[Oskee] Man, is it QUIET in here...

[Todd Sweet]

I, for one, am amazed at the turnaround in football.  Attribute most of my
"quietness" to the fact that I'm usually a hoops guy, but what Zook has done
is nothing short of amazing.  Not only have all the losses been close, but
this team could easily be 9-1 right now (although I realize if a couple of
plays go against us we could also be 5-5 just as easily).  Still, it says a
lot that we've come from an attitude of "we don't have a chance" 2 years ago
all the way to "we could win on just about any saturday".  Now all we have
to do is get from the "could win" attitude to the "should/will win" attitude
and we will have turned the corner.  Zook does make some boneheaded calls
sometimes, but for the most part I don't think his coaching has been nearly
as bad as the Florida fans made it out to be.  Give him another couple of
years and we should be monsters.  In fact, if Mendenhall doesn't go pro
after this year (although it's looking less and less like he'll come back)
we have a shot at a BCS bowl next year I think.

TS



> -----Original Message-----
> From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net]On Behalf
> Of Mike Heins
> Sent: Monday, November 05, 2007 3:39 PM
> To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List
> Subject: Re: [Oskee] Man, is it QUIET in here...
>
>
> Quoting Robert Mingee (mingee at swbell.net):
> > Has everyone been abducted by aliens or something?
>
> Abducted by Illiniboard.com -- film at 10!
>
> > We're winning,
> > people! Wake up! :-) Granted, it hasn't exactly been against top-
> > flight competition the last 2 weeks for football, but we're bowl-
> > eligible, and if we can beat Northwestern, we should be able to get a
> > halfway decent bowl invite. Aside from the Iowa loss, our other 2
> > losses are to top-15 teams, and we've been competitive in every single
> > game. Clearly OSU is going to be our biggest challenge yet, and I have
> > no illusions about our very slim chance of victory, but I'd be happy
> > with giving them a solid punch in the nose and being in it to the end,
> > particularly if they come out looking past us to the Michigan game. We
> > really ought to get by Northwestern at home. I'd be downright giddy
> > with an 8-4 finish and no blowouts -- talk about a huge year-to-year
> > improvement. My dad said he has seen where one of the Orlando bowls
> > would love to have a Florida-Illinois matchup. That would be a pretty
> > tough game for us, but I'm sure Zook would relish the chance to play
> > them in a bowl.
>
> We are bowl-bound, baby. It would be nice for it to be the Citrus and
> not the Motor City or something, but hey -- you take what comes along.
>
> >
> > It's nice getting the exhibition hoops games on the Big Ten Network
> > now, and in high-def no less. Anyone have any thoughts on how things
> > look so far, particularly any opinions on redshirts? I kinda zoomed
> > through the first game, so I wasn't watching with a very critical eye.
> > Tisdale looks more polished than I would have thought, but man, is he
> > thin. I shudder to think of him mixing it up with some of the
> > widebodies in the Big Ten without another year to bulk up. There are
> > definitely some athletes among the newcomers. Obviously there's a long
> > way to go as far as discipline, especially watching the fouls, but
> > you'd expect that with a lot of young guys. I dug back throuhg the
> > news on the website after seeing Chester sit the whole first game, and
> > it said he also sat out the OB Scrimmage with an injured thumb. It's
> > not serious, is it?
>
> Is there a web site to find listings for the B10 network? I still
> haven't figured out how to find out about upcoming events...
>
> --
> Mike Heins
> Perusion -- Expert Interchange Consulting    http://www.perusion.com/
> phone +1.765.647.1295  tollfree 800-949-1889 <mike at perusion.com>
>
> People who want to share their religious views with you
> almost never want you to share yours with them. -- Dave Barry
> _______________________________________________
> Oskee mailing list
> Oskee at heins.net
> http://mail.perusion.com/mailman/listinfo/oskee