 However, for those of us who bleed Illini orange and blue, this is a
really tough time to follow a team that has brought so much joy and
satisfaction the past decade. Even though it was just under 22
months ago that Illinois played for the national championship in St.
Louis, times have changed and changed in a major way.On the
baseball front, the hot-stove action is just about complete, as
pitchers and catchers are just a couple of weeks away from reporting
to camp. The Cards are, of course, coming off their historic World
Series championship season, while the White Sox are just one season
removed from the ultimate prize earned in 2005. No team, however,
made as big a splash at the cash register this offseason than the
Cubs -- and boy did they need to do something.
First, let's talk about the Bears. Heading into Sunday's NFC
championship game, just about every so-called expert outside of
Chicagoland was picking the visiting New Orleans Saints to go to the
Super Bowl. Never mind that the weather for game day was exactly
what the doctor ordered for the Bears. Never mind that the Bears'
defense had looked incredible for large parts of the 2006 season.
Never mind that Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson were both really good
running backs who would carry the ball 46 times on Sunday -- 46
carries in 60 game minutes of action. Never mind -- everyone was
ready for the Saints to go marching in.
And that is exactly what happened -- the Saints marched right
into the offseason after being shut down (for most of the game) by
the Bears. Take away the last two minutes of the first half and the
first three minutes of the second half and you've got a shutout. And
while we can't do that, this much we can say -- the Bears were
without a doubt the best team on the field in Chicago on Sunday. Rex
Grossman was good enough, Robbie Gould continues to make kick after
kick, Brad Maynard punted with excellence and accuracy, and the
defense returned to September and October form. And the Bears are
Miami bound.
What can we say about the Colts? They too are going to the Super
Bowl, and that in itself is a neat story. Two of the real class acts
in professional sports, Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning, are finally
going to be showcased in the ultimate football game. But, could you
have written a better script for the Colts? Not only did they beat
their arch nemesis, the New England Patriots. They staged the
greatest comeback EVER in conference championship history.
When the boys from Indy found themselves on the wrong end of 21-3
score early in the second quarter, it didn't look very promising for
the Blue and White. And even after the Colts evened the score, Tom
Brady of the Pats had an answer every time. But finally, in the last
minute of the game, the Colts were able to take the lead and hang on
for victory. The matchup should be super -- no pun intended --
especially for those of us here in central Illinois. The early line
is Colts by seven, but I like the wisdom of Bears coach Lovie Smith,
who said, "Don't bet against the Bears."
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Illinois basketball is another story altogether. What seemed like
such a promising season back in October has been turned into the
toughest campaign for the orange and blue since Lon Kruger's third
team -- the 1998-99 Illinois that went just 3-13 in conference play.
We could complain about an onslaught of injuries, a lack of mental
toughness, really bad free-throw shooting or tough breaks late in
games (see Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin for examples), but
the bottom line is this: Illinois just isn't very good right now.
And what is probably most troubling for us is the fact that
Illinois really has some good talent on the court. Shaun Pruitt is
one of the better post players in the conference most nights, yet
has struggled to get the ball consistently at times. Guards Rich
McBride and Jamar Smith can make 3-pointer after 3-pointer in
practice and warm-ups, and have both had monster shooting games in
the past, but both have struggled to carry the team when they have
been needed most. Warren Carter is probably the team MVP at this
point, but didn't have a strong game on Saturday against Wisconsin
when the upset of a top-five team was in the works.
I'm probably nuts for writing this (because as I type Illinois is
losing at home to Indiana by seven points and only has 14 points in
15 first-half minutes), but I think Illinois can still make some
noise this year. I still think the NCAA tournament can happen, and I
still think Carter, Pruitt, McBride, Smith and Brian Randle have the
ability to play excellent basketball yet this year. For Carter and
McBride, this is the last year they will play basketball at this
level -- it's literally now or never for both of these players.
On the baseball front, the Cubs are spending money like they are
printing it (where has this liberal spending been the past four
decades?) and are banking on players like Alfonso Soriano, Cliff
Floyd, Ted Lilly, Mark DeRosa and Jason Marquis to resurrect a
franchise that lost 96 games in 2006. Here's hoping for healthy
seasons from Derrick Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior,
and who knows, maybe 2007 will be the year of the Cub? OK, probably
not, but why not dream?
The Cards seem to be at least as good as they were in 2006, and
that was good enough to win it all. And the White Sox have really
made some interesting changes, saying goodbye to some good, strong
starting pitchers. I guess the Sox want to win game 12-10, eh?
Hard to believe the opening day is just 75 days away!
Oh yeah -- you're probably wondering about my Super Bowl pick?
I'll let you know next week.
Postscript: By the way -- Illinois came back and beat the
Hoosiers 51-43, going on a 17-2 run from late in the first half to
early in the second half. Coach Kelvin "Sanctions" Sampson was booed
throughout the game and seemed frustrated for much of the game.
Coach Bruce Weber showed a ton of class by shaking hands with Mr.
Integrity himself both before and after the game, and in the end,
Illini fans finally had a victory over a top-25 team.
[Greg
Taylor]
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