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It’s
over, finished, kaput...
Cardinals’ dream season goes up in
smoke
By Jeff Mayfield
[OCT.
19, 2000]
And
it wasn’t very pretty either! After smokin’ and blitzin’ the
unflappable Atlanta Braves, it looked as if the St. Louis Cardinals
were going to do everything in their power to prevent a subway
series. They had even eked out home field advantage for the National
League Championship Series. However, something went terribly wrong
in their quest for a world title. It’s hard to talk about all that
went awry in their series with the New York Mets; where do you
start...
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At
the beginning I guess. First of all, they lost the opening game of
the series at home. Knowledgeable baseball fans will tell you that
the team that has won the first game of the last seven NLCS’s has
gone on to advance to the World Series. The Cards were already in
trouble, and we fans could feel it.
That
led to the beginning of the inexplicable moves by the Redbird brain
trust. They decided to start Ricky Ankiel in game two. Timeout
Railer people! Didn’t Ricky already show in the first game of the
divisional series that he was clearly not ready for big-time
pressure? Hadn’t he already set an all-time record for most wild
pitches in an inning and in a game? Why in the world would you stick
him back out there when the stakes were so high? Especially after
losing game one at home...can you afford to go down two games before
taking to the road? I don’t think so.
On
top of all that, aren’t the Mets a predominantly right-hand
hitting team? Why did we wait so long to bring our right-hand
hurlers at them? By the time Andy Benes pitched his gem against the
pond scum, it was all but over. Perhaps, if he would have gotten a
start in game one or two, I could be making my LDN World Series
plans instead of raking the leaves in my yard this weekend!
And
where in the heck did Britt Reames go? He was brilliant in relief of
Ankiel in the first game versus America’s team...it might have
been good to see him throwing more BBs at the Mets.
The
more I think about a subway series the sicker I get! Daryl Kile just
didn’t seem like he had anything left...
That’s
it...I can’t take it any more. I was hoping that writing this
article would be therapeutic for me and that maybe I would feel
better about it all after going through this experience. I don’t!
I feel worse!
[to
top of second column in this article]
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I
guess I should just look at it differently. I mean if you had told
me before the season began that the Birds would win 90-plus games
and be battling for the best record in baseball the last two weeks
of the year, I would’ve told you that you’re crazy! Then, if you
told me that Mark McGwire was going to be injured for more than half
the year and would hit only 32 homers and we would win the division
anyway, I would’ve told you that you’re crazy! If you would’ve
gone on to tell me that the Cards would sign an aging veteran like
Will Clark and that he would be reinvented and reinvigorated in St.
Louis, I would’ve told you that you’re crazy! And if you would’ve
told me that the Cardinals would make Mike Matheny the everyday
catcher and that he would have a sensational year behind the plate,
I would’ve told you that you’re crazy! Finally, if you would’ve
told me that we would be able to get a Jim Edmonds for a Kent
Bottenfield and an Adam Kennedy and that Edmonds would put up
MVP-like numbers, I would’ve told you that you’re crazy!
When
you look at all of those factors and evaluate them for a while, you
might begin to see through the pain a little bit and realize what a
special season that it was. No one REALLY expected the Cardinals to
be this good (although the LDN did predict it). And NO ONE expected
St. Louis to even be able to compete against the vaunted America’s
team, much less sweep them into oblivion! There were just too many
wheels falling off the cart by the time the Mets came to town.
What
if...Mike Matheny had not sustained his freak injury? What if...Mark
McGwire would have stayed healthy all season and been a threat
during the playoffs? What if...the Cards would’ve gone with their
regular pitching rotation instead of the potpourri that they
employed? I guess we’ll never know. At least the Reds or Astros
didn’t make it...that would’ve been too much to bear.
What
if...the Cards come back next year and win it all? Wouldn’t you
like to see the LDN staff dancing on the mound at Busch Stadium? I
know I would.
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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 Almost a perfect weekend
Illini back on track
By Jeff Mayfield
[OCT.
16, 2000]
The
stands were packed, the weather cooperated and the Illini got back
on track with a 31-0 whitewashing of the Iowa Hawkeyes. It was
almost a perfect weekend…we were one Cardinal victory away from a
perfect weekend! I hate to say the overused word that this was a
must win for the Illini, but this was a must win for the Illini.
Though they appeared to have a slow, sluggish start, they got things
rolling by taking a 21-0 halftime lead to the locker room…
Led
by a stingy defense and the solid performance of the offense, the
Illini got back in line for a bowl bid with a semi-convincing 31-0
blanking of the Iowa Hawks. The Illini were led by junior
quarterback Kurt Kittner, who finished the day 17-of-25 for 248
yards passing and three touchdowns. Kittner was given ample
protection all afternoon in a good showing by his offensive line.
The line opened some nice holes and allowed the running backs to
average nearly four yards per carry. Rocky Harvey had a couple of
electrifying runs and ended up with 104 yards on just 14 carries.
But the day’s offensive star probably would have to go to
sophomore wide-out Aaron Moorehead. Moorehead caught four passes for
125 yards and two touchdowns. Christian Morton announced his
presence with a nifty 23-yard punt return. Fred Wakefield had some
impressive sacks to lead a resurgent defense that will need to keep
their opponents in check as the Illini continue to go bowl hunting.
Next
up for Illinois is a road tilt at Penn State on Saturday.
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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All photos by Tom Seggelke
[Tom and Jeff go to great lengths to give LDN
readers on-the-spot coverage!]
[Aaron Moorehead gathers in a spectacular 61-yard
scoring strike from QB #15 Kurt Kittner]
[Antoineo Harris is denied access to the south end
zone.]
[A happy and relieved Coach Turner at his post-game
conference.]
[The Illini hoopsters take a bow.]
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Illini
hoopsters unleashed
By Jeff Mayfield
[OCT.
16, 2000]
Another
reason that it was such a great weekend is that the greatest show on
earth was reopened after the football game on Saturday. Under the
big top at Assembly Hall, both the Illini women’s and Illini men’s
basketball teams were introduced to the public for the first time
this year. Once again, Lincoln’s own Brian Cook received a raucous
ovation from the crowd as he came out of the tunnel to begin his
sophomore season. As usual, the LDN was there to take it all in for
your reading pleasure…
Brian
Cook and his Illini brethren looked a little tired and a little
sluggish as new coach Bill Self ran the Illini through their paces
in the first scrimmage of the year. We spoke with Brian after the
game, and he said many of the players were both sore and tired. They
had been through an exhausting three-hour workout earlier in the
day. Brian was hobbled by a slightly twisted ankle but said that he
will be fine. Despite all that, he was listed unofficially going
2-for-3 from the field and 1-for-2 at the line for five points. I
think people are starting to realize that the more he gets the ball,
the more good things that will happen. Brian sends his regards to
the fans back home and hopes that his former Railer teammates have a
great season.
I
also spoke to Rob Judson, Illini assistant coach, before the game.
Rob feels very good about this Illini team. He felt that the team
has a good work ethic, and they seem to be coming together nicely.
At
the post-game conference, new head coach Bill Self cautioned the
media not to worry too much about the team’s early sloppy play. He
said that he told them to go out and have some fun today. He added
that they don’t even know what he wants yet, so it was hard for
him to evaluate their play. We think that he is sly like a fox and
that this Illini team is going to be an exciting one to watch.
A
brutal schedule will challenge Self and his young cagers. The Illini
open the season three weeks from tonight with a contest against
Athletes in Action. For single game or season tickets call (217)
333-5000.
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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All photos by Tom Seggelke
[Illini assistant coach Rob Judson discusses the
upcoming season with LDN sports editor Jeff Mayfield]
[New Illini head coach Bill Self contemplates the new
season at hand.]
[Brian Cook and company. In front is Nick Smith and
in between is Cook's roommate, Jerrance Howard.]
[Cook prepares to embark on his sophomore season.]
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