Thoughts on Sunday's Indiana game

Just a few brief notes on Sunday's game against Indiana. It was nice to see Illinois turn on the gas and not let a big lead slip away. It was nice to see Augie and Brian Randle come out of their shells and play like the confident, big men they are. It was nice to see Illinois shoot over 70% on free throws. It was nice to see Marco Thuggingsworth pretty much get shut down on the floor and get dunked over by Randle. Mark Tupper calls it a solid but not great performance, and I'm inclined to agree with him.

So overall, I must say that I enjoyed this game...but darn it if Illinois's offense isn't painful to watch these days. I must say that I agree with Big Ten Wonk's assertion that they are not confident in their outside shooting. I was guardedly optimistic about their progress earlier in the season, but I am a bit nervous these days. Here's to hoping that complete understanding and utilization of the motion offense lurks deep within these men and is just waiting to bust out as they start a tough 4-game stint against Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, and Michigan State to end their season.

There are some great pictures -- tons of orange -- over at Illini Loyalty, if you are interested.

Something of little importance but much emotional resonance

But I must say that Grey's Anatomy is one of my favorite diversions at the moment, and its writer's blog Grey Matter is to die for. (Although the web designer in me hates that the link has a different name than the page, but that's a whole other neurotic tangent).

What a neat idea to have the writers actually communicate with the fans this way. If only the fans had this kind of input a couple seasons ago, perhaps we could have saved Joey from that doomed hook-up with Dawson and gotten her back to Pacey a little sooner.

Now granted I know these are all fictional characters, but if you watch Grey's, how much did you feel for George last night? Almost everyone I know has misguidedly poured their hearts out to someone who did not love him/her back and had similarly disastrous results. I've sucked my husband into Lost now, and I'm getting closer to having him hooked on this dramedy as well.

Perceptions

Meredith has introduced me to the Johari Window concept, and I must say that I am intrigued. This kind of reminds me of performance feedback at work -- an attempt to find out if others see you, your strengths, and your weaknesses the same way you see yourself. Interesting concept from a psychological point of view. I thought I'd put one together for myself, and you can fill it out if you are so inclined.

happy heart day

So the blog has been inactive for a while. For once, it's not really work or school -- just a host of personal issues to deal with lately. It's made the last ten days of painful-to-watch Illini games look inconsequential and left me uninspired blogwise.

I won't go into all the details, but my husband lost a very young uncle last week, less than 2 weeks after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. I've had a loved one recenly diagnosed with lymphoma, and it just kind of hurts my heart to feel like there's so little I can do for her. It's all just kind of wait and see at the moment, determining whether she has a fighting chance or whether she is even up for visitors as she has started treatment. Granted she's had a good long life, but it's still kind of hard to accept the pain she's going through. All I can do is call, send cards, and pray for her...and somehow that's hard to accept.

I'm not really a believer that bad things happen in threes, but it's been one of the months when it feels like life has dealt you several crummy cards in the same hand. I'm trying to keep it all in perspective -- to the tune of God works in mysterious ways and he won't give me any more than I can handle. But I'm a control freak who hates feeling like there's little she can do, and I am struggling a little at the moment.

But regardless of all that, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day. If you're one of my personal friends and loved ones (you know who you are), I didn't get cards sent this year but you are dear to me and in my thoughts. Somehow it also seems appropriate to count my blessings today: great friends, family, and a husband who surprised me with the works this morning (roses, candy, music, stuffed animals, et cetera) and shows me his love in all sorts of acts of kindness, patience, and support every day.

Save Our Bluths Friday Night

For those of us who could probably not care less about the Olympics opening ceremonies (just how I feel), there is another wonderful television option tomorrow evening. Arrested Development's 2-hour finale will be airing on Fox. The episode features guest appearances by Judge Reinhold and William Hung, potential awkward romantic scenes between Jason and the guest-starring Justine Bateman, and incredibly misleading image of the cousins George Michael and Maeby Bluth at the altar in a tux and wedding gown.

I don't know how to explain the pure zaniness and humor that we find in this show. Except for maybe Scrubs, nothing has made me laugh so consistently over the past 3 years. Wanda at E Online has a column on its chances of return. If you're home tomorrow evening, help us send a message to the powers that be (Showtime and ABC specifically) to bring back this show -- watch Arrested Development on FOX.

Unbelievable

For Illini fans in the house this evening, all good rides come to an end sometime. But to have a 33-game home win streak and have it end with such a questionable call? That really stings. For those who didn't watch, Illinois inbounded down one with 2.2 seconds remaining. Rich McBride hit the 3-pointer, but after review the officials said it had not left his hands and took it away. I'm not 100% convinced it was out of Rich McBride's hands at the buzzer, but from the angles shown...I'm just as unconvinced that it was IN his hands too. As my husband says, the NFL rule is to call it cautiously in the face of inconclusive evidence. I'm not sure that was the case tonight. Poor Rich played his heart out, and I really wish he got to be the hero this time.

That said, kudos to Penn State for playing a good game. Except that for a few players looking like jerks (Luber and the guy who got the double technical with Randle), Penn State was fairly clean and played a heck of a inspired game. Great shooting. Maybe they were emotionally unprepared after the win at Wisconsin, but it didn't look like most of the Illini really wanted it tonight. It was the stand around, pass, and watch offense at its worst. The bench was nervous from midway on...it looked like they were just preparing themselves. Illinois looked so offensively timid in the second half, and their defense was just not up to snuff. I was suprised that Dee Brown and/or James Augustine didn't step up and provide some senior leadership to seal it at the end here. And the ticky-tack fouls really have to come to an end. If Augie or Randle hadn't spent so much time on the bench, I doubt it would have been quite so close with 19 seconds to go.

Disappointing evening here, but I guess that's the way the cookie occasionally crumbles for everyone in the Big Ten these days. It is just a game...but as an Illini fan, I have been spoiled these past few years and generally enjoy them much more than this.

Is SNL Getting Funnier?

My husband and I have been having this debate lately. The past two new episodes we've watched, those hosted by Scarlett Johansson and Peter Saarsgard, have actually been very funny.

Then someone at work forwarded me the Chronic(What?)cles of Narnia skit...and I must say it's worth a couple minutes if you haven't seen it yet. I'm not hip enough to know whose rap video it's ripping off, but it's funny just the same. Headphones strongly encouraged if you're at work.

And yes, I am online doing schoolwork today...hence my third post of procrastination this evening.

Illinois's Saturday Showing Against Purdue

I must hand it to the Purdue Boilermakers -- they played pretty darn well yesterday considering they only dressed nine players for the game. Matt Painter has done a good job with this squad and the tough hand he's been dealt. The Boilermakers got off to a fast start at the Assembly Hall, and I believe they were leading for the first 10 minutes of the game. I was a bit concerned as Dee wasn't hitting his shots and the defense seemed a bit out of rhythm, both offensively and defensively.

Some of you may recall that Purdue was the last team to win at the Assembly Hall, 58-54 on at the beginning of Coach Weber's tenure two years ago. This was shortly after the locker room funeral for Bill Self and shortly before Illinois bought into the "motion offense" wholeheartedly. Given that Illinois has been struggling with the offense a bit since Big Ten play began this month, I was still on the edge of my seat well into the first-half.

It wasn't a fabulous game, but Purdue was playing well for its level of talent...and Illinois figured out what they had to do to win. Dee couldn't hit his 3s, so he started taking fast break opportunities. Rich McBride shot something besides a 3, which was refreshing to see. Brian Randle and Augustine both played well on defense, although the ticky-tack fouls they continue to draw are of some concern. Jamar Smith threw in a couple threes and even grabbed rebounds. Chester Frazier provided a spark of energy. Pruitt and Arnold didn't score much, but they got the job done inside.

Overall, no one had me raving after the game, but it was a fairly impressive, high-quality performance. True it was against a Big Ten basement dweller this year, but it was a fun game to watch. If Illinois can keep firing on all cylinders like this, it could make this week's game at Wisconsin pretty fun to watch. And to Purdue, many thanks for playing good clean basketball and putting forth such an impressive performance given the limited bench.

Off to Madison! As Mark Tupper so nicely puts it, the stage is set. If this team wants to be special, it has an opportunity to do so Tuesday night at 7 pm. Unfortunately, I will be arriving home about the time the game ends...but I will do my best to watch and comment in a timely manner.

Unexplained absences & fondnesses

So yes, I have been offline for a few more days. It's been an eventful couple weeks here in Illinigirlland. I have officially became another year older, celebrated our one-year anniversary in our new home, happily learned that the hubby's ligament is not torn and surgery is being put on the back burner for a while, started up my night classes again, and just been swamped at work.

However, this swamping at work culminated in a trip to Vermont last week, and darn it if I am just not smitten with the place. Dean screams and bike trails aside, I really liked Burlington. I toured the Ben & Jerry's factory and sampled the fabulous new Dublin Mudslide flavor. I tried an assortment of stellar restaurants downtown near Church Street. The UVT campus was beautiful, and the scenery was gorgeous even in the midst of a January thaw. I can't imagine what it's like in the fall, but I hope to go back and see it sometime. I ran into a few hoity-toity East Coast university types, but I met just as many salt of the earth wonderful people in my work there.

Of course, some of this is perhaps colored by stellar shopping options available to this town of less than 60,000 residents. While I am somewhat of a cheapskate, I tend to have champagne taste on a soda pop budget and am a born shopper. As someone who drives 2 hours to Chicago for such window shopping, I may have been somewhat swayed by the sight of an Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn nestled away in such a charming little downtown.

I really only had one afternoon and a few dinners out to enjoy the town, as I was putting in 12 hour days, but my initial impressions were very positive. Enough navel gazing for the moment, just thought I'd offer up a quick update on goings-on to those who are intersted.

Quick thought on tonight's Illini showing

I have been out this evening, so I'm just now in the process of watching the Illinois/Indiana game...in 4x speed on the DVR because I'd already heard the outcome.

I do have one point to make though. Anyone who calls themself an Indiana fan should be embarassed to have such a classless thug as Marco Killingsworth winning games for their team. As my hubby pointed out, he should have been tossed from the game with his second (uncalled) technical throwing the ball at Pruitt with 2:40 left in the first half. His third (uncalled) technical came before the end of the first half when he blatantly slapped Warren Carter.

This my friend, is why I despise Indiana, Mike Davis, and all the dirtiness this program recently represents. Relying on cheap, dirty transfers to come in for a year and magically save your team's season. (Apologies in advance to my one Hoosier fan friend Julie, but that's how I perceive it). And it makes me appreciate programs like Tom Izzo's Michigan State squad all the more. Even Tommy Amaker and his Michigan squad seem far and away cleaner players. Iowa didn't play this dirty. Heck, who doesn't look good when up against this kind of sportsmanship?

I haven't seen enough of Illinois's play to comment at this point. I'm disappointed, but much less than I was with the outcome of the Iowa game. Two-point Big Ten road losses, while not two-point Big Ten road wins, are respectable these days...but not dominating performances like those put forth by last year's squad. My feeling is that Illinois still has a lot of work to do offensive and definitely on free throws, before they can be a real Elite Eight contender in March.

It was the best of games...

Then it was the worst of games. If Dickens wrote about basketball, he couldn't have composed this one better. After Dee's amazing performance and the Michigan State victory Thursday, Illinois looked terrible losing up at Iowa less than 48 hours later. It seemed apparent that this first loss was inevitable -- given the high quality of Big Ten Play, this was probably going to happen sooner or later. But in my husband's opinion, it shouldn't have happened like that.

That game was just horrendous to watch. I was at home watching it most of the first-half, and no one on either team could find the basket for minutes at a time. My hubby actually questioned whether the rims had been adjusted/tightened at both ends of the court. Well if that was the case, Iowa figured out how to make adjustments and actually went on a few scoring runs in the second half. No one from Illinois could come close to making that claim other than James Augustine, who fortunately broke out of his funk but unfortunately spent about half the game on the bench in foul trouble. I was a stamping party (I'm quite the domestic maven when I have time to do so), and I actually quit watching with several minutes left to play. It's easy to forget what that's like when your favorite basketball team has only lost five times in the past two years.

As Mark Tupper notes, this game exposed the flaws in Illinois's play that we already knew about, flaws that have made fans nervous during the first fifteen games. Tepid offense, horrible free-throw shooting, a tendency to stand there and look at Dee to make things happen. But as he also notes, Weber is too good a coach to let these things go on unaddressed. Hopefully they will make some progress before next Saturday's games against Michigan and the January 17th session at Indiana. We shall see.

Sweeeeeet

What a game! A defensive slugfest so to speak, somewhat of a nailbiter until the last two minutes, but that was some quality Illini basketball. 60-50 Illinois -- it turns out my prediction was not quite generous enough. I am a bit concerned about the offense, but it did seem like it started to gel in the last ten minutes of play. And I heart Rich McBride hitting those three pointers when they were needed. Keep it up big guy, we need you!

Thanks to Dee's unbelievable 34 points and an impressive defensive effort, I do not have to buy the Krispy Kremes tomorrow. As always, I salute Michigan State for being a class act...with one exception. Paul Davis and his repeated dirty digs at Augie were not well recieved at my house. Other than that...hoorah for a great game. Bring on the rest of the Big Ten, and let's see what Illinois can do in terms of a team offensive effort. ILL!

P.S. Just trolling message boards for post game feedback, and I had to amend this post to salute another class act. Mr. Daniel Brown in the Daily Illini -- thanks all his coaches and teammates and then drops this quote below. Illini fans can read the whole letter here.

"To all the fans I have to say this: Thank you so much for the support and love you have not only for me, but for the whole program. To see orange on road trips, sellouts at The Hall, fans traveling around the country, it means so much to us and YOU are the reason we compete at such a high level. Love always outweighs the hate, positive overshadows the negative, and in this business when expectations aren't met or struggles occur, what keeps me motivated and positive are the fans that wear my shirt, jerseys and hats. I really appreciate that, and it's really a blessing to play in front of wonderful fans that care about the program and this kid who wears a headband.

I have to say that if it weren't for the love I have for the coaching staff, Athletic Director Ron Guenther, the fans and the excitement of playing in The Hall, I would have gotten an agent and turned pro. The University of Illinois was so deep in my heart, and God made me understand how much love people have for me. Well guess what? I love y'all too!

I knew by coming back to school it would only help me send a positive message to the youth that education is essential. If people don't think I'll be a pro, I still can smile and say I have my degree from one of the best public universities in the country.

I hate to say this, but I'm kind of glad I broke my foot last summer because it made me a better person and made me realize my destiny and purpose in life. Thank you for the opportunities, and I will forever love the University of Illinois. I hope No. 11 lives on after I'm gone. Until then, I will continue to play my hardest and represent my school."