AM) I'd agree on the 'completely familiar' and 'unoriginal' but not sold on the 'entertaining' part. I'll give it a couple more episodes to see whether I want to stick with it. Yea Apatow has played out the struggling comic bit a lot, I really hope it gets better but it hasn't had the same grasp on the audience as many of the other comic-centric shows. Just not sure if Holmes has that factor. BTW, I do recommend Apatow's book "Sick in the Head", outstanding collection of interviews with him and a bunch of comedians. Really good stuff.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Feb 18, 2017 -> 09:31 PM) I thought the talk was that Thad might hang em up due to his back(?) --- Also, Iowa State's in second place in the Big 12, but yet we have fans thinking that a coaching change would be good for some reason. Are they really? You guys have a couple bad losses but that's a fine season for Iowa St so far. Is it just Hoiberg hangover?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 18, 2017 -> 08:56 PM) So I've been told the board at OSU has determined Thad has built up enough credibility that they are gonna allow him to rebuild the program after his horrendous classes the last few years. I agree. But I'm sure many don't. Yea not sure if I agree with it, OSU has fallen pretty damn hard. And it's not like he's got a great class coming in, and while he has early 2018 commits they aren't stellar either (though Bazley looks like a good pickup). I'll admit I have very little info on them but you have a 17 PG rater in the 300s and the 2 2018 players committed in the 100s, that doesn't inspire confidence. Maybe you have a better pulse on the situation there, but on the outside he looks toast. And that sucks because I've really respected Thad.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 15, 2017 -> 08:36 AM) Thats got to be my least favorite restaurant in the area..... Open late is pretty easy as Au Cheval and many of the bar/restaurants are open. My recent favorite is green street smoked meats. My buddy's place Crossroads has good bar food. http://greenstreetmeats.com/food/ BBQ and especially brisket. I've been wanting to go to green street for awhile, friends have raved about them.

QUOTE (Hawkfan @ Feb 13, 2017 -> 12:36 PM) Immediate threat to credibility by siting the wrong movie. You mean citing?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 12, 2017 -> 03:17 PM) Don't do it Russ. ALWAYS problems with the dumb tops on those things. If you want an open air vehicle, get a Wrangler. Yea I won't, just want one If I ever move out west I'd get a car like that, but just so not worth it here in Chicago.

Is that an A4 or A6? I still really like the Q3, but lately I've been drooling over getting a 2 door sporty convertible. 100% stupid for Chicago but dammit I want one

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 9, 2017 -> 01:08 AM) I swear, nothing feels better than seeing someone use an app that you helped build out. Especially when they love it. Which app? SSO is the best part of my job, it actually creates visible value to our users/customers. You don't get that much in IT Security.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 8, 2017 -> 10:33 AM) What is this show like? Any shows you think compare well to is? I love HBO but I've been hesitant to watch this. Seems a little weird for me. Hmm that's a tricky question to answer for this show. It is weird, and it isn't afraid to be weird. Quick synopsis without giving away much: A young (45ish) pope gets elected after a stalemate in voting for older candidates. He was supposed to be controllable, but instead he is an ego-maniac, brilliant, politician who has a crazy idea to get the church back in power (which many, many disagree with). He has a history that led him here including being abandoned by his parents. To me, Jude Law's character is definitely intriguing, you want to know how this idea of his will work out. You don't believe it will, but at the same time he wins political battle after political battle so you don't really know just how capable he is. The history of his parents is a bit contrived but I guess necessary to provide context as to how this guy became himself. I also find it incredibly interesting that The show won't be for everyone, but I'm willing to stick with it to see where it goes.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 7, 2017 -> 07:59 AM) When I processed credit cards at a hotel, VISA/MC/DIS are processed like cash but, AMEX was processed as an accounts receivable and involved a percentage loss by the business. I've never heard of a business having to pay anything to accept VS/MC/DS before. I talked to a few small businesses and they were getting charged a % by CC companies.

Anyone watching The Young Pope? It's odd, amazing and captivating for me.