[Oskee] FW: Juice benched

Thu Oct 15 15:47:42 EDT 2009

This coaching staff is abysmal.  At the very least, even a bad team should
play hard and give 100% effort under a good coach.  This team looks confused
and uninspired.  Mark my words, if we lose at Indiana and Purdue to get our
6th loss, I think this team will go downhill rapidly.  I see both of those
games as toss ups right now at best.

If Zook has a losing season, he should be fired.  That will be 4 losing
seasons in 5 years (with the one looking like a total fluke now).  At the
very least we should be showing improvement but look nearly as bad as when
Zook got here (except we're faster).  Unfortunately, I think 4 wins will be
enough for Zook to keep his job.  Anything less than that will be thin ice.

TS

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From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] On Behalf Of
Robert Mingee
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 1:22 PM
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List
Subject: Re: [Oskee] FW: Juice benched

Oh yeah, I hear you, but other than simply giving up, what can you do?  All
of hte timeframes below except for Valek were long enough to allow time for
the coach to bring in all their own players and establish their system, and
yet they still weren't getting it done.  It's really tough in college where
you don't have the mechanisms in place to ensure parity like in the pros
(there are scholarship limits, but they're high enough that the top programs
still stockpile most of the best players and continue to leave the "have
nots" like us out in the cold).

Honestly, I really don't know what the answer is.  I don't expect a
conference title and Rose Bowl every year, or even every 3-4 years.  I
expect some sort of bowl most years, and expect to seldom finish out of the
top half of the conference.  With the recruits Zook has had, we should be
there, but we're not.  If he can assemble a staff around himself that can do
the above, fantastic.  But if he can't or won't, I don't see any choice but
to start over (again).

Sadly, we can't all have Joe Paterno :-).

I appreciate the perspectives from everyone.  I was somewhat glad to hear
the O-line has been off this year, because it at least offers some glimmer
of hope that the skill players really can be as good as advertised, assuming
the O-line can be improved.

-- robert

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From: Larry Roller <larrol at hotmail.com>
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List <oskee at heins.net>
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 10:14:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Oskee] FW: Juice benched

But we've tried that housecleaning thing before.  Eight times in my tenure
starting with Elliott being fired after seven years (and the slush fund)
with a winning percentage of .477.  Valek came in for four years and was
fired after winning % of .2.  Blackman came in for six years and was fired
after a winning % of .439.  Moeller came in and was fired after three years
with a winning % of .227.  White came in for eight years and was fired after
a winning % of .533 and various run-ins with the NCAA.  Mackovic came in and
left after three years and a winning % of .663.  Tepper came in and was
fired after six years and a winning % of .446.  Turner came in and was fired
after eight years and a winning % of .38.  Zook came in and has a winning %
of .358 in his fifth year.  It's a recurring nightmare.  Forty years and
eight coaches later and we are no better off.

  _____  

Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:45:46 -0700
From: mingee at swbell.net
To: oskee at heins.net
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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