I like sports. I am not happy.
Just a few comments on what I would consider a pretty horrible sports weekend. Or, if you're a Cubs fan, you would just call it a weekend.
First, I would like to point out that I watched almost the entire Illini game on Saturday, and it wasn't as disgusting as I was afraid it would be. Now, I've missed the first half of the past 2 games that Illinois played well in, and had the lead going in at halftime. So I was hopeful that Illinois might be able to take Ohio State by complete surprise and come out and get the lead. Well, not quite. 17-0 after the first half wasn't great, but it also wasn't a drubbing in the style of giving up 61 points in a game. So, coming back out for the second half, the Illini defense continued to step up, and the offense basically stood still.
I think the playcalling for the offense is pretty terrible. It seems like so often we get away from what is working, and then we're screwed. Against Indiana, we could throw for anything, and we started to run. Against PSU, Rashard Mendenhall dominated, so we started passing and no one can catch. This week, I can't really pinpoint what the Illini had trouble with on offense, but I didn't like the playcalling. You can only call a pitch left on 3rd and 10 so many times a season, and against the best defense you'll face all season is probably not a good time to do it. Also, E.B. Halsey, whom I used to love, needs to not return kicks. Put him in as a slot receiver, I'm fine with that. Maybe he can catch. But he sucks at returning kicks. Muffed a kickoff, and we all know how our special teams is terrible as it is. Zook really needs to address that concern.
On to Illini basketball, this weekend Derrick Rose announced he would attend Memphis. To this I say big deal. I think it's a terrible decision, mainly because he said he didn't like the distance to Memphis from Chicago. But I can't really say I'm surprised he chose Calipari, who is a really good recruiter. By the way, I'm not sure what it takes to be a good recruiter. I just worry that Illinois has absolutely no recruiting ties. But it's not like Weber can't recruit. We would have filled the SG position had Gordon de-committed instead of fucking us over, in no time. Instead, we lost at least 2 recruits, and now we're scrambling. This leads me to wonder about what's in store for the 2008 recruiting class. Will we get dicked over? Will anyone in the top 10 consider us? Can we land someone in the top 10? Top 25? I'm confident Illinois can win, but with a young team, you need top talent. Can this team compete? Probably, but most likely not as much as next year. If you get a lot of 4-year players, you may have a point where you are stuck with a lot of young guys. If you are, you need top-tier recruits who can play right away. Otherwise you're stuck going through some hard seasons.
Now for the Bears. Fuck that. I think the Bears playcalling sucks also. And I hate that Cedric Benson is more productive than Thomas Jones, yet barely plays. And I'm done with this shit.
And, finally, thankfully the Cubs have yet to sign Aramis Ramirez. We've got one week, and I have no idea where negotiations are. But I'm assuming they're in the shitter. Also, I have absolutely no idea what other negotiations have been going on, except for maybe Gary Sheffield. Who I'm going to say right now, it would be a mistake to get without getting rid of Jacque Jones. And it still may be a mistake. So, I'm assuming Jim Hendry won't sign any good free agents, and then probably gives up 8-10 pitching prospects for 3 guys whose contracts will expire next year, and even though we're 20 games below .500, he won't trade those guys away so we get nothing out of the deal. Terrific.
First, I would like to point out that I watched almost the entire Illini game on Saturday, and it wasn't as disgusting as I was afraid it would be. Now, I've missed the first half of the past 2 games that Illinois played well in, and had the lead going in at halftime. So I was hopeful that Illinois might be able to take Ohio State by complete surprise and come out and get the lead. Well, not quite. 17-0 after the first half wasn't great, but it also wasn't a drubbing in the style of giving up 61 points in a game. So, coming back out for the second half, the Illini defense continued to step up, and the offense basically stood still.
I think the playcalling for the offense is pretty terrible. It seems like so often we get away from what is working, and then we're screwed. Against Indiana, we could throw for anything, and we started to run. Against PSU, Rashard Mendenhall dominated, so we started passing and no one can catch. This week, I can't really pinpoint what the Illini had trouble with on offense, but I didn't like the playcalling. You can only call a pitch left on 3rd and 10 so many times a season, and against the best defense you'll face all season is probably not a good time to do it. Also, E.B. Halsey, whom I used to love, needs to not return kicks. Put him in as a slot receiver, I'm fine with that. Maybe he can catch. But he sucks at returning kicks. Muffed a kickoff, and we all know how our special teams is terrible as it is. Zook really needs to address that concern.
On to Illini basketball, this weekend Derrick Rose announced he would attend Memphis. To this I say big deal. I think it's a terrible decision, mainly because he said he didn't like the distance to Memphis from Chicago. But I can't really say I'm surprised he chose Calipari, who is a really good recruiter. By the way, I'm not sure what it takes to be a good recruiter. I just worry that Illinois has absolutely no recruiting ties. But it's not like Weber can't recruit. We would have filled the SG position had Gordon de-committed instead of fucking us over, in no time. Instead, we lost at least 2 recruits, and now we're scrambling. This leads me to wonder about what's in store for the 2008 recruiting class. Will we get dicked over? Will anyone in the top 10 consider us? Can we land someone in the top 10? Top 25? I'm confident Illinois can win, but with a young team, you need top talent. Can this team compete? Probably, but most likely not as much as next year. If you get a lot of 4-year players, you may have a point where you are stuck with a lot of young guys. If you are, you need top-tier recruits who can play right away. Otherwise you're stuck going through some hard seasons.
Now for the Bears. Fuck that. I think the Bears playcalling sucks also. And I hate that Cedric Benson is more productive than Thomas Jones, yet barely plays. And I'm done with this shit.
And, finally, thankfully the Cubs have yet to sign Aramis Ramirez. We've got one week, and I have no idea where negotiations are. But I'm assuming they're in the shitter. Also, I have absolutely no idea what other negotiations have been going on, except for maybe Gary Sheffield. Who I'm going to say right now, it would be a mistake to get without getting rid of Jacque Jones. And it still may be a mistake. So, I'm assuming Jim Hendry won't sign any good free agents, and then probably gives up 8-10 pitching prospects for 3 guys whose contracts will expire next year, and even though we're 20 games below .500, he won't trade those guys away so we get nothing out of the deal. Terrific.
posted by Jtrouble at 11:45 AM
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