Author: Frank the Tank

Illini Bucked Again by Ohio State

On By Frank the TankIn Big Ten, College Basketball, SportsLeave a comment

In theory, I think we Illini fans are pretty spoiled when we start panicking over a 2-game losing streak.  However, coming out so flat at Ohio State eight days after that stunning loss to Penn State at home was unacceptable.  It was one thing to let the Buckeyes’ Terrence Dials (better known as the second coming of Oliver Miller, who made his old Phoenix Suns teammate Charles Barkley look svelte) to take advantage of his size advantage over us down low.  However, to let a team shoot 13-for-23 on three-pointers when perimeter defense is our greatest strength is simply awful.  That’s the recipe for getting upset by a mid-major or small conference school in the NCAA Tournamnet.

A loss at Ohio State isn’t bad on paper, but the way we lost is really bothersome.  I hope Wednesday’s home game against Northwestern provides the tonic to our current mini-swoon.  With only three home games left, Illinois cannot afford to lose any of them if we still want a chance for the Big Ten title.

Land-o-Links – 2/8/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Land-o-Links, Random Thoughts1 Comment

Lost, American Idol, the Grammys, Indiana-Wisconsin/Syracuse-UConn rivalry week doubleheader, Bulls/Nuggets… what the hell am I going to watch on TV tonight with such a plethora of choices?  While I figure that out, here are today’s links:

1) The Che Cachet – The only good Che Guevara t-shirt out there is the one with his face and the line “I Have No Idea Who This Is” underneath.  That pretty much sums up the ignorance of 99.9% of the people who wear his likeness in regards to what this guy actually stood for.

2) From Cigars to a Pineapple – It looks like former Illinois Governor George Ryan received gifts from people ranging from George Steinbrenner to the president of South Korea while in office.

3) NHL Assistant is Cited as Head of a Gambling Ring – The most exciting thing to happen to hockey since the lockout ended.

4) Senator, We’re Ready for Your Cameo – Everyone notice John McCain’s appearance on “24” on Monday?

And finally…

5) A Little Slice of Boredom – My sister has broken down and started a blog.  She is a super artist currently in grad school in New Jersey (which exit?) and would single-handedly put Blockbuster and Netflix out of business if she opened up her DVD collection to the public.

Enjoy the links and have a great day!

Puke Over FUNC and a Clear Top 2

On By Frank the TankIn Big East, College Basketball, SportsLeave a comment

Duke has done the unthinkable – the Blue Devils have moved past the Green Bay Packers by the thinnest of margins as the team I hate the most in all of sports.  There are at least some scenarios where the Bears could be aided by a Packers victory since they play in the same division.  However, I can’t think of any situation where a Duke win could ever help Illinois.  Only Duke could get me to cheer for Teams of the Dark Side such as Indiana, Kansas, and the club they beat yesterday in North Carolina when Coach K and his minions are the opponent.  I’ll stop now with the rant since I could go on about this for another 10,000 words.

Still, I’ve got to admit that Duke and UConn are clearly the top 2 teams in the country (similar to how Illinois and UNC separated themselves from the pack last season).  J.J. Redick absolutely drives me nuts – a certified Duke-hater implores the public to hate the team and not to hate him, which I just can’t comply with – yet he displayed what a clutch player he is in last night’s game with 22 second half points and a ridiculous fadeaway three-pointer to ice the game.  Rudy Gay of Connecticut is finally playing up to his talent level (19 points and 12 rebounds at Indiana on Saturday), which scarily means that the #1-ranked Huskies could still get even better.

It’s time to give props to the young UNC Tar Heels, who looked impressive even in their loss to Duke last night.  If Reyshawn Terry and Tyler Hansbrough continue develop at such a fast rate, Carolina is going to be on the short list of 2007 national championship contenders.  I just wish their great second half comeback last night would have culminated in a toppling of the Blue Devils, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Land-o-Links – 2/7/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Big Ten, College Basketball, Land-o-Links, Major League Baseball, Random Thoughts, SportsLeave a comment

The Illini dropped down to #9 in the coaches’ poll and #10 in the AP poll, which seems about right considering the loss.  Anyway, here are the links for the day:

1) Guillen Shoots From Hip in HBO Interview – It looks like Ozzie Guillen prepared for his White Sox job interview the same way I did for my on-campus interviews back in college.

2) Catholic Group Says of “Da Vinci Code” Film: It’s Just Fiction – The PR campaign by Opus Dei in advance of the release of the “Da Vinci Code.”

3) Jazz Slinger Hits Flat Note – The Chicago Tribune interviews former Illinois star Deron Williams about his slow start in the NBA this season (by the way, get ready for an Illini reunion with Williams and Luther Head in the Rookie – Sophomore Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend).

And finally…

4) Congresswoman’s House “Toilet Papered” with VCR Tape – Senior level TP was my best class in high school.

Land-o-Links – 2/6/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Land-o-Links, Random Thoughts2 Comments

Super Bowl Monday links:

1) And for Perfect Attendance, Johnny Gets… a Car – I used to receive things like $1 general admission tickets to White Sox games at old Comiskey Park or a coupon for personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut if I got perfect attendance for the year.  Now, districts are giving kids iPods, cars, and cold hard cash to get kids to come to school.  I grew up in the wrong era.

2) Antonio Davis’ Strange Journey – After Antonio Davis was traded from the Knicks to the Raptors, Sam Smith is positive that he and his crazy wife are coming back to Chicago.

3) On Capitol Hill, Playing WikiPolitics – It was only a matter of time.

4) Roethlisberger to Shave Beard for Money – The difference between the average person on the street and a Super Bowl champion?  The Super Bowl champ gets paid to shave on David Letterman.

And finally…

5) Coke Dealer Tries to Solicit Cop… and the Cop Wasn’t Undercover – As much as we try to make the world idiot-proof, the world keeps producing better idiots.

Not So Super Sports Weekend

On By Frank the TankIn Big Ten, College Basketball, NFL Football, SportsLeave a comment

A few quick items today on a subpar Super Bowl weekend:

1) The Good – I won my office squares pool since I drew Steelers 1, Seahawks 0.  The “code black” episode of “Gray’s Anatomy” was also excellent (although cliff-hangers drive me nuts).

2) The Bad – The Super Bowl itself.  Neither Pittsburgh nor Seattle seemed to play anywhere near their peaks during the game (in contrast to the conference championship games).  The game didn’t come down to the wire and, aside from a handful of gems like the FedEx caveman and the Budweiser streaking sheep, the commercials weren’t great overall.  Not only that, my prediction of a Seahawks upset was completely off (although everything that I put on Seattle was at least balanced out by my squares victory).

3) The Ugly – The least of my worries going into the weekend was how Illinois would play against Penn State.  Boy, that proved to be wrong.  Blowing a 16-point lead at home to one of the Big Ten’s worst teams was one thing.  Having what was thought to be a game-winning 3-pointer by Richard McBride at the buzzer be called off by the refs (no gripe here – the replay clearly showed that it was the correct call) was devastating.  As Gregg Doyel noted today, this loss pretty much puts us out of the running for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  We can still grab a share of the Big Ten title (and I think we will), but a third straight undisputed conference title is unlikely.  Also, since we don’t play again until next Sunday, we have the whole week with this bad taste in our mouths.  It was just a bad loss at a really bad time.  I hope the Bruce Weber and the Illini respond to this in a positive way so that we can be prepared for March.

Mustache Bowl XL

On By Frank the TankIn NFL Football, Sports2 Comments

Two weeks ago, it was the battle of the beards.  For the Super Bowl, though, it’s time for the moustache challenge between coaches Mike Holmgren and Bill Cowher.  Of course, this duel is all an argument in semantics.  There’s only one mustachioed coach in Super Bowl history that’s got the total package: Iron Mike Ditka.  As Golas has pointed out, Da Coach is now lending his efforts to some interesting public service announcements.

Anyway, everyone this week has been complaining that there’s been no buzz about the teams in this Super Bowl at all.  As a football fan, I take this as a good sign since the quality of the actual game usually has an inverse relationship to the amount of hype the game receives during Super Bowl week (i.e. two of the best Super Bowls in recent memory have involved the bland media market-challenged Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers – ‘nuff said).  Plus, looking at how these teams match up with each other, I think it really is going to be a great game.  If it’s not, at least there’s a new “Grey’s Anatomy” on right afterwards.  Here’s how I break the game down:

1) Offense – The Steelers have a good and efficient offense.  As a Bears and Big Ten football fan, I have a soft spot for the grind-it-out running game that Pittsburgh employs.  Big Ben Roethlisberger has also improved to the point where he’s actually making great throws as opposed to just “managing” the game.  However, Mike Holmgren is one of the best offensive-minded coaches in history.  He has a stud quarterback in Matt Hasselback and the NFL MVP at running in Shaun Alexander.  Other than the Colts, the Seahawks have the best offensive unit in football, so they have a clear but not huge edge on this side of the ball.  Advantage: Seattle Seahawks

2) Defense – I have to admit that I don’t know much about the Seattle defense other than they’ve got a guy smaller than me playing at linebacker.  They did a great job against Steve Smith, possibly the most dangerous player in football, in the NFC Championship Game.  However, the Seahawks won’t be able to stack their defense against one Steelers player – Pittsburgh runs the ball too well and they have a great wide receiver in Hines Ward.

I do know, though that Pittsburgh has a championship-caliber defense.  They’ve shut down some of the highest-powered offenses in football during the playoffs (Bengals, Colts, and Broncos).  Troy Polamalu, when his hair doesn’t get in the way, is a spectacular safety.  I’m all about the Steelers D.  Advantage: Pittsburgh Steelers

3) Special Teams – Pittsburgh can put in fellow Chicago south suburbanite Antwaan Randle El on special teams.  That’s all you need to know.  Advantage: Pittsburgh Steelers

4) Coaching – This is a tough one.  Both Holmgren and Cowher are among the elite of NFL head coaches, which is why they’ve both been in the league for so long.  I’ve got to give Holmgren the edge here – he’s won the Super Bowl before, while Cowher lost his only Super bowl appearance as well as having a history of his team melting down in the AFC Championship Game.  I’ve got to give the edge to Paul Allen’s buddy here.  Advantage: Seattle Seahawks

5) Prediction – This is just my gut feeling, but I think that Seattle is going to come out more fired up for this game.  The Seahawks were the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs, yet are 4-point underdogs to the lowest seed from the AFC playoffs.  Plus, all anyone seems to care about this week is that Jerome Bettis is back playing in his hometown. There’s a little too much favoritsm toward the Steelers when the fact of the matter is that these are two evenly matched teams.  Therefore, my prediction is:

Seattle Seahawks (+4) over Pittsburgh Steelers, with the final score being 30-27 in favor of the Seahawks.

So, I’m taking the points and the over (the over/under is 47) in what should be a great game.  Enjoy the pregame show that’s already started this Friday morning, the game, the Rolling Stones, an Illini basketball mauling of Penn State to exact revenge on how the football Nittany Lions scored 5 million points on us in our Homecoming game (it would have been even worse if JoePa hadn’t yanked his starters before the first half was even over – thank goodness game 1 of the World Series was going on at the same time), and the commercials!

Land-o-Links – 2/2/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Land-o-Links, Random Thoughts2 Comments

Some quick links for the day:

1) Top 20 Highway Bottlenecks – Chicago has 5 of the top 20 highway interchange bottlenecks for trucks in the country.  Only Los Angeles has more on the list with 6.  Strangely enough, as I immediately noticed and the Chicagoist also pointed out, the Hillside Strangler on the Eisenhower just east of I-294 isn’t on there, which is absolutely shocking.  Even after it was supposedly reconstructed under the George Ryan administration (I haven’t seen any alleviation of traffic there whatsoever), it is the most poorly designed section of highway in Chicagoland.

2) Antonio Davis’ Wife in Another Dispute – I’m now officially petrified that Antonio Davis’ wife is going to go on a rampage in my neighborhood.

3) Lehman Brothers Staffer Called up by Steelers for the Super Bowl – I’d like to put John Paxson on notice that if the Bulls ever make the NBA Finals again, I’m available.

Zook Has a Happy National Signing Day

On By Frank the TankIn Big Ten, College Football, Illinois Fighting Illini, Sports3 Comments

Coach Ron Zook lived up to his reputation as a top-notch recruiter and worked some miracles with his first true recruiting class (last year he was merely wrapping up the Ron Turner regime).  Scout.com rated the 2006 Illini recruiting class at #28 in the nation, Rivals.com put us at #30, while both agreed that we were #4 in the Big Ten behind the traditional heavyweights of Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan.

Considering that Illinois had a 1-23 record in Big Ten games over the last three seasons, the fact that we’re getting a better recruiting class than Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan State this year is indicative of how good Zook is at the recruiting game.  Particularly promising is Isiah Williams out of Chicago Vocational (the high school alma mater of Illini and Bears legend Dick Butkus) who is ranked as the #5 quarterback in the national class of 2006.  He looks like a mobile quarterback in the mold of Michael Vick and Vince Young, which would be an incredible development for the Illinois offense.

I’ve always felt that with a high quality home recruiting base of Chicago and St. Louis, the Illinois football program ought to be able to field at least a top 25 team every year and compete for the Big Ten title on a consistent basis.  However, we’ve been losing hometown players like Williams over the past five years to schools such as Iowa and Wisconsin, much less the monster programs of Notre Dame, Michigan, and Ohio State.

Hopefully, Zook’s success this year is a sign that the tide is turning on the recruiting front.  I’d like to see some top 10 recruiting classes within the next few years.  Of course, that will only happen if Zook excels at the other and much more important aspect of his job: winning football games.

Badgers? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badgers!

On By Frank the TankIn Big Ten, College Basketball, SportsLeave a comment

Illinois is back in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten after handily beating Wisconsin 66-51 last night.  Considering how ridiculously brutal it has been for road teams in the Big Ten so far this season, the Illini victory in Madison puts the team at a distinct advantage over the rest of the conference.  Illinois has the first and, so far, only quality conference road win of anyone in the Big Ten.  While Michigan and Iowa have shown to be adept at defending their respective home courts, they have yet to prove anything on the road.  The Illini have a stronger unit than either of those teams (despite their loss at Iowa), so Dee Brown’s Crew is in a great position.

Two items that I pointed out about the Illini after the Braggin’ Rights Game over a month ago were showcased last night: stifling defense and putrid free throw shooting.  Illinois is as good as any team defensively in the country this year and they completely took Wisconsin out of their comfort zone.  The defensive intensity for the team is so high that the Illini will be in position to win games even when the offense is down.

What continues to worry me, however, is how poorly Illinois performs from the charity stripe.  We’re fortunate that a 9-for-16 free throw shooting performance didn’t bite us against a fundamentally sound Wisconsin team.  If we expect to go anywhere in March, there cannot be these types of lapses at the free throw line.  Until the Illini improve upon this area, we are completely ripe to suffer an unexpected upset.

Still, I’m happy to see Jamar Smith get back into his shooting groove over the past week.  As long as Illinois is able to spread out on offense, we’re going to find good shots both in the post and on the perimeter.  All in all, this was a great win for the Illini over a solid Badger team.  Let’s just hope that we can get sufficient improvement in the free throw area to take this Illinois club to elite status.