Stop...AND SMELL THE ROSES, BABY!!

WE'RE GOING TO THE ROSE BOWL, BABY!!

Illinois needed a lot of help to get to smell the roses, and they got all of it during yesterday's choke-o-rama choke-fest.

#1 Missouri and #2 West Virginia would control their National Championship destiny with wins. Choke. Choke. Both lost and made a mess of the BCS. Ohio State and LSU backed into the title game with LSU leap-frogging unbeaten Hawaii and one-loss Kansas. I frickin' hate the BCS. Let the teams decide their fate on the field.

I'll take it easy on #11 Boston College and #14 Tennessee as they were underdogs against #6 Virginia Tech and #7 LSU. Choke is too strong of a word. They both lost and Illinois climbed a couple more spots in the BCS standings to #13, and a Rose Bowl date vs. #7 USC.

Yesterday, one of my co-workers asked me if I'd rather Illinois go to the Rose Bowl and get crushed by USC or go to the Capital One Bowl and beat Florida. Basically, he was asking me if I'd rather win a bowl game against a "lesser" team or lose one to a "better" team. I told him I didn't see it that way. I'm not trying to knock Florida because they're a great team, the defending National Champs, but USC is the premiere program in the country and I'd like to see Illinois take a shot at them. It would further strengthen our football program and Ron Zook's already stellar recruiting if we could come away from Pasadena with a win.

New Year's Day, baby...I'll try not to get too liquored up.

And I'll stop saying "baby"...sorry about that.

Battered Randomness 2

Nablopomo Day 25

My cockiness over writing a post a day, like Elvis, has left the building. Tonight it feels like I have nothing new of interest, so I'll return to a few random tidbits of news and developments of the past 24 hours.

Hope Springs Eternal...

...and saves the day. Kyra's friend from down the street, Hope, and her brother were the only kids to come to Kyra's birthday party today. And Kyra was OK with that, to our great relief. Actually, they had a great time. Karaoke, piñata pulverizing, pizza, cake, and presents...a good time was had by all. There was actually one other friend from her class who RSVP'd last night, but, wouldn't you know it, woke up this morning with a fever. Darn the luck.

Smelling Roses

With Kansas losing to Missouri last night, there is an outside chance that Illinois could be Rose Bowl bound as an at-large bid. But they're going to need a little help. If #1 Missouri loses to #9 Oklahoma or if #2 West Virginia loses to Pitt, #3 Ohio State will slide out of the Rose Bowl and into the national championship game. And #15 Illinois could slide in with a #14 Tennessee or #11 Boston College loss next week. That's a lot of if's, coupled with a likely match up against USC. I want to see it happen. REALLY BAD. Stay tuned.

Da Bears...

...have had a forgettable season after their run to the Super Bowl last year. However, I happened to tune in during the final minutes of their overtime victory against Denver. They scored two touchdowns in the final 5:00 to tie the game and send it into overtime, when they scored the final field goal mere minutes into overtime. Grossman's back, baby! Yeah, right. Little too little...

Black Friday

And I didn't spend a dime. Not on Black Friday, Brown Saturday, or Chartreuse Sunday. How will I ever survive?

Hope you have a good and colorful week.

UPSET IN THE HORSESHOE!!!

OSKEE-FRICKIN'-WOW-WOW!!

My hands are still shaking as I just finished watching the Illini topple the #1 team in the land...on their turf. I can't ever remember a time, in the past several years anyway, when you could hear a pin drop in the Horseshoe. Totally. Freakin'. Awesome.

Illinois lost against Michigan a few weeks back due to penalties and turnovers. I knew going into this game that if they could keep their heads, limit those personal foul penalties, and not turn the ball over, they could win this game. That's exactly what they did. They had one ten-yard false start penalty and NO turnovers. Their defense had three interceptions, and Juice Newton, er, I mean Williams, threw four touchdown passes as the Illini racked up 400 yards of total offense against the #1 defense in the land. This victory ensures Illinois a bowl birth as well as a probably ranking in the top 25.

We finish the season next week against Northwestern. Let's not overlook this game, guys. Get your feet back on the ground and take care of business.

Bowl Bound?

Whoa, Nelly!

The Fighting Illini picked up 655 total yards of offense and their seventh win of the season with a 44-17 trouncing of Minnesota last night. While it's true that Minnesota is woeful this season, it's comforting that the Illini beat them soundly. And picking up that seventh win should ensure their first bowl birth since 2001. Still, I'd love to see them pick up at least one more win this season, preferably two. Next week we head to Columbus to face #1 Ohio State. How sweet would it be for the Illini to storm into the The Horseshoe and knock the Buckeyes out of National Championship contention? We've looked tough against ranked opponents this season, losing only to Michigan. If the Illini can play tough and keep their heads, they'll have a shot. I can't wait.

Oskee Ouch

I hate Michigan. I frickin' hate 'em. I hate losing to them, and I hate watching their fans celebrating in Memorial Stadium...our turf. It drives me crazy. There's nothing I love more than to see their smug mugs ground into the turf and I nearly peed myself with glee when they lost to Appalachian State earlier in the year. I hoped that tonight would be our night to finally stuff Michigan at home in a nationally televised game, but it wasn't meant to be. Illinois played a great game tonight, but too many penalties and one costly turnover ultimately did them in. I hate Michigan. I frickin' hate 'em.

We need one more victory to become bowl eligible for the first time in six years and we've got Ball State at home next week. I think it's time for Illinois to take out some two-game-losing-streak frustration on them and get us to a bowl game. Whatta ya say?

ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME.

I - L- L !

Illinois continued it's trend of upsetting ranked opponents by beating #5 Wisconsin 31-26, which means the Illini might quite possibly be the real deal this year. I about fell out of my chair when I saw the final score on ESPN.com (a Disney company). I heard all of the pregame hype where the "experts" predicted an upset, but I wouldn't allow myself to believe it (the way I believed their hype about the Cubs over the D'backs. Fool me once...). It's about time. Keep it up Orange & Blue!

OSKEE-WOW-WOW!!

Che-he! Che-ha! Che-ha-ha-ha!
Go Illini, Go!
Che-he! Che-ha! Che-ha-ha-ha!
Go Illini, Go!
Illinois! Illinois! Illinois!

Illinois upset #21 Penn State today and is 4-1 on the season, 2-0 in the Big Ten. I think Illinois had only won 4 games the past three seasons. To say that I'm happy is an understatement.

Oh yeah, and in case you haven't heard, the Cubs are in the playoffs. I'm shuttin' up now.