Zook regains infallibility
We know the saying in Columbus. "If you go one and ten, and beat Michigan, it was a good year."
Illinois beat Michigan Saturday = It's a great year.
Pause a moment, if you need to, to allow the enormity of yesterday's game to sink in. Illinois beat Michigan. Just three words. For many men, however, the most difficult three words to say in all their adult lives.
Ron Zook deserves a contract extension. And how about Mike Schultz's offense, eh? (Who cares that this version of Michigan stinks? )
The best part of all this hoo-hah is that Michigan thoroughly controlled the game well into the third quarter. Nobody saw it coming, and then a magical moment occurred; the stuff of legend (really).
Freshman Terry Hawthorne, born on the first day of the 1990s, made the play that codgers will still be exaggerating in the 2090s. ("I was there and I tells ya his shoes caught fire!" or maybe "He ran 76 yards in 3 seconds flat." Or, in extreme cases "that was me!)
This is Terry Hawthorne.
I am not exaggerating when I say that Terry Hawthorne's 76 yard run will be talked about for years. And he wasn't even on offense. In fact, that's the remarkable aspect of the play: Nobody scored.
Hawthorne tripped-up Michigan's Roy Roundtree one foot from the end zone. The officiating crew signaled a touchdown. The review booth reversed it. First and goal Michigan.
Then, after that amazing thing happened; an amazing thing happened, four times: Michigan did not score. On 4th and millimeters, the officiating crew signaled a touchdown. The review booth reversed it. Again.
When this battery of dramatic events conjoins, it's nearly impossible to prevent a series of dramatic events. Poetic justice exists in sports, but it speaks syllogism. I'll map it for you:
If (dramatic defensive stop at 1)
and (dramatic four-down goal line stand)
then (dramatic 99-yard touchdown drive to reclaim lead).
To cut the suspense, Champaign Centennial's poet-emeritus Mikel LeShoure ran the last 70 of those yards his own self.
The man who made the stop on fourth down is Garrett Edwards. His name too will be spoken in decades to come. He seemed unfazed by the prospect. But when he's old and fat, it will be there for him.
There were other scores and highlights from this game, I guess. I seem to recall Michigan had a touchdown too. And the Illini must have scored more, because they wound up with 38 points. But that's all so much statistical bookkeeping.
Back when Michigan seemed good
The moment that changed a game, possibly a season, altered the lives of three people. If these three survived the subsequent orgiastic celebration, they can only hope to achieve more memorable moments over the next 60 to 80 years of their lives. And good luck to them.
This moment is for us, Illini Nation. For the second time since the Eisenhower Administration, the Wolverines go home losers.
Fuck 'em.
Most Recent Sports Comments
Jamie, you gave me goosebumps talking about the race with Rachel Alexandra and Life at Ten, wish I could be there!! Go Rachel!!!!!
Hope for the best, expect the worst. 81-126-2 FIRE RON GUENTHER
Beat Missouri and there is validity here, but until this team wins a game it should not, it is all speculation.
Gret pix, Jamie!
I think any conversation about the limits of the human body are innately limiting. As a non-yoga guy, seeing a skilled yoga person twist his or her body in unthinkable ways challenges my ideas of what the body can and cannot do. Heck, seeing George Clooney double over and…
But couldn’t you receive the same benefits (balance, muscle strength, etc.) from doing yoga barfeoot? From everything I’ve read, the Vibram Five Fingers seem to limit the distance you are able to run, and I am not convinced that is such a good tradeoff. Heck, Pheidippides…
The thing people don’t realize about barefoot running/ five fingers before they try it is that they have been completely isolated from their environment by their shoes. For example saying that hard surfaces like concrete are a recent invention., In the summer trails with a lot of…
Rob, Zola asks you to read further: “I no longer run barefoot,“ she said. “As I got older I had injuries to my hamstring. I found that wearing shoes gives me more support and protection from injuries.“ http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/aug/10/southafrica.past1
Many people, including myself, run barefoot on concrete, asphalt, grass, and dirt. No problems. You actually end up with LESS impact than if you were shod in crazy cushioned/supportive shoes. Your body adapts and you land with less force. Think short, quick strides with bent knees. I…
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Illinois has simply had no luck at all in these Mizzou games. None. I think maybe we’re do for a couple of bounces to go our way. If we get one or two (or sever or eight) breaks, I think it’s a win.
Jason, Savoy could easily join the CPL tax district, which is probably closer to most Savoy residents than the Tolono library is. But my impression is that Savoy residents as a whole don’t want to pay the cost of the CPL (Tolono’s library taxes are cheaper), even…
Sorry, but I am lagging behind on updates to the map. Also, some construction projects were delayed from their original start date. On a more positive note, I am putting together a map of haunted houses in Central Illinois. I have a few plotted already, and I…
I’ve never gotten the privilege of all the services CPL cardholders get. I just want to be able to go out of my way to drive to the CPL to check out books, pay fines, maybe buy some coffee, and enjoy the library. None of those activities…
These days, there is more to using a library than checking out books. At one time, paying into the Lincoln Trails system probably would cover the expenses incurred by other libraries in the system. Now, with Internet, videos, coffee shops, wireless Internet hubs, etc., I suspect the…
(speaking as a Savoy resident) By paying taxes to support a member of the LTLS, we are paying our “fair share” to use any LTLS library—Tolono, Champaign, Urbana, etc. This is how library systems work. The 6% of CPL’s circulation represented by Tolono users is NOT significant…
I read Timbo’s argument. I think the key word is “speculating.“
I would be interested to hear more about the “word on the street”—how are individual hauling companies fulfilling their promise to recycle?
Timbo makes a smart, sound argument. Reread it.
I joined on 09-09-09 after living here over a year, and having to listen to my dad tell me how his best friend is, like, #27 or something crazy like that, and how said friend never lived further than 50 feet from the Illini Inn while going…
And, I might add, no one is being prevented from using the Champaign library. They are just being asked to pay their fair share if they are going to use it as their primary library.
The equation is pretty simple here. If you want social services, then pay the taxes required to run those social services. These things only work if everyone puts in their fair share. As a heavy user of the Champaign Library, I say bravo to this new policy.
Curtis Orchard is always good for an hour or three, especially if you have rugrats.
What is the increased marginal cost of serving a resident of Savoy or Mahomet? I suspect negligible. What is the increased revenue to be realized by this new policy? I suspect very little. Aside from these financial aspects, what are the most probable results from this new…
Looks like you are also all members of the killer sideburns club.
Thanks for the article, Ben. I was not familiar with this band until now and even though I won’t be able to attend the show on Friday they are now on my radar. A *good* jam band is hard to find, and these folks appear to fill…
Nice article, love the Dead quote in the beginning. If they can get down here to Central FL I’ll definitely be heading out to the show. Some of my friends have finally stopped wincing when I say “jam band.“ I’ve now tried my best at more descriptive…
@Annie: Yeah, my bad. That was the best part! Drinking + memory exercises = fun @Rob: According to Ask the English Teacher, “My dictionary says ‘drunk’ is an archaic past tense of ‘drink.‘“ We’re all about the new grammar around here.
Katie, have the residents of Savoy and Tolono thought about having their taxes raised a little to help their public library expand? That’s a possibility for them. And then everybody wins.
good call on that Herring recording, Josh. Love that version of Exit Music….here’s a clip of the Cinco de Mayo show (from about six months prior). As I recall, this Shakedown went on for roughly a half hour, while getting into the Trampled Underfoot jam in the…
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Illinois has simply had no luck at all in these Mizzou games. None. I think maybe we’re do for a couple of bounces to go our way. If we get one or two (or sever or eight) breaks, I think it’s a win.