It never ends.
It just keeps getting worse.
Until the next one happens.
This Tweet pretty much encapsulates what being an Illini basketball and Illini football fan entails these days.
https://twitter.com/joshuaevans/status/632579425901502464
That’s a one Tweet summation, but if you want an everyday, blow by blow recap of the consistent kick to the groin that is being an Illini football and Illini basketball fan, I highly suggest you follow @Frustrated_Fan.
After all, he forecasted this year’s Illini basketball train wreck back on March 12th.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/632594212790341632
With all that’s happened to Illini sports since 2012, I’ve run out of adjectives and metaphors. I think if we should just paraphrase Al Pacino’s iconic “piece by inches” speech from “Any Given Sunday.”
I don’t know what to say really..
Either
we heal
as a team
or we are going to crumble.
Inch by inch
play by play
till we’re finished.
We are in hell right now, gentlemen
believe me
and
we can stay here
and get the shit kicked out of us
or we can fight our way
back into the light.
We can climb out of hell.
One inch, at a time.
Either
we heal
as a team
or we are going to crumble.
Inch by inch
play by play
till we’re finished.
We are in hell right now, gentlemen
believe me
and
we can stay here
and get the shit kicked out of us
or we can fight our way
back into the light.
We can climb out of hell.
One inch, at a time.
Yes, my fellow University of Illinois alums, and Illini fans, I don’t know what to say, really. We are in hell, and we are getting the shit kicked out of us, over and over.
1. Illini football Coach Tim Beckman is in way over his head.
We knew that since he was hired in 2012; and he’s done plenty to consistently verify this thesis in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
2. Illini basketball Coach John Groce can’t seem to control his players.
We knew this last year with all the off-the-court messes.
Well, now we know why he’s much more secretive about the flow of information than his predecessor Bruce Weber. Today, we completely understand why Groce rarely says anything publicly that isn’t corporate coachspeak or a mind-numbing platitude. Although now I have a lot more respect for Groce’s public presentation strategy. If I had to deal with all the stuff that he does, I would run a really tight information management ship too. It’s very had these days to keep potentially damaging news from getting out.
Either Groce needs to recruit higher character guys, or do a better job controlling the players he has. Ultimately, everything you can say leads to the buck stopping with him.
A lot that’s happened to Groce’s program is certainly not his fault. You can’t blame him for the injuries. However, you can blame him for the lack of depth and talent in the program, as he’s repeatedly failed to land his recruiting targets.
I think Groce would make a very fine mid-major or “football school” power five head coach, but his Illini regime isn’t working out at all. This looks like an 11th place team; at best.
3. Illini sports has crumbled under Athletic Director Mike Thomas
Again, no need to re-hash; I’ve publicly called for his dismissal since March. He’s still employed by the University because why? He’s accomplished….what exactly? Thomas right now is George W. Bush around the economic meltdown in September of 2008; saying he needs to go accomplishes nothing. The Beckman hire was enough to convey that Thomas is a complete failure in his position, much like Bush’s handling of Hurricane Katrina verified that he was not up to the job.
4. The off-the-court, off-the-field issues are insignificant compared to the horribly deteriorating on-the-court, on-the-field product.
When the investigation into the football program concludes, I can pretty much guarantee that nothing conclusive turns up. They didn’t find anything damning in the women’s hoops program, and I seriously doubt they’ll uncover any substantial malfeasance in Beckman’s program.
Of course, if the Illini were winning 10 games a year and going to New Year’s Day bowls, NO ONE WOULD CARE ABOUT ANY OF THIS.
If those former players who ripped Beckman in public had been drafted by a NFL team, we never would have heard this stuff. If Illinois was good at the two sports that people actually care about then none of these issues would matter.
What does actually matter is that Beckman is 12-25, 4-20 in Big Ten play; and that Groce has missed back-to-back to NCAA Tournaments. The last time an Illini coach did that was 1991-92; and that’s only because the program was on NCAA probation.
Winning is what matters; everything else is secondary.
Yes, there are issues with the Illini being relevant; both locally in the Chicago market and nationally. Yes, attendance has been a big problem. Winning cures all. But as long as Groce, Beckman and especially Thomas are all around, it’s hard to envision any substantial winning happening any time soon.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 the Zone.
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