I'm not embarrassed, Stim.
AD Josh Whitman open letter on the Big Ten regular season title
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haasi
- New York
That is clearly the primary motivation IMO. And yes- Whitman knows what he’s doing. Also makes team feel like Whitman has their back. Whitman could give two hoots about how this makes anyone else feel. This is directed at the team.
You are right, unfortunately. We hate whiners like Fran, Izzo etc., We are better than that. We need to prove our point on the court. 9 wins will prove their ignorance. Josh has proven to be a great AD. He is special and his love for this team and the school is un-paralleled. In Josh we trust. He is a winner
Realtime footage of JW playing chess with the B1G.
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
Added a bit.
From an Indiana fan site...Hearing that since Michigan finished 14-3 in the Big Ten and Illinois finished 16-4 with a win over Michigan, the Big Ten will award the conference title to Ohio State.
Remember what the B1G office did to Indiana football well they did the same thing to Illinois basketball.
Remember what the B1G office did to Indiana football well they did the same thing to Illinois basketball.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
I agree that Josh tipped his hand about raising a banner at the end of the year to celebrate this season (regardless of what happens in the BTT or NCAA tournament). I anticipate it will say something along the lines of: "Most wins in 2020-21 B1G regular season - 16." I would approve.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
True, but Indiana didn't crush Ohio State in Columbus last November. We have a stronger argument IMO.
POWURR
- From Downtown
RockyMtnIllini81
- Golden, Colorado
He says it's because Roy Marble doesn't meet the (unstated) criteria for his number to be retired. What BS. Marble was a great player and his name was synonymous with Iowa basketball for years. To retire Garza's number on Senior Day was unnecessary (and probably not good marketing - they could have had another event, with fans present). To do it when Iowa ignored Roy Marble during his lifetime is inexcusable. I don't blame Marble's family for being upset.
So if you ended up playing one game and you win that one game your 1-0 win percentage 1.000 you win the big ten....yep makes sensegreat letter, and i agree with virtually everything he says. But, i hate to say it, there is one glaring issue (quote below). I didn't know this was agreed to beforehand. Not sure why you would agree that winning %age is the metric upfront. I think there was a reasonable enough chance that not all teams would play the same # of games that the scenario we're in right now was possible. Seems short-sighted to not object earlier.
To be clear, just because they were short-sighted then doesn't justify being short-sighted now. Given the world we've been in for the past year, i think it's entirely fair to be flexible and be willing to adjust to circumstances. But the quote below makes that argument more difficult to make.
Nonetheless, I agree with the sentiment, esp towards the end. just go out and prove them wrong on the court.
"In November, the conference agreed that winning percentage would be used to determine the regular-season champion in basketball. At the time, we stared into an uncertain future, not knowing how many games teams would be able to play."
Deleted member 747903
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Probably not. I'm sure some minimum game requirement was put into place. Michigan likely was above that requirement.
Kinda like the one put in place to make the Big Ten Football Championship game????? Its an assumption on your part and even if it isnt they've shown a total disregard for the rules....next!
Deleted member 747903
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I agree with you. I was simply responding to your point that a 1-0 team could have won the conference which of course in nonsense.
I distinctly recall many eons ago when the tournament first started that we made fun of Michigan for touting their BTT win as a 4 or 5 seed, like it was meaningless and all that really mattered was the regular season title which we had, together with Sparty.
Deleted member 11228
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Not the same not even close. The BIG didn't do anything to Indiana football. Indiana football lost to Ohio St. Ohio St was the only undefeated team in the conference and outside of one team were the best team in college football. Indiana didn't take care of business.
We on the other hand did by beating Michigan.
Deleted member 747903
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Also football is a bit different. The conference needed to put the OSU in the best position to make the playoff because that was the only team that had a remote shot of doing anything.
It was for sure made easier that they beat Indiana H2H
Go Nats 88 Illini
Fairfax, VA
I would not. Seems needy. Let's just earn the next two banners. And yes, I know folks will hate this.
Deleted member 186590
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ummm. . . remember that time when Lou Henson wasn't in the inaugural Illinois Hall of Fame class? We had like 30 people in it, a gymnast that spent 6 months on campus, a track and field coach, a few people that never really did anything in college athletics, but Lou couldn't make the cut - you know the guy whose name is on the court!
Not to get off topic, because I'm a fan of JW and his letter which is the topic at hand - but the Lou Henson snub was a joke by JW. Sometimes AD's make boneheaded decisions on these honors even with the right intent.
I’m guessing most reasonable people would assume the league wouldn’t let teams just move games Willy nilly and that there would be a good faith effort to fit games in, and if not the b10 would step in and tell whoever to cut the !!!!great letter, and i agree with virtually everything he says. But, i hate to say it, there is one glaring issue (quote below). I didn't know this was agreed to beforehand. Not sure why you would agree that winning %age is the metric upfront. I think there was a reasonable enough chance that not all teams would play the same # of games that the scenario we're in right now was possible. Seems short-sighted to not object earlier.
To be clear, just because they were short-sighted then doesn't justify being short-sighted now. Given the world we've been in for the past year, i think it's entirely fair to be flexible and be willing to adjust to circumstances. But the quote below makes that argument more difficult to make.
Nonetheless, I agree with the sentiment, esp towards the end. just go out and prove them wrong on the court.
"In November, the conference agreed that winning percentage would be used to determine the regular-season champion in basketball. At the time, we stared into an uncertain future, not knowing how many games teams would be able to play."
Deleted member 11228
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Guest
Agreed it was an easy decision to make. There's no way you can argue that Ohio St wasn't the clear cut best team in the conference.
I'd be on board if it was just the final standings:
School Games Back
Illinois -
Michigan 0.5
Iowa 1.5
Purdue 2.0
You get the idea. I'd be ok if we only hung it when Michigan came to town, too.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Chills. What an inspiring and amazing AD. Amazing to think that we actually had Illini fans ready to chase this guy out the door because Lovie Smith disappointed more than pretty much any of us expected and Underwood needed some time to turn things around and build a culture. He is a TRUE keeper, and I have absolutely no doubt that he will retire as the greatest AD in Illini history with many championships of many kinds.
As I have said a few times now ... HANG! THAT! BANNER! It's us against them, and for the first time in a long time I actually like our odds! I-L-L!
P.S. Anyone talking of the "easy" games Michigan missed is missing the point, IMO. First of all, if you can get blown out at Minnesota, you can conceivably drop one of those games. Second, playing a schedule like WE had to takes a toll on you. There is ABSOLUTELY no guarantee Michigan survives, for example, in Columbus if they had been put on the Nebraska track of making up games.
As I have said a few times now ... HANG! THAT! BANNER! It's us against them, and for the first time in a long time I actually like our odds! I-L-L!
P.S. Anyone talking of the "easy" games Michigan missed is missing the point, IMO. First of all, if you can get blown out at Minnesota, you can conceivably drop one of those games. Second, playing a schedule like WE had to takes a toll on you. There is ABSOLUTELY no guarantee Michigan survives, for example, in Columbus if they had been put on the Nebraska track of making up games.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
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