Why I Oughta...

Could there be a better Block I Card Stunt than this one at Homecoming this past weekend? Home is right. ( They did a cute Red Grange one , too.)

I'm clearly a day late here, but have to tell you that I was so excited to watch the euphoria that the Womens' team wore all over their faces and play on Sunday night.  I was texting Nat and the girls all throughout the game.  #PlayLikeaGirl But, yesterday I found out little nugget - via Oskee Wow Wow Today - that makes me like the outcome even more:  Head Coach Jill Ellis is a former member of the Fighting Illini family.  She coached the womens' team in their inaugural season back in 1997. Go Illini.  Congrats to Coach Ellis and whole team.

Last month, I received a really nice tri-fold mailer from the University of Illinois Athletic Department featuring these great Fighting Illini athletes.  It looks like it was mailed to all members of the I-Fund - which is the development/fundraising arm of the athletics department. One thing I've noticed over the past few years is that the quality of the correspondence has really improved.  From the brochure to buy seats/psl's/suites in the new State Farm Center to the regular 'keep-in-touch' notes they send from time-to-time, they've stepped up their design and delivery in a big way.  And...with this being the development/fundraising arm, you'd expect this to need to be impressive stuff to get donors attention. When you open up the latest mailer, you get a bunch of stats about graduation rates, B1G Championships, community service hours and National Championships (we have 25 of 'em!).  But they also loaded it with a few little giveaways.  Check it o

Yesterday (May the Fourth), the Big Ten Fan Shop at Fanatics sent out this cute (and timely) email touting Big Ten/Star Wars gear.  Seems like everyone was doing May the Fourth stuff yesterday. One note:  Nat actually got this and pointed it out to me. That's pretty awesome, right?   Also, I don't go into my promotions tab in Gmail very much these days.  After this, I should, I'm thinking. Anyway, When you click through the email copy, you end up at t his page on the Big Ten Store .  There are 12 different Big Ten t-shirts/bags with Star Wars stuff.  Cool.  I scroll down and look around. Here's the roundup. 3 Ohio State University Buckeyes items 2 Michigan State University Spartans items 3 University of Michigan Wolverines items 1 University of Wisconsin Badgers item 1 Penn State University item 1 University of Nebraska item. Sadly...not one Fighting Illini item. How many?   Zero.point.Zero .  WTF?  Illinois has this massive and super well-known engi

I don't normally follow college baseball and the College World Series, but this year, things might be different:   my Illini have won 21 straight games are now ranked #6 in the country .  They beat #23 Ohio State yesterday in a comeback.  Pretty awesome to see the sports like baseball (and golf!) doing so well down in Champaign.  (One slight nitpick...why are the Illini wearing these 'old' uniforms?  This isn't the new font, right?  Maybe because these are 'cut off' jerseys, they're alternates and holdovers from last year's uniform set?) Happy for these guys and for the team.  Here's hoping the student body is getting behind this crew and showing up at the home games. I-L-L...

  Last week, the University of Illinois Athletic department sent out an email to fans/alums/supporters/donors hawking this 24" Red Grange sculpture that is an exact replica of the spectacular statue that they put up a few years back at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.  The idea is great, but the price is crazy.  $4800 for one.  I understand that they're limiting the production to just 77 pieces (get it?  Red Grange's number was 77), but they should make something more affordable.   A few years back, I bought a bronze(ish) statue of Chief Illiniwek.  I'm not certain what it is made out of, but it wasn't crazy expensive.  Probably a few hundred bucks.  I would like nothing more than to add this Grange statue to my Chief statue.  But,  until they make a ton of them out of something other than bronze, I have a feeling that I won't be able to explain a $4800 charge to our credit card to Nat.   As a side note....have you checked out the Grange statue in person

Patrick Daley, Mayor Daley's boy, is set to ship out for the Army after the first of the year. God Speed, Patrick.