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For the second consecutive season, the Wisconsin Badgers were out-coached by Penn State’s Bill O’Brien.
O’Brien had the Badgers defense confused on numerous occasions in a 31-24 upset win at Camp Randall.
Wisconsin’s coach Gary Andersen summed it up by saying, “we were schemed up by a very good football coach.”
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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.
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Michael Jordan is recently married again. To a much younger woman named Yvette Prieto. She previously dated Julio Iglesias Jr. before meeting the Chicago Bulls legend and Charlotte Bobcats owner, His Airness Michael Jordan. It was recently announced that MJ and Yvette Prieto are expecting their first child.
Given how his first marriage went, and how his lifestyle seems to be, I don’t really get this decision. But then again, I also don’t get why women marry child molesters and stay married to them, so what do I know? Now is not the time for deep thinking; now is the time to see more of what Yvette Prieto looks like.
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The Chicago Blackhawks have one of the winningest coaches in NHL history in Joel Quenneville. He has helped bring the Stanley Cup back to Chicago and was apart of the coaching staff who won the cup for the Colorado Avalanche shortly after their move from Quebec. His playing career also earned him the respect of many still in the NHL that transitioned from the ice to the front office.
Coach Q is also maddening to try to understand. The Chicago Blackhawks has a bevy of talent ready to get a chance to play in the NHL. Those players are getting a chance to play regularly after a few offseason transactions, but even if they are playing well Quenneville uses them like they are not.
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Manchester United manager David Moyes was insistent that any new contract talks surrounding Ryan Giggs will have to wait until the end of the season. Ryan Giggs, who celebrated his 40th birthday on Friday, will have a chance to renegotiate his deal in the summer after the Premier League season is over, according to Moyes.
Ryan Giggs, who also is one of the primary subjects in the documentary Class of ’92, which is released tomorrow, is kind of a coach on the pitch for Moyes. However, his future as a player beyond this season remains unclear.
[Read more…]
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.
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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.”
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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?
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In a new documentary entitled “Class of 92,” released tomorrow actually, and then out on DVD the day after tomorrow...former Manchester United star David Beckham reveals a graphic hazing story that you wouldn’t believe unless you heard it directly from David Beckham himself.
In his days with the United youth team, Becks was hazed by other footballers in a rather sexual way. He was forced to get himself off in front of his teammates while looking at a Clayton Blackmore calendar. This was the initiation process.
Yes, David Beckham claims he had to masturbate to a picture of a famous football player in front of his teammates. As part of a hazing ritual.
[Read more…]
The Wisconsin Badgers have to be happy with where they’re at after beating previously-ranked #25 Minnesota and jumping four spots in the BCS Standings all the way up to #15.
With one game remaining against Penn State, the Badgers have pretty much assured themselves a spot in the top-14 if they win. This means that they could be asked to play in a BCS game if the all the chips fall right.
Not so fast though, Penn State knocked off the Badgers in an overtime thriller last year and it would make the program look a lot better if they could do it again. [Read more…]
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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.
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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%).
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