The following column was written by senior writer Jason Grodsky.

Usually this end of the year column is reserved for graduating seniors to say there farewell and thank yous, but the senior class here in the sports department at the Daily Illini is a little thin and as the longest employed person in sports and someone who is moving on I’m going to do the honors.

I feel very grateful to have worked at the DI for the three years I’ve been here and to have had the opportunity to a side of Illinois athletics that few get to see. But it’s my time to step down and move on to bigger and better things and let some of the up-and-coming writers take the reigns and lead the way.

I’ve bled Orange and Blue since the day I was born and grew up watching Illini sports and sitting in the crowds at Memorial Stadium and the Assembly Hall. When I first started working at the paper as a freshman who came a whole two miles away from his house to go to college, I never thought it would take me to the places I’ve been and allow to meet some of the most interesting characters this campus has to offer.

This year alone I’ve gotten to travel to Maui and sit five feet away from the greatest basketball player of all time. The football team’s magical run took me to Pasadena to chat it up with some of the best sports journalists in the world today (even if getting there took a 54-hour Greyhound bus trip from hell). And the best part of all of those trips and the countless others I’ve taken to cover games: I was getting paid to do it. Well, if you call what gets deposited into my bank account every two weeks getting paid.

Getting to where I am couldn’t have been possible without the help from certain people along the way, so I’d like to take the chance to thank them.

First off I’d like to thank former sports editors Erin Foley, Mike Rodriguez, Dave Just and Steve Contorno, all of whom have helped me refine my writing. Erin you taught me the ins and outs and took a chance on a kid who loved sports and gave me my big break. Mike and Dave, you two were probably the most entertaining guys to work under, and Steve, we may not have seen eye-to-eye on everything but I know you’ll make a great Editor-In-Chief.

To my partners in crime: Dan Johnson, Mike Theodore, Alex Symonds, Adam Harris and Jermey Werner. Thanks for making this past year one all never forget. From football practices, to the list of questions we came up with at the Western Illinois game, to the trip on Route 666, to the “bucket o’ beers” in Indianapolis, to not remembering the DI Sports Desk bar crawls, it’s been a great ride and I know you’ll keep up the quality of the sports section and surpass what I’ve done.

A special thank you the Illinois Division I Hockey team and head coach Chad Cassel. Covering you guys was probably the best time I had covering a team. Congratulations on a well deserved ACHA National Championship this year. Figures, I come in after you guys win a national title the year before and then the year I stop covering you guys you win another one. Guess I was the bad luck charm.

A big shout out to all the guys on the Illinois Division II Hockey team (yes, there are two teams). Playing with you guys the last two years has been indescribable and I’m looking forward to another year of late night practices and bus trips next year. I told all of you guys I would eventually get you into the paper.

To men of Alpha Sigma Phi, you’ve made the studying part of college bearable. You truly are gentlemen and scholars, with hearts beneath your vests. My times at the Ole Gal will never be forgotten.

A lot of credit has to be given to a group of guys that I’ve spent a very large portion of the last five-plus years with talking sports and getting into all sorts of shenanigans with. You know who you are and there are too many memories and moments to even start mentioning. I know we have another summer to remember ahead of us, even if Fat City is gone. Lets just all try to stay out of the hospital this year when August rolls around.

Last but not least, I’d like to thank my family. You all have supported me over the years and helped me reach my goals. I’m still convinced that you guys are the only people who even read my articles. A special thanks to my mom who has pulled my all my clips of the things I’ve written to make me an organized portfolio.

The biggest thank you is reserved for my grandpa, John Maurer. You’ve been my inspiration. Without you I wouldn’t be where I am today and I would be clueless in the world of sports, you’ve taught me pretty much all I know and I love you for that.

Finally, thank you to anyone who read any of the things I’ve written. It’s been a pleasure and trust me, I leave you in good hands.

Game photos! Enjoy. It was hard to watch. Also some parade photos from earlier in the morning. It was a long day.

Kevin Mitchell reacts after the game as teammate Justin Harrison tries to comfort him.

Zook watches his team.

Hershel scores a TD for USC.

At least someone on Illinois had a good game.

Some people dressed up for the occasion.

I don’t know why she was smiling so early in the morning.

These guys aren’t very fond of American government.

See more photos: Aaron Facemire + Josh Birnbaum + Roxy Ryan + Brad Vest

I’ve been lazy about posting, so here’s an overview of our Rose Bowl trip thus far.

Juice walks into Media Day

Illinois’ Mike Ware jokes with reporters at Lawry’s Beef Bowl

A fan poses for a friends

Watching practice at USC

Antonio Steele and players interview each other with water bottles as microphones

See more photos: Aaron Facemire + Josh Birnbaum + Roxy Ryan + Brad Vest

Last night we walked down to the harbor by Josh’s house.

Here are a few more photos from yesterday’s Illini practice at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. This complex is home to the LA Galaxy soccer team and Mr. David Beckham. The field next to where the Illini were practicing was even named after him. Too bad I didn’t see Becks or Posh.

We have been busy with media events all day. I’ll try to give everyone the ‘inside scoop’ of what went down on our second day of Los Angeles adventure from the perspective of a football-illiterate photographer.

Six a.m. came early, but we stumbled to our white, 12-passenger van by 6:30. On schedule so far. With reporter Dan Johnson at the wheel we navigated down PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) and on to the freeway, taking advantage of the carpool lane. Traffic wasn’t bad and we quickly found the Beverly Hilton.

This is where things got interesting. The clearance to enter the parking garage was going to be close and our van was a bit tall. We bravely scraped our way in and soon realized this was a mistake. The ramp to go up a level was obviously too small. Dan cautiously backed DOWN the ramp, which caused a bit of a backup in the garage. We went down a level and wedged ourself in elsewhere. The truck next to us had a body in it. I hope the person was just taking a nap.

We went inside and found the sweet media rooms. After receiving our credentials we checked out breakfast. My favorite was the passion fruit iced tea and bagels. The reporters headed to the Illinois press conference while us photographers stayed behind for a bit… to play Moose Hunter.

Yes, the media room was equipped with free arcade games. Brad has apparently been moose hunting before because he was quite the expert. I failed miserably but managed to slaughter a few geese and a cute dog. Whoops.

Face and I headed down to the end of the press conference to get a few photos of the defensive players and coaches. Everything is and was extremely organized and media-friendly. We got the shots we needed and headed back to Josh’s house to edit and write.

Later in the afternoon, Face, Brad and Josh went to the USC campus to cover their football practice. I went with the reporters in the van to catch the end of the Illinois practice at the Home Depot Center in Carson. In all honestly, I don’t know much about football (hence my blogging about beef and moose hunting), but the players seemed to be relaxed and in good spirits. Everyone was leaving the field smiling and joking with each other. Juice told the reporters the teacup ride at DisneyLand was the highlight of the trip so far, which was pretty cute. Other players didn’t even seem bitter about turning down Hugh Hefner’s invitation to the Playboy Mansion.

On the drive home we spotted quite a few characters selling roses on the street. One gentleman decided it would be a good idea to stand in the middle of an intersection with peanuts and roses for sale.

We’re back at the Birnbaum’s now. Josh’s mom and dad are excellent hosts. They’ve definitely gone out of their way to make all eight of us feel at home. Right now they’re cooking us a huge barbeque dinner and it smells delicious.

“Who needs the Beverly Hilton when you have the Birnbaum’s,” Alex just said.

Check out today’s story and photos from practice on DailyIllini.com if you actually want to know anything about football.

Tomorrow is the pep rally and media day so we’ll be up early again bringing you the latest Illini news.

I should probably start carrying the real cameras around before the photographers completely shun me, but I’ve been getting some great images with my phone. Expect artsy beach photos taken with a real camera soon. For now, imagine having this a few yards away from your house

Moose hunters in action. This whole game was full of camouflage and country music. Very reminiscent of Illinois, and kind of out of place in the Beverly Hilton.

So it’s been a while since I have made my way out to the west coast. And till now I haven’t been south of San Francisco. I’ve been in the LA area for a little over a day , mostly running to media events and trying to scrub off the smell of the 54 hour affair with the grey dog. I find LA is a place with definitely a lot of visual opportunities. I am really looking forward to some possible down time to explore and capture this very unique and diverse area.

Like I said the past day and a half has been spent running from event to event. Here are a few of my favorite shots from this brief 24 hour stint so far.

After theLawry’s Beef Bowl, ABC allowed Alex and Mike to doa live newscast from outside the restaurant. Not really, but it was a pretty nice set up.

cruisin through beverly hills on friday night in a huge white van that most moms would tell their children steer clear of.

Shot out the front of a car on the way to USC’s practice. Gotta rock the carpool lane.

later that day - 12_29_2007 brad vest

I was the last to leave and the first to arrive in LA.

Unlike the Greyhound riders, my travel experience was awesome. I took a flight from St. Louis early yesterday morning and was in LA before noon. The two-hour layover in Vegas was the definitely highlight of my travels. I’d never gambled before so I made a beeline for the slots. I invested $5 and quickly won $20. Sweet success! The noise and lights of the machines are addicting… it was hard to step away while ahead. Then I hopped on bumpy one-hour flight to LA and was here by 11:30 a.m. The time-space continuum was definitely on my side.

After arriving I had a couple hours to get settled before heading to the Beef Bowl at Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills. Josh Birnbaum’s dad drove me there and I experienced LA traffic for the first time. The six lanes of traffic are the busiest in the U.S. but he was an expert at weaving in and out of traffic. He showed me all kinds of landmarks, my favorite being Inglewood (Dr. Dre songs were stuck in my head for the rest of the day) and the Larry Flint Publications building which was HUGE and incredibly classy. I also saw the Academy of Motion Pictures, a lot of trendy people, a lot of homeless people, cactuses the size of trees and the ocean.

The Beef Bowl was epic. A huge red carpet was rolled out and the Lawry’s staff lined both sides to welcome the team when they arrived by police escort. With all of the commotion, press, flashing cameras and the long red carpet, a passerby might have thought Lindsay Lohan was in the mood for some beef. The restaurant was completely shut down to the public for about two hours while everyone got their fill.

We got back to Josh’s house to upload our photos and stories before walking down to the beach, which is literally a block away. I forgot how loud and calming the ocean is. Even with the smog, the air smells cleaner and fresher than Illinois.

These are mountains over Nevada. Taken with my iPhone.

Slot machines at the airport in Vegas.

This was epic. I was only able to finish less than 1/3 of this.

Sometimes the reporters and photographers wear matching outfits while editing. All that time on the bus must have brought everyone closer together.

Upon seeing the US border patrol Mike Theodore, left, was relatively calm. Alex Symonds however was not worried about showing ID, but the multiple warrants for arrest from multiple states had him holed up in the bathroom. At least he remembered to lift the seat as requested. Both got by the Indio check and were jubilated. Symonds vowed to stop committing crimes.

This is after the border patrol yanked this guy off the bus in Indio, CA. I felt bad for him, he seemed like a real nice guy just trying to get by. Either way, the white people were not allowed to leave the bus, as yelled from the back.

—-So, California at last. I think for people to truly grasp and respect how far public transport has come since the horse and buggy to the modern jumbo jet you only need to go as far as taking today’s covered wagon west, a Greyhound bus.

Receive the opportunity to meet interesting people, risk your life (apparently from some of the bus drivers stories) and really grasp how large this country is. Get this all while traveling at 65 miles an hour with a 4 year old child playing hopscotch on the back of your seat 14 hours out of the day while taking only ‘20 minute’ layovers in some very unique cities this country has to offer.

I knew we were in for a special surprise when it took us 11 hours to get from downtown Chicago to a re-boarding bus in St Louis, a mere 225 or so miles away . My hopes were raised though when i got some insider information from a convict, ‘don’t worry, once we’re past Armarillo (texas) we will be home free,’ said the man who came to be known as ‘camo guy.’ My first thought was, why is this guy talking about armadillos with me, must be the Busch tall boy.

In the end, I wouldn’t trade the trip for anything. It turned out to be an amazing experience which I will always laugh about and recall with friends. With that said however, I am dreading the 49 hour return roll from Los Angeles to Chicago. So if there are any well endowed alums out there, I’m staying in Redondo Beach, I am betting they have a Western Union around here somewhere.

12_29_07 - brad vest

 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.