Why I Oughta...

The 2024 season for the Fighting Illini will be one that I remember for A LONG TIME.  We went to a number of home games down in Champaign and between the start times (2:30 pm on CBS!), the weather (Chamber of Commerce Days), the tailgating (Thanks to Equation Boy/Man for Lot 31) and...well...the winning....the 'vibes' (as the kids say) are way different this year than they have for MOST of my fandom. Yesterday, the DIA annouced we've accepted a bid to play the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Cheez-it Citrus Bowl on the afternoon of New Year's Eve.  From the Fighting Illini Football press release : The #20 Illinois football team has accepted an invitation to play in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, it was announced Sunday. Illinois will play #15 South Carolina at Camping World Stadium on Tuesday, Dec. 31, at 2 p.m. CT on ABC. The Illini qualified for the 21st bowl game in program history and the Illini's second New Year's bowl in Florida in the last...

Earlier in March, posted a few pennants from my childhood including this 1984 Illini Rose Bowl beauty , this vintage totally 80's Epcot Center pennant and this pair of Chicago Sting ones from their time at the Rosemont Horizon. Today comes a pair of Chicago Bears pennants from 1984 and 1985:  both featuring NFC championships.  The first one is from 1984 - the year BEFORE THE YEAR - when they (apparently) won the 1984 NFC Central Division Championship.   Next up is this NFC Champions pennant that calls out Super Bowl XX in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans on January 26, 1986.  But, I'm pretty sure that this one was printed AFTER they won the Conference Title game and BEFORE the Super Bowl. These totally remind me of my childhood.  And...of course, they remind me of my dad.  The original collector in my life. 

Recently, the five of us went over the Lisle and took in a Friday Night Lights Benet Game at Benedictine University.  This is shaping up to be a tradition as here's last year's ticket stub from a similar Benet Football game .  We also went to see a playoff game between Benet (Nat's Alma Mater) and Lincoln-Way East (*almost* my Alma Mater) a few years back , too.  She's clearly been working on all of us with this whole Benet thing.  Normally, they put together a solid squad.  But the game we saw?  They were dominated and utterly outclassed. 

A few days back, I mentioned that we had attended a game at Notre Dame Stadium and while there were a lot of 'special touches' at the Stadium/game, one that stood out was that they gave away half dollar coins from the concession stands.  Well...the game turned into a bit of a blowout, so late in the 3rd quarter, I took a walk around the bowels of the stadium.  I wanted to see all the light fixtures, reused sections of bleachers, how the old/new stadium fit together and various other things that adorn the interior of the stadium. One of the things that they've done to represent some of their strong history is to blow up and and install vintage program covers from games of past around the concourse.  And guess what?  One of those football game programs was from a game between Washington University and the Fighting Irish.  Yeah...Wash U. That's Nat's alma mater.  And now a Division III football program that I affectionately call the "Teddy Bears"....

We spent a recent Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium watching the Fighting Irish with Nat's parents (both ND grads) and to answer the first question:  yes, I wore an Illini football shirt.  A little different than I did with my big orange sweater back in 2011 .  This time, I covered it up with a blue sweatshirt.  No one was the wiser, I guess. And while I bleed orange and blue, I will be the first person to tell you that there isn't very many better football 'celebrations' than what they pull off in South Bend.  And that's the part of the game that I like the most:  the circus that surrounds the game.  We arrived a few hours before the game and made ourselves comfortable at a few different tailgates and drank Michelob Ultras and downed a few hotdogs.  Then, it was in the stadium for me.  I wanted to see the warm-ups.  I wanted to see the punters and long snappers do their thing.  If you ever wanted to read more about MY experienc...

That's the admission ticket from a Benet boys Varsity Football game that we recently went to as a family.  The Bird did a little cheerleading at halftime, Nat was able to do a little bit more immersing of the girls around Benet and I got to watch a high school football game.  Good fit all around, right?  Everyone gets a little something to like.   The game was fun to watch - and so was seeing my little girl out there cheerleading - but there was also this other interesting moment.  During the halftime show, the marching band came out like they do on Friday Night Lights all over the country.  I don't remember what they played, but I do remember who was playing.  Amongst the kids in band uniforms was this guy in his football uniform belting out his best saxophone.    See him next to the "B" at midfield? I watched him closely.  He nailed it.  Every step.  Every move.  Amazing, no?  Full time stud...

I'm laying out my current fantasy football roster - the 2017 Little Lebowski Urban Achievers - for all to judge, mock and critique.  Our league - The Marini/Parrillo War League - is run with an iron fist by the Commissioner Equation Boy/Man and includes my nephews, my Dad, Equation Boy/Man's Dad and nephews on that side.   My team was totally auto-drafted as I've done in the past and it usually doesn't turn out amazing.  The league is pretty low stakes and because I put in *just* a little bit above the minimum effort in sorting out the buy weeks and inactives, I usually sneak into the playoffs and win maybe one round before being taken out by one of the boys who is all over his team with weekly tweaks and roster moves.   The team - lead by just one QB in Dak Prescott and WR Odell Beckham Jr (who was the first pick by the computer) has a bunch of guys I've never even heard of!  So, there's that, which is nice, right? 

Over on eBay this weekend, I came across this beauty of a lamp .  It is listed at $85 and has no shade, so it isn't a steal, right? But it *is* awesome.  But right now, it isn't for me.  ( remember that whole Joe Rhode-thing about that says: " It is enough to enjoy the existence of things without possessing all of them" ???) Looking up the helmets in the Helmet Project site , it seems that this one with the blue facemask, the arched "Illini" that is outlined in blue is from a very specific few years:  1977 to 1979. As a child of the late 70's, I kinda love that.  We don't have a house yet, let alone a place for this lamp, but I bet it'd look pretty awesome in a rumpus room, right?  At $85, it might not go fast, right?  All it takes is one nutball like me to buy it, though!

A few days ago, I posted a couple of photos from our visit to the Legacy Lounge in the Northwest corner terrace of Memorial Stadium down in Champaign that included finding one of the team photos that I was in from my days on the Fighting Illini squad in the late 90's.  But, this was our first trip down that we were able to enjoy the *kinda* new Grange Grove. The Athletic Department christened the Grange Grove for last year's season and it has been a big hit.   From FightingIllini.com : Grange Grove has transformed what was previously Lot 36, the parking lot directly west of Memorial Stadium, into a free, high-energy tailgating area, which Fighting Illini fans of all ages can enjoy. When we arrived a few hours before kickoff, the place was jumping!  There was a band playing on one side and the beer garden was loaded with alums and students.  It was Dad's day, so it appeared that a few Fraternities had their "Football Block" on site in the Grange Grove and...

We were down in Champaign recently for an Illini game and as part of the pre-game festivities we spent some time in what they call the "Legacy Lounge" in the Northwest corner of Memorial Stadium.  Along with a nice bar and some good tailgate chow (bbq sandwiches this week), they have photos of a bunch of the past Fighting Illini football teams.  There, on a few of the team photos, was a picture of *this guy* that I was able to show my nieces and nephews and kids.  That was kinda fun. There's a page here on the blog that chronicles a bit more about my time as a punter on the Fighting Illini football team in the 90's.   Jake Parrillo - punter on Illinois football team .  If you look closely at the photo, you'll see me in #44. They also gave me this sweet "football alumni" lanyard that granted access to the field.  Really nice way to embrace former players - even guys like me - beyond the annual "Varsity I" weekend game.

This month's wall calendars feature Toy Story 3 on the left in the Pixar calendar and the one and only Memorial Stadium on the right in the University of Illinois wall calendar.  October is - maybe - the best time on campus, so I love seeing the football team featured in the month. Last year, I turned the calendars over on the 8th of October , so that means I've gained another four days in the annual contest.  At the end of September, I was up -21 days .  So, this thing might just be over before December even starts. For those keeping track like I am (Which, we all know is nobody!): January took 8 days to put up the calendar . I don't think I was tracking January last year. So let's call it a wash. (+0 Days) February took 16 days to put up the calendar. In 2015, I turned it over on the 17th . (-1 Days better) March took 8 days this year. In 2015, I turned them on the 10th . Posted on the 11th. So...that makes it -2 days better. April took just 7 days. I did...

Despite never getting a trophy showing off a punter during my time in Jr. High or High School or even college down at the University of Illinois, I have NOW rectified that and am the proud owner of this sweet vintage punter trophy!  I picked it up at the Kane County Flea Market during the same trip when we got these Fraggle McDonalds cars and the Chipettes glass . I had never seen a punter trophy before, so you know the old rule:  when you see something you've never come across before, you need to buy it.  So, I knew I had to have it.  Fortunately, Nat was looking at a vintage book in the same booth and after decided she wanted it, I packaged up the book and this guy.   I think the vendor figured that if she didn't sell this thing to me, she wasn't going to sell it to anyone as the buyers for a 60's era vintage punter trophy are rare, I'm guessing.  So, she gave us a great price for the book and basically threw the trophy in for nuttin'.  Pretty ...

Yesterday, I posted a few vintage Purdue and Notre Dame football covers from the 1960's , and today comes another photo from the very same estate sale.  This stuff is just pretty amazing to me.  It is all associated with the 1967 Rose Bowl game that Purdue played against USC.  There's two different kind of bumper stickers.  The "Pasadena-a-do-do" ones are pretty rad if you ask me.  Then there's the various/different Rose Bowl pins.  And...that thing on the right says "Purdue University Rose Bowl 1966-7". It is from Conlin-Dodds Travel Service in the Memorial Union Building in West Lafayette, Indiana.  Says it is the 'Official Student Tour'. I didn't get my hands on it (it was kind of in this display case), so no idea what was in there, but guessing it was a full set of docs that included things like bus tickets, game tickets, hotel arrangements, etc. I didn't buy this stuff, but I'm sure hoping *someone* did.  This deserves a ...

In the same pile as the Student Power Magazine that I posted yesterday, there were also a bunch of football programs all from Purdue University.  Above is one against Notre Dame that features Neil Armstrong - a Purdue Alum.  This estate was chock'ed full of Purdue sports stuff. Below, is another Purdue vs. Notre Dame program from September 30, 1967 that features the returning 1966 National Champion Fighting Irish with South Bend being highlighted in the 'middle' of the 'D' and West Lafayette in the 'middle' of the 'P'.  Cute.  As you can see scrawled by hand is what appears to be the score:  Purdue 28.  ND 21. Also were a few other interesting ones:  This one directly below is from the 1967 Rose Bowl Game featuring Purdue vs. USC. And this was the only one featuring the Illini.  That's Bob Griese, too!  Which is pretty neat.  This Illini vs. Purdue program is the earliest from October 29, 1966. With us being in total disa...

This whole thing isn't just about the new coach.  It is about a new moment.  One where the Fighting Illini aren't being discussed in the news for scandals or embarrassing moments.  But for making a bold and decisive decision that is the first step in a long journey back to relevance.  Thanks, Josh Whitman. #WEWILLWIN pic.twitter.com/eIC379IiyD — Josh Whitman (@IlliniAD) March 7, 2016

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...

Just west of Buckingham Fountain you can start to see the tents going up for the NFL's DraftTown.  They've shut down the street and it appears they're just going to take the whole place over with a series of tents/structures.  Kinda neat. Here's the sketch they have on NFL.com of the final product :

Found via this DudePerfect punting video is this gem of a shirt . "I want to see some punting footage!  Punting XO!  He's not a punter.  He's a weapon!" Here's the story of my punting career - as a player with the Illinois Fighting Illini in the late 1990's and then as a coach with the Elmhurst Bluejays in Division III .  

If the fact that the NIU Huskies from the Mid American Conference were playing in a BCS game while my Illini were at home licking their wounds wasn't bad enough, now the NIU athletic department is taking direct shots at us with a full page ad in the Sun-Times.  "We look good in orange"?  Really?  I know that's a line about the Orange Bowl they're set to play in, but they're also rubbing it in a bit, right?

Last night, Nat and I dropped the girls off at her folks house and (after Vest Fest) went to Benedictine University to see the IHSA Class 7A Football Semifinals between the Benet Academy Redwings and the Lincoln-Way East Griffins. Nat is a *very* proud Benet Alum.  And, I went to Lincoln-Way.  Long story, but I consider myself a "Lincoln-Way Central Knight", but I went to school at Lincoln-Way East for 2 years (fresh/soph) and Central for 2 years (junior/senior).  They had both campuses built when I was a student there, but there was *just* one school - called Lincoln-Way. So, it is with mixed-emotions that I root for the Griffins.  While in my heart, I'm a Knight (graduated from the Central building, played football on the field at Central and have my photo up on the wall at Central), I have some connection to East. And...those of you who follow high school football know that while Central hasn't made a lot of hay in the past decade or so, East has emerged a...