 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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