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On Dec. 3, when the North Carolina Tar
Heels come to town, Illinois will host an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game
at the Assembly Hall for the first time in the four years of the
challenge game’s existence. This will also be North Carolina’s first
trip to Champaign since 1987 and the first visit to the Assembly
Hall by an ACC team since the Illini defeated Georgia Tech in double
overtime in 1989.
The Illini will appear nationally on
ESPN for three consecutive Saturdays during the month of December,
beginning Dec. 7 against Arkansas in Little Rock. Illinois will face
Temple at the United Center in Chicago on Dec. 14, and the Illini
and the Missouri Tigers will square off in the annual border war
game at the Savvis Center in St. Louis on Dec. 21.
The Illini also host a Big Ten home
game away from the Assembly Hall when they take on Northwestern Feb.
22 at the United Center in Chicago.
"We have a good, competitive schedule
this year," Self said. "We play some of the premier programs in the
nation but also several home games that will hopefully allow us to
grow as a team prior to Big Ten play."
Illinois will appear a total of six
times on ESPN, twice on ESPN2 and four times on CBS (with the
possibility of a fifth game) during the 2002-03 season.
The Illini begin Big Ten play on the
road for the first time since 1999 as the team travels to Minnesota
to open the conference slate Jan. 7. Big Ten teams that the Illini
will play just once during the 16-game conference schedule are the
same four as last season: Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State and Penn
State.
Remaining television and game-time
information will be released when available.
2002-03 Illinois
men’s basketball schedule
(as of Aug. 26)
Date,
opponent, time (CST), TV
Friday, Oct. 11 — Midnight Madness (at
Huff Hall), 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 26 — Orange and Blue
scrimmage, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 12 — Spotlight Jammers
(exhibition), 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 15 — EA Sports All-Stars
(exhibition), 7 p.m.
November date to be announced — TBA
Wednesday, Nov. 27 — Arkansas-Pine
Bluff, 7 p.m., TBA
Sunday, Dec. 1 — Western Illinois, 2
p.m., TBA
Tuesday, Dec. 3 — North Carolina
(ACC/Big Ten Challenge), 8:30 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday, Dec. 7 — vs. Arkansas (at
Little Rock), 6 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday, Dec. 10 — Eastern Illinois, 7
p.m., TBA
Saturday, Dec. 14 — Temple (Chevrolet
Shootout at United Center, Chicago), 11 a.m., ESPN
Saturday, Dec. 21 — vs. Missouri (at
Savvis Center, St. Louis), 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Saturday, Dec. 28 — North
Carolina-Greensboro, 7 p.m., TBA
Monday, Dec. 30 — Coppin State, 7 p.m.,
TBA
[to top of second column in this
article] |
Saturday, Jan. 4 — Oakland, 7 p.m., TBA
Tuesday, Jan. 7 — at Minnesota, 6 p.m.,
ESPN
Saturday, Jan. 11 — Wisconsin, 3:30
p.m., ESPN Plus regional
Wednesday, Jan. 15 — at Iowa, 8 p.m.,
ESPN Plus local
Saturday, Jan. 18 — at Indiana, 3 p.m.,
CBS
Wednesday, Jan. 22 — Purdue, 6:30 p.m.,
ESPN2
Saturday, Jan. 25 — at Penn State,
11:15 a.m., ESPN Plus regional
Wednesday, Jan. 29 — Michigan, 7 p.m.,
ESPN Plus local
Sunday, Feb. 2 — at Michigan State,
noon, CBS
Sunday, Feb. 9 — Ohio State, noon, CBS
Saturday, Feb. 15 — at Purdue, 7 p.m.,
ESPN Plus local
Tuesday, Feb. 18 — Michigan State, 6
p.m., ESPN
Saturday, Feb. 22 — Northwestern (at
United Center, Chicago), 1 p.m., CBS
Tuesday, Feb. 25 — Indiana, 8 p.m.,
ESPN
Saturday, March 1 — at Michigan, 11:15
a.m., ESPN Plus regional
Wednesday, March 5 — at Wisconsin, 8
p.m., ESPN Plus local
Saturday, March 8 — Minnesota, 3:30 or
7 p.m., ESPN Plus regional or ESPN Plus local;
or Sunday, March 9 — Minnesota, 1 p.m.,
CBS
March 13-16 — Big Ten tournament, at
United Center, Chicago (schedule below)
March 20-23 — NCAA tournament, first
and second rounds
March 27-30 — NCAA tournament regionals
April 5, 7 — NCAA Final Four, New
Orleans
Note: Dates, times and TV coverage
subject to change.
Big
Ten tournament schedule
United
Center, Chicago
Thursday,
March 13 — First round
Game 1: No. 8 seed vs. No. 9
seed, 11 a.m., ESPN
Game 2: No. 7 seed vs. No. 10
seed, 1:30 p.m., ESPN
Game 3: No. 6 seed vs. No. 11
seed, 4:05 p.m., ESPN2
Friday,
March 14 — Quarterfinals
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. No. 1
seed, 11 a.m., ESPN
Game 5: No. 4 seed vs. No. 5
seed, 1:30 p.m., ESPN
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. No. 2
seed, 5:40 p.m., ESPN Plus
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. No. 3
seed, 8:10 p.m., ESPN Plus
Saturday,
March 15 — Semifinals
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5
winner, 12:40 p.m., CBS
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7
winner, 3:05 p.m., CBS
Sunday,
March 16 — Championship
Game 10:
Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 2:30 p.m., CBS
[Kent Brown, U of I] |
|
Almost three years
ago, I got my start with the LDN sports department in what I thought
might be a very short-lived endeavor. Three years later we’re going
strong, and new possibilities are cropping up every day. One such
opportunity has presented itself currently.
My good friend Greg
Taylor and I will be hosting a new concept for our area, starting
tonight in beautiful downtown Lincoln. We will be simulcasting our
sports show via Lincoln Daily News and FIX 96.3 radio from our own
local cable station, LogOn Productions, Channel 15. The simulcast
will start at 6 p.m. and run an hour. Our goal in the future is to
be your sports hangout leading into "Monday Night Football."
To say that we’re
excited about this development would be a huge understatement. But
actually it’s you loyal LDN readers and FIX 96 listeners who made
this thing happen. Apparently dozens of you have been talking up our
show at the doughnut shops and the local eateries. The right people
overheard some of those conversations, and then I was approached
about our interest.
Jim Ash of FIX 96 and
Tim and Celeste Rogers of LogOn took it from there. They have worked
very hard on this concept all summer long. Tests have been conducted
to see how well this format will work, and the possibilities are
getting more exciting by the moment.
Just for
clarification’s sake. Tim, Celeste and Jim are all professionals;
Greg and I are not. The only time we can give them is
whatever free time our wives graciously allow us from "honey do"
list work and family stuff. I’m sure it would be easier for the
professionals to work with other professionals, but we do come
cheaply. We also love to do it.
Our jobs have
intensified so much in the last couple of years that oftentimes we
haven’t even mulled over any sports stuff until we go on the air. So
this program, along with our work with the LDN, really gives us a
chance to put a handle on things.
On the weekends I try
to make a mental note of what sports things people are talking about
at Mel-O-Cream, at Guzzardo’s, at Bonanza, while I’m shopping
downtown on the square or wherever I am. I then make a list… and if
you’ve read our stuff or heard our show you know that we’ve covered
more ground than we probably even should have.
BUT, we were serious
when we said that this is YOUR paper and this new show is YOUR show.
We do have a few
sports and a few athletes that are probably our favorites, but I’m
not going to apologize for that. Many of these people and sports
have been loyal to me through the years, and if you can’t understand
that you never would anyway. For instance, we’re going to root like
crazy for Illinois, Illinois State and Lincoln athletic teams. They
give us access to their players and to their sports. We think that
since we live in this area that most people occasionally care about
how our local teams are doing. On the other hand, we’re not going to
belittle you if you happen to root for Georgetown, let’s just say.
We might ask you why... but we’ll try not to make it personal.
 [to top of second column in this
article] |
There is ONE THING
that I would like to ask ALL of our great area residents. Many of
you told me during the school year that you listened to Greg and me
on the air but that you didn’t call in because you thought that your
comment or question wasn’t going to help the show. PLEASE don’t
think that. Every single person that has called in, with the
exception of Donnie Aeilts (we busted him when he called in), has
made a positive impact on the show. In reality, the success of "Fandamonium"
will rest in your hands.
Oh, don’t worry about
Greg and me. We’ll have plenty of material. Our friends comfort us
often by saying that we could spend hours talking about nothing
because we just like to hear our own voices. Isn’t it great to have
encouraging, supportive pals?
We promise to do our
part to make this one of the most exciting new shows on Channel 15
and on the FIX 96 networks. We hope to do some zany and absolutely
crazy things that will help rescue YOUR Mondays and get the rest of
your work week off to a great start. We hope to do some remote
broadcasts, and we hope to interview some celebrities and bring them
right into your homes each week.
This very first week
we plan to spend some time promoting the re-emergence of Lincoln
High School football. If head coach John Oaks is available, we hope
to have him in the studio tonight for our very first telecast. This
man and his staff have poured themselves into this football program.
In some ways, that alone should command some of our respect. I’m
hearing good things about Railer football on the streets… I hope you
hear them straight from the horse’s mouth tonight on our first
installment of "Fandamonium!"
Other guests have
been contacted, and we think you will really enjoy hearing from
local as well as national celebrities. It could be an amazing ride,
and we’d like you to take the journey with us.
So, set your radio
dial to FIX 96.3, your TV dial to 15 and your browser to Lincoln
Daily News, and the world will be a better place in which to live.
Have a great week,
everybody. See YOU tonight at 6!!!
Team of the week
I go outside of the
sports bubble to name my TOW for this week. The winner: Bobbi
Abbott, her chamber of commerce staff and hundreds of volunteers
from Vern Turner on down.
I love this festival! I love the art and
I love the balloons! These selfless workers basically killed
themselves for several months so that our community could have an
event that we could all be proud of — not to mention the thousands
of badly needed dollars that are trickling through our town because
of their efforts. I never want to take any of them for granted — and
just in case no one has bothered to say thank you to any of you
great volunteers, on behalf of the LDN, I say THANK YOU by naming
you as my team of the week!!!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
[Aug. 19 column: "August
mutterings...
Gearing up for another great year of sports"] |
