“The Hall” was rocking on Saturday night when Sparty came to town. Not since Dee and Augie’s last dance, has the energy level been any higher or the stars looked any brighter than they did during the Illini’s thrilling victory over the Lucasless Spartans. MSU still packs a mean punch without its diminutive leader and features NBA prospects at virtually every position but, the Illini had just enough gas in the tank to edge the Conference’s marquee program.
Demitri McCamey played like the all Big Ten performer he has become and renewed contributions from Brandon Paul and Mike Davis left the star crossed “Gameday” entourage searching for superlatives to describe the environment and the energy that the Krush brought to the contest. With no apologies to the Sun Times Herb Gould who described “the Hall” as soulless and antiquated or Dickie V who admonished the crowd that they were bush for storming the court, Krush may have been the real MVP in a game that showcased the passion that is generated by Illinois basketball.
What did ESPN think was going to happen when you have college kids start drinking at 7 AM and encourage them to go nuts for the camera. It’s like the mom who can’t understand her child’s concentration issues after eating five candy bars. ESPN is responsible in large part for the spontaneous expression of joy and enthusiasm exhibited by the Orange Krush and Krush alone. I thought Vitale’s comment regarding storming the court and how it was beneath a program which has had as much success as the Illini were completely off base and irresponsible. Do Dickie and his producers not understand that these kids were not yet in school during our magical run in 04-05 and that the last four years have witnessed more fits than starts and that we have one NCAA victory, and none since 06.
The future of this program is bright and the cupboard appears stacked with more stars on the way, but Bruce has yet to recruit a player who has been drafted, although that too will change. You can put on all perfume in your arsenal you wish, but 06-09 has looked more “piggish than purty.” This team has the potential to provide a springboard for next years model and we have all been waiting long time to bring another beautiful girl to “the big dance.”
Kudos to World #2, Steve Stricker 89’ for his victory at Riviera (great course) and Pierre Thomas 07’ for his superb play in the Super Bowl (5th Illini to score an SB TD).
Next time we select a football head coach (soon, I hope), can we look 40 miles to the east and buy three vowels E,I,U. Shanahan and Payton now have rings and Childress squared off against his fellow Eastern Illinois Alumnus in the NFC Title game.
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