I left 80 and Sunny for 25 and cloudy?!

Well Wednesday night was spent hanging out with the rest of the managers just taking in the rest of the time to hang out and reflect on how fun the trip was.

Thursday November 21
I woke up about 7:30 and ran outside for 15 minutes, then did some more cardio/abs at the fitness center and then took a stroll/picture extravaganza along the beach until breakfast. After Breakfast around 10:30 I laid out for a bit and hung out with the guys until we left. The day was absolutely gorgeous and was very hard to leave! Our bus left around 1 for the airport and we departed for LA around 3:45 and arrived in LA a little after 10. We had about an hour layover and flew out to Chicago around 11:50 and got into Chicago around 5:30 or so. The bus ride home went by fast and we got into Champaign about 8:30ish.

Thoughts on the Trip:

• If Hawaii was not so far from Illinois and expensive to travel, I would probably move out there because it is just so nice out there all the time and the people are really friendly-my new favorite word is "Mahalo" which is Thank You in Hawaiian
  
• The Pineapple is amazing! I probably had about 5 total for the whole 8 days we were in Hawaii.
• I am glad I was fortunate to go on the trip; makes me realize how lucky I have been to be a manager and all the awesome experiences and opportunities that it has provided me in my four years in college.
  
• If there is another time that I have the chance to go back to Hawaii- I definitely will try; if not Aloha!!
  

Duke and Oklahoma St.

Tuesday November 20
Well after being kicked out of the bed, I got up around 7:15 and worked out before breakfast. After breakfast we headed to the gym for a short shootaround to prepare for the Dukies. After shootaround/walkthrough we went back to the hotel for pre-game meal and to focus for the game ahead. We left the hotel around 3:15 for the game against Duke at 4:30. We started out alright leading into ten minutes into the game, but then they went on a run and stretched the lead over 10, but the Illini got it under ten going into halftime. We came out on a nice little run after halftime and got the lead down to 3, but they quickly got it over 10 and every little run they made they had a counter for it, as the Illini fell 79-66.

A few observations from the game:

• Duke doesn't help the snotty we're better than you attitude-Singler and Scheyer are little punks, with that being said, they are better than I thought, but any team with a good inside game and doesn't shoot 36% for the game will beat them-UNC.
• Henderson is a stud-athletic and can shoot
• I think we are definitely going to be better than A LOT of people think. We play hard0-led by Chester and if Brian stays healthy and plays they way he has we will be Big 10 Contenders and a Tournament Team.
• Not many teams will outrebound us-we had 19 offensive rebounds and outrebounded them by 10 total
• The bench will be a factor in a lot of games because they can bring some depth and a breather to guys while not losing much
• That being said, we still need to defend without fouling and knock our outside shots down
• You DON'T mess with Chester-Singler picked the wrong guy right there and was lucky because it would not have been pretty for him
  

Wednesday November 21
With the loss to Duke, we had an early turnaround to play at 11:30 a.m. Wake up was at 7:15 and pre-game meal at 7:30 before we left at 10:20 for the game. The LSU and Arizona St. game went into OT, delaying our game. The Illini finally took the floor against the Oklahoma St. Sooners who absolutely got spanked by Marquette, which was going to make this an interesting contest. After the Illini took an early 9-7 lead, they never looked back taking a 13 point lead at halftime and turning it into a 16 point victory.

More Notes:

• Trent and Calvin really stepped up-Trent hitting some shots and Calvin just doing a little of everything, which was big since Brian Randle went down with an injury; Congratulations to Calvin for being on the Maui All-Tournament Team!
  
• Our defense was relentless at times, sometimes we got lazy, but overall you could tell OK ST. was just wittling under the pressure-part of that is the depth and how well we play defense-just need to keep it up
  
• Overall, 3-1 on this Hawaii trip is good. We won a close one and won some games going away. I thought we could have played better against Duke, but I think it is something to build on. Also, going 2-1 at Maui was what I expected and I think it might be better to leave with a victory than possibly a loss for our confidence. The Illini learned a lot about themselves as a team and there is room for improvement, but I think Coach Weber has these guys headed in the right direction for the rest of the season!
  

After the game it was back to the hotel which then we were free until tomorrow about 11 when we leave for home! It's gonna be hard to leave 80 and sunny for 30 and snow. When we got back I worked out and gonna stay it easy the rest of the time, enjoy the sun and the beach!

ALOHA!!

I need more sun!

Sunday November 18
Sunday morning I woke up and went to Mass at a little church about 4 miles from the resort. After I got back it was time for breakfast and then I walked down aways from the resort to a small shopping center. Then it was fun in the sun! I ran on the beach-not the smartest idea, as I tore the back of my toes up a little-then went in the ocean before we had practice. Practice was at a small High School gym in Lahaina and was very hot; Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery were at practice which would benefit the managers greatly! After practice we went to a banquet for all the teams, families, and boosters which was cool. All the coaches of the teams talked and it was an enjoyable time. After the banquet we had team meeting and then it was bedtime!

Monday November 19
Woke up around 7:15 and then worked out until breakfast at 9:30. We had shootaround at 12 and then had pregame meal around 2:30. After that I went outside for a bit to lay out and catch up on my reading. We left around 5:15 before our game at 6:30 against the Arizona St. Sun Devils. The Illini came out firing goin up 20-0 before they scored. They came back a little bit and at halftime we only had a 14 point lead, but blew it open and finished em off to win by 23. Brian Randle and Rodney Alexander had 17 points and the whole team played well and it was a good win-BRING ON DUKE! Towards the end of the game Jay Bilas was giving the managers some props at practice when we were being loud and making noise, trying to make it a game like atmosphere for the guys. He must have liked it and talked about us on ESPN! That's pretty sweet if you ask me. Also, MJ was there sporting the Orange Illini Polo shirt-saweeet and you can bet he will want the Illini to beat Duke tonight just as bad as anyone else! After the game it was back to the hotel for team meal and meeting and then bedtime!

Hawaii!!! Day One

Ohya, you could say I am in paradise right now! The Illini left Chicago yesterday at 9:15 from O'Hare (after a 6 o'clock wake up call) and then arrived in Honolulu around 2:25-a nice little 9 hr flight and to top it off we got "leid"! Once we got to our hotel, we had a nice lil snack and then had practice from 6-8:30ish. After that it was just a nice relax time. This morning I woke up about 7 and ran outside on the beach-absolutely beautiful and then worked out. Had breakfast-which was delicous and then to the beach to soak up some sun and bask in His Glory! After practice we went sight seeing into the mountains and then along the Sandy Beaches. They were awesome and had some awesome views and there's just something about all you can see is water and more water. After that we had dinner along the beach at this buffet at another hotel-high class and fancy. After that we walked around till team meeting to get ready for Hawaii!

Friday November 16-Again I woke up and ran along the beach and hit the weights before breakfast. Then we had shootaround and came back and went out to the beach and sat and read which was very peaceful. We had pre-game meal and then a little relax time untill we left for th game at 6:30.

The game was at 8 and it didn't start to well and the Illini went down by 6 at halftime. We came out and got it down to four, but they got it up to 13 with 12 minutes to go. From there the Illini went on a 30-15 run with Calvin driving and putting in a layup with :05 seconds to go to put the Illini up 79-77!

Saturday November 17-woke up and worked out and watched the Illini footballers defeat Northwestern to go 9-3! More victories in one year than in my previous 3 years combined! We took a half hour plane ride to Maui, had lunch, practice and then a meet and greet with all the other teams in the Maui Invitational. Steve Holdren and Mike Davis were in the EA Sports March Madness tournament on Xbox. Steve lost his first round game, but Mike won his and then lost in the second round. From there it was just some nice relax time in a hammock and then to bed!

ALOHA!!

ILLINI VICTORY!!

The Upset

Freshman year I saw the Illinois Basketball team beat the #1 Team in the Nation when the Illini DESTROYED the Wake Forest Deacon Demons 91-73-the score was not indicative of the outcome, we completely dominated.

Senior year- The Footballing Fighting Illini upset #1 "The" Ohio St. 28-21 on Saturday to improve to a record of 8-3. Now with a win next week against Northwestern they can go to 9-3 and a great bowl position. What a great year-exceeded any expectations that not only I had, but I think a lot of Illini nation had! ILL-INI!!! J Leman should be among the Butkus award finalists, for all the Juice haters-the Juice tastes good! and for Coach Zook-we BelIeve!!!!



Fighting Illini 1-0!

Meanwhile the Basketballing Fighting Illini got the season started off with a victory over Northeastern. Now it's off to Hawaii to face the Golden Rainbows-can you make a nickname anymore feminine-and then to bring back the trophy at the Maui Invitational!

D-Will on Jim Rome

Ooooh Deron so good soo smooth and it all started with that three-pointer against Arizona (well it started before that, but it pretty much exploded after that)...

Illinois vs. Quincy

Pretty good job young guys!