[Oskee] FW: Juice benched

Mon Oct 12 12:17:14 EDT 2009

It seems like the talent is much better than the Tepper era, but I really question whether the coaching is. While the game is on the line, we can’t do anything right. But once the pressure is off, we looked pretty good. That has to be coaching.

And I really liked #15 on defense. He seemed to be pretty active on defense. I don’t think he’s played before. I think his name is something like Walter Aikens. I can’t find the roster on the web page, so I’m unable to verify that.

From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] On Behalf Of Robert Mingee
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 9:46 AM
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List
Subject: Re: [Oskee] FW: Juice benched

Well, so much for that.  I went against what I said I'd always do this weekend as far as avoiding the score and watching anyway.  We were at Six Flags all day Saturday, and I wouldn't have had time to watch the game yesterday because of other commitments, so I actually followed the score on my phone while we were there, and decided it really wasn't worth staying up late Saturday just to watch us lose again.  Sounds like Eddie was pretty awful -- no idea how much of that was the MSU defense and how much was him.

I'm sure I'll continue to watch when I can, but it's clear there's no more hope to be had for this season.  And honestly, what reason is there to have any optimism at all going into next season?  I said the same thing after last season, when clearly we should have been much better than we were, and as much as I had hoped I was wrong, sadly I was not.  This is not a rhetorical question, I'm really hoping someone has an answer -- short of a major coaching staff overhaul, which seems very unlikely in light of Zook getting extended in the offseason, is there any hope at all we're not in for another humiliating season next year?  Can this train wreck really be fixed without a housecleaning from top to bottom?

Someone in this thread said we're not nearly as bad as we were in the Tepper years, and I agree, but from a purely pragmatic point of view, is it really any better to lose all of your games against even marginally competitive teams by an average margin of say 7-10 points instead of 21-28 points?  They all still count the same in the final record.

-- robert

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From: "Arbuckle, Jeanne" <jarbuck at ilstu.edu>
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List <oskee at heins.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 8, 2009 3:32:45 PM
Subject: [Oskee] FW: Juice benched

As opposed to really poor planning for Michigan State – I’m going to the game. I hope Eddie can give the offense an excitement we haven’t seen yet against a decent team.

From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] On Behalf Of Robert Mingee
Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2009 8:55 AM
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List
Subject: Re: [Oskee] Juice benched

Well, that was good planning -- you saw the part where they didn't look hopelessly overmatched...

-- robert

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From: "Arbuckle, Jeanne" <jarbuck at ilstu.edu>
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List <oskee at heins.net>
Sent: Wednesday, October 7, 2009 12:14:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Oskee] Juice benched

For the first time in more than 23 years, I actually planned (and it was my choice) to be somewhere else during the 2nd half. 

From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] On Behalf Of Chad Kahl
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 9:37 AM
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List
Subject: Re: [Oskee] Juice benched

I have chosen to detach myself emotionally from the football team.  I record the game on the DVR and check on the results before hitting play.  No more allowing a poor performance to ruin the rest of my day/weekend/week...

I hate being a fair weather fan, but I can't take it anymore.  I reserve my blind allegiance for the Illini mens basketball team and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Chad

On Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 7:32 AM, Arbuckle, Jeanne <jarbuck at ilstu.edu> wrote:

I appreciate the conversation here, as well. If you put it in my mailbox, I will take time to read it, but I don’t have time to go looking for it! 

I, too, am starting to question Zook’s ability as a head coach. I wanted it to work out because on paper, he recruits great players. Better than we’ve ever had before. But now I’m starting to question whether they really are better than we’ve ever had. Maybe we are getting them because they have flaws we don’t realize at the time.

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