|
The Railers... Do these guys ever cease to amaze you? They
don't have the athleticism that many of the teams in Chicago have.
Heck, they might not be as athletically gifted as some teams in
Peoria or even in Springfield. But, night after night they get the
job done. They remind me of the hard workers I have met up here on
the stateline, as this Railer team is as blue-collar as you can get.
No one's gonna jump up, pull a dollar off the top of the backboard
and leave change. No one's gonna throw down some funky dunks. No
one's gonna throw behind-the-back passes and remind you of Magic,
Penny or any other showman.
But, what they are gonna do is shut down teams defensively. The
prowess they have demonstrated on the defensive side of the floor is
a testament to refining and honing skills that only come with
outworking your opponents... all week and all year.
I sat with coach Neil Alexander and coach Eric Ewald, along with
former coach Craig Zastrow, as we all scouted Rock Falls together
(either it was a good idea we did that, as Lincoln got the ensuing
win on them, or Craig and I may have set them back so much they were
barely able to eke out the victory). Coach Al was as relaxed as I've
ever seen him. He explained to us what a joy this group of Railers
is to coach. How they come to practice ready and know what they have
to work on. Their only concern... more offense. That will be
especially true if some team finds an effective way to cover Farmer
and Schick.
No matter how far this team goes or doesn't go, they deserve a
ton of respect. Wasn't it Lincoln that just a couple or three years
ago led the state in 3-point shooting (perhaps making a state-record
number of 3s)? And now they are playing stifling defense? Now, maybe
they don't have the monster player who can put a team on its back
and take them to the Final Four, but I've always loved the team
emphasis that the Railers possess.
Sports are bizarre and wacky. You need a lot of luck, breaks,
calls and karma to go along with your skill when you get into the
playoffs. Who knows, maybe this will be the year... but, even if it
isn't, the Railers are always a lot of fun to watch. I know I
enjoyed the ride for 23 years, and nothing has made me happier than
to see many in the community of Lincoln figuring that out along the
way and enjoying it too. People take shots at Lincoln in the blogs
and in newspaper responses, etc. But for me, I'm proud of Lincoln
and the surrounding area, and nothing the uniformed or ignorant can
say could ever change that.
So my current assessment of this year's Lincoln team? I can only
give one response: GO, RAILERS!... or as the great John Guzzardo
once said, "You gotta believe!"
The Illini (hoopsters)
...on the other hand are a horse of a different color. As I told
you earlier in the season, unlike Greg Taylor, I was not as
optimistic about this year's squad. I thought they would struggle. I
did not foresee them struggling as much as they have, however. Every
day, every week and every minute of every game seems to be a
struggle. For a while they struggled on defense and couldn't seem to
stop anyone or stop the bleeding when they got in trouble. Then they
totally lost their offense. It was gone... in hiatus... AWOL... It
couldn't be found anywhere.
So, where are they now? That might be the question of the day,
and your guess might be as good as mine or even better (most of our
loyal LDN readers are usually light-years ahead of our sportswriters
-- that is a given). Illinois has won three in a row. While some of
the victories have not necessarily been marquee victories, you have
to play the people who are on your schedule. Since the Illini shot
themselves in the foot early this season, they are playing in some
very difficult NCAA circumstances. They have no wiggle room. Their
margin for error is scant at best.
However, when you see their recent wins and compare it to the
stats, you will be even more amazed. The Illini are at the bottom or
near the bottom in almost every important team statistical category.
But, their backs are against the wall and they know it. If they
don't get to at least 9-7 in the league (and they should be 6-5
after the win over NW), they probably won't be dancin'. Especially
after the debacle last year.
I shouldn't bring it up again, but you recall what happened to
them last year, right? Most knowledgeable basketball insiders (so,
yes, that would exclude Greg and me in any conceivable way) had the
Illini as high as a No. 2 seed, but no lower than a No. 3 probably
sent somewhere in the Midwest. So, where did the Fighting Illini,
they of the "hostile and abusive" Chief Illiniwek, end up? How 'bout
a No. 4 shipped to the West Coast? I'm not kidding! They didn't even
have the guts to admit that they were punishing the Illini for not
wanting to immediately remove a beloved and honored mascot! I don't
make these things up, people... As a semiprofessional writer I have
the obligation of reporting the facts. And while no smoking gun
evidence exists, everything points to collusion. Now, could Illinois
have silenced its critics by beating Washington and advancing to the
second weekend? Maybe. Was I upset to spend the weekend with friends
in my hometown of San Diego? Not on your life. I'm just trying to
make a point... and, yes, I'm struggling to do so.
Here it is... If you're gonna punish a team that included a
workmanlike player in James Augustine and college basketball's
poster child, Dee Brown, who had a pretty good season last year,
what do you think you're gonna need this year to get your dance card
stamped? That's all I'm saying. This team still has a
mountain to climb. Where did it all go wrong anyway?
Nobody wants to hear excuses, so, yes, they lost a lot of
important games and some of them were winnable... Maryland, at
Arizona and at Michigan State, just to name three. But in the
interest of accurate reporting, you must look at the evidence. At
times this season, this team has been decimated by injuries. Yes,
you play with who you've got, but injuries to key players not only
gives you matchup problems in games, it totally disrupts what you're
trying to accomplish in practice. You have different lineups every
day, you get no timing or rhythm, different guys want passes
delivered different ways, and the list is endless. So, call it
excuses if you want to, but it is brutal trying to put a team
together when you only have eight guys or less in practice uniforms!
Illinois has dodged the injury bug for the most part over the
last few years, so I guess a case could be made that the Illini were
due. But what's up with all the "hate"? I mean now all of a sudden
bloggers, message board responders and letters to the editor are
torching coach Bruce Weber and saying that he can't coach. What's up
with that? I mean, I know the recruiting misses have been
well-documented, but going into the season did you really think this
team would remind you of the 2004-05 squad? And yes, it is a shame
that more momentum wasn't gained by that national darling of a
team... but it wasn't. Recruiting might be one of the most
mysterious, bizarre occupations in the country. How you get anyone
to go to your school is hard to fathom (I'll try to write on
recruiting in the future).
Coach Weber is not the flashiest coach in the business. He's
probably not the hippest. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who
wants to pal around with his players. He wants to teach them
basketball and about life... so, shoot him! What he does bring to
the table is character, integrity and honesty... brutal honesty. If
he knocks on my door in the next few years and wants to speak about
our son, he will be greeted with open arms whether he's still
coaching the Beloved or at Whatsmatta U! As for me and my house, we
love the hard-core work ethic, the fact that people's word is their
bond, the emphasis on taking care of business in the classroom and
as a citizen before you even get to the court. And nobody's even
talking about the way the coach develops his players! So, by looking
at this list, I can see why the detractors have so much ammunition
for their attacks. What? Are you kidding me?
[to top of second column] |
This man coaches circles around some of the supposed best in the
game. A coach must prepare his team and put them in a position to be
successful. Then, it is up to the players to execute. The Illini
have simply failed to execute most of the season. When a couple of
players are 3-for-80, is that the coach's fault? When guys pick up
two quick fouls early in games and literally kill the team's chances
at victory, is the coach to blame? When guys shoot enough bricks at
the free-throw line to rebuild the Great Wall of China, can you
really trace that back to Weber? IF you can, maybe you ought to
consider coaching... hey, and good luck with that... It's a little
harder than it looks. So then, just where are the Illini? After a
decent week and a half they will take their traveling show to
Indiana. It's hard for me to write this because of the personal
ramifications, but I can't conjure up a way that the Illini win in
Bloomtown. However, in these last five games if Illinois can just
take care of business and get to 9-7 for a final record, I think
they will be OK. Anything beyond that will just be gravy.
I do have to tip my hat to a couple of players. How 'bout the
play of Shaun Pruitt this season? He is among the leaders in
rebounds, has scored in a decent fashion and has played pretty good
post defense. Warren Carter has been up and down some this year, but
I'd hate to see where the Illini would have been without him.
Chester Frazier has been a warrior playing through injuries that
most players sit through. While I think he tries to do too much at
times, I'll take a gamer like him on the floor more times than not.
And I think you have seen why I said the Illini needed Rich McBride.
His defense has been incredible, and now his shot is starting to
come back around.
No, this team won't go down as one of the greatest in Illini
history. But I'm hoping that they find a way to eke out some wins
down the stretch, finish strong and go down as one of the
"grittiest" teams in Illini history!
Da Bears
I know that many Bears fans are too torn up to even discuss their
situation right now, so I'll try to be gentle. At least your team
made it to the Super Bowl. My Raiders and 49ers may have been
swallowed by an earthquake, as I haven't heard from either one of
them in years! I would like to tell you that this is exactly why I
wanted to see the Bears go farther last year to get that "big game"
experience. I know that Big Ben waltzed in and did good as a young
quarterback, but why do you think it took Elway, Manning and a host
of others so long to make it happen? You have to get that
experience.
When it started to rain, I thought that was a good omen for the
Bears. I figured that the backs would have a field day, keep Manning
off the field, and control the pace and tempo of the game. However,
when Bensen went out, it seemed like a lot of the air in the balloon
went out as well. Second-guessers never encourage me, but it does
make you wonder what might have been, had another play been called
on that second-half second- and-one. I felt if Chicago could get one
more score there, they might be able to come back and win the game.
It was not to be.
So then, where are the Bears? Is Rex Grossman the man for the job
or not? I really don't know. He was a part of a lot of wins this
year, but do they win because of him or in spite of him? I really
don't know. He must be pretty tough, because people dogged him all
year. To advance his team to the Super Bowl while dealing with so
much criticism I would think to be no small task. But who else is
out there and who could the Bears get? Unless there's an upgrade out
there, I wouldn't tinker much with success.
Of bigger concern might have been the slight slippage of the
defense toward the end of the season. Again, a lot of that can be
the result of key injuries, but there a couple of positions that
could be up for grabs. I think if I were calling the shots (and you
die-hard fans can thank your lucky stars that I'm not), I'd lock
down the coaching staff with some nice contracts first and foremost.
I think they and the front office have done a pretty nice job the
last two seasons and that the Bears are headed in the right
direction. So, where are they? I'll just put it like this... If you
don't like it, can I please trade your team for one of mine???
The Horse
The Colts on the other hand are the Super Bowl champions. Tony
Dungy, Peyton Manning and the rest finally got their ring. This is
exactly why I would never bet on the NFL. If you would have given me
the scenarios for the Colts the last two years and told me to pick
the year they would win it, I would've picked last year. This year I
thought they would struggle and likely lose against the Ravens. I
thought if they slithered through that one, they would be so beat up
for the next one. When they had to play the Patriots again, I was
pretty sure that they mentally just couldn't get over that hump. I
watched it, but I'm still not sure how they won that game.
I was going to break down the XLI game and share many of the
things that I liked about their game plan, but it would be much too
painful for my Bear fan friends. Suffice it to say that Manning
swallowing some of his pride had a lot to do with their win. He
finally learned a couple of years ago that it takes a team because
one man cannot win the whole thing. He learned to use his running
game for optimum effectiveness. He threw underneath the coverage
more the last few weeks than he has done in his career. Had he been
willing to do that last year, they might have made the game with the
Steelers even more interesting than it was. His leadership was
critical to the winning outcome.
Two side notes: Whether you like him, respect him or not, he was
not the MVP of that game, in my estimation. My vote (and sadly the
LDN does not get a vote) would've gone to either Rhodes or Addai, or
maybe to both of them as co-winners. I thought Chicago's defense
would give those two more trouble than it did.
Secondly, Dungy made all of his players go the Super Bowl
Breakfast on Saturday. Please understand that I'm not trying to say
that that good-lucked them into winning the Super Bowl. But what it
does demonstrate to me is the power of chemistry and what can happen
when your organization doesn't just say it's a family, but functions
as one. I hope my Raiders and Niners are taking notes.
No matter which team you were for, I think this was one of the
better NFL seasons in years. And if you want to send me to the Pro
Bowl so I can tell your favorite players in person, your gifts can
be sent to this paper to my attention. Since I'm not expecting that
to happen, I've planned to go snowmobiling and to an outside hockey
game (my son's playing Beginner Mites ice hockey) in subzero
temperatures. What's Hawaii got on us??? So, where am I now... a
little closer to crazy.
I'm spent... so, I'll do some hot-stove stuff next time,
including an e-mail I got from a national writer regarding the
Cardinals (how's that for a hook to get you to read the next
Mutterings?). Until then, have a great month, everybody!
[Jeff Mayfield]
Respond to the writer at
jeffmayfield@centralwired.com. |
