11:17 am — 

CHICAGO – After spending Friday morning fielding questions from across the country, the Big Ten coaches and players were free to go about their business after the closing ceremonies of the kickoff luncheon.

Here are some of the cuts from player and coach interviews from Friday.

The “next” Illinois

One of the more prominent questions being asked to players and coaches Friday was “Who will be this year’s Illinois,” any team that might surprise the conference after two dismal years. While the members of the Big Ten were speculative and hesitant to name a specific team, the general feeling was that one of two teams that are not in the forefront of the Big Ten will be come season’s end. Penn State coach Joe Paterno cited the fact that invariably every year since he has been coaching in the conference, some team has come up that people didn’t expect to. Indiana’s head coach Bill Lynch agreed with his counterpart and figures that his Hoosiers are due – eventually – for a trip to Pasadena.

“I don’t know who’s available other than us, Lynch said. “If you think about it, Purdue did and has gone to the Rose Bowl, Northwestern a few years ago, Wisconsin’s gone, Iowa’s gone. But I think anyone down there that’s picked lower, Northwestern, Minnesota, Purdue, they’ll end up surprising.” Read the rest of this entry »

11:00 am — 

CHICAGO — Former Illinois running back Howard Griffith holds three very distinct records, setting NCAA marks for touchdowns in a game, eight, touchdowns in a quarter, four, and most points by a player in a game, 48.

Griffith holds numerous school records, as well, and was in Chicago for Big Ten Media Days. The Daily Illini caught up with the Illinois great and talked to him about his Alma matter.

Daily Illini- Arguably, the biggest question on the minds of Illinois fans right now is, who is going to replace Rashard Mendenhall. What can Illinois do to limit the damage that will come from losing that type of player?

Howard Griffith- I think you’re going to have to start with (Daniel) Dufrene as the starter, getting most of the reps. But one of the things that happen when you have some players that you’re unsure of, someone is eventually going to step up to the plate, especially when talking about one and two-a-days, guys will start to step up. When you look at last year, it was kind of unsure then who was going to be the guy, but they have guys this year, quite a few of them, like they did then. Someone has got the seize the opportunity, because you have got a guy like Juice, running the spread the way that he does, there are going to be open holes, and (whoever is the running back) has got to be able to hit them quick. Read the rest of this entry »

4:05 pm — 

7:00 4th quarter

On a forth and goal from the 12, the Illini continue their strange play calling, trying to find Mendenhall in the flat for a big gain.

10:00 4th quarter

Juice Williams finds Jacob Willis for a nice catch. Rashard Mendenhall has another good run for an 18-yard gain.

TV timeout, 13:03 4th quarter

I hate seeing games like this when one team is so opposite of another on both sides of the ball. USC’s system, while not “finesse,” per say, is a much more passing-based offense that a team like Illinois just doesn’t face in the Big 10. Granted, a team should be able to adapt to other teams, especially with the amount of time that they had between games. The fact of the matter is, the Big 10 is a power conference and unless you can routinely recruit blue-chip recruits that can have the ability to do it all, there are going to be teams and games like this when you are out-matched. I hesitate to say that Zook was flat out out-coached by Carroll, but I think that Carroll did a better job, and had a very obvious advantage in talent.

“They’re still passing the ball? What are they, the Patriots?” Adam Harris, on USC’s prolific passing propensity.

14:10 4th quarter

JDB put a ball right on the money to David Ausberry in the northwest corner of the end zone for the Trojans’ sixth score of the game. I’ve come to accept that the Illini might not make it out of this one, and have started to appreciate the Trojan offense of Pete Carroll and Steve Sarkisian. Quite pretty for someone like myself who loves the passing game done well, it just sucks that it’s against the Illini defense that has played well throughout most of the year.

END OF THIRD QUARTER

On a lighter note, the sun setting over the mountains north of the Rose Bowl is quite calming. Flash bulbs are popping all over the stadium now too. Cute, really, freaking cute.

0:12 3rd quarter

I’ve had to hear USC’s fight song one too many times. Stop getting first downs, please, Trojans.

2:16 3rd quarter

Dear Illini receivers,

Please, please secure the ball,

Thanks,

Dan.

The Illini are trying to do entirely too much. You can’t score 25 points on one play. I hate cliches, but that’s all I have right now, sorry.

2:25 3rd quarter

Dear Juice,

Please, please set your feet and step into your throws,

Thanks,

Dan.

5:03 3rd quarter

Juice Williams, I don’t understand you. After a poor first 25:00 or so, Williams was passing very well so start the third quarter, but horribly forces in a pass to Cumberland that is picked off by SC, setting up USC to pick apart the Illinois secondary. The Illini front four is just getting no pressure at all. It doesn’t help that they have had to drop the line backers into coverage most of the time to help with passing, but the lack of pressure is glaring.

Both phases of the game have been not playing any where near what they were playing during the year. The offense outside of Mendenhall’s two big plays has resembled the that of two and three years ago with the defense looking porous and unable to recognize the USC passing attack. Illinois came into this game knowing that Fred Davis would be a threat and haven’t been able to cope with him or JDB. Joe McKnight has also provided a big spark for the USC offense, giving them a great speed option that, were it not for two Vontae Davis tackles, might have had two touchdowns on two plays with him finding the open field.

Illinois should be able to make this game respectable, but to think that they can score four touchdowns and shutout the Trojans for the rest of the game is foolish.

5:18 3rd quarter

After a Miami Thomas pass interference call that negated an Illini interception, JDB finds Freddy Davis in the end zone. 28-10 USC.

6:11 3rd quarter

USC’s luck picks back up as JDB’s pass to Joe McKnight in the back field is fumbled, but McKnight picks it up and scampers down field for a 64-yard gain. Vontae Davis shows great speed running down strident McKnight, however. So, I guess you can take that away from it if nothing else.

7:24 3rd quarter

Jacob Willis makes a good play, but doesn’t secure the ball and has it dislodged on a hit. The ball rolls into the end zone for a SC touchback. Crappy luck, is all.

8:23 3rd quarter

Keep the gravy train rolling, Shard. Another huge play as Juice hits him short dump-off that goes for 55 yards.

9:27 3rd quarter

USC had another stalled drive and punts again. Joe McKnight is starting to get more carries and passes thrown to him. Outside of the the trick play, the USC offense really has been all McKnight, Washington and Davis.

12:33 3rd quarter

So, that thing I said about Rashard Mendenhall not being able to do it all might be all BS after all. Shard scorches down the Illinois sidelines for a 79-yard touchdown. I took every ounce of energy in my body not to get very excited right there. Shard, you can leave us next year, so long as you stick it to the Trojans in this half. This crowd noise is more like it now.

14:24 3rd quarter

USC comes back out firing with JDB hooking up with two passes to Davis for two first downs. Luckily for Illinois, the Trojans’ drive stalls and are forced to punt.

First Half observations

The thing that stands out the most is the complete and utter lack of offense for the Illini. The defense had a very bad start to the game, but recovered well. The Illini aren’t out of it yet, but the offense needs to get their heads out of their rears.

The halftime show was good. The Marching Illini played well and got the crowd back into it for the time being.

I just overheard a ‘distinguished’ USC writer bad mouthing the game and extolling how “electric” it would have been if Georgia was here. He hopes that the American TV audience “Votes with their remote,” as to whether or not they liked the Pac-10 Big-10 match up I thought that was interesting, that’s all.

0:38 2nd quarter

Reda makes good on his second attempt of the game from 28 yards out. While points are points, the Illini needed a touchdown.

1:26 2nd quarter

The Illini faithful give a sarcastic cheer, and then a genuine one on consecutive passes to Jeff Cumberland. The offensive line is stiffening and the passes lanes are being seen better on this drive by Juice. Of course, as I type that, Malaluga gets his third sack of the game. And of course, as I’m typing that, Jeff Cumberland draws a big pass interference call. Well done, Jeffrey.

3:09 2nd quarter

The Trojans pick up their ninth first down of the game. Chauncey Washington scampers into the end zone shortly there after for the third SC touchdown. While this touchdown is more acceptable, if there is a thing, given the great SC starting position, the Illini offense needs to score on this drive or this game is over.

6:52 2nd quarter

In what seems to be very similar to last year’s team, as suggested by the Daily Illini’s Adam Harris, the defense is playing well now and the offense is not. Illinois needs to adjust to the USC defensive pressure, I don’t know if that means max protecting with tight ends, or just spread the USC defense out with receiver, but something needs to be, stat.

9:14 2nd quarter

It’s comical how much pressure the Trojans are getting. Juice just got hammered by Malaluga and gets sacked again by Malaluga.
(BLOG SIDEBAR: USC girls are really hot.)

10:35 2nd quarter

The Illini defense is finally showing more signs of life, getting pressure on JDB and a huge sack by Douglas Pilcher. As much as the Trojans are running play action, if they can consistently pressure JDB they are going to have to break out of the play action passing or keep taking those big losses. Illinois in general needs to be keeping pressure period on the JDB.

11:58 2nd quarter

Are we watching the Chicago Bears circa 2001? I am so flabbergasted by this offensive play calling. Juice is going to have to pass, they can’t expect the offensive line and Russ Weil to open up gaping holes for Rashard and him to break huge runs. I know we’re a run-first offense, but adaptation is necessitated in times like these.

13:43 2nd quarter

USC is begging Juice to throw. Absolutely begging. I don’t know if Locksley isn’t comfortable with him passing, but he needs to get comfortable.

END OF FIRST QUARTER

The first 15:00 minutes have been marred by poor defense and ineffective offensive play calling. I’m not sure why the Illini aren’t passing more, but it’s rather aggravating to see this. The Rose Bowl runs advertising on the Jumbotron during the intermission for Citi. I hate commercials.

1:23 1st quarter

Illinois isn’t getting defensive pressure on the quarterback and USC is getting a ton. Plain and simple, that has been the difference so far. Reda comes on a for a field goal attempt and misses it. Splendid.
3:51 1st quarter

Thank you for shutting me up, defense. Justin Harrison picks off JDB and has a huge interception return. If he would have been more patient, he could have scored, but I’m happy with the return yards. As big as the interception was, I’m still worried that the USC offense is getting wide, wide open passing lanes. The Harrison pick was good coverage by him more so than a bad JDB pass.

5:39 1st quarter

I don’t know what the Illini secondary is doing, but they are playing a good three or four yards off their receiver downfield. USC is continually going to the play action pass and aren’t being stopped.
6:52 1st quarter

I don’t know what the heck is going down on the sidelines for Illinois, but their play calling has been extremely conservative all game. I don’t know why they haven’t been opening up the offense some when the passing game was working so well to end the season. On the third Illini drive, they went three-and-out on a John Shoop-esque play calling sequence.

8:30 1st quarter

Things are getting out of hand already. I feel stupid. SC pulls out one of their trick plays on a wide receiver pass by Garrett Green for a touchdown to Reed. Green is listed as a WR/QB, so I’m not surprised that they were able to use a play like that, but I mean, the Illini defense is just playing on their heels right now.

9:39 1st quarter

Juice makes a absolutely terrible throw, and the Trojans Ray Malaluga makes his presence felt early. I haven’t’ watched too much SC football this year being that I hate them, but I have heard a lot about Malaluga. I’m a little

9:22 1st quarter

Russ Weil sighting! Gain of two for Weil!

10:17 1st quarter

Illinois gets a much, much needed first down. If they didn’t get that first, things might have gotten a little out of hand, even though there is still a chance for it. SC’s Lawrence Jackson is down on the play, but walks off under his own power. What a trooper.

10:57 1st quarter

I guess living in SoCal means you can do the Soulja Boy on the sidelines and not look like a fool.

11:04 1st quarter

The Illini are just being picked apart by SC play action game. The Illini are biting on the fake every time the Trojans give it. SC travels 72 yards in just over two minutes. Hardly a defensive gem by the Illini. It really seems that the Illini might be a little overmatched defensively right now if they can’t keep up with the play action game. What’s worse is that the Trojans didn’t even set up the play action pass well, with the only big run play from the Trojans being a scamper by McKnight after they were already in the red zone.

11:16 1st quarter

Things are going USC’s way, crap. Joe McKnight plucks a ball out of the air after it was dislodged from the intended target. This comes only a few plays after the Trojans narrowly escaped a fumble.

13:41 1st quarter

Not the best start, but not the worst start for the Illini’s offensive half. Rashard Mendenhall had a great run to open the game, but the Illini went out three plays later. Anthony Santella got off a great punt, and Martez Wilson had a open shot on the punt returner Desmond Reed, but had to break stride and lost his rhythm.

15:00 1st quarter

Holy crap, we’re in the Rose Bowl….

Sights and sounds seen before the game.

Me shaking some because this game is so amazing. For those who couldn’t make it to the game, I am sorry. This atmosphere is unlike anything that I have ever been at before.

The Illini faithful are decidely outnumbered, but I think that like the team that they have come to cheer for, they like being the underdog. USC has numbers on the field and in the stands, but I don’t think Illinois gives a hoot.

Doug Flutie is surprisingly tall, as is Keyshawn Johnson. I’ve heard rumors of Will Ferrell and Bill Murray, but have yet to see either.

For anyone who has ever read my blog, you might know of my slight infatuation with the indescribably beautiful Erin Andrews. She’s here, so that’s pretty all right. I heard her talking with some ESPN big wigs and say, “He’s hot,” while John David Booty was being introduced, when I turned to look at her, she was looking at me, so, you be the judge.

2:45 am — 

 You might not find it as funny as we did, but I think that everyone can take a little from it. We took a trip via Greyhound leaving at 12:01 p.m. on Wednesday and arrived around … God knows when, it was a blur. We encountered a little bit of everything on the trip, and the following is the greatest hits of the Greyhound bus trip to Los Angeles, Calif. 

 

10. DRIVER PLEADS WITH PASSENGERS FOR DIRECTIONS

Our first bus driver of our 54-hour excursion was a knowledgeable gentleman from the Chicago Greyhound station who asked the bus passengers, in all seriousness, if anyone knew where I-94 was. While this might not be that funny to some, consider we were about two blocks east of I-94 and we went past two sets of signs for I-94. A minute into the trip and we had already seen the way Greyhound operates. This obvious question proved to be just the tip of the hat to the horrible voyage.  

 

9. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS HANG OUT IN BUS STATION

For some inexplicable reason, there were approximately 10 birds loose in the St. Louis Greyhound station. While this isn’t necessarily surprising, it was in a great bus station that was likely top class during the Eisenhower administration. Greyhound decided if it couldn’t make its customers happy, the least they could do was please the birds. They provided these wild birds with actual bird housesin the station. Why? I’m not sure, but those damn birds sure were cozy. When we made it to Indio, Calif., we also saw some sneaky pigeons working their way into the station, only to be chased by a three-year old boy. Cute, yes, but he likely was at risk for Avian Flu.

 

8. THE CAST OF CHARACTERS

While we were sure we would be meeting some definite characters on this trip, there were some special ones that stuck out. First was a man who was rocking a lot of religious apparel, namely an “I heart Jesus” hat that was actually quite fashionable. His highlight was getting into it with two, young black people after re-boarding the bus. He claimed this duo had stolen his seat and moved his bag that should was saving his seat. He started yelling at the entire bus, especially “you people” to the two black people, which I thought for sure would incite some racial violence, but none happened. The religious zealot continued to tell the bus of tales of rapture and Armageddon, saying it would be “Worse than Katrina and the Tsunami.” At the climax of his rant he reached into his bag (which he found in the front row). The passengers gasped for a moment, fearing for the worst, but they were soon relieved to see the Jesus fan pulling out a photograph detailing the end of the world. He was interesting to say the least.

Character No. 2 in the play was Camo Dude. We met this man at the aforementioned St. Louis station, a reformed convict and self-proclaimed alcoholic, was talking with others at the station who were about two hours out of prison. Among other things, said Camo Guy was drinking a 24-ounce Busch Heavy from a plastic cup in the train station and how to water the rain-deprived state of California.

Other small roles in the play were:

Kansas City Chiefs guy; this man, surprisingly, was covered in Kansas City apparel. While this was odd being that we picked him up in Joplin, Missouri, he came up to one of our travel members, Alex, and said something that could not be defined as English, but some how conveyed his point in a grunt that he wanted to sit with Alex. He also snored a lot, which pissed me off. 

Teardrop; One of the recently released convicted, I don’t think he was in for his “teardrop” being that his sentence was only six years, but who knows. He likes meth, has a farm and a six-year old daughter, all by his own admission. He had 29 months added on to his sentence for beating his parole officer after the officer accidentally spit on him. He said the spitting was probably an accident, but he, “kicked his ass anyway.” He ran from the police, but eventually was caught. Not very sly.

 

7. A FRIENDLY REMINDER FROM THE ST. LOUIS POLICE: DON’T GET KILLED

When we were at the now infamous St. Louis station, there was a recorded message from the Greyhound Company, “The St. Louis police advises passengers not to leave the premises of the station.” The station wasn’t paradise, but it wasn’t Compton. We were walking around some, and saw some of the area, which was pretty sketchy, but it instilled a lot of confidence in me that the Greyhound institution was more or less telling us we might get shot if we left the secure confines of the station.

 

6. THE STORYTELLING DRIVER

Our third bus driver who drove us through the vast majority of Arizona told us an interesting story around 3 or 4 a.m. The lengthy tale began, “Interesting story about this area, I was driving this route a little bit ago when we were leaving the Flagstaff station. After a while, a bunch of people in the back of the bus were yelling that this guy had a gun and was threatening to kill people and calling people the n-word. Luckily, I worked my way back there and tackled him, I got the gun from him and we called the cops. It looked like a Christmas tree around the bus with all the flashing lights on the cop cars around us. Turns out the guy robbed a bank in the city and was trying to get away. He would have, if it wasn’t for us. It was local news, it should have been national news, I don’t know why it wasn’t, but I was reprimanded by Greyhound, because when we took a picture with the local news, my vest wasn’t buttoned.” He paused after the story in hopes of laughter but like a wannabe comedian quickly pulled another story from the vault. The driver described the dangers of elks and detailed another driver’s previous encounter with the large beast. He then warned the passengers to be on the look out for elk and to yell if anyone saw one.

 

5. MACED IN THE FACE

When we were leaving the Albuquerque station we had just come back from a local watering hole called Tuscano, where we vastly overpaid for some beer. We were feeling relatively good when Jason Grodsky, a football writer, noticed a man getting maced outside by the station. The police…maybe…ripped off his hat, continued to mace said guy and used some physical force to subdue him. I felt bad for the guy, but all of us were just kind of laughing at him from the confines of our mace-free bus. Sucker. 

 

4. THE LOVE GLOVE

While we had some memorable quotes from the characters we met, the first that made the list came from Camo Guy. We were talking about healthy living during our five hour delay, and Camo Guy was talking about healthy eating and eating broccoli. Another healthy thing? Intercourse, as long as you are protected. “Ain’t nothing wrong with a little bump and grind, as long as you wear a love glove.”

 

3. BORDER PATROL JUMPS THE BUS

Back at the Indio Greyhound station near the California-Arizona border there was another occurrence that went down. When we were pulling into the station, I spied immigration agents waiting for us. I didn’t think they were going to investigate the bus, but I was sorely mistaken. Before any of us got to get off the bus, two immigration agents got onto the bus and ordered everyone to sit down and get out identification. I was confused, and scared that I wouldn’t find my ID and be sent to some random country of their choosing. While that didn’t happen, a “backwater” white gentleman asked if “All the white people could leave the bus.” The agents ignored his question and like the other 46 passengers he was forced to his citizenship. Our bus was moderately populated with minorities, so I was slightly concerned that some business might go down. Unfortuntately someone was questioned by the immigration services and he was forced to leave some one who I am assuming was his wife. We discovered he was a resident of Peru and from the agents less than friendly demeanor with him, he might have been an illegal. It was a rather surreal thing to see the Peruvian taken from the bus and then have to get his luggage and be detained by the immigrant services.

 

2. JESUS FAN LIKES COOL TEMPERATURES

The religious zealot makes his second appearance in the top ten with his memorable quote of the trip. Our second bus driver asked us if we thought that the temperature on the bus was acceptable, or if it was too hot or cold. The zealot didn’t seem to think that it was good enough and tried to persuade the driver twice to lower the temperature some how. After three unsuccessful attempts, he tried to ask Alex and another football writer, Mike Theodore, if they could ask the driver to lower the heat. Alex and Mike didn’t understand his pleas at first either and it took him another attempt to finally convey his message to the two. Alex didn’t particularly care for him and his constant complaining and told him to “Let’s see if it gets any better, then maybe I’ll go talk to him.” The zealot wasn’t satisfied with this response, and a few minutes later, while shaking like a leaf, he screamed in some very poor English, “Issssss toooo Haaawwwt!” I don’t know if it was the fact that he seemed a lot bit crazy or if we were starting to become delirious, but this caused us to lose it in a fit of laughter, and caused the vast majority of the entire bus to hate us. Screw them.   

 

1. THE NEW GREYHOUND—JUST AS CRAPPY AS BEFORE

The top-notch customer service from the Greyhound Company. Honestly, I couldn’t ask for anymore from these people. You ask a question about time of arrival, they didn’t respond or give a crap, and just seemed to make things longer. We were delayed approximately 10 hours during the entire trip. Luckily, we skipped stops on the way to LA and made up time, getting in around 5 p.m. today, when we should have been around 11 a.m. 

This was only the beginning of the trip, but I have a feeling that many more wacky adventures will be ensuing. Stay tuned to DailyIllini.com for more riveting updates.

12:22 am — 

In what I find a particularly predictable and slightly aggravating move, Bobby Petrino is leaving the Atlanta Falcons for said Razorbacks to replace Houston Nutt … right.

While this really comes as no surprise to me given that Petrino was struggling mightily in his first season as Falcon’s coach, it is still a little disgusting to see another coach leave an NFL team for college (read: Saban, Nick). Petrino has a history of leaving contracts early, though. After leaving Louisville where he signed what was a 10-year deal if memory serves, he was forced to pay $1 million as a punitive measure. Didn’t stop him from leaving Lil’ Jon in the dust, though.

Even though Petrino had a few animal problems in Atlanta, he could have taken the high ground in the whole thing and rode out the crapfest that is Michael Vick (who, incidentally, will be in jail until after I graduate college, ha) and proved that he is a great head coach when the Falcons, who have a very good chance, to draft his former quarterback at Louisville, Brian Brohm.

Instead, Petrino leaves the Falcons, in the middle of the season no less, in confusion and disarray. Emmitt Thomas , the Falcons longtime secondary, has been named the interim head coach, but that will likely be the last time he is a head coach. Unless he can pull out the Falcon’s last three games and prove to owner Arthur Blank that he is best possible replacement, he’s likely gone. Given the Falcons lack of anything resembling a quarterback and current 3-10 record, I’m willing to wager that Thomas doesn’t see a forth game as their head coach.

Falcons’ standout cornerback, and likely their best player, DeAngelo Hall was interviewed on the four-letter network on Tuesday night by one of the few personalities that I respect, Scott Van Pelt, and had this to say.

 ”At first I wasn’t angry at all,” Hall said. “I felt like if he didn’t want to be a part of this team, this organization, you know, that’s fine. Obviously we’ve had a lot to deal with, we’ve been to the bottom and there’s no where left to go but up. But when you see him on camera now, smiling with his family, doing pig-sooey or whatever they do at Arkansas, you’re going to be angry. He lied to a great man in Arthur Blank, he lied to Rich McKay. I thought he was a college coach, and the fit just wasn’t quite right. He didn’t know how to talk to guys, he didn’t know how to treat guys with the same respect he wanted. He kind of wanted to talk to guys the way he wanted to and expected you to just kind of bow down to him. If I saw him in the street, I wouldn’t have anything to say to him, don’t have any respect for him.”

Hall went on to say that no one on the team had really expected this coming and that Arkansas “Isn’t that great of a team in the SEC anyway.” I really agree with him because they are likely going to lose Darren McFadden and the majority of their offense. I was actually quite glad that Hall said the things that he did because he was refreshingly honest about the situation and probably said what I would imagine the majority of the Falcons team and general Atlanta area was probably feeling. Bravo, DHall.

While none of this is really relevant for Illinois (I can’t imagine Zook or the University letting any coaches go after this season) or Bears football (who the hell would want Ron Turner or Bob Babich), it just sickens me to see coaches leave their contract for another offer in the first year of a contract. And it really frosts my balls that Petrino left in the middle of the season, leaving the Falcons out to dry. I understand that this is the way that the system works, apparently, but I guess I am still naive enough to think that coaches will honor their grossly overpaid contracts before leaving for greener pastures.

11:56 pm — 

Around 9:47 p.m. ESPN.com reported that Kosuke Fukudome has signed a four-year contract worth between $12-14 million per.

It is true that the Cubs need some outfield help with only one true spot in the outfield sured up with Alfonso Soriano, but I’m not sure that this is the right fit for the Northsiders.

With Soriano in left, center field will likely be occupied by the Cubs’ best ‘prospect’ Felix Pie, Fukudome, will likely be vying for time in right with the log jam of Matt Murton, Angel Pagan and Sam Fuld.

While, admittedly, I haven’t been watching too much of Fukudome’s carrer, being that I don’t have the access to Japanese baseball, I have been crunching some of his career numbers since hearing of the signing.

While stats are no means of a players future worth, especially when coming from a completely different country, it’s all that there is to look at when talking about Fukudome right now.

When people think corner outfielder, they think power numbers, and Fukudome has produced power numbers decently, at least in the past four to five years. Out with an elbow injury (not like the Cubs have had problems with those in the past) Kosuke played in only 81 games last year, had a .443 OBP/13 HR/48 RBI, and .438/31/104 in 2006, and has hit almost .310 with RISP.

Those numbers are good, but what worries me is his strikeout total. He is averaging 98 K’s over his career, which would be in the triple digits were he have to played a full season last year. He also doesn’t really bring anything to the table, speed-wise, only averaging about eight steals per.

His powers numbers are decent enough, but from what I’m reading, he doesn’t sound like much of an upgrade over the years past of Jacque Jones, Cliffy F. and even Jeromy Burnitz. Couple that with the fact that the Cubs are going to paying him around $13 million (not so important) and are locked into him for four years (more so important). Given that Soriano is also under contract for, theoretically, another six years, and if Pie can put it together then he too should be a mainstay in Chicago for a while, Fukudome’s contract might cause some problems down the road if he cannot produce.

Further complicating things in this hypothetical world that I am apparently living in is the Cubs former No.1 pick, Tyler Colvin, another outfielder from Clemson. Colvin hasn’t been exactly setting the world on fire in the minors, but I would still hope that the Cubs are smart enough to draft someone that can make it to the majors, even if only as a backup, with their first-round picks. If he (or Fukudome for that matter, too) doesn’t pan out, it’s going to be a hit to a GM in Jim Hendry that is already in some tepid, not necessarily hot, water. (Aren’t cliche’s great?)

I’m fully understanding of the fact that the Cubs needed to make some noise in the free agent market, but there is something to be said about spending money and spending money correctly. Maybe I’ve read Moneyball one too many times, but I really don’t think that spending this much money on a player, who will turn 31 next year, is a smart decision when his best years are likely somewhat, if not completely, behind him. I would much rather see Hendry unload some prospects and possibly Rich Hill and/or Sean Marshall and go after Nick Swisher and Dan Haren, both of whom have been subjects of trade rumors this off season, which I fully believe given Billy Beane’s proclivity to deal his players.

Hopefully all of this speculation as to Fukudome will be unmet and he will be a great player. After all, Japan has produced to quality outfielders in Ichiro and Hideki Matsui, so who knows. This should just make spring training that much more interesting.

4:09 pm — 

ESPN.com’s Todd McShay, one of the few ESPN personalities I both respect and can enjoy, put out his first mock draft. Just reminding me how much the Patriots are going to continue to dominate for the foreseeable future.
For those of you who have grown sick of this Patriots undefeated streak as I have, here is something else to add to your list of grievances.

Early this year, the NFL punished the cheating Patriots for using a camera on the sidelines taping opposing teams sidelines, from this is an excerpt from an interview that Don Schula did with ESPN.com earlier in the year about Pats Coach Bill Belichick being fined $500,000 and the team being fined an additional $250,000 and a first-round draft pick.

“That tells you the seriousness or significance of what they found,” Shula said, according to the Daily News. “I guess you got the same thing as putting an asterisk by Barry Bonds’ home run record.”

While losing what would have surely been a 32nd pick in the first round is undeniably a huge hit to the Patriots, it is really moot. In a trade made last year, the Patriots acquired the 49′ers first pick for this year in exchange for their first-round pick in last years draft and a forth rounder last year.

For those who don’t know how poorly the 49′ers are playing this year, it hasn’t been pretty. Alex Smith has been hurt and hasn’t performed well when he has been, stirring murmurs that his college career may have been more helped by his Urban Meyer system than thought. Smith’s replacement, Trent Dilfer, isn’t exactly a spring chicken, either and has played to the tune of a 53 completion percentage and 11 interceptions on the year. The 49′ers have the best young linebacker in the league in Patrick Willis, but he is playing for arguably the worst team in the NFC.

Due to the 49′ers horrid play, the Patriots will likely have a top-5 if not top-3 pick. While the Patriots have a great track record of drafting it won’t take a stroke of genius for Belichick, the “de facto” GM to pick Darren McFadden James Laurinaitis, or possibly Michigan’s Jake Long.

The following is from McShay’s said mock draft. (Todd has the Bears taking Mike Jenkins, a defensive back from South Florida with the 14th pick, by the way. I’d rather see them trade up for a QB or taking a offensive linemen because Olin Kreutz is the only one on the current line sans AARP card. Jerry Angelo will likely trade down for a chance at Jason Reda) I think that the first sentence more or less sums it all up.

“This hardly seems fair. The league’s best team lands the draft’s top talent — or strikes another lucrative draft-day deal for him. Both McFadden and Laurence Maroney split carries in college. A two-back rotation would make both last longer, not to mention the possibilities for an offense already overloaded with talent.”

So while I commend the NFL for taking punitive action against the Patriots, if they wanted to make the Patriots to understand the severity of their infraction they should have taken their pick that they traded for from ‘Frisco .

Instead, the talent rich will get richer, and the first round of the draft will only have 31 picks.

6:54 pm — 

With the BCS selection committee coming up shortly, I can’t help but see teams that deserve to be in the BCS picture and those that don’t belong.

One of the most outspoken teams is the University of Hawaii Warriors. They don’t belong, and it’s making me angry. With the Illini basketball team in Hawaii this week for the Maui Invite, I felt that this argument had some relevance with the team in the islands. Hawaii’s biggest beef with the BCS is that they have won all of their games this season, and went 11-2 last year and won their bowl game against Arizona State.

Their head coach June Jones was on Jim Rome’s TV show today extolling his argument. Jones said that because of their record that they should be in the heat of the BCS talks, especially if the Warriors can win out against Boise State and in their last game of the year Washington.

While there is something to be said about the undefeated argument for teams seeking a BCS at-large bid, most of those teams will play more than one ranked team on their schedule. Hawaii’s sole game this year against a ranked team will be against the Broncos this Friday in Hawaii. Couple that with the fact that the Warriors play in the WAC, a conference that will likely only have two teams for bowl play barring Fresno State going to a bowl, it’s hard for me to take Jones’ argument seriously.

As much as I hate Florida, and as much as I hate to admit this, their three losses on the year have come in the SEC against LSU, Georgia and Auburn, hardly chopped liver. Yet, the former Rainbow Warriors have an unblemished are ranked three spots lower than the Gators.

A travesty? Hardly.

Play real competition, and you will get serious consideration for BCS even with losses on the year. But when Hawaii did play teams that might put a stir in Lee Corso’s pants last year it worked about as well as Waterloo. Hawaii was 1-3 against teams that were up to snuff. Losses against Alabama, Oregon State and Boise State during the regular season, and the aforementioned bowl game victory against Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl.

Even if the Warriors go to a BCS bowl, they won’t have the same success that Boise State had last year against the Sooners. The Broncos had a great running game in Ian Johnson and an above average passing game with Jared Zabransky and Chris Peterson’s trickeration. I will admit that it was one of the most exciting football games I had ever seen when Johnson sauntered into the end zone to win the Fiesta Bowl, but I didn’t think that the Broncos deserved to be in the game in their first place due to their lack of strength of schedule.

Coming back to Hawaii, they are a painfully one-dimensional team. Sure, Colt Brennan can pass for 400 yards and four touchdowns on all the weak teams that they play, but the Warriors don’t even have 800 yards rushing on the season. Ask any college football coach if a team can have prolonged success against BCS-type competition without a running game and that coach will laugh in your face. Hawaii’s leading rusher on the year is Kealoha Pilares, with 305 yards. Not exactly imposing other teams to stack the box.

I just hate the fact that teams feel they have an unalienable right to a bowl game if they can waltz through a cup-cake schedule. There is something to be said for winning all your games, but winning all your games against bottom-rung teams does not a produce a BCS berth.

11:58 am — 

Game Wrap

We got to go down to the field pretty early for the game, so if you (yes, the one person who read this) were wondering where the rest of the usually ample and cutting football blog was, that is the reason.

That being said, this game was more or less exactly what I thought it was going to be, not to sound too sure of myself. But I was more or less certain that Shard would get his 125 yards and Juice would get 2-3 TD’s, although I didn’t think he would have thrown for 220 yards.

Although the Northwestern offense did pass for 300 yards on the Illini, as I think four teams have this year, when you throw around 40 time a game, chances are you will rack up yards on a team. I’m just glad that the Wildcat offense didn’t get a Texas Tech-esque passing game going. If you haven’t seen it already, the Red Raiders on the strength of the Graham Harnell passing game, upset in the Sooners in Lubock, Texas. Granted freshman sensation Sam Bradford was out for the majority of the game, the Sooners defense was befuddled by the Tech offense.

Digression aside, I think that the point I am trying to make is that most college football teams that can pass well, i.e. Northwestern, stand a chance in most games so long as they have a semblance of a running game. Northwestern normally has a great rushing option on back Tyrell Sutton, but he has been hampered by injuries throughout the season, luckily for the Illini. What boded well for the Illini is that fact that their pass rush has been so tenacious this season. The Illinois defense continued its pressuring ways with three more sacks on Saturday and need only two more to break the school record for team sacks.

Have a good break, don’t smoke crack.

12:52 3rd quarter

Jeff Cumberland, Jeff Cumberland, Jeff Cumberland.

He’s good. And hard to tackle.

It’s great to see him finally getting thrown to. I don’t understand why Zook hasn’t been using him more, it’s ridiculous.
0:18 2nd quarter

Antonio Steele picks off a Bacher pass to more or less end the half. No return yards on the pick, or on any other interception all year.

0:41 2nd quarter

Juice is picked off after a ball has been tipped. Crap salad.

2:35 2nd quarter

Northwester breaks the score board, which I am blaming solely on the student section for being more quiet than douchehat people studying at Grainger right now instead of at the game. If they want to be taken seriously as a “feared” place to play, they need to bring the noise, like Sack Lodge did.

4:12 2nd quarter

Juice Williams asserts his manhood when he truck sticks a Northwestern defender en route to 21-0 lead.

5:43 2nd quarter

All the bounces are going the Illini way today. Juice Williams fumbles around the Northwestern 25 but the ball came right back to the guy.

7:03 2nd quarter

I really don’t like the Northwestern student broadcast team. Their play-by-play announcer is highly annoying.

First Quarter

The Illini looked quite unstoppable in the first quarter, roughing up the Wild Kittens for 14 points. Rashard Mendenhall and Juice Williams each scampered in from about three yards for the scores.

Interestingly, Russ Weil, Vontae Davis and I aren’t playing this week.

(Blog sidebar: Erin Andrews is here.)

Due to internet complications in the last game in the “luxurious” Memorial Stadium press box, I wasn’t able to blog until the end of the first quarter-ish. Although I can’t prove that I was actually here for the first quarter, I trust that you trust me.
DI On-Air Reporter Adam Harris and I ate KFC chicken. It was alright.

We have our own senior, Mike Theodore, doing his last regular season game. Here he is, with his parents John and Maureen Theodore.

8:16 pm — 

For both of you who are following hockey this year there is something in more than the Bulls to get excited about coming from the United Center.

A little team called the Chicago Blackhawks are slowly creeping back into relevance thanks to great drafting done by Hawks GM and former coach Dale Tallon.

Tallon might not have been the best coach, getting the boot last year in favor of former Hawks great Dennis Savard, but he has drafted extremely well in the past few years. The trio of Tuomo Ruutu, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane seem poised to make the Hawks matter again in Chicago.

Kane, the right winger and No. 1 overall draft pick this year, is only 18, but has lived up to huge expectation so far, leading the Blackhawks in points, assists and shots on goal. Kane 11 assists are good for ninth overall in the NHL, but are a long, long way away from where ever Mike Modano ultimately ends up after breaking Phil Housley’s record of 1,232. The Buffalo, along with the Bruins Phil Kessel, is one of the best American players today.

Toews, a No. 3 overall pick in 2006, is bigger than Kane and plays to his left at the center. The 19-year old former North Dakota star was a captain when playing there, and his ability to play both offense and defense well has shown well so far on the Hawks campaign.

Ruutu, the No. 9 overall pick in 2001, is the oldest of the troika of players at the ripe old age of 24. He was one of the first pieces that was put into place to help bring the Blackhawks back from obscurity. The Finnish flash has served as captain and assistant captain while serving for his country in the past and his leadership, funny to say a 24-year old “leader,” will be well received by this youthful squad.

The three, along with the rest of the “Baby Blackhawks” (it just doesn’t have the same ring as Baby Bulls) still have some growing to do, but after watching their 4-3 victory on Wednesday over a Dallas start team that has given them fits in the past, it is hard not to get excited about the prospect of people actually caring about hockey in Chicago again.