Why I Oughta...

2 of my nephews won their "Super Bowl" games in their Pop Warner leagues last week and to celebrate, I took them out for a meal.  I think the straws were the biggest hit. Hopefully, one of them will develop into a kicker soon.

The Babe really loved the turf but was spooked a bit by all the people and commotion at the Illini game this past weekend. She wasn't the only one who had a great time!

On Saturday Nat and I took my folks and the Babe to the Illini game.  At half-time, they shot this 'fancam' photo that is ultra-high-resolution and built an application on FightingIllini.com that allows you to 'tag' yourself.  Of course, i couldn't help myself and I tagged my face.  That's me with the "I" right over my face.  You can make Nat out behind the kid with his hand up.  My folks must have been sitting down with the Babe, I guess.

Our good friends took Nat and I to the ND-MSU game this weekend.  I only heard from 2 comments about my gear all day.  Either the Illini don't even register on the ND radar or I guess those Indiana Catholics aren't as confrontational as us Illinois ones. And...for the record, my loyalties lie: 1.  Team 2.  Conference 3.  Everyone Else

Tomorrow is game day in Illini land.  And the first chance in multiple years to start off 1-0.  Thanks to someone in the athletic department finally wising up, the Illini are opening up at home against a patsy.  Instead of getting beat down my Mizzou in St. Louis year after year.  Not only that, but they've somehow managed to schedule EIGHT home games .  Oh...and see the starting time up above?  It isn't 11 am.  Finally....someone (either at UI or up in Park Ridge at the BiG offices) wised up and moved some of these games back.  They're bad for the team, bad for fans, and mostly...bad for students.  Who wants to get up at 8 am for a tailgate after you've been pounding Captain and Cokes at Kam's until 1 am? There's a lot of question marks but optimism is all around this program.  Wins against weak opponents like Arkansas State, South Dakota State and Western Michigan in the first 3 of 4 weeks sets the team up well for conference play - where they've drawn

If it were really *only* that easy.    And besides...why pick on punters?  A well hit punt is the MOST beautiful play in all of football.

  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

*Looking for the recipe?  You can skip the story & find it here:  Tom Thayer's Italian Beef Recipe With the Bears in the NFC Championship game, Chicago is all orange & blue all the time.  Both papers are draping themselves in the Bears flag, the local newscasts seem to be leading with a Bears angle, and there sure are a lot of Bears jerseys at Menards today. But...there's also something else going on:  party planning.  Based - solely on ONE DATA POINT - it seems like everyone MUST be looking for recipes to make for the various parties they are hosting tomorrow.  That one data point is the seemingly random popularity of a recipe I posted almost a year ago:  Tom Thayer's Italian Beef Recipe .  Over there on the sidebar of my blog, Google Analytics displays the top posts - based on traffic - for the past week.  There are a few usual posts that get a bunch of search traffic and a few "current" posts.  But...this particular one has never appeared before. 

Last week, the Sun-Times ran a wrap-up story on the Illini football season and included a photo of Defensive Coordinator Vic Koenning.   They also included a photo inset of what they claimed to be Offensive Coordinator Paul Petrino. The issue?  They used two photos of Koenning.  It isn't even close.  Take a look at what Petrino looks like: A quick glance at the hairline of the guy in the inset photo will tell the photo editor that they have the wrong guy.  I don't mean to pick on the SunTimes - in fact we get both the Tribune and ST delivered to our driveway each morning.  I pick up the S-T first and prefer the sports coverage over the Trib's.  But they should know better than to put 2 photos of the same guy together!

The Illini stomped the Hoosiers and everyone (and I really mean EVERYONE!) had a great time in Champaign today.  The Babe broke out her Fighting Illini Cheerleader outfit and even spent a little bit of time in a campus bar.   I have to work quickly before those ND Domers corrupt her too much.  Not to mention her Wash U Mother!

Always tough games when you go up against a Big Ten team. But the JAYS came out strong and now w e're 3-0 heading in an off week.  Big day for the kickers, too.  1 FB, 3-3 PATs. The Maroons have really great old-school uniforms and VERY prominantly display the Chicago Bears--esque "C" - which may be where the Bears logo came from!

Big win today for the Bluejays on the road up in Michigan.  A great 2-0 start with a game at home one week from today against the Maroons of University of Chicago.  Mixed bag with the kickers with a 38+ yard punting average, one touchback, and one field goal.  Had one blocked, but I'll insist that it was a snap issue.  A steady rain fell the ENTIRE game making it a hard one for everyone involved. We opened up 3-0 last year so I'm hoping we can match that start again.

For the second straight year, I missed my Fantasy draft.  Thankfully, Equation Boy/Man was there to draft my squad alongside his own.  Unlike last year, I provided some guidelines/recommendations based on a cursory search of the internets and a few IM's with two guys who I believe are die-hard fantasy guys. Hard to tell at this point what I have team-wise, but at least I'll have something to keep me interested in the NFL- what with the Bears probably going 5-11 this fall. QB - Drew Brees RB - Cedric Benson RB/WR - Santana Moss RB/WR - Ronnie Brown WR- Jeremy Maclin WR- Chad Ochocinco TE - Jermichale Finley D - Colts K- Robbie Gould Bench RB - Marion Barber WR - Jacoby Jones WR - Dexter McCluster WR - Eddie Royal QB - Sam Bradford WR - Brandon Tate TE - Tony Scheffler

Please don't embarrass me, Illini.  I'm saying 6 wins and a ratty bowl game.  Optimistic?  Sure is, but how else would you expect a fan to enter the season? Big Ten football kicks off tonight with Indiana facing Towson tonight on the Big Ten Network.  I'm giddy to welcome the college football season to our lives.

UW's Jake Locker with the early lead in the Heisman race?  Terrelle Pryor nipping at his heels.  At least that's what Google's Insights for Search tool thinks.  The college football season has ups and downs, so searches may or may not be able to predict the present.   I'm hoping that this will get a MUCH wider audience in the coming weeks/months as the Heisman race heats up.

(Disclosure:  I'm a member of the Big Ten Fan Council and didn't have to pay for my ticket to the luncheon and other events.) A few weeks ago, I was able to attend the Big Ten Football Kickoff Luncheon.  A full post will show up about the day shortly.  While I was there, I grabbed a few photo-ops with the life-sized bobbleheads that are promoting the new show called Big Ten Icons .  The show doesn't air until September 18, but they're only airing on the Big Ten Network Icons #20-#1.  Starting next week, they'll begin put up #50-#21 on the web.  Illinois is well represented (based on the bobbleheads) by Kendall Gill in hoops and Red Grange in football.  If the Galloping Ghost isn't #1, the system is fixed.   Here's me with the guys from both of my schools - Kendall Gill from Illinois and Joe Girardi from NU.   I'm pretty sure this is Glen Robinson - the Big Dog!  I was over by the Purdue folks and he was standing around.  I sidled up and posed.   Ever

Last year, I coached the kickers and punters at Elmhurst College.  It is a small Division III program in our town that recruits from all over the country.  They think of themselves as a "big time" Division III program and they play in the conference to prove it.  The CCIW is always a hard league to win and this year will be no exception. I had been out in Charleston on vacation for the first week of camp so this weekend was my first chance to get on the field.  It felt really great to be back with these young men.  They're a lot of fun and I'm thrilled to get the chance to be a part of the program.

I rented a car last week in Benton Harbor, Michigan from Enterprise and spotted this "house ad" in their office. They're promoting their sponsorship of NCAA sports.  Take a close look at the kicker in the bottom left. (click the photo to blow it up)  That's totally the Ilini.  They stripped off the logos on the helmets, but they can't fool me!  Can't tell the vintage, but maybe it is  Jason Reda ?

Late last week, I met with the Head Football Coach and the Special Teams Coach  to go over our plan for Spring Football.  We start practice at 6 am on April 12th.  The times work out for me with work - I can get to practice in the am, then hop on the Metra and head downtown in time for work. The NCAA allows us a certain number practices this spring and we only have one kicker returning.  We'll have plenty of time to get him focused on kicking this spring.  He doesn't really love punting, but we're going to have to figure out a way to get him to fall in love with punting - my favorite part to coach.   The real reason why I like it is because you actually can "coach" a kid up in punting.  Sure...with placekicking, you can tune someone to get the ball further or more accurate, but placekicking is a lot about leg strength.  Punting, on the other hand is all about mechanics and being deliberate.  And...when you connect on a punt?  It might be the most beautiful play

Last fall, I c oached the kickers and punters at Elmhurst College - a Division III football team in our town.  I had contacted the head coach early in 2009 and interviewed for the job.  After a few rounds of chats, they gave me the role.   I inherited a senior kicker/punter and a junior kicker. I joined the team a month or two before fall camp, so we had a few workouts before the season hit.  The season team-wise was a bust.  We went 4-6 with a couple of heartbreaking last minute losses including a triple overtime loss. But in coaching, I had a ton of fun and gained a bunch of new friends - both players and fellow coaches.  There's not many people that provide more laughs than a bunch of college-aged men on a football team.  I would leave practice every time with a big smile on my face. Fortunately, my work schedule was flexible enough for me to be able to get to a few practices during the day- but not every one - and to most games.  They move their schedule around and do