Controversial Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti recently left the newspaper claiming “newspapers are dead.” Roger Ebert, who once graced this campus and The Daily Illini, had a few words to say about Mariotti’s bow out.

Mariotti was best known for his confrontational style which got him in numerous spats with Chicago coaches and owners, most notably his exchanges with Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. He is also a frequent panelist on ESPN’s Around the Horn.

Here’s the link to some cool multimedia of former Illini and US Gymnast explaining his routine on the high bar. With the Hamm brothers out, Spring will be a key component of the team. Good luck to him and go USA.

Justin Spring, a former Illinois All-American gymnast and current member of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team, has a blog to keep fans updated. It has videos and pics of him performing at various events that led to him garnering a spot on the ‘08 Olympic team. He also has a Wikipedia page, which is pretty sweet. So does Illinois soccer player and Canada national team member Emily Zurrer, though hers is far less extensive (and also contains an error, saying she is formerly of Illinois, but unless Coach Rayfield — who does not have a Wiki page — is keeping a secret from me, I assure you that’s not true). I guess that’s how you know you’ve made it in the world.

There are many Illini also joining Spring and Zurrer in Beijing, including a good number of Paralympians. I’ll try to post updates on their performances throughout the Games, which begin on 08/08/08. Though they represent several countries, we wish them all the best of luck.

Collegefootballnews.com, part of the Scout.com network, predicted that Illinois would finish eighth in the Big Ten. This is quite a different opinion than the media, including The Daily Illini, which picked Illinois to come in third in the conference, behind only Ohio State and Wisconsin, respectively. Last season, Illinois surprised almost everyone by finishing second and garnering a Rose Bowl berth. Though they lost Rashard Mendenhall and J Leman, the faces of the 2007 team, Ron Zook’s recruiting success has brought a healthy stash of reserves to replace the departed.

Overall, the Illini are predicted by CFN to finish 6-6 with a 3-5 conference record. The scouting company even thinks Illinois will lose its final game of the season against Northwestern. Whether that’s a testament to the program Pat Fitzgerald is building, a slap in the face to Illinois’ 2008 team or an over-confidence in what home-field advantage could mean for the Wildcats, it still seems like a leap.

Either way, it’s sure to make great locker material for Zook to keep his players humble, who have had a lot of hot air blown their way following their success in 2007. And, to put things in perspective, CFN guessed Illinois would finish 5-7 last year.

There was quite a bit of Web activity on the story I wrote Saturday of Illinois football player Jeff Cumberland winning the slam dunk contest at the Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, so I decided to throw up a few more photos of Cumberland from the event. Cumberland was a beast and didn’t disappoint a crowd that expected him to win after the receiver won the event in 2007. He said he had planned on trying out for the basketball team this year but a foot injury kept him out. Though he is quite the specimen — agile, muscular physique and obviously plenty of hops — at 6-foot-5, he doesn’t have the size to be a big man and he’s too big (a chiseled but bulky 250 lbs) to play guard or small forward. Still, he put on quite a show in Downtown Champaign Saturday night. Cumberland had been volunteering at the tournament with several of his teammates.

Here are the photos. I’m not the best photographer but I think a few of these turned out ok. I didn’t edit or crop any of them since I just made a slideshow of the rest of the event and I don’t feel like editing for another few hours. Enjoy!

Cumberland puts on his basketball shoes before the show begins.

Read the rest of this entry »

Former Illini Deron Williams received a contract extension from the Utah Jazz.

D-Will has been one of the leagues best point guards since leaving Illinois after its Final Foul run in 2005. Utah was smart to lock him up long term. Next step is keeping co-All Star Carlos Boozer in town so Williams has someone to pass to.

With Alfonso Soriano on the disabled list and the Cubs looking for a replacement leadoff hitter, it would seem like a perfect fit for the Northsiders to go after veteran outfielder Kenny Lofton. Not only would he be able to bat at the top of the order while Soriano is gone, but him and Reed Johnson would make a much better platoon in center field even when Soriano comes back. Though Jim Edmonds has shown signs of positive improvement in recent games, it’s doubtful he’ll make it through the season as the starter. He just doesn’t have the bat speed for his type of swing at his age.

Lofton still has plenty left in the tank. Last season, he posted a .380 OBP and 21 steals (in 25 attempts) with the Rangers in 84 games after being traded by Cleveland. And he has the advantage of starting midseason so he’ll still be fresh come playoff time.

That sort of speed and veteran leadership at the top of the order would do a lot for the Cubs as they vie for the top seed coming out of the NL. Kenny Lofton has been there (with the Cubs in 2003 even) and has proven he can give a spark to a ballclub time and time again. He may not be the best option available, but rumor has it the Cubs are interested in Randy Winn, a poor man’s Kenny Lofton at best. Why would you give up even a halfway decent prospect for Winn (that you could save as trade bait for C.C. Sebathia or AJ Burnett) when Lofton is still a free agent waiting to be signed?

Like the Edmonds deal, there really is nothing to lose. And with the Cardinals heading for a tailspin with Albert Pujols and 87% of their rotation on the DL, the Cubs have some room for error.

The following post was written by staff writer Jeremy Werner.

Basketball Complex and the Assembly Hall were buzzing with high school basketball excitement on Sunday for the University of Illinois team shootout.

The shootout showcased many talents that could soon be wearing orange and blue.

- Despite being kicked off Waukegan in February for arguing with coaches, Jereme Richmond played for the Bulldogs on Sunday. The 6-foot-6 Illinois verbal commit showed plenty of the talent that makes him a consensus top-10 recruit in the Class of 2010. He had a put-back slam off a rebound, hanging on the rim for a second after the dunk to the delight of some Illinois players and coaches.

Richmond is by far the most talented player on his team, which seemed to frustrate him quite a bit. He did not seem happy after Waukegan’s game against Limestone, talking to his parents with an annoyed look on his face.

- Limestone sophomore Donivine Stewart looks more like a football player than a basketball player. Illinois assistant Jerrance Howard doesn’t expect the 5-foot-10 point guard to grow much more but said it shouldn’t be a problem because he is “stocky.”

Stewart plays more like a senior than a sophomore. He was constantly communicating with teammates and looks like the type of leader any coach would want. Stewart received an offer from Weber as a freshman and hasn’t received an offer from any other school. He said playing with Richmond and Crandall Head would be a benefit of committing to Illinois.

“I like (Richmond’s) game,” Stewart said. “He’s big. He can be a force on the inside or outside.”

- Illinois commits Joseph Bertrand (Sterling) and Brandon Paul (Warren) got a firsthand glimpse at each other. The future teammates defended each other, and it made for a pretty entertaining basketball game. Both were offensive forces. Each time one made a spectacular move or shot, the other seemed to follow with an equally impressive play.

“(Bertrand’s) really explosive,” Paul said. “He’s really explosive.”

“(Paul’s) a really good player,” Bertrand said. “It was really fun playing against him.”

- Former Chicago Bull Dickie Simpkins was in attendance to watch Warren’s Brandon Paul. Simpkins has taken Paul under his wings as his offseason coach. Paul has seen his value increase lately and could have the most potential of any 2009 recruit.

- Crandall Head did not play in the shootout but was in attendance. Head is deciding on whether to return to Rich South for his junior season. Scout.com’s No. 12 prospect in the Class of 2010 said he has not made a decision yet.

Head said he has been lifting weights and working on his shot with his brother, Houston Rockets guard and former Illinois player Luther Head.

- Tyler Griffey, a 6-foot-8 forward from Wildwood, Mo., showed up to the shootout as well despite his team not being in the field. Griffey has been participating in the adidas Nations program and has been coached by former NBA coaches Paul Silas and Dwayne Casey.

Griffey said he will not participate in as many AAU tournaments because he is committed to Illinois. He said taking some time away from the AAU circuit will allow him to get stronger in the weight room.

Money and bats both come from trees. I guess that’s how one minor leaguer can look at it. John Odom was traded from one independent league team to another for the grand some of 10 bats.

Odom wasn’t too unhappy. Ten bats is actually two bats and 450 toothpicks more than his contract is worth. He’s looking to sign a new extension for a lofty four barrels of saw dust over the next two tree rings.

The following post was written by staff intern Kevin Kaplan. He did not invent the Kaplan Test Prep Course. 

Spring training in the MLB is in full swing, and today if you’re a Cardinals fan, you can momentarily rest easy. If you’re a Cubs fan, well, at least you can rest easy with the fact that you can continue to go to Wrigley Field to see the Cubbies battle. Oh, wait, maybe you can’t …

On St. Louis’ side, things are looking pretty good. Albert Pujols tried his best to scare the Cardinals faithful when it came out that surgery might be the answer to an arm injury that he sustained in 2003.

The words of the Cardinal’s physician, Dr. George Paletta, did not make anybody feel any better. Paletta said Pujols experienced a “high grade tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, as well as bone spurs, inflammation and arthritis in the joint — all of which have likely developed as a reaction to the ligament tear.”

Well, on Wednesday it was revealed that Pujols would not be going the route of surgery. That was very bad news to anybody who would be playing the Cardinals, and the Florida Marlins were the first to experience that news firsthand.

In their Thursday morning encounter, Pujols topped off a string of three homeruns in a row by Cardinals batters to top the Marlins 5-2. These spring training games are key for the Cardinals, as their roster seems to be up in the air. Pitching will be an interesting spectacle as the season progresses, but overall the Cards look good. While the Cards won the day, the same couldn’t be said for the Cubs. Falling 2-1 to the Athletics in Cactus League play, the highlight for the Cubs was a three-inning four hit shutout by (former Cardinal) Jason Marquis.

A loss for the Cubs is nothing new, however, and after all it is only Spring Training. The headline news for the Cubs lately has been the fact that they may not be playing in Wrigley Field anymore. Before anyone has a heart attack, the second oldest stadium in the country isn’t going anywhere (though there are renovations planned).

The issue begins with the acquisition of the Cubs franchise by billionaire Sam Zell. The Cubs franchise had been owned by the Chicago Tribune for years, but Zell is now selling them off. The problem is that, as of now, he also plans on selling off the naming rights to the field. This would allow Wrigley Field to be called any number of different things.
Since 1926, Cubbie nation has gone without a pennant, all the while being assured the one constant that America’s most dedicated fans could go to WRIGLEY FIELD and watch their “lovable losers” take
the diamond.

Now, they might not even be able to do that.