Loren Tate on Football Schedules: More Stupidity
Admittedly, tougher scheduling would not always have its rewards. There would be years when good Illini teams would not qualify for the postseason. But consider the enormous positives and how the competitive juices would be whetted for Illini fans and players in a truly challenging September.
Loren, the point of getting to a bowl game is to a) reward the players for their hard work during the season; b) give the fans someplace nice to go over the Christmas holiday; c) make money for the school; and above all d) give your younger players two extra weeks of practice that they would not get otherwise if the team didn't make a bowl game.
Loren, need I remind you that Illinois has gone bowling only 5 times in Guenther's 16 years on the job? Or that Illinois has not gone bowling in consecutive seasons since 1991 & 1992? You know, BEFORE Guenther took over and ruined the football program?
Loren, we understand that you love all things Ron Guenther. This explains why you fail to criticize the best A.D. in the country for his terrible decision to schedule a game vs. Western Michigan in freakin' Detroit and leave UI with only 6 home games.
posted by Fire Ron Guenther at 2:12 PM
5 Comments:
Loren Tate is off HIS rocker? Now that is funny coming from you.
But Guenther has taken UI to 2 BCS games!
You must work for a political candidate the way you choose to take one snippet out of an entire column. Tate's point is as follows: isn't it more fun to see the Illini play a "quality" opponent rather than playing the easy team they can schedule for a guaranteed W. To argue that it isn't is asinine. The realities of money are the only things that temper this approach. What fan wouldn't want to see UI vs. Kentucky rather than EIU or some directional Louisiana school? Nobody in their right mind. Would you like the Illini to play a Big Ten schedule without Michigan or OSU? Probably gets more wins, but as Tate points out, is that the only goal? Do you want to drive to East Central Illinois just to see the Illini crush somebody? Not me. We all understand why it doesn't happen as does Tate.
By the way, you may have missed Tate's comment: (Ron Guenther faces criticism this season because they only have six (home games)). We know you want Tate to call for Guenther's hanging, but to call him a brownoser is ignoring the facts. I think Tate thinks Guenther is a good AD. He, like others, can feel this way, yet not think Guenther is perfect. Maybe the just don't have the tunnel vision or stupidity that you have..
I hope you turds read this snippet from Bob Asmussen's chat today:
Adam, Savoy, IL: Bob:
What's your assessment of Ron Zook's future at Illinois? It appears as though Ron Guenther has given him the keys to the castle (dusting him off after the Florida debacle, very good salaries for his assistants, competitive recruiting budget, excellent facilities, etc.). Aside from giving him a seventh home game each season, what more can the DIA and administration do to keep Zook happy?
Thanks.
Moderator: Adam,
The seventh home game, in my opinion, is very important to this staff. They won't publicly criticize the current schedule. They are glass half-full types. But there is no way to justify playing Western Michigan in Detroit. Nonsensical is putting it politely. I think Ron Zook would love to play Notre Dame, but that isn't in Illinois' control.
http://www.illinihq.com/chats/2008/08/18/camp_rantoul_chat__pm_monday
You are right that playing ND will LIKELY never happen. Playing WMU in Detroit doesn't excite me and I would still like to understand why lead to that deal, but frankly I don't care that much.
I do like the idea of playing MU every year and I think the rivalry has been reignited, but as a fan I would much rather see the series as a home & home, but there are arguments to be made for the neutral site as well. The MU game is the one game that will prevent them from having seven true home games/year.
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