Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Sports NewsCalendar | G.T.'s 'Ten for Tuesday' | Mayfield's Mutterings: It's Time for Illinois Basketball

G.T.'s 'Ten for Tuesday'

By Greg Taylor

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[November 20, 2007]  After a one-week obsession about Illinois football, this week we return to the entire world of sports and recognize several really good accomplishments involving the teams we cheer for and support. Thanksgiving is just a couple of days away, so with that in mind, we look at our Thanksgiving "Ten for Tuesday":

1. Mount Pulaski is thankful for Donna Dulle: The volleyball machine formerly known as Mount Pulaski High School rolled onto the state 1A championship 10 days ago on the campus of Illinois State University. It was a total team effort and further shows the genius of Dulle, who is already a legend and continues to produce winner after winner. The Toppers beat Dee-Mack on Friday in the semifinals and then beat the Keith School of Rockford for the title on Saturday.

Best news of all? Several key contributors will return next fall as Mount Pulaski attempts to defend their state title.

And what will Dulle do during her offseason? She will spend her winter and spring months coaching grade school and junior high volleyball -- now that's commitment.

2. The St. Louis Rams are thankful for a victory: After starting 0-8, the people of the great city of St. Louis were ready for spring training. Players were bickering with one another, and many wondered if the Rams would win anything at all in 2007. The days of Super Bowl appearances and the "greatest show on turf" were long gone -- long gone.

But good news, sports fans -- not only did the Rams not lose a ninth game of the year, they are actually on a winning streak! Victories on the road against New Orleans and San Francisco won't make anyone think playoffs anytime soon, but at least the Rams are in the win column. Up next are winnable games against Seattle and Atlanta at the Ed (Edward Jones dome) in St. Louis.

3. Ricky Williams is thankful for a second chance: The Williams story is really sad and possibly tragic in many ways. The superstar running back out of Texas seemed destined to be the next Walter Payton when New Orleans drafted him, but he couldn't leave the drugs alone and has not played football for 18 months due to an NFL suspension. But guess what -- we live in a world of grace, and the NFL is giving Williams yet another chance. Here's hoping he makes the most out of what is probably his final chance to keep clean.

4. Illini football fans are thankful for January football: What a difference a couple of weeks can make in the life of a football team. Prior to the Ohio State game, most experts thought then-7-3 Illinois was looking at the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando on Dec. 28 -- the game reserved for the fifth-best team in the Big Ten. Now, Illinois has locked up a New Year's Day bowl game in Florida for the first time since 2001 and is being seriously considered for one of the at-large berths in a BCS bowl game -- probably the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2 in Arizona. The would mean a ton of cash for Illinois and the Big Ten, as well as major publicity as Ron Zook continues to build a winner at Illinois.



Most fans thought this Illinois team could win 5-6 games at the most, and instead Illinois finished the year at 9-3. Can anyone say coach of the year? I know I can.

5. Illini hoops players are thankful for Maui weather: Illinois is spending Thanksgiving on the island of Maui, participating in one of the great college basketball tournaments -- the Maui Invitational. Illinois defeated Arizona State late Monday night and will play Duke on Tuesday. The tournament will wrap up on Wednesday and give the Illini a chance to soak up some beautiful summerlike weather (don't people who get to spend Thanksgiving in places like Maui or Cancun make you sick?) before heading back to the land of Lincoln.

Illinois opened the year with a couple of victories
-- a home win against Northeastern and then won late Friday/early Saturday at Hawaii. Illinois will live and die this year with their two seniors, Shaun Pruitt and Brian Randle.

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6. The Lincoln community is thankful for the annual LCHS turkey tournament: If it is Thanksgiving week, it must mean local high school basketball at its best. And in Lincoln, it means great teams like East St. Louis, Peoria Manual, Champaign Centennial and others will be coming to town. The Railers lost several key contributors from last season's record-setting squad but should be a fun team to watch. The Railers won Monday night and play at 7:30 on Wednesday evening, 8:30 on Friday and Saturday evenings, and at 11:30 Saturday morning. Why not plan right now to get out and support this year's version of the Lincoln Railers.

[Catch the action live via streaming audio on LDN or pull up any past game at your leisure from the archives.]

7. New England is thankful for Tom Brady: OK, this is starting to make me sick -- seriously. Can the Patriots really be this good? They absolutely dismantled the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night by the score of 56-10, and it wasn't that close. The Patriots scored touchdowns on their first seven possessions and never looked back -- rolling to their 10th straight win of the year. With Indy struggling because of injuries, I'm wondering if they will even have an AFC playoff this year -- they might consider just giving the Patriots the title. And Tom Brady is right there -- making play after play. Not bad for a guy who couldn't win the starting job in college in any of his four years at Michigan.

8. Packer fans are thankful that they are great, and the Bears really stink: I keep telling myself, "Green Bay isn't really that good." And I want to believe it, but a crazy thing keeps happening -- they win every week. The Pack is 9-1 and I'm seeing cheese-heads in my nightmares. To add insult to injury, the Bears continue to underachieve -- falling to 4-6 on the year.

Was the Super Bowl really just nine months ago? It seems like a decade since the Bears lined up for a chance at the world title. Brett Favre looks like he's in his mid-20s on the field and the Pack looks really good. Green Bay and Dallas are clearly the cream of the crop in the NFL, and I for one can't wait to see the teams face off on Nov. 29 in Dallas.

9. Brian Cook is thankful Kobe hasn't been traded to the Bulls: Lincoln's own Brian Cook has been starting for the Lakers, who still have arguably the best player in the game on their team
-- Kobe Bryant. It is just three weeks ago that Kobe appeared headed to the Bulls, but no deal could be finalized.

And the Bulls need Kobe more than ever -- their loss to the Lakers Sunday night dropped them to an embarrassing 2-7 mark. And to think many thought the Bulls might be the favorite in the Eastern Conference this season to make the NBA Finals. Someone better tell Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Wallace that the regular season has actually started -- this is ridiculous.

10. Michigan football fans are thankful Lloyd Carr has retired: This one I never quite understood. As long as I can remember, Michigan fans have hated Carr. I always thought he did a pretty good job for Michigan, but Monday Carr said goodbye, announcing his resignation. Many expect Michigan to make a serious run at LSU coach and Michigan graduate Les Miles, but it is really anyone's guess who will be patrolling the sidelines at the Big House in 2008. Here's hoping Ron Zook and Illinois will give whoever the next Michigan coach is a very rude welcome to the Big Ten by winning at Michigan next fall.

Have a great week. Don't eat too much turkey and make sure to take time for what really matters most this holiday season -- family, friends and faith! Happy Thanksgiving.

[By GREG TAYLOR]

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