Cleaning out the notebook after returning from vacation this week.  Several items caught my interest, so I thought I'd share them with you:

• Illinois professor Dave Williams began a bicycle ride of more than 1000 miles on June 30 in an effort to raise money for the Illinois Wrestling program.  If you'd like to contribute to the cause, you can do so here.  Based on the photos on the Friends of Illinois Wrestling website, it looks like Williams has reached his final destination of Philadelphia, PA, the site of the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships.  I'll be trying to catch up with Professor Williams later this week and hope to have him as a guest on Sportstalk on WDWS.
• Former Illini soccer star Ella Masar is on a hot streak for the Chicago Red Stars of Women's Professional Soccer.  Masar tallied the first two goals of her professional career against the Boston Breakers on June 25 in a 2-1 Red Stars victory.  Masar then tallied the game-tying goal in a 1-1 draw with the Atlanta Beat on July 7.  Ella's hot streak continued on Saturday July 10 with the game-winning tally in a 2-0 win over Sky Blue FC.  Masar now leads the Red Stars with four goals in 14 games this season.  As a team, the Red Stars are tied for fourth place in WPS with a 4-5-5 record.  The top four teams will make the playoffs in the seven-team league.
• It looks like the women's professional softball league, Pro Fastpitch, is in some trouble.  The league is down to four teams this season, and there's very little information available online.  It looks like the only former Illini playing in the league this season is Shanna Diller, who is playing third base for the Tennessee Diamonds.  Other former Illini who have played in Women's Pro Fastpitch include Angelena Mexicano and Jenna Hall.
• The Illinois soccer schedule for this fall has not been officially released, but because all of Illinois' opponents have released their schedules, we can piece it together.  Here it is:

Monday 8/9 Indiana State (exh.) 2 pm

Friday 8/13 Missouri (exh.) 1 pm

Friday 8/20 at Loyola (IL) 7 pm

Tuesday 8/24 Wright State 7 pm

Sunday 8/29 Ball State 1 pm

Friday 9/3 at Connecticut 6 pm

Sunday 9/5 at Yale 11 am

Saturday 9/11 at Cincinnati 6 pm

Friday 9/17 LSU 7 pm

Sunday 9/19 Louisville 1 pm

Sunday 9/26 at Minnesota 1 pm

Friday 10/1 Purdue 7 pm

Sunday 10/3 Indiana 2 pm

Sunday 10/10 at Wisconsin 12 pm

Saturday 10/16 Iowa 7 pm

Thursday 10/21 at Ohio State 6:30 pm

Sunday 10/24 Penn State 1 pm

Friday 10/29 at Michigan State 2 pm

Sunday 10/31 at Michigan 1 pm

Saturday 11/6 Northwestern 7 pm

We hope to know in the next couple of weeks which Illinois Soccer games we'll be able to carry this season on WDWS.  That's all for today.  Thanks for reading.

bmoline@wdws.com