Survive and Advance

A happier note today. From 64 to Sweet 16. Our Stylin' Illini are still at it, and actually looked really darned good against Nevada. We were up by 20 with 5 to go and called off the dogs. We're seeing how good Auggie really is, and we're seeing how good our halfcourt defense is. So who here was actually nervous about us getting to the Sweet 16? Of you who have your hands up, how many of you actually know anything about basketball? Looking around, at the non-show of hands, leads me to this thought. I hate all of the bandwagon fans that don't know a thing about hoops getting all worked up over things. At some point, I'll tell you how I knew we were screwed against Ohio St., even before Weber got beat down the stretch.

Next two rounds are in Chicago. First up is UW-Milwaukee. Their jerseys look like they would be for Army... every time I see that jersey, I'm thinking about those "Army of One" commercials. They look like a decent squad, but they play a style that we can handle - they want to run and create chaos. Sort of like Michigan St. Problem is, they're not good enough to do that against us. That's the style that we prefer. I don't really see much of an issue in that game.

Of course, after that comes either Arizona or Oklahoma St. If we make it to the Elite 8, that will be a much tougher game. Both teams are for real. Arizona can't roll with us on the inside. Stylistlically, I think that getting ready for the UW-Mil game will prep us for Arizona well. We'll have too many horses for Arizona to handle, if it comes to that...

Oklahoma St. is a little different. They're like us in that they can play whatever style their opponents want. They can knock 'em down and drag 'em out with their big guys inside (note - if Roger is matched up on Joey Graham, there had better be a quick double, or Roger may need a handgun to stop him). They also have some quick, quality guards that can run. A fun matchup would be Ivan McFarlin and James Augustine. Couple similar sorts of players - undersized at the 5 spot, but very active, long and lanky, and can run.

That will be a game worth watching.

Of course, we'll see how my prediction of Bruce Weber's status among the remaining coaches. I'm seeing a few coaches that I'd definitely place ahead of Weber... Izzo, Sutton, Olson, Knight, Tubby Smith for sure. Maybe Coach K tonight. Either Hewitt or Pitino. I'm not sure where I put Sendek or Romar or Wright. But Weber looks to be about average at this point. I'm just hoping that it doesn't come down to coaching, and if it does, that I'm just flat out wrong. The problem is, I'm not often wrong :-)

This week is spring break for me. I don't really get a break from work, but I do get a break from classes. Which means that I can catch up on various life things (like getting my oil changed, cleaning my room, working out, sleeping, or cooking) as well as some academic things like taking care of some research, some class projects, and finishing off a paper that's been sitting on in my inbox forever...

I may also buy a condo. I took a walkthrough in the condo that I'm interested in. It has potential. Nice, high ceilings. A fireplace. A huge room upstairs. There will definitely be some work that needs to be done - it's got a lot of wear and tear to it. There will be a lot of painting to do. And I think that there will be some things that need to be bought - dressers, maybe some furniture, though the current owner said that he'd leave the appliances and whatever furniture is already their. It's hard to really see what you need and what you can do when it's a mess inside.

Problem is, the asking price is a little more than it should be. I think that they're asking something like $110/sq ft. I think that the going rate around here is something like $100/sq ft. The place is a little older - built in the late 60's. I don't know how old the furnace or water heater are. There's also a pesky $100/month condo association fee. Really, that makes the place worth about $10,000 less to me. I'll see if I can get it down to a price that I can be comfortable with. I don't mind overpaying just a little bit for the location (which is awesome), but I'm not giving up the ghost on this one.

Anyway, hope that all the rest of you are good.

-Chairman