A great season for Illinois came to the end most observers had been expecting. Facing a team who, when it wants to be and is healthy, is the best in the nation and was playing virtually at home, the Illini had no chance. USC had too much defense and too much speed in a 49-17 rout.
Jay Mariotti of The Chicago Sun-Times penned a nasty, virtrolic piece about the game, further cementing him as the Windy City's spokesperson for ignorant couch-potatoes who make snide and ridiculing comments about sports as a way of compensating for a lack of something else. Mariotti taunted Ron Zook and his program, suggesting the next time they not try a big bowl before they were ready for it.
It's always better to play in the bigger bowl game regardless of the outcome, simply because it means one had the better season. It means one achieved more, and it means they came closer to fulfilling their potential to the maximum degree possible. I suppose Zook could have lost to Ohio State, Wisconsin or Penn State and that might have made Mariotti happy. Based on Mariotti's standard, maybe Illinois should just bring back Lou Tepper, who never suffered a blowout loss in a major bowl game. Based on Mariotti's standard, maybe Hawaii should let June Jones know to make sure he loses a game next year, rather then step onto the Sugar Bowl stage. Come to think of it, based on Mariotti's standard, maybe none of us should ever leave our houses, lest something bad happen.
Based on Mariotti's standard...well, based on Mariotti's article, maybe sports fans owe a debt of gratitude to White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who called out the reporter in 2006 and got sanctioned for it by MLB's thought police.
************
Speaking of June Jones and Hawaii, their magic run had a similar ending to Illinois'. The Rainbows were routed by Georgia 41-10 in a Sugar Bowl game that was never close. Given the success of Boise State & Utah in recent BCS games, it is not likely this result will water down the attractivness of unbeaten mid-majors. For the Bulldogs, it was a win that redeemed their upset loss to West Virginia in this same game back in 2005.
Comments