Born on a farm in Effingham County and graduated Altamont Comm. HS in 1986, Lake Land College in 1988, and SIU-C in 1990. After leaving home I have lived in Carbondale, Charleston, Edgewood, and Robinson. My youngest son was a member of the Robinson HS 2010 Class 2A state champions with Meyers Leonard. In fact, I retired from the Robinson Police Dept. last year after over 28 years. While at the RPD I was the DARE instructor for one slightly ornery 5th-grader named Meyers Leonard (I take credit for his success, lol). In case anyone is interested, the state championship team will be having a reunion and will be recognized before the varsity game on Feb. 14th. I'm not sure if Meyers will be there BUT it IS NBA all-star weekend, so he just might be.
I have been an Illini fan for as long as I can remember and grew up idolizing Bruce Douglas and Kendall Gill. I have spent my adult life as a cop, a basketball and football referee, and now a substitute teacher. I am a glutton for punishment and have found that those things prepared me for the gut punches received on a constant basis for the last 8 seasons prior to the current one.
Love your story....I grew up in Champaign and live in Charleston, SC. My youngest is 18 and from the day he was born I tried to indoctrinate him with everything Illini. As luck would have it, he became a Clemson fan at the age of 2 and it's stuck with him since. If things work out he will take your place on the Clemson campus next fall!Born in ATL, grew up in a little town called Anderson right outside of Clemson, SC into a family full of Clemson fans. If further asked I’ll elaborate exactly how I became an Illini fan but my family could not stand the fact that I was cheering for a different team in Orange. That was back in 2003 when my Illini fandom begun, and everytime I played NCAA football on my old ps2, I choose juice Williams and the Illini and set the computer up as Clemson to beat them every time. I got the honor experience Deron, Dee, and Luther on the basketball squad in my early fandom days. Beating #1 Ohio state in football had me more excited than any Clemson game I’d ever been to. Honestly, I’ve never had the honor of going to an Illini game in Champaign, but I’ve been to several of their games in my area. The football game against UNC a few years back when we got blown out, and most notably the two Illinois-Clemson basketball games that have been played at Clemson. The first was the legendary 20-point second half comeback that Illinois pulled off. Wore my Illini shirt amongst my family and friends that were in full Clemson gear to that one and the most recent game when the only person on our team to hit a 3 was Tracy Abrams. While Clemson has been in the National Championship the past couple years, and I’m currently in my last semester as a student at Clemson, I have yet to find as much joy watching them as I have the Illini throughout my life. I could’ve had it made cheering for a football powerhouse that my whole family loves, as a student too, but as is the life of an Illini, it never goes as planned. I found passion for a team with so much potential that never got national respect or the credit they deserved. I watched the fall from grace when I first become a fan in 2003 to now, but I still love them just as much and have faith in this university’s future. Just goes to show, from someone who’s never been to an Illini game in the home state, and has absolutely no ties to being an Illini, this Place is family no matter what, and I’m blessed to call myself a fan of the Illini through thick and thin. I see great things ahead for this program, the players, the coaches, and the fans. If I could go back in life, even knowing all the pain we’ve suffered as fans and what would become of Clemson, I still wouldn’t change the day I decided to become an Illini fan before all other teams, regardless of sport or league
Athens grad here. My cousins are PORTA Bluejays.Born in Central Illinois, Petersburg-PORTA grad, Quincy University grad. Settled in St. Charles MO(STL) with my wife who grew up in a big MIZNOZ family. Family get togethers are always fun, espescially during the Braggin Rights game.
Born on a farm in Effingham County and graduated Altamont Comm. HS in 1986, Lake Land College in 1988, and SIU-C in 1990. After leaving home I have lived in Carbondale, Charleston, Edgewood, and Robinson. My youngest son was a member of the Robinson HS 2010 Class 2A state champions with Meyers Leonard. In fact, I retired from the Robinson Police Dept. last year after over 28 years. While at the RPD I was the DARE instructor for one slightly ornery 5th-grader named Meyers Leonard (I take credit for his success, lol). In case anyone is interested, the state championship team will be having a reunion and will be recognized before the varsity game on Feb. 14th. I'm not sure if Meyers will be there BUT it IS NBA all-star weekend, so he just might be.
I have been an Illini fan for as long as I can remember and grew up idolizing Bruce Douglas and Kendall Gill. I have spent my adult life as a cop, a basketball and football referee, and now a substitute teacher. I am a glutton for punishment and have found that those things prepared me for the gut punches received on a constant basis for the last 8 seasons prior to the current one.
That's awesome. Still have the belly....plus a retirement beard now.I remember you from your days on IHSS!
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East side?