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This offseason, Illini football coach Tim Beckman introduced a new catch-phrase for the program.
“Whatever is Necessary.” or “W.I.N.” is the new slogan Tim Beckman used to motivate/lead Illinois Fighting Illini football in 2013. Or actually, it’s W.I.N.T. whatever is necessary today. Yes, Beckman changed W.I.N. to W.I.N.T. by adding on the “Today” or T.
And it was just revealed minutes ago that this soundbite is up for Quote of the Year, on a Chicago sports talk radio midday program.
I asked IPFW forward Steve Forbes what he thought of the game Rayvonte Rice just had, and what he thought of Rayvonte Rice as a player.
“Who?” The Mastodons big man responded.
Now Rayvonte Rice is not as high profile a college basketball player as Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins, but he is certainly not obscure either. Rice is the leading scorer on this Illini basketball team. And he was the leading scorer in the Illini 57-55 escape at home over Forbes’ Mastodons, so you’d think Forbes would know who he is.
You’d think so. He just PLAYED AGAINST HIM.
Illini basketball Coach John Groce spent a huge portion of his last postgame press conference praising Tracy Abrams. “Dude’s a winner,” Groce said.
“Without Tracy Abrams we probably don’t get it done. He willed us to a win. He’s a big part of what we do.”
Tracy Abrams embodies that familiar “coach on the floor” storyline that permeates throughout college basketball. It’s a trite but true saying.
The two-day Big Ten/ACC Challenge tips off Tuesday evening. With Syracuse, Pitt, and Notre Dame joining the ACC, that conference is trying to stake its claim as the best in the country. Last year, the challenge finished in a 6-6 tie but here are my predictions for the 2013 Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
It’s never too early to start thinking ahead. Here is an a very early projection of the 2014 NCAA Tournament Bracketology. You will notice on the Bracket Matrix grades that The Sports Bank’s bracketology has been more accurate than ESPN’s Joe Lunardi three of the past four years. Be sure to check back at The Sports Bank throughout the college basketball season for weekly updates.
UPDATED: 12/2/13
Nathan Scheelhaase will leave the University of Illinois as the school’s all-time total offense leader. He needed 323 yards entering his final game versus Northwestern, in the LOL Bowl, and he got it in the fourth quarter. Like the man he supplants in that space in the record book, Juice Williams, he leaves behind a legacy that is mixed. Neither Nathan Scheelhaase nor Juice Williams will ever be remembered as great; just mediocre with some moments of greatness.
Both Scheelhaase and Williams were four year starters, Nate right from the get-go, Juice later in his freshman campaign. Both were dual threats who acquired much of that total offense record via the ground, and etched their names in the record book largely because they were durable enough to stay healthy, and came to the Illini at a time when the situation was open to them having the opportunity to start all four years.
This is going to sound a little bit nuts, but this Illini football team is very close to being genuinely mediocre. Not train wreck awful like they’ve looked in the Big Ten, but actual mediocrity. We know Northwestern could “Northwestern this away” quite easily in the second half. Even though they’re a field goal favorite, some Northwesterning might happen today. If we get an Illini football win, they entered the second half trailing by just three, that’s 5-7.
If Bill Cubit had shown ANY FAITH AT ALL in his running game at Penn State- that’s 6-6. A very unimpressive 6-6 and the bowl bid would be to a sixth tier bowl, but it’s mediocrity nonetheless. Not anything to be proud of, nor aspire to. But mediocrity is better than abysmal, which is what they were last year. Illini football has progressed this year. Not much mind you, and certainly nowhere near as enough as any of us would like, but it’s progress nonetheless.
Illini football is in a really sad state right now. When you’re double digit underdogs to the lowly Indiana Hoosiers, and you can’t even cover that…ouch! Will Tim Beckman get fired? That’s pretty much the only Illini football topic people want to discuss right now. How hot is Beckman’s seat they ask. Well, it’s complicated.
Someone’s head will roll for this, but who? Likely not Beckman. And the answer is pretty obvious.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Beckman’s buyout is two times his base pay of $400,000 for each year remaining on his contract. The agreement includes a $275,000 annual deduction from the buyout based on Beckman’s “duty to mitigate damages with other income,” according to his contract, which gives an example buyout. Should he be fired before the 2014 season, Beckman would be paid $1,312,500.
As it stands right now Illini football coach Tim Beckman is on the hot seat; like Three Mile Island at meltdown level hot. However, there’s plenty of time for him to fix that. I will present the case for terminating Tim Beckman today, and the case for retaining him tomorrow. I will present five points for dismissal and five points for retention. And then you can make up your mind.
Of course, your opinion and mind do not matter- only the preference of University of Illinois Athletic Director Mike Thomas does. And thus far, Thomas hire of Tim Beckman has been such a disaster that Thomas himself is very much on the hot seat.
You should have seen the look on Thomas’ face when he left the field following the Illini 42-3 destruction at the hands of Michigan State. It conveyed “what a train wreck, and what can I do to fix this train wreck I have brought upon my program.”
Tim Beckman will likely return to the University of Illinois for 2014. Barring an epic collapse of going O-fer down the stretch here, Becks will get a third season leading the Illini. With five games remaining for the Illini, 2-3 or better guarantees Tim Beckman comes back to Champaign. 2-3 in the last 5 is also the best case scenario for Illinois, but 1-4 is also likely. At 1-4, you can kind of, maybe go either way in terms of saying whether or not Tim Beckman returns.
However, this isn’t about what value judgments. It’s not about whether you or I think he deserves another chance. It’s about whether or not Mike Thomas gives him one. And he probably will.
What if Tim Beckman goes 0-5 to finish 0-16 in Big Ten play in his first two years?
Why am I writing this up? Because I have to. You know I have to.
Illini versus Northwestern:
Why are you actually reading this? Because you love it. America loves a pathetic train wreck. How else can you explain Snooki’s 15 minutes? And how she somehow parlayed that into another 30 minutes? And believe me, one team here will play as unsightly as Snooki’s face. And the other team will play as unsightly as Snooki in tight pants. And you love watching me squirm and suffer; by having to write about this “hey, somebody will actually win for once” Bowl.
It’s the LOL Bowl, the Land of Lincoln trophy or LOL trophy game. And given how both of these teams are playing, the LOL contest will certainly have you ROTFL or LMAO. The Illini ended their 20 game Big Ten losing streak at Purdue a couple days ago. It was another tallest midget or nicest house in Joliet contest; just like this one.
Now the longest current losing streak in Big Ten play belongs to Purdue…and Northwestern.
Get ready for W.I.N. (What’s Important Now) of Pat Fitzgerald versus W.I.N……T. (Whatever Is Necessary……Today) of Tim Beckman.
Illinois basketball had some issues tonight doing something that the 1996 and 2000 GOP Presidential primary fields handled with ease: stopping Steve Forbes. A different Steve Forbes, this was a chubby IPFW big man with totally boss facial hair; not a flat tax promoting mega-rich publisher and CEO of a major wing of the business press.
But eventually Illinois won 57-55. Eventually Forbes fouled out with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 6 turnovers.
Illinois basketball got outrebounded 39-33 by a middle of the road Summit League team. The Indiana University of Purdue at Ft. Wayne Mastodons entered at 6-2, with close losses to Dayton and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. If they had been able to make any free throws at all, then this really would have been an embarrassing home loss for Illinois basketball. IPFW shot just 2-13 at the charity stripe (15%).
