ILLINISPACE

Temporary Tattoos have become popular as gameday wear....

2008-09-11T11:39:00.001-07:00

As you can see, temporary tattoos have become popular for some fans to add to their gameday costume. (pic courtesy of here)

The Tailgating Scene......

2008-09-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

Here is an Illini fan wearing a shirt that has been popular amongst Illinois students in recent years......it seems Michigan still dredges up strong emotions in Illini fans.

Did you like the throwback uniforms from last Saturday's game?

2008-09-10T15:27:00.001-07:00

If you liked them, then you can bid on them here. The bidding goes thru September 15th.

Personally, I thought the uniforms were awesome. I'm not a big fan of the modern Illini uniforms....they look like a cross between the Denver Broncos and Old New York Giants. (Bronco uniforms and Giants' helmets that is). And that makes for a big UGGGGG combined with a huge LEEEEEEEEE!!!

I'd be all for keeping the throwback uniforms, to be honest. They were really cool.

Side note: As of the posting of this message, the Juice #7 throwback Jersey was already bid up to $970.00. Wow! The Benn #9 jersey was at $610.00. A comparative steal, I guess.....#9 has much more upside than #7.

ESPN previews saturday's game against the Ragin' Cajuns

2008-09-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

ESPN's preview of saturday's game has been posted. Click here to check it out.

The biggest takeaways from the article:

1. Illinois gave up over 200 yards rushing last week against Eastern Illinois

2. Louisiana-Lafayette had the 7th ranked rushing attack in the nation last year, and they have a star running back on the roster (Tyrell Fenroy)

3. The Cajuns play a ball control offense

Overall, this should be a good test for the Illinois defense, which so far has been the big question mark for the Illini in the first two games.

Check out this Illini Football video set to Kidd Russell's 'Rush"

2008-09-10T14:54:00.001-07:00

What do you think of it? Cool video.....not sure about the rhymes though.

Keys to Illinois Victory...

2008-08-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ok folks, we're less than twenty-four hours away to the big kick-off to the 2008 Fighting Illini football season. #19 Illinois vs. #6 Missouri, can it get any better to quench our Illini thirst? Let's sit down together and do the necessary pre-game prognasticating.

Here are the keys to victory for the Illini:

1) The Illini defensive line must prove it is among the best in the country. They can count on playing against one of the best passing QBs in the nation. If the Illini D-line doesn't get to Chase Daniel early and often, the game is all but over. The Illini must not just only get sacks, but knock Daniel to the turf all night.

2) The Illini must show their running game can still go post-Mendenhall. All signs point up.

3) Moreso than the running game, Juice must prove he has improved as a passer. This game will not be won by the Illini without some accurate downfield passing. You're a known quantity now fellas, you ain't sneaking up on no one this year.

My call is Illinois 28, Missouri 24.

Go Illini!

Illini Football ranked #8 in one early pre-season poll

2008-05-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a difference a year makes. The Illini are ranked #8 in a pre-season poll by a columnist from down in Georgia. Do you agree with this ranking?

Thoughts prior to the spring game

2008-04-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

According to the Coach Zook, it's been a productive spring practice period for the Illini. However, judging by the team scrimmage up in Chicagoland last week, there are some unanswered questions on offense. Here are the potential offensive issues--

quarterback -- Juice has only completed about half of his passes this spring. He doesn't appear to be improving his accuracy from last season. He just throws a very hard ball, and doesn't have much touch on the ball. Is passing the football kind of like shooting free throws? You know what I mean. Take Shaq. No matter how hard he tries or how much he practices, his free throws routinely clang of the rim like a ton of bricks dropping on pavement. I think it's the same for Juice when he passes. Ron Zook needs to seriously think about giving Eddie McGee a shot at the starting job during Camp Rantoul.

wide receiver -- Arrelious Benn had shoulder surgery, and has been wearing a no-contact red shirt during drills. He won't play in the spring game. Is he going to be able to overcome this injury? Or will it hamper him in a chronic way? Otherwise, Illinois has a lot of "potential" in their young talent at this position, but nothing proven. Jeff Cumberland has looked good in spring drills, though.

running back -- this is an area of weakness for the team. Who is going to fill Mendenhall's huge shoes? Troy Pollard is not in spring drills, and he's coming off of a knee injury. Daniel Dufrene showed flashes last year, but nothing this spring so far. Freshman Mikel Leshoure from Centennial is going to take time to develop. So, there's no star power at running back yet.

offensive line -- the unit's not in synch yet. Juice got "sacked" repeatedly during the Lemont Scrimmage. He had to run for his life. Good thing he was wearing the red jersey.

As you can see, offense is a big question mark. Lots of work to be done prior to the start of the season. Especially since Illinois is not a passing team at all.

The state of Illini Basketball after the Ohio St. loss at home

2008-01-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't devoted much thought to basketball on this site yet this year. I was trying to figure out where this lethargy was coming from about orange and blue hoops, and decided that it wasn't for any other reason than my brain was filled with thoughts of the Rose Bowl and Illini football. With the football season now over, let's take a look at Illini basketball.

It was a pre-big ten season that had very mixed results. Things started out well with the trip to Maui, with Illinois scoring victories over Hawaii, Az St., and Ok St. during that trip. They also played decently against Duke, though that ended up being an easy win for the Blue Devils. They followed that up with very close losses to both Maryland and Arizona, games that no one really thought Illinois would win. So, things were looking moderately good heading in to late December. Then, a loss at home to Miami of Ohio kind of woke everyone up. Uh oh, was the collective thought of everyone at the Assembly Hall that night. The offense was just anemic. Illinois bounced back with a win over Mizzou in the Braggin' Rights game, but then the wheels totally fell off with a loss at home to Tennessee St. in the last home game prior to the Big Ten opener. That's right folks-- TENNESSEE ST.!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was one heck of a shocking loss. After that game, Illini fans kind of took a deep breath and shuddered.

The Big Ten opener saw the Illini go down hard to a not very good Ohio St. team, once again at home. So, there's the summary so far of the big picture. Now, let's take a quick look at the players:

Chester Frazier - He's playing very poorly so far this season, and Illini fans are giving him absolute hell for it. A good number of fans cascaded venomous boos down on Chester when he left the game for the last time against Ohio St. That's the first time I can ever remember fans in the Assembly Hall booing the Illini. It truly was a sad day, to be honest. I'll never look around the Hall with the same kind of pride that I once did, that's for sure. Chester's playing hard, just not very well. His defense has been solid, if not spectacular. Jamar Butler torched him for 32 points in the Ohio St. game. Nevertheless, he's shown the ability to lock down a number of counterparts this season. His shortcoming comes on the offensive side of the ball. He has been playing horribly as the team's "quarterback". Indeed, his skill level has seemed to drop compared to last season. He tends to get in trouble when pressured hard on the dribble, and succumbs to the double team fairly frequently. Big problem there is he keeps his head down and picks up his dribble too soon when he's under solid pressure. Additionally, his passing has been poor, at best. He throws the ball away on lobs a lot, when he should either not pass it or should deliver a bounce pass. Another thing is that he has no confidence in his outside shot, and either airballs the 3 pointer or bricks it off the rim. This lack of confidence also causes him to pass up wide open shots. He tends to get out of control when he drives to the hoop, once again displaying a propensity to put his head down when in traffic. He doesn't move well in the motion offense. On top of this, his confidence is totally gone now. Positives? He is a good rebounder! I'm not sure what the answer is on Chester Frazier. I think Weber knows he has no choice but to keep working with him.

Demetri McCamey -- McCamey has played very poorly so far this season. He has shown flashes of talent, though. He can handle the ball better than Frazier in flashes, but he loses the ball off the dribble very frequently. He also tends to play with ihs head down, and has not shown very good court vision so far this season. He is a very poor outside shooter, and frequently airballs or bricks three pointers. He is a good passer, though. His defense is very poor. Overall, he is still somewhat of an unknown quantity. We need to see more of him before making any further judgments. A lot of fans want Weber to bench Frazier and to just go with McCamey. This is a case of fans having the "boo boo" face, however. He's not playing any better than Frazier, and his defense is much worse. Weber has been giving him more minutes as his effort and defense improve. I think Weber is handling things okay. Chester definitely should still start, however.

Trent Meacham - He has been Illinois' best guard so far this season. He had a couple of big games from the outside during the December run of games. He has shown the ability to consistently hit the 3 point shot--- but ONLY when he has his feet set and hits a spot up shot. He hasn't shown the ability to shoot off the dribble or to create his own shot so far this season. To be fair, teams really key on him since he is Illinois' only viable outside threat. His defense has been serviceable, but not spectacular. He has a tendency to get manhandled by bigger athletic guards, and he is slow. His effort has been outstanding, however. The big test for Trent will be this-- can he compete against a steady diet of big, phyical, athletic guards during the Big Ten season. He disappeared last year during the Big Ten. Let's hope he can make the adjustment this year.

Sean Pruitt - He plays solid defense, but he doesn have trouble defending against the more mobile big men (like Kosta Koufos). He has no shot outside of 5 ft. from the basket. He has shown good inside moves, though, and his rebounding has been outstanding. He still is not a good passer, and falls in to the double team trap very easily. Still, he's playing some pretty good ball for the Illini. His major huge weakness is free throw shooting. He missed two in a row at the end of the Tennessee St. game that surely led directly to the loss. He's hovering at or below the 50% mark from the charity stripe, I believe. Ouch.

Brian Randle - He's been very inconsistent so far, and has also suffered two separate injuries that have slowed him down a bit. He played fairly well against Ohio St., though. He once again has shown he's one of the better lock down defenders in the Big Ten. However, he has also once again shown the propensity to get into foul trouble early in the first half. He has spent many a first half this season primarily on the bench due to picking up two early fouls. Offensively, he doesn't move well in the motion offense, and his shooting has been absolutely atrocious. One three point shot he took in the season opener actually line drived and hit the shot clock, which is several feet ABOVE the backboard. Ugly. He should NOT take 3 pointers. Bruce Weber needs to flash him the red light on that. He has shown the ability to drive to the hoop, but most of the time he is pretty passive on offense. Finally, his free throw shooting has been absolutely atrocious. All in all, Randle's career is a pretty big disappointment so far. He needs to put all that behind him, and salvage something the rest of this season. One final note: Randle will not be playing in the NBA. He's not even close to being an NBA player. He might play in Europe, but his shooting is so poor that even that might be doubtful.

Well, as for the rest of the guys (Tisdale, Cole, Alexander, Davis, Semrau, Carlwell, Jordan, Hicks) we'll have to talk about them another time. They've shown some potential.

Tomorrow's game against Penn St. is a big one for this team. Whatever razor thin sliver of hope that they still have of making the NCAA tournament will be absolutely gone if they can't beat the Nittany Lions at home.

Go Illini!

One final note: Please don't boo the team at the Assembly Hall. They're trying the best they can.

Illinois to play USC in the Rosebowl! Yes!

2007-12-02T18:58:00.000-08:00

C-U in Pasadena, baby! Click here to read the story about how Illinois is going to the Rosebowl.

Check out this video of the Green St. celebrations following Illinois' titanic upset of Ohio St.

2007-11-26T13:09:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, here's a nice look back at very recent history. Wow, who would have figured that the Illinois upset would trigger a chain reaction in college football......one so big that Ohio St. is still in the hunt for the national title. Yep, if Oklahoma beats Mizzzou, there's a good chance Ohio St. will go to the BCS title game. And that would mean Illinois would likely go to the Rose Bowl. Otherwise, we'll probably play Florida in the Capital One Bowl down in Orlando.

Either way, who would have thunk it?

ESPN's Katz writes flattering article about Illini's Weber

2007-11-19T09:51:00.000-08:00

Check out this article on ESPN.com. It is very complementary of Bruce Weber. He deserves some accolades. There's no cleaner coach in America.

Illinois basketball team looking past Hawaii and Arizona St. to Duke!!!!!!

2007-11-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

What the heck! This Illinois basketball team is already looking past Hawaii and Az. St., and ahead to the Duke game. That's not good. After seeing the opening game of the season against Northeastern, the team looked very, very rough. There's no rotation, no fluidity. Poor shooting, poor passing, poor offensive motion. Not many bright spots during that game.

If Weber doesn't shake this team up, then they're going to lose to both Hawaii and Arizona St. It could be a long season.....and a REALLY long pre-season.

Illini shock the world, beat Ohio St. 28 - 21

2007-11-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

Check out this Chicago Tribune column on how the Illini shocked the world on Saturday with their Titanic capsizing of Ohio St.

It truly was an amazing victory. First victory against a #1 team in 51 years. First time ever on the road to beat a #1. And it was Ohio St.

If Illinois beats Northwestern on Saturday at home, they'll be 9 -3, and that's just amazing. The experts are saying if that's the case, there's a good chance they'll play Florida in a New Year's Day bowlgame. That would be special.

Go Illini!

Herbstreit and Musberger's post-game analysis (Illinois vs. Michigan 2007)

2007-10-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

What do you think of Herbstreit and Musberger's analysis? I can't wait till they come back for another Saturday prime time game. I see many more in the future. Despite the loss, I still think the program is on the rise. Big time.

Check out this video...

2007-10-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

Watch this video, taken by a fan (from Illinoisloyalty.com), that shows some of the pre-game and the first series of the Illinois-Michigan game. Wow, the stadium was really electric for the game. The two F-16's flying over with their afterburners on was especially cool. It would have been absolute mayhem if they'd pulled it out somehow. Maybe in 2009.......

What they're saying heading in to the Ball St. game

2007-10-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a look around the wires to see what the buzz is heading in to Homecoming this weekend:

The Orange and Blue News provides a great summary every week of Zook's weekly press conference. Here it is.

The Tribune has an article about how Zook is working to improve Special Teams after their disastarous performance against Michigan. Not too much news here, though, except for Zook's statement that he'd like to have Vontae Davis and Arrelious Benn return all kick-offs. But then he made a bunch of excuses as to why that can't happen-- Davis gets tired, and he's worried about Rejus getting injured. Uhhhhh.....I don't get this one.

The Pantagraph has a good article about how Ball St. is no push-over team. They have a potent offense. Their QB has thrown 20 touchdowns and only 3 picks, and his favorite receiver has 55 receptions, 7 for touchdowns. Yikes. This is going to be a real test for our defense, especially our secondary. It's going to be a good game Saturday. In my opinion, the biggest thing we're going to have to watch out for is an emotional let-down after the Michigan game. Zook teams don't have a good history of responding well the week after an emotional game. Time to turn over a new leaf here.

Now this is a truly, truly dirty play......

2007-10-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

Glenn Dorsey is a beast! That would have been a shame if his knee had been blown out by that totally dirty and unnecessary chop block. Shame on Auburn for that one. That player should have been ejected from the game, if the official saw that one. There's no place for that in college football.

Zook keeps up recruiting magic; lands one of nation's top senior WR's

2007-10-22T18:08:00.001-07:00

Well, Ron Zook says recruiting is just like shaving. You have to wake up and do it every day. He's definitely living up to that motto. Illinois just landed one of the nation's top wide receivers-- Fred Sykes, from Chamberlain High School in Tampa Bay, Fl.

Nice.

The buzz (or lack thereof)....after Michigan

2007-10-22T17:44:00.001-07:00

The Illinois-Michigan game was a classic example of a disciplined team beating an un-disciplined team. Illinois had all the effort and emotion that they needed. What they didn't have was the discipline that would have enabled them to channel that emotion into better execution. The result: penalties and a dropped punt reception that led directly to Illinois' defeat. Nevertheless, things are still looking up at Illinois. After a loss like that, it helps to remember where we were last year at this time. So, chin up, Illini fans. The chance for 8 wins is still out there, and that would mean a decent bowl berth. Here's what's on the wires today:

Is there a quarterback controversy at Illinois? Ron Zook says no, but then goes on to explain that Juice will start, but that he'll probably still share time with McGee. And he says that McGee will get more and more time as he gets better and better. Okay, now I'm really confused.

John Supinie of the Peoria Journal Star tries to keep a positive outlook in this article on the Illini's prospects for the remainder of the season. He notes how down Illinois fans were after the Michigan loss, but reminds fans of how far the team has come since the doldrums of the last five seasons.

This Daily Illini editorial very eloquently slams Zook for what it calls his "Quarterback Carousel". It compares the way he switched out Juice and McGee to a restless baseball manager who keeps pulling pitchers off the mound. I must say, I have to agree with this article. Illinois has really got itself into a pickle with this quarterback situation. Juice is the face of the team, and he's been instrumental to the recruiting boon that Zook has been able to pull off the last few seasons. Now, it appears to everyone that McGee should get the call. But what happens to Juice then? Would he transfer? Or change positions? Who knows. But I know one of the reasons Zook is sticking with Juice is that he made certain promises to him in order to get him to come here. At what point will Zook call Juice in to the office and tell him that he has to go with the guy that gives him the best chance to win?

Well, that's about it for the buzz around the Illini this week so far. As you can see, the " noise in the system", as Zook likes to call it, has died off quite a bit. That's what happens when you lose twice in a row! Nevertheless, as I've stated already, it's important to keep perspective. I think the goal for this team should be 8 wins. That means we win out, except for the Ohio state game. Very achievable. We just have to beat Ball St., Minnesota, and Northwestern. Very achievable.

One last look in the rearview mirror at Iowa

2007-10-16T00:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it was a pretty darn heartbreaking loss on Saturday. 10 - 6 to a really bad Iowa team. So what does that make Illinois? Well, on Saturday, the Illini were also really bad. Here are the biggest weaknesses I see in this team after that game:

- No Passing Game! Let's face it...when Juice is in at quarterback, our passing game is virtually non-existant. The weird "Veer Option" that they run fooled people during the first 6 games, but Iowa had enough game tape to watch, and were able to shut the Illini offense down. Two options if the Illini want to win more than 7 games this season: Teach Juice to pass (quick) or insert McGee as the starter. The problem is, Juice is the face of the program and was instrumental in re-opening the Public League to recruiting. So it puts Zook in a tight corner with recruiting. But ultimately, you have to win. The best player needs to play.

- Coaching decisions during the game. I don't want to beat a dead horse here. We all know Zook should have declined those penalties on Saturday. Problem is, I'm not sure he thinks he should have. And that's kind of scary, to be honest. I mean, I really think he thinks he made the right call.

That's it for now. I just got a sick feeling thinking about how close we came to winning that sucker..... even though Iowa fully deserved the W.

In case you missed it....here's the ESPN GAMEDAY segment on Zook from last Saturday

2007-10-11T05:01:00.001-07:00

A clip of Jeff Jordan's first basket as an Illini

2007-10-11T04:54:00.000-07:00

Check out the above clip. It's about 30 seconds of action from the Illini basketball team's trip to Canada for their pre-season exhibition tour. Why did I post it? It shows Jeff Jordan's first basket as an Illini. I didn't know he was a lefty. He's only 6'1", but he's got hops just like his old man.

Watch Erin Andrews paint an Illini nose!

2007-10-11T04:46:00.000-07:00

The MichiganZone defends the Illini in its "Top 25 Re-evaluation"!

2007-10-10T17:41:00.000-07:00

Listen up Illini fans! You're not going to BELIEVE this! Our friend Yost, over at the MichiganZone, puts up a very good argument about how the AP and coaches top 25 is pretty much skewed toward teams that get pre-season media hype. The blog post includes some legit props that are handed out to the Fighting Illini. It's a must read for Illini Fans!