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The harsh truth is that Illinois failed in this area many
times throughout the season. I had hoped they were cured after
beating Indiana in overtime at the Big Ten tourney in Chicago. I
guess they weren't. The final loss of any season is always painful,
but this one was exceedingly painful. On the other hand, maybe it
just put this misguided season out of its misery.
#41 - Warren Carter
The hardest
thing for me will be to say goodbye to the seniors. Marcus Arnold,
who transferred from ISU, always worked hard and gave outstanding
effort. Rich McBride, the sharpshooter from Springfield Lanphier,
became a lock-down defender -- something that I would have bet
heavily against. And we'll probably miss Warren Carter most of all.
He became a consistent scoring threat, and for an offensively
challenged club like the 2006-07 Illini were, he helped make our
season.
I'm not one of the pundits who subscribes to getting rid of head
coach Bruce Weber and Ron Guenther, the athletic director. You'll
have to look elsewhere if you want to find that kind of ridiculous
notion. On the contrary, I feel we have two of the best in the
business in their respective positions.
#3 - Chester Frazier
[to top of second column] |
 Things in life tend to move in cycles, and certainly we're not in
one of the best cycles we've ever been in. That's why my support of
them, the Chief and the Illini is so strong. I believe in them. Lots
of people have been hopping off the Illinois bandwagon for the last
two seasons like rats off the cruise ships. That's OK with me. Good
luck with that.
I'm probably way too optimistic. I'm probably not seeing the
silver lining very clearly. I'm probably too idealistic. But I just
see great days on the Illini horizon. In the movie account of the
Apollo 13 crisis, one NASA official proclaims that the flight will
end as the biggest disaster in NASA history. Another NASA leader
immediately denounces him and proclaims that the event will be
NASA's finest hour.
Things may look a little bleak right now, but a bright new day is
just around the corner. I'm sprinting ahead to meet you there.
[Jeff Mayfield]
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