M-I-Z-We Own You!

Illinois vs. Missouri (Big Ten Network Highlights)

Illinois vs. Missouri (ESPN Highlights)

8 in a row feels sooooo good! Undefeated against Missouri in my college career!

A Piece(s) of Advice

21 Big Lessons from Little Kids

"3. Asking questions is how you figure things out. Lots and lots of questions.
4. An older, wiser Gordie Lachance says in Stand By Me, "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12." Lachance is right. The trick is to try to be the friend you were when you were 12: fun-loving and loyal, with no strings attached.
5. Playing is work. Approach your downtime with all the seriousness of a 5-year-old with a secret treasure map.
6. Real guys don't dip their toes in the water. They jump right in."

Just Be Yourself: "I have a gymnasium philosophy. Everybody's been in a gym. You look to the right, you see somebody in better shape. Look to your left, you see somebody who's dying to be in your shape. So you have to be happy in our life and know you can always go either direction. It's up to you."

Keeping it Real: Authenticity You Can't Fake It:

"Regardless of what I'm doing, I want to be authentic. That is a real key to success in every walk of life. If you're authentic, people pick up on that, they appreciate that. They're drawn to authenticity...I want people to know my flaws and weaknesses, know that I'm not perfect. I don't want to preach from the pulpit. I want them to know the real person." Mark Schlereth

Christmas and Truth

"The Wise Men from the East brought gifts to the Newborn King. Yet, the babe in the manger offered a gift to the world that marvelously complemented their generosity: the gift of Truth.

The Magi, like the philosophers who were seekers of wisdom, were also seekers.

“Here is the important point,” writes G. K. Chesterton in The Everlasting Man, “that the Magi, who stand for mysticism and philosophy, are truly conceived as seeking something new and even finding something unexpected. ... The discovery is, in this case, truly a scientific discovery.”

The Christmas story is not merely a beautiful and endearing story. It is a historical event and the “scientific discovery” of a truth that discredited all competing mythologies.

It gave religion a new birth, one that was wed to truth. It was also significant that it was born in a cave, a place where truth is not easy to find." The Magi and Their Scientific Discovery

This article was really interesting and it put Christianity into perspective of what Jesus came for to bring Truth and everlasting life for all humanity. It is a gift that many people have been unable to accept for over two-thousand years, yet the Truth still prevails as Christmas shows us each year. God humbled himself by coming to earth born a man in the lowliest of places in a stable amongst the animals as a sign of his love for us. This is the gift that we all should humbly receive into our hearts this Christmas to look on that manger scene with humility and joy for the hope of a new beginning to share with friends and families. To all a very Merry Christmas!

Linus speaks the Truth:

Man vs. Wild

Bear Grylls is the Man! He just knows a lot about nature and can put himself into any situation and get out of it. What I like the most is that he is willing to try anything-like eating raw Goats testicles, building a camel tent, going into an ice crevice on a glacier in Patagonia, etc. he isn't afraid to do anything and knows he can accomplish anything! I think that is one thing that people cannot handle is giving credit to people. They want to find the fault in what people do even if they do something great. There has been speculation that Bear has not "roughed" it as the show claims, but you know what I wanna see the average person who watches the show go out and do what he does. Would you eat raw goats testicles or sleep in a dead camel? How about jump in a mountain pond just to show how to survive in it or run around naked on a glacier to get body warmth back? Ya, he is awesome and one thing that all men should take from it is whatever you do, be awesome at it, work hard, and strive for better!

Laugh, Think, and Cry

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!!