Loren: You sound like you believe! I would not be surprised by an upset.

Posted by Illinigrad on November 16, 2009 at 11:16 PM  |  Suggest Removal

Get 'em fired up Loren. I hope it works! But, with their offense and our defense, we cannot afford the mistakes that plague this team. We certainly have the talent to win the game but will have to show up for a full 60 minutes, with our heads on (coaches too).

Posted by blmillini on November 16, 2009 at 11:17 PM  |  Suggest Removal

Loren: you are such a dimwit / Guenther pacifist. My God, if we did not know any better, the two of you are sharing a dorm room at Bromley.

Why don't you just admit that your bosom buddy again screwed the pooch by scheduling complete idiocy in Cincy?

Great, we can see our beloved on national TV one more time, only to look like a high school team getting owned by a REAL college football program. Yep, can't wait. May as well get the popcorn ready now!!!

In closing, put the crack pipe down and move out of the dorm room.

Posted by IlliniHimey on November 16, 2009 at 11:52 PM  |  Suggest Removal

Loren just is too dense to understand how you build a real football program. It's done by having continuous years of success, and in college football success is defined by a winning record and bowl appearances. Nobody remembers who you beat on the way to the Outback Bowl, they only remember if you went or stayed home!

And when you're building from the very bottom, which Illinois clearly is with the Big Ten's 10th worst record and number of bowl appearances in the last two decades, you need every advantage that you can get, including a cream puff schedule. Of course, then the bonehead sportswriters would actually have to work to come up with an angle for a story for those games.

Winning programs don't just appear out of thin air overnight, and dopes like Loren and the two Ron's are a big reason Illinois doesn't have one.

Posted by IlliniDan on November 17, 2009 at 12:33 AM  |  Suggest Removal

Amen Loren. I'm sick of seeing bad non-conference games. I don't understand why anyone would want to go to a bowl game based on beating up 4 weak sisters and two conference games. It isn't like we scheduled the top 4 teams in the country for the non-conference, it was three duds and a surprising top 5 team. If you can't split those and go .500 in conference, it is better to save us the time and effort of going to an embarrassing bowl loss.

Posted by raman on November 17, 2009 at 1:12 AM  |  Suggest Removal

Loren, you should become a jeweler, judging by the skill with which you try to polish this turd.

Posted by IlliniOllie on November 17, 2009 at 7:08 AM  |  Suggest Removal

There is a reason why Illinois has played in just 5 bowl games out of 18 seasons with Loren's buddy Guenther as AD. There is a reason why the football program is 81-124-2 under Guenther's watch. It's called scheduling.

hey Loren, let us know the attendance for that Fresno State game in December!

Posted by MarkHoekstra on November 17, 2009 at 7:48 AM  |  Suggest Removal

Nicely said Loren. I don't mind a challenging schedule and I hope this team can at least show some character and be competitive.

My only question is -- why do we finish the season with two non-com opponents -- shouldn't these games be at the beginning?

Posted by jeffh on November 17, 2009 at 8:26 AM  |  Suggest Removal

Loren:

I suggested the "Minnesota Plan" (4 patsies @home + 2 conference wins = bowl elligibility) as a means of overcoming our atrocious record of bowl appearances (5 in the last 18 years).

The old show biz saying "any publicity is good publicity, just spell my name right" applies here. Any bowl is better than no bowl--even the Poulon Weedeater Bowl.

Bowl appearances on a consistent basis are huge for many reasons: revenue, recruiting, and allowing your players to have practice time for an additional 4 to 5 weeks after the end of the regular season. This is huge for the following season.

Finally, the "Plan" is not meant to be a permanent solution, merely to kickstart some bowl appearance consistency. After the program has improved in quality, so also can the quality of the non-conference opponents be improved.

Posted by illinifaningeorgia on November 17, 2009 at 8:36 AM  |  Suggest Removal

All would have to agree...this is our bowl game !

Posted by walker on November 17, 2009 at 9:17 AM  |  Suggest Removal

From yesterday's Tate and Turpin chat:

"We are still looking for reasons to be optimistic about next year, and we haven't found any yet."

So, yesterday there were no reasons to be optimistic about next year, but today there are reasons to be optimistic about a game against the undefeated #5 team in the country during our 3-7 campaign?

Also, continued references to games and coaches from 20 years ago or more. That was then and this is now. College football is an entirely different animal these days. The Illinois program is light years away from the days of Shawn Wax and Howard Griffith. Those teams could compete with anybody. More often than not, that hasn't been the case in recent years.

I will never understand why we wouldn't want to play a softer schedule to try and get this program back on solid footing and into bowl games from year to year. Once that happens, then feel free to start scheduling more competitively.

Posted by chrispatton33 on November 17, 2009 at 9:34 AM  |  Suggest Removal

Half of these comments are boring and tired. I'd much rather watch a game against Cincinnati, then some directional school.

Posted by PeoriaIllini on November 17, 2009 at 9:59 AM  |  Suggest Removal

Right on Loren. Peoriaillini, if you pay too much attention to himey and the like it'll ruin your day. Just be hopeful they do their venting here rather than against their wives and kids.

Posted by jjohnson on November 17, 2009 at 10:06 AM  |  Suggest Removal

Any Illini fan who says they'd prefer to attend a 9-37 loss to Missouri rather than a 45-17 win over Illinois State is lying. I'm guessing that if Loren weren't being paid to be there, Loren and most of his supporters will be turning off the Illini/Cincy game sometime in the 3rd quarter in search of a better game.

Posted by IlliniDan on November 17, 2009 at 10:36 AM  |  Suggest Removal

Just an awful article. FYI - some Illinois fans would like to go to a bowl game more than twice a decade. Playing at Cincinatti, Fresno St (next year) and Missouri does not help a program of Illinois' status achieve that.

It DOES keep us in the black though, which is much more important to this University than fielding a winner is...

Posted by chetthejet on November 17, 2009 at 12:02 PM  |  Suggest Removal

Lets see wins over #1 Ohio,2 back to back wins over Mi, a dream win over Cincy in the last 5 yrs. How many Bowl appearance in 5yrs?(one)how many in last 20yrs? Illini nation is not difficult.We are a Big Ten school why is this so difficult? We would like to see are team to go to bowls games 3 of 5yrs and compeet for a big ten title 1 out of 3yrs we go to a bowl. When have we done that? Lets start some where like that before we think we could go for a top 10 or 15 in the nation. Could we please start with a top 25 team for more the one yr in a roll and start to go to some bowl games.If we have a dream game with Cincy I feel like we will have writers and fans that think that it will be enough to keep Ron. Its time to make a decision on where the Illini football program needs to go. Like the past 15-20yrs or to the present with hope that we could put some back to back 6 to 8 win season and go to a bowl game.

Posted by illinibuck on November 17, 2009 at 12:58 PM  |  Suggest Removal

I find it amusing IlliniHimey can't put a coherent thought together or write a gramatically correct sentence yet calls others names such as "dimwit." After reading his posts over the last several weeks, and I'm not even commenting about the thoughts I surmise he's attempting to convey, I'll bet IlliniHimey never even sniffed college.

Okay IlliniHimey, hit me with you vitriol. I need a laugh.

Posted by dstork on November 17, 2009 at 3:19 PM  |  Suggest Removal

Loren, I agree. I also think that Illinois should get their act together,get prepared and win the first game and BEAT MISSOURI! Don't change the schedule.That is the same old losers mentality.Get prepared from camp Rantoul with a real plan and mindset to win the first game.Then come out and prove yourself and BEAT MISSOURI.Missouri is no big deal, Illinois has made them a big deal. This Illinois team and staff have simply not been prepared early, to play and win the first game for several years now.

Posted by SOX56 on November 17, 2009 at 3:51 PM  |  Suggest Removal

Loren - Best article you've written in a long time!! Thank you for proving the real dimwits are Himey and Hoekstra; let them go cheer for Iowa over Arkansas State....

See you in Cincy!

Posted by CecilColeman on November 17, 2009 at 4:31 PM  |  Suggest Removal

Right on dstork i read some of these comments and it blows my mind all we are missing now is the guy who usually know everything peterborich where are you come on lets here how terrible everything is and how you no how to fix it i miss reading your negatives post come on.

Posted by hardcorefan on November 17, 2009 at 5:52 PM  |  Suggest Removal

Loren, please for the love of God, retire.

Tell me about the quality of opponents until we are good enough to go bowling on an annual basis.

I want this team to go bowling every year. Until then, schedule cupcakes if necessary.

Guenther did a poor job of scheduling, period.

I don't see any other team playing 3 good nonconference teams and a single cupcake. They do the exact opposite. Winning formulas exist for a reason, and your lovemate Guenther did not follow it.

Posted by TWI on November 17, 2009 at 6:08 PM  |  Suggest Removal

I don't believe some of you people. You don't want to fire the AD, you don't want to fire the head coach, and you don't want to temporarily downgrade the non-conference schedule. What is your solution to this mess of a program? Status quo?

If you have no solutions, and you don't like any of the above, then apparently 5 bowls in 18 years is acceptable to you. That is why the program is where it is: ACCEPTANCE OF MEDIOCRITY.

Posted by illinifaningeorgia on November 18, 2009 at 7:24 AM  |  Suggest Removal

Hang in there georgia. Team status quo has only a few members and they randomly post with attacks on those that want vast improvement in Illini football. They don't post with facts and beliefs to explain current reality. They know the wagons are circled and it is their last gasp.

Posted by TotalIlliniFan on November 18, 2009 at 8:07 AM  |  Suggest Removal

illinifaningeorgia, I have said since the first time I began posting here that I do not understand the calls for firing the AD over the state of the football program. To my way of thinking the AD is responsible for all sports not just football. As some people like to point out he has a losing record in football. But he has a quality winning record in basketball. If you are going to hold him accountable for football, shouldn't you commend him for basketball, or tennis, or vollyball, etc.

Posted by PeoriaIllini on November 18, 2009 at 8:17 AM  |  Suggest Removal

Well written article.... Poor choice for title.

He wants to whiners to stop whining and win?

Whom should the whiners (fans) defeat?

Posted by edgyinchina on November 18, 2009 at 8:34 PM  |  Suggest Removal

The #1 team in the country-Florida is playing that powerhouse Florida International today. Their 2 other non-conference games were against equally tough Charleston Southern and Troy. (Their only decent opponent Florida State is there only because it's a traditional game.) Who the hell are well to schedule tougher opponents?

Posted by illinifaningeorgia on November 21, 2009 at 12:56 PM  |  Suggest Removal