Hate Saturday morning tipoffs. Think it was about a decade ago we seemed to have a boatload of Saturday morning tipoffs that overwhelmingly seemed to end with some head scratching, bad results for the Beloved. Too lazy to look it up, just know I still have the PTSD whenever I hear a Saturday morning tip time in BIG play.
Pregame: Illinois vs Penn State, Saturday, December 10th, 11:00am CT, BTN
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I actually prefer them. Leaves you with lots to do the rest of your day.
Unfortunately, for me, that will mean driving back west across Iowa.
InDaAZ
- Eugene, Oregon
But you don't have the game to look forward to all day.
HODGESONFIRE is right on target. I honestly believe that these "everyday" guys are hungry, and our defense is going to overwhelm PU.
There are apps out there that you can use to listen to the game on radio.
It’s fine breakfast entertainment for some of us!
^This guy gets it.
True but if the game has an early start like this, it gives you time to do any errands or anything else the rest of the day
I'll be at the game, it's driving home afterwards that I'm bitching about.
Yea, I thought I got lost too. But, sometimes I've contributed to own confusion as well.
https://theathletic.com/3981044/2022/12/08/college-basketball-power-rankings-illinois-uconn/?amp=1
Illinois at #6 in the Athletic’s updated power rankings. The blurb basically says they have potential to move higher as the season progresses.
Illinois at #6 in the Athletic’s updated power rankings. The blurb basically says they have potential to move higher as the season progresses.
Epps is playing the 4th most minutes on the team for the season. Last game he played 31. Going to need Clark going forward. Underwood is handling it correctly.I don't think anyone is questioning Skyy has the talent to get the job done. His decision making (see trying to hot dog his way out of a double team and the dunk result vs Texas) makes me want to play Epps more. Epps and Harris just seem more advanced and mature than Clark and Rodgers (Almost no one guessed that pre season)
I don't envy our coaching staff trying to spread these minutes around and keeping everyone happy..... Will only get worse (better) after LG gets back
Not to digress too much here, but a buddy of mine is a ref in the SEC. No, not the B1G, but SEC is pretty dang good too.
He has no schools that he dislikes or likes more than another. None. He says that’s basically a common theme with all of the officials in his part time job. That mentality is counterintuitive to most of us rabid fans of our schools, but he literally is not a fan of any school.
What he does comment on when we are just hanging out and drinking a beer is that he (and his fraternity of officials) talks about coaches that are jerks. Yes, they have their lists. But they don’t (according to him) make calls against those teams because the coach is always an a**hat. He has many stories about getting run through the ringer by a coach. He doesn’t care that he gets yelled at, all of them accept it, and they know they get some calls wrong. It’s part of the gif. It’s the coaches that constantly yell, whine, and complain non-stop about everything that they get tired of.
Hearing the rankings of biggest jerk coaches from an officials perspective can be quite entertaining.
So this narrative regarding officials that ‘constantly have a vendetta or bias against Illinois’, or that ‘Illinois always gets screwed by the officials’ is funny to read about. These guys simply don’t care who the team is and they aren’t fans at all. Believe it or not, they want to be great. They do their best to be fair and without bias. They call it how they see it and it’s a very, very difficult job. Every close call makes half of the viewers or spectators pissed. Think about your job…for every big decision you make that is a judgement call, and you piss off half of your co-workers. Tough gig.
Every one of these officials is probably like my buddy….just a good guy that has a passion for the game and they view it as a side job with some pretty cool perks….while trying to do it well. Critique and criticism will always abound.
Candidly, there’s rarely a game thread or post game thread on loyalty (and every other board) where there aren’t countless people complaining that refs hate us, we always get screwed, lost because of the refs, etc….and it’s simply a bad take.
There will always be calls for us and against us, and every other fan base says the same thing about their team.
Now, on a different note…a different buddy of mine (my neighbor) is a MLB umpire….now there are some stories.
He has no schools that he dislikes or likes more than another. None. He says that’s basically a common theme with all of the officials in his part time job. That mentality is counterintuitive to most of us rabid fans of our schools, but he literally is not a fan of any school.
What he does comment on when we are just hanging out and drinking a beer is that he (and his fraternity of officials) talks about coaches that are jerks. Yes, they have their lists. But they don’t (according to him) make calls against those teams because the coach is always an a**hat. He has many stories about getting run through the ringer by a coach. He doesn’t care that he gets yelled at, all of them accept it, and they know they get some calls wrong. It’s part of the gif. It’s the coaches that constantly yell, whine, and complain non-stop about everything that they get tired of.
Hearing the rankings of biggest jerk coaches from an officials perspective can be quite entertaining.
So this narrative regarding officials that ‘constantly have a vendetta or bias against Illinois’, or that ‘Illinois always gets screwed by the officials’ is funny to read about. These guys simply don’t care who the team is and they aren’t fans at all. Believe it or not, they want to be great. They do their best to be fair and without bias. They call it how they see it and it’s a very, very difficult job. Every close call makes half of the viewers or spectators pissed. Think about your job…for every big decision you make that is a judgement call, and you piss off half of your co-workers. Tough gig.
Every one of these officials is probably like my buddy….just a good guy that has a passion for the game and they view it as a side job with some pretty cool perks….while trying to do it well. Critique and criticism will always abound.
Candidly, there’s rarely a game thread or post game thread on loyalty (and every other board) where there aren’t countless people complaining that refs hate us, we always get screwed, lost because of the refs, etc….and it’s simply a bad take.
There will always be calls for us and against us, and every other fan base says the same thing about their team.
Now, on a different note…a different buddy of mine (my neighbor) is a MLB umpire….now there are some stories.
GallopingGhost
- Denver, CO
I was not very impressed by PSU showing at home against a Michigan State team that’s hobbled, and questionably good. We play better defense than them, at home, guard the 3 and we will be fine.
It will be a weird back and forth tempo between us trying to play fast and then slowing it down. Hopefully that doesn’t interrupt our flow.
They have some great skilled guards, who could hurt us. They have almost no interior presence. Dainja should eat. Coleman might have 5+ blocks.
It will be a weird back and forth tempo between us trying to play fast and then slowing it down. Hopefully that doesn’t interrupt our flow.
They have some great skilled guards, who could hurt us. They have almost no interior presence. Dainja should eat. Coleman might have 5+ blocks.
Don't hit "anyone walking around." They may be one of my relatives! It's kinda scary what Iowa did to Iowa State last night, without their star player. Led them by 29 in the second half!
I was dressed as Santa on the sideline for a game once and he stopped by to run through his Christmas list, one item included giving out more T's.When I was in Krush, our favorite referee was Steve Welmer. He would talk to us and make jokes and, at least once, admitted to a call being bad.
Also, he would always hike up his pants before running after a play like "oh s***, I gotta run!"
sacraig
- The desert
Yeah I generally lined up early to grab the courtside Krush seats and had a few conversations with him over the years, though nothing as great as that (and I can't remember any specifics).
I think Shannon is for sure the best transfer in the country as of right now, at least. He's a legitimate All American candidate. Tyrese Hunter is great too, and I'm not quite sure on draft prospects, but Texas may get him for multiple years too (unless he declares Pro). Shannon though is a godsend and we are so lucky to have him on the board. I seriously doubt this is a Ranked team right now if we had gotten a Plan B transfer in his stead.
Not for nothing, but I wonder if the distinction lies in the fact that college basketball refs are independent contractors who could be dropped from any or every conference's rotation with almost no notice if something negative comes out about them, while MLB umpires are in a powerful union with a CBA that might prohibit them from being fired even if they are declared legally blind.
BMoreIllini
- Baltimore, MD
I'm seeing the line set around -8.5.
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