University of Illinois Football

[psteazy]

[...] is a perennial B10 bottom feeder.

[hm101]

This is a trap game. We better shape up. 

[MikeG]

2 hours ago, psteazy said:

[...] is a perennial B10 bottom feeder.

they were pretty decent when I went there

 

 

 

 

in 1984

[NewEnglandBull]

7 hours ago, MikeG said:

they were pretty decent when I went there

 

 

 

 

in 1984

Rose Bowl

[horny_gimli]

I was watching some of their game last week against WIU, and they were stacking the box with 9 guys and still letting up big running plays. This could be the game where we see Cronkrite & Sands run all over the place. If we spread out on the line and get running backs (or AirBnB) in space, this is gonna get ugly for Illinois really fast. They appear to be defensively less sound than Elon or GT by a wide margin. They also don't have a single guy eligible to play that can cover someone like St. Felix.

[MikeG]

2 hours ago, NewEnglandBull said:

9 hours ago, MikeG said:

they were pretty decent when I went there

 

 

 

 

in 1984

Rose Bowl

that was the season before I started there as a freshman in the Fall of 1984. They did go to the Rose Bowl 1/1/84 and got destroyed by UCLA 45-9. I say "go" as it didn't seem like they played much. First time I ever saw my dad turn off a TV in frustration mid-game.

[NewEnglandBull]

5 minutes ago, MikeG said:

that was the season before I started there as a freshman in the Fall of 1984. They did go to the Rose Bowl 1/1/84 and got destroyed by UCLA 45-9. I say "go" as it didn't seem like they played much. First time I ever saw my dad turn off a TV in frustration mid-game.

Mike, did you graduate from there? That place is steeped in college football history and this is probably lost on many of today's generation.

[MikeG]

16 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

Mike, did you graduate from there? That place is steeped in college football history and this is probably lost on many of today's generation.

I just went there for my first year. It is a great campus-- and yes-- the football history is incredible but mostly from before I was born. 

warning-- long, drawn out story by MikeG inside.....

 

I grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago (Tinley Park) and my plan all along was to go to Illinois then. My folks sold our house right after I graduated and moved to Tampa. That was one tough summer knowing literally no one in Tampa as an 18 year old. The folks drove me back for school in August and things were going along pretty good. One day I ran into several of my friends I knew from wrestling and they convinced me to walk on to the team- which I did.

That was pretty cool except I had no idea what I was signing up for-- about 6 hours of working out every day on top of a 16 hour schedule of pre-med classes. I even had to move my schedule around to accommodate classes etc, moving my "calculus for pre-med majors" from 2:30pm to 8 am (ugh)-- and then proceeded to fall asleep in that class every day (coming from our morning workouts at Memorial stadium-- running ramps among other things). As an athlete there though-- we got to sit in awesome seats for every home game-- which was a nice benefit. Anyway-- when I went to Tampa for winter break-- it was 85 degrees all three weeks and I was going to the beach every other day. I just came from the frozen tundra and asked myself  "why the hell am I doing going to school up there? They have a school here". At that point I sent in my paperwork to transfer to USF and never looked back. When I came back to Illinois-- knowing I was there just one more semester, I gave up the whole walk on thing and put that time into studying but also partying. It is one of those huge decisions in life that you wonder "where would I be today had I stayed on my course?".  I can tell this-- I am not a doctor. BUt on the other hand-- my mom was killed in a car crash in 1993. Had I not moved to Tampa-- I would have missed out on all those years and time I got to spend with her before the tragic accident. It is a matter of perspective.

Edited September 11, 2018 by MikeG

[NewEnglandBull]

10 minutes ago, MikeG said:

I just went there for my first year. It is a great campus-- and yes-- the football history is incredible but mostly from before I was born. 

warning-- long, drawn out story by MikeG inside.....

  Hide contents

I grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago (Tinley Park) and my plan all along was to go to Illinois then. My folks sold our house right after I graduated and moved to Tampa. That was one tough summer knowing literally no one in Tampa as an 18 year old. The folks drove me back for school in August and things were going along pretty good. One day I ran into several of my friends I knew from wrestling and they convinced me to walk on to the team- which I did.

That was pretty cool except I had no idea what I was signing up for-- about 6 hours of working out every day on top of a 16 hour schedule of pre-med classes. I even had to move my schedule around to accommodate classes etc, moving my "calculus for pre-med majors" from 2:30pm to 8 am (ugh)-- and then proceeded to fall asleep in that class every day (coming from our morning workouts at Memorial stadium-- running ramps among other things). As an athlete there though-- we got to sit in awesome seats for every home game-- which was a nice benefit. Anyway-- when I went to Tampa for winter break-- it was 85 degrees all three weeks and I was going to the beach every other day. I just came from the frozen tundra and asked myself  "why the hell am I doing going to school up there? They have a school here". At that point I sent in my paperwork to transfer to USF and never looked back. When I came back to Illinois-- knowing I was there just one more semester, I gave up the whole walk on thing and put that time into studying but also partying. It is one of those huge decisions in life that you wonder "where would I be today had I stayed on my course?".  I can tell this-- I am not a doctor. BUt on the other hand-- my mom was killed in a car crash in 1993. Had I not moved to Tampa-- I would have missed out on all those years and time I got to spend with her before the tragic accident. It is a matter of perspective.

Wow...that is a great story. Thanks for sharing. You and I are similar. I received a track scholarship to the University of Kansas and ran there for two years. I lettered both years but was getting my ass kicked with the level of competition. My parents retired to Florida and my father became ill so to be with him I moved to Tampa and enrolled at USF (I was late to apply so was a non-degree seeking student for one term). USF had no track team at the time and little in the area of athletics so I had a hard time adjusting the first year in terms of campus life. However, I adjusted. Like you I am glad I got to spend a little more time with my father before he passed away.