[Oskee] FW: Juice benched

Mon Oct 19 12:05:11 EDT 2009

Man, I can't tell you how much I wish I could be with you, but I just can't (and I would have said that even if I hadn't read this after Saturday's game).  There just doesn't seem to be any spark on the offensive side of the ball, and the defense gives up too many big plays, for whatever reason.  They make a lot of spectacular individual plays, but they cannot consistently stop anyone.

Leshoure was definitely the lone bright spot for the offense Saturday.  If it hadn't been for him eventually wearing out, I can't understand why they simply didn't keep going to them until Indiana figured out how to stop him, which never seemed to happen.  He just kept making play after play, moving the chains.

-- robert

________________________________
From: "Hooker, Anthony" <hooker at uillinois.edu>
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List <oskee at heins.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 2:55:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Oskee] FW:  Juice benched

I just want to see them flying around, having fun and playing
hard.  I think we can win 5 more games if we just do that and give the
ball to a running back 20+ times a game. Leshoure makes plays every time they
give him a chance.    We’ve played the best teams on our
schedule (except cincy) so maybe we can put together a little win streak and
get to a minor bowl game.  I’m going to keep believing.  

From:oskee-bounces at heins.net
[mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] On Behalf Of Todd Sweet
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 2:48 PM
To: 'Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List'
Subject: Re: [Oskee] FW: Juice benched

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

________________________________

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

________________________________

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

________________________________

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

________________________________

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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