Men's Basketball Stinks-Losing at home to Tennessee State?

Thank you, Coach Guenther. You made Illinois a football school at the expense of the men's basketball program. From the NCAA title game to the crapper in just 4 years. Our mid-major coach just lost to a low major at home. TERRIBLE.

How Low Can Men's Basketball Go?

I mean, seriously..losing to a MAC team at home? Illinois had not lost to a mid-major at home since 1998! Take a bow, our mid-major coach?

We are now seeing the effects of Weber's inability to recruit. Then again, our beloved Coach Guenther chose loyalty over recruiting when he hired our mid-major coach. Contrast that to when Guenther hired Zook-he knew that recruiting is the most important factor in hiring a college coach.

I need to sit on press row and call Weber an idiot.

DIA Has Issues With Concessions

Shocking I know. This hilarious thread on illiniboard says it all.

Look, I am all for organizations raising funds by working for the DIA. Here is an idea: instead of having them work concession, let a professional organization like Aramark run concessions. That way, they know what they are doing and you will have "real" food instead of cold hot dogs and the infamous world-famous Memorial Stadium Nachos & Cheese. The DIA can pass on the additional costs for hiring Aramark to the consumer (the fans) who would probably gladly pay for quicker service and real food.

Organizations that want to raise money can help clean Assembly Hall & Memorial Stadium instead.

Another Ticket Snafu for a Bowl Game?

My previous posts rehashed the debacle that was the DIA handing out tickets for the 2002 Sugar Bowl. Go read them.

Then, when you are done, ask yourself if the DIA learned anything in the 5 long dark years since Illinois went to a bowl game. There is a lot of complaining going on over at the illiniboard. Specifically, the rumor is that the DIA may have sold tickets during its general sale on Tuesday that were better seats than what some I Fund donors got.

One guy in Chief Club said he is in Tunnel 15, row 73 which is in the end zone. He's been in Chief Club the past few years. This is a higher level than the Brave Club. A guy in the Brave Club the past couple of years is in Tunnel 7, Row 64 which is on the 10 yard line. Something is odd here.

Typical East Central Illinois Game Production at UC

Even though the game was in Chicago, it felt like a game at Tolono Unity High School. Got this from the illiniboard.

1) No stats on big scoreboard.

2) Only mention of the Rose Bowl team was in the I Fund commercial at halftime. No message from Zook or from the captains, etc. Very disappointed. They should've been recognized more. Why didn't they recognize the football team and then later solicit donations to the IFund/Stadium reconstruction in another commercial??

3) No videos from the 2005 game at Rosemont. NONE! Can't we make the UC a home court? If so, I would've been showing the highlights to that game the whole time during pregame warmups. But, nope, that seems too smart to do....

4) Why in the 1st half did the scoreboard operator stop the team fouls at 5? It is not an NBA game....

5) Problems with the timekeeper in the last minute and in overtime. It helped us in OT.

6) Mandi The Baton Twirler. Is she everywhere? Please Mandi, go away. You no longer twirl the baton and it was bad enough you had to be in Maui for the Arizona State game so you could partake in the hula hoop contest at halftime.


Yeah, I didn't expect much. Typical Univ. of East Central Illinois marketing again. But, even though I didn't expect much, I was still disappointed. Oh well. Hopefully someday, someone will get it and make full use of a multi million dollar jumbotron and facility!

Weber Criticizing Players on Postgame-BRUTAL

Yeah Illinois was 10/22 on free throws (does coaching play a role?) but Weber gave the game away yesterday with befuddling substitution patterns and not playing the bench very much. So when Illinois lost, Weber criticized the players after the game.

Hey Bruce, maybe your lousy recruiting has Illinois basketball headed towards oblivion. Next time, take a cue from the best AD in the country and call your players "idiots" instead.

How ADs Should Evaluate Head Coaches

Excellent article from a blog I like, coacheshotseat.com discussing why ADs are reluctant to fire coaches they hire. Sort of like the best AD in the country refusing to fire the guy he hired, offensive guru Ron Turner.

Good ADs are constantly evaluating their athletic coaches to see if they
are meeting the expectations and goals that are set for each athletic
team. Great ADs are constantly evaluating their athletic coaches relative
to expectations and goals, but they are also stretching their coaches and teams
to reach for goals that might seemingly be beyond their reach.

Far too often an AD, especially when he has hired the football coach, is not able to objectively evaluate the head coach because firing him would raises questions about the hiring in the first place. Smart ADs do not fall into this trap and make it very clear to a new head football hire and to the local media that the football coach will be evaluated on his performance, not on whether the AD hired the person or not.