Illini And The Hoosiers ... Today And Yesterday

The Illini play Indiana today in Champaign, a game that is crucial to the Illini's postseason chances, but that lacks some of the lustre of Illinois-Indiana matchups of the past.

Take the 1989 season for example. On March 5, 1989, the Illini and Indiana played one of the great games in the history of the rivalry, with Nick Anderson hitting an absurd game-winning thirty-foot shot as time expired. Dick Vitale's head exploded. Even Keith Jackson thought it was "In-cred-i-ble!"

The Illini started this five: Kendall Gill, Stephen Bardo, Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle and Lowell Hamilton. Marcus Liberty was the sixth man.

To face them, Bobby Knight ran out the likes of Jay Edwards, Eric Anderson, Pat Graham, Magnus Pelkowski and Jamal Meeks. That team won the Big Ten title despite being in a league that had two Final Four teams: Illinois and Michigan.

Today we're going to see Hoosiers like Verdell Jones, Christian Wafford, Jeremiah Rivers and Tom Pritchard. The Illini will counter with Demetri McCamey, Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis and D.J. Richardson. These are all solid players, but it's possible none of them, from either team, will ever play much in the NBA.

Today will be a far cry from March 5, 1989.

Epic In Miami

Found the NBC broadcast intro from the 1981 Divisional Playoff game between the Chargers and Dolphins on YouTube. The game, of course, was a Top 5 win in Charger history, and the intro alone is worth watching.

The reading of the sponsors is especially choice:

"Today's game is brought to you by ...

"The New Chrysler Corporation ... for 1982 Chrysler has the cars, the quality and the prices America needs ...

"by Schlitz, the master brewer's brew, just one taste and you'll know ... behind every Schlitz is a man who knows his beer ...

"by the U.S. Army ... the Army, a great place to be all you can be ...

"and by Allstate Insurance Company ... you're in good hands with Allstate."

Doubt you'll see Schlitz or Chrysler on a national broadcast these days, but the Army and Allstate are still going strong, and with the same advertising slogans.

War and insurance, getting it dun for decades.

Blueprint For Illini To Make NCAA Tourney

The Illini snaked a nice win over Penn St. last night (hat tip to Ralph Wilson for the photo of Tisdale above) to put them at 13-8, 5-3 on the season. That record is good for a tie with Ohio St. for third place in the Big Ten.

An NCAA berth, however, is still in doubt.

With ten games remaining, winning 6 or 7 of those games - given the stiff competition the Illini will face - would almost certainly get them in the tourney. Can they do it?

I think they can.

Here's how.

1. Win their next two games against Indiana and at Iowa. Wins against these lowly teams are a must and would put the Illini at 15-8, 7-3 heading into the final brutal stretch of their schedule.

2. Win three of their final four home games. Of the final eight games, the Illini play four at home against Michigan St., Ohio St., Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Illini can lose, at most, one of those games. I, for one, would like that loss to be against someone other than Michigan St. Though the MSU game is not a must win (assuming wins over Indiana and Iowa, that is), a win over the Spartans - who have shown vulnerabilities - would put the Illini back in most experts brackets. The Illini would simply have to hold serve the rest of the season, i.e. win 2 of 3 of their remaining home games, if they can pull the upset of Michigan St. on February 6.

3. Win two of their final four road games. If the Illini do lose on February 6 to the Spartans, besides winning all three of their other home games, they'll also need to win two of their remaining road games, all of which are brutal. At Wisconsin on Feb. 9, at Purdue on Feb. 20, at Michigan on Feb. 23 and at Ohio St. on March 3. That's a lot of ranked teams. Two wins in that stretch - preferably against Purdue and Wisconsin - should set up the Illini with a berth in the tourney, asuming they have taken care of business in Champaign.

Bottom line: the Illini need to win 6 or 7 of their final 10 games to make the tourney.

If their performance last night against Penn St. is any indication, I think they can get it dun.

Query Jon Garland

Reports are that the Padres signed Jon Garland today.

I'm just a guy, sitting around, writing a blog, but this strikes me as exactly the type of player the Padres need.

Get r dun, Jed.

Drew Makes The Super Bowl

I find this photo poignant. I've never seen it before.

I feel sad for LT.

But congrats to Drew and the Saints. The Colts are a tough matchup, but I like Drew's chances.

Illini Lose To Northwestern, NCAA Tournament In Serious Jeopardy

The Illini lost to Northwestern 73-68 last night, another tough L in a winnable game. The Illini defense - which as Mark Tupper points out allowed Northwestern to score on each of its final 14 possessions - made John Schurna and Jeremy Nash look like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

Laughable if it wasn't so horribly true.

The Illini have dug themselves a major hole now having lost each one of a series of winnable games. Had they not lost to Utah and Bradley, had they not blown a lead to Georgia, had they completed their comeback against Gonzaga, had they held onto second half leads against Northwestern or Purdue, had they managed to win just one or two of those games, the Illini would still be in fair position to make the tourney.

Now it doesn't look so good.

The Illini are going to have some must win games in their future.

That future starts Wednesday at Penn St.

January Doesn't Like Nate Kaeding, At Least Not At The Q

It's hard to say why a kicker like Nate Kaeding has so much success during the regular season - even in critical situations - but then falters with disastrous results in the postseason. The kid seems mentally tough. He had a reputation for being a clutch kicker in college and has become one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history. You don't acheive that level of success if you don't have at least a modicum of the proverbial ice water running through your proverbial veins.

But for some reason when Nate lines up for postseason field goals - especially postseason field goals on his home field at Qualcomm - all that mental toughness turns to squishy mush. Gone is the powerful and accurate right leg that has helped San Diego to so many regular season victories since 2004. In its place is a delicate and erratic pogo stick that pushes kicks left and right or drops them yards short of the goal posts.

It's not pretty.

It's tragic.

Here's a rundown of Nate's playoff field goals. Feel free to stop reading here if you can't bear the pain.

January 8, 2005: Jets at Chargers
Nate's rookie year, his first playoff game, his first playoff field goal attempts. In the 4th quarter, Nate nails his first ever field goal attempt to bring the Chargers within a touchdown on their way to a magnificent 10-point comeback. But then, with a chance to win the game in OT, Nate slides a 40-yard field goal attempt wide right. Maybe his most dagger miss because it would have directly led to a playoff victory.

January 14, 2007: Patriots at Chargers
The Chargers most dagger loss in history had to include a Nate miss. The Chargers blew an 8-point 4th quarter lead to the Pats and were down by 3 with a minute to play. Without a timeout (long story) Philip drove the Chargers into position for a Nate 54-yard attempt as the clock wound down. Though on target, Nater's kick fell a few yards short.

January 6, 2008: Titans at Chargers
The Bolts pulled this game out but don't forget that Nate missed a 45-yard attempt in the second quarter. He hit a 20-yarder in the third quarter to break his string of 3 straight playoff misses, but he was at that point 2 for 5 on playoff field goal attempts at the Q.

January 13, 2008: Chargers at Colts
One of the greatest wins in Bolts history. Though Nate hit all his extra point attempts, he also missed his lone field goal attempt: a 48-yarder in the second quarter. Thanks to Philip, Sproles and Billy V, it didn't matter.

January 20, 2008: Chargers at Patriots
The game when you thought Nate's problems might be behind him. The Patriots D kept the Bolts out of the end zone all afternoon, but Nate kept the game close by nailing all 4 of his field goal attempts, from 26, 23, 40 and 24 yards. Yes, most of them were chippys, but a make is a make is a make, as last Sunday's game against the Jets would prove in the absence.

January 3, 2009: Colts at Chargers
Maybe Nate's most clutch kick ever and further evidence (we thought) that his playoff troubles were a thing of the past. Nate banged home a 26-yard field goal to tie the game with :32 seconds on the clock. Minutes later Sprolesy galloped into Chargers lore.

January 11, 2009: Chargers at Steelers
A frustrating loss with a weird third quarter. Nate didn't play a huge role but did knock home his only field goal attempt - a 42-yarder in the second quarter that put the Bolts ahead 10-7. Nate's field goal record away from the Q is a respectable 5 for 6.

January 17, 2010: Jets at Chargers
My first live playoff game will not be a happy memory thanks in part to Nate. His first miss from 37 yards in the first quarter confirmed the uneasy feeling a lot of Chargers fans had all week. His second miss from 57 yards was understandable, though his career long is a 57-yarder and he hit a 53-yarder at the Q just weeks before. His third miss from 40 yards was the final dagger to the gut in a day of gut daggers.

So that is that. The Bolts will likely make the playoffs again next season, in part because Nate will knock home a record high percentage of field goals from September to December.

Here's just hoping January 2011 reverses his trend of dagger Januarys.