Well, (an overused word I agree but euphonious) Illinois has moved to 16-1; 2-1 in conference play, I believe. Whew. The game against Michigan just finished with a squeaker. When you consider how the Illini typically dominate in home games, a 79-74 final score squeals like a pig about to be slaughtered. Not that I have any personal experience with pig slaughtering, but it's a colorful metaphor. Speaking of colorful, a home game in Assembly Hall when almost 17,000 people are dressed in bright orange and the Orange Crush is chanting and standing through posession after possession and bouncing rhythmically is an overwhelming experience for opposing teams and a thrill for fans. I highly recommend it.
Since moving to the mid-atlantic region where Duke, Maryland, and North Carolina (ptew, ptew, yep--still holding a grudge) are the teams of interest; seeing Illinois on tv is a rarity. Toto, we're not in Big Ten country anymore. This is ACC ground. Sigh. National interest in Illinois being low, I followed the game on the internet after virtuously paying my bills. I have considered paying for Full Court, but I've been feeling cheap. A feeling particularly unchanged after paying bills. It's an indulgence, after all, and I already indulge myself plenty in books, music, and clothes. Hey--an educator's paycheck only goes so far, darn it, which takes us full circle back to my post on winning the lottery.
Back to Illinois basketball, I'm still convinced that losing at Iowa was a good thing. I noted in the sports commentary after the loss that the phrase "undefeated no more" and its ilk were used in excess. Considering that any reasonable sports interested person knew that Illinois had seen limited conference play and hadn't played any particularly super-ranked opponenets in pre-conference play--the impression given was of knocking off a goliath and that's just not consistent with the facts. Or maybe I'm just paranoid about the way Illinois is perceived by the sports media. Whatever.
In other basketball news, I enjoyed reading that Kansas State beat Kansas and ended an extremely long 30-something winning streak by Kansas. Heh, heh. Yep, still holding a grudge against Self. I was holding the grudge when Kansas was playing well, but not surprisingly, I enjoy my grudge much more now that they are tanking. Hey, human nature, whatcha gonna do?
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