My Dad's Birthday

In honor of my Dad's birthday you see above a photo of the USS Chevalier, one of the ships my Dad sailed on during his time in the US Navy.

According to the website where I found this photo, it was taken circa 1969 near Point Loma in San Diego. It's possible my Dad was on board when this photo was taken.

We celebrate my Pops around here because it was he that moved to San Diego to join the Navy in the late 1960s, thus solidifiying a love for the San Diego Chargers that had started while, from his sofa in frigid Central Illinois, he watched Lance Alworth and the rest of the Bolts play in sunny Balboa Stadium and dominate the AFL with their high-powered passing attack.

A love for the Padres followed as he witnessed first hand their struggle as a fledgling franchise throughout the 1970s.

In 1978, facing economic pressures, he moved his family from San Diego back to his hometown of Peoria, IL.

The moral of the story is this: if my Dad doesn't spend those years in San Diego and become a passionate fan of the Padres and Chargers, I probably grow up as a Cubs and Bears fan.

Oh my.

Happy birthday, Dad.

Wayne McClain Gets A Promotion

Wayne McClain, Illinois assistant basketball coach and the one with the gray hair in the above photo, was promoted to Associate Head Coach (or is Associate to the Head Coach?) today by Bruce Weber. Though his duties will remain more or less the same, McClain will likely now pocket a bit more caysh to spend in and around exotic Champaign-Urbana.

I remember watching Coach McClain's Peoria Manual teams of the 1990s and rooting as they won four straight IHSA AA titles, three while Wayne was the head coach. Those teams were probably the best in all of high school basketball around the country at the time, led by Frank Williams, Sergio McClain, Marcus Griffin and other beasts (Griffin and Williams were both McDonald's All Americans).

Incidentally, check out this sweet article making the very obvious point that Peoria, not Chicago, has the best high school hoops in the State of Illinois. It's really an incidental point, however, given that Illinois itself has the best high school hoops in the United States.

But I digress.

The bottom line is that Wayne deserves this promotion and I'm excited to know he is getting his due with the Illini. As long as he is around I know the Illini practices will be disciplined, fast paced and, for lack of a more universally known description, P-town style. But I'm sure you get what I mean.

Congrats, Wayne.

Peoria Swagger

Paul Klee, the Illini basketball beat writer for the Champaign News-Gazette, wrote an article today discussing the competitiveness of recent pickup games on the Illini campus since the arrival of the freshman class, a class that includes Peorian D.J. Richardson.

Klee's article included this revealing line:

"Still, you can tell a player from a pretender, and freshman D.J. Richardson is a player. I'm still thinking he could compete at any program in the country. He's noticeably bigger and plays with a Peoria swagger, but it's the way he values defense that sets him apart."

Peoria swagger.

That shit's real. I can't tell you how many times as I go about my day-to-day business that I overhear people say, "There goes Bevormo, him and his Peoria swagger."

Yep. It happens.

You know, the last time the Illini had some "Peoria swagger" it was brought by the likes of Frank Williams, Marcus Griffin and Sergio McClain.

Those guys comported themselves quite well as Illini.

I'm sure D.J. will do the same.

Frank Williams Is In Trouble

Frank,

I was disappointed to hear the news today that you were arrested on drug charges and sent to the Peoria County Jail. Word is the 5-0 executed a search warrant and found 78 grams of marijuana, a digital scale and a .48 caliber handgun. You've been charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

First off, as a Peoria native myself, I've spent a night or two in the Peoria County Jail and didn't find it all that rough. Hopefully you just signed a few autographs for the other inmates and then waltzed out of there after making bail.

But on a broader level, this is sad. You were one of the top players ever to come out of Peoria, you dominated in Champaign and weren't too shabby in the NBA at times. Unfortunately that dickhead Isaiah traded for Stephon Marbury, gave him your playing time and then shipped you over to the Bulls where you eventually washed out in part because of lack of effort.

It's too bad because you had NBA starting point guard talent. Maybe better than Deron, dare I say it.

Good luck, man. I hope you get out of this clean.

Best,
Bevormo

The Great Jerrance Howard

Jerrance,

Rumor has it some big programs have been trying to steal you away from the Illini but so far you have resisted those efforts.

I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that.

As a fellow Peorian and Illini graduate, I figure you and I are basically brothers. And it is as a brother that I tell you this: one day you will be a head coach at a major college basketball program. You have the basketball knowledge to get it done. Learning from the likes of Bill Self and Bruce Weber during your time as a player and assistant coach, and just being from Peoria, Illinois - which is, as you know, one of the premier basketball towns in the world - has primed you to one day coach at a BCS school. It will happen.

But let's not get hasty.

There's no reason for you to leave now when Brandon Paul, D.J. Richardson, Tyler Griffey and Joseph Bertrand are just months away from arriving on campus. And when Jereme Richmond, Crandall Head and Meyers Leonard are just a few more months away from signing letters of intent. And when there's still more recruiting to do with the likes of Tracy Abrams, Mike Shaw, Sam Thompson and Wayne Blackshear (get r dun!). No doubt there's a lot to do, and I'm sure Coach Weber will be the first to admit that he needs your help to lock these great future Illini into scholarships so they can acheive their dreams of acquiring an excellent education and competing for a National Championship.

Not to mention, the Illini need you to continue to mentor the likes of Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale. Chester's not going to be able to do it alone.

Honestly, Jerrance, I can't think of a finer institution than Illinois to ply the trade of college basketball coach.

I know you feel the same way.

Best,
Bevormo