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 Snow-filled Mutterings
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By Jeff Mayfield
[FEB. 9,
2004]
If you're going to be a sportswriter, it's
probably a pretty good idea to attend a lot of sporting events. That
just hasn't been the case for this semiprofessional writer the last
couple of months. With lots of piled-up work begging to get some
attention, some speaking engagements and some travel occupying the
time, sporting events in my life have just been few and far between.
Luckily for us, we have a good crew of sources who do attend about
anything with either a ball in it or some kind of scoring account
witnessed. Hopefully, we'll be back on the scene for you soon and
we'll get back into the fray. Here's what was reported to us about
this weekend's sports action…
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Railers split. I
didn't hear much good about the game at Lanphier Friday night. To
some extent that might have been expected, as the Lions were the
hottest team other than the Railers going in; AND if you believe
that you MUST defend the home court, then there you have it. I know
that Coach Alexander wanted to win-out, but I still think the
Railers are in good position. Also, in a custom that has become all
too familiar during the Alexander era, Lincoln righted the ship the
very next night with a convincing victory over Normal West that
likely will have seeding implications. Needless to say, the Railers
are still in a spot to continue to surprise all doubters and
skeptics!
Lady Railers iced
out. It seems like every time the Lady Railers are ready to play, we
get hit with a snow or ice storm. Hopefully, the downtime has been
good for injuries to heal and to work stuff into the program.
Lady Lynx narrowly
missed a chance to upset the No. 2 in the nation ICC team out of
Peoria. A few missed free-throw opportunities down the stretch were
all that prevented the upset!
The Lynx narrowly
lost to ICC as well and moved to 5-5 in the league.
Speaking of junior
college basketball… How 'bout the game last week featuring three
former Railers in it? That's right. Parkland's Chris Bunch's 21
points and Erik Young's 12 points upended a Lincoln Land team led by
Cory Farmer's 16 points. It's great to see so many former Railers
enjoying success on the collegiate hardwood!
LCC's Angels beat St.
Louis Pharmacy, while LCC's men lost a tough one at Elgin.
Are the Illini back
on track? Many people think so after a nice win at Minnesota
yesterday. I did catch most of this one but would have preferred to
view it at the Barn otherwise known as Williams Arena. I've been
there before but not for an Illini game.
[to top of second column in this
article]
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 The guards are
getting lots of props, as Dee Brown had 18 points and Deron Williams
had 13 and a season-high 11 assists. But don't forget the big men.
Big Nick Smith exploded off the bench with 13 points and James
Augustine was back in double figures for the first time in a few
weeks with 10.
As to whether
Illinois is back on track, I just don't know. I think the Gophers
are better than their record, but they haven't won a league game.
And Indiana… I just don't know how good they are.
So, I guess I'm
reserving judgment until I see how the Illini fare versus Michigan
State and Wisconsin. I know you'll hate me when I say that a split
of those two games would be a pretty good outcome. I do agree with
you that the Illini must win both to have ANY intention of trying to
win the Big Ten championship. But isn't it nice to at least be
discussing the possibilities? A couple of weeks ago a trip to New
York and the NIT was looking like a long shot.
Jim Benson, of the
Pantagraph, is now predicting the crown to be shared by the Badgers
and the Spartans at 12-4, and I think that's pretty smart money. I
sure hope he and I are wrong!
ISU lost a rough game
at Southwest Missouri State 69-57. Lincoln's Gregg Alexander had six
points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal.
How 'bout that Pro
Bowl game? The NFC beat the AFC 55-52 in the highest scoring Pro
Bowl of all time, which included Marc Bulger of the Rams throwing
for a record four TD passes.
The NHL also staged
its All-Star Game yesterday, won by the East 6-4 in Minnesota.
That's all for me. Have a GREAT week,
everybody!
[Jeff Mayfield]
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