Magnetic Curses

I dont think they can get the Illini doubting themselves after the last 2 weeks. The key for Iowa,and any team facing the Illini, is can they stop the run? If they can stop the run, then they force Juice into throwing which isnt pretty. But stopping the Illini's run game is alot easier said than done. Mendenhall is a stud, Juice is a stud when running, and their offensive line is terrific. I expect the 1st half to be close, and then the Illini to come out in the 2nd half and put it to the Hawkeyes. But making them sore and thinking about getting hit might do the trick. Doubt themselves wasn't the word I was looking for, apprehensive or tentative. wisconsin came into yesterday's game knowing exactly what the illini would try to do, and they could do nothing about it. the illini don't rely on tricks or trick plays, they don't rely on long passes that hit infrequently, they don't even rely on a great defense. they rely on shoving the ball down the throat of the defense, and, in wiconsin's case, attacking it's strength. the illini have probably been made to feel sore enough, but what they thrive on is eating the opposing d-line's dinner. iowa's going to have to play strong at the point of attack throughout the game. and generally, team's start to wear down in the final quarter or two against a road-grading offensive line.

that article's all well and good, but shard was a turner recruit.

exactly, the other teams have been playing catch-up with the illini, but they know they can't go deep with the speed of the secondary. so they're basically nickel and diming it down the field, taking what the illini give them--and the illini are getting enough turnovers to win. zook is coaching with the philosophy, the more plays you run and the more passes you throw, the more likely you are to turn it over. they're letting their opponents have yardage, but when they get the ball back they're just running right down the field because no one can stop them.

i'd love another crack at missouri right now.

it looks like zook will be in champaign for as long as he wants to be. i'm just worried about losing locksley, but wish him well.

i feel pretty good about michigan. ohio state will be a bloodbath, slugfest, whatever you want to call it. the illini generally play tosu well.

who does purdue have left? because i don't see them as capable of running the table, not balanced enough. they'll get steamrolled tonight, though anyway.

jon finally found his meds. :wink:

I-N-I WHAT A VICTORY TODAY FOR THE ILLINI. this illini team is an SEC style team. could have some incredible success against the lumbering giants in the big ten.

valverde is the most hittable pitcher we'll face tonight.

If anyone is due for a meltdown. It's him. he's a total headcase, that's true.

lay off of them, they're just doing what the scoreboard tells them to do. fans that need electric scoreboards at all are lame as hell.

is it just me or are the dbacks fans going crazy whenever their hitters make any kind of contact?

well, if it's any reason to hope, valverde is probably the most hittable pitcher of the big 3 at the back of that bullpen.

well, we're not working with a 162 game schedule anymore. we need to win 3 out of 5, i'm not comfortable counting on line drives to drop to reverse our luck. luck rules all in the playoffs and the dbacks have the most of it. they're my early favorites to win the ws.

you should have recognized this when they announced that the dbacks would be their opponents. they are the luckiest team in mlb history, hands down. i don't think any team has ever won 90 games while allowing more runs than scored.

well, they're the luckiest team in baseball and have been all year, i see no reason why that should end now.

well, i'm pretty sure that tim has bruce's e-mail address. not that that helps us tonight.

and that scores theriot if z gets him over. i'm not a small ball guy, either.

Someone call the visitor's dugout now! we shall see. i hit the meat jackpot.

z has good stuff tonight. time to get to webb, pine tar or not.

we have another cub killer, i think.

Yes. If you're talking about the brown spot on the top of his bill in the middle, then yes, I saw it. count how many times he touches it while he's on the rubber.

Yes. thanks. i'm not crazy. i have no idea if this is a common thing among pitchers, but it's pretty blatant and my cable company doesn't even provide this game in hd.

there there! did you see it?